Catch up: November

Ah November...when the leaves all fell in two weeks and the first snow hit. My parents came out for a quick visit and caught the BYU vs. Wisconsin game. We tailgated for the first time and froze our buns off more than we did at the Packers game the week before. Sad we lost, but still fun to cheer for the cougars.

                            

Grandpa helped rake the wet leaves...they were a little tough for this pregnant momma...and the girls were great at helping us bag them. I can always count on my dad to help me out with projects when he comes to town.

 And he's great at entertaining the kids...with his iPad :)

 We got our first taste of a very long, cold winter...

 ...and made even more pumpkin cookies.

At at the end of the month, a party began. All of Paul's family came to our house for Thanksgiving. All 23 of us, with 4 of us pregnant. We smashed one family into each bedroom, threw Christina in the basement, and had a party. I never take enough pictures when family comes to town, but we had a great time together. The 11 grandkids played, the pregnant moms folded moravian stars, and plenty of root beer was drunk. 

We even went on a Sprecher factory tour, where the root beer and soda tastings are bottomless. Sprecher is an Iverson family favorite, and generally accepted (at least in these parts) as the greatest root beer in America.

What's Thanksgiving without tons of food?

And a family photo! Grateful to photoshop to knock out the water treatment facility in the background, and turn a few baby heads. It was about 30 degrees outside that day...hence Anna's open mouth smile.

Another Iverson family obsession is Moosejaw. No, not the city in Canada, but the quirky outdoor equipment store. Erika sent this picture to Moosejaw last month and it was featured on their Facebook page for a week, and all 23 of us...well, 27 of us since there are 4 new babies counting mine...got free t-shirts for next years' photo. No wonder we love this company! The Moosejaw photo will be a new Iverson tradition.

Upon becoming an Iverson

As I approach our 2nd anniversary, I was thinking about the things that have changed about me since I became an Iverson...

1. I love rock climbing - Paul grew up rock climbing and wanted to rekindle his old hobby last fall. The first time he took me I wasn't so sure about his suggestion that we become climbers, but I found it immensely satisfying. After going twice, we decided to purchase memberships to the local climbing gym. We climbed about 2 or 3 times a week...which slowed down by the time I was 7 months pregnant. But we've started it up again and I'm slowly gaining my finger strength back.

2. I make pies on a regular basis - Paul's favorite dessert is apple pie, so about once a month we make pie together. Paul has become a master crust maker...I don't really try it anymore now that I've trained him.

3. I am aware of brands of cookware - My mother-in-law loves finding bargains on nice cookware, like Chantal and Le Creuset. At first, these words simply sounded foreign. I remember Jessie telling me to grab the Chantal dish, and I just looked at her confused. I've since come to appreciate nice cookware...it definitely makes a difference in how your food comes out.

4. I get packages regularly - My mother-in-law is the queen of sending packages...we love it! We can expect one on birthdays, of course, but also Valentine's day, St. Patrick's Day, and Halloween! And every once in a while just because. It makes me feel like a kid again.

5. I'm a quilter - For our first anniversary I thought I'd surprise Paul by making a quilt for him. I had just received my sewing machine, so I was ambitious. It turned out well, but looking back, I'm not so pleased with the fabric selection. I've since made three others, and find I really like it. This is one that I made for Hattie. But I'm not going to let her use it til she stops spitting up all the time.

6. I travel standby - Paul's dad works for American Airlines, so we get to travel standby. We still have to pay a bit, but it's better than full-price. But it certainly increases the anxiety when traveling...never knowing if you are going to make the flight or not until just moments before take off. And sometimes your bag gets on the flight and we don't, leaving us without toothpaste and deodorant! I now feel spoiled when I have a purchased ticket with a guaranteed seat.

7. I've been backpacking - Another Iverson family tradition is going on a backpacking trip every summer. So back in '06 I successfully completed a 30-mile hike over 5 days. As odd as it sounds, by the end of the week, my pack actually felt comfortable...granted it did get lighter as we got rid of food and as Paul helped lighten my load, but still, I never thought I'd say that a backpack was comfortable. This last summer I couldn't go obviously because I was due in 3 weeks, but I hope to be able to go this coming July!

8. I know most of the major constellations and could give a decent tour of the night sky - What do you expect when you are married to an astronomer? I was even an active member of the BYU Astronomy Club for 2 years.

9. I'm a James Christensen fan - Paul's mom is a huge fan, who converted Paul, who converted me to his art. Paul has purchased a few prints for me over the years, the newest addition being "The Responsible Woman."

10. I have almost every cooking utensil imaginable, and probably 20 spatulas - Every Christmas my stocking is full of fun cooking things - there's usually 2 or 3 spatulas (and 2 or 3 in Paul's as well), some unusual utensils like a "folder", a cake tester, or a honey scooper, and common things like a garlic press or knives. I always know at Christmas that my kitchen quality will be improved.

11. I enjoy watching Sports Center - When we lived at my uncle's house in American Fork we enjoyed having satellite. Paul loves being up-to-date on the sports world, and I found that watching Sports Center every night got to be fun (well, at least during football and basketball season....when it's just baseball, I loose interest really fast). I would even watch it when I was home alone.

12. I discovered the Brian Regan is one of the funniest men alive - Among the Iverson's, we can carry on complete conversations from the comedy of Brian Regan; here's one of my favs:
Teacher: Brian...what's the "I before E" rule??
Brian: Um...I before E......always.
Teacher: What are you, an idiot Brian?
Brian: 'Parently
Teacher: No Brian, it's I before E, except after C. And when sounding like "eigh" as in neighbor and weigh, and on weekends and holidays and all throughout May, and you'll always be wrong no matter what you say!
Brian: That's a hard rule.

13. I can say that I have a pro basketball and hockey team - Growing up where I did, there weren't any big pro sports teams in the area, so I was pretty unaware of professional sports. All I watched were BYU football games. But now I follow the Dallas Stars (hockey) and Dallas Mavericks (basketball). We went to a Stars game last Christmas in Dallas, and are looking to buy tickets to a Jazz vs. Mavs game here in Salt Lake.









14. I celebrate St. Patrick's Day - Yup, we set a trap for the Leprechauns the night before, attracting them to the trap with a lot of green stuff, like green apples, Apple Jacks, or Andes mints...really, anything green works. In the morning, they've left a candy trail of everywhere they went in the house and have turn everything green! The milk, the bread, and even the toilet bowl! (The bread is green, if you couldn't tell)