Cooking With Grandma Zamani

Davin loves to cook! Any time grandma Zamani is in the kitchen Davin will start taking things out of the pantry like flour and sugar and say "cook, cook". Grandma gives in and they make cookies or bake a cake.

Davin helped Grandma make cookies for Valentines day. I had the video camera on the counter taping the whole thing and after we were done baking cookies we watched the vidoe while we ate a few. There were a few moments when Davin would look around to see if anyone was watching him and if no one was he would sneak a tast of the dough or frosting from the bowl. When we saw this on video we laughed so had cause we had ne idea he was doing it.

Making cookies is always fun but eating the batter is even better.

Davin is going to be a great cook someday if he continues to cook with Grandma. She makes delicious food.

Cabin time!

                                       

Winter is finally here and there is nothing better than relaxing in the mountains, sipping hot cocoa and watching the snow fall. Our friends, Jeremy and Lacy, invited us to Lacy's parents friends cabin up past the Alta ski resort, who are also the owners of OC Tanner. The cabin was shaped like a diamond. I wish I could have taken a picture of it but there was to much snow covering the bottom. We had been there one time before but it was fall, not winter, so I was pretty excited to see the mountains full of snow and to just sit around and relax from our end of year activities and do nothing for the weekend. There is no TV or radio. Just a record player and lot of  games. Perfect! It was really quiet and peacful. Even with the kids (Jeremy and Lacy have 2 and we took Davin) running around it was still nice.

There isn't a road up to the cabins, just ski and snowmobile trails so we had to take a snow cat up the mountain. That was quite an experience. Rough, but fun. Aren, Jeremy and Lacy did some skiing and we just talked, listened to records, played games and played in the snow with the kids.

Davin and Jayden loved being outside. There was so much snow to play in. It was hard getting them to come back inside.

After a few days it was time to head home. We loaded everything into the snow cat and headed down the mountain. Once we got to the bottom, we scrapped the snow off of Jeremy's truck so he could take Aren to get our truck. Lacy and I started unloading the cat while the kids played in the snow some more. As we looked up we saw Aren driving up the hill with his head and body hanging out of the door. The truck was covered in snow from sitting in the parking lot for 2 days. It was burried in at least 10ft of snow. Jeremy and Aren couldn't find it when they went down to get it. It was fun clearing the snow out off the rest of the truck so we could load our stuff in it. What a great weekend!! 

Another buried car.

"Tis the Season!

I love this time of year. So does Davin. Every part of it. 

 I love the lights, the smells, the baking, the shopping, the music, and the parties. I bring out all of the christmas decoration and start decorating the first week of December. It's just so full of excitement and I love it every year even more as Davin gets older and can enjoy the excitement too. This year we didn't have a tree because I didn't think it would survive Davin. I did put up a few decorations and stockings though. Aren's parents put up a tree and it had decorations from the top to about half way down because Davin would pull off the ornaments and throw them thinking they were balls. He also liked to see them break...Go figure. He loved the snow globes Patsy, Aren's mom, put around the house. He would ask to see them or listen to the music every time we were there. Patsy has about 3 or 4 and they were a hit when Davin is around.

Christmas parties at my parents house are crazy. The whole family is there, but it's fun to see the grandkids play. Davin and his cousin, Kelci, are best friends. They play so well together which is great.

 Patsy and I took Davin to the Festival of Trees. This was my first time and it was amazing. So much imagination and creativity went into each tree. I took a few pictures of my favorite ones.  Davin loved the Winnie the Pooh and RSL trees. The gingerbread houses were awesome too. I suggested to Patsy that we do a tree in honor of her friend, Barbara, who passed away this summer after a long battle with cancer. I think it will be fun to donate a tree.

Davin loves to see the lights as we drive though the neighborhood. We had planned on going to see the Zoo lights but heard they weren't that good so instead we went to see the lights at Temple Square.  I love being there. Davin loved it too. His eyes were wide the whole time until I asked him to smile for the camera then he had had enough and was getting tired. It was also a cold night and Davin was bundled up and very comfortable in his stroller. He loved all the colors on the trees but I think the best part for him was the hot chocolate. He drank a whole cup.

Christmas day was so much fun this year. On Christmas morning we took our time waking up. There was no rush. I think we woke up around 9am and saw that Santa had came and brought lots of fun toys! We had santa take a few to Grandpa and Grandma Zamani's so we would have a few more to open there.

 After Davin opened a few gifts we headed over to my grandparents for a yummy breaksfast and then more gift exchanging. It was very relaxing and fun to see what everyone got, especially the grandkids!

We then headed to Aren's parents house for lunch and spent the rest of the day there with his family. Davin was spoiled at Christmas.! He knew just what to do when it came time to open gifts. Davin ripped though the paper and loved each toy he got.

Patsy and Dariush, got him a keyboard and Atessa, Aren's sister and her husband gave Davin a blow up Sesame Street ball pit and he is in it all the time. But, he was excited most about his basketball hoop...who would have thought. He opened it and then was done opening the rest of his presents. Christmas morning was one of the best I had in a long time. Davin made it so special and exciting, I almost felt like a kid again... except we didn't wake up at 5 am like I am used to.There is nothing better than seeing your child so happy on Christmas morning! He got a lot of great gifts. The holidays are only going to get better as he gets older and am so excited for them.

Happy Thanksgiving

Thanksgiving is one of the busiest days for us besides Christmas. We ate at my parents house with all of my family around 2pm then hung out for a while and ate again at Aren's parents with his sister and husband. They ate at his parents then ate again with us at her parents. We were pretty full and hurting by bed time. I have so much to be Thankful for. My list is about a mile long but to name a few things...I am most thankful for such a loving and understanding husband. He is the love of my life and has blessed me with a wonderful little boy. Davin is such a joy to be around even when he is a handful. I have great inlaws that give us everything. My life is perfect. Just around teh corner is Christmas and I am so excited. I love Christmas time, it is such a great time to think about what life truly is about and celebrate with all the people we love.

Davin's 1st haircut.

Davin had his first haircut today and it was much needed. I had given him a trim around his neck line just before his 1st birthday cause he was starting to grow a mullett. I didn't want to actually cut it cause it was his baby hair and cutting it would mean he wasn't a baby anymore. He is growing too fast. He is already 1 and I don't know where the last year went. He is almost 1 1/2 (sob). It was an experience for him and for me. We took him to Cookie Cutters where he sat in a fire truck and watched a Barney DVD. He was nervous and so was I. What if I hated the haircut? What if the girl cut it to short? Those questions ran through my head. Aren told the girl what length to cut it and it turned out awesome. Davin took home a certifcate with a lock of hair and his picture on it. We went home happy.

Before

After

Marinello Beauty School Hair Show

My sister-in-law, Karlee, is a student at Marinello (formerly Stacy's Hands of Champions) and they have a hair competition/hair show every year and I had the chance to be her hair model. The students get graded on everything that goes on at school and this was a huge part of their grade.This year the theme was Maquerade. The students had to come up with a hair style and mask to go along with the theme. It was a lot of. Lots of preperation and stress went into my hair and mask. There were lots of practice sessions. Karlee's brother, Kyle, made the mask using a plaster mold. He put plaster on my face until it was a little dry then he designed the mask and painted it. It was awesome! I had the best mask in the competition. It was a very unique design. The day of the show started off with all the students and models ready to start at their stations. Nothing could be pre-done to the hair. The whistle was blown and each student had 1 1/2 hours to style their models hair with out talking. The model and student could not have any interaction with each other or any one else in the room. After the time was up the models put face masks over their faces and were judged by 5 judges. It was a long judging. I think I sat in my chair for at least 30 minutes. We ate lunch then headed over to Ogden Eccles for the rest of the judging and the show. There the models were judged on their masks and overall apperance. That took forever too. When all the judging was done we had a cat walk rehersal. Then it was time for the show to begin. All of my family, Aren's family and Karlee's family were there to support us. We had the loudest cheering section. It was a long but fun night and we took 2nd place. Karlee had also won some other prizes as well. I am proud of her and am very thankfull for everything she did for me and that I could be a part of that night with her.           

These are some other hair styles from the competition. 

HaPPy HaLLoWeEn

I love the fall! Fall has to be one of the best seasons there is. I can't get enough of the colors on the trees and the weather starting to cool down from the hot summer. There is even a smell in the air that I love. I also love taking walks and hearing the crunching of leaves under my shoes. While at a friends home, Davin and I found a pile a leaves in the yard and played in them. Davin had such a great time throwing the leaves in the air and kicking them with his feet. He is such an outdorsy boy. Rain, snow, wind or sunshine it doesn't matted. Davin will want to be outside for hours. I love it when he is happy, it sure beats the awnry-ness that occurs every once in a while.

Halloween is one of my favorite holidays too. Partly because it is part of the fall. I was so excited for this Halloween. We dressed up Davin as  lion and went trick-or-treating at the South Town Mall with some friends and their daughter. She was Bell from Beauty and the Beast so we told everyone that is who they were. We took Davin Trick-or-Treating through our neighbor hood for about 30 min.. It was so cute to see him go up to the door and choose which candy he wanted from the bowl. He came home with lots of fun treats. Next year and the years to come are only going to get better.