{East Coast Adventures}

On the train after we landed





On the plane to Virginia!

Waiting to check in at SLC Airport

Trip with Paul

We moved to Herndon, VA about one and a half months ago. Paul got a promotion and is the Associate Director of the Jack Welch Management Institute at Strayer (that is a mouth full).

I got to go out for a few days and look at a couple of places and see some of D.C. It was a nice little get away.

Our flight from Salt Lake City to the Dulles Airport was about five hours. It was exhausting. Audrey did not sleep a wink. She still happens to love her binky when she is tired and of course we lost her binky for most of the flight. Found it about an hour before we landed and then lost it again about five minutes later. But founds it again when we landed by the same guys foot! Everyone on the plane was nice and she our girls did a really good job. So that was nice to hear after trying to keep the babes happy.

Tinker our dog also got to fly with us and did really well. We thought she might have diarrhea after all the stress but she didn't. We were so relieved to find a clean kennel.

After we picked our the dog and our luggage we waited outside for about an half an hour waiting for a bus to take us to the car rental place. Needless to say some people got a nice ear full from Paul. The kids were cold and Audrey some how managed to throw her binky in traffic. Luckily Paul saved it before it got ran over. We eventually got into our temporary apartment at about 2 A.M. and the girls slept through the night. It was wonderful. Anyways

So far we are loving it here. It has been hard being away from my sister but still exited for the new opportunities here. Here are some pictures from our trip over!

Ketchup!!!

The last time there was any activity on this blog it was September 2010. For whatever reason "Canning" seemed to be the death of our blog for a while. Not what I would call going out with a bang, but hey we are back! There is so much to "ketchup" on and talk about. It will probably take a while to get all caught up, but hopefully this will become a much more regular part of our record keeping now that we are a lot farther away from loved ones. Here are a few things we will hopefully get caught up on that our blog missed out on...

• Audrey was born...holy blondie!-January 2011


• Paul got a couple promotions...yay!-May and November 2011


• We got kicked out of our Layton house...grrrrrr!-October 2011


• Oh well, we are moving to Virginia...what the!?!-November 2011


• Welcome to Virginia and four-story living...fun stuff!-January 2012


• Audrey is Walking...victory!-February 2012

There is obviously a lot to talk about and some explaining to do, but I only have time for the last one on the list tonight. Our little baby girl Audrey (nickname-Audsy) started walking today. She has been standing up for a few months now and scooting around the couches and other things, but tonight she started spontaneously walking and then we immediately brought her upstairs so that we could document this awesome event as seen below...

Hope you enjoy these very short little clips. There is more to come from the Blanchard Clan, East Coast edition. Much love!

Laterz

{Canning}

Yesterday, Kelli and Kelcy made their way up to my house so Kelli and I could do some canning. Neither of us have ever done it before but have wanted to get into it. The recipe we used is from Paul's grandmother and is a family favorite. It's just a vegetable soup but oh so good! Even though it was our first time we were successful and all the cans did seal! Yesterday, we also were on KSL and bought almost three hundred more canning jars for a $100 bucks! So with that said we definitely are going to do A LOT more of this. I have to admit I was scared to do it because when I told my dad that I was going to be canning he said,"You better wait until your sister can help you". I think he must have thought I was going to blow up the house. After our first batch was done pressurizing I was really nervous to take off the lid with fear of blowing up the house. Kelli just laughed at me. Instead of just doing it herself she thought it was funnier to watch me freak out a little. Love ya sis. Kelcy was awesome and made Layla this tutu. Layla loves it and says she needs to wear it! It was a great day and I loved being able to hang out with my sister and my fabulous niece.

Here is the recipe for the vegetable soup we canned:

1/2 bushel tomatoes(6-7 quarts)- cut in at least four pieces

1 bunch celery - cup up

2 large green peppers - cut up

2 1/2 large onions - cut into small pieces

1/4-1/2 bunch parsely cut

15-20 large carrots cut thin and

1 cup sugar

1/2 cup salt

Pre-cook carrots first then add all vegetables, salt and sugar. Bring to a boil and put into bottles to prepare for pressuring.

Pressure 22 minutes at 10 lbs.

When you are ready to eat the soup we have always browned up some ground beef and added it to the soup with some pepper.
* Kelli and I added another
onion and green pepper.*

{San Diego}

Almost a month ago we went to San Diego. Paul was born there and has been itching to get back for a long time, finallly we went! We were able to stay with Paul's family for a few days where Layla got to meet new cousins. Our little family hit up the San Diego Zoo and also the beach. It was a blast we can't wait to go again next year.

Halloween!

Layla's candy
Redneck, Rocker chick, House Wife of the Year

Openeing pumpkin ball with prizes

Before going to Grandma and Grandpa's

Super Rocker girl!

This year was Layla's first year of really getting to enjoy Halloween. We first started off the night with a little party at Paul's parents house. It was awesome to see everyone dressed up. Dave and Ramona gave out prizes for best costume. Paul won third place and got a $15 gift card to Star Bucks. After the party we headed to our house. Paul and Layla went Trick or Treating together and I stayed home to give out candy. According to Paul Layla had such a great time. He said she loved knocking on the doors. She would get sad if people just put candy on the doorstep because she didn't get to knock. I think those two were gone for about an 1 1/2 hours. She was a trooper and walked to all the houses. And boy did she come home with a nice big bag of candy! It was a fun year for Halloween. We can't wait for next year!

{Haircut}

Layla got her first hair cut ever today! Kami did such an awesome job at making it look fabulous. Layla held pretty still for the most part. She did want to turn and see what she was doing, but what kid doesn't?

{Pretty}

I guess I have not done a very good job at keeping my make-up away from Layla. I was cleaning up the house and she comes over and says, "Pretty"! Repeating it over and over. She keeps me on my toes, but there are some of those times where she is just too quick!

{Picture worth a laugh}

{Randon in August}

My momma came for a quick last minute visit to Utah last week. It was so fun to get to spend time with her even though it was short. It always makes me miss her more when she leaves. If you don't know, my mom and dad still live in South Dakota. They can't travel as much because they are taking care of my Grandma Lueck. So it is a awesome treat when they do come! Mom brought freshly pick corn from the farm. We had enough corn that we were able to freeze about 10 bags!! Fresh frozen corn is the BEST! Thanks mom for all the eating out you treated us to and of course the shopping! Love you lots :)


These other photos I just wanted to post. They are from Bear Lake in July. We got lucky and they turned out super cute. I think they are frame worthy. In the middle photo Layla doesn't have a black eye....she just got a hold of my mascara. She did a pretty good job applying it and the fact that she is only 20 mo.

{Bear Lake '09}

This was Layla's first trip to Bear Lake where she could actually enjoy all the fun stuff. She is a little waterbug. I think she could stay in the water and sun all day long if we would let her. She loves to splash around and dig in the sand and just people watch. I'm so glad that she enjoyed the boat so much. I wasn't sure that she would like it, but she always proves me wrong and just had a blast...especially on the tube. She would clap and wave at me from the water....its was just too cute! She is afraid of almost nothing. We can't wait to go back and have lots more fun! Thanks everyone who was there for making it a great time.