Christmas is Coming!

Last week I took the cute kids to get their picture taken for Christmas.

While we were there we also got to visit Santa and got this "great" picture with him.
It's a classic!

We love our Jane!

2 (of many) cute things Jane has done this week:

1. She told us she was going to make breakfast so she got out 3 bowls, 3 cups, 3 spoons, and then put them all on her place mat, filled the bowls with cereal, filled 1 cup with water, 1 with juice, and 1 with hot chocolate. She ate all of it. So silly.

2. I took the kids to get their pictures taken at the mall and as we were walking out Jane looked up in the sky and yelled, "Look, those geese are flying in a chevron!" All those around us also looked up and commented on how smart she was. How many 4 year olds do you know who know what a chevron flight pattern is?

Phew ! and Palmyra

Phew, those Minnesotans are gone- just kidding!

We had a tearful morning on Friday as we said "See you later" to family. Jane was so sad to see her "Minnesota cousins" leave. We really did have such a great time together- and now have a fridge full of delicious food! Thanks for everything!!!
Here are some pictures we took from Palmyra:

Baby Kate in the Bjorn & bundled at the visitor's center

Andy and Jane at Smith Log Home

Frame House

Bruce outside the grove with temple in the background

Ben and Jane
Sam

They also left us with this beautiful tree:

The red is really deep and beautiful

On Saturday we just did laundry, played, and slept. Tonight we had B's boss and his family over for dinner and all went really well with that.

*Plus here are 2 bonus pictures of Baby Kate for the grandmas:

B got the fireplace turned on and working

This is what Kate looked like today- Thank you Sarah T. for the adorable hat & outfit!

Happy Anniversary to Joanna and Doug today! (hee hee)

Give Thanks!

D

THANK YOU DYLAN FOR THE WONDERFUL MEAL!
THANK YOU DTAMBS for driving so far to see us and make many wonderful memories together!
This Blog entry will contain many pictures of food:

(Mainly to show what an amazing chef my brother is and to "brag" to my family about what an awesome meal we had!)
Morning: We started out with the "traditional" planting of the bulbs. T and I planted many spring flowers in the rain, cold, and mud- grow bulbs grow!
We played pool (B stayed in P.J.'s all day- so great!)
Afternoon: We ate delicious fruit, a wide spread of cheese (including Buffalo cheddar), and crackers.
We then ate dinner: 3 types of stuffing, 2 types of potatoes, Turkey (brined), huge homemade rolls, cranberries, and sweet potatoes
Kid Table
The Turkey

S's dinner- "turkey cupcake" and bottle
Evening: T and I took the kids to see Enchanted. I thought it was a really fun movie and our kids did pretty well. Bruce only ran up and down the side ramp for the last 20 minutes.
We came back home for dessert which included: Homemade Turtle cheesecake, apple pie, banana cream pie, pumpkin pie, and French silk pie. - yummmmmmm! Kids went to bed, we talked to family, played games, and hope to sleep well tonight!
Happy Thanksgiving to all!

We're Walking to Canada!

Who wouldn't want to visit Niagara Falls in the rain?

We had such a fun- WET- time today as we went to see Niagara Falls from the Canada side and then the USA side.
We're also really happy to have our Minnesota cousins here!
Enjoy the pictures:
Walking on Rainbow Bridge

Maddy looking so pretty

View from Canada side- plus a sleepy Kate

Splashing!

USA side of American Falls

Kate Rolling..

"Nothing stops our little Kate, she just keeps rolling and rolling and rolling..."
(However, in this video clip she had "assistance" from Bruce:)


Kate Rolling from Eliza Damstedt on Vimeo.

Brucey guy & leaves!

So, what were we doing for nearly 2 hours yesterday, that could have only taken 20 minutes?

Raking Leaves!

It was really fun, Bruce was just a little counter productive. Another bonus of living here is that you rake your leaves to the curb and then a huge truck comes and sucks them up- no bagging!

Before:

During:

After:

Here's a picture of Jane and Bruce at open gym this morning.
If there was someway to keep them in those big things all day...

Teeth and Tag

Long Blog Monday...

First of all: READ FAMILY- I saw that you commented on the blog! Do you have your same email or how do we get a hold of you?

Last night I was looking in Kate's mouth and yep- there are 2 little "sharpness"es breaking through. Teeth already, she's handling things very well though.
Big Blue Eyes!
(She wore her first "ponytail" yesterday)

Thanks for the tag Bethany
(who, by the way, never told me that she was expecting but I saw the counter on her blog- Congrats!)

Five things I was doing 10 years ago: (So that was Nov. 12, 1997)
1. I was in my second year at BYU-studied Elementary Education
2. I was working at the candy counter in the bookstore
3. I was playing soccer in the afternoons before it got too cold
4. (Just consulted the journal:) I went to a BYU football game with my friend Malia and they played Utah and lost by 6 points.
5. Getting ready for Thanksgiving with my family. - just can't think of much right now, Bruce is dressed up in a spiderman costume, climbing on my lap as I'm trying to finish typing, and demanding Elmo games. I'll have to hurry...
Five things on my to do list today:
1. Finish making Thanksgiving Mix (see below) for VT and my primary class
2. Read scriptures
3. Have Family Night
4. Finish Happier
5. Feed my family (especially Kate)
Five things I will do when I'm a millionaire:
1. Pay off everyone's homes- horray!
2. Buy B lots of tools
3. Give more to charity/missionaries
4. Invest- (children are the future right?)
5. Probably buy lots of chocolate and other things that taste good- oh and an elliptical!
My favorite toys:
1. boardgames (Settlers, Ligretto...)
2. a soccer ball
3. Pet Shops with Jane
4. our pool table- love you B! (oh and the shuffle board)
5. Thomas Trains with Bruce
Five people to tag:Anyone who wants to.

Thanksgiving Blessing Mix

Bugles- a symbol of the cornucopia, a horn of plenty.

Pretzels- represent arms folded in thankful prayer.

Candy Corn- reminds us that during the winter the pilgrims were allowed only five kernels of corn per day because food was scarce.

Fruit- a reminder that we give thanks for the harvest.

Nuts- represent seeds, the potential of the bounteous harvest for the next season if planted and well tended

And Finally...
For Grandma Damstedt

This is what Jane looked like on Saturday- she put on lots of purple for you!

Shots and Tacky the Penguin

Kate after shots (thanks Jason &Kara for the book)

4 Month STATS:
13 lbs, 8 oz 24 1/2 inches
This morning started out with a trip to the pediatrician. Kate got her 4 month shots and checkup and Jane & Bruce got flu shots. I tried using the trick from a friend where I told Jane & Bruce that they were going to have to get shots but they could choose if they wanted a big shot or little shot, they both chose little. Bruce went first, and tried to be so brave, but cried after he got it. Jane was crying even before the nurse was ready. Kate did very well with her 4 shots and only whimpered after the last one.

After that we went to our library to meet "Tacky the Penguin."
(It's a cute book for those who haven't read it)
It was a fun 1/2 hour of story time, songs, and penguins!
Have a great weekend!

* Bethany- thanks for the tag and I will post my answers next time.

Snow in Buffalo- Sort of...

Today Jane didn't have preschool so we all headed to Rochester to meet our friends at the Children's museum. We had a great time (a wonderful lunch) and when we left the weather looked like this:

The leaves really are so beautiful now with lots of gold and red.

Then driving home it started snowing-A LOT. Thank goodness for my Utah snow driving know how. It took us 2 hours going a maximum of 30 mph (and lots of prayers-we saw many cars off the road) to get home. Jane kept singing "The weather outside is frightful," and kept asking if it was Christmas Eve because of the snow.
When we got off the interstate into our town Jane was so excited to go play in all the snow at our house. But, we soon found out that there was NO snow here. Really, not that I'm complaining but there isn't a single bit. So I took a picture on the snow of our car to show you that it really did snow a lot.

So now we're home, happy, eating popcorn, drinking hot chocolate, and watching a movie we got from the library.

Baby Kate and Baby M

Princess Jane on the bridge at the museum.

Cakes!

Last night we went to a spaghetti dinner/cake auction fund raiser for the scouts.

It was "very great!"
We donated 2 cakes. B made a carrot cake and I made a Boston Cream Pie. We ended up winning a Black Forest Cake that was very delicious.
Here's what it looked like after we all attacked it with our spoons:
Thanks Boy Scouts of America!

Pumpkin Kids

When Jane was little I bought this cute costume- it's been fun to see all 3 wear it:

(even though B would really have much rather wrapped them up in tinfoil as their costume every year) Baby Jane in Grandpa's garden (03)

Baby Bruce with friend Max (05)

Another Baby Bruce

Baby Kate (07)
"You want me to sit in the dirt by this fake pumpkin and do what?"