Hot Cocoa Recipe - MERRY CHRISTMAS!

Every year for Christmas we give homemade hot cocoa to friends and neighbors. Since many of you live out of our "neighborhood" scope, I thought I'd share our Christmas yummyness via the world wide web. How quaint. I know. MERRY CHRISTMAS!!



*8 cups dry powdered milk*1 pound instant hot chocolate*1 cup non dairy coffee creamer (any flavor you want)*4 teaspoons (heaping) powdered sugar*to drink... mix 1/2 cup cocoa mix with 1 cup hot water* ENJOY!

Emma LOVED helping with the hot cocoa making! Although she never quite understood how to get the cocoa from the measuring cup to the delivery bags. Novice.

Her first Christmas tree. Our elevated tree actually prevented quite a few disasters.

We had an "Adams Family Christmas" at our home last night, since Greg and I leave for Kentucky tomorrow morning. This is Emma opening her very first Christmas gift, a darling tutu made by Aunt Tara. She also got many other wonderful gifts from everyone else! What a fun evening!

This face is what happens when a baby has been up TOO LATE. Those eyes are just screming "PUT ME TO BED ALREADY!!"

To interest or not to interest... that is the question?!?

FREE AT LAST!! FREE AT LAST!! Emma and I got all dolled up today and waltzed into our neighborhood Wal-Mart, where the Tempe branch of Desert Schools Federal Credit Union is located. While at this bank branch, we PAID OFF Greg's 2007 Toyota Camry!! My car is older and has been paid off for 4 years.

It feels so good to wipe away one of our debts. Yes, we still have our mortgage and student loans, but we are making progress and it makes me smile! Our next CONQUEST is our mortgage. This one will take longer, but we're working hard at it, so that when we turn our townhome into a rental property it can be straight profit.

The other night, we started playing around with an early mortgage payoff calculator ( http://www.dollartimes.com/calculators/early-mortgage-payoff-calculator.htm ). While doing so, we discovered that if we take the $300/month we were paying on the car and put it toward our mortgage... we will save... are you sitting down?... with your adult diaper on?...


$130,549 and cut off 11 1/2 years!!



Can you believe that? That is another home! And all for a simple $300/month. I hadn't really thought about crunching the numbers before now, but you should seriously try it. Even $100/month would save us $62,000! It's really sick how much interest we pay on our homes. Anyway, Merry Christmas!!

Go Emma, GO!

WHERE DOES EMMA GO?

1. Emma GOES upstairs, but very slowly and cautiously... FOR NOW. Do you believe in putting protective gates up or letting them learn consequences?

2. Emma GOES straight to the base of the television when "Baby Signing Times" is turned on. She loves seeing the other babies and already signs "baby" when the show starts. Have you taught your children baby signs? Do you think it helps with communication?

3. Emma GOES to the bookshelf as soon as she is able to roam free on the ground. She likes to pull every single book off the shelf, inspect the cover and then throw it behind her. Nope, that would be silly to play with her MANY MANY toys, when she has books to grab. We still think it's cute, but I'm sure this will wear off. :)

4. Emma GOES to play with the Christmas tree lights... even though Mom and Dad thought they were outsmarting her by putting it on the coffee table. That "guilty" face would get convicted in ANY court of law.

5. Emma GOES to bed well, stays asleep well and generally wakes up pretty happy. Her closet is mirrored doors, so she loves to sit in her crib and talk to her reflection. It is so cute to hear her babbling through the monitor.

6. Emma GOES around the furniture, once she pulls herself up. This is often a challenge, considering her 24 pounds of solid baby weight... but she does it like a champ.

7. Emma GOES immediately toward paper when she spies it. Not sure if it is the noise or the colors that are appealing, but I have a feeling Christmas morning is going to be amazing for her. So much paper, so little time.

8. Emma GOES with the super cool fashion trends of the early 2000's with J-LO and her mother. What? Baby blue velour isn't still HOT? We ran an errand right after this picture was taken and I made Greg hold Emma in the store, because I was a little embarrassed we were in matching outfits. :) This photo is for Lana. Now you know how much I love you.

9. Emma GOES nuts when I get into the shower. SERIOUSLY nuts. She can play independently anywhere/anytime... but when I put her in my bedroom and shut the HORRIFYING shower curtain, she goes crazy on me. Screams her head off, and crawls right into the shower with me. Do your children do this? It really baffles me.

10. Emma GOES to the bathroom on the tile floor, like a puppy. I'm not kidding. This is the real deal people. I was changing her diaper and the door bell rang, so I hopped up, chatted with my friend for LESS THAN TWO MINUTES and came back to this little puddle. On a positive note, she did not get my carpet and did not get it on herself. Just took a leak and kept on crawling. That's our girl!!

GO EMMA, GO!!

The Secret Millionaire

I cried while watching television tonight.

Because of this show: http://www.fox.com/programming/shows/new/secret_millionaire.htm

With all of the FILTH on television and the FINANCIAL CRISIS in America, this show was a breath of fresh air. Maybe it's just the social worker in me. Next time your searching for something to watch, check it out. Two thumbs WAY up from a gal who doesn't really care much for television.

Thanksgiving - the FLASHBACK version

OK. I know. It's almost Christmas and I'm blogging about Thanksgiving. But for my faithful blog followers, you will remember that I lost my camera over this beloved holiday weekend and promised borrowed pictures. Here they are!

Jeff and Ashlee came down from Provo with Tyler and Ben! It was so wonderful spending time with them and Emma loved gawking at her cousins.
I can't just "run in" to Babies R Us without grabbing SOMETHING. The most recent trip I was getting a baby shower gift and came out with a ridiculously cute Thanksgiving shirt for Emma that said "I'm Stuffed". Yes, she does need a Thanksgiving shirt. What respectable 11-month old would go without one? Unfortunately, we don't have any pics with her actual face and a smile.

Grandpa Hancock with Tyler.

Greg's parents and grandparents joined us for the meal. Here is Greg with his Papa Loyd and Grandma Bernie. We were so happy to have them visiting!

My grandparents also joined in the fun! Laura with Grandma and Grandpa Hancock.

JJ with our little Ben. For my uninformed blog readers... my best friend JJ has a sister Ashlee who married my brother Jeff. Did you get that? My brother married my best friend's sister. Or, uh... my sister-in-law is the sister of my best friend. Any way you look at it, it is a WHOLE lot of GOOD TIMES. Fun family parties when we all get together. That was basically the Thanksgiving feast group. A lot of Krebs and a lot of Newells with a side dish of Adams. Scrumptious Eating!!

Here is the entire group. We hosted it in my Aunt Sharron's back yard, although Sharron was in Texas. She is the BEST for letting us crash her place for the afternoon. I actually made the turkey for the FIRST time and it was edible. Everyone brought bits and pieces of the meal and it was oh so tasty! A little stressful getting all those last minute details together, but it happened. Wa La!

Ty Ty is all his cuteness.

Aunt Laura loving on a sleepy Ben.

259 at the Mesa Temple Christmas Lights

Greg's acapella group "Two Five Nine" performed at the Mesa Temple Christmas Lights. Greg doesn't like me to refer to them as acapella, as it may conjur up images of Andy from NBC's "The Office". My response to that? Too bad. So sad. Should have thought of that before you started the ACAPELLA GROUP. :)

It was a fun evening and the guys sang well. Especially well considering they rehearsed ONCE and have not sung these pieces since last year. The videos below shows a few rough spots, but overall they did a beautiful job... as they always do.

Despite being past her bedtime, Emma sat very well through the 30 minute show. She danced through most of the songs. When Greg stood up to sing his solo she started waving her arms wildly. It was pretty cute. She certainly loves her Daddy and especially loves her Daddy's voice. But then again... who DOESN'T love Greg's voice?

Here are a few videos for you 259 DIE HARDS. :) The first is "Go Tell It On the Mountain". The second is Greg's "Silent Night" solo. He's a little sad it was not his best performance - but despite a few tough high notes - it is amazing. The last video is "Oh Come, Oh Come Emmanuel". I apologize for the shaky video, a dancing 11-month-old was on my lap kicking her legs wildly with delight.

Isaac and Kasyn - Baby Blessings

Jamie and Gina (Greg's brother and his wife) came into town from Austin, Texas to celebrate Thanksgiving and to bless their baby Isaac with his cousin Kasyn. We were so thrilled to have them around!! Thanks for coming to visit us!! Here are some pics from the wonderful baby blessings. Jamie and Gina gave Emma the Christmas dress she is wearing. Could she be more adorable in it? I THINK NOT.

It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas!

I'll have to blog about Thanksgiving later, because I couldn't find my camera amidst all of the chaos. I'll borrow pics from other people and backtrack blog. And really, Thanksgiving is just a spring board to CHRISTMAS!! The day after Thanksgiving, we ventured out to find a Christmas tree. We left the house at 9:15pm and two tree lots were already closed for the night. We were so bummed, but decided to try ONE more place. The owners of the tree lot were a wonderful LDS couple from Utah and we had a great time chatting. We even helped them locate the nearest church, so that they could attend during the month they are in Arizona. We settled on a SHORT tree, that we have placed on top of a coffee (errrr....hot chocolate) table. This keeps the tree out of Emma's reach. The picture below is Emma and I at the tree lot. From her big grin, you can see that "All she has for Christmas is her 2 Front Teeth".

We took Emma and her cousin Ben (Jeff and Ashlee's) to the mall to see Santa. Of course we had to stop at the little ride in the main entrance. This was Emma's virgin "mall ride" voyage. She was pleased as punch and promptly stood up out of her seat, so that she could stand and have full control of the wheel. She is sporting her "J-Lo" sweatsuit that her Daddy bought her for Christmas last year. Yes, I too have a light blue sweatsuit that we affectionately call my T-Lo outfit. Don't be fooled by the rocks that we got, we're still, we're still Adams from the block.

Aunt Laura brought Ben and here they are in front of the Santa spot. Ben did great, Emma screamed her brains out. Old men tend to scare her... Santa was no different. I'll scan the original photo in sometime for your viewing pleasure.

I had my Tempe Symphony Christmas concert last night. It was a fun holiday concert and we filled Gammage auditorium right up! I was so honored to have Greg and all of his brothers (with their respective "significant others") come to my concert. Also in attendance were Laura, Sharron, Karin and JJ. How blessed I am to have so many people that support me! I am so grateful for their love. A special thanks to Sarah and Trent for watching Emma and Grammie and Grandpa for watching all 4 cousins. THANK YOU GUYS!! It really meant a lot to me.

I'm thankful for...(the nontraditional version)

I know, I know... everyone is going to be blogging about all the things they are grateful for. blah, blah, blah... FAMILY... blah, blah, blah... FRIENDS...blah, blah blah CHURCH. And yes, sure I am indeed grateful for those things as well. But this post is dedicated to those non traditional thankfuls that can sometimes be overlooked. Here's to you Mr. Passed Right Up during the "I'm grateful" ceremonies at the Thanksgiving table.

1. SKYPE Web Cam Service. Don't be dirty and think bad things now. We love chatting it up with our long distance fam. Hey. My brother Matt even showed me the inside of his nose last Sunday and Glen showed me his mullet. Emma points to the computer screen and touches it to say her greetings. It's FREE and webcams are dirt cheap these days. Try it out if you have fam far far away on Judea's plain.
2. Teething tablets. Emma's GIGANTIC tooth has turned into TWO HUMONGOUS teeth and she has not been the happiest of campers. Heck, if I had teeth the size of my nose coming out of my teeny tiny gums, I'd be miserable too. Anyway, yay for teething tablets and Infant Tylenol.

3. Nap time. Glorious nap time. Now that little Missy is moving and shakin' all over the house, I appreciate this time even more. Nobody to keep out of the books, trash, cords, sharp objects or dirt.

4. I woke up with a horrible sore throat 2 days ago. If I could sponsor this medicine, I totally would... FOR FREE. This stuff is the BEST and completely alleviates the sore throat. You should check it out, next time you are under the weather.

5. Thai Food. OK, for my peeps in Arizona. You have GOT to check out Ben Jarong (http://www.benjarongthai.com/). Really amazing Thai food for reasonable prices. We enjoyed Thai food last night and OHHHHH man was it good! Forget the Turkey tomorrow, hand me a big roasting pan full of pad thai!!

The pilgrims have landed...

...a few feet away from Plymouth Rock... on my kitchen table. Found these bad boys at "Big Lots" for $6 each. Not to bad for wooden pilgrim replicas missing their mouths!?! Greg insists that pilgrims without mouths are essentially the antithesis of pilgrims. After all, says Greg, we really only associate the pilgrims with one thing - EATING. Would they have marked their place in history if they indeed existed without mouths? hmmm... ??

In more seasonally related fun... we had some friends over for a FALL FEAST on Saturday evening and had a great time. We had so much fun, that this was the ONLY picture I took all night. Thanks to the beautiful Arizona weather, we ate our bread bowls and soup outside. In the thankful spirit of things, may I just say how thankful we are for wonderfully entertaining friends? Thanks pals, for keeping us sane and laughing!
Also thankful for FREE STUFF!! IKEA celebrated their 4th anniversary in Phoenix, by offering FREE gifts to the first 100 shoppers in line. My girlfriend and I got there at 8:30 this morning and at 10:00am each received a $25 gift card to IKEA and Free Breakfast. Go Team Go!

Emma was so exhausted from all the "FREE STUFF FUN"... that she fell asleep in her high chair finishing up her lunch. I happened to have the camera nearby and miraculously caught this HILARITY on video. The first few seconds are a little slow, but it gets pretty funny toward the end. We just LOVE our little angel.