Sunday, December 20, 2009

Merry Christmas!

We're having so much fun with the little guy. He's up and walking everywhere now...
... giving talking a shot too:) His favorite words are - "Dada"
... and "hot" !
... and "hat" - sounds like "hot" :)
He'll give most words a shot :)
Trying to figure out a way to allow Caleb to interact with the tree without mangling the ornaments was tricky... we came up with, "you can smell, but don't touch:)"... we have lots of fun smelling the tree together:)
He's using a spoon to feed himself now too (or trying to)... growing so fast:)
After a few scary nights of 104/105˚ temperatures, we found out our little guy had Roseola earlier this month... the rash gave it away. Caleb clung to his daddy during these sick days and spent lots of time just laying on D's lap... so precious.
Nothing like Daddy's kisses to help get better fast
buddies:)
We visited Jeff, Kelly and Sierra last week... SO fun watching these two grow up together - both talking (some) and walking now:)
Kelly and I had SO MUCH fun making Lefsa together. If you're minnesotan, you know what a delicacy Lefsa is... and you probably know what a task it is to pull of a successful batch.

If you're an Arizonan or Coloradoan, you probably have no idea what Lefsa is... my best attempt at explaining this Scandinavian holiday treat is --- it's like a thin tortilla (good for a good giggle, huh Minnesotans?) we put butter and sugar on and eat with Sweedish meatballs, mashed potatoes, gravy and corn at any good holiday feast, ya know... :)

Anyway, after grandma passed away last February, the tradition passed to our hands to carry on. With a couple of precious grandma training sessions in my head and heart, and my grandma's long-promised lefsa cooking supplies at my side, I set off to start my first-ever attempt of lefsa-making without grandma's help. I peeled 10 pounds of potatoes, cut them in quarters, boiled them, riced them (using my grandma's antique-looking potato ricer... funny deal), mashed them, added cream and butter and let them chill over night. (Have I mentioned that cooking doesn't exactly come naturally to me?)

The next day Caleb and I drove to Denver to play and cook these potato balls up with Kelly and Sierra. While the kids were napping, we began step 2. We added flower and a bit of sugar and salt and starting rolling the dough into balls. (I found a hand-written note at the bottom of the griddle box from my grandma that said, "to Heather"... I teared up - I sure do miss her.) We plugged in Grandma's griddle, and layed out her rolling cloth. We'd roll the dough as thin as possible without tearing it then carefully lifted it over to the griddle to cook. Like roasting marshmallows, the sign of a good piece of lefsa is golden brown spots... not dark brown or black - that means it burnt.
We had way too much fun:) - after 8 hours of Lefsa rolling and flipping - we started getting a bit goofy... (well maybe we were pretty goofy the whole time). A few times when we were talking too much (happens rarely) and forgot to flip, the Lefsa burnt... then we just ate it - so it worked out ok:):)
Just as fun was hanging out with my two favorite little buddies:)
Caleb and I spent the night in Denver. I got to babysit when Jeff and Kelly went to work the next day - what special alone-time with both kids! I loaded both kids into the car after their morning naps and met Kelly at Park Meadows for lunch and a visit with Santa.

Where's Santa?
Here he is!

Uncle Ryan came to visit this weekend. We had so much fun together! What a blessing it was to have him here! Caleb had SO MUCH FUN playing with him!
Snuggling after nap
Thanks for a fun weekend, Ry!