Pictures! For Story, See Cory's Post Below

Here's Cory, ready to make the cut!

But first! Here's me, looking oh-so-stylish (tying the blanket there meant I didn't have to carry it...) with Henry, who always looks stylish. You can't really tell here, but he had pants on over his sleeper and they're bunched up above his knees and look incredibly dorky. We are awesome parents.

And here's Cory, having chopped that tree down in remarkably manly fashion, taking in the delicious pine-scented air.

Packing up our boy, the tree tied carefully to the top of the (still shiny!) car

Harry and the tree, pre-decorations, as he chews on the blanket covering his pink Bumbo seat.

Me decorating! Again with the stylishness. Check out those socks! They are festive and warm and fuzzy, especially important to cold feet on cold hard floors.

Decorated! Stockings hung and everything. These are the hand-knitted ones Cory was talking about. :)

A closer look--Cory's was made by his wonderful Grandma Petty; mine and Henry's were knitted just this year by his Aunt Nancy, who is also wonderful. :)

Last but not least. I was shy and dorky and sneaky and took this through the car window; hence the blurry something-or-other along the bottom left. But hey, I like it. It's Santa, after all!

Hey! I'm Posting Here!

 So I have been commisioned to post about our Christmas Tree. It is a douglas fir standing at a majestic 5 feet and a handful of inches above ground, magically obtained through seasonal Christmas surprise!


There is quite a difference in how my mum's family celebrated holidays back in the day and how my dad's family celebrated. Basically, My Mom's family was very big on the excitement of the day coming and celebrating and making the day great and present-filled or tradition filled. My dad's family was like "Oh yeah, John, it's your birthday this month, what do you want?" At least that's how I saw the two families growing up.


My own family leaned toward the traditions of my mom's family. We all have matching hand-knitted Christmas stockings ("we all" means everyone from my grandparents down to every single great grand child) I remember all the lengths my parents went through to make sure we had good holidays. I even remember a sleigh ride and seeing real reindeer one year on Christmas eve. I was the typical kid who never slept Christmas eve for the excitement. Then I went on a mission.


Missions are great, don't get me wrong. They are great in all the right ways. But they ended up killing the excitement of holidays pretty well. I remember walking down the street in Uruguay and have my Paraguayan mission companion remind me that it was the fourth of July. I remember my Christmases were hallmarked with and extra few hours of not working and a 20 min phone call home. Birthday packages came weeks or months late and missing items. All other holidays didn't exist for missionaries. Coming home, I eventually found myself saying "hey Mom! its my birthday in a couple months. Can you help me buy this thingywhatsitcalled? and the actual day was nice but had missed the magic (?) of having someone else orchestrate how your day was going to be really special.


Being married, the nonchalant attitude toward special days is dangerous. For example. I remember the day my dad forgot his anniversary*. Somehow the relief society found out (....mom?) and my dad received several kind "reminders" from the sisters the weeks before Oct 30 for years afterwards. I am not totally convinced calling John Stephens in mid-october was not an official RS calling. While I didn't, haven't, hopefully won't repeat that grave a mistake (good one dad...), I have noticed something lacking in my new little family's celebrations.


I saw our Christmas going down the same street this year as it did last year. No decorations, no tree, no lights. But I also know more about Charisse. And how those little sighs and longings for festivity actually mean something! So I decided to try harder this year.


With a little Christmas magic subsidizing our strung budget, I started packing Harry up and told Charisse that we were leaving. She feigned annoyance at me not telling her where I was dragging her, and she feigned even more annoyance when I said it was an hour away and she feigned even more annoyance when I had to turn around to get cash out of out machine. Eventually, though, she caved and guessed that we were going to... CUT DOWN OUR OWN CHRISTMAS TREE!!!


We got there an hour later and drove up to this little festive home in the hills a bit north of Santa Cruz, CA. Harry was all bundled in his bomber jacket and we waited in line to figure out how it all worked. I grabbed a hand saw and we were off! we climbed a hill, crossed a stream ventured into a grove of trees here and there. That tree was too tall for our budget, that one looked like a dog toy, that one Harry called "obtuse" (whatever that means... He wouldn't elaborate...) Eventually we found one. It was perfect. The right size, shape, race, everything! but then we saw a better one so we cut it down and dragged it to the car where latinos tied it to our roof. We drank hot cider, paid the troll under the bridge, and I may as well have shot and killed a trophy deer the smile on my face.


Then we drove an hour back, I almost fell asleep so Charisse drove the rest of the way and did not crash. We got home, put it up, decorated it, called my dad to tell him about it, learned we were probably killing it because we didn't chop off the base before putting it in water, did that, and now we have a Christmas tree! I love it. It is the best tree I have ever had and among my best Christmas surprises.

*correction = birthday

Two Completely Unrelated Things

First, this photo. Look familiar? My fabulous former roommate, known internet-wise as Ci, decided to give baby Henry some lovely blue eyes. Thanks, Ci! They're almost as lovely as the real thing. :)

Second, dinner. I tried a new recipe tonight. It was simple and tasty and warm and is going to be added to the list of Things We Eat (which I keep for those days when I can't think of what to make and need to be reminded of options). I give you:

Cabbage Patch Soup

1/2 lb ground beef
1 1/2 c. chopped onion
1/2 c. sliced celery
2 c. water
1 can (16 oz) kidney beans, rinsed and drained
1 can (14.5 oz) stewed tomatoes
1 c. shredded cabbage
1 t. chili powder
1/2 t. salt

In a saucepan over medium heat, brown beef; drain. Add onion and celery; cook until tender. Add water, beans, tomatoes, cabbage, chili powder and salt; bring to a boil. Reduce heat; cover and simmer for 20-30 minutes or until cabbage is tender.

Then it says to top each bowl with mashed potatoes, if desired. We didn't, mostly because I forgot, but I probably wouldn't have anyway, because I wouldn't have wanted to make them and the ones we have in the fridge were garlic, which might have been weird.

Anyway. That's all. There will be a post about our Christmas tree soon, from Cory. There will, of course, be pictures. :)

The Jacket

I found this bomber jacket at a thrift store back when I was pregnant and simply had to have it. Since Harry is finally big enough to start wearing it, we felt that some documentation of the event was in order.

(Someday I will have the skills and/or camera and/or editing software to make it look like his eyes are actually, beautifully blue. Alas, it is not this day.)

Holding On For Dear Life

I know, I know, I'm posting kind of obsessively, but the blog is still all shiny and novel for me. We'll see how long it lasts. Then again, the sort of reflected vanity I have in my son makes me want to take lots of pictures of him and share them with the world, so I may very well continue (very often) making little photo posts like this one, because I just can't help myself.

Henry's first ride in a shopping cart...sans car seat :)

Raspberry Truffle Brownies

I'd been wanting to make these forever. I bought seedless raspberry jam on sale like two months ago specifically so I could use it in this recipe. (Note: seedless raspberry jam is weird in PB&J. Especially if you bought reduced fat peanut butter that tasted gritty. You should learn from my mistakes; I shan't be making either mistake again.) The reason I didn't make them immediately the moment I had all the ingredients was that I did not want Cory and myself to have to eat them all on our own--which is why I jumped at the chance to make something for game night. Hooray for excuses to make good food!

(Note: If you're one of my siblings, you should already have this recipe--I found it in the Taste of Home cookbook Mom gave everybody for Christmas a couple years ago.)

Raspberry Truffle Brownies

BROWNIES:

1 1/4 c. semi-sweet chocolate chips
1/2 c. butter
3/4 c. brown sugar
2 lg. eggs
1 tsp. instant coffee crystals (opt.--I had dark hot chocolate mix on hand, so I used that. Regular baking cocoa probably wouldn't hurt either...)

2 tbsp. water
1/2 tsp. baking powder
3/4 c. all-purpose flour

TRUFFLE FILLING:

1 c. semi-sweet real chocolate morsels
8 oz. pkg. cream cheese, softened
1/4 c. powdered sugar
1/3 c. seedless red raspberry preserves

GLAZE:

1/4 c. semi-sweet real chocolate morsels
1 tsp. vegetable shortening

BROWNIES: Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Grease a 9 x 9 inch baking pan (I used an 11x7, which is the closest I have to a 9x9). In heavy saucepan, over low heat, melt chocolate morsels with butter. Cool slightly. In a large mixing bowl, beat sugar and eggs together. Add chocolate mixture and coffee crystals dissolved in water, mixing well. Add flour and baking powder, mixing again. Spread evenly into prepared baking pan. Bake 30 to 35 minutes or until toothpick inserted in center comes out clean. Cool on wire rack.
TRUFFLE FILLING: Melt chocolate morsels in heavy saucepan over low heat. Set aside. In small mixing bowl, beat cream cheese with powdered sugar until fluffy. Beat in raspberry preserves. Add melted chocolate, mixing until well blended. Spread over top of brownies.
GLAZE: (I skipped the glaze, because I was out of chocolate.) In small heavy saucepan, over low heat, melt chocolate morsels with shortening. Drizzle over top of truffle mixture.
Chill before cutting.

When I made them they didn't really have time to chill; they were in the freezer for maybe half an hour before we cut them, and it worked fine. But the next day, straight out of the fridge, they were fudgy and even more delicious than before.

In summary, you should make these, because they're amazing.

Of Dreams and Television

I dream of Henry growing up to be cultured and intelligent and, you know, treading that fine line of good taste which is probably really just snobbery that knows how to be likeable. (Actually, my nighttime dreams involving Henry are usually nightmares where I forget him in the car or something, but, you know. My daydreams are good.)

And to that end--of being a Good Parent who will turn out a nice, respectable, relatively calm and well-behaved child (as much as that is ever possible)--I decided we were going to follow the AAP guideline and not let him watch tv until he's 2. So far we're succeeding pretty well, because I decided that there would be SOMETHING I was going to stick to absolutely, and I'm not giving up on it. Yes, there have been studies that indicate tv viewing doesn't actually do any harm to young kids, but I made the decision and I'm sticking to it. (Though lately it's becoming more difficult physically as he becomes more able and eager to contort himself in all kinds of new directions.)

The catch is this: Cory and I watch a lot of tv. We stream Netflix, we have a list of shows we follow on Hulu, we occasionally watch the Shaytards on Youtube, and, now that we got our shiny new tv for Christmas and Cory was genius enough to make an antenna, we can surf through regular channels and waste time on things like the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade. The tv is our standard background noise. But instead of ruminating on the fact that we should probably watch less television ourselves if we really want to instill tv-free habits in our son, I'm going to show a picture of the kind of cute thing that happens when trying to keep Henry from watching when we do (though in this case, it was Cory watching something on his laptop instead of the tv).

Fun times. :)

New Hat and Mittens; Baby in Pot

Just for fun, and because showing off pictures of the cutest boy on the planet was one of the main reasons for starting this blog in the first place :)

Because his tongue is pretty much his favorite sensory organ.

Bundled up to go see the lighting at temple hill (which was fun, but cold and anti-climactic).

 

 

 

...it was Cory's idea. I just documented the cuteness.

Ok so I might have encouraged him a little. But I feigned incredulity.

But then the lid was my idea.

And he was such a good sport about it all :)

And There Was Much . . . Sugar

It just so happens that Fairfield, California, is home to the factory that makes some of the greatest flavored sugary stuff on Earth: the Jelly Belly jelly beans. And it just so happens that we live not terribly far from Fairfield, and that Cory had the whole week off for Thanksgiving, and that we decided, the day before Thanksgiving, that we needed a family outing. We found one. And it was delicious.

Welcome to the Jelly Belly factory, a wonderful place made even better for being all decked out for Christmas. The tour is fun and free and ends with free samples. We weren't allowed to take pictures, but they basically take you along a catwalk all the way around the factory, so you get to peer down at towers and crates and big metal spinning bins (that probably have a name) filled with jelly beans in different stages of production. And you get to hear how much Reagan loved Jelly Bellys. And how people suggest ridiculous flavors like pork chop and macaroni and cheese (I agree they would be gross, but I've been craving mac and cheese ever since. I wish there were a Panera nearby, because theirs is awesome).

If you want the gist of the tour, there is, of course, a youtube video.

And then of course we bought a bag of Belly Flops--the factory rejects they sell for half off--with every intention of dividing them up and adding them to Christmas gifts. But then we ate about half of them. Not the tutti fruttis, though. They're mostly sitting on the kitchen counter, because they're gross.

Oh, and they gave everyone these dorky hats because some kind of head covering is required while on the tour. Hence the dorky hats we're wearing in the pictures. (We're not THAT dorky. At least...not in public? all the time? maybe?) And as always, there was much fawning over how adorable and well-behaved our boy is. :)

 

Invited to game night!

Hello everyone!

So Charisse and I have been in the Oakland 9th ward for about 2 months. Pretty quick after arriving, we were called to be teachers in the primary (ctr 5). That, however, has made it very difficult to meet people and make friends. But today we sermon the bishops office being set apart and a fellow from the elders quorum invited Charisse and I to his house for a game night with two other couples! We said yes and Charisse made raspberry truffle brownies to take. I will have her post the recipe for those interested.

We got there and chatted with everyone for about an hour. There wer two podiatry students, a Photographer, a Pixar animator, a mom who probably does something else as well but I don't know and us. We eventually began our game. It was divided up into boys vs girls and Each person wrote down 4 things On slips of paper. All these were place ldninto a bowl and dran one by one in 30 second turns alternating between boys and girls. The first round we had to describe the word to our team to try to get them to guess it. Once we went through the Whole bowl. We went through again using only 2 words to describe each slip. Then a third time acting out the words. The most exciting one was when a guy pushed his lips out to be big and pointed to the tv to act out "Oprah."

It is not important who won...

the POINT is that we had a very fun evening and felt very grateful to have been invited. Now we are going to bed.

Thanksgiving!

Cory's been on my case about not posting anything yet, so here we go!

Thanksgiving was a nice quiet affair at the Stephens home. No turkey, because it's a hassle and the odds of all two of us polishing off an entire turkey (small as it may be, by turkey standards) are quite slim. Instead, we put a pork roast in the crock pot with sweet potatoes and onion, whipped up some (boxed) stuffing, some (boxed, but hand-seasoned) mashed potatoes, and some (not boxed) glazed carrots. I also made a key lime pie for dessert, which was incredibly easy and is, to this day, incredibly tasty. (Read: we've only eaten half of it.)

Oh--and I, uh, bought a bag of King's Hawaiian sweet rolls, because we like them and because yeast is expensive here (stupid California). And that's not milk in our glasses, it's Cory's homemade egg nog, which was excellent.

The reason Henry doesn't look too happy in the picture isn't because he's sitting in a pink chair or because he didn't get to eat any of our delicious food, but because he's exhausted. Just as we were about to start eating he decided he'd had it and when nothing could console him, we wrapped him up and put him in his bed while we had dinner. Half-way through, to our great astonishment, he did something amazing: he stopped crying.

This was momentous. This was unprecedented. This was the first time EVER that we had put him to bed crying and he had actually fallen asleep on his own; usually we have to feed and/or rock him to sleep. He did the same the next night, though last night I had to go in and hold him for a minute. Hopefully the trend will continue, but who knows--once upon a time he was sleeping clear through the night, too.

And in case you want to know, here's the pie recipe, pretty much Key Lime Pie VII from Allrecipes.com:

Key Lime Pie!

Crust:
16 whole graham crackers, crushed
1/2 c. (1 stick) butter, melted

Mix together and press into a pie pan. (SO much better than store-bought crust.)

Filling:
2 cans (14 oz each) sweetened condensed milk
1/2 c. sour cream
3/4 c. key lime juice

Mix together in a bowl and pour into the crust. Pop it in the oven at 350 for 5-8 minutes (you don't want it to brown.) Cool it, chill it, and serve it with whipped cream (lots, if you're me). Fabulous.