Snow Day!

We got about 6 inches of new snow yesterday and Holly was ready to play! When I got home from work, Kieth, Holly, and Lucy were in the yard and Holly was in her snow clothes. We got the sled out and pulled her many times around the yard, and Paige, Holly's friend from across the street, and her mom came over to join in the fun! We topped off the afternoon with some hot chocolate and marshmallows. What a great way to spend an afternoon!

Christmas 2010

 We had a wonderful Christmas Season this year! We spent the weekend before Christmas at my parents' house in Coulee City, with my brother Kenneth, and his wife Adriane. Their dog Izzy and our dog Lucy also joined in the fun. Grandma Katie bought some sleds and she and Holly went sledding and Papa Rich also took Holly for a few four-wheeler rides. We had a get-together of the Evans Family on the Friday night that we were there also. Here are some of the pictures!

We also celebrate Christmas morning with Kieth's dad Ted, and my parents. In addition to these three guests, we had my aunt and uncle and a friend and her daughter over for Christmas dinner. It was a great time and we can't wait to do it all over again next year!

First Baby Appointment...

Yesterday was my first OB appointment for this pregnancy. I was pretty nervous, considering my history, but everything went really well. I wasn't sure exactly what Pam, the midwife, was going to want to do at this appointment, but after all of the normal checks that I expected, she suggested an ultrasound. She asked me if I would like to have the ultrasound done to check and make sure everything was going okay and I jumped at the chance! Kieth came in with me for the ultrasound and we got to see the baby and it's heartbeat, and the technician told us that it looked just like the text books and everything looked great! PHEW! What a weight off my shoulders. My next appointment is on my birthday, Jan. 17th, and I will be having another ultrasound also just to make sure things continue on the right path. So be praying for baby "Fink"!  My official due date is July 30th. Yay! Can't wait for summer. I'm 8 1/2 weeks along also, for those that are curious. :)

Putting up the Christmas tree...

Last weekend we were blessed by friends of ours, Scott and Joyce Daugherty, by them letting us cut a Christmas tree from their beautiful 20 acres of land near Rose Lake. They have several horses which Holly got to pet, and Scott even put Holly up to sit on top of one for a few minutes.

 This is the tree that we cut and brought home!

When we got home, Holly was ready for a nap. After re-energizing, she and I spent several hours decorating the tree and the rest of the house. She did a really good job! I was surprised at how gentle she was with the decorations. She really enjoyed the red balls for the tree; I think that was her favorite part!

Thanksgiving break...

We had a wonderful weekend with Kieth's sister Karla and her husband Fred, and two of their children, Michelle and Kurt, and Kurt's fiance Justina. This is the first Thanksgiving holiday we've spend with Kieth's family so it was a special time. We also had a friend of ours, Veronica Spotts, over to eat our Thanksgiving day meal with us. We had prime rib, twice baked potatoes, green bean casserole, spinach salad, and homemade rolls. For dessert, homemade cheesecake with blackberry sauce. Karla and I made the meal, and we all had a great time enjoying it!

We have about 8-10 inches of snow on the ground so we spend some of our time outside making snowmen and putting up the Christmas lights yesterday. It's definitely starting to feel like the holiday season! The last of our company, Michelle, is leaving today to head back to Meridian. We are sad to see everyone go but have had an INCREDIBLE time this Thanksgiving!

Thanksgiving...

Even with all that's happened this year, the Finkbeiner family has a TON to be thankful for! We found out last week that I'm pregnant (barely!) :) I'm 5 weeks along and will be due the end of July. What a blessing! We are very excited, but very nervous at the same time. Through it all, we know God will be there guiding and comforting us the whole way. I hope everyone has as much to be thankful for this holiday season as we do. God bless!

Halloween

Holly was a butterfly this year for Halloween. She wasn't exactly thrilled about the whole "costume" idea until we had a few trick-or-treaters show up and she saw them in THEIR costumes. She then realized that it would be an alright thing to be a butterfly. We decided just to sit outside on our porch steps since we get some many trick-or-treaters that the door would be open the whole time anyway. We made a fire in the fireplace so the furnace wouldn't kick on and had hot apple cider on the stove. We saw many of our friends, handed out and ate lots of candy, and had a great time! One of my favorite things of the night were the "witches digits" that I made, which were kind of an almond shortbread cookie. All in all, it was a great night!

Pumpkins!

We carved pumpkins, and this year Holly was actually able to help! She had a great time, and so did we. Here are the results!



Apple Cake!

The other day I came across a recipe for this apple cake and thought it looked DELICOUS! So, after laying around feeling lazy today, I decided that I would get off my fanny and do something (you know, something healthy, like baking a cake and eating it!). After rummaging around in the kitchen, I came across this recipe that I'd printed out earlier in the week and thought it looked like something Holly and I could do together. After a few "tweeks" to the recipe, this is how it turned out!

We used the Golden Delicious apples from our trip last weekend to Aeneas Valley. I didn't even have to peel them, just diced them and threw them in! For those that are curious, here's the recipe, "tweeks" included. :)

Paula Deen's Fresh Apple Cake (with a few modifications!)

For coating pan: 3 tablespoos sugar and 1 tsp cinnamon, mixed. Preheat oven to 325 F and grease 10" tube pan. Coat pan with sugar mixture.

Ingredients:

3 cups sugar
3 tsp cinnamon
3 cups flour
1 tsp baking soda
3/4 tsp salt
1/4 tsp nutmeg
dash of cloves
1 1/2 cups applesauce
3 eggs
3 cups chopped apples (about 3 apples)
2 tsp vanilla extract
1 cup chopped walnuts
1/2 cup raisins
1/2 can prepared frosting

1. Mix flour, soda, salt, nutmeg, cinnamon, and cloves; set aside. Beat applesauce and sugar until blended. Beat in eggs, one at a time, and then stir in apples and vanilla. Add flour mixture until blended; stir in walnuts and raisins.

2. Transfer to pan and then drop and shake the pan to release bubbles.

3. Bake 1 1/2 hours to 1 3/4 hours until toothpick comes out clean. Cool on rack 15 minutes, then remove from pan and glaze top of cake with frosting.