Official Bed Maker

Last week Nick was begging me to play the Wii with him. I told him that I had some house cleaning to do, and needed to make my bed. He was satisfied and I went on cleaning and about 10 minutes later, Nick tells me to come look in my room. I went to look and my little sweetie had made my bed! He did a pretty good job, and I just had to snap a picture.

Doug is 30!!!

We celebrated Doug's 30th Birthday last week!!!

Monkey Feet

I thought this picture was so cute. She found mittens and thought they were socks.

My Sisters

A few weeks ago 2 of my sisters came to visit. My parent live in Omaha, so I don't get too many visitors, but that was their Christmas present from my dad. It was so fun to see them and show them the beautiful Seattle area. We went to Snoqualmie falls twice, because the first time we went there it was so foggy that you couldn't see the falls, so we had to go back again. It was worth another drive out there, it is so beautiful. Here's some pictures of of our adventures.


We went on a ferry ride.


Sarah, Nick & Catie by the waterfront.

We took them bowling, which is Nicholas' new favorite thing!!!

In front of the temple.

Nick with "his girls" as he calls them. He was in heaven with all the attention.


Joselyn after a long day of sight-seeing.

Christmas

We had a wonderful Christmas. Here are some pictures.

Nicholas got a personal visit from Santa (a.k.a. our apartment maintenance guy) on Christmas Eve. He was so excited!!!


Joselyn & Nick on Christmas Eve in their festive sweaters.


We went to Doug's folks' home in Kent for a delicious Christmas Eve feast.


On Christmas morning I got to talk to my little brother who is on a mission in Switzerland, so that was awesome. Then it was so fun to see the kids open their presents.

Joselyn got a new doll. I was so excited to give it to her.



Christmas afternoon I played out in the snow with Nick and his cousins. I think I had more fun then they did. We made a snowman and a snow tunnel. I felt like a kid again.



Joselyn turned 1 year old on the 26th. I can't believe my baby is one already. My favorite part of 1st birthdays is letting them dig into a cake. Joselyn didn't disappoint.





Joselyn got a stroller for her doll, but enjoyed trying it out herself.



The day after Christmas we went with Doug's family to Leavenworth, Washington. It is a cute Bavarian town. All his siblings and their families, but one were able to come. We enjoyed restaurants, shops, swimming at the hotel, and a beautiful sleigh ride. It was a winter wonderland there. It is also a special place for Doug and I because we went there for Christmas 6 years ago when we were dating.

Joselyn loved these little kittens in one of the shops.

Joeslyn and Nick in their Christmas clothes from Nana.

Sugar Coated Pecans

I found this delicous recipe online at allrecipes.com and wanted to share it. It is great on salads, or as a snack. I made a pound of pecans for New Years and they were gone in 2 days. I love them and it is easy!

INGREDIENTS
1 pound pecan halves

1 egg white
1 tablespoon water

1 cup white sugar (I tried using 1/4 cup brown sugar and 3/4 cups white sugar and liked it)
3/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon

DIRECTIONS

In a mixing bowl, whip together the egg white and water until frothy. In a separate bowl, mix together sugar, salt, and cinnamon.
Add pecans to egg whites, stir to coat the nuts evenly. Remove the nuts, and toss them in the sugar mixture until coated. Spread the nuts out on a foil lined baking sheet (for easy clean up).

Bake at 250 degrees for 1 hour. Stir every 15 minutes.

Christmas Wishes

I could not get a decent picture of them together!

We hope that every one is staying warm and has a wonderful Christmas!!! We took a trip to Denver a few weeks ago and it seems like I have finally been able to catch up on things and feel ready for Christmas. Here is our Christmas newsletter. Warm Christmas wishes to all!

Dear Family & Friends,

It’s been another wonderful year for us. We ended 2007 with our precious Joselyn being born on Dec 26th; she will celebrate her first Christmas this year. We got her a doll and I’m so excited to give it to her! It’s been a year of firsts for her, including walking at 9 ½ months!!! Her new favorite thing is pointing at everything! She loves books and can’t quite pronounce Nicky so she calls her big brother “Ninny”.

Nicholas has grown up a lot this year. He started primary and is a Sunbeam this year; he really enjoys it. He also started preschool in September and loves it. School was canceled for a few days due to snow and he was quite disappointed. He is really excited about Christmas this year. As encouragement for him to be a little more obedient, I told him that if he isn’t a good boy then he would get coal from Santa. I explained that coal is black rocks and he excitedly exclaimed “Awesome, I love rocks! I could paint them!” Nick loves collecting stuff and is quite the pack rat already. He sees potential in just about everything.

Doug is in his 4th and FINAL year of dental school at UW. He passed part 2 of the National Boards in November, and his graduation will be in June. Doug recently had Lasik eye surgery after growing tired of contacts and he has loved the change. In July of this year, Doug started his own online business; it’s an incentive site or a “GPT” (Get Paid To) website that rewards members for completing simple surveys. It is really growing quickly as of late! Sign up at simplegpt.com if you want to earn a little extra cash! Doug is also serving as financial clerk in the ward.

I am doing well, just trying to keep up with everything. I still apartment manage and I also teach the 11- year old girls in primary and love it!!! I try to get scrapbooking in every chance I get. In August, I got braces; it was quite an adjustment at first. We enjoyed a trip to the San Juan Islands in April for our 5-year anniversary. We also enjoyed a few trips to Nebraska this year to celebrate Kim (my sister) getting home from her mission in February and Corey (my brother) getting home from his mission in August. And Zac (my other brother) left in September for the Geneva, Switzerland mission. Earlier this month we took a trip to Denver to check it out as a possible place to live. We loved the area and found a good lead on a job opportunity. We’ll see what our options are as Doug gets closer to graduation. We are excited for graduation and look forward to getting a bigger place. We are quickly outgrowing our 2-bedroom apartment!

We hope you all have a Merry Christmas and a wonderful 2009!

Jessica, Doug, Nicholas and Joselyn