The Turkey Mystery

Once again this year we hosted Thanksgiving at our home. My mom and sister helped with the cooking again which was necessary and really appreciated this year with Rachel as an added addition to the family. We started cooking at around 11 am and the turkey went in at around noon. Our oven has a timer that can be turned off with the timer button or the cancel button. The downside of using the cancel button is it cancels the oven temperature as well. Can you guess what ended up happening?

At around 3:30 or 4:00 we go to take out the turkey and noticed it looks a little pale. And then we noticed the oven was cool and the house didn't smell like turkey. Someone had accidentally pressed the cancel button to stop the timer. No one recalls pressing the button. The turkey had been sitting in a cool oven all day. Oops!

The solution: Turn on the oven and serve a fancy 4 course Thanksgiving feast.
Course 1: jello, salad, and bread
Course 2: starchy sides (stuffing, mashed potatoes, and sweet potatoes)
Course 3: turkey, green beans, and cranberry sauce
Course 4: dessert


Course 1


Enjoying her first Thanksgiving


The whole family minus Brian

Oh, I should mention Sarah, my sister, and David got engaged Tuesday before Thanksgiving. Congratulations to both of them!

Our Letter

Brian Here!

I'm sure many of you have heard about the new security measures the TSA are taking. I don't like the new scanners that are being installed in airports because there aren't any long term studies showing the radiation is safe and also because a low educated security person does not need to be looking at a naked picture of my body; and they REALLY SHOULD NOT be looking at a naked images of my wife or kid's bodies!

The alternative is that we can opt out of the body scanners in order to get an advanced pat down where they will touch my private areas... and my wife's private areas. This is a terrible alternative.

Those things are installed in the name of security but I don't believe these new security measures increase our safety by a an amount that is significant enough to give up our right to privacy in order to fly.

Rebekah has similar strong feelings to this situation so last night we wrote a letter to our senators and our representative to request they enact legislation that would stop these new security measures. It wasn't even that hard. I searched online for letters of complaint about the TSA and found a letter that was similar to what I wanted to say. Then Rebekah and I modified the letter, checked the facts, and then printed it out. This morning we put the letters in the mail box.

We both realize that our letter will not make a difference on its own. It will only make a difference if enough people also write complaint letters. So if you feel the same way we do, please take a couple hours of your time and write in. Our representatives need to hear our objections to new laws in order to represent us.

Conquering Nap Time

DSC_8598.jpg, originally uploaded by Brian Bjork.

For some time Rachel has been sleeping through the night in her crib. She knows the routine and while not always happy about it she complies. Before bed she eats, gets her diaper changed, is wrapped in the swaddle blanket, is offered kitty pacifier, is given good night kisses, and lights out. Most nights she quietly falls asleep.

Naps have been another story. Before placing her in her crib I would swaddle her, darken the room, turn on her white nose machine on, and offer her kitty pacifier just like at night, but within a couple minutes of being placed in the crib the screaming would start and continue until I came in and picked her up. I would soothe her, she would start to nod off again, I would place her in her crib, and she would scream again.

I have not been consistent with placing her in her crib to nap because it is easier to let her sleep in my arms or in her swing where she will happily sleep for a couple hours and wake up well rested. Furthermore, I had forgotten when we were training her to sleep in her crib at night she would take up to 10 minutes to stop crying and fall asleep.

Last week I decided we were going to get serious about naps. Naps were going to happen in her crib regardless of her opinion. I decided I would let her scream for 10 minutes at the most before I went in and picked her up. This was the hard part for me and I had to set my watch and keep very busy for those 10 minutes. It took her several days to accept her nap routine and sleep for several hours. It seemed really hard in the midst of teaching her to sleep in her crib, but when I think about it now I am once again reminded we are blessed with a pretty easy and adaptable baby who is also a great sleeper.

Rachel is Growing Up!

Brian Here!

Rachel has been growing up! She now sits in her high chair while we eat dinner and she's pretty good at staying quiet and content while we eat. Today during dinner I kept touching her nose and she smiled at me a lot when I did it. It was pretty cool! I'm really excited for her to do that sort of thing a little more often.



Last week she also went 5 nights in a row of sleeping all the way through the night. Of course, the last couple nights she has woken up at 4:00 am wanting food. But those 5 nights were SOOOOO nice. And when I go in to pick her up I can tell she knows that I'm going to change her and then she will get fed because she quiets down really quickly.

Wonder Where We Were a Year Ago?

Brian Here Again!

Last year at this time were in Disney World on our "Last big trip before getting pregnant" trip. It was a really enjoyable vacation with lots of fun. I'm not sure how long it will be before we get to go again but it's certainly going to be a while because Rachel needs to be old enough to really enjoy it before we go back.

Happy Birthday Sean!

Brian Here!

Just wanted to throw a shout out to Sean who has been my friend for 23 years. Happy birthday Sean!

Thanksgiving is Coming!

DSC_8675.jpg, originally uploaded by Brian Bjork.

Brian Here!

I haven't posted for a while so I figured it was time to let you all know how excited I am that it's coming up soon. And one of the best parts of Thanksgiving is getting sweet potatoes! You can practically see how good they taste in the picture!

Of course, the best part of Thanksgiving is getting days off of work and spending them with family. And this year we don't even have to tile the floor first! Woo Hoo!

Only 4 more work days left for me!

Welcome Fall

It is finally starting to feel like fall to me now that the weather is cooler and the leaves are falling off the trees. This weekend we weeded, mowed the lawn, reseeded some bare areas in the grass, cleaned out the gutters, and raked leaves. By we I mostly mean Brian; although, I did help a little while Rachel was napping. Growing up I always thought raking leaves in a huge pile and jumping into it would be tons of fun. I have since learned it is not. You do all this work to rake up leaves and by the next day the same number if not more leaves have fallen. Also if you jump into the pile it does not stay a nice neat pile and you have to rake it up again. In spite of these complaints I love that the leaves turn such beautiful colors and fall of the trees because without that it just wouldn't be fall. As an added bonus this year our little pile of leaves made another great photo op for Rachel.

The Elusive Smile

Within the last couple weeks Rachel has developed a social smile. It is adorable and melts our hearts, so of course we wanted to share this milestone with all of you. Not so easy. I thought it would be cute to put her in her "grandma makes me smile" bib. She was fed, changed, and smiley until the camera came out. She is still cute even without her big toothless grin, and still loves her grandmas.



I attempted to catch that elusive smile the following day. Once again she was fed, changed, and smiley. This time I had the camera ready. Success!



I love her smiles. She brings us such joy. It is amazing to watch her grow and change on a daily basis. Thank you God for entrusting us with this precious little girl.

Rachel's 1st Halloween

We kept Rachel busy this weekend celebrating her first Halloween.



I made yummy gluten free peanut butter cupcakes on Friday and frosted them on Saturday.



We carved pumpkins on Sunday. As you can see I went for a simple design this year because Rachel demands a lot of attention which I am more than willing to give. She is worth it.



Sunday night we all dressed up and headed to our church's harvest fair. Thanks Aunt Sarah for the fabulous Arizona State cheerleading outfit! Rachel had a great time watching all the excitement at the Harvest Fair was a hugely popular.