World's Best Baby Shower Weekend-better late than never, right?

Last weekend  Err...several weekends ago... we were showered with love and support for our growing family.  It was such a great weekend to visit with so many people that I care about, some of whom I hadn't seen in over a year.  I heartily enjoyed every minute of it.  Here are some of the highlights for you to enjoy, too:

The first baby shower was hosted by my good friend Emily. (Prepare to be amazed by all the great planning and execution she did)

 I don't think I will ever get over how great this party was.  First of all the food-A.MAZ.ING. Those are the best pretzels I have ever had (homemade, soft and just the right saltiness), next to glorious pulled pork sandwiches and a homemade cheese ball, cheese straws and chocolate mustaches.  And the cake, just wait till you see the inside.  

Wait for it...

Ta Da! Isn't is beautiful? Emily is so cool.
















And it tastes great, too!

Next are some pictures of the great favors and decorations she made: Inside the boxes are homemade truffles which were seriously so good.  I heard from several other friends who were at the party how much they loved them.  Also, a cute personalized keychain made from a scrabble tile.

Notice the same color scheme and pinwheels in the frames and on the activity papers?   She also made a CD of baby-themed songs (ie, has the word baby or boy in it).  Really, Emily didn't miss any detail.  The activities were 1. using the names Jefferson Vanessa Criddle, come up with as many names as possible for us to consider in naming our baby 2. A purse scavenger hunt (you get X amount of points if you have chapstick in your purse, etc.) and 3. given a phrase relating to baby, see if you can match how I would finish it (example: given the prompt of "baby's first..." see if you would finish the phrase the same way I did: "baby's first bath").  Also guests filled out a "Wishes for Baby" list of things they hope our baby will do or be like.  It was really fun to read over those. I have them already saved in a baby notebook, too.














Now onto a brief sample of gifts (so as not to bore--we were showered with many wonderful gifts): first is a hand-knitted super soft baby blanket made by one of my Linda friends.

Next is an another blanket, again knitted, from my dear friend Zoe.  She has been my knitting mentor this past year inspiring me to make several pairs of socks and a baby hat.  And I feel like I'm just getting started.  But, enough about me, just look at how increadible that blanket is!  Zoe is dang awesome.

Me and Zoe

A super fun hat crocheted by Chiara.  Her baby is modelling it in the next picture.

And the much-talked about Puj-tub from my other Linda friend.  Isn't that a cool idea?

That concludes most of baby shower #1.  I will get to Don and Debbie's gifts in a minute.  The following day was baby shower #2 given by the Criddle relatives in the area.  I didn't take any pictures at the party, but below is the haul from that event:

2 baby blankets, one made by Carole Lee who also made a fitted sheet and cloth toy and I can't not mention the pee pee tee pees.  The other blanket is from Brian and Emily, who also gave the elephant pillow pet. Home made burp cloths and the clothes and candle from Katie and Anthony.  And another super cute bathing solution: the blooming bath from Jeff and Esther. This is going to be one clean kid, what with all the fun bath gear he's got!

Last pictured is the holding state that the baby's room was in the week following the shower weekend.  I'll point out  the stroller and car seat in the far right of the picture, a gift from my parents. The crib lying in pieces in the middle of the floor was given to us by Don and Debbie.  They also gave us a set of sheets for it (in the lego bag), tons of baby clothes and a pack and play, which is in the corner of the room.  Next to that is a bouncer/exersaucer they gave us.  And, what I am most anxious to use: in the far left of this picture is a baby backpack so we can carry him easily while hiking.  That is one of the best gift ideas--honestly, I hadn't even considered needing something like that.  

The room has undergone a bit of a makeover since this picture, but that will have to wait for another post.  We are so grateful for the outpouring generosity at the anticipation of our first baby.  Thank you all!!

Can it!

A few months ago I checked out the cannery in our area. I was given a tour of the facility and a demonstration of how to use the canners they have and allow people to borrow. It was a great information-gathering trip for me. We reserved a canner for this weekend and now share our experience.

We arrived at the Storehouse and got lots of help to complete our order.  I knew the general things we would need, but figuring how many cans to buy for how many pounds of wheat and oats, etc took a little time to figure out.  With the order figured out, we loaded up all the supplies with the help of two senior missionaries and filled up the truck.  We could have crammed a lot more into the truck, but didn't want to bite off more than we could chew for our first experience. 

At home, we unloaded the truck and got to work.

First we needed to secure the canning machine to a steady table.  We have no such article of furniture, but were able to manage with our door-on-top-of-two-file-cabinets computer table. 

Then we filled the cans.  Jefferson did this, as it was the heavy lifting part.  I made sure the cans had roughly the same amount of wheat in them. 

The final preparation was to add an oxygen absorber and place on the lid.  Evidently the longer the oxygen absorbers are exposed to air the less effective they become.  I'm glad the people at the cannery told us that, because we may have not been so strategic at this point in the process otherwise. 

The canning machine was very simple to operate once I started holding the table top steady.

Last was placing the labels and putting the cans in boxes.  We completed a total of 47 cans, mostly hard red wheat and some oats.  Even though these cans should last 30 years, we intend to use them long before that. We eat oatmeal for breakfast a lot and grind wheat into flour for baking.

It was a bit of work, but truly didn't take much more than 2 hours once we got home.  And we were complete novices.  We feel very satisfied with our work, it was fun to do together on a cloudy January Saturday.  And while we may not rush out to do it again next week (we have a good supply now), we learned a lot and are so glad to have this Storehouse and canning equipment available to us. 

Happiness and Cheer

December is now upon us, and we are thrilled to announce the latest installment of Criddle Christmas music!:




Download it now!


With four brand new songs to brighten your holiday season:

• Dance of the Flutes


• Christmas Time is Here


• Carol of the Bells


• It's the Most Wonderful Time of the Year

Enjoy!

and be sure to catch up on all the previous releases:
Visions of Sugar Plums (2010)
Amid the Cold of Winter (2009)
Happy Golden Days (2008)

Ending the Month of Thanksgiving: Days 21-30

Day 21-My mom-This is another post that I think will be hard to do the person justice.  I have lots of great memories as a kid that are surrounding my mom-lots of little things she would say and do have made their way into my life.  She is a strong woman, hardly ever gets sick (I remember as a kid that it would be so weird when she was sick and not up doing stuff.  She can't get sick, she's Mom).  And in the past few weeks, she has been going non-stop traveling to visit family, working at the office, and doing her church duties, as well as many other things I'm not aware of, I'm sure. She is generous, understanding and loving. Even though we live far away from each other, she still helps me a lot with things going on in my life.   I love her and hope she knows how much she means to me.

Day 22- Eternal Families.  Two women in my family have passed away recently.  Although neither of these deaths was a huge surprise, it is always sad to know you time on earth with some one is over. Knowing that people who die still exist and that families can be together eternally is comforting.
I also want to give a shout out others in my eternal family.  My dad has been a great counselor to me over they years about many subjects and I value his input.  My brothers are great guys each with a great wife.  Lastly, my in-laws are great too.  I've enjoyed getting to know them over the years.

Day 23-My youngest Sister- She turned the big 1-8 on the 23rd.  She is a bomb photographer, has a great sense of humor and is a great friend to lots of people.  She is self-motivated and works hard at everything she does. I hope she knows how valued she is.  She is a good example to me of how have a sense of humor even when you tons of stuff to do.  (I have a tendency to stress about things)

Day 24-working on family projects-We spent all weekend working on the Christmas Music Album and other projects.  It was great spending so much time together working on the same projects.  I observed that compared to some of the first projects we did together we seem to work better together now.

Day 25- Having a roof over our heads.  I know our home isn't fancy or big, but it is enough space for us and keeps us warm and dry.

Day 26- Great summer adventures-We had some great trips this summer.  The best was our combined trip to Mt. Rainier and then climbing Mt. St. Helens.  It helps us get through the winter knowing that summers are so great!

Day 27- Successful first attempts-Cheesecake and Dutch apple pie.  The cheesecake isn't perfect but it is quite good. (and of course we are thankful for left overs of successful first attempts)

Day 28- The Right to Bear Arms- We invested in our first gun recently. We took it to the shooting range.  We love it.

Day 29- Health-this is something I don't appreciate enough until it's been compromised.  I was sick last week, just with a slight cough.  I'm so glad that is behind me (knock on wood).  One new thing I did to get rid of my cold faster this time: at the recommendation of two friends from church I got a neti pot.  I was pretty weirded out by it at first, but now I've got the hang of it.  It seems to help a lot, because usually my colds linger for 2-3 weeks and this one was only a week. 

Day 30- Agency-I'm glad to be able to make choices.  It can be difficult sometimes to accept reality, but learning to make responsible and wise choices brings peace and happiness.  I can't have it all or do it all, so I have to choose what is most important to me.  I try to make choices that make sense to me and are simple.  I am not always right, but am certainly learning and becoming better at admitting I'm wrong and asking for help.

Month of Thanksgiving day 20

Fresh produce- bananas, carrots, potatoes, oranges, spinach, cherries, strawberries, blueberries, peaches, avocado, peppers, onions, cabbage.  And at this time of year, apples  pears and squash.  'Nuf said.

Month of Thanksgiving day 19

Pretty leaves-By now most of the colorful leaves are down, but I have to say that I really enjoyed the fall colors this year.  I was also glad that lots of October and the beginning of November were not too drizzly and were actually pretty sunny.  Every year I think it would be neat to make something decoraty out of the pretty fallen leaves, but I never get around to it.  Has anyone made anything out of leaves before (garland/wreath)? How did it go?

Month of Thanksgiving day 18

Sleep-When I first started getting sick last week, I came home from work and crashed.  That really helped me to get a little better faster.  Even if I'm not sick, I love sleeping soundly after a full day and waking up refreshed. On days like today I think the animals have the right idea about hibernating.