Sugar Cookies with Great Grandma Hawley!

Here I am back blogging again!! A few weeks before Halloween Eliza & I went over to my Grandma Hawley's house to help her make her infamous pumpkin sugar cookies. Eliza was quite good and spent most of the time sleeping in the swing while we enjoyed eating hot dogs, rolling dough, baking and frosting our cookies.

At first I made mine thinner than I was supposed to but they turned out alright, the next few batches were thick and DELICIOUS though! Here you can see our beautiful decorating skills :)

Lots and lots of cookies.
Eliza woke up just in time to eat some left over frosting and try a cookie :) Just kidding.
Great Grandma Hawley and Eliza's first baking experience. My grandma has the cutest picture of me helping her in the kitchen when I was younger and I wish I had a scanner to show you! Hopefully Eliza will get many more chances in the future to hone her baking skills!
Mommy & Eliza.
Great Grandpa Hawley didn't help make the cookies but he helped EAT them :) No, he hadn't even had one by the time I left... what was he thinking, those cookies go fast around this family! GGpa Hawley had a shingles vaccination before Eliza was born so he couldn't hold her at the hospital, but he is grateful that he can hold her now and so are we!

You know parents always say that the reason they have children is to have grandchildren. Well I think my grandparents had children so that they could have grandchildren so they could have great grandchildren :) Thanks Gram for letting us come over and help... hopefully we can do more baking, candy making or (cooking in general) real soon. Gram & Gramps your the best!

G & G Keeler Came to Visit

A few weekends ago Matt's parents came to visit and to see Eliza for the first time (in person)! It was so much fun having them here, I just wish Matt didn't have to work so much! We didn't do anything amazing but on Saturday Linda and I went to my cousin's cheerleading competition while Matt & Al went to look at cars and eat at Arby's. On Saturday night we went to our Ward Harvest Part, where we won 1st place in the chili cook off. And on Sunday we went to my parents house for some tri-tip and the World Series.

Here are a few pics:

Ellie wanted to be lovey dovey with Grandma but she wasn't having it! Ellie sure enjoyed Grandpa though... thanks for Pinky! Grandma was so excited to hold Eliza while she was here, too bad Eliza slept almost the entire time :)

Here is Eliza after the Harvest Party... doesn't she look so ADORABLE!?!?!

Grandma holding Eliza while she is sleeping.

This is at my parents house after dinner and watching the game. Eliza is sleeping AGAIN!
I made my delicious brownie bites and dyed them orange to look a little like pumpkins. The chocolate topping was courtesy of Matt :)

Eliza is growing so fast

I can't believe Eliza is already a month old!! Time is going by so fast and I am so glad that I have been able to spend EVERY day with her. Her little personality is unfolding each and every day and it is so fun to see her start to hold her head up and smile randomly.

Eliza at 4 weeks

Eliza at 1 month

Ward Harvest Party & Chili Cook-Off

Last Saturday was our Ward Harvest party and they had a Chili Cook-Off! Of course we entered and were one of 6 to be judged. We entered our recipe for the delicious White Chicken Chili that my family makes. After the judging we were tied for first place with another family's chili but after a final test we were the WINNERS!!!

Matt had to go up and tell about our chili and he tried to make a funny joke saying that we just dumped a few cans of chili from the store into a pot and brought it... no one really laughed but I thought it was funny. Here are some pics of us and our trophy!

Also, here is the recipe for the White Chicken Chili so you can make it your chili of choice :)

Ingredients:

One pound boneless, skinless chicken breast cubed (Or one rotisserie chicken torn into small pieces)

½ of a medium onion, finely chopped

1 ½ tsp garlic powder

1 Tbs vegetable oil

2 – 15.5 oz cans of Great Northern beans, drained

1 – 14 oz can chicken broth

1 – 7 oz can green chilies chopped

1 tsp salt 1 tsp ground cumin

1 tsp dried oregano ½ tsp pepper

¼ tsp cayenne pepper

1 C sour cream ½ C whipping cream

Directions:

In a large pot sauté chicken, onion and garlic powder in vegetable oil, cook until chicken is no longer pink (or if using rotisserie chicken, cook until chicken is heated all the way through). Add beans broth, chilies and seasonings. Bring to a boil. Reduce heat, simmer uncovered for approx. 30 minutes. Remove from heat, stir in sour cream and whipping cream. Serve immediately. Top with cheese, green onions, and sour cream.

Check out my signature... I just found out how to do it! If you want directions go to the following page:
http://www.thecutestblogontheblock.com/blog-secrets/140-how-to-add-a-signature-to-your-blog-posts-updated.html

Eliza is 3 Weeks Old

So today we tried out Eliza's Halloween PJ's and her new bow to celebrate her 3 weeks of life. Doesn't she look adorable!!

It is amazing how much personality she has and she is only 3 weeks old. She of course loves to sleep, eat and go to the bathroom, and she just adores her "awake" time from 9:3o pm to 12:30 pm EVERY night! She makes the cutest faces though and I love how she almost always falls asleep on my chest while I'm burping her.

Even though I can barely remember life when I got to sleep ALL the way through the night I am loving every moment I spend with her. She is definitely one of the biggest blessings Matt & I have ever received!

All of Eliza's Newborn Photos

We got the CD with all of Eliza's newborn photos and we are so excited to share them with you!

Click HERE to see them.

Also, the pictures were taken by Eden Thome. You can see more of her work at www.photographybyeden.blogspot.com or by clicking HERE.