Christmas Tree

We got a Christmas Tree today. Julian is finally old enough that he really appreciates it. We will be in Utah for Christmas so we went ahead and got a real Christmas tree today. We also have a little 24 inch fiber optic tree that we put in Julian's room. He loves and can't stop staring at it. It took him almost 45 minutes to go to sleep tonight because he wanted to play with it.

My family has a tradition that each year we all get ornaments for Christmas. I've been collecting since my first Christmas in 1983 and now have enough to decorate an entire 6-7 foot tree. Julian has been collecting them since 2006 (his first Christmas wasn't until 2007, but the grandparents were excited). I really enjoy decorating the tree and remembreing each ornament and how much I love each one. There is an obvious transition from young child to adult and it's fun to see that. It'll take a few weeks for Julian to become fully accostomed to the tree, but he had a great time setting it up and making it pretty.

Thanksgiving

Adam, Andrea and Tasha came down from their respective homes for Thanksgiving. It was so nice to have them at our house. Adam and Andrea were only able to stay for Thursday and left this morning, but we had a good time spending time with each other. Julian thoroughly enjoyed having his aunts and uncle to play with him.

Tasha didn't want me to take her picture.

Julian looking cute.

JD carving the Turkey... boy was it tasty.

This was supposed to be a picture of Adam and Andrea but I couldn't get them both in the picture. So it's just a picture of Andrea, but she looks cute :)

They fell asleep shortly after dinner, we were all exhausted... I'm still amazed at how quickly Turkey affects your ability to stay awake.

Thanksgiving Meal

Veggie Platter
Turkey, I brined the Turkey with a brine off of MarthaStewart.com. This was the 2nd time I've brined a Turkey and I was very pleased. The breast meat was still very moist and flavorful although the Turkey was in the oven until the thigh meat was done. It cooked in about 2.5 hours. Let me know if you want the recipe.

Rolls, These were a tad overcooked but were still very good.

Cranberry Sauce, It's the best cranberry sauce I've ever had. Not too sour, not too sweet, pretty much perfect. It is technically a Cooked Cranberry Relish (sauces are soupy in consistency). Ingredients are simply cranberries, orange juice, orange zest, sugar and a little water. Yummy...

Berry Mallow Yam Bake. This has been a family tradition for the Bridges for as long as I can remember. It is simply not Thanksgiving without it.

Apple Pie... it was supposed to be prettier, but the apples ended up a bit smaller than originally planned. It still tasted really good though. It's a recipe from the Pie and Pastry Bible.This is JD's uncle's famous Pumperdink's Cheesecake. Apparently it's the best in the family so we made it and I ate 3 peices last night... It is really good.

Let me know if you want any of these recipes. Most are fairly simple but time consuming. The meal was great and it was actually a little easier than planned because everyone helped! Leftovers are pretty awesome. Hope you all had a great Thanksgiving.

St. George

My mom came came down last Thursday and we went to St. George to visit my grandparents and my cousins, aunt and uncle that live there as well. My cousin Lee and his wife Kellie and their three little girls Riley, Kyla and Brinley. Julian was so thrilled to visit and had a great time playing with the girls. He especially loved Brinley (at the bottom with her Dad and Julian) and would run through the house calling "Brinney, Brinney" it was really cute. The night before we left Brinley told her Grandpa (my Uncle Bucky) that she "loved him and wanted him to stay ag go to the beach with me." Riley is 9, Kyla is 6 and Brinley is 3. We had a great time visiting everyone. My family is pretty cool, I have to admit.

Thanksgiving

I'm not sure why, maybe it's my love for cooking or just possibly the joy of eating with wild abandon, that I love Thanksgiving. It's one of my favorite holiday meals to make. Usually I start planning my meal at least a month ahead of time... but it's a full outline, recipes, ingredients lists, tool needs, etc... that hasn't happened this year. It's 2 days prior and I still haven't actually made a menu. Life has been a bit crazy and my energy is slowly diminishing the longer I am pregnant (I'm at 25 weeks now).

But all is well! I will prevail! And the food will ROCK.

But, more than all the food I also enjoy this season because as a friend put it "it's the last holiday that hasn't been over commercialized." Thanksgiving is still about being with family, spending quality time with those you love and expressing your thanks. We celebrate all the blessings we have and the opportunities that we are given. Even the small things seem momentous.

I am grateful that this year I get to spend it with our families. Tasha, Adam and Andrea (JD's sister, brother and his girlfriend) will be spending the weekend and my family is in town and has been for a few days. Julian has loved spending time with his 'gragga' and 'pumpa.' It has been so much fun to see how thrilled my parents are with being grandparents. Even when things are stressful or frustrating a call or a picture of Julian perks them up immediately. It's awesome.

I am grateful for John-David and the wonderful friend, husband and father that he is. My life is better and I am better because of him. I am grateful that we are an eternal family and that we get to add to it. I am grateful for Julian and for the joys and challenges that he brings me each day. And I am grateful for the chance that I have to be his mother. I am grateful that we have the opportunity to be in Law School, and grateful for the trails of faith and the strength to move through them. I am grateful that the Lord answers my prayers and has allowed me the opportunity to be of service to my friends and family. I am grateful for a true testimony of the gospel of Jesus Christ and a testimony of the Book of Mormon. I know it is a true book and has offered me strength, comfort and encouragement in the most difficult times of my life.

My list of blessings can go on and on, as all of ours can. But know that I am grateful also to you, my friends and family. I am honored to know you and grateful that we can share our lives, even if was only for a moment. What are you grateful for this holiday season?

Happy Thanksgiving.

Baby Names

I have to write these down or I will forget them all. Here are the names we have come up with so far:

Dorian
Oliver
Jonathon
Allister
Callister
Harrison
Gideon
Everrett
Anthony
Phineas
Elias

Some we like more than others, we haven't quite decided. The only criteria is that is has 3 syllables. I know it sounds weird but all of our first names have 3 syllables :). It's the only "cutesy" thing we'll do with our kids names. Let me know what you think, but mainly this is so that I won't forget the list :)

My Hair Cut

I'm now 24 weeks pregnant. Things are still going well with the pregnancy, the baby is moving a ton and that makes me a little more patient with everyday life. Julian is starting to mimic us a lot more and it makes me laugh. He loves to sing and play on the piano that his Aunt Tasha got for him last year. It's pretty fun. He's started giving us concerts regularly.

I got my haircut about 2 weeks ago... shockingly it stays curly for longer than 1 hour. It's been. The picture from the back is mainly for my sister, Karlee. I chopped about 3 inches, it still looks a little long and I think I might be okay with it going a bit shorter... but we'll see. With Thanksgiving coming up life is getting a bit busier. My parents and baby brother (he's almost 17) are coming down this weekend and it will be lots of fun to see them.

My Accomplishment!

My pregnancy with Julian was superb, even though I was a total worry wort the whole time. I rented a fetal doppler and had it at least until I was about 7-8 months pregnant with him. I was so concerned about him moving, hearing his heartbeat was a great comfort to me.

In fact, that has been something that has been a comfort to me throughout my life. I remember snuggling up to my Dad (I still do this when I get to see him) and I'd put my head to his chest and listen to his heartbeat. I like cuddling with JD and hearing his heartbeat and I still like to listen to Julian's heartbeat. To me it's how I know that they are truly alive and with me. That my life is really as wonderful as I think it is and that these wonderful people I have in my life are the greatest blessings I've ever known.

It has been stressful with this pregnancy to not be able to hear this little boy's heartbeat every day. Although, my doctor has been wonderful and scheduled me visits every 2 weeks so that I can hear him. I am proud of myself though, because I feel like I have taken a huge leap of faith and I feel like I have been successful in trusting in the Lord and taking a breath and calming myself through the fear and anxiety. I have been blessed to have a spirit of comfort with me and it has been rewarding for me to know that I have made it this far in the pregnancy (23 weeks) without worrying myself to tears (it's happened just not nearly as much as I thought it would).

The Lord has blessed me and has helped me to see the strength that I have, and what I can do when I have him to support me. I'm truly grateful and humbled by it.

The Letter V

There is a really cool blog called "No Time For Flashcards." It has lots of ideas for parents to do with their kids, art projects songs, neat books, etc. With Julian getting a bit older and wanting to experiment with more of the world around him I figiured it's about time to start doing a weekly art project. This week we made the letter "V." He was so excited. We cut a "V" out of a cereal box and I printed pictures of vegetables. He colored and helped me cut out and glue the pictures to the letter. He was really excited.
He's talking a lot more lately. He's speaking in 2 word sentences most of the time and working really hard to communicate what he wants. We all sometimes get a bit frustrated, but he's growing and learning so fast.

His latest cute thing is that when he wants to continue what he's doing and I want him to stop, he puts out his hand and spreads his fingers to show us all 5 fingers and says "five minutes mommy, five minutes K?"

21 Weeks

I am almost 22 weeks now and things are going really well. The baby is moving a lot and overall doing well. We still haven't decided on a name, if anyone has any 3 syllable boy names, leave them in the comment section.

Gagging Maggots

Happy Halloween! We went to a halloween party last night and were asked to bring a yummy halloween dessert. JD came up with the idea to make grubs or gagging maggots that were eclairs. These are vanilla eclairs with a chocolate frosting. I have to admit, they were pretty good even though they did look a bit... questionable. These are actually much easier than you'd think. If you want the recipe, let me know.

I Voted!

We got to vote via absentee ballot yesterday. It's exciting to be part of this history making election. Everyone needs to get out and vote by November 4!