carson.

smiles.

♥ ♥ ♥

balloons.

it's so bitter cold outside that we've had to get creative with entertaining ourselves these days. we've been watching Up! on a daily basis {ever since serena watched it on tv and fell in love}, so i thought i'd surprise her with a balloon funhouse when she woke up from her nap today. she looooooved it. so we let our hair get extra staticky and played with ballooons and watched Up! for the second time today.

$10 tent from ikea {a christmas gift} + $3 pack of balloons + 45 minutes of blowing up the balloons = one entertaining aternoon.

new year's resolution.

i made good on a couple of my resolutions last year {making my bed! oh yeah!}, and i'm hoping to keep this one alive in 2011 {and for a long time after that}. my goal:

a. plan 3 dinners per week.
b. do all shopping for the meals at the beginning of the week, in one trip to the grocery store.
c. sit down at the table and eat dinner as a family.

this is HUGE for me, friends. i am terrible at meal planning. most nights i am making something for serena, something different for me, and letting sean fend for himself. {don't judge, he's the world's pickiest eater.} but i would really like to start sitting down at the dinner table as a family every night and we pretty much NEVER do that. 3 dinners per week is a good number for us. sean and i are each gone one night a week. and when you're cooking for 2 1/2, there are always leftovers {although sean won't eat them...}.

this week's menu {entirely from eat your veggies, peas}:

1. low fat broccoli cream soup + green salad
2. easy chicken cordon bleu + green beans
3. mini meatloaves + broccoli

and on a side note, these are some of my favorite food blogs to borrow recipes from:

redhead recipes
the pioneer woman cooks
eat your veggies, peas
sweet basil
zupas

new year.

goodbye, 2010!
it's was a good year.
we ate italian food and discovered handbell choir on the wii.
we played at the cabin.
i started making my bed.
we found out i was pregnant in february,
and shared the big news in march.
i met baby truman.
i closed up the etsy shop.
serena and i went to the tulip festival with mom.
i sang carmina burana with utah voices.
serena turned one, had a party, and posed for some photos.
we met cousin campbell.
we had a summer cabin trip with some friends.
we visited my aunt & uncles new house in the middle of a canyon in the middle of utah.
we went swimming and ate lots of yummy summer food.
serena vistited the zoo for her first time.

we had a backyard campout.
we visited temple square with serena.
serena got really sick for two weeks. {longest two weeks ever.}
we spent a day at bear lake.
we had a lovely trip east with sean's family.
we met cousin carson.
we sold our house and moved into a new place. {miracle!}
we visited the pumpkin patch.
we welcomed harper emmeline to our family. {highlight of the year!}
serena started talking. a lot.
we blessed our new daughter.
we celebrated our 5th anniversary.
and had a very merry christmas.

last night we had a party at our house with my family. what better way to end a year than by eating tons of delicious food and playing games with the people you love?? :)

welcome, 2011. hope you'll be as great as 2010.