Post Christmas Markham fun

Jesse's brother Luke, and his wife Lauren came for Christmas this year, so we ended up spending quite a bit of time with the Markhams in the days after Christmas.
The rest of our Christmas was nice. We spent some time at the "homestead" (Grammy and Grandad's house) after Church, and we had some pumpkin pancakes for lunch. The kids were able to open some of their presents from Grammy and Grandad. Which included a second wheel for the wii, as well as 2 more controllers. Since it was Christmas, I allowed them to break the no wii on Sunday rule, and they had fun playing each other in Mario Kart.

After that, we headed over to Seth and Heather's for dinner, and family presents. The kids did really well, and everyone had a great time. One of my favorite presents that I got this year was a quilt rack. Right now, the picture is on my phone, but one day I'll show it to all of you! (I know, waiting on the edge of your seat!)

The next day we came back to Purcellville. We started by doing some "treasure hunting" by looking for some local geocaches. The kids all had fun despite the fact that it was about 15* with 100 mph winds!

After geocaching, we went back to Seth and Heather's house for a lunch of leftovers, and then we made the annual pilgrimage to REI.

On Tuesday we actually were able to stay home for most of the day, first time since Friday. The boys played the wii quite a bit, and in general made even more of a mess than there was before. That evening we went back to Leesburg to take some family pictures. The last Markham family photo was taken when Graham was 3 weeks old. Unfortunately Jesse's older brother and younger brother never make it out at the same time, so it's impossible to get a real family photo with everyone in it, but we make due.

Wednesday we stayed home for most of the day again, but headed down to Seth and Heathers for a final dinner and campfire before Luke and Lauren left. I made up some cakepops from my new cakepop maker, and they were a hit.

But now Luke and Lauren have left, and we have just a few more days of Winter vacation. Nate goes back to school on Tuesday. Right now the goal is to pack up Christmas, and then to just keep on going, and pack up all of the things that we don't use very often, so start getting ready for a move. Who knows where to, but I just know that I have to get out of the place we're living in!

Christmas Morning

This year, since Christmas was on a Sunday, it was a very busy morning for us. We had plans to spend the day with Jesse's family, and were going to meet them at 10am to attend church with them. This actually allowed us to leave later than if we attended our own ward at 9am! So Jesse and I ended up getting up at 6am to get a start on our presents. At about 6:30 we heard noises upstairs, and went to find the boys. Nate was surprised when he was allowed downstairs, and said, it's still night time! It was difficult to stop them from having a free for all, but since we were in a bit of a hurry, we didn't slow them down too much.
They were especially happy about their Finn and Francesco. Nate got a box of costumes- Optimus Prime, and Bumblebee, as well as Wolverine and the Green Lantern. He loves them, and has spent quite a bit of time in them over the past few days.

Olivia woke up at about 7, and came downstairs to open her few presents.

Everyone got lots of presents that were on their list, and we were very blessed to have been able to have a lovely Christmas morning.

Christmas Eve

This year we spent Christmas Eve at my mom's house. We got there at about 11 and hung out for a little while. The boys were very good about playing and not asking when we were going to open presents. We had a turkey dinner in the early afternoon after Matt and Melissa joined us. After things were a little bit cleaned up, we got to open some presents. It was difficult for the boys to let Grandma open presents too, and Graham especially was looking for the next present. But this year Grandma gave us a Wii, which the boys were very excited about, and have already logged hundreds of hours on!

Graham waited semi-patiently for Jesse to set things up so that he could play.

This was the best present he's ever gotten!

Nate even got a turn! (And yes, Graham wore his pajamas all day!)

In the evening, we came home, and had baths and got on our new jammies that Grandma made for us.

We then let the kids open their first present. Each of them got a pillow pet/blanket combo.

The boys were not too bad going to bed that night, well, no worse than any other night this past month, so Jesse and I hung out for a little while before Santa came. And it should be noted that for the first time this year, Jesse was not wrapping any presents on Christmas Eve night! It was nice to be able to relax with him, because everything was ready in advance.

Our Christmas best!

My mom made a beautiful dress this year for my beautiful little girl. I then made matching ties out of the same material for the boys. Then we got a tie for Jesse, and then I just cried since I had nothing to match the rest of them. But with all of the boys wearing their suits, we were a nice looking little family!

Happy Christmas

There's magic in the air this evening, magic in the air! 'Tis the season to be jolly and joyous! With a burst of pleasure we feel it arrive. There's something in the wind today, that's good for everyone. Yes, faith is in our hearts today, we're shining like the sun. And everyone can feel it, the feeling's running deep. After all, there's only one more sleep till Christmas!

Gingerbread houses

My friend had a gingerbread making playgroup earlier this week. Nate was a school, so Graham and Olivia and I headed over. Everyone brought candies and stuff, and we all had a great time decorating things. It was interesting to note that those who had girls had a great time with their daughters decorating their houses. Those with boys ended up decorating on their own while the boys played with toys in the other room.

The boys ate for a day or two, and then I tossed the whole thing. I think that gingerbread houses are always better in theory than in real life!

The Minivan Express

So the kids have been into the Polar Express this week. Nate had a Polar Express party at school on Thursday, where they all wore pajamas to school and watched the movie. We borrowed the movie from my mom this week, and the book that we have came with a CD audio version, which they have been listening to at night. So I saw this idea on Pinterest last week, and I knew that it was up their alley. Although, I'm not really one of those "creative" type moms, but I thought that this would be worth it. Sometimes I put a lot of effort into things, and then the boys complain through it all, so I was worried about that, but this time, they were very excited and way into it.
We started with everyone getting a ticket, and changing into pajamas. We then piled into the minivan. Both Jesse and I pretended to punch tickets, and the kids thought that was really funny.

We then drove around and looked at Christmas lights. The kids got a little bored when there were several houses in a row that were not decorated, but they always love driving at night and seeing the lights, so this was exciting for them.

When we got home I had some bells that I gave them.

Olivia carried hers around for the rest of the night.

And then we had hot cocoa. This year Nate is into hot cocoa, or rather, warm cocoa.

Graham is still not so much into it. But he likes to pretend. He just drinks water in a mug.

So this was a successful Christmas evening. The kids thought this was the coolest thing, and we all enjoyed it. We may do it again next year.

Merry Christmas from the Markhams

This is the holiday card message that we sent out this year. If you didn't get one, chances are I don't have your email address!

We hope that this holiday season is finding all of you in a state of happiness.
We seem to have had a very quiet year this year. We started the year with purchasing a new used car for Jesse after the Prism that Lauren bought just out of college died just before last Christmas. That was probably the most exciting thing that happened in the first half of the year.
In April we adopted a new kitten from a friend of Lauren’s. We named him Hurley, and he is everything that Lizzie is not. He is cuddly, he is a lap cat, and he is very naughty. If we didn’t love him so much we would have gotten rid of him a long time ago!
We also went on a mini-vacation to Massanutten, VA due to the generosity of the Markham family. It was a fun time, aside from Graham getting very sick while we were there, and on our last night him waking Lauren up in the middle of the night to puke all over her!
In May Lauren ran her second half marathon. She ran it with several of the women and young women from her church, and had a fun time training with such a large group of people. She beat her previous time by about 10 or 15 minutes, which made her very happy. After that came the Baltimore 10 miler in June. Then, she did the craziest thing that anyone in this family has done, and started to train for a marathon in October. Due to the intense amount of time needed to train for a marathon, not much else really happened this summer. Jesse also spent his free time running, and completed the Washington DC Ragnar Relay in September. He took turns running with 11 other people to cover 200 miles in 23 hours.
In July the family headed out to Utah to attend a White family reunion. A great time was had by all, and the kids were very well behaved considering all. It was nice to be able to see some Utah friends that we have not seen in a while too.
In late August, Nate started into first grade. He continues to learn quickly, and it still takes us by surprise when he reads random words. His true loves of Math and Science have started to shine through, and just for fun he will write out math fact families on sheets of paper and make “books” about the solar system.
In October Lauren ran her marathon, and man is she glad to be done with that! It was something that she is glad to have done, but not something that she plans to do again any time soon!
Graham was very happy to turn 4 in December, and he thinks that there are so many things that he can do now that he is 4 that he couldn’t have done before. He continues to be a very cuddly little boy, and is quick to give out hugs and kisses.
Olivia is now a year and a half, and is as busy as a one year old can be. She can un-clean faster than I can clean, she wants to help with everything, and she believes that if the boys can do something, then she can do it too! However, she’s the cutest thing in the world, and we are all still very in love with her.
So our life here is pretty good, and we have very few complaints. We wish you happiness and joy as your hearts turn to serving others at this time of year!

Temple Lights

We went down to see the lights at the Washington DC temple on the first weekend that they were open. It was an ideal time to go. It was not too crowded, and it was not too cold. The kids enjoyed themselves, and were well behaved.

You've got a friend in me

Can you guess what they are doing? They're watching Toy Story of course!

Getting our tree

For the third year in a row we headed over to E and E farms to pick out a Christmas tree with Aunt Cammi and Grandad. This is also the first year that it has not either been snowing, or there was snow on the ground. It was actually pretty warm that day. But we found a beautiful tree that is just right for our little house, and I may add, that this tree is not covered in spider webs, which is a problem you usually have with trees. Nice.

There are still the recent stumps that you can trip over, but then there are also the holes where the stumps and trees have been cut out. This farm offers balled trees in addition to cut your own.

Our beautiful tree.

I finally took Olivia up to the main part so that she wasn't continually tripping over sticks and falling into holes and in general getting covered in mud.

So another successful trip to get our tree. It wasn't as magical as it can be with the snow, but it was still pretty good!

Chocolate cake

So, you may have noticed that I'm not a food blogger. BUT... today I am going to be one. I am well known for my chocolate cake in these parts of the world, and the recipe is no secret. It's not even mine! I have always used the Hershey's "Perfectly Chocolate" chocolate cake recipe which can be found on the back of any container of Hershey's cocoa. I pair that with the "Perfectly Chocolate" chocolate frosting recipe also found there, and without fail, it is a hit. I am not in general a fan of chocolate cake. But this stuff- so moist I think I may die. I also am, in general, tempted to eat the whole cake when I have this around, so I don't make it unless it's a special occasion, because, really, who needs to eat an entire cake! Today however, I made a twist on the recipe. Actually, last week I made a twist, and I put in a teaspoon or two of orange extract, and that was delicious! Today I need to bring cupcakes to our ward Christmas party, and I thought that since it was Christmas, we needed a little mint, so I added some mint extract. So to save you from hunting the recipe down on the internet, I'm going to share it here. But, like, only make this if you really like good chocolate cake.

Hershey's "Perfectly Chocolate" Chocolate Cake

2 c sugar

1 3/4 c flour

3/4 c cocoa

1 1/2 t baking powder

1 1/2 t baking soda

1 t salt

2 eggs

1 c milk (I used whole milk today, just to make it extra naughty)

1/2 c vegetable oil

2 t vanilla

(2 t peppermint extract)

1 c boiling water

Heat oven to 350* Grease and flour pan.

Stir together sugar, flour, cocoa, baking powder, baking soda and salt in large bowl. Add eggs, milk, oil and vanilla (and extract); beat on medium speed of mixer for 2 minutes. (I usually put all of the dry ingredients in the bowl, and then place a little over a cup of water into a glass measuring cup in the microwave for about 4-5 minutes, which gives me the right amount of time to add the wet ingredients and beat for 2 minutes, and then have the boiling water be ready.) Stir in boiling water (batter will be thin). Pour batter evenly into prepared pans.

Bake 2 9"pans 30-35 min. This can also be done into 2 or 3 8" pans, also baking for 30-35 min, a bundt cake baked for 50-55 min, and 30 cupcakes for 22-25 min. When doing the cupcakes don't over fill the cup, no more than 2/3 full, but closer to 1/2.

Today I deviated on the frosting a bit, and let me tell you, I don't know that I've ever had better frosting!

Hershey's "Perfectly Chocolate" Chocolate frosting

1/2 c butter or margarine

2/3 c cocoa

2 c powdered sugar

1/2 c milk (Once again, I used whole milk)

1 t vanilla

1 t peppermint extract

The recipe calls for you to melt the butter, stir in the cocoa, and then alternate the powdered sugar and milk, which is what I usually do, but this does often create a thinner frosting. I wanted something thicker, so today I only softened the butter, and that in combination with the whole milk really made a frosting that holds up. But here is the kicker. Once I made one recipe of this, I took a tub of Pillsbury Creamy Supreme Peppermint frosting, and mixed the two together. Oh I'm in heaven!

Pipe onto the cupcakes and enjoy!

Graham turns 4!

As usual, we had a week long celebration for Graham's birthday this year. It seems like between all of the different family, we always have at least 3 parties for each birthday. His birthday started at Grandma's house this year, with him getting his one true desire of his heart- a Woody doll. He has been wanting this thing since September. He was so excited to finally get it!

Then, on Saturday before his birthday, we got together with the Markhams for a joint party for Seth and Graham. We went to a Japanese steak house, and the biggest shock of all time was that Nate ate just about everything. From the soup at the first course, to the fried rice (he loved that) and the vegetables, (he tried all of them, and loved them as well.) He had the chicken, but would eat steak from anyone who would share with him. He even ate the noodles. I think it was all because he had chop sticks. They were the kid kind, that are rubberbanded together, but he was a champ eating with them, and he thought it was so fun.

Anyway, after dinner we went to Aunt Cammi's house to have some cake. I made this lego cake, which was of course much cuter on the internet, I'd say it was more difficult to make then I had anticipated, but going into it I figure it would be hard to get it frosted.

His actual birthday was on Sunday, and was totally low key. We went to church, he got to have presents after church, and then we went to see the temple lights that night. So it was a pretty good birthday for him. He got his Woody, and he got lots of Cars 2 things, which made him happy.

Helping Grandma

You can't really tell, but this is a 6 foot ladder. And there is Graham, right at the top of it. He really enjoyed climbing up the ladder to place ornaments on the tree at Grandma's house.