30 Days of Thanks #5

Today I had to go to a potentially awkward work lunch. It was one of those things that could either go really well or be really uncomfortable and I was anxious about it. Pit in the stomach type of anxious. So I said a little prayer that I would be at ease and it would go well.

And you know what? It went great. I was calm and everything went smoothly.

Thank heavens for answered prayers.

30 Days of Thanks #4

Today I spent the day with dear old friends and dear new (ish) friends and with this little darling

who said, "Are you so excited to be at home with your Ella?"

I was.

Thanks to all the people who make my life sweet.

30 Days of Thanks #3

This one may be a bit premature. I hope I don't jinx myself.

I am not a fan of mice. I am really not a fan of mice in my kitchen. Most years, around this time, the mice in our neighborhood decide that our kitchen is more cozy than their nest outside. Some years I handle it okay. Some years I don't. One year I had a minor breakdown where I became physically ill, complete with fevers and vomiting.

I don't like mice in my kitchen.

This year I attempted a preemptive strike. I bought three ultrasonic mouse repellent plug-ins. According to the internet they don't work. But it was worth a try. I also bought poison (in little bags they have to chew through) and placed it outside.

I'm not sure of the reason, but so far I haven't seen any evidence of the little critters. And for that I am truly thankful.

30 Days of Thanks #2

Cookie Cutters

We got Ella's first official haircut today. We went to a kid-friendly salon called Cookie Cutters. They had Dora, balloons, and suckers. Ella was in heaven and I think it turned out darling. Thank you Cookie Cutters.

30 Days of Thanks #1

So...you might just want to remove me from your reader for the next 30 days. I'm going to shake things up a bit. One of my friends does a "30 Days of Thanks" on her blog, and each day she highlights one thing she is grateful for. I could probably use a little more gratitude in my blessed life, so I thought I'd follow her lead. President Thomas S. Monson spoke on gratitude recently, and he said,

My beloved friend President Gordon B. Hinckley said, “When you walk with gratitude, you do not walk with arrogance and conceit and egotism, you walk with a spirit of thanksgiving that is becoming to you and will bless your lives.

Seeing as how I'm starting to feel a little bovine like, something a little becoming would probably do me good. But I'm 99.8% sure it will become annoying around day 16. So I won't be at all offended if you delete ryanandalissapacker.blogspot.com from your reader and add us back December 1st.

Day #1

The Crock-Pot

On most Mondays we dine at Bajio, as I am scrambling to find something for dinner after coming home from work. But today I broke out the Crock-Pot and a warm, inexpensive, homemade meal awaited us. It wasn't anything gourmet, but it was pretty good. And it was ready when I got home. Thank you Crock-Pot.

happy halloween

(I didn't get a good picture of my costume, so here's the one they took when I wore it to work)

updates and other mumbo jumbo

• Pregnancy. I am 25 weeks. Depending on who you believe my due date is sometime between February 8 and 14th. And...it's a girl. My Aunt Cari, who is one of my very most favorite people in the whole world, loved being pregnant. I don't. One more thing for me to work on to try and be more like her.
• Going organic. I try, but am far, far from doing it all the way. I try to avoid the ones that are supposedly worse, the "dirty dozen." Pretty much it just means that I don't buy as many fruits and vegetables as I used to, which has its own consequences. We're trying.
• Ella. I often call her "my Ella" and she has taken to calling herself "your Ella." Such as, "You want to share your pillow with your Ella?"
• Room swap. I've decided to move Ella to the guest room and keep Ella's room for the new baby. But I don't think Ella is ready to move to a toddler bed, so I'm going to move her crib with her. I think I'm going to buy a pack n' play with bassonette feature for the new baby. I think I'm going to paint Ella's new room a deep blue (something like La Fonda Deep Blue) and use one of these two rugs. Which one do you like better?
  Field Poppy (in green)
  
  
  
Modern Love

• Posture. I hate even talking about this. I was doing so well, and now I'm not. And the watermelon in my belly isn't helping. 2009 was supposed to be the year of the straight back. Then 2010. Is there any hope for 2011?
• This is my new favorite potato casserole recipe.
• This is my new favorite pumpkin cupcake recipe.
• Ella got these boots as an early Christmas present. I think they may be the cutest thing I've seen in a very long time.

girls' week

Ryan's been traveling more lately, and while some parts of it aren't so bad {you don't really have to cook if you don't want to} it gets kind of lonely. So I talked my friend Thayer into coming out to Utah for the week and living it up with me and Ella. She brought her daughter Lilly who is one week younger than Ella, and we had a great time.

Thanks "Yi-yi and Yi-yi's mommy". Next time we'll brave the flight out to your neck of the woods.

pedicures

Draper Temple

(yep, I'm definitely pregnant, and look even bigger so next to that Twig)

lots of ring around the rosie

Thayer did most of the heavy lifting

at the park

{watching another child get scolded}

Apple Cake

I've been craving apple cake lately have been digging around for recipes. I remembered this one from the Costco magazine that I made two or three times last year.

No, it is not good for you. Yes, it is absolutely delicious. I also tried it with pears, and maybe even liked it better.

Caramel-Glazed Apple Cake

1 cup packed light brown sugar
1 cup granulated sugar
1 1/2 cups vegetable oil
3 eggs
3 cups flour
1 tsp baking soda
2 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp nutmeg
1/2 tsp salt
5 Granny Smith apples
1 1/4 cup chopped pecans and walnuts
2 1/4 tsp vanilla

Caramel Glaze
4 T butter
1/4 cup granulated sugar
1/4 cup brown sugar
pinch of salt
1/2 cup heavy cream

Preheat oven to 325. Butter and flour and a 9x13 pan (Or 2 8x8 pans).
Beat sugars and oil until well blended. Add eggs one at a time. Sift dry ingredients together and add to egg mixture until just blended. Stir in apples, nuts, and vanilla. Pour in pan(s).

Bake for 50-75 minutes (mine was about 60). Let cool in pan while preparing glaze.
Glaze: Melt better over low heat. Stir in sugars over med-low and cook for 2 minutes. Add cream and bring to a boil for 2 minutes. Stir constantly.

Poke holes in cake with skewer or toothpick. Pour glaze over the cake. Serve warm and top with whipped cream or ice cream.

Eat. Enjoy. Crave.

ella at 26 months

• Funny things she says....What that silly daddy is doing?.....What that silly daddy was thinking?....That mom's on a mission!
• She is incredibly interested in understanding and being understood. If we are talking to each other, or to another adult, and she doesn't understand what is being said she will interrupt and say, "What he/she/you talking 'bout?" By the same token, if we can't understand what she is saying she will come up with another way to express herself. The other day she kept saying she wanted to see the _____. I had no clue what she was saying. She repeated herself a few times, then said, "That foldy (cold) stuff in the freezer. [Unintelligible word]!" She wanted to see the 'snow' in the freezer (which had been left open and got a bit frosty). It amazes me.
• She has no interest in potty training. We ask her if she wants to go in the potty and she calmly responds, "No. In my per."
• She associates each letter with someones name. When you ask her the letters she tells you "C for Chris," "T for Taylor" "M for Mommy," etc. She just learned her letters and was very disappointed that we didn't know anyone for "V."
• She thinks we know everything. "I don't know" is not an acceptable answer. "Tell me!" she says.
• She loves to hear stories. "Tell me a story about Ma Janet/Mommy/Pa/Ella/Zeus/Daddy..." is a frequent request.
• A few weeks ago she saw this with Ma Sue. "That's my drink!" she said. Needless to say, she came home with it.

• She's gotten much better about playing independently. She will carry on conversations with her stuffed animals. My favorite is when she says "I sooorrrryy. You tan't have that. It's otay."
• She wants to know "Who is on your phone?" whenever you are talking. She doesn't stop until she knows "Who it is you talking to?"

courses camarguaise

***disclaimer*** If you have ever thought of joining PETA, you should just skip this post...

While Jamie and I were planning the trip (Ryan and Taylor weren't involved in the slightest) we tapped into a gold mine in the form of a longtime friend, Ron Peeleman, who has a home in Saint Siffret and knows the area well. He gave us recommendations on what to do, where to eat, where to park, where not to park, and all kinds of other helpful hints. We were so grateful for his help. He was better than Frommer's, Lonely Planet and Rick Steve's combined.

One of the things he told us about was the courses camarguaise. It is a local event, a bull fight of sorts. But the goal is for the matadors to get rings off of the bulls back, not to harm the bull. Here's an excerpt from Ron's email

Each contest lasts about ten minutes. If the bull has not given up his last string, he is given warm applause. The bull is NOT harmed in the slightest. Music will play and the bull trots off, horns held high--I swear, with a smirk on his face--knowing that he won this time. The bulls are the stars. Some come with a reputation (the announcer will read off the bull's accomplishments as he enters the arena).

It's bizarre, it's local, it's dangerous, it's entertaining--and I swear, the bulls love it.

We were stoked. Something off the beaten path to give us a little more local flavor. So we went to the tourism office (on Ron's recommendation) to find out where the courses were happening and how to get tickets. In my excellent French, I asked, "Do you know about the courses camarguaise?" Blank stare. "Bullfight?" "Oh, of course. Here, there's one in Nimes this weekend." And, in her excellent English she helps us figure out the details.

So we head to Nimes. The event was held in an amazingly well preserved Roman Colosseum. There was a band, people were excited...we were loving it. It starts with a parade of horses and then the matadors showing off their moves. Sweet.

Then they bring in the bull. The matadors fling their capes, and then duck behind a small wall to protect themselves.

We're cheering, clapping, taking pictures. Then a rider atop one of the horses with the fancy coats is brought in. The horse and the bull have a little scuffle, and suddenly the bull has something sticking out of its back. And then we see that the bull's coat is wet and looks red. Paint, I think. They are pretending they have hurt the bull and using red paint to make it look more real. Okay. Still fun. But then it gets worse (I'll spare you the details) and I realize that the red I see is not paint, this is an actual bullfight, and in the end the bull very much gets hurt. Jamie and I could not believe it. We were shocked, gasping, covering our eyes. We left after the first bull and went shopping around Nimes. Ryan and Taylor embraced the local culture and stayed for a bit longer.

We realized that the courses camarguaise are the warm-ups for the actual bullfight. The woman in the toursim office did not understand my botched pronunciation of "courses camarguaise", and when she heard "bullfight" she automatically thought we wanted the real deal, not the practice match. (Which explains the slightly disgusted look she gave me. I had chalked it up to her being French.) And Ron was mostly right. It was bizarre. It was local. It was dangerous, and it was entertaining in an odd way.

But somehow I don't think the bulls loved it...

Paris at night

france, 2010

We just got back from a wonderful week long trip with Jamie and Taylor. Compared to last year's Italian adventure, this year was low-key and relaxing. We did a lot of nothing, and it was perfect. We ate good food, read lots of books, wandered through quaint villages and enjoyed one another's company. We decided my French is nearly fluent ("I want 6 chicken nuggets...{hold up 6 fingers}...Thanks...Merci"), Taylor's love affair with cheese and crackers should not be disrupted, Jamie looks significantly more pregnant than I do, and I am a really good photographer.

she's totally in focus

We are glad to be home, and again, many many thanks to Ma Sue for watching Ella. You know your child is in good hands (and you feel a little guilty) when she says, "I've got two mommies: Mommy and Ma Sue!"

We didn't take many pictures, but I'm going to do a few separate posts for those we have.

Books

For her birthday Ella got a gift card to Barnes and Noble from a dear friend. But I'm not up on the 2-year-old book scene. What are your favorites?