On the First Day of Christmas My True Love Gave to Me...

 Ok So it's been too long since I've really updated our blog so here's a big bunch of updates for you all! SO! Last Thursday night after a very long day I was on the phone with Jer as I was driving home when the doorbell rang. He went to the door to find all the gifts on our front porch (pictured below). I thought he was kidding when he told me but he wasn't! Our 12 days of Christmas started on December 1st. What a thoughtful thing for someone to do for us and totally unexpected!

The first day's gift was a bouquet of 2 dozen roses! They are beautiful and added the perfect amount of beauty to our home.

 Pictured below is our December 2nd gift. A date night! The note said, "For you and your mate, here is a date!" We got the movie Little Rascals and our favorite movie treats! We're starting to think these people know us well.

 I was really excited about our December 3rd gift. A beautiful table cloth that perfectly fit our kitchen table. Once again, think this person knows us? It was also very festive!

 Here it is on our table. Doesn't it look great with the roses as an addition?

 Day 4, always a necessity, Cascade for our dish-washing needs! This is the brand we are loyal to.

 Day 5 and 6, a big pack of batteries and tons of awesome baking supplies. Um hello?! They have to know us now!

 And TODAY'S gift, "Planning for the future never hurts?" Hmmm, now that one i'm not sure about. However there is a funny story about this because freshman year when Jer and I were first dating we had an inside joke about these signs people would put on their car windows like, "baby on board" or, "brother on mission." We thought they were pretty hilarious. :o) Did this person know us freshman year? Maybe not, maybe they are just giving us hints? :o)

We will keep you updated on the second half of our gifts! We're excited to see what they will be!

 This picture is not the best but here is a little sample of what I have been doing these days. I made this dress for my final project in my sewing class. I'm actually quite proud of it.

 This is a new scarf I made. I actually got the pattern for free at Michael's! I really like it. AND it will be at our Open House this Saturday evening from 5-9. Make sure you come and bring a friend!

 Here is our god-daughter Harper (I know we aren't Catholic but we like to pretend we can be her god-parents). Here is she looking especially cute in her Vans and some leggings made by her mommy. Isn't it amazing the things you can create yourself? Including this little human? ;o)

 Last night we went to the Ballroom Dance company Christmas social. We had a lovely dinner and dancing in the Hinckley Center, they even had a live band. It was great fun.

 This is my table scape I was quite proud of when Lauren, Meg, D and I had our last dinner group. I made those paper pumpkins in the center of the table and my mom sent me the place card holders in our Halloween package. I made this delicious pumpkin soup recipe I got from my friend Alison and we ate them in Kneaders bread bowls! Yum Yum! I love dinner group with my girls.

And last but not least. Can't find the right gift for that fashionable man in your life? Well, I am going to post a tutorial this evening to make this very scarf. I may even add instructions to make tassels on the ends. I'm actually making this for a friend of ours that Jer helped baptize in Taiwan. He is kind of an adopted member of the Barton family. :o)

Bear in mind that I won't be giving instructions on how to do each individual stitch but I will give you some places to go find those instructions.

Also, if you don't have a desire to make this scarf but would really like one, I'd be happy to sell one to you. :o) Scarves are awesome Christmas gifts and hand-made ones are even more special and unique.

Stay tuned for my tutorial!

Our Week

OK, in all seriousness, Jer and I are doing great and we were blessed enough to have both of our wonderful families and many friends helping us out. We never realized how difficult it could be to have us both have surgery in the same week! We had a wonderful Turkey Day filled with lots of family fun. There will be another post to follow. :o)

Like I Said...

It's always a party at the Pendletons!

 We had a really fun October filled with lots of festivities! I decided to do a costume day this year for my 3-5 year old classes and let them dance to Halloween music, play a few fun games and then "go trick-or-treating" in my little pumpkin bucket of candy. Here they are all dressed up and they had a blast with the Halloween theme.

 Mom came to town for Katie's big choir concert at her new school. The concert was called "The 'sweet' Sounds of Broadway" and featured a fundraiser dessert beforehand. It was a really great idea, very well put together and well attended! It was fun that Jer and I could both come and even our Mom, Grandma, Aunt and several friends. Katie did a great job!

 We went to a couple of fun Halloween parties the weekend before Halloween. We decided to dress up as Peter Pan and Tinkerbell. In case you think I had to convince Jer to wear tights, guess again :o). Surprisingly he was eager and willing to wear this costume. We were able to find most of our costumes at DI and the dollar store! So fun.

Here we are with our friends Steve Jobs and the Mac apple aka Trevor and Alissa. We had a very fun Halloween and October and are excited for the new adventures that November has in store for us. :o)

Funtober Fest

This month has been crazy and fun!! Jer and I just got back from mid-semester tour with the ballroom team in Northern CA. It was 10 days long which meant missing 6 days of school. :o/ not so good. BUT! We did get to do a lot of fun things while there and met some amazing people.

 We visited the Jelly Belly factory in Fairfield.

 About to take the tour.

 Jer and a group tasting the Booger flavored Jelly Belly. I opted out of that one.

That same day we were able to visit the Oakland temple and even spend some time inside. :o)

 We got to go to a cool Nasa visitor's center and learned a lot about our planets and solar system.

 At Fisherman's Wharf in San Francisco.

We could watch these guys for hours.

Bread bowls with chowder and fish and chips!

Sourdough bakery. Making animal-shaped loaves. Also visited but not pictured- Ghirardelli Chocolate factory. Mmmmmm.

Our show site in Fresno.

When we got home, the Halloween festivities were already starting! We had an awesome FHE with this cutie and her parents, and the Mantells.

How cute is she? Yes she is my niece and she is to die for. She is a Bee if you can't tell. Love the antennas the best.

For our FHE we went to the pumpkin patch, picked our pumpkins, had delicious pumpkin soup and paninis made by Alison, watched Hocus Pocus and carved pumpkins. Is that not perfect or what?!

Here's Jer's awesome finished pumpkin.

 Court and Harps

 My cat pumpkin. Yes, I made up the pattern. Haha

 Pickin our pumpkins!

 Preparing to carve.

 Delicious cupcakes made by Alison. The inside had candy corn colored frosting. Al, you really outdid yourself this time! You're too crafty!

Cute Jer with his pumpkin!

I think I almost like Halloween as much as I did when I was a little girl! We're having lots of fun this fall!

General Conference, How I Love Thee

 This should actually be called conference WEEK because its a update on what we've been up to this past week. First thing's first: my latest projects! Below are Meg's recent orders, a mustard ruffle scarf and an owl hat! This is the hat without the face but you get the picture. :o) She's going to be all suited up for fall.

 Here is a hat I had only been making in baby sizes but decided to make in an adult size. I really like the mustard and navy together and I even used a vintage button from my mom's button collection. Love it.

 My sweetie brought these beautiful roses home to me one night this week. :o)

 Here's another adult sized owl hat I made. This time with the face on. I think they're pretty fun!

 Katie and I looked forward to our craft night all week. Katie came down from West Valley and we went craft shopping and found some awesome deals. We went to California Pizza Kitchen (a favorite of ours) and Coneys (also a favorite). Then we watched Lady Victoria and crafted for hours. We worked on flowers for her choir girls dresses and I made some wreaths like the one above, to sell in my booth at the farmer's market this Saturday.

Saturday morning we watched the first session of General Conference and ate cinnamon roll pancakes. Please try this recipe, seriously. Find it on this blog www.cjaneinthekitchen.blogspot.com its delish!

 Saturday afternoon we headed to Kaysville to spend the rest of the weekend with Jer's family. After the afternoon session we had a little girl time while the guys went to priesthood. We got stuff to make delicious peach pies! I can't take any credit for making the pies though because we ended up watching a movie but Dianna sure made some wonderful dessert for our Sunday night treat!

I worked on a lot of projects while we were watching Conference. It was a great way to stay awake! Here's a scarf I just finished for my friend Alison. She picked this color, isn't it cute? Thanks to my cute sister-in-law Becca for modeling it for me. :o)

Highlights from Conference talks were:
-President Monson's refreshing animation whenever he came to the podium.
-President Eyring's tender closeness to the spirit and inspiring anecdotes about fulfilling our duties as ambassadors of Christ.
-The talk about fathers raising their daughters in righteousness.
-Loved it all!

Falling for Fall

 

So, although I am a California Girl through and through, I can't help but LOVE the fall here in Utah. What's better than that crispness in the air, pumpkin candles, changing colors, wearing boots and scarves and making soup?! I just feel like fall is cozy. That's the best word I can use. I'm slowly starting to get my fall decor out in my house but it is definitely a slow process. NOW for an update on our lives here in the Pendleton household:

Remember that time Jer tore his ACL and MCL 6 months ago and had to have surgery? He was just cleared to play sports this month and guess what?..............................He RE-TORE his ACL!!!!!!!!! All I can say is, FRUSTRATION!!! Here's the most frustrating part, he was doing everything right. The fact that his ACL tore again was completely separate from the fact that it had torn before. He couldn't have avoided the injury and I guess that's what is giving us the small bit of comfort we have at this point. Another good thing is that it wasn't BOTH the ACL and MCL this time so he can wait on surgery instead of getting it right during the semester like last time. As of now we are planning on surgery right before Thanksgiving break. Mostly, I just feel so sad for Jer because he was so good about waiting for his knee to heal to play sports and now he has to wait at least another 6 months. :o(

Last weekend my friend Sally and I had an etsy open house and invited her cousin Holly as well who sells pearl jewelry, cashmere scarves, silk ties, etc. Sally makes skirts, headbands and hair clips. And of course you all know what I sell. This was a super fun opportunity to get our friends and family out to see some of the things we have been working on. We learned a lot from this open house and know what to do better for our next one in December.

Here is my question to you, would you all like it if I did a giveaway on my blog? Or even if I hosted Sally and she did one? I'm also considering posting some tutorials on how to make some of my easier items. Let me know your thoughts on this matter :o)

I'm also excited because I've applied for a booth at the farmer's market in October to sell some of my things. You should really come and see me. :o)

And the following photo is of my latest and favorite project. (Let's be honest, my latest project is always my favorite until I get a new project ;o)) A delicious ruffle scarf! I seriously love this and cannot wait till it gets cold enough to wear it. I love ruffles and I love cream. I'm hoping to make several of these to sell.

The picture next to my scarf is my display table at the open house. These are just a few of the things I have been making over the course of the past 6 months or so. Since last weekend I have found LOTS of new patterns to try. Now, if I can just find some time I will try em!

Jer and I have both applied for graduation and will be graduating in the Spring. Yayyyy! We are excited to graduate and to move on to the next chapter in life!