Todd & Janice Johnson family photos

 

Janis Johnson asked me to take their family photos last Friday and I loved getting to photograph her family.  They're seem pretty awesome, don't you think?  Janice and Todd are in the same ward as the Taylor family I photographed last month.  Ben Taylor and two of his kids hiked the Grand Canyon with me last month.

It seems forever since my parents had only four grandkids.  Funny enough the first four were three boys and a girl too, except Avery was the youngest of the first four.

One of the sons handed me a pif you squeeze to make sounds to get the babies to look.  I knew it was going to be a good shoot from that moment and it was!  Hope to see the Johnson family again.

Andrew birthday cake

 

Andrew was gone for church meetings most of today and he already left when I decided to make his cake. Instead of asking what cake he would like, usually something chocolate, I made the cake I wanted to make.  A new recipe, very wintery, from this post I saw on Instagram.  It looked so dreamy, it was calling to me.

First, the cake batter and bake.  Then the ginger cookies baked and frosted.  The assembling happened after church.  Zara, Avery, and Rupert helped with the ginger house and tree decorating.

The girls helped update the letter board for the new season.  Very festive!

Glad Andrew likes ginger cakes too!  It's not a sticky ginger cake like they are in England, but the house smelled so good and it was a good texture.

Percy couldn't wait to dig in to some treats!  

Was it my favorite cake to eat?  No, but it was one of my most time consuming.  Such a special cake and a good Sunday activity.  Avery also helped put up the little village on the shelves.  She did a great job!  They're extra magical then the lights are turned on.

It's so fun trying something new and creative.  Especially something to eat, and share with others.

Happy Thanksgiving

You have to run a turkey trot on Thanksgiving! And if not an official race, than an unofficial turkey trot.  Rachel and I drove to her sister's house in Gilbert to run a 10k for change of scenery and it was a beautiful and slightly chilly run -perfect!

Elliot helped me make the stuffing.

Turkey turned out nice!

Peter did the turkey carving this year.  Really the meat just fell off the bones.

Loved have the elders over this year!

After eating we needed to make room for all the pies!

Lot's of good conversations, and ukulele music too!

 Peter brought his corn hole set which was a big hit!

The Manning's left to be with James' family and the Opie's came for pie.

Andrew and Zara helped out with the Brown's project next door.

And neighbor friends from the other side of our house played out back for a bit.

 We finished the night off with a call to Mom & Dad, a Christmas movie for the kids, and a couple games. It's been a good day.  Happy Thanksgiving.

Pie Day

Wow.  What a day.  We love making pies around here, well at least once a year - the day before Thanksgiving.  It seems like there are two kinds of people.  Those who make pies from scratch, and those who buy pies.  Michelle Weber told me they bought two pies for their family.  We're definitely a lots of pies from scratch kind of family, thank goodness!  It's more than just baking pies, it's a creative endeavor.  And then there are people like Julie, and even Sara this year, who take it a step further and make their pies dairy free, or gluten free, or paleo.  They're so cool.  I forces more on the artistic side of things, and the last year or two involving my kids more.  I may not be great at teaching them how to cook but I can teach them have to make a tasty and beautiful pie at least once a year. :)

It's funny how on school mornings I can't get the girls out of bed, and on no-school days they wake up early on their own. ???  Well, today it made me happy because they asked to go running with me.  Earlier this week Avery and Zara ran a mile in PE and got excited about getting better at running.  We ran what we call "the adventure way".  It's a loop around our beautiful neighborhood on Evergreen and then coming back by the stake center.

And since a mile went quickly we decided to do it again on bikes.  Avery didn't go far because of a flat tire but Zara and I did the mile.

Earlier this week I asked the kids what pie they're looking forward to eating and that pretty much determined what I helped them make.  Elliot made two chocolate pudding pie and placed the chocolate chips like snowflakes.  Quick and easy!

Ruth and Elmina mades  lovely banana cream pie, one of the missionaries favorites.  The girls loved looking through my pie pictures for inspiration.  That's why we have them!  It's aways fun to take an idea and try to make it your own.

Not sure what Allen helped make but it looks amazing!  I think it's for the Opie family.

Zara did a fantastic job on her cherry pie!  I think she helped make it last year too.  So proud of her!

This is about all Rupert did.  He mixed the filling for pumpkin pie and had the idea of the leaves in the middle.  It was too fun for him to play with all his cousins - Allen, Sterling, and Jason.  Just about right for a six year old boy. :)

See his pumpkin pie above on the bottom right?

Avery made chocolate mousse pie.  This isn't hard but takes extra time since we whipped heavy cream and egg whites, and melted chocolate for the filling, and then whipped heavy cream again for the top.  It's a nice rich recipe.

Natalie made the cutest strawberry pie, and the one on the right is my apple pie.  Obviously a more time consuming one.  It was good to try a new style.  I brushed it with egg wash and sprinkled with sugar so each swirl will be like a shortbread cookie.

Here are about half the pies!  Sara made a few more, but all hers are going to the Porters, Ruth as a couple at home, Avery's and Elliot's other one was in the fridge, and Julie was still baking a few more.  Lots  of pie photos because I look forward to posting them on Instagram every year.  Always with a print from Caravan Shoppe.

This afternoon Andrew booked a visit to see Santa at Bass Pro Shop.  It's been a few years and this year is different because there's no sitting on Santa's lap.  It probably worked out better because those four kids look so cute!  There were activities there and they all came home very happy.

Bea enjoyed playing with leftover pie crust.  Somer Lang, a friend from church, gave me some rosemary for the turkey since I forgot to get some at mom & dad's.  Her husband was picking up a turkey bag since she needed one and I had an extra.

Here we go!  Last year was my first year doing the turkey and Corey Willis walked me through it at their house.  This year I did it my way and it wasn't that scary.  See the rosemary under the skin on the top right photo?  Can't wait to see what it looks like when it's done.  Of course I have it easy because the turkey went right in the BBQ pit at church tonight.  Andrew dropped it off for me and the ward gave out hot chocolate and cookies, which was a big hit with the kids.

I seasoned with salt, garlic powder, mustard powder, pepper and ginger, plus the rosemary under the skin.  Super simple!

This is at the end of the day with three more of Julie's at the bottom.  Julie left around 5:00pm and Sara closer to 5:30.  We really were baking all day!