banjo dance

christmas

we spent christmas in beautiful, snowy utah this year.  we had a wonderful time with family and friends.  the time went by way too fast, it always does. here are just a few pictures from the trip.

tosh, vicki and pooped out little stella.

desmond with his giant froggie grandma brown made.

grandpa brown showing desmond around the music studio.

the lights at temple square.  one of my favorite holiday traditions.

the sing-a-long at the brown family christmas party.  

playing blocks with grandma lemmon.

wagon rides with grandpa lemmon.

9 years

happy anniversary jeremy.  here's to many more years to come.  

(and thanks for the beautiful flowers)

exploring

ever since desmond has learned to walk, all that he wants to do is explore new places.  he loves to walk around just about anywhere and check out every nook and cranny.  so last week we took him up to the high museum to walk around the courtyard.  he had the time of his life and was really bummed when we made him get back in the stroller for the ride home.  

sunday best

jer took this picture yesterday and i just couldn't resist posting it.  

ornaments

i got this idea from martha.  they are made from strips of paper and actually turned out better than i thought they would.  i was going to do my whole tree with them but ended up just making about 7 and mixing other ornaments in.  so far only one has been torn to shreds by the d-man.  the rest are now hanging out of his reach.  

'tis the season

to start off, we had a lovely thanksgiving this year. dinner with the olson family and then dessert at the edens.  it was a great day filled with wonderful food and great company and somehow i didn't take a single picture.  

the day after thanksgiving we met up with the denison family at hunters christmas tree farm to pick out our tree.  it is such a cute place in a great woodsy setting.  it was really warm that day so it was a stretch to say it felt like christmas but we had fun trying.  we went on a hay ride, desmond sat on santa's lap for the first time (hence the "who the hell are you" look on his face).  it was a fun day and i love our tree.  i think it's the best looking one we've ever had.  

happy birthday dollycakes

sure love you.  

NYC

this year for my birthday jeremy gave me a weekend away.  i went and spent a long weekend in new york city and stayed with my sister holly and her hubby ty.  it was so nice to have an adult weekend without any baby anything, and i finally broke the dry spell and went to a movie in a theatre.  it had been two years!  thanks holly and ty for being fantastic hosts and thanks jeremy for holding down the fort while i was away.  it's a lot of work.  i loved every minute of the trip, it went by way too fast.  

some first words

i took this a few days before dez got sick, he is talking a lot these days and it's so fun to hear him say new words.

new president

i usually don't post anything political on this blog, but this is such a remarkable day, i just couldn't resist. i just have to say that i am so excited that barack obama won the presidency.  the speech he gave last night gave me new hope in our country and made me proud to be an american.  go barack!

happy halloween

autumn yumminess

pumpkin cookies with cream cheese frosting

ingredients

1/2 cup butter

1 1/2 cups sugar

1 cup canned pumpkin

2 1/2 cups flour

1 tsp baking powder

1 tsp baking soda

1/2 tsp salt

1 tsp vanilla

1 tsp cinnamon

1 tsp nutmeg

directions

cream butter and sugar.  add in egg and pumpkin.  blend in all dry ingredients.  drop by spoonful onto greased cookie sheet.  bake at 350 for 10 minutes.  top with cream cheese frosting.  

cream cheese frosting

4 oz cream cheese, softened

2 1/4 cups powdered sugar

1/4 cup butter, softened 

vanilla to taste

look dad, no hands

last week i was sick, and the one day i didn't see desmond, he did this.............

a lemmon weekend

david and diane (jeremy's parents) came to town this past weekend.  we packed a lot in in the days they were here.  we went to north georgia and spent a night, took long walks, played games, ate, and most of all, played with desmond.  we loved having them here, it went by way too fast.  we love you lemmons! 

burt's pumpkin farm

hillcrest apple orchard

on our cabin's deck

piedmont park

walking (and saying "daddy")

zoo atlanta

this morning we went with a few other ladies from the ward and their kids to the atlanta zoo.  it was a beautiful day so it was nice to get out.  desmond couldn't have cared less about the animals, he was more interested in the trees (he is obsessed with trees) and all of the kids running around. regardless, it was a fun outing.   (thanks for the tickets jan!)

butternut squash risotto

(for heather)

ingredients

7 T. unsalted butter

2 T. minced fresh sage

6 cups vegetable or chicken stock

2 cups butternut squash puree

2 T. olive oil

2/3 cup caramelized onions

2 cups Arborio rice

1 tsp. minced fresh rosemary

1/2 cup dry white wine

1/2 cup grated Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese

salt and freshly ground pepper to taste

directions

1.  in a small saucepan over medium heat, melt 4 T. butter.  add 1 T. of the sage and heat until the butter browns.  strain the butter into a small bowl and discard the sage.  cover the bowl to keep butter warm

2.  in a large saucepan over medium-high heat, whisk together the stock and squash puree.  bring just to a simmer, 8-10 minutes; maintain over low heat

3.  in a large saucepan or risotto pan over medium heat, warm the olive oil.  add the caramelized onions and rice and stir until the grains are well coated with the oil and are nearly translucent with a white dot in the center, about 3 minutes.  stir in the remaining 1 t. sage and the rosemary.  add the wine and stir until it is absorbed.

4.  add the simmering stock mixture a ladleful at a time, stirring frequently after each addition.  wait until the stock is almost completely absorbed before adding more.

5.  when the rice is tender to the bite but slightly firm in the center and looks creamy, after about 30 minutes, stir in remaining 3 T. butter, the cheese, salt and pepper.  add more stock if needed so the rice is thick and creamy.  let stand for 2 minutes.  drizzle with the reserved sage butter and serve immediately.  

serves 6

visitors

this past weekend holly and ty came from new york to visit.   we had such a great time, and desmond just loved being with them.   we did a lot of eating, walking, laughing and playing speed scrabble.  it was so nice to have them here, we miss them already.   

my own little spot

when you live in a smaller place, you have to make every bit of space you have functional.  i finally set up this little spot in our bedroom for me to sew and do my projects.  it might be small, but i'm super happy about it.  

new moves

he's feeling a little better.  and he's learned how to dance.

the end of a very long day

crappy croup

yes, the croup visited our house friday night.  desmond went to bed just fine but then woke up about a half an hour later gasping for air.  we took him to the emergency room (i swear the kid's a regular) because he was having a lot of trouble even getting a breath.  they diagnosed him with croup and gave him an oral steroid to shrink the swelling in the throat.  he was still coughing really bad the next night, that scary croup cough, so they put him on one more round of the steroid and hopefully that does it.  poor kid hasn't slept much the past several nights, and neither have we.  

who's hiding at the zoo?

who's hiding at the zoo?  i sincerely hope it's not this guy or i'm never going to go.

i got this book in the mail the other day.  is it just me, or does everyone in this picture look possessed?

happy birthday daddy

to the best dad ever.  hope you have a fantastic birthday.  we love you.

the next step

dez just figured out how to do this yesterday.  (thanks for the walker julie!)

lime cornmeal cookie

in my opinion, one of the best cookies around is the lime cornmeal cookie found at the star provisions bakery on the west side of town.  i have wanted to find a recipe for a long time that was similar, and with a few tweaks, i think i finally found it.  

ingredients

1 cup butter, softened

1/4 cup sugar

3-5 tsp lime zest

1 tsp vanilla

1 1/2 cups unbleached all purpose flour

1/2 cup yellow cornmeal

1/ 4 tsp salt

directions

1.  preheat oven to 350.  line baking sheets with parchment paper.  

2.  in large mixing bowl beat butter with electric mixer on medium to high speed for 30 seconds.  beat in the 1/4 cup sugar, lime zest and vanilla.

3.  in separate bowl combine flour, cornmeal and salt.  gradually add to butter mixture until a cohesive ball of dough forms. (after this, i refridgerated the dough for about a half an hour)

4.  roll about a tablespoon of dough into a 3/4 inch ball.  place 1 inch apart on baking sheet.  flatten slightly with palm of hand.

5.  bake 10-12 minutes, until edges are lightly browned.  cool on rack.  makes about 3 dozen cookies. 

*i frosted mine with just a mix of milk, powdered sugar and lime juice.  it was more of a glaze, but it turned out yummy.