'Twas the night before Christmas

 Christmas, Caleb, and Cookies!

The Sunday before Christmas we decorated cookies

took them to our neighbors

and enjoyed them ourselves!

I have found a new cream cheese frosting recipe that bumped my old favorite, buttercream, down to second.  It was so delicious on the sugar cookies and it even stays soft in the fridge!  

Then we hunkered down for our first Palmer boys sleepover

Chase wanted to hold Caleb the whole time

The boys could not believe that I would actually let them stay up and SLEEP out in the living room.  They thought it was the coolest things ever.  I think it is their new favorite tradition!

CHRISTMAS EVE

Figuring out our own Christmas traditions has been quite challenging over the last few years since we don't have family around.  Every year Chase and I try to plan out what we want each day to be like.  The last two years have been far from what I would picture as a picture perfect Christmas and usually ended in tears.  This year I tried to go in with a more specific game plan and I must say that this Christmas was much Merrier.  But here is the thing, it actually wasn't too different than in years past, still very simple.  I think the difference is that I have realized a few things over the years. It is all about the joy in the journey.  My hope is that each year it will get closer and closer to the beautiful and magical Christmas that I remember as a child but there is a time and a season for everything. The memories that we have of this phase in our families life is priceless.  

Take a look at this manger scene

The great thing is that in their little minds they have got it going on

Chase as Joseph.  

He put his outfit together on his own.  It consists of my scarf, kitchen broom, towel with red party streamer from my craft box.  He thought he was the star of the show.

Baby Jesus asleep in the hay

Jackson's character of choice was a donkey and Jayden a sheep

That left Dad to be the Wisemen, Shepards, and narrater all in one!  Actually, I am really not sure what he was.  I think he just wanted to get in on the fun!

After our Christmas Program we enjoyed a meal provided by our neighbors downstairs due to the arrival of Caleb.  I tried to tell the ward that they did not need to bring dinners over during the holidays but they insisted.  So our Christmas Eve dinner this year was homemade Calzones which were absolutely AMAZING!  I have never made them myself but if I can master the recipe it might become a new Christmas Ever tradition in memory of our silly Christmas's in New York! 

After Pizza I pulled out my homemade Red Velvet Cake that did not turn out so well.  The good news is that I think the recipe is a keeper I just needed to cook each pan separately because it took much longer for the middle to cook which made the edges a little burnt.  I also needed to bake it the night before to make it extra chilled and moist.

Oh...and...one more things, work on my cake decorating ability.  This is what I hope and dream my  Christmas Eve Cake will look like next year!

Yes I know, I have a lot of practicing to do:)

The best part is that Jackson kept reminding me and everyone else that it was not the best cake ever.  

"I like the Ice Cream better than the cake."

 "Ok guys, who likes the Ice Cream better than the cake!"  

"ME!!!"

-the jacksonater!

We finished our cake

watched our traditional Christmas Eve film

Mickey's Christmas Carol

then headed to bed

And all "in Hopes that St. Nicholas soon would be there."

Announcing the arrival of our sweet baby boy

Caleb Theron Palmer

December 21, 2012

7 lb 6 0z

20 inches and a bundle of JOY

He was due January 3rd but decided He wanted to surprise us for Christmas

Thursday Dec. 20th Chase and I had tickets to go see Elf on Broadway.   Our good friend Bjorg said she would babysit for us and we were so excited!  That night Bjorg was running a little late and we had not ate dinner so I told Chase to go ahead and grab us a couple of subway sandwiches and I would meet him at the subway station .  I was really worried about being late so I ran from our apartment to the subway station.  (It is not too far but I think it was just enough to put me into labor.)

When we got to the subway we caught the A train just in time which got us down to the play about 10 min. to 7:00,  just enought time to eat our sandwiches before it started.  We were standing outside the doors about ready to walk in when suddenly my water broke!  I could not believe it.   

Coming and...going

riding in the taxi

at the hospital wondering what labor and delivery will be like the 4th time around

and thrilled to see our new baby boy

Dad  

Mom

Caleb came out alert, active, and ready to eat.  He is such a sweet little baby and I love him more and more every minute!  

We were so lucky that everything went so smooth.  Although we missed the play, the timing was absolutely perfect. We had a great babysitter for the boys, only a $7.00 taxi ride to the hospital from 42nd street, and I was able to get the epidural in time which made my labor and delivery experience much better than I have had in the past.    

Chase absolutely loves his new baby brother.  He wants to take care of him all day long and does a very good job.  He did not want to leave the hospital.  

Jayden with Caleb for a quick moment before he was off with Jackson pushing buttons and getting into mischief.  Unfortunately they were not able to stay very long because they got a little too crazy with all the excitement!  It was a little stressful having them all there because I had to share a hospital room with only a curtain in between.   It didn't take long before Chase was scolding Jackson in the bathroom so that he did not have to scream in front of the other lady who was trying to enjoy her peaceful experience in the hospital.  I am sure she was wondering what was going on and thinking "that is why you do not have 4 kids."  As you can imagine sharing a room made for a very long night and day in the hospital.  I was so thrilled to go home and be with my family!!!

The whole drive home I felt so happy;  Happy to leave the hospital, happy to have Caleb here safe and sounds, and excited to be able to spend Christmas all together as a family!  I felt so grateful which screams happiness!  Life is good!

Welcome Home Caleb!

Our last week before Christmas

I am excited to write about our Christmas surprise but first wanted to quickly post our last few Christmas events of the year.

Tuesday evening we took the boys to the New York Botanical Gardens to see the Holiday Train Show!  It was so fun because I have a little 2 year old boy who absolutely loves trains!  He was so excited and ran from train to train.  This year he is asking Santa for "two trains!"

Wednesday Chase had his School Christmas Party!  

We made Snowman Cupcakes to go along with the 

grand Christmas Dance Party.  Take a look at this!  They do not mess around when it comes to decking the halls Harlem!

Watch out!

Happy Anniversary

This year Chase and I celebrated our 7th Anniversary!  We were married on December 15, 2005!  I can hardly believe that we have already been married for 7 years! It feels like we were married just yesterday, starting out our lives together in little Ephraim Utah...then BAM, here we are with soon to be 4 kids in New York City!  What in the world! Life is completely crazy and absolutely AMAZING!  It is so fun to look back and see the road that we have taken, one thing leading to another with so many grand adventures, ups and downs, twist and turns, and experiences that I would not trade for anything! The great thing is that Chase and I have grown closer together through it all.  My patriarchal blessing said that I would marry one of my best friends and he is just that!  We have fun together!  That is what I love most.  There is a lot that Chase and I need to work on, weaknesses to overcome, and everything else that comes along with marriage and raising a family....but the greatest thing is that we do it all not just as spouses but as friends.  I love it!

Top 3 Favorite Things to do with Chase:

1.) Broadway plays, my new all time favorite!
2.) Make and eat chocolate chip cookies
3.) Run together

Although, I must say that our Anniversary date was one of the funnest things that we have ever done together!  Originally we had planned on going to the Nutcracker for our Anniversary.  Things didn't work out and we ended up selling our tickets.  We had to think of a new plan and it ended up being so incredibly fun!

Chase bought me a scooter for my birthday this year.  At first I was a little skeptical about the whole thing.  My first thought was "how much did you spend on that" and "I will probably never use it."  Boy was I wrong because it is so FUN!  Especially for date night.

We borrowed another scooter from a friend and heading out Friday Dec. 14th!

We scootered down to Shake Shack to enjoy my new favorite Burger

Our first experience at Shake Shack was a complete let down.  Chase was disappointed in the size of his burger and my Shake was too plain.  We left wondering what all the hype was about and never went back for over a year.  Everyone has been telling us that we must have ordered the wrong thing cause it is "the best!"  So, when Jenny and Jon came out we decided to give it a second chance.  

And as you can see it moved up on our list cause although it is not the fanciest place to celebrate your anniversary it is GOOD!  The burger is amazing and the fries are absolutely incredible.  

Then we hopped back on the scooters down to 72nd where we crossed through Central Park to go see the Christmas tree at the Met.  

There is no flash photography inside the Met so our picture is not very clear but the tree is absolutely stunning!  It has a beautiful nativity scene surrounding the tree with angel ornaments all the the way up.  There was beautiful music playing and the art museum is so quiet that it was so peaceful.  It is  something that I want to do every year!  

We had so much fun that the next morning we woke up and went on a big family scooter ride before we had to return the scooter.   Although I felt a little embarrassed as our family of 5 cruised along the streets all on scooters, it was so fun that I can't wait until Chase gets a scooter of his own and we can do it more often!

Celebrating Advent the Icelandic Way

This Sunday our wonderful friends Bjorg and Fanney invited us over to celebrate Advent with them. She had all kinds of goodies! 

gingerbread cookies

 hot chocolate made with real chocolate from Iceland

and even surprised me with a darling birthday cake!  

They have become some of our very best friends here.  That is one of the reasons we love living in New York. We have been able to get to know so many different people that have blessed our lives in so many ways.  It has also given me a greater desire to learn more about different countries and their cultures as they share a little bit of theirs with us!  Chase and I hope to make it to Iceland one of these days!  

Greatest Birthday Ever!

I feel so happy today and lucky to be me on my 28th Birthday!  First off It has been a hussle and bussle of event the past few months and therefore my first wish for my birthday was to slow down and enjoy the day.  I wanted to be able to enjoy my kids and my wonderful husband by spending simple quality time together.  I wanted nothing more than to just sit down with them, visit, and be together as a family without anywhere to be or a million things to do.  And the day was just that, absolutely perfect!

 Chase and the boys made me breakfast in bed

Then we went on a family run

Way back when I set three goals depending on how pregnancy went:

1.) To try to run through October.  That went much better than planned so I kept on running and went for goal number 2

2.) Nov. 24th, Chase's Birthday!  I really did not think I would be able to do it but once I made it that far and felt pretty good I felt hopeful to be able to reach my "wishful thinking" goal...and DID IT!

3.) Run on my Birthday! 

The boys rode their scooters 3 miles and we all celebrated once we reached the end!

For me that was the greatest Birthday present ever!  

Then we came back and watched a movie, took a big family nap, played games and finished by decorating cupcakes!  Can you tell by all of our outfits that it was a very relaxing day!

After the boys went to bed Chase fixed me a very delicious dinner

He did not tell me that I needed to dress up for the occasion

Thanks to my sweet and wonderful family I had a great birthday and am excited to be 28!  Even years are always so much better than odd!