Miscellaneous News

I think it must be karma or something, because I just had to report that after at least two years of coveting the roll recipe... I got it! =) I can't even say just how thrilled I am!

Also noteworthy is that we bought our first (and hopefully only) minivan this last week. Yes, I am now a Minivan Mommy. Mixed emotions on that one - it's a really nice vehicle, but I have trouble parking!

And I have less than a week until the baby is due! (However, knowing the timeliness issues that my Flegal genes carry, I am not really thinking she'll be here this coming week. Maybe the next week?) We have decided we will name her Keelian Belle Rogers. Keelian is a feminine twist on a family name. It is also Irish for "pretty". Belle is also a family name - plus I just think it's adorable. We are all excited and counting down around here!

Cheap Diapers and Frozen Peas

We bought some really cheap diapers (couldn't make it until the next time we could afford to do Costco). Don't ever buy the cheap diapers. I have to use double the amount to make up for the fact that they don't hold as much as well. I've learned I have to change Creighton's diaper before I put him to bed, and then again before I go to bed or he will wake up in the morning totally soaked from head to toe (no literary exaggeration here). Gross. He doesn't like it much either.

So last night for dinner I did baked potatoes with butter, sour cream, and frozen peas on top. The boys loved it. Creighton especially loved the peas. He kept asking for more - except he kept calling it corn (I think he thought that when I was correcting him I was telling him to ask "please".) He even finished eating and then came back five minutes later to climb up and stand in Ric's seat and ask for more "corn pease".

Later last night I went in to change his diaper before I went to bed. As I rolled him over and started undressing him, he started mumbling in his sleep. As I continued, the mumbling got clearer and clearer. "Corn, corn, corn, corn." He finally got so loud that he woke himself up (either that or it was the fact that by then I had his diaper off and it probably wasn't very warm). But I just had to laugh; my almost 2 year old even talks in his sleep about food! Now that's obsession!

FYI on the New Year's Resolutions

I did finally sit down and do some serious introspection and came up with some goals for 2010 - just the things that I really wanted to accomplish. And then I cut those in half! What I ended up with are these:

1) Finish studying 'Preach My Gospel'.

2) Attend the temple 12 times this year.

3) Read 6 books.

4) Run a 5k.

5) Scrapbook 2009.

6) Make my bedroom cute/nice.

7) Be actively involved in our family finances (tracking, budgeting, bill paying, saving).

8) Journal a minimum of 2 times a month.

9) Practice a talent once a month (drawing, painting, writing, piano).

I tried to go easy on myself, while still feeling like I will be accomplishing something. Let's see how I do... Here's to 2010!

On Secret Recipes

I think it's really rotten of people to not share recipes. I can understand maybe not giving it out upon a person's first asking - you know, weeding out those who wouldn't really treasure how special it is - but if a person claims to really love your recipe and asks for it a couple of times, why wouldn't you share? I find it quite selfish and egocentric.

There is a roll recipe somewhere out there that I really, really want, but a certain someone won't share it. I am way bummed. I love breads and have tried dozens of rolls and baked quite a few different recipes with different variations in an attempt to copy the aforementioned rolls, but to no avail. However, I did try some last Saturday that are pretty darn close, if I do say so myself. I quite liked them. I suppose they will have to satisfy.

And Ric has a recipe for something that he's really been wanting ever since first tasting it at somebody's house a year and a half ago, but that recipe is not to be had either. I don't understand this; it's not like we see those people all that often, and it's not like Ric would go broadcast it to everyone we know that he's gotten a hold of this secret recipe. It would just mean that we get to enjoy it also. For heaven's sake, people, share the love!

Now Year's Resolutions

I'm still stewing about what to do for my New Year's resolutions. I'm thinking something along the lines of: 1) have a baby and 2) get our condo ready to sell. Peggy advised I just make one: "Breathe in. Breathe out." =) I love my mother-in-law! I found my list of goals for 2009 a few weeks ago. Out of the 11 goals I set, I kind of did 4 of them. I think I had more like 15 or so the year before. My excuse for last year is that I was sick for about a quarter of the year.

But still, it's just overwhelming to try to come up with feasible goals for this coming year when I have no idea what to expect. My dad has me well trained on how to set my goals: be specific, and choose something from each different category (i.e. physical, spiritual, intellectual, etc.) so I'm growing in a well-rounded manner. But I feel like right now my main goal is just survival.

For example: I went to the bathroom last Monday morning (locking the door so I don't have little intruders). Upon coming out I found that Stratton had broken the glass on a picture frame on Ric's nightstand. I cleared the boys out of my room, got out the vacuum and cleaned up the glass shards, along with rabid dust bunnies that have been hiding in that corner, and came out of my bedroom to find Creighton sitting up on the kitchen counter, chocolate drool dripping off his face, pieces of candy wrapper all over the counter and floor, and him trying to get into another box of leftover Christmas chocolates. What do you do with a kid like that?!

Stratton is manageable and quite good most of the time (aside from the fact that he just brought a burnt out match to me, all proud that he was able to light it and is now in the corner for the third time today), but Creighton is just everywhere and into everything that he shouldn't be! What am I going to do when I have a nursing baby?

As a result, it's mid-January and I've yet to come up with any resolutions... any ideas?

2009 Family Newsletter

Hello family and friends! I’m sorry you didn’t get our update last year, so this year you get a two-for-one deal: 2008 brought some major changes to our little family. In March we added Creighton Heath Rogers to the mix. Two months later, Ric graduated from Westminster College in SLC with a bachelor’s in Finance. One month after that, he began working here in Salt Lake City with a company called Sovereign Financial Group. He gets to put his degree to good use helping families and small business owners (though he has still continued to do mortgages for friends and family). And by December, I had finished up the last of my online classes in time to graduate from the University of Utah with my bachelor’s in English. So 2008 pushed Ric and I from the realm of college students into the world of “young family”.

2009 has seen our pace merely accelerate. Creighton is now 20 months old and always on the go (maybe it’s just his pace that makes me feel like life is in fast forward!). He’s been running since 10 months and never ceases to get into trouble. I have our kitchen chairs tied to the table, often the fridge door is taped shut, the safety locks on my cupboards are useless (Crater figured them out), and this year our Christmas tree is tied to the wall by a nail and some fishing line. However, when he’s not making a mess or climbing up to some forbidden, breakable object, Creighton is lots of fun! He has a bright smile, blue eyes that twinkle when he’s teasing you, and a very gratifying squeal and giggle when he’s being tickled. He is also known for his obsession with food. In nursery at church, when they have snack time he reportedly finishes his snack and then goes around to what all the other kids left behind and finishes theirs (this happens at home too). You can see why one of his nicknames is “Lunchbox”.

Stratton is a fabulous big brother – as long as Creighton isn’t messing with his toy organization! He alternates between bossing Creighton around, beating him up, and doting on him. Upon writing this, Stratton will be 4 tomorrow and has really turned into a great little helper. He started “preschool” this fall (4 other moms and I take turns teaching 6 kids twice a week) and has fallen in love with learning. His passion for art has added a new dimension recently – writing. I find his hieroglyphics (aka “My homework, Mom!”) all over every spare paper in sight. And sometimes the not so spare papers too! He is very into superheroes and anything “boy”. It seems that anything possible in my home is fair game either to be used as a weapon or some kind of building tool.

As for me, my year was filled with keeping up with two little boys. I also was able to dabble a bit in gardening, art, cooking and baking, running, and occasionally even getting some reading in too. And then we found out I was pregnant. So about a quarter of this year is a blur of morning sickness to me, but it was all worth it when we found out I am expecting a girl! Yay hooray! She is due at the end of February.

Ric and I both work in the youth program at church (Ric as the Young Men’s president, me as an advisor to the 16-18 year old girls) so between that and family trips with extended family, our summer was swallowed up with one campout or another every other weekend. Whew! I’ve never been so glad to see summer go and life calm down again! Ric also is our condo association president and continues working with Sovereign Financial Group and loving it there. It’s been a struggle and more late nights than not, but he has really grown and learned a lot this year. As if that wasn’t enough, he also had microfracture surgery on his knee in September, which kept him non-weight bearing on that leg for 6 weeks, and hopping (literally) to doctor’s and physical therapy appointments ever since. And somehow in that cram-packed schedule he finds time here and there to be with us and save my sanity!

As we take a minute to think about our year and what was important to us, we think of you all and the love and support we receive from those we love – whether we see you regularly or not. Thank you for the impact you have had on our lives. We are also especially grateful for our Savior and all that He does for each of us. We love you all and look forward to hearing from you. Have a very Merry Christmas!

All our love,

Ric, Serity, Stratton, and Creighton

Christmas in the Air!

Stratton is so excited about Christmas! It's fun seeing his excitement, but he's making me crazy. He's been so driven all week to get our tree up and all its decorations - he's been on my case multiple times a day. "Mom, you need to get out the Christmas decorations." "Mom, you need to put your ornaments on the tree." And so forth. My little delegator!

Creighton, of course, doesn't really know what's going on, but he's excited too. Every morning he walks out to the living room and points at the tree saying, "Free! Free!" And if the lights aren't on and he notices, he'll stand next to the tree and adamantly tell me, "On-on-on-on!"

We're using the fake tree (oh, how I wish for real trees!) Dave and Makell got us at Walmart on clearance a few years ago, but it's too big for the little corner of the room we have afforded it, so in true ghetto style we have only put the branches on the front half of the tree. This makes it look quite sparse. After Ric and I finished doing that much, Ric stood back to look at it and, putting his arm around me, commented, "You know, I really feel like we have a Charlie Brown tree this year!"

Unfortunately, with the boys only using half of the branches has made this too tipsy (it's a good thing I haven't gotten all my breakable ornaments up - and it's given Stratton the chance to decorate the bottom half of the tree numerous times because the ornaments fall off when the tree falls over!), so we have now nailed the tree to the wall with a piece of fishing line. So, adding to the Charlie-Brown-half-tree effect, we have all the non-breakable ornaments clumped on the front, bottom two rows of branches, and it's all held up by a piece of fishing line. Love it!

Now I just need to decide whether I should take the risk of putting wrapped presents under the tree yet or wait until Christmas Eve...