Michelle Tsai Photography

I must interrupt these family Thanksgiving posts (as well as my current blogging dry spell) to post a most important event in my girl’s life. Here she is before… And here she is after! She got braces in between the two weekends my side of the family were here so just wanted to make mention of it because you’ll see her colorful teeth in the rest of the pics.  So proud of how well she’s done with getting them put on, taking care of them by herself, answering all the questions from her classmates (she’s the first one to get them in her class), and how tough she’s been while…

Wow, it’s been a little while since I last posted.  Been trying to savor more of this most wonderful time of the year as we celebrate our Savior’s birth and contemplate what that means to me and to my family.  Been trying not to be too busy, although trying is not the same thing as succeeding…  Been enjoying time with family especially now as Phil’s ten days off from work has begun. It’s been great being home all together. But I can’t very well skip right over Thanksgiving, so I will have to back up a little bit.  November was a fun month for us as we were able to…

Then it was little sister’s turn for a UCLA football date with Daddy. Dressed up and ready to go! They were sent off with one simple request: UNDER NO CIRCUMSTANCES WERE THEY TO BUY ANY STUFFED ANIMALS OF ANY KIND. I thought I made myself pretty clear.  One day I will show you what the girls’ beds look like. Phil sent me this pic after they got to the game: YYYAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!!! Half an hour later came this pic with the following text: Can we go now? Then ten minutes after that: IS IT TIME TO GO YET?!?!? Ha ha.

adapted from Rachel Farnsworth makes 3 dozen cupcakes Chocolate Cupcakes 3 cups all-purpose flour 3 cups sugar 1 1/2 cups unsweetened cocoa powder 1 tbsp baking soda 1 1/2 tsp baking powder 1 1/2 tsp salt 4 eggs 1 1/2 cups buttermilk 1 1/2 cups warm water 1/2 cup vegetable oil 2 tsp vanilla extract Peanut Butter Cream Filling 1 cup peanut butter 1/2 cup butter, melted 1/2 cup powdered sugar Instructions Preheat oven to 325 degrees. Line muffin tins with cupcake liners.  Mix together flour, sugar, cocoa powder, baking soda, baking powder, and salt on low speed until combined. Add eggs, buttermilk, warm water, oil, and vanilla.  Beat for…

A very happy byproduct of regular visits to the library is that Jonah now adores books.  He’ll often run to one of us with a book in hand and eagerly ask, “wee? wee? WEEEEEE?!” (Translation, “read? read? REEEEEAAD?!”)  That last, insistent request is a bit louder because we sometimes are not as quick to DEAR (remember “Drop Everything And Read”?) as he’d like.  Because sometimes we are in the middle of making dinner when the request is made.  Or in the bathroom.  Or currently operating a motor vehicle.  Sometimes DEAR-ing is not that feasible.  Or safe. But it’s endearing and really cute all the same. Blurry, but I love this…