Happy Anniversary Honey!

We are in a mad rush to pack and get out to the house in less than an hour but I wanted to put up something quick. Babe, you are more than I ever dreamed of or hoped for and you are perfect for me. God has blessed me so much! I am so glad to be your wife and the mother of our children. It's only been three years and yet we have 2 kids, have lived in 3 different houses and traveled all over the world together! What will the next years hold?! I will be by your side no matter what and forever, Brian Yoder. I love you. Happy Anniversary!

Someday I'll put up pictures of our adventures all over Europe (and beyond) since we didn't have a blog then. It truly has been an incredible life together thus far. Thank you God for the wonderful gift of marriage. I am so happy! :)

Buckeye Balls

For the anonymous person who asked about Buckeye Balls, they are a Christmas tradition in both our families and there are lots of variations to these peanut butter balls dipped in chocolate. However you make them, they are delicious! :)

Brian's mom's recipe is:

1 1/2 c. creamy peanut butter

1/2 c. butter, softened

1 tsp vanilla

16 oz powdered sugar

Mix all ingredients well (best if you use your hands!) Form into balls. Chill. Melt 6 oz semi-sweet chocolate chips and 2 TB solid shortening over a double boiler. Using a toothpick, dip balls in the chocolate, letting it drip off to form a thin coating. Chill.

You'll probably need more chocolate than that... and my grandma uses one square of parafin in her recipe. Up to you--just don't put too much chocolate--we didn't get it very thin this time and it overpowers the peanut butter. :)

My family's recipe (or what Bri and I adapted from it) adds about 2 cups of finely crushed graham cracker crumbs and ups the peanut butter to 2 cups and butter to 3/4 cup.

My grandma always called them "Motsa Balls" and her recipe is a little different:

2 1/2 c. graham crumbs

1 1/4 c. crushed walnuts

1 box powdered sugar

1 c. creamy PB

1 c. butter

1 c. coconut

How you make them is up to you... but one thing's for sure... you'll always find them at our house around the holidays!! :)

Happy 2nd Birthday Natalie!!

Natalie's birthday was yesterday and we had a great time. She had her well-baby check-up and even had to get shots but she was very brave. We had lunch out and she got to drink the whole cup of Sprite which I think she thought was the the best part of the day so far. Brian got to come home a little early so we had extra time to celebrate. We grilled hotdogs and hamburgers, opened presents and had cake and ice cream. Lots of fun! So hard to believe she's two already! We love you so much, Seussy! You bring us so much joy!

Getting ready to eat....mmm... fries! "Okay, I'm ready NOW!"
Looking at her new book with Daddy. New WARM clothes for Christmas on the mainland.
When she was done looking at them, she set them aside and said, "cute" as she went for the next present. How do they pick up on these things so early?What could be under that blanket??It's a tricycle!! Yay!!Taking it for a spin down the hall. Blowing out the candles on her butterfly cake. Daddy likes cake and ice cream too.
Check out how nice her (huge) slice of cake looks... watch the progression...
Her new favorite (and longest) phrase is, "Oh Mommy...it's SO good!" Daddy kept encouraging her to mush it up and to take big bites... what a mess but what fun! :)

She loved digging through the cake to find the candies. Look at her new two front teeth!

Okay... I think that's enough of playing with the the cake... Clean up time All ready for bed! What a great birthday!

Train Ride through Toyland

We were shopping at the mall over the weekend and they have a train set up in the middle for kids so we let Natalie take a ride. She loved it... and immediately asked for "more" when she got off... :)


And here's more pictures of the gang...

Christmas time in Hawaii...

It's gorgeous here... but so strange to be so warm in December! People still put up Christmas lights and blow-up things all over their yards. I'll have to take some pictures to show you all. We've had some really rainy and windy weather--this is as close to fall as we got this year. :)
She had another outfit on all day... but took it off to put on pajama pants (inside out) and this shirt. At least it matches. :)

This should make all the people from PA happy... We gave in and made a half recipe of buckeye balls afterall. :)
This is how I found Natalie one day during a nap. So fashionable. :)
Just chilling with Daddy before bed.
Natalie playing in the kitchen.

Don't you all wish it was still cute to have rolls under your chin? :)

Christmas Cookies!

This week we made sugar cookies and decorated them for our neighbors. It ended up a two-day affair because we've been busy. Baking them one day-frosting the next. I think she was sugared out enough each day anyway that it was probably better to break it up. :) These are probably the only ones we'll make this year... since we're coming home to two houses that will be filled with lots of yummy things to eat. (Bethany, Brian is already dreaming (and drooling) about Buckeye Balls --you better make a lot!) We're getting really excited about Christmas... just over 2 weeks!! :)

Mixing up the cookies (yeah, it was out of a package... :)
Of course you have to taste it! :)
Blake hung out on the floor while we baked.

Lately she's been talking in a "mommy" voice when she's with her dolls and toys. She copies how I must sound talking to Blake. She was talking to the cookies like that, "Hi no-man, hi tree..." Then she started talking all serious about how the oven is hot. "Oh no... tearful (careful)... uh-ben... hot!" Pointing to warn the cookies about the oven. :)

Decorating the cookies... and sampling the frosting.

And the final step... eating the cookies!! Yummy!

Just another day

Natalie is talking so much these days--over the weekend she passed Brian in the kitchen and said, "Mornin' Daddy" and kept on walking by. She makes us laugh all the time. And Blake has discovered that he can scream really loudly-can't wait for him to get over that one! We've been out a lot lately and we actually got to stay home all day yesterday. Here's some pictures of some of the things we did. We made cookie mixes (you mix up the dry ingredients and then give them the recipe for what they need to add to make cookies). They are for the ladies that watch the children during my Bible Study at church. We just have two more weeks and I have so appreciated being able to be with the other ladies without the kids. I look forward to Thursday mornings!

Making the tags to go on the cookie jars

Having some juice in her "boat"

Trying to get a picture of the two of them at our favorite beach playground. (She kept letting him go! Won't tell you how many tries it took to get this only half-decent shot! :)

I love the beach!

Can't wait til I can actually play over there too!
If you look real hard above her head, you can see Diamond Head mountain and some of the hotels from downtown Waikiki. Just watching the ships roll in...
It's been a long day... time to go back home.
I was in the mood for some Middle Eastern food so we made hummus, tabouli salad, falafel and cucumber yogurt dip for dinner. It was delicious. We surprised Daddy by setting the table on the floor and putting on some Turkish music. Fun evening. :)