The Jolliff Family

Abigail was my little helper the other morning snapping green beans.  Our family loves a new recipe that I have been making with a little butter, lots of garlic, and yummy fresh green beans.  I'm glad I have a snapper helper.

Sam has been a 49ers fan for several years and was excited that his team was in the Super Bowl last night.  We decided to let him stay up and watch the game live, even if it was at 1:30am our time.  He saved his money and bought a new 49ers hat in Chicago this year.  He has been excited to see may players wearing his same hat on the side line this season!  I woke up around 2:30am, snapped a quick picture, and headed back to bed. He was disappointed his team won and very sleepy today!  What a great season and he is already looking forward to next year.

The kids and I took a quick morning at the zoo two weeks ago.  It was a fun way to spend the morning. "Look, mom, my hat matches the bird!" The kids mentioned that they have been taking pictures by these bears for years .  I am going to have to try and look back to see if I can find some yearly bear pictures. The lories were hungry, and a tad aggressive, but it made for some fun feeding them. It was a great way to spend a few hours running off energy and we stayed until we were rained on!  We received a zoo membership for Christmas this year so we are looking forward to many more trips to see the animals!

I could probably make a series of my different baking experiences with Abigail.  She's a super good helper and today's adventure was making cinnamon rolls.  Again, recipe from The Pioneer Woman's orange cookbook (my fav!).  We made mini-cinnamon rolls and this recipe makes a bunch.  We had enough for breakfast as dinner, a pan to freeze, and a pan to bake and give away as a treat.  In related exciting news, the store now sells powdered sugar so I could actually make icing! I took these pictures last week before my hospitalization but am just getting them posted!!

As most of you know, I ended up unexpectedly in the hospital a week ago today needing emergency laparoscopic surgery.  The reality is, I had a laundry list of items that I wanted to get done last week and surgery was not on the list!!   However, now I have a laundry list of items I'm thankful for.... For Hap getting me to the hospital quickly For how patient the twins were as they waited a long time in the waiting room For teammates who stepped up to care for children so Hap could come be with me before surgery For the skilled physicians would discovered the issue and could correct it For the immediate relief from pain after waking up from surgery For the the nurse finding me a bed to sleep in at 1am that was comfortable and private For teammates who came to visit the next day and ,ultimately, drove me home from the hospital For so many people praying For the kids and the way they pitch in a help out around the house For peace that surpasses understa...

Against our better judgement, we introduce you to Mouse, our new puppy! Welcome to the family, little guy.

While we were in the States, our dryer broke.  We bought it used so it wasn't a great surprise but what was a great surprise is how much I took my dryer for granted while we had it!  In the summer the sun is so hot that the clothes are typically dried before the next load comes out of the washing machine.  However, in the winter, the air is so wet that the clothes doesn't get dry for days.  So a dryer allows us to get the laundry done in one day, which is really great with the amount of washing we do!  We typically hang our clothes up outside unless it's raining (which is typical for the winter months) and then I hang them inside by the wood fire. Our new dryer arrived at the end of last week and it's changed my life!  So much better and more efficient.  A dryer is a luxury for a woman here and I'm thankful to have one!