Higham Life

Down to California!

2012-02-07T19:54:00.001-08:00

Last weekend we headed down to California for a quick trip to see my parents' new house. They have been redoing this house for the last six weeks and it looks incredible! Unfortunately I didn't get any great pictures of the house itself, but we had a great time. We had a barbecue, a yummy dinner on Sunday, spent the night on Saturday doing a movie night with the Highams, got to see Mike play soccer, got to see my grandparents and aunt and uncle, I got a massage, Jim played frisbee, and even got to see Brett and Michelle. It was a great busy little trip--and we were so happy to be there. Thank you Penrods for hosting us!

PF Changs

2012-02-07T19:36:00.001-08:00

One of our best Christinas gifts was a PF Changs gift card and babysitting from my sisters. We loved it--and it was my first time. I think my favorite part owas this drink--a strawberry cucumber limeade. Sounds weird, but it was so good. Also, the wall of chocolate dessert is fantastic. And of course, the lettuce wraps were awesome. Thanks Erin and Emma!

Tori's First Ballet Class

2012-02-07T19:22:00.000-08:00

Tori started ballet last week and it's been so fun seeing her dance! We have some work to do on listening to the teacher, but she is so cute :)

Becky's Sealing and Luncheon

2012-01-04T19:14:00.000-08:00

Becky's sealing was at Newport Beach the next morning and afterwards she and Tom had a luncheon. It was such a nice day and just a beautiful sealing. The luncheon was fun as well, and the food was delicious!

The Reception

2012-01-04T19:10:00.000-08:00

Debbie and Becky (who was getting married the next day) had a double reception and literally split the cultural hall in half. It doesn't sound like it would work, but it was beautiful and a lot of fun. We brought the kids, so the pictures aren't great and there aren't that many, but at least you can get an idea. The kids had a blast and so did we, although we were pretty tired by the end of the day.

Debbie had a ring ceremony right before the reception started. It was beautiful as well.

see more pictures on Facebook!

Debbie's Sealing

2012-01-04T19:07:00.001-08:00

Tuesday morning was Debbie's sealing at the San Diego temple. It was a gorgeous day and perfect for a wedding. We left the kids with the Penrods and had a wonderful time being out together and catching up with family. Congratulations Debbie and Rob! (As always, you can see more pictures on Facebook)

Mom's Birthday

2012-01-04T18:58:00.000-08:00

The 26th of December is my mom's birthday, and we celebrated by going to the cabin for a few hours and just relaxing and playing with some of our toys. Afterwards we went out to eat at Tommy Bahama's in Newport. Corinne had made a cake for Mom, but we ended up getting Sprinkles' cupcakes and splitting them instead to celebrate. Then she opened presents and we all just chatted. Happy Birthday Mom!

(Also, I just realized some of Christmas's pictures made it on this post. Sorry.)

at the cabin with Grandpa!

Mom's beautiful cake--Tori was so sad we didn't eat the cake, but she loved the cupcakes.

This was Jim opening his birthday present on Christmas Eve.

Christmas morning

Our big present--we love it!

Tori's big present...she loves it!

visiting the Highams on Christmas evening

yummy, tortilla soup

crab cakes

amazing shrimp with to-die-for mango chutney ginger-y sauce stuff

steak

pulled pork

Christmas Day

2012-01-04T18:49:00.000-08:00

Christmas Day was so fun! We opened presents with the Penrods then went to church in the new ward (which isn't all that new to us--a lot of Jim's ultimate team and my old schoolmates), then had a great dinner with my grandparents and the Crawfords at the Penrod house. We played with our toys and then headed over to the Higham house to say Merry Christmas and hi to everyone. We spent a few hours there, then back to the Penrods!

Christmas Eve

2012-01-04T18:07:00.000-08:00

On Friday night after work Jim and the girls and I headed down to California--ten hour drive! We got in the next morning in time for Jim to go play ultimate and we had a great time enjoying a nice Christmas Eve at the Penrod house. We played and saw Grandma and Grandpa and I even got a facial! (Thanks Mom!) Aferwards we helped everyone get ready for the party that evening and then just enjoyed ourselves! We had all the traditions--clam chowder (and veggie soup for those who don't like it), the handbells, the nativity, and we even made it over to Candy Cane Lane. Merry Christmas!

Mormon Tabernacle Christmas Concert

2011-12-19T18:43:00.000-08:00

On Saturday Jim and I were able to go with my grandparents to the Mormon Tabernacle Christmas concert. It's guest artists this year were Nathan Gunn and Jane Seymour and it was so amazing. I was so glad we finally got to go! They do a lottery for the tickets and I have entered basically every year I've been in Utah, so this was a real treat. Grandma and Grandpa took us to dinner beforehand at The Lamb's Grill, and it was delicious!

Gingerbread Houses

2011-12-19T18:36:00.001-08:00

We always make gingerbread houses, but every year it seems to be a completely different experience. This year we had some good family friends over with their boys (and brand new baby girl!) to do them with us. It was a lot of fun, but we missed Jim who had work that night. This year I used a cookie cutter kit instead of my Mom's stencils. The houses aren't as charming, but they were much easier. They were bigger though, so it took more dough and frosting. I haven't decided if we'll do it this way next year yet, but it did make for an interesting change.

Treat plates!

2011-12-12T15:55:00.000-08:00

Every Christmas as a thank you to the neighbors and ward members we make up treat plates. It's a tradition both of our families did--and although our kids are too young to carol hopefully we will get there soon! It's a lot of fun, but a huge job. We had 25 plates this year and that makes for a long day. Sunday and Saturday are Jim's only evenings home, and it was a busy Saturday this weekend, so on Sunday we made, plated, and delivered all the treats. Busy, but it just reminds us how blessed we are with this ward! While we were delivering we had to stop and see and take pictures as this house which always goes all out with the decorations. Tori loved it :)

Gardner Village Elves

2011-12-12T15:49:00.000-08:00

Every year at halloween we go see the witches at Gardner Village, but this year we also decided to go see the elves. I was glad we went, even though the kids were so so tired (and Mom and Dad too!). We had fun seeing all of them and spending some quality time walking around in the beautiful cold weather.

Grandma's Brunch!

2011-12-12T15:48:00.001-08:00

On Saturday my grandma held a wonderful and delicious brunch for all the kids up at school before the holiday. It was so good to sit with my siblings and catch up a little--and the food was so amazing. She did a bunch of crepes (and scrambled eggs for the kids). Pictures to follow :)

Holiday Lights at Thanksgiving Point

2011-12-07T22:08:00.001-08:00

We went to see the lights set up at Thanksgiving Point last Saturday night. It was fun--you drive through this little set up that is really pretty and nice. It was a good holiday activity for us.

The Ward Christmas Party

2011-12-07T20:59:00.000-08:00

The Relief Society drew the ward Christmas party this year when they split up the activities so we had a crazy week-after-Thanksgiving with that. I was in charge of the program and borrowed a script from my mom to use. Thank goodness! It turned out really cute and the party was great. We did a breakfast with stuffed french toast, ham, fruit, etc. and the decorations looked great! A lot of work, but a lot of fun too.

backstage...

santa!

likes the candy...

not so much for the pictures. :(

Jim's Birthday

2011-12-07T20:44:00.000-08:00

We were celebrated Jim's birthday on Sunday with ice cream pie and presents (Jim's not really a cake person). It was fun seeing the girls get excited and we had a nice night. Happy Birthday Jimmy!

Thanksgiving!

2011-12-07T20:23:00.000-08:00

We stayed in Utah this year and completely missed seeing all of your family. That being said it was really nice to stay home and do nothing for a day, and to go out to eat. We ended up splurging on Tucano's, which had a Thanksgiving special (three kinds of turkey!). The kids did great and we actually had a great time. But we missed our family and are looking forward to seeing everyone at Christmas!

The Ward Turkey Bowl (the first one....maybe give it a few years)

Beautiful flowers from my parents--made my day!

Ready for dinner!

At Tucano's....it was surprisingly busy!

such good eaters!

Riley loved the sushi.

This wasn't staged. She really did eat all that. We thought she'd be sick on the way home, but she was just very full :)

The Garden

2011-11-13T19:33:00.000-08:00

The project that has consumed my life this summer and fall was Michael McLean and Bryce Neubert's The Garden, which is a musical allegory that our ward/stake performed. I started by volunteering to lead teh choir--a pretty big job. Over the course of the summer it became clear that none of us had any clue what we were doing, so I ended up kind of running the show. It came together really well and we were so blessed. We had an amazing choir, cast, and crew. We especially owe a ton to our sound guy who coached us through doing a show! It was a lot of fun, but we won't be doing anything this big for another long while! I truly feel so blessed to have been involved though :)

Disney on Ice

2011-11-13T19:13:00.000-08:00

On Saturday we went to the Disney on Ice show in Salt Lake. It was a lot of fun seeing it, and both girls seemed to have a good time. Unfortunately neither had slept well the night before so they were both exhausted and fell asleep on the way there. It was a good little nap right before the show though. Riley especially got into with dancing and clapping--Tori just wanted to go down and dance with the princesses. :)

Halloween 2011

2011-11-13T19:05:00.000-08:00

Dad had to work on Halloween so we went trick-or-treating at the library's Halloween party earlier that day, then Mom and the girls went out to our friends' homes (just a few, Mom was tired) that night. The library had a party with crafts and games, a storytime, and then trick-or-treating at the desks. That night was a perfect night weather-wise for trick or treating, but it started to snow just a few hours later!

Grandma's Visit!

2011-10-31T11:14:00.000-07:00

My mom came into town this weekend for a quick trip to visit the kids and we had a really fun time with her! We went to lunch, had a busy weekend, made cupcakes and a little bear cake, opened presents, did Costco and Orson Gygi, and more! Thanks Mom and can't wait for your next visit!

(These are all out of order, but at least they're up!)

We baked:

Took pictures and played outside:

opened presents...:

and played with them:

went to lunch:

and had yummy food!

Pumpkins!

2011-10-31T11:09:00.000-07:00

We carved pumpkins frantically on Thursday morning because it was the only time we had with both of us home. We had returned the Wet-Vac and bought our pumpkins that morning, and storytime was at ten, so we squeezed it in. Jim and I found these pumpkin stencils online for only a dollar, and were excited to do easier pumpkins this year :) We had a fun time doing them, and were pretty proud of them!

Tori's Birthday Party

2011-10-31T10:58:00.000-07:00

Tori's birthday party was on Saturday night. We had everyone come, but had sent my mom home earlier in the day :( She helped us get all ready since we had a crazy day (baptism, funeral, and helping someone move in!), and even made the cake and cupcakes for it! We had a great time seeing everyone and really appreciated everyone coming up to celebrate with us. Tori had a blast (and ate way too much sugar and stayed up way too late).

Utah Symphony Halloween Concert

2011-10-31T10:52:00.001-07:00

Every year the Utah Symphony does a Halloween concert at Thanksgiving Point. It's a chance to dress up in your Halloween costume and they do some favorites (John Williams themes, etc.) as well as some more high-brow music. I roped Erin into coming with me to help with the kids and we had a great time. The girls and I got there a little early so we played at the farm a little while we waited. We had a good time, especially because the farm was all decked out for Halloween, with games and everything! The girls were really good, although the concert was a little long. Tori ended up on Erin's phone, and I walked Riley around the back. Still it was really fun to hear the concert and catch up with Erin a bit.

Gardner Village

2011-10-31T10:43:00.000-07:00

We went to Gardner Village to see the witches a week ago or so. It was a lot of fun walking around and seeing all the Halloween and Fall decorations. Tori loved the witches--I think she thought they were like Disneyland characters. She would go give them high fives or hugs. Riley liked walking around, but was pretty done by the time we were through. Lots of fun though!

Flooded Basement!

2011-10-31T10:38:00.000-07:00

Our basement flooded last week and it was tragic! As far as I know (Bill and Annette fixed it all) something in the sprinkler pipes broke, so the water from the system leaked and flooded around the house. The window wells were about 1/3rd full when I went down to investigate the rushing water sound downstairs. The floor was completely soaked (like puddles) and so we tried to get it wet-vac'ed and had fans on it for a couple days. We are still in the process of cleaning it up, but thank goodness for Bill and Annette who dropped everything to come up and investigate/fix it! Did I mention this all happened on the day Fall/Winter decided to arrive!? It was so cold!!!

Update....

2011-10-17T10:04:00.000-07:00

Just a few fun pictures--we got our first snowstorm a couple weeks ago. Also, we got a chance to go to breakfast with Debbie and Rob while they were in town. That was a lot of fun since we haven't spent much time with Rob. The kids weren't great, but once the food came they did much better. :)

General Conference

2011-10-03T11:01:00.000-07:00

For conference Sunday we had Becky, Tom, and Debbie here. They were so cute with the kids. We had a nice stirabout breakfast, but we didn't take any pictures. :( Thanks for coming up guys!

miscellaneous

2011-10-03T10:29:00.000-07:00

In the last couple of weeks we've done a lot of bubbles as we try to prepare for fall and our nice weather disappearing. Here are a few pictures from that, and some from the girls feeding the ducks at BYU (with Jim) as well.

Turning 25

2011-09-26T22:27:00.000-07:00

Last week was my twenty-fifth birthday, but we were soo soo busy! The morning of my birthday I spent mostly on the phone with people who called to wish me happy birthday, then my sisters came up and brought me lunch :) A couple days later we celebrated. Jim completely surprised me with cake, presents, and most importantly--the house clean and dinner made! It was so nice! Thanks everyone for the birthday wishes and gifts!

Blue and Red Breakfast

2011-09-19T14:22:00.000-07:00

Every year our neighborhood holds a Blue and Red breakfast the morning of the BYU/Utah game. It is a lot of fun, and we love the good food and good friends!

Mom's visit

2011-09-19T14:20:00.000-07:00

My Mom came into town to help my grandma with some family history stuff and took us out to dinner at Texas Roadhouse! Yum! It was fun and Annie and Russ came along too :)

Dinner with Jen and Tyson

2011-09-19T14:17:00.001-07:00

We finally got to see Jen and Tyson's new baby Alyce at dinner with them on Sunday afternoon. It was great catching up with them!

Rascal Flatts Concert

2011-09-16T19:43:00.000-07:00

My parents came into town to see a Rascal Flatts concert last weekend and took my siblings (and assorted friends). I didn't go because we had the Neighborhood BBQ, but it was fun seeing everyone. And we got ice cream with my parents--thanks guys!

Ward BBQ

2011-09-16T19:41:00.000-07:00

Last Friday was our Ward BBQ. It's a big deal with a great turnout and we had a really fun time. Unfortunately, Jim had to work, but we still had fun--and the weather was perfect!

Labor Day Weekend

2011-09-16T19:28:00.000-07:00

For Labor Day weekend the Penrods rented a cabin in Heber and we got to spend some time there with them. It was really nice, and while we were there we did Riley's birthday! Yay one year! On Saturday we (except me--I had to prepare a lesson) went to the park and had a nice picnic. We watched the BYU game, then we had to go home for Church and meetings. We headed back Sunday for dinner and Riley's birthday, and on Monday we went to Park City to see the Alpine Slide and the other summer activities they have. We ended up going on the Zipline which was a lot of fun. We headed home that afternoon. Thanks for a great time Penrods!

Beautiful views:

Picnic at the Park:

Riley's birthday!

Awesome cabin :)

Zipline in park city:

We got a little bored in line...

Weekend Dinners

2011-08-29T18:05:00.000-07:00

This weekend we had Debbie and Becky for dinner before school started, and then did dinner at my Grandma's with all the Penrod kids up here for school. We had a lot of fun with both dinners and it was great catching up a bit with everyone.

The Morning After....

2011-08-17T21:24:00.000-07:00

The next morning we held a breakfast send-off for Jeremy and Sierra. It was low-key but still so good and lots of fun to see some of the family for a bit longer than at the reception. We had some close family friends come and we just had a great time hanging out. Plus, the food was soo good!

California Reception

2011-08-17T21:05:00.000-07:00

A couple days after getting home Mom and the girls turned around and drove to California for that reception. We get there late Tuesday night and spent the week, coming back home on Sunday. It was so much fun seeing everyone and having a great party for Sierra and Jeremy. The place we held it did a great job, and of course it was so much work but came together so beautifully. And the food was to die for...check out the dessert table! Thanks Mom and Dad for letting us come stay and party with you guys!

Headed down to Cali!

Hanging out at Grandma's house!

Getting ready for the reception.

Bonding...

Decorating

But so worth it!

Loving the attention.

How gorgeous is this girl?

And she always lets this girl have her phone...

More pictures.

Nom Nom Nom.

Dancing and old friends! (and their cute families!)

It was a really long day.

Opening presents.

Primary Activity--Slip N Slide!

2011-08-17T21:01:00.000-07:00

We went to the Primary activity while we were home in between our trips and had a lot of fun doing the slip'n'slide. Tori was a little scared (read: terrified) and wouldn't go on it. Dad made her do it once, but then we pacified her with a popsicle. Riley, loved it. Hmm....

Jeremy'S Birthday

2011-08-17T20:58:00.001-07:00

Jeremy's birthday fell right in the middle of all the wedding stuff so we held a really quick party on Thursday morning between making desserts for the reception and going over to string up lights on the trees. Happy Birthday Jeremy! (and thanks for letting Tori help do candles)

Staying with Jennifer and Evan

2011-08-17T20:53:00.000-07:00

We got to spend our time in Colorado staying with Jennifer and Evan--my old roommate and her husband--and their little boy. It was so much fun seeing them and catching up with them. They bought a fixer-upper a couple years ago and it was so fun finally seeing it and how much they've done with it. And it was so relaxing being with them and letting them take care of us! Thanks Jennifer and Evan!

Jeremy's Wedding!!!

2011-08-17T20:07:00.000-07:00

Jeremy and Sierra got married in Colorado a couple weekends ago so we drove out there and enjoyed spending their special day with them!

It was a long drive, but Tori did great. (Even with curlers the whole way).

Riley--not so much. (Okay, she was pretty good, but I couldn't resist).

We finally made it to CPK where we met up with the family and my cousins--the Pickards--and had some dinner.

(See the blog post on Annie's birthday here). Then we headed over to Jennifer and Evan's and the next day was the wedding! It was at the Denver temple which is beautiful and was on a gorgeous and very hot bright day.

The girls loved all the attention from their aunts.

We posed for lots and lots and lots of pictures.

Then Jeremy and Sierra came out and looked so so happy.

Aww....

Then we posed for more pictures.

Siblings!

It was really hot...

so we were excited for the luncheon!

with pie!

My sisters sang a song to the newlyweds....

and Tori danced.

We also practiced walking.

Colorado has beautiful rainbows. We must have seen at least three while we were there--and a double one too!

THE RECEPTION!!!

While the parents and newlyweds stood in line...

and a live jazz band played...

we goofed off taking pictures of people.

and the beautiful mansion and decorations.

such cute centerpieces

(A little out of order...this is from Sierra's endowment session)

(back to the reception)

Tori practiced break dancing. All the other kids were doing it.

But she gave up soon and pulled Sierra onto the dance floor.

The food was yummy.

The slideshow and video were fun.

We saw old friends!

Hung out with family!

Did all the typical reception stuff...

Danced...

And Jeremy even played his trumpet!

More pictures.

Then they left. Tori loved throwing the petals at them.

What a great wedding and reception! Congratulations Jeremy and Sierra!

Annie's Birthday

2011-08-17T20:02:00.000-07:00

While we were in Colorado celebrating Jeremy's wedding we held Annie's little birthday party in the hotel room. It was very crowded, and fun but small. She opened presents and we went through the next day's schedule :) Annie was a great sport, but I think she liked her presents at least. Tori had fun helping Annie and even trying on her new shoes.

Melanie's Visit

2011-08-17T20:00:00.001-07:00

Melanie came to visit us while she was here in Utah and it was so fun seeing her kids! They are getting so big! Thanks Melanie :)

Dinner with the Newlyweds

2011-08-17T19:56:00.000-07:00

We invited Jeremy and Sierra up for dinner a couple days after their wedding, and they came (for a quick dinner!) and it was a lot of fun seeing them :)

(How's that for a blog post?)

Summer Fun

2011-08-02T20:20:00.001-07:00

We've been playing hard this summer, with lots of time at the park and the library and playing with Dad. We bought a fun little slip'n'slide and Jim took the kids out on that a couple days ago. It's been fun!

Okay, don't judge me for these next ones. This was only at five o'clock in the evening!

Updates...and a Movie Date with Dad

2011-07-25T18:29:00.000-07:00

We got a new camera since ours was slowly dying. We couldn't zoom anymore (not good with kids) and the flash smoked a little when we used it. With two wedding receptions a bunch of birthdays coming up we knew we'd need a new one, so we asked for a birthday/Christmas present early and went to find a camera that worked for us. Although it was tricky deciding I'm happy with what we've gotten. It's just a Canon point and shoot, but its the ELPH 100 and has a lot of really fun little features. The tracking feature is especially great for the kids!

So here are a few pictures from testing the camera out. Also, Jim took Tori to Hop (the Easter bunny movie) and they had a great time. Afterwards they walked around a carnival that had been set up in the parking lot. (Didn't go on any rides, but had fun seeing everything).

In here there are also a couple other pictures--a nightgown I made for Riley, and my attempt at criss-cross pigtails for Tori.

Pirate Day at the Museum

2011-07-18T19:11:00.000-07:00

It's the museum's ?? birthday, so they held a big Pirate party all week long. Tori is too young to really know what pirates are, but she had fun anyway. We made a hat, a boat (the acorn thing), a telescope, and got to listen to a pirate tell a story. We also got to walk around the museum which was fun, and see their new "notion of motion" exhibit. It was a fun day! Jim stayed home with Riley.

The Maxfields Came!

2011-07-11T12:27:00.000-07:00

We were so happy when our friends the Maxfields stopped by for a visit on Sunday afternoon. I was so surprised to see them--they are not in my Utah life! It was great that they came to visit and so fun seeing all the kids (who are way to big!). They had fun playing with Tori and Riley too. Thanks guys for coming to see us!

Wheeler Farm

2011-07-11T12:24:00.000-07:00

We went to Wheeler Farm this weekend and enjoyed walking around and seeing all the animals and old buildings. It was a nice evening, but I think now that we've seen it we're done. It would be fun with slightly older kids though :)

Free Concert at Abravanal Hall

2011-07-11T12:22:00.001-07:00

Every summer the Utah Symphony does a series of free concerts. This year one was at Abravanal Hall and Jim and I got tickets. We had a good time, and even though it was short, it was fun hearing some great pieces--including the Stars and Stripes by Sousa (one of my favorites), and the Stars Wars theme (one of Jim's favorites).

Fifth of July

2011-07-11T12:19:00.001-07:00

We had hoped to do fireworks on the fourth but it doesn't get dark here until about 9:30, and the kids were out after their day. So we decided to do them on the fifth, and not really wait until dark. Not quite as fun, but at least we did them :) We just sparklers, and you can see from the pictures--Riley was having a blast on the ground, Tori started out a little hesitant but quickly loved them. It was a fun night!

Fourth of July

2011-07-05T11:31:00.000-07:00

For the Fourth my sister Annie was here and she came with us to our ward breakfast. It was a lot of fun, and Tori even got to do the bike parade this year. We didn't actually bring her bike or anything but she got some other kid's bike and rode around on it. Afterwards we had a nice day full of naps! and then went to a delicious barbecue at my Grandma's. We had ribs, coleslaw, german potatoes, and rolls. For dessert we celebrated Grandpa's birthday with a pineapple upside down cake. Soo good! Happy Fourth everyone!

Leslie's Wedding

2011-06-27T08:36:00.000-07:00

On Thursday my friend and old roommate Leslie got married in the Salt Lake Temple. It was so nice being able to go to the sealing, the luncheon, and the reception. President Uchtdorf did their ceremony, and it was really nice. It was a very hot day, but it was great to see some old friends and congratulate Leslie.

Thanksgiving Point Farm

2011-06-20T21:03:00.001-07:00

We went to the Farm at Thanksgiving Point again tonight. Their family night activity was all about bunnies--so Tori got her face painted like a bunny (not too sure about that!), colored bunny ears (and wore them the rest of the night), and even got to play a beanbag game where she "fed" the bunny. Then we walked around and saw the animals. It was a fun night, but completely wore her out.

Father's Day 2011

2011-06-20T21:00:00.001-07:00

For Father's Day our day started early by taking Annie and Alicia to the airport. When I got back I played with the kids, continued the laundry from our camping trip (wow there is a lot for one night!) and started breakfast. We had a nice breakfast of Dutch Baby and bacon (try to ignore the messy house--I cleaned up afterwards!) and then Jim had to leave for his meetings (8am!). Mom and the girls got ready and the girls got to wear their cute coats because it totally poured on Sunday! After church we just took naps and rested the rest of the day. We had a good dinner of Chicken Pasta Parmesan, but I didn't take any pictures. Happy Father's Day Jim!