About a Month Away

Yay!   There's going to be a baby Baird very soon.

Ryan and Dara are pretty excited, and have been "nesting" at their new place in Charlottesville.   A few weeks ago, Skip and I went to visit.   We went with them for a beautiful drive to an orchard nearby to get some apples.

On our way back we stopped at a nursery/gift shop. That evening, Ryan and Dara took us to the outdoor mall in downtown Charlottesville.   We went out to eat there at The Nook, a restaurant with diner type food,  and then got gelato at another place.   I loved that you could get very tiny cones or cups there for only dollar I think.

We decided Dara should have a baby shower with her Woodbridge friends and family, so Kara and I hosted a baby shower here last Saturday.   Kara and I planned fun games and food.  We played the dirty diaper game where you melted different candy bars in diapers, and the guests had to guess what the candy bars were.   Very funny!   I think someone even tried tasting them!   We tried to guess how big Dara's baby is, and played a fun baby shower game on the i phone.   Dara got lot's of cute things for Lillian.  She is all set to be warm and stylish!

You can see Jenn Shreffler smiling in the background.   (She brought the balloons from Party City.)  Kara took a bunch more pictures, so maybe I'll try to get a hold of those for a later post.  

Needless to say, we are very excited to welcome little Lillian, and hope we'll be able to see her often!

Everything Creative

I'm a little bit addicted to the Mormon Channel program, Everything Creative.   I've gotten into the habit of listening to it in the morning (via i phone) while I'm getting ready in the morning, and driving to and from work.   In the earlier episodes, they interview one person, then each new person interviews the next one.   In the later episodes they're all hosted by Nancy Hansen, who I think is a singer/song writer.

I just love hearing other people's stories of how they start doing what they do, and how they are creatively inspired as they pursue their craft.

Some of my favorites have been:

Singer/songwriter Meaghan Smith

Composer, conductor, producer Rob Gardner  (future son-in-law???)

Children's book author/illustrators Mark and Caralyn Buehner

Cake decorater/baker Laurlee Morrison of Cakes de Fleur

The Five Browns

Artist Cassandra Barney  (her father is James Christensen)

There are LOTS more.  I haven't heard them all yet.  Each one inspires me to trust in my creative spirit, and keep trying to make more out of what I've been given.  

Listen to a few episodes, and tell me which ones you liked hearing.

NaBloPoMo

As I was blog hopping this afternoon, I found out that November is National Blog Posting Month, also known as NaBloPoMo.   You can learn more about it here.   I've been meaning to start blogging again, and maybe this will be what I need to get me started.  I haven't officially signed up, but the challenge is to blog everyday in the month of November.   I can TRY that.

Blogging is good for me, and not just like eating my vegetables is good for me ( I  love vegetables! ) Like President Uchtdorf says (counselor in LDS church presidency), each of us has an inherent desire to create something that did not exist before.  I strongly feel that creative desire.     Writing is one way I can satisfy that.  Recording life helps me keep grounded and focused on what's important and fun about living.  Through blogging/journaling, I can leave something to help me remember, and remembering is something that I find myself doing more and more, as I have so many wonderful memories piled up to sort through, learn from, and bask in.    

This is first and foremost a family blog, a way of sharing our news, and celebrating what it means to be a family.   So, in the spirit of that, here are some of my favorite family moments of the year so far:

Learning that Ryan and Dara were expecting a baby.

Revisiting Belgian delicacies with Beth in Occoquan

Jamming in Charlottesville with Beth, Ryan, and Kara

Seeing some beautiful sisters having fun together

Being together for Leslie's wedding in June

Skip and four of his siblings being able to be sealed to their parents

Enjoying family times at Grandma and Grandpas including visits from Karyn, Jamie and boys, and the Hullinger crew.

Spending time in Orem with Laura, Kart, Aiden, Emma and Owen                                                                                                   

Getting to see Beth and Natalie in Provo/Orem too.

Celebrating Beth's birthday, and eating some pretty amazing cake

Seeing our children's true colors

So there's a quick run down of just a few of the highlights.   There were so many more, and maybe I'll go into more detail on a few in the days to come.  So check in every day, and we'll see if I can keep this up.

Many Wonderful Things

 This past month has been full.   We've enjoyed some wonderful times with family.

 We celebrated with Colleen at Sakura on her birthday.

 Skip went to Colorado, where he, his brother and sisters were sealed to their parents in the temple.

 Emily went with the Forest Park choirs to New York City for a music festival.   They competed with other choirs across the country and did extremely well. 

 Kara has been singing with the NOVA/DC Institute choir.   She was able to be in the choir that sang for a Young Single Adult fireside with Elder Bednar.   This picture is of her singing in a beautiful and inspiring Easter Program at the Chevy Chase chapel.  

 Beth came to visit during Spring Break.   We went to Occoquan one afternoon, and had Pomme Frites and Mussells at the Cock and Bowl, a Belgian bistro there.

 I couldn't resist taking this picture with my i-phone of everyone on their i-phones

  While Beth was here, we went to Charlottesville one afternoon to see Ryan and Dara.   Skip made a delicious brisket on a little Weber grill we bought for them.  

 We enjoyed playing and singing together.

This one VERY musical family!

 We are thankful to have enjoyed so many wonderful times with so many beautiful smiles this month. 




  

30 Years

Skip and I have been married for 30 years!   So...we celebrated of course.   We both took the day off and did some of our favorite things.   We explored the Natural History Museum in D.C.  and stumbled upon an amazing exhibit of orchids:

It was hard to decide which ones were our favorites.  Skip especially liked the white ones, and I'm always partial to yellows.   While at the museum we saw a 3D IMAX movie on Arabia.  Then we had a fabulous lunch at Oyamel, a Mexican Restaurant.  Other than the Guacamole, it sure wasn't typical Mexican food, but very interesting tapas style dishes.

For dessert we went down the street and found the best pistachio gelato we've ever had at a place called Pitango.  It was a wonderful celebration for both of us.

Although the food was good, those loving eyes are for me!

CHEERS!

Lemon-Honey Cupackes

I know.  More cupcakes.   It's a fun and delicious thing to be mildly obsessed with.  These are so good.  I don't have a lot of success with cupcakes, but when I do, and they turn out this moist and delicious, it's so hard to stop eating them.

 
Here's how I did it:

The Cupcakes:

Heat oven to 350.  Line 24 muffin cups with paper liners.

Whisk together:   2-3/4 cups all-purpose flour, 3/4 tsp. each baking powder and baking soda, and 1/2 tsp salt

Whisk together in another bowl:   1/2 cup reduced-fat sour cream,  1/4 cup milk, 1-1/2 Tbsp. lemon zest,  4 Tbsp. lemon juice

Beat together until light and fluffy:  3/4 cups softened butter, 3/4 cup honey, and 1/4 cup sugar

Beat in 3 large eggs, one at a time, until blended.

With mixer on low speed, beat in half the flour mixture, then the sour cream mixture.  Beat in remaining flour mixture until just combined.

Bake 18 to 20 minutes.

FROSTING:  Beat 1 cup softened butter, 1/4 cup honey, and and 1-1/2 Tbsp. lemon zest about 2 minutes.  On low speed, beat in 4 cups confectioners sugar until blended  Beat in 7 to 8 Tbsps. lemon juice.

Frost and enjoy!

First Projects of 2011

Here are some pictures of our first projects of 2011.  Actually, the bedroom by the stairs was the first one, but that was more of a repair than a redo.   It's all finished and Kara is moved in there.  It's the same color as it was before, just a new carpet.  It wasn't done by us either.  Insurance helped pay for someone else to do it all.  

It took three Saturdays to pick out paint and do the painting.  The bathroom color is called "smoked oyster", and the bedroom is called "Scotland Road".  The bed is new as well - from IKEA - not too hard, not too soft.  Goldilocks would love it! 

Downstairs bathroom

Downstairs bedroom