I was just looking at my blog and realized that the last 3 posts are recipes. Dang it! I am totally falling down on the job. Actually, last week I was preparing what I thought would be a great post. I have started a new Bible study and the post was about something profound that God has been teaching me about my "image." I have a good portion of it written, but have all of a sudden totally lost all direction. I still want to post it, but am praying for a little more vision and insight. It is one of those complex things and I want my point to be very clear. I think you all will love it and I hope you are inspired by it. I will hopefully have some clarity and direction soon so that I can share it will you all.
Now, since it has been before Thanksgiving since I have updated you here is what is going on in our world... Its a lot, so take a deep breath....
Right before Thanksgiving, Gideon discovered his toes!!! He is getting so much bigger and much more alert. I seriously am in awe of how quickly kiddos change and grow. Jared and I have been also noticing that Gid is filling out in his cheeks and as of his 4 month check up weighed in at 15 lb 3 oz. He is such a good baby. Every morning when I get him out of his crib, I am greeted with the biggest smile and little coo, that if he could talk would say "Good morning mama, I love you so much!!" =) He just brings so much joy to our lives. A lot of nights, Jared and I lay on the floor with him and just giggle with him. It is so much fun!

My parents came up for Thanksgiving, which was so much fun! We had gotten a ton of snow right before they came and we thought that it might hider them from coming. But thank goodness the roads were clear and them came up anyway. Some of Jared's parent's friends also came up from Boise. We sure had a full house. We cooked a 20 lb. turkey at our house and my mother-in-law cooked a fresh ham at her house and then we all ate over there for sake of space. It was such a wonderful time spent with my parents. They even installed a new hot water heater for us.
For my birthday, Jared gave me some cash and three choices. 1. A new oven. 2 A new washer and dryer OR 3. New clothes. Some of you may think I'm crazy, but I chose number 1. I have been wanted a new oven for our house since the day we moved in. Our old oven was such a piece. The handle was dented and the bottom element was on its last leg. So I opted for the oven. Home Depot was having a really great sale so I got a really good deal. I was so proud of myself. It was delivered about a week ago. I love it. It came just in time for holiday baking.. my fav!!!!
This is probably the best picture of the old stove that I have... me lookin' real good. bahaha not. I am however 16 weeks prego in the pic. =) You can even see the dent in the handle.
Brand new!!! I love it.
For the past year, Jared and I have been talking about inviting a bunch of people over to our house to have "Saturday Night Dinner." At first, Jared was the one who was super into it and couldn't wait to have people over. I was newly pregnant and had absolutely no energy. It was all I could do to work 40 hours a week at Starbucks. I was not interested in cooking for our friends let alone entertaining period. After a year of talking about it, we finally made it happen. With the help of social media, aka Facebook, we invited all of our friends who live close. We ended up having 19 adults and 7 babies (13 months to 3 weeks). We have a pretty small house, so it was funny to see that many people all crammed in here. I am bummed that I didn't get any pictures of the madness!!! We had so much fun connecting and sharing a meal together. I made 2 kinds of Chili and Texas Sheet Cake. Other people brought appetizers, salad, drinks, and some yummy pulled pork sandwiches! I cannot wait to do it again next month!!!
LIke I said above, I started a new Bible study with a great group of women. The study is called 5 aspects of Woman. I have really enjoyed it. The ladies that are doing it with me are a totally random mix, but it was such a God thing that we all came together like we did. I am looking forward to digging deep with all of them. I just can feel that God has great plans in it all.
Well, I think that is about all for now.