The Family Tree

Tonight we decorated our family tree. I donned my festive footwear, untangled the lights - actually, opened new boxes this year - and found the ornament hooks.

Rachael was so excited to decorate the tree she ate three bites of dinner, then announced she was finished and ready to go. We totally took advantage of her enthusiasm by making her clean up all her toys before we started.

She had so much fun! She even did a pretty good job of spreading her ornaments out. I figured they would all end up on one branch. After almost every ornament she would come running back and say, "Daddy, I did it!"


And the bottom two feet of the tree has never been so well decorated!

The Day After

I am sitting here the day after Thanksgiving, following our tradition of Ryan and Rachael watch Star Wars for two days while Kristin decorates for Christmas. I am still stuffed from yesterday's meal.

Reading through Kristin's post yesterday, I just have to say she is being modest. The turkey was incredible, easily the best turkey I have ever had. And the rolls - well, she made two large pans. They are almost all gone this evening. I should polish up the rest tomorrow, probably sometime between Episode V and Episode VI.

Thanks Kristin, for an excellent Thanksgiving. And thanks Rachael, for being my Star Wars buddy.

Thanksgiving

We had a nice, quiet Thanksgiving with just ourselves this year. Ryan made stuffing again this year that was very yummy. I fixed mashed potatoes and gravy, rolls, cranberry relish, and a pink fruit salad for Rachael. It was all very yummy!

The best part this year hands down was the turkey, which Ryan and I fixed together. We bought a brine mix from Williams-Sonoma and brined the turkey on Wednesday night. We have done brine before but this was a first with the mix, and it was so tasty! This is also the first year we cooked the turkey without an oven bag. We used Alton Brown's recipe for Roast Turkey and we were both thrilled with the results. It was crispy, juicy, and very delicious.

For dessert I made pumpkin pie. We invited our friends Bishop and Louan over to share pie with us. They are kind of Rachael's Kentucky grandparents - they have one granddaughter, Rachel, who is just a bit older than our Rachael. She lives in Arizona. So they play with our Rachael and have fun with her just like she was a granddaughter, too, which pleases Rachael just fine. Ryan and I are wondering how long before we can leave Rachael overnight with them...

Happy Thanksgiving everyone!

Family Home Evening

We had our lesson on prayer, which seems to be a frequent topic in our house. I'm sure we'll do it again, although Rachael's prayers are pretty cute most of the time. If she holds still.

Earlier in the day Rachael got to pick some Little Debbie Christmas Tree treats and we had those for dessert. Can you imagine anything better?? She thought they were great.

The highlight of the evening was reading the Book of Mormon. We started reading one ore two verses back in March, having Rachael repeat the words back. A thrilling milestone tonight: we finished 1 Nephi chapter 1! At this rate it will take us 159 years to finish... we better pick up the pace.

Yo Ho, Yo Ho

A PIRATES' Life for Us

My favorite ride was Pirates of the Carribean. The first time we went on it, Rachael spent the entire ride with her face buried in my arm.

The second time, I waited until the part where there are some girls all dressed up to get her to look. Right after that comes three sets of a woman chasing a man around in a circle (hilarious if you're 3) and then of course, "Yo Ho, Yo Ho."

By the third time we went on the ride, she was dying to go!

The Rides

We went to Disney at a great time of the year - the lines were really pretty short and we didn't wait long at all for most of the attractions. To start our trip, we went on what Rachael has christened "The Dancing Teacups." It was her favorite ride.

Her other favorite had to be the Barnstormer, or Goofy Roller Coaster (it's in Toontown). She rode it first with her dad, and as they were climbing up the first hill, he told her she could scream as much as she wanted on a roller coaster. From there it was her second favorite ride. She and Daddy went lots of times.
We loved the flying rides, too. Aladdin is fun because we can all go together. Watch out for the camel - he spits!

The Carrousel (yes that's how the ride is spelled) is fun, too. The difference between a merry-go-round and a carousel is that all the horses move on a carousel.

Time for more fun on the teacups!

The Dumbo ride is a flying ride, too, like Aladdin. However, each elephant only holds two passengers, so I chose to take pictures. It's a race... the first Dumbo all the way around wins.

Ryan and I really enjoyed the safari ride in Animal Kingdom. It's a great ride; they have done a good job of making it look very natural. Look - a baby elephant!

With morning Magic Hours, we got to be first in line to The Seas with Nemo and Friends at Epcot. It's really a fun ride! Here is Rachael totally not appreciating how cool it is to be first in line.

Did I mention we liked the teacups?

Not technically a ride but definitely a Disney experience: Mouse Ears. If you haven't been to Disney in awhile the selection is staggering. And yes, her name is emboirdered on the back.

Also not a ride, we happened to catch the parade one afternoon completely by accident. Rachael, of course, was riveted.

For our last ride before we left... we you expecting anything less?
We can't wait to go back! I wonder what our first ride will be...

The Food

I'm pretty sure we can't have a trip to Disney and not blog about the food. The princess lunch was fun! The princesses obviously were lots of fun, but the food was fun, too. Ryan and I had regular adult food, but Rachael got Mickey ravioli. They're pretty serious about the Mickey Mouse theme here.

Dessert was good, too!

Even the kids' meal plate is shaped like Mickey.

One night we all had burgers. Nothing quite like bacon double cheeseburgers at a theme park to raise your cholesterol about a thousand points. It was yummy, though!


One night we stopped at our hotel for a treat before we went to bed. Rachael got a cookie with sprinkles. Which she then proceeded to pick off all the sprinkles - which are, you guessed it, shaped like Mickey - and eat them. Even the ones off the bottom. Didn't touch the cookie.


My very favorite food is always the Patisserie in France at Epcot. I had chocolate mousse and Ryan had an apple tart. Yum!

The Princess Lunch

The highlight of the trip for Rachael had to be lunch with the Princesses. I made reservations before we left at Akerhaus restaurant (at Epcot, in Norway) where they have "Princess Storybook Dining."

You get to meet one princess (in our case, Belle) and have a picture taken, and a free 8 x 10 was included with the lunch. I didn't know that ahead of time so it was a nice bonus. Rachael was thrilled just to have met Belle.

Then the rest of the princesses started around the room partway through our meal. First, Aurora, in her pink dress.

Then Ariel, who says, "Say Bubbles!" for pictures.

Then Rachael's favorite, Cinderella. My favorite princess pictures were the ones where the princess bent down to be on the same level with Rachael. Can't you just see the adoration and hero worship in Rachael's eyes?

Last of all, Jasmine, who let Rachael stand on the chair to have her picture taken. (Unfortunately we didn't like how any of those turned out, so I picked the one where she's signing Rachael's autograph book.)

It was so much fun to see Rachael get so excited about each Princess. If I ever take a little girl again (like Rachael when she is six or seven!) that is really into princesses, I will totally do this activity again.

We're Home!

More posts to come... but we had a great time at Disney World. The quick review:

• Stayed at Port Orleans Riverside. Loved it.
• Used Disney Dining Plan. Loved it too.
  
• Day One: Magic Kingdom.
  
• Day Two: Epcot
• Day Three: Animal Kingdom, back to Magic Kingdom.
• Day Four: Magic Kingdom, fly home.
• Flew in and out of Sanford Airport (instead of Orlando Int'l), would do it again if we got a super deal again.
• Rachael's favorite ride: Tea Cups
• Rachael's favorite activity: screaming on the Barnstormer
• Rachael's favorite experience: princesses.
• Ryan's fav ride: Expedition Everest
• Kristin's fav ride: Pirates of the Carribean

Everyone had a great time and we are all happy to be sleeping in our own beds tonight.

Ballet Class

A couple of months ago I signed Rachael up for a ballet class. She has really enjoyed going every week! She is still prone to bursting into a run around the room, but she is getting better at paying attention and listening to the teacher.

She especially enjoys all the little songs they sing, but I've noticed it's because she likes to sing the songs, not necessarily because she loves the dancing. She likes the other girls in the class, too; I think making new friends has probably been the best part for her.

The pictures and video aren't that great because I have to take them through the one way mirror, but it's still fun to watch.

Happy Veteran's Day/Happy Birthday

Happy Veteran's Day to Paul (Ryan's dad), Chad (my brother-in-law) and all the other veterans we know. We are proud of you and grateful for your service.






And Happy 80th Birthday to my Grandpa Jensen!

Ode to the new TV

Oh how we love you!
Many hours of silence past
But now you are here.

New Phillips HDTV
Joins another Phillips set
Fourteen years of age.

Fell from three feet high
Still it runs wonderfully
High expectations.

You are expensive
But at steal at Sam's Club store
And worth every dime.

We love the small size
Family room feels larger
Merry Christmas.


OK, no more haiku from me. But we do love the new HDTV.

The Countdown is On!

About a month ago, we made a paper chain to count down the days until our Disney World vacation. At the time, it hung clear to the floor, so we looped it up on the window again.


This is the last paper link Rachael could reach without a chair... we're getting so close now!

Happy Birthday Aunt Lynne!

I can't believe you can drink Coke through your nose. Will you teach me how?
love, Rachael

Welcome!

Welcome to our family blog! We hope you will find this to be a place to keep up with our busy family.

To set the record straight: Kristin will be publishing most of the posts. Ryan is also an author and will post from time to time. You may even see posts from Rachael!