4th Generation

January has been busy, but with all kinds of fun stuff. Juliet and I are both back in school. Again, this quarter worked out perfectly and I'm able to attend classes while she's in school, allowing be the ability to drop her off at school in the morning and pick her up in the afternoon. I really couldn't be happier with the way it's worked out!

A couple of weeks ago, the 3 of us went down to Keyo's moms house to visit and have dinner.

Caryl gifted Juliet with a Harry Potter Lego set, which we promptly built the next day. Juliet is currently enamored with all things Harry Potter... and I have never stopped loving Lego's. It was so much fun to build with her!

When we were at Caryl's home, I commented to Keyo that she had a Kitchen Aid mixer. I've had my eye on them for years, but they're so darn expensive and not exactly a necessity. Caryl said she had received the mixer when Keyo's great-grandmother passed away but she'd never used it. And then... she offered to give it to me. I was so darn excited, it was pretty funny. While I was thrilled to be gifted the mixer, what is so special is that I am the 4th generation to own/use this machine. I feel so blessed.

We brought it home, I cleaned it up, and now it resides in it's new home, displayed on my kitchen counter. I love it. And what it represents. Just awesome.

The first thing Juliet & I made with the Kitchen Aid was a batch of homemade peanut butter cookies, and I promise, they tasted just a little better because the were made with this mixer. Thank you, Caryl!

A good day for something warm

We're having a pretty good Winter by Seattle standards, yes there is rain but we've had some fun snow and there are beautiful sunny, crisp days sprinkled in there too!

Today is one of those pretty days, although it's cold, we couldn't resist going outside a bit. After lunch, Juliet and I decided it was time for a little warm up, and these ingredients made for a very yummy warm treat!

We mixed 2 tablespoons of white chocolate chips and 1/2 tablespoon of caramel sauce into 1 cup of hot milk. Then topped it with whipped cream, a caramel drizzle and a few heart shaped Junior Mints on top!

We snagged this idea from Juliet's recent American Girl magazine (thanks, Nani!), and there are a few other hot cocoa variations too. I'm pretty sure Juliet wants to make ALL of them.

Almost February already!

It was just yesterday that we were celebrating the new year, right? As usual, another month has blown by, and we're saying goodbye to January 2011. It's been a good month, we started off by hosting a New Years Celebration here at the house. The Kuntz family came as well as Colin, Annlee, Matt, Bre, Chris and Rex May. It was great to ring in 2011 with some of our favorite people!

Between the company, the food and the laughter (and the drinks) we all had a great time!

Winter, all rolled up.

As suspected, once school started, I didn't quite keep the blog up to date. So, here's a little photo re-cap of the last few months all rolled into one post!

Halloween Costume party with the Kowlaski's - Keyo as a Rabbi, me as Flo, the Progressive Insurance gal.

Juliet climbs to the top of the rope at gymnastics in October. As of last week they're going to move her up soon... to a class of 10-14 year olds!

Also, she set the rope climbing record at school, and they put her name on the wall in the gym. Go baby!

Girls night at our house: Mom, Auntie Kim, Brieann, Juliet, and Natalie.

Also a surprise announcement....

Brieann is having a girl - due in April!

I immediately start shopping (after I stop crying)

Juliet & Keyo master Root Beer making with the Soda Stream!

A few days before Thanksgiving it snowed! Juliet and her friends Denali, Izzy & Fiona fill their days with sledding, snow man making, and hot chocolate drinking!

We were patiently waiting for Keyo to make it home from work, driving in the snow. It took him EIGHT HOURS to travel less than 20 miles!

Walking to the grocery store the next day... Keyo wasn't ready to get back in the car. :)

We hosted Thanksgiving and Keyo tackled the turkey carving

From the left: Keyo's grandparents, Penny and Ron, Juliet, Colin (with Movember thing) myself, and Keyo. His mom Caryl was also with us (taking the picture)

Crazy man does squats with 60 pound Juliet on his shoulders.

Juliet and her lucky pucks at the hockey game.

Bre, Matt & Keyo taking a break from Trivial Pursuit... they were only stalling their loss to me. :)

Crazy sock day at school

And favorite sports team day... think she'll be a Husky some day?

Juliet made single serve hot cocoas for her classmates.

Christmas morning, our favorite baby with the perfect tree - we went to 5 tree stands looking for this tree!

Santa came! Juliet was worried because we were a little late in mailing her letter... mommy sent it Express Mail to the North Pole.

The boys were happy that Juliet finally saved enough to buy herself a Nintendo DS...

And lastly, Juliet with her first popsicle creation. Keyo's parents gave her a popsicle maker that freezes pops in 7 minutes! These were Pomegranate/Blueberry/Lime!

Tis the Season!

This year has been full of new beginnings for us. We are all now sleeping under one roof in our beautiful new home and I have made the transition from employee to full time student. Our little family couldn't be more blessed with health and happiness. There is definitely a lot to celebrate!

We took the plunge and hosted our very first family Christmas party, while it was pretty cozy with almost 30 people, I'm so happy everyone was able to come! There was plenty of food, many laughs, and the traditional gift exchange. A successful celebration!

Dawn, Conni & Crystal

Paul & Keyo

Brie & Natalie

Mom, Keyo & Bryan

Mom & Auntie Kim

Merry Christmas everyone, we can't wait to do it again next year!

Smarty Pants

Last Monday, before the first snow of the season (yay!) we had a parent/teacher conference with Juliet's 2nd grade teacher, Miss Meyers.

No surprise to us, Juliet received rave reviews!

She even scored at a 3rd grade level in math.

We're so proud of you, Juliet!

Keep working hard, honey, the many rewards are worth it!

Quality Kitchen Time

As I write this it's 12:38am, Thanksgiving Day. Happy Thanksgiving!

This year we're hosting the holiday at our house for the first time. Last night Juliet and I turned 48 ounces of cranberries into a whole bunch of yummy cranberry sauce. It was fun, I love being in the kitchen with her.

First she measured 12 ounces of berries

Then measured one cup of orange juice and poured it into a pot

A cup of sugar next...

Stir to dissolve...

And finally the cranberries

When they get hot, the cranberries start to POP!

Rinse and Repeat four times.

I forgot to take a picture of the finished product, but it's yummy. Juliet's an excellent chef!