Blessings!

Tessa recieved a name and a blessing in church on Sunday. Most of Barry's family made for the occasion.

Although we had a hard time getting good pictures of our little family and Tessa, we got some grat ones of Barry's family!
I LOVE this one of Barry's sisters! Ooo, la, la, ladies! Can you believe that two of these three gorgeous ladies are available???

After the blessing (which was beatiful, btw), we went to Amber's house where she made burritos a la Cafe Rio, with all the fixings, in honor of my birthday and Tessa's special day. (Yum!) Then I opened my birthday presents (the "Cansolidator" and other kitchen storage supplies). Then we attempted some multi-generational photos. You can see how Trenton felt about these...

Advent calendar--my version

I had been wanting to make an advent calendar of somekind for a long time. I was hoping to do something in the shape of a Christmas tree because that is what we had growing up, but I was hoping for a version that called for a lot less sewing.

So here is what I came up with after borrowing ideas from Becky P.'s blog, who borrowed ideas from Ali Edward's blog, who borrowed ideas from Martha Stewart's kids magazine. ;-) Aren't blogs great!

If anyone wants specs (paint colors, how to's, etc.) let me know. Although, I think the colors look a little different in this picture than in real life. I plan to put a scripture and thought question in each one (from the Friend magazine), and hide a few treats on random days.

Happy Birthday to me!

Today is much more quiet than I am used to for a birthday, but that is kind of one of my birthday presents this year. Barry is working the gun show today, and my in-laws took my children to the Polar Express Train ride this weekend (post to come). So Tessa and I are chilling alone. I like to take it easy on my birthday, but this time I feel the need to keep working on stuff because of the realization of how difficult it will be to get anything done (like shop or wrap presents) when my children are back (and Barry will be out of town an awful lot in the next few weeks!). Barry and I are supposed to go to dinner tonight, but are torn between going someplace nice or grabbing a quick bit to eat and coming back to work on my craft project (advent calendar--post to come).

If today doesn't feel much like my birthday, I really can't complain, because last Saturday in Prescott, I had a really great day that felt a lot like a birthday. Barry and his mom had arranged for me to go to a salon and get a pedicure/manicure and eyebrows waxed. Little did we know that they hadn't planned to be open that day, but were moved by the idea that a husband wanted to surprise his wife and opened shop, just for me! See my bright red toes!

Afte that we all went to an early dinner at the Prescott Brewing Co. (Downtown), and then the girls--including Kira and Tessa--went to see "Enchanted." It was a great day full of things I don't normally get to do!

We will also be celebrating with my in-laws tomorrow after Tessa's blessing (another post to come! :-)).

We got elfed!

This is too funny! When I saw Kim's I had to do one for our family. Check out our moves:

http://www.elfyourself.com/?id=1122878414

Pretty Baby!

I took this picture of Tessa last night as she lay on my lap. I thought she looked so pretty laying there. She seems to be changing each day! She has officially "slept through the night" (6-7hrs.) the last few nights. She has also smiled for Barry a couple of times now, too. She will be six weeks old tomorrow and will be blessed on Sunday!

mother and child

My mom needed a picture of Tessa and me for her Christmas letter, so we took these today.

sibling love

My kids are the world's wildest sleepers--often falling out of bed in the middle of the night with out waking up. So as you can imagine, I was a little nervous when this shared sleeping arrangement was suggested for their stay in Prescott. We found them like this one night, and they didn't even wake up when we turned on the light and took this picture. If only they could be so harmonious during the day!

My handsome...goofballs!

I thought Barry and Trenton looked so handsome together in their striped shirts, but getting them to take a serious picture was not going to happen.

Giving Thanks!

We had a fantastic Thanksgiving at Barry's parents' house in Prescott.

Once again, I volunteered for aesthetic duty (table setting). I tell people that this is so I get out of more kitchen duty. This is only partially true. I get great satisfaction out of setting a beautiful table! I think it is because we don't dine like this more than a couple of times a year.















Kira and I made these place settings.
I made my first ever pumpkin roll for the occassion. It was quite yummy, if I say so myself, but not as visually stunning as Barry's Holiday bundt cake drizzled in orange glaze.

Happy Birthday,Tessa!

Yesterday Tessa turned 1 month old (I am going to try and remember to document each month).

I think she also gave us her first smile and real coo, yesterday morning. I haven't seen either much since, but I'm counting on Grandma to encourage her at Thanksgiving!

Pretty in Pink Polkadots

We love these jammies that Aunt Amber gave Tessa! I had to take photos!

Pigs in a Blanket...and a box???

Barry and the kids made giant pigs in a blanket one night for dinner.

He's such a good house husband, isn't he? ;-)
I think I've decided to take back all of the kids Christmas presents, and just give them the boxes they came in. (ok, not really) But what toy is more fun than a big empty box?

All dressed up...

...but no one could tell.
Tessa's first couple of weeks at church, I put her in adorable dresses I inherited from my sister, but she managed to stay sleeping in her carseat--wrapped up in a blanket--so no one could see. I decided the second week that I had better get some pictures, since I'm sure she won't be able to wear these little dresses for too long.

Jane Austen anyone?

Take the Quiz here!

Gratitude

I have been wanting to do this post for a while as I have been trying to focus on gratitude all month long, and I have a lot to be grateful for this Thanksgiving--particularly special people! So this post is about some of the people who have sacrificed to help us lately and for whom we are extremely grateful!

SHANDA
I can't believe that Shanda stayed with us for 2 1/2 weeks and this is the best picture I have of her. Anyway, I am so glad that Shanda and Talia could come for Tessa's birth. Shanda was a huge support in so many ways! She helped keep me from going insane as I waited for Tessa's arrival, took over disciplining Trenton when I no longer had the strength, kept my children happy and entertained during Fall Break, took care of the kids (including getting them ready for the Halloween party)while we were at the hospital, coached and encouraged me through my early labor, was my cheerleader through it all, paid attention to my emotional and physical needs (pre and post-labor), and much more! I think everyone should have a sister around during childbirth times.

MY PARENTS
This is my Mom with Kira and "Pepperoni Pam Pizza." My parents got to town right before we got home from the hospital. My mom spoiled me with breakfast in bed each morning, took over all of the dishwashing and meal prep, did a ton of mending, and helped me (really did most of the work) make my Christmas presents for the children (can't post pics until after Christmas), entertained my children, and much more!

My Dad took care of several things on my "honey-do" list, drove me to the Pediatricians office, and ran other errands. He helped Barry take down a tree in our front yard, and much more!

HALTERMANS

My mother-in-law took a few days and came down to be with us. Here she and Mikelle are bathing Tessa. Mikelle provided dinner for all of us.

While Becky was staying with us, they helped the kids carve pumpkins and helped entertain the kids. Amber has the energy to wrestle Trenton, which he loves!

Besides, helping us at our house, my mother-in-law took Trenton back to Prescott for the week, which was a huge deal for me. Lots of credit has to be given to my father-in-law, who had charge of Trenton for several evenings, while Becky put on a play for her Relief Society.
He had a great time in Prescott! When they brought him back from Prescott, they all (Mikelle and Amber, too) helped clean the house (you know, scrub bathrooms and yucky stuff like that!) and Amber brought a twin bed for us, so Kira could finally get out of her toddler bed.

WARD FAMILY

I'm almost embarrassed to list all of the people from the ward that brought us food, knowing that in a lot of wards, people are lucky to get a meal or two. We have a really supportive ward and although everyone is in a difficult situation (pregnant, recently had a baby, or something similar), they are all still willing to help out however they can!

So I am grateful to the following for bringing food (and several also brought gifts) and taking such good care of us:

Lunts

Hickenloopers

Horrocks

Rockwoods
Glazebrooks
Gilberts

Broyles
Smiths

Porters

...and tonight, if Barry ever makes it home, we are supposed to have dinner from "The Claim Jumper" courtesy of Clear Creek Associates, where he works!

TRINA

My sister, Trina, came to town for a reunion with High School friends, not expressly to help me, but in the day she was here, she managed to help me sort through maternity clothes, fix a yummy Sunday dinner, and give me some much needed sister bonding time!

So writing this all out is kind of overwhelming and makes me feel incredibly guilty about any complaining I may do. How do people ever do this with out family or the church?

Thank you, everyone!

Knit Together..

There has been a strange phenomenon occurring at the Halterman home, lately--knitting. The strangest part being that the one that has been doing most of the knitting is Barry. I bought the round looms mainly to get Kira going on a project, but Shanda (while she was here) and especially, Barry, have really taken off with it--learning and even inventing new stitches. Barry asks that you keep this quiet because he doesn't want to get beat up by the boys on the playground.

Here he and Trenton are modeling some of his creations.

The Alien and the Astronaut...A Halloween Tale

Once upon a time there was an alien girl and an astronaut. The two had a great time playing together at a church Halloween party, but alas, photographers were unprepared and failed to catch this phenomenon on film. As Halloween night approached, photographers were anticipating another opportunity to capture a photo of the astronaut and the alien together. But shortly before Halloween, the astronaut was called away on a special mission to the distant planet, Prescott. Meanwhile the alien was excited to experience the earthing tradition known as "trick or treating." So the astronaut and alien were apart for Halloween. This must be why they look so unhappy in their pictures, but sources close to the astronaut and the alien, report that they both actually had a great holiday!