Thursday, January 28, 2010

Star Wars

On my Decade in Review I originally failed to include the completion of Chris's Star Wars project. Don't worry, I have recognized and corrected my error! This is a project Chris started on before I even met him and took him the full decade to complete. Let's cut him some slack though, he was pretty busy accomplishing some other very significant things during that time.


To the pure delight of all those involved he finished the project at the end of 2009. We celebrated by having an over-the-top Star Wars premiere. Everyone from the oldest to youngest was decked out in Star Wars garb (many costumes contributed by our in-house costume designer Ali). We rolled out the red carpet and enjoyed a Star Wars feast before the big debut. The movie was a hit! It was especially fun to see how the kids got so involved. As goofy as it is, I feel sure it is destined to be a family treasure. And now, the moment you've all been waiting for......



The Menu: Yoda Soda, BoboFettucine, Tie Fighters, ObiWan Kebabs, Jabba Jiggle Jello, Darth Vader Sundaes, and Wookie Cookies






Kimberly with Jedi Jack

The multiple versions of Princess Leia

This is my favorite new costume for the night. Ali just whipped it up! She's amazing.

Add Image Queen Amidala Donnachada or some other such craziness

Is this the sweetest looking Jedi you've ever seen or what?? Don't worry, he still knows how to wield a lightsaber to duel with the best of them and is a mean shot with a laser gun.

Cooper and I were the only ones dressed as villians. I look more authentic with my mask, but R2D2 kept stealing it. Pesky little droid.

Proof of the peskiness. Who'd want my mask when they have their own papier maché helmet?

Adorable R2D2 with hunky Han Solo.




A Few of My Favorite Things

I hate to admit it and maybe I'm shallow, but I LOVE nice stuff. And now, I'd like to share some of my new favorites with you...


My new Bosch has been a long time in coming. For our 2nd anniversary Chris took me out to dinner and in an envelope he had a picture of a Kitchenaid mixer he planned to get for me. Then came Cooper, a move to Oklahoma, an itsy-bitsy European sized kitchen in Germany, and almost seven years later I now own a Bosch. I love it. (This is the same Bosch I have, but not my actual Bosch -- and definitely NOT my perfect loaf of wheat bread :-). Yay for stock photos.)


Chris came home a few days earlier from our Christmas vacation than the boys and me. While we were gone he made these awesome marshmallow guns. We have had a lot of fun having our marshmallow wars. Jasper's favorite part is collecting the edible ammunition!


This bedding set was more of an after-Christmas sale present to ourselves. We had bought the red chairs and really liked them in our room. But every time I walked in and saw them next to the lilac purple bedspread it gave me a headache! This seems to be a much better match.


I stumbled across a website called Little Missmatched. They sell mismatched but coordinating socks in sets of 3. What a fun idea! I love socks of all kinds, but my mismatched socks make me feel especially happy.


Of course I love my i-pod classic. And now I love the way it looks thanks to ifrogz. I could be their spokesperson! They have great deals on all things i-pod to customize and protect them. I got waterproof cases for my classic & nano, plus this customized neoprene case for about $13 -- including s&h. Not bad!


And, even though it seems crazy I had to post a picture of my recently re-organized fridge. I bought some of the new Rubbermaid containers with the easy find lids. LOVE THEM. They stack together and make everything easy to find. Also, in our effort to continue and improve our healthy eating habits I try to slice, chop, or peel the fruits and veggies when I come home from the store. I find us all eating a lot more fresh fruit and veggies when it is easy to find and ready to eat. Yay for Rubbermaid!





Wednesday, January 27, 2010

A Decade in Review

A shout out to my friend Emily who inspired me to do this.

2000 -- *returned home from my mission in Brazil *met Chris *graduated from BYU *bought my first car *accepted a teaching job in Phoenix, AZ *started dating Chris exclusively

2001 -- *Chris proposed *Chris accepted his US Army officer commisson *married the man of my dreams *visited Stacie in LA *moved to Indiana *went on a belated honeymoon to Canada and enjoyed some of the eastern states *Chris started dental school at UofL*went home for my brother Bryson's wedding *got a job teaching 4th grade *9/11 *were awed by the vibrant fall of the midwest *bought our first home - a 3 bed/1.5 bath condo *enjoyed the holidays with family out west

2002 --*continued teaching 4th grade *ran a 10K and a 10-miler *was asked to be the Young Women's President (girls youth group), *went to Nauvoo, IL *went to Florida and on a cruise to the Bahamas *remodeled our bathroom *visited family out west (NV, UT, ID, AZ and CA!) *visited the Haglunds in Chicago

2003 -- *flew home for Mr. J's baptism *Chris took Part I of the boards *visited my brother Daylen in Detroit *ran a 1/2 marathon *went to Baltimore *attended Grandma Perkins' funeral *found out we were pregnant with Cooper *coached Cross Country & Dance Team *took another road trip to Baltimore/DC *suffered from severe allergies due to very high mold counts in my school *spent Christmas break in Brazil


2004 -- *got transferred to teach 1st grade in a school NOT infested with mold *became a demonstrator for Stampin' Up! *kitchen remodel *Cooper Tate Morris was born! *mom, dad, Stacie & Brad visited *Cooper & I went to my parents' house while Chris was at Officer Basic Training in San Antonio *Chris came west to do a two-week internship with his dad *Megan, Thomas & Zoe visited *visited my sister Shaulee & fam in Nashville *Chris finished Part II of the boards *spent the holidays with family in NV/UT


2005 -- *received our first Army assignment -- the 1-year AGD program at Ft. Sill, Oklahoma *Chris passed the licensure exam and graduated from dental school (yay!!) *took a vacation to Gatlinburg, TN *sold the condo, packed and moved to Oklahoma *Chris started his AGD *Daylen visited *ran a couple of 5Ks *Chris attended C4 (Combat Casualty Care Course) in San Antonio *I traveled west four times for: 1)vacation, 2)Stampin' Up! convention and 3)Daylen's wedding 4)the holidays *camped in the Wichita "mountains" *visited Ft. Worth

2006 -- *road tripped to Memphis, TN and Indiana *Dave & Carole came to visit *ran a 1/2 marathon *finally closed on our house *got our assignment to Germany! *went to Utah for Grandma Tate's 90th birthday *trained for the Country Music Marathon *Ryan visited *Tim, Jen & Seth visited *went to Chris's 10-year reunion *Brad arrived home from Brazil and all the entire Perkins family was together *Chris went to Honduras for a 2-week humanitarian mission *Chris had his septoplasty *found out we were expecting baby #2! *after 4 months sold our house and bought a rental house *Chris finished his AGD *road tripped to Baltimore to ship our car *visited family before moving to Germany *moved to Germany *visited Nuremberg, Garmisch, northern Italy (Lake Como, Milan, Vicenza, and Venice), and the Dingle Peninsula in Ireland *I traveled to Nevada for Ryan's wedding

2007 -- *visited Barcelona, Spain *started having pre-term contractions *mom & dad visited *Jasper arrived via emergency c-section *visited Baden-Baden and Dresden *my mission comp, Holly, came to visit -- we went to Garmisch, the Rhine River, and Berlin *met Dave and Carole in Amsterdam, then continued on to the Rhine River, Rothenburg, the Ludwig castles in the Alps, Prague, Salzburg, Vienna, and Budapest *Chris left for a 15-month deployment to Iraq *I had my first Space A adventure flying home for Brad's wedding *Stacie visited me in Germany *flew home again for the holidays


2008 -- *returned to Germany *had an emergency appendectomy *Chris came home for his 18-day R&R *met Dave, Carole, Amy & Mark in Berlin *cousins Annie & Mary came to spend the summer *traveled to Leipzig, Dresden, Gorlitz, Prague, Berlin, Salzburg, Garmisch, and Bolzano *spent the last two months of Chris's deployment in the states -- UT, ID, and NV *bought a house in St George *totaled my car on the autobahn *Chris came home!!!!! *traveled to northern Italy: Lake Garda, Vicenza, Verona, Breschia and Sirmione *enjoyed several German Christmas markets *spent Christmas with the Richins in London *Chris started the process to seperate from the Army

2009 -- *bought a BMW *sold a BMW *visited Athens, Paris, and Istanbul WITHOUT kids *took the boys to the Heidelberg, the Black Forest and Europapark *enjoyed two weeks traveling through Italy *spent a week in Portugal *traveled to Bertchesgaden, Slovenia, and Switzerland *spent countless hours job-hunting *mom & dad came to take care of the boys while we spent 5 days in Texas and Indiana looking for a job and a house *Success! Chris accepted a job in Madison, Indiana *Ryan, Linda & Sara came to visit *Chris finished his 4-year committment with the military *left Germany *visited family in Utah and Nevada *got a new job, car, house, and school *Chris finished the Star Wars project!! *flew to NV/UT for Christmas

Wednesday, January 6, 2010

Just the Highlights

We started off the holiday season by going to Chris's office party. After the "mandatory fun" the Army sponsors in the form of expensive holiday balls and other such nonsense, this was a welcome relief! We sat, we ate, we poked fun, we opened gifts (which included more poking fun!), and we all went home sober and happy!

The dentist who owns the practice had personalized m&m's made for each member of the staff. This is what she got for Chris: We got spa gift certificates for all the girls, but replaced the one for the owner/dentist/boss with a phony gift certificate to a risque local business. We knew she had gone to the city council meeting to argue agains granting a business license to this place that so prominently displayed their inappropriate wares for all to see. Seeing the look on her face, the raised eyebrows, and the long-delayed muttered thank you was absolutely precious! Chris couldn't take it anymore and quickly informed her it was just a joke. Still brings a smile to my face...

We gave her husband a hard time about his dislike for the kittens that seem to "appear" at their home on a regular basis by giving him a kitty calendar and notebook. We also gave him some fertilizer for the grass they have growing in the back of their truck (Yes, I'm serious. No, it's not on purpose).
Here are a few shots of our halls all decked. I love Christmas!


Cooper earned his yellow belt in Karate a couple of nights before we flew home for the holidays. It was a very long night as they had everyone watch all of the tests. But I guess it is worth the smile on his face!
We woke up early Saturday, Dec 19th and drove to Cincinnatti. After a painless 3 1/2 hour flight we were in Las Vegas. I am still amazed by how easy it is to travel with the boys when I'm only going a short distance with a husband to help, without the many unknowns involved with intercontinental military hops. It makes me tired just to remember! Also, the boys are at such a fun and easy age to travel with. They carry their own bags and walk with us. Amazing!


Jasper unsuccessfully attempts to make a "mad" face.
This, however, seems a bit more natural. Jasper's theme in life could be taken from straight from Buddy himself, "I love smiling. It's my favorite!"




I love the details of this reenacted nativity shot. Brad really got into his role as Joseph by tying something around his head and throwing on a bathrobe while Keri went for a more traditional mom look in her jeans and sweater. I think all three of the wisemen managed to use parts of past years' drillteam costumes (Cooper's is the red sequin belt around his head). Makes me so sad I never did drillteam. :-(
We followed up this "nativity" with everyone taking a turn expressing their feelings about Christ, love, and family. It made me so grateful to be part of my amazing family.

As I sifted through our Christmas pictures I realized the boys must have spent a disproportionate amount of time trying to find new ways to hurt themselves. Good thing they were primarily unsuccessful.


While the Perkins girls enjoyed a craft day making watches and then heading out to the movie, it was obviously anything goes on daddy duty!


(Yes, that's my 2-year-old jumping off a 4-ft ledge. Please don't judge my husband. He really is a great dad and they don't usually get hurt too badly.)

Guess they figured out where to go for a cold drink in between jumps.

And, in contrast, these are my children when mom is around. Just kidding! But things did calm down a bit by Christmas Eve when we had our traditional "Back to Bethlehem" dinner with the Morris family. We love this special evening with family. We ate lots of yummy meditteranean-type foods (pita bread, hummus, salmon, olives, grapes, etc.). This year we even learned a little bit about the meaning of each. Then we did a reading/singing script while the kids acted out the parts.
I wish I had taken a picture of the beautiful Christmas dinner. My mom is a master! And she is learning how to still be a wonderful cook AND keep things simple. I had fun trying out mom & dad's new smoker on our Christmas turkey.

Here are my two tired boys at the end of Christmas day (thanks for the cute jammies Aunt Christy!).