2012 Christmas Letter

Dear Family and Friends,
We hope this Christmas season finds you safe and warm and surrounded by loved ones.  We have been very fortunate this year and have been busy doing and learning some really fun things.  So here's a break down.
Christopher hit his 1 year mark with Health Equity this summer and is continuing to love working for this company.  He is now the Director of Consulting Sales and his favorite part about it is the presenting/speaking he gets to do.  He's been busy this fall traveling for work and while he enjoys the little trips he's glad most of them are short and don't keep him away from home for long.  After a year of teaching the 16 year olds at church we were released this summer and made the new nursery leaders.  Unaccustomed to spending so much time with so many little ones, Christopher is grateful for the help of the other leaders (especially his wife) and the time he gets to spend each Sunday with Carter.
Alyssa (6) had a fabulous first year at Odyssey Charter School and waited impatiently all summer for 1st grade to begin this fall.  She has turned into a good little reader, and while she is very good at math her favorite subject is core knowledge where she gets to learn about different cultures.  So far she has enjoyed learning about ancient Egypt, Mesopotamia, World Religions (Islam, Christianity and Judaism), and most recently the Mayan civilization.  She is our little scientist and participated in the Mad Science club after school this fall.  At home she is busy being a great big sister, playing with friends, and watching The Universe with her Daddy.  We love having her in our family and keeping us on our toes!
Mikayla (4) is in her second year of Preschool at Lindon Elementary.  She is growing and becoming quite the conversationalist.  She started ballet this fall and loved doing her cat dance for us.  Mikayla continues to be a light and angel to all and she is surrounded by special boys her age that she is so patient and kind with that they all just love her, although she only has eyes for Finn and spends a lot of her time talking about when she grows up she's going to marry him.  She loves to play with her little brother and the sound of the two of them giggling together just makes my heart melt!   What an angel we were blessed with!
Carter (2) is all boy.  He loves running and climbing and tacking and any type of ball or truck or animal that goes ROAR!  Blessed with a happy disposition, he is constantly smiling and cheerful and such a great snuggler.
Rebecca is busy as a mother, a wife, and a friend who most days feels like a cruise director.  Happy to have spent time with her family this summer in DC for her sister's wedding and looking forward to our big roadtrip to Texas for Christmas with grandma and grandpa Williams.  Oh, and always on pinterest! Sundays have been busy with choir rehersals for two choirs, Rebecca's favorite part of the Christmas season continues to be her participation in Christmas in the Grove.
As we look back on 2012 we count our blessings and know they are abundant.  We are most grateful for our amazing neighborhood and wonderful ward, our friends new and old who enrich our lives, the gospel of Jesus Christ, and of course each other.  Family really is everything so we can truly say, "We've got it all!"
Merry Christmas and Happy New Year
Love,
The Woods

Mikayla's Official School Portrait

Mikayla's official school portrait for her second year of preschool.  The sad thing for me is how often she asks when she will get to go to kindergarten, or when she will get to go to Alyssa's school.  Its going to be hard on this mom next year.  But these girls sure do love each other and want to be together, so who can complain?  I'm so proud that this year when you ask who is smart she says, "Mikayla!" instead of always saying "Alyssa" like she has in the past.  Here's to a great school year!

1st Day of School

August 20, 2012 was Alyssa's first day of 1st Grade and boy!  was she excited!  She couldn't sleep the night before for all her anticipation.  Anyway, she looked fantastic.  Mikayla told us she was going to miss Alyssa when we dropped her off, which was really sweet.  And when I picked up Aly and asked how her day went she responded, " Best day ever!!"  and when I asked about her teacher she said, "Best teacher in the world!!"  So I think we shall have a successful year. (fingers crossed)
Odyssey Charter School, Ms. East's class:

August 28, 2012 was Mikayla's first day of Preschool.  Her second year at Lindon Elementary, Special Ed Preschool with Mrs. Jennifer Nelson and many, many aides and therapists.  Thanks for all the staff does so this little girl can keep developing strong muscles and a strong mind--she already has a very strong heart!

Ironically Christopher was able to take both of these girls to school on their first days because he was leaving on business trips and had a later flight.  And to celebrate (and not cook dinner) Mommy took us all out to Costa Vida for dinner each time.

What about Carter you ask?  He gets time at home with Mom, which he isn't sure what to do with.  The first day we dropped Mikayla off he cried and said, "Jo-Jo go bye."  But I think he's getting used to it now, although he plays so hard its not unusual to find him on the floor like this:

The Back-to-School Fairy

At our house we are really lucky to have a Back-to-School Fairy (or B2SF) to help us get ready for school.  Each night before school begins she brings a challenge, and the next night to comes to see how you did and leave a treat and a new challenge.  My kids LOVED it!  So here's what she brought:

Summer is over, and boy was it fun!

But now its time to get some things done.

I’m the Back-to-School fairy, 

Here with a rhyme

To help you be ready for back to school time

Each day I’ll visit and bring you a game

A challenge of sorts, with this as our aim

To get you all ready to go back to school,

Excited and ready for this year to be cool.

Each challenge you finish will bring a small treat

A reward for accomplishing every day’s feat

Each one will add to the ones from before

So in just one week you’ll know what’s in store

Ready, set, go!  Its time to begin

1st grade is waiting, so lets dive right in!

The first challenge has something to do

With the gift in this bag I have brought just for you

This pair of pajamas will fast have you dreaming

So when the alarm sounds tomorrow you’re beaming

I’ll come back tomorrow to see how it went

To see if you scored 100%

And she got an alarm clock and got to start getting up on time and going to bed on time.  

Day #2:

You did such a great job with challenge #1!

Before you know it these games will be done.

Are you ready to add this next task with a smile?

Its time to get up early and dress in style

Getting up early can be most unpleasant

Unless you use tonight’s moonlight present

Set this alarm clock for 7am

Then wake up on time for the day to begin.

 tonight's gift: pajamas!

Day #3:

You’re getting to bed early and waking on time

So now we can focus on afterschool time.

You’ll need a place to keep learning fun

When you’re home with mom after school’s done

Challenge #3 is to find a cozy space

And make it your smart-time homework place

Gather your crayons and scissors and glue

Don’t forget your pencils and markers too.

This place should inspire your very best work

So that doing your homework is always a perk.

gift: a pencil box, pencils, pencil sharpener, ruler, crayons, scissors, glue stick for her "homework supplies"

Day #4:

You are working so hard!  You are doing so great! 

You’ll soon be done going at this rate.

Its day #4 and I don’t mean to bore

But today is the day you establish your chores.

Every person who lives in this house

Has responsibilities, so don’t grouse.

Please help out your mom and pick those tasks

You are willing to do daily without being asked.

Then make up your chart and pick your bait

To start earning your mom-daughter date.

She got a plate of cookies and had to start doing her school-day chores

Day #5:

Books are your favorite, they always have been

So today’s challenge should be easy to win

Starting today you must always read

20 minutes each day will help you succeed

School will be easier and believe it or not

Reading books will teach you quite a lot

You can read alone or you can read with me

Just make sure you do it consistently.

gift: egg timer to time her reading each day (or a book would also be good or bookmark)

Day #6:

Tonight’s challenge is really simple enough

Before heading to bed, lay out your stuff

Make sure you have everything that you will need

So dressing tomorrow is always a breeze

Remember your clothing, your shoes and your socks,

Your hair bows and sweater, then turn on the alarm clock

In the morning you’ll be stylin’, cute as can be

You’ll head off to school, such a little beauty.

 gift: new underwear, although a first day of school outfit or hairbows, a new toothbrush or hairbrush would all be great ideas.

Day #7:

You love being healthy and creative too

So making your school lunch will be easy for you.

Pick a protein, a veggie, a fruit and a grain

To help you growth healthy and help grow your brain

These charts I have made should help a bunch

In making sure you pack a healthy lunch

Make sure that you do it the night before

So you won’t have to as you head out the door.

gift: lunch thermos because she already had a lunchbox.

Day #8: (the night before school starts)

Early to bed and early to rise, what’s more

You’re ready to study and read and do chores

You’ve packed your lunch and you’ve laid out your clothes

You’ll soon be tucked in and ready to doze.

There’s nothing more that this fairy can do,

You’ll be terrific, you’ll make it through.

And when you get home from your first long day,

Check your bed for a gift I’ll be sending your way

To applaud you for all of the work that you’ve done

So that school will be so much wonderful FUN!

Happy 1st Day of school to a fantastic girl

Who will someday be running the entire world

gift: can be anything they need for the first day of school, a backpack, notebook, candybar, new uniform jumper (as here) etc...  What Alyssa came home to was a matching dress for her American Girl Doll!

 

I also did a smaller, simpler version for Mikayla who was starting her second year of preschool and tailored it to her needs.  If you are interested I am happy to email you the poems I used for that, or you can just choose a couple of days from above.

HAPPY BACK TO SCHOOL EVERYONE!

 

Camping with Cousins

When we made our summer bucket list, the first thing on it was : go camping with cousins.  This was the one thing they really wanted to do so it was one of the first.  So we went for just a night to Timponeeke campground up American Fork canyon with the Williams and the Strongs.  We had a great time!  Thanks for planning it Mindy and Holly!

Turning 30

I have maintained for years that I do not want to celebrate my 30th birthday unless I could do it right.  I informed my sweet husband he could either go all out (something along the lines of kidnapping me and dragging me to Hawaii for a week) or completely forget the day even existed.  This is mostly due to the fact that I HATE benchmarks in life that make us look back and evaluate how far I've come and look ahead to how much less time I now have to do everything I was meant to do.  Basically, it makes me feel like a failure.  So this year as I was contemplating this philosophy I decided that rather than looking back at all the things I didn't accomplish (my own human failings), I would instead look at all the blessings I have been given.  And that is a lot, 30 years of a lot.  The list just keeps getting bigger and bigger.  Naturally my next thought was, how can I celebrate those blessings as my birthday?  And I think I have  come up with a great plan.
Recently many of my friends have taken to making birthday goals, such as "run 33 miles on my 33rd birthday" or "go on 30 dates during my 30th year."  Using that as a template, I have applied my new birthday philosophy and decided I would like to do 30 temple ordinances for my 30th birthday.
Doing this alone sounds like a daunting task, so here is where all my dear friends and family come it.

I would LOVE to have you join me in the temple on my birthday, July 26th, for ordinance work.  

My hope is to find 30 names that need to be done (I'll need help with this if anyone knows where to start) and then have a couple friends join me for baptisms in the morning, initiary before breakfast, endowments during nap time, and cap it off with a round of sealings in the evening. Afterwards anyway that helped me accomplish this goal is invited to my house for cake and ice cream at 8:30.  Do I have any takers?  I don't intend to do all the ordinances for all 30 people, I just want to make sure 30 ordinances get done.  I think this is a great way to celebrate my birthday, since who makes me me more that my family that has gone before?  And it highlights the blessings I have been given.  As someone very smart once said, "If I stand tall, it is because I stand on the shoulders of giants."  My family tree is riddled with giants that I have immense gratitude for, to happy birthday us!

Easiest Bean and Cheese Burritos
1 1/2 tsp oil
1 can pinto beans
1 can diced green chilis
1 tsp taco seasoning
1 cup shredded cheese
8 flour tortillas

In a sauce pot heat oil, then add beans, green chilis, and seasoning.  Heat through and mash with a potato masher.
Heat tortillas on both sides, then spoon beans into the center and top with cheese.  Roll in ends, then sides and place seam-down on a baking sheet.
Bake at 350 degrees for 5 minutes.

Best Pork Chops Ever!

Or at least that I have ever tried.   This is the simplest but most flavorful recipe!  I made them the other night just because I didn't know what else to make...but I was floored.  Give them a go and let me know what you think

Sage Pork Chops

2 t salt
1 tsp dried sage
1 tsp black pepper
porkchops
2 T butter
1 cup beef broth Or 1 c water +2 t beef boullion granuals

Combine the salt, sage and pepper and rub into porkchops.
In a large skillet on med-hi heat melt butter, then add pork chops.  Cook for 5 minutes on each side.
If using water and boullion, combine in a small saucepan until warm and the granuals dissolve.  Poor beef broth/boullion mixture over pork chops, cover and simmer.  The original recipe said 45 minutes for bone in but I did boneless so it only simmered about 20 minutes.  Enjoy!
PS you could also make a gravy out of the extra sauce at the end or just serve it as au jus.  So yummy and simple, no?

Crock Pot Yogurt

I've been talking to a lot of people who want to know how I make my own yogurt.  It all started because Mikayla needed a soft food, high in protein, and with full fat milk which can be hard to find, not to mention expen$ive.  So I hit the internet and did a lot of research and tried several different things.  I didn't want to buy a yogurt maker and the other methods seemed like a lot of work.  But we were going through 2+ quarts of yogurt a week and I was getting desperate.  So I decided to try a method I found for the crock pot and was I surprised!  It worked great!  So for practically no work and mere pennies I can make organic, all natural, full fat (or half fat) yogurt as thick (greek style) or thin (australian style)  as I want it.  Try it,  you'll love it.

1/2 (8 cups) gallon milk
1/2 cup - 1 cup powdered milk
4 oz yogurt with live cultures
your choice of flavorings and sweeteners

Put 8 cups of milk (2% or whole, I've never tried lower fat but I'm sure it would work) in a crock pot on low for 2 1/2 hours.  Depending on how thick you want the yogurt to be you can add powdered milk (1/2 cup for medium consistency, 1 cup for thicker consistency) or for a more jell-o like consistency use 2 pkts unflavored gelatin (although if you used flavored I'm thinking it would make flavored yogurt...but I've never tried that).
After 2 1/2 hrs unplug the crockpot and leave it  be for 3 hrs.
Add 1 cup of the warm milk to 1/2 cup yogurt with live cultures (any brand works as long as it has live cultures.  I like Dannon all natural or Oinkos).  Once again you want to use plain instead of flavored unless you want to flavor the entire batch.  The stir the yogurt-milk mixture back into the milk in the crock pot, leaving the crock pot off and wrap the whole thing in a bath towel.  Leave it to culture overnight.
In the morning put it in the fridge.  I like to add 3 TBLS of agave or 1/4 cup sugar and 1 1/2 tsp vanilla to mine and then divide it into 1/2 cup tupperwares that my kids can just grab out of the fridge.  You can also add fruit puree to flavor it,  or fresh fruit as you serve it.
Good luck!  Happy yogurt-ing!