Happy Birthday to Me

A couple of weeks ago I started a new job at Alta View hospital still doing ultrasound. It is great because I am now full time. I miss Park City terribly, but Alta View is nice and it is growing on me. Since I am so new to the job I had to work Christmas Eve and my birthday. LAME! I decided that since my birthday had to be spent at work I would make the most of it. I made my favorite lemon cupcakes to share with my co-workers and Marc brought me take-out sushi for lunch. It wasn't so bad after all. I got a KitchenAid bread machine from Marc which I adore and made banana bread in this morning. The girls called me at work and sang me Happy Birthday which was soooo cute and Marc's family sent him home with presents for me. They are awesome. I have also decided that have Facebook is good for no other reason then to get masses of birthday wishes, which is always fun.

Merry Christmas

I love Christmas on Sunday. We woke up at our normal time (yeah for little ones!) and the girls immediately tore into all their presents. I got them clothes and books, Marc got them a few toys, and my mom got them one of the best presents: recliners! We headed to church and then out to the Inman's for more presents and lunch. I was on call Christmas Eve and spent almost the entire day at work so after the festivities I took a nap while the girls played with their recent acquisitions. For dinner we went to the annual Jensen Christmas party at Marc's aunt Dot's house. It is fun to see his cousins and the closest thing to cousins the girls have their age on that side. It was a long day but very fun.

All the girls really asked for were candy canes, so we obliged

Candlelight Christmas

On Dec 23 we went to This is the Place Heritage Park for their Christmas celebration Candlelight Christmas. We love This is the Place and it was fun to learn about how Christmas was celebrated in Pioneer Days. We learned about the real St. Nicholas and to say "Happy Christmas" instead of "Merry Christmas" because people who say "Merry Christmas" were usually out have a raucous time instead of celebrating the birth of the Savior. A major highlight was the live nativity. Baby Jesus was quiet and alert, just the way you would think of Baby Jesus. The parents were also very cute and there was an incredible spirit there. It was also fun to see Father Christmas and his reindeer.

Dasher and Dancer got into a little tussle while we were there

Claire and Melanie making a Christmas craft

Alice and Ryan dancing

Me and Claire dancing

Gingerbread Houses

When I am in charge of my girls I either like to go out and do something fun or do a fun project at home to keep them busy. I decided they were old enough this year to participate in the Anderson family tradition of making and decorating gingerbread houses. I never realized how challenging it is to make a gingerbread house from scratch. Needless to say I started out with grandiose ideas and quickly scaled back once the project was started. I made one gingerbread house and decided the girls only needed little ones so I made them a couple out of graham crackers. They were actually the prefect size and quite sturdy too. I also opted to use canned frosting to apply the candy since the best gingerbread house frosting is made with raw egg whites and therefore not safe to eat in case they decided to pull some candy off later to munch on. It was actually really fun even if their houses weren't perfect. Of course that may be years off before they get really creative. For my recipe and instructions visit my treat blog.

Potica Day

The last couple of years we have done potica at my house since we wanted lot of loaves. This year I simply didn't have the time or the will to do potica on my own so we headed to Aunt Dot's house to help with their batch.

Perhaps the girls favorite part of the day was
playing with their cousin Hannah

Zoo Lights

We love our zoo! They are always doing fun things and one of the big events of the year is Zoo Lights.

Alice was a bit under the weather so we almost didn't go,
but whenever I mentioned not going she got very upset, so she
was a bit lathargic

Seeing Santa was very fun. Alice asked for a candy cane and
Claire for a book. Santa was impressed.

To be doubly sure they got what they wanted the
girls also wrote letters to Santa.

As usual, Zoo Lights was very cold but very fun.

Thanksgiving

My parents were here for Thanksgiving so we went down to their house on Wednesday night and spent 2 nights there for the holiday.

Stuffing the turkey

We made two turkeys this year: one roasted and one rotisserie. They were both awesome

Claire helping Grandpa make pies

Mounting the rotisserie turkey, which was much more difficult then if looks

Jessica helped me make turkey cake balls which turned out so cute

The spread

 After an awesome dinner we all headed to the movie theatre for the Muppets Movie. Due to the hour, the girls slept through most of it although I thought it was very cute. After the movie we headed back to the house for pie.

I decided that the best part of Thanksgiving is cooking the meal with my family. We had an amazing time with everyone and thoroughly enjoyed Black Friday shopping with my mom as well.

Museum of Ancient Life

My parents are in town for about a week for my cousin's wedding and Thanksgiving. On Friday my mom took the girls to the Museum of Ancient Life at Thanksgiving Point. There are lots of interactive exhibits and tons for the kids to do. My girls are really into dinosaurs right now and had the best time.