Stephenson's Snowshoeing

Snowshoeing is a Stephenson favorite past time. The first time that Spencer and I went Snowshoeing was in High School, pre-Stephenson establishment. We went up past the Alta Ski resort with Mark, John, Tyler, I think Scotty and some other "Draper Boys". Most (if not all) of my time was spent hiking and talking with Spence. I didn't know it, but Spence had a little crush on me, and all his friends were watching to see if he was going to "try something." He didn't. (although he told me he spent most of the afternoon trying to work up the courage) It is one of my fondest memories of the "early" days with my husband. We laugh when we talk about it now.

After we got married we bought an incredibly "tough" tent and had to try it out in the dead of winter. Spence, Russ (Spence's younger brother) and I, snowshoed with packs up Bell's Canyon where we spent the night and enjoyed the best dehydrated dinner we have ever had. It was a lasagna meal from REI. We still talk about how good it was. I slept between Spence and Russ so that I would stay warm and had the worst night's sleep I have ever had. We have a two man tent, not a "two man, one small woman and a ton of winter gear" tent. Needless to say, I was a little squished, but very warm. When we woke up the next morning we were toasty warm, in spite of the layer of ice that had formed on our sleeping bags and on the inside of the tent. This is one of the fondest memories I have of the married days with my husband.

The winter season is upon us once again, and we are looking forward to spending time in the mountains.

We even have a pack to carry Madelyn (Thanks mom) and she has a pink little snow suit that makes her look like a baby pink "Stay Puff Marshmallow Man." Though we don't know if snowshoeing is really a great activity for a 5 month old, we might just try it once she can sit up in her child carrier. Until then we will be relying on the charitable service of Grandma and Grandpa to spend some one on one time with little Madelyn while mom and dad spend some one and one time with the mountains.

And speaking of snowshoeing, Didn't JC and Katrina go snowshoeing together on their first date? I know JC proposed to Katrina one night when they were out snowshoeing, and I know that Mallery was impressed with Greg Carling because he took her snowshoeing for one of their first dates. That has to be a good sign, right?

So here's to you winter. We're ready for ya. Thanks for all the fond memories.

My Quirky Husband Spencer

I can thank Dani for this great opportunity to reveal some of the quirky habits of my husband. Thanks for the tag Dani.

I am supposed to name five quirks and then tag five people. Here we go.

1. Spence says that he detests any kind of dancing. He would avoid dancing at high school dances and would NEVER take a dance class in college. I can't find the words to describe his serious dislike of dancing. (Don't get me wrong, he likes to watch other people dance, but he would rather die than have to dance himself. Of course he made an exception for dancing at our wedding). But get this, in the privacy of our home, Spencer is starting to break out of his shell. Every once in a while he will do a little dance. (I have been working with him. I love to dance. Mostly just "busting a move" type of dancing. He seems to be making good progress.) I have caught him dancing while doing the dishes, and the other day he danced Madelyn around the living room.

2. Spencer really likes a good drink. His favorite drinks probably come from Jamba Juice, but Sonic can put out a really good slush. And then there is the Roxberry that was just put in by our house. They make a good drink too. We have taste tested every raspberry lemonade at every resturant we have been to. Spencer's favorite can be found at the Pizza Factory. At home I like to keep gatorade or other sports drinks on hand because he likes those. If he is drinking water he really likes is to be icy cold, and I kid you not, last night he pulled out his water filter and filtered some tap water to see if he could get it to taste better (We don't have spring water, but it doesn't taste bad). Thats my husband, "the drink lover".

3. He doesn't like to wear shoes. He likes sandals. He says that shoes are foot prison. He owns a couple pairs of flips and a couple pairs of Chacos. Too bad he has to wear shoes to work.

4. Spence and I will read in bed before we fall asleep and sometimes without noticing he will shake his foot in a continuous motion. This causes the entire bed to shake. He doesn't notice he is doing it until I tell him. He has even done it in his sleep.

5. Last but certainly not least, Spencer has an amazing ability to become the favorite of any child that he comes in contact with. I watch and listen to him when he is playing with our nieces and nephews and am continuously amazed that he has endless energy and an endless supply of jokes and creativity to make them giggle.

Let's see, I would love to know what quirky things Ty, Cort, Kerry, Adam, Nathan and my dad are doing these days. So I tag Meghan, Shannon, Bryn, Jessica, Christina and my mom. Have fun!!

Humble Pie Anyone?

The other day Spence was changing Maddi's diaper. After he pulled out the dirty and before putting in the new she peed on her clothes. I kindly pointed out that if he had done it "correctly", that is, if he had put down the clean diaper before he pulled out the dirty diaper, then we wouldn't have a mess to clean up.

That evening while changing Madelyn I did everything "correctly" and Madelyn still managed to pee on her clothes two separate times, causing me to change her outfit both times. After it happened a second time, I felt like God was saying, "doesn't really matter whether you put down a diaper first or not, does it." I had to laugh.

Last night I had just put Madelyn down to sleep, and since she has a cold it took her a while to fall asleep (poor kid is so congested). I walked into our bedroom to see Spencer sitting on the bed with his guitar in hand. I said, "please don't wake Madelyn up." He just smiled at me as if to say, "do you really think I am that dumb." I then went to the kitchen to flip on the bay window light that we use as a night light. Instead I flipped on the very loud garbage disposal. I quickly flipped it off, turned on the light and went back to our bedroom. Once again, Spencer just smiled at me as if to say, "who do we need to worry about waking Madelyn up now?"

It seems that lately I have been eating a lot of humble pie. I have more than I can eat. Does anyone want a piece?

Holiday Hoopla!

Nothing too fancy for Thanksgiving. Just hangin with the fam.

Some of the highlights included the fact that it was Madelyn's first Thanksgiving. Even though "M" couldn't eat the Turkey I think she loved Thanksgiving. (She loves any time when she gets to be surrounded by people who give her TONNNNS of attention, and of course her cousins constantly want to touch her and hold her.)

There weren't too many people at this Thanksgiving feast. We got to spend time with Bryn and Carrie's family, my mom and dad and Tanner.

Matt holding Jackson.... I love this picture of Bryn and Carrie
Tanner holding Kylan... Grandma holding Maddi

Cambri is ready to eat...but all the kids are playing the Wii

My favorite part of this Thanksgiving was the cooking. I got to learn a few new recipes. I made the rolls from the same recipe my mom used every Thanksgiving, and I made this delicious pumpkin cream cheese pie.

Bryn made a fantastic apple sour cream pie (She got the recipe off Meghan's blog. Thanks Meg's). Then there was the traditional Turkey (Which my dad deep fat fried. You would think it would be nasty and greasy, but the skin holds the grease out and you end up with a moist and tender Turkey. Probably the best that I have ever had). The stuffing was not dry, as it sometimes can be, and BEST OF ALL...the yams did not have a layer of nasty marshmallows on top. Thank you Bryn!! (OK, I don't really think that marshmallows are nasty. I just don't think they should be part of a meal. They are candy for crying out loud. they should only be used for things like smores and rice crispy treats.)

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At the end of the day, I was sad to see the holiday go, but on to bigger and better things. Christmas! And you better believe that the tree is up and the hot cocoa is out. But that is another post for another day. Until then, we wish you a happy holiday season.

Is your family "perfect"?

My dad sent me this article. It was written for an LDS audience about what makes a "great" LDS family. It was a good reminder that what makes a "great" LDS family is not necessarily living a "perfect" life (i.e. a perfect record of family prayer, family home evening, etc).

What makes a great LDS family (and this applies for any family, this just happened to be written to an LDS audience) is doing your best with what you have, and being grateful for what you have.

I would suggest reading the article. I really liked it.

A Great Seasonal Recipe

Homemade Caramel

We made caramel apples for Halloween and they turned out really good because of the homemade caramel. The recipe is so delicious and so easy, so I thought I would share.

Here you go:

1/2 C. Butter
1/2 C. White sugar
1/2 C. Brown sugar
1/2 C. Corn syrup
1/2 C. Sweetened condensed milk

Melt all of the ingredients together in the microwave for 5 minutes. Take the bowl out and stir ingredients together, and then return to the microwave for another 2 minutes. Stir and pour into a buttered 8x8 pan (or dip your apples in it if you would like). Allow to cool. Cut into bite size caramels and wrap in wax paper.

I made this recipe two different times in two different microwaves. In one microwave the caramel turned out to be over cooked,but in the other it was just right. You may need to adjust the time to fit your microwave.

You can all thank grandma Stephenson for the recipe. Enjoy!

We Wish You A...

HAPPY HALLOWEEN!

HEY! Is it Snowing Yet?...

...cuz I'm ready.

Going Private

Hey all! Just wanted to let you know that this blog is going private. I know I know, it really puts a damper on all the fun of blog stalking, but what do you do?

Leave us your e-mail if you want an invite. We would love to keep in touch with all of you.

Happy 36th

This is for my parents.

Today is their 36th wedding anniversary, and I wanted to tell them congratulations, and way to go.

They are spending the week in Vegas to celebrate, and I hope they have a fantastic time.

Thanks for being such wonderful parents and friends.


We love you!!

Little Visitors

This is Jarin...what a little cutie!

I don't know about you, but I get so excited for Maddi to know her cousins. She had a total of 15, and as of Monday she now has a total of 16 (Christina, Spencer's sister, just had her 2nd baby boy. I hopefully will get some pics soon). I'm really glad that we get to live close to our families.

Jarin and EmmaLee came to visit the other day, and Madelyn absolutely loved it. She loves being in on the action.

Jarin is just like a big brother. He walked in our door and said "Where is Madelyn". Unfortunately she was sleeping, but Jarin was not going to be stopped from seeing her. "Where is her room?" He asked. Fortunately she woke up on her own accord soon after they arrived.


While I was feeding Madelyn he asked "Can I pet him?" Is that not the cutest thing for a little three year old to say?

EmmaLee was a little grabby and wanted to pulled Madelyn over so she could suck on her. It was very cute, but gave Madelyn a scare. Jarin soothed Maddi by saying "It's otay Maddi, it's otay." Seriously, this little kid melts my heart.

We have sheep that live across the street from our house. I really appreciate the fact that these sheep live here because it helps Spencer and I to maintain our status as favorite aunt and uncle. Well, to be honest, I am probably not as favorite as Spencer. If I arrive at anyone of my nieces or nephews homes without Spence, the immediate question is "Where is Spencer?" I don't mind. It makes me really happy that they love him so much.

Baby on Board

Hey everyone! So, our most recent fun family activity was boating up at Pine View reservoir.

As you can see we had to put Maddi in a little life jacket in order to transport her to the beach. We thought it was pretty funny to see her little legs get suctioned in by this body suit, but I think she was less than amused with the way that it fit.

Maddi got to spend lots of time with Grandpa who sang her our favorite family song, 16 tons, and even let her suck on his finger.

Spence and I got to try to water ski again (I say again because neither Spence nor I have been on a boat since before our missions. Yes, this makes me very sad). Our lack of being boating showed in our lack of ability to ski. We were less than impressive.

BUT, I can tell you, we can tube with the best of them, and we had a lot of fun doing it.


It was great to be there with Bryn and Becton's families. I love being able to spend the time with their kids. They are all so cute, and hopefully we will get to go again before it is way to cold (hint hint to Becton).

Little Kisses

We bought a new camcorder the day before Madelyn was born. It has been pretty fun to record her little movements and noises. Below is a clip of Juliet (see post below) giving Madelyn a little kiss. It is pretty cute.

My Little Squishy Baby

Can I just share a few things about being Madelyn's mother? It will be just a few things because she has been asleep for 2 and half hours and is due to wake up any minute.

You may notice from pictures that Madelyn has become a little chub. It makes me laugh every time I pick her up because she is just this little ball of squish. She has started smiling and almost laughing. I know that we are going to get a good laugh out of her any day now.

Now that she is almost 11 weeks old she is becoming a little more predictable and a little calmer. She is sleeping better and longer at night and her naps are becoming more predictable. She has slowly moved out of her fussy baby stage and is becoming more cuddly and playful. Yes, it is very fun.

Here is a picture of Maddi with her little friend Juliet.


On another note, This past weekend we had our friends, JC and Katrina stay with us for a few nights. We were finally able to meet Juliet who is now 9 months old (see pictures above). She is one sweet little girl who has the most darling face when she gets excited (see the 2nd picture above). Juliet was so enthralled with Madelyn. (I love it when little babies get excited to see other little babies. I have a darling clip on our camcorder of Juliet kissing Madelyn. It is pretty darn cute). We were also able to do a few fun things like go out to dinner at the Pizza Factory and go to the All You Can Eat Ice Cream Fest at the Utah State Fair. (Yes, it was very fun and I like icecream a lot).

It was really fun to have JC and Katrina here from Virginia, and we're so happy that they were able to spend some time with us while they were here. (JC/Katrina, please please please consider moving to Utah. Don't you think it would be fun.)

A Special Event

Madelyn's baby blessing was a special event for us, to say the least. It was special for a number of reasons. Her daddy got to give her a name and a blessing, and most of her family was here to hear and see the event.

We missed the family members that couldn't be here.

I didn't get any family pictures on my camera. I did get a few of Madelyn in her dress. This dress was like a miniature wedding dress, and since Madelyn is just a little rolly poly baby it was hard to get a good picture.

High School Memories

Thanks to Katie I get to take a fun little walk down memory lane. Remembering high school it actually pretty fun.

1. Did you date someone from your high school?
Oh yeah, I met Spence my Sophomore year of high school at a girls volley ball game, and we ended up getting married just 8 years after that.

2. What kind of car did you drive?
I drove a white T-top Pulsar from the early 90's. I remember Linds and I trying to fly a kite out the top of it. It didn't work out.

3. What was the most embarrassing moment of high school?
Umhh well, I am not sure about that one, but one thing that was very embarrassing was an incident the night of MORP. We were sitting at TGIF all decked out in our 80's garb. Katie did something (the story is too long to tell) that made me laugh so hard that all the water in my mouth went everywhere.

4. Were you a party animal?
Nope, not me. I should have had more fun in high school.

5. Were you considered a flirt?
I would have liked to describe myself as friendly, but if you ask Spencer I think he would say that what I thought was friendly was actually flirting.

6. Were you in band, orchestra, or choir?
Nope

7. Were you a nerd?
Again, I would like to think that i wasn't, but I guess it depends on who you ask

8. Were you on any varsity teams?
Nope

9. Can you still sing the fight song?
I couldn't sing it in high school. I guess I didn't have enough school pride.

10. Did you get suspended or expelled?
What kind of question is that? Of course I didn't get suspended of expelled.

11. Who was your favorite teacher?
Probably Mr. Ward

12. Where did you sit during lunch?
I don't really remember, but I do remember those cheese rolls that only had like 1,000 grams of fat. I guess that is why I don't way more than I did in high school, i stopped eating the cheese rolls.

13. What was your school's full name?
Alta High School

14. School Mascot?
Alta Hawks

15. If you could go back and do it again, would you?
Sure, I liked high school

16. What do you remember most about graduation?
Katie and I almost got in an accident on the way to graduation, we were late and one of the coaches (who I will not reveal) yelled at us. I still remember the look on his face very vividly. We were in trouble.

17. Where did you go senior skip day?
What is senior skip day?

18. Were you in any clubs?
I was in a bunch of clubs. I will not bore you by telling you about them, though they were a lot of fun.

19. Have you gained some weight since then?
Nope

20. Who was your prom date?
What year?

21. Are you planning on going to your ten year reunion?
Of course, I am actually pretty excited (Aleena/Topher, let me know if there is anything I can do to help).

22. Looking back, what advice would you give yourself?
I would have told myself about Spence the first day of high school. We didn't become really good friends until our Senior year and now I wish that we had known eachother starting from day one of our Sophomore year.


Who wants to share now? How about Ginnie, Jackie, Merilee, Krista, Jessica, Whitney, Natalie, Katherine, Ange, Mindy and anyone else who wants to share.

A Few More Pics Just For Kicks

Hey Guys!!

Ginnie took some darling pictures of Madelyn the other day. Oh, we love them so much. Thanks Ginnie!!! (If you want to check out more of Ginnie's photos click here. )

Here are just a few...

Love the flowers in the background.

Thank heaven for teeny tiny toes.

I think Madelyn had had it by the time we were done.

You can't post too many pictures of your new baby, right?

Hiking Madelyn Style

Now that we have little "M" in our lives we have had to make a few little adjustments. As many of you know, any activity with a new baby has to be...well, new baby friendly. The activity can't be too long, to strenuous, too hot, too sunny, too loud etc...So, Spence and I decided that a little hike would be great. We went to Barns and Noble and bought a book called Best Easy Day Hikes. The book highlights 24 different hikes in the area where we live, and each is a couple of miles. We found that Battle Creek Falls was only like 10 minutes from our house. It wasn't too long, too steep, or too sunny, and there was a beautiful waterfall at the end. It was perfect. So we hiked it, and had a lot of fun.







And just a word to those of you who do not have small children, but may be expecting them soon. Going out to dinner to a sit down restaurant may not be the ideal activity for your child. It really doesn't allow for you to calm your screaming child by pacing back and forth with them on your shoulder (assuming this is what calms your child).

Last night we attempted going to Mimi's Cafe for dinner. It was Madelyn's first time in a restaurant, and she decided to show her discontent about 1 minute after we sat down. She gave us very little warning and then started to scream. I couldn't help but get a big smile on my face because I thought that everyone in the room was looking at us, and when I looked up from picking Madelyn up from her car seat, I saw that everyone was looking at us. It was pretty funny. I quickly exited through the nearest door onto the patio eating area and Madelyn calmed down once she was outside. Spence asked our waiter if it was alright if we just ate on the patio. He was very nice and said that was just fine. The best part was all the sympathetic mothers and fathers that walked by us on their way out. Each of them said something like, "oh, babies just get fussy at night, " or "Is this your first?" and "She is so cute."

Thanks to our nice waiter who let us escape to the patio, I would say dinner was a success.

Madelyn at 6 Weeks

She's Here...Welcome Baby Madelyn!!

Hey Everyone!!

Where do I even start? I was so looking forward to spending a bit of time last Sunday morning (June 29th) updating you on all the baby events, but when I woke up at 6:00 am, I noticed a little something that landed Spence and me at American Fork hospital. Yep, you guessed it, my water had broken. I looked at Spence and said, "I guess Madelyn is coming today." (By the way, this has the potential to be an incredibly long post. Please feel free to start skimming at any time.)

The morning of June 29th

Since I wasn't having any labor pain we both took a minute to shower and get ready before we grabbed the hospital bag and headed to have Madelyn. We arrived at the labor and delivery center at 8:00 am and by then I was having some contractions. They got us into a room, hooked me up to all the necessaries, and away we went. I had an epidural at about 9:00 am and delivered Madelyn at 2:02 pm. I was seriously overwhelmed with gratitude for that epidural. Modern medicine is absolutely amazing and wonderful.





Ok, so now for the fun part. Spence and I are parents!!! I am a mom!!! I am going to take care of my little baby tomorrow and the next day and the next and the... I am so excited! It was fun to hold Madelyn when she first came out, but the best was the first night in the hospital. They brought her to me to be fed (she nurses like a champ) and I was just so happy to hold her. So, I held her for a couple of hours while she and I slept. I just loved it.

Well, I haven't found the time to post all of the things that I want to, but I better get these pictures up before another week goes by.