'bama turkey day

Traveling to Alabama for Thanksgiving in pictures...

Mylin was like Maddie's own little baby...

Joel and Mylin Rachel and Hudson (I promise that was a real book, not just blank pages...)

Maddie, Cosi, and baby Mylin

Hudson, Maddie, and Mylin

Andre (10 months) with Mylin (sadly Andre was sick the first few days so had to keep them separated - this is how it worked!)

This gal couldn't get enough of her cousin :)

Thanks 'Bama Merkles for hosting us on this holiday weekend

We love you all and can't wait to see you at Christmas!

favorite christmas carols

I LOVE christmas music!
There's something about them that swells my heart with love and togetherness
Some years I can hardly wait until the day after thanksgiving when we can start listening to them! (this is Joel's rule...)

My favorite tunes to listen to this time of year are:
Carol of the Bells
Holy Night
12 days of Christmas (only by Straight no Chaser)
What Child is This
Jesu, Joy of Man's Desiring

Joel's favorite Christmas tunes are:
Mele Kalikimaka
O Christmas Tree
Silent Night

What are your favorite Christmas carols and when do you start listening to them?!

the easiest muffins ever

i have been making these for the past three thanksgivings
a friend of mine, kim, made them again this year and i realized i could make them with a whole new twist!

1 15oz can pumpkin
1 box of ANY cake mix you desire! (my failsafe is yellow, but i've also used devil's food cake, french vanilla, chocolate fudge, and spice)

mix both until well blended and bake at 350 in muffin tins for 25-30 minutes

vary these recipes with chips or spices of your choice!
my favorites are cinnamon chips in the yellow, french vanilla, or spice, or chocolate chips in the devil's food or chocolate fudge

report back with any new combinations or favorite flavors of your own!

a thanksgiving preview

We ventured to Alabama for Thanksgiving this year!

My brother Adam, his wife, Jill, and their four kids, Maddie, Hudson, Cosi, and Andre, moved here in April

We knew that if we were so far away from our families during the holidays, we'd want some company, so we decided to take Mylin on her first big vacation to visit some of our favorite people!

This is just a preview of the fun we are having :)

Our trip started Tuesday evening and we stopped halfway in Nashville at Opryland to spend about 7 hours in this gorgeous condo, compliments of my parents!

Our amazingly comfortable bed (and my camera flash in the mirror...)

I call this one: 'little girl in a big bed'

And a bonus adorable picture of little miss in the morning!

More to come soon!

blogging ideas

friends!

i need some future post ideas - i have been feeling tired and drained from the new mom/end of semester/holiday craze time of year...and am in need of inspiration!

what blogging topics would you like to see/read?!

(p.s. look forward to some upcoming guest bloggers from my siblings this holiday season!)

oreo delight

1 stick margarine, melted
1 pkg oreo cookies
1 8oz pkg cream cheese (i use fat free because regular is too rich for me)
1 tub cool whip
1 lg. box french vanilla instant pudding
milk

1. crumble (or food process) oreos, add melted margarine and mix well (save some oreos for the top if desired)
2. press mixture into 9x13 pan
3. mix the pudding, using only 3 1/2 cups milk and set aside
4. whip cream cheese until fluffy (i'm lazy and i just warm it), add cool whip and mix well
5. add pudding and beat all together until well blended
6. pour over oreo crust and sprinkle with remaining (if you didn't eat them) oreos
7. refridgerate and enjoy!

i dare you not to eat this all in one day.

Sunday

today marks a turn in the gorgeous fall weather we've been having, to some cooler temperatures
we try to keep our heat level low in our house to save money, but also high enough to keep our chubby bundle (otherwise known as 'mylin') warm!
i spend a lot of sunday afternoons at my computer finishing up my week's homework while joel and mylin watch football and nap
today i am so chilly!
so i've got myself wrapped in a blanket, sitting over the heater vent in my computer chair, channeling the sweet heat into my warm cocoon!
i guess this makes my homework more bearable...

what are you doing on this cool sunday afternoon?!

ladies of the house

I love having a daughter for many reasons
Especially because we get to match our outfits when we go out!

Schisler Wedding

On October 30th we were privileged to be in the company of so many celebrating the love of our friends, Ryan and April
Joel was honored to stand up with Ryan, a long-time friend and college roommate

Luckily we caught this sweet moment with our small family after the ceremony before Mylin had a complete meltdown at the reception :) My handsome groomsman with his lovely bridesmaid (the dresses and flowers were gorgeous for an autumn wedding! They even decorated with pumpkins - how cute!)

What a ham :)

The lovely, happiest couple: Ryan and April Schisler!

daylight savings time

this past weekend we all got an 'extra' hour!
yay for a 'long' weekend :)

the draper family rose at 6:00 am when the littlest one decided to wake up starving
she was ready to play after that so we were all up and running several hours before church began
somehow we still managed to not have time for breakfast and had to raid the donut room at church between service and sunday school.....
(p.s. they have cinnamon vanilla creamer and i am in LOVE with it this season!)

all of the above is to point out that we probably got our extra hour of the weekend sunday morning
so what did we spend it doing?
joel and mylin sat on the couch and watched the newest channel our antenna picks up....its a very weird music video channel....no rhyme or reason to the videos they choose
want popular country music?!
got it.
how about some creepy videos from the early 90s?
got it.
and back in time to the late 70s when they first started making them?
ok.
i, however, spent my extra hour correcting a group homework paper that i spent 4 hours doing saturday night (apparently incorrectly...)
yay.

how did you spend your extra hour?!

halloween!!!

At our friend, Michael's annual Halloween party, Joel went as a white board :)
He loved getting out his old college notes and writing fractions all over it!

We didn't go trick or treating with Mylin, but did dress her up for our parents :)
(ignore Joel's serial killer wild eyes in this photo...)
This was a hand-me-down for our nieces Maddie and Cosi!

George and Kari found the funniest glasses at Dollar General and we just had to try them on our little pumpkin :)

Mylin filled out her other sweet outfit from cousin Ethan - very fitting for our little lady that we fondly refer to as pumpkin

goal: attained!

It happened!
This morning the scale showed me the same number it did when I found out (just over a year ago) that I was pregnant!
Newsflash: weighing in post-pregnancy at your pre-pregnancy weight does not mean it is all distributed back in the same way....some stuff still doesn't fit!
But I will take this as success :)