13 Years...

Yesterday was our 13th Anniversary. Hard to believe we've been married that long! It was such a crazy year, but it ended in a great way. I said on my Facebook post that it might be one of the best yet, but then later got to thinking…wait a minute…we were absolutely miserable at Ft. Irwin and that lasted a loooonnnngggg 8 months, ha. However, the last 4 made up for it tenfold. It's hard to believe we've already been in this house 4 months -- enjoying civilian life here in southern California. Watching our two healthy boys grow up is a dream come true and knowing that James is home for good enjoying it with me is priceless.

Samuel and his Bible...

Raise your hand if you don't read your Bible nearly as much as you know you should. Yeah...I've got my hand held high and I'm not proud. However, there was a moment tonight that made me feel like we're at least doing something right...

It's A Party, It's A Party For Samuel!!!

Our little miracle turned TWO years old on Friday! I'm still trying to grasp the idea of having a two year old...where did time go?!

To celebrate his big day, we threw a Yo Gabba Gabba party for him on Saturday with some of his little friends here in El Paso. I'd like to think it turned out fairly well. With the temp being around 102 and the sun shining bright, the water games were quite a hit. It was definitely fun to see Samuel party it up with his little friends. In fact, he had such a blast that he passed out immediately after everyone left -- the sweet boy!

A Busy Month...

March was a very busy month for the Moore family. Looking back, it seems like it was rare if we even got one day a week to just hang out at home and let Samuel play with his toys. I'm starting to wonder what the point of having them is if he never gets to use them, ha. Samuel and I are part of a few different mom/toddler groups, so between meet ups with them, birthday parties, tumble tots, story time, and now speech therapy, "the boy" was constantly on the go. Oh, and how can I forget? Samuel got to meet the gang from Gabba Land in person! March was definitely a fun month...

Here, I was actually looking forward to aiming for a slower month in April, but it looks like it will be quite the opposite. We recently found out James will be taking Command here in less than 2 weeks and with that, I'll be the new FRG (Family Readiness Group) Leader. It's a very exciting time, but also very hectic. I'm super happy for James! He'll be in charge of Chaos Company. Ha. Every time I hear that, it makes me laugh. Chaos 6...it's very fitting, ha. And what better timing? They'll be prepping for their big field problem almost immediately following the COC. Chaotic to say the least. :)

To make the month of March even better, it also included Obadiah's 11th birthday. Our little old man enjoyed his day with his own bottle of beer and lots and lots of treats. How is it possible that he's 11 already?! Sweet Obie.

I had more to write, but nothing is coming to mind now, so I'll leave whatever it was that I wanted to say for later and finish up with a few pictures...

While at the Yo Gabba Gabba concert, they told us no DSLRs were allowed, so here we are with our old school PnS while waiting for the show to begin...

Samuel LOVED the bubbles!

But he wasn't so sure about meeting his favorite characters in real life...

Poor Samuel. He loves YGG, but between the live show and his 1st Birthday cake, he can also get very emotional when around his friends...

Samuel's first concert t-shirt, ha...

And here's one of the many videos taken while we were there. You can tell it was an emotional night for Sam...

On a different note, I've been loving watching Samuel have fun at the various play dates...

The toddler version of kettle bells right here, ha.

Observing the older kids as they build with lincoln logs...

And here's a typical pic of Samuel at tumble tots...

Fast forward to later in the month, here's Samuel at his buddy, Chase's birthday party...

Since it's already so warm out, Orange Leaf is a must. I suppose it doesn't hurt that it's within walking distance of our house...

Last but not least, here's our old man. Happy 11th Birthday, Obie!!!

Now on to April...I can only hope that things slow down and that we're able to enjoy every moment!

Stairway To Heaven -- Best Pizza Ever...

So for those of you that have followed us for awhile, you know that we spent several years in WA and have grown to call it home. Well, among the many things that we love about it out there, our favorite pizza joint is there in the PNW! For whatever reason, I've really been in the mood for it over the last day or two. So I finally decided to make my own version of it today. Why I haven't made it before now is beyond me. It's crazy simple, but when we're in the mood for pizza, we typically end up just getting takeout. This is so simple, though. I might have to start making it on a constant basis. It was definitely an easy way to get Samuel to eat his greens!

So, after having a few friends ask for the recipe, I decided I'll just quickly type it up on the blog...

Since I think the pizza dough recipe that we used is just alright, I won't bother telling you what that is. We're still on the hunt for the perfect recipe, but I didn't take the time to worry about that today. I had made a large batch of dough a few weeks ago from a recipe I found online, then froze portions of it, so that's what I used. Between making such a thin crust and having so much flavor from the toppings, you couldn't notice the mediocre dough so it all worked out.

So, it's fairly simple. This is all you need...

A couple Roma tomatoes

Basil

Extra virgin olive oil

Garlic

Fresh mozzarella

Shredded Parmesan

Arugula

Prosciutto (not pictured -- I totally forgot to buy that while I was out!)

Parchment paper

Pizza stone

There's no real need to get specific with measurements, as you can use as little or as much as you want. As you can see from the Costco-sized minced garlic container, we like our garlic in this house!

So after you decide what type of dough you want to use, you can begin to pretend you work at a pizza shop. James used to work at one in college, so he's always adamant about tossing the dough in the air to stretch it out. I'm clearly not a pro at that, ha.

While you're preparing the dough, you'll want to put the pizza stone in the oven and preheat the oven at 500 degrees for 30 minutes. You'll then put the dough on a piece of parchment paper and spray it with olive oil -- covering the whole thing. You can sprinkle minced garlic and basil across the pizza as well at this point. I pretty much cover ours, but that's personal preference...

Then add the fresh moz. Again, I load it up. Who doesn't love cheese?!

Once the oven is preheated, put the pizza (while still on the parchment paper) on the stone. It only takes 8-10 minutes, so keep an eye on the pizza. Just looking at the cheese bubbling up makes me want more. Yum!

While the pizza is cooking, go ahead and dice up your tomatoes...

Then once it's done, top the pizza with arugula, tomatoes, Parmesan cheese and then drizzle some more EVOO on top. And there you have it...Stairway to Heaven...

The great thing about using parchment paper is that the cheese that melted off the side comes right off!

The only thing different than the original from our favorite pizza shop is that I added basil and left out prosciutto. I hate that I forgot to add that to the grocery list, but I didn't feel like running back out when I realized it was missing. It definitely adds more flavor, but it's still great without it!

Samuel LOVED it!

Now to find that perfect pizza dough recipe...

If you have one that you love, please share!

And for those of you in the Pacific Northwest, go check out The Rock. It's our fav!

***Edited***

We made this pizza again last night, but used this recipe for the dough. It turned out MUCH better, but I think we're going to tweak it a little bit on our own to make it more how we like it. I would definitely recommend it as it is, though!

Happy Thanksgiving!

First of all, can I just say...how on earth are we already counting down to Christmas?! It feels like the last month absolutely flew by! Sam is almost 18 months old, Olivia's 3rd birthday in Heaven is just around the corner, and we'll be flying home to Indy before we know it for the first visit in over a year!

With that being said, we had a great Thanksgiving -- I hope everyone else did too! We made a meal big enough to result in leftovers for a week, we relaxed and enjoyed James being home (after 5 weeks in the field), and talked about all that we're thankful for. Oh, and we joined in on the Black Friday madness...starting at noon on Friday after all the crazies were back in bed recovering from a night of door buster deals. Who doesn't love a good sale!?

I can't even describe to you the joy it brings having Sam here -- especially during the holidays. While decorating the house with our Christmas decor, it brought on feelings of sadness as I unwrapped various ornaments for Jacob, Jordan, and Olivia. But then as I unwrapped Samuel's ornaments, it brought on a big smile. Talk about mixed emotions! The holidays will always be bittersweet. There will always be three stockings that remain empty. BUT...thankfully, unlike years past, there will also always be one stocking loaded to the brim -- Samuel's.

I'm excited to be able to celebrate our second Christmas with Samuel in our arms, just as it was fun celebrating Thanksgiving with him again this year -- never mind the fact that he passed out before dinner was done and didn't wake up until after we were finished putting it all away. The sweet boy.

This is my favorite time of the year and to be able to celebrate it all with our little family makes it that much better.

Annnnnd so....the time has come. I can't end this without sharing pictures, so here are a few from the last week.

Our Thanksgiving -- football, food, and a sleeping boy...

It's a rare moment when he's actually still, so when it happens, I try to take every advantage of it and cuddle with him...

Oh, and here he is after breakfast earlier that day in his little tie. A friend commented on him looking like Rodney Dangerfield. Ha! Love it!

While I need to get some better pics with our real camera, here are a few of Samuel and the Christmas decor. He's in LOVE with his singing basset from Hallmark that he received last year...

Here's our tree designated just for our 3 angels - Jacob, Jordan, and Olivia. In the past, we always put their ornaments on our big tree, but this year decided to give them their own. And since we ordered new monogrammed stockings for the whole family this year, we put their old stockings on this tree as well...

And a blurry cell phone attempt of our mantel. Now if it would actually get cold enough for us to use the fire place, I'd be in Heaven! I would love to be able to listen to Bing Crosby sing, "It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas" and not step out into 75+ degree weather outside. Such is life in El Paso, I suppose...

Oh and I think I forgot to mention, we drove up to Ruidoso for a little day-trip over the long holiday weekend and checked out that cute town. It was so nice to be able to get away to a place with pine trees, grass, etc. Living in the desert has really made me homesick for WA, and while this was definitely not WA, it was close enough. The best part of it though was being able to get some family pictures! Our version of family pictures typically includes a tripod and self-timer. I know. I'm cheap. BUT...I think they turned out alright. (It's just too bad Obadiah isn't in any of them!) In fact, I used two for our Christmas cards this year. Ultimately, I couldn't decide which one to use, so I made two different cards and it will just be a surprise as to which one people receive. Ha.

Here are a few photos from that attempted photo session...

This pretty much says it all...

And I suppose with that, I should finally go to bed.

Here's to a wonderful Christmas season in the month ahead!

Fun Times In New Mexico...

So with James having a 4 day weekend, we decided to head up north and check out Albuquerque's Balloon Fiesta that they do every year. Who wouldn't want to see a massive field full of hot air balloons taking off at the same time for some big event? We sure did! So after dropping Obadiah off at his puppy resort, we headed out...

Once we arrived in Albuquerque, I pulled up the event schedule only to realize I didn't pay close enough attention to it...turns out, it didn't start until the next day -- leaving us with an open afternoon/evening. With having already seen that particular city before, we decided what's an extra hour on the road? So we drove up to Santa Fe. Have you been?! We LOVED it! Not only did we finally get to experience real fall weather (it's still in the 90s here in EP!), but it was a beautiful town full of fun shops/restaurants -- not to mention the historical landmarks. We couldn't help but check out one of the famous restaurants that is apparently a hit with Gene Hackman -- Harry's Roadhouse was great!

And, of course, while we were there in the little downtown square, I had to grab a few shots of the Sam-man...

Love those two!

And I'm not sure if you've seen that article floating around about how moms needs to get IN more shots rather than always staying behind the camera, but it was a good reason to hand the camera off to James for a bit...

I could just hug him all day long...

So beautiful there in Santa Fe!

After thoroughly enjoying our unexpected evening there, we got up ridiculously early to head back to Albuquerque to get there in time for the mass ascension. Of course, as luck may have it, we got in town only to see not a balloon in the sky! Turns out, the wind was too rough so they had to cancel all morning events -- such a bummer! That then gave us an excuse to check out Old Town Albuquerque and the Children's Museum there. Can I just say, El Paso has ruined me!!! It was in the 40s that morning and I seriously felt like I was going to freeze to death. I felt like I needed a scarf, gloves and you may as well throw in a big poofy down coat to top it off. Instead, I had a light jacket and walked around acting like I was in the tundra. A wimp...I've become a total wimp with the cold! Whatever will do I when I finally face real winter weather after adjusting to EP? Oh, the joys. Either way, freezing or not, we had fun. And after a little while at Old Town, we warmed up in the museum...which by the way is nothing like the Indy Children's Museum. Apparently, I was spoiled growing up with having the world's largest children's museum at my finger tips -- who knew?! It was still fun nevertheless, and with Samuel being such a little guy, a small museum can go a long way. Oh, sweet Sam. Did I mention how much I love that little man???

To sum up our morning...

We're nerds and find historical buildings fascinating...

And Sam was pretty much in awe of various exhibits at the museum...

With doing such a good job at home of learning how to pick up his toys and put things away, he apparently felt the need to help out at the museum. Upon seeing the train tracks laid out, he immediately ripped them apart and put them in the rubbermaid container, ha. I feel like I have a little Danny Tanner in my house and I love it, haha.

While in the toddler room, James snapped a few shots of us...

Sam thought the spinning ball (I think representing a planet?!) was ah-mazing!

Soon after that, Sam was done and we were ready for lunch. Did I mention, Albuquerque has Jimmy Johns? We LOVE JJ, so whenever we're in a city that has one (assuming we're stuck living somewhere that doesn't), it's a required stop. Who doesn't love a good Vito?! Yum!

With that behind us, we headed over to the Balloon Fiesta for the rest of the day. Due to the morning events getting cancelled, the afternoon parking and admission was free -- can't beat that! It ended up being a very relaxing afternoon and with an open field in front of us and a cute little boy as a subject, I just couldn't resist...

This boy brings us so much joy...

Later on, we sat and enjoyed a live band while waiting for the evening balloon glow and these two cracked me up. James looked like he was mad and Sam...well, Sam was just focused on enjoying that apple and watching his daddy's every move...

This makes me laugh so hard, haha. He claims he wasn't mad, but he sure looks it!

Oh, those eyes...

This was around the time Samuel decided to rock out to some live music...

And after waiting for the final go, they decided that even though the wind was still a risky factor, they went ahead and still did the evening glow...

It was such a fun experience!

With talk of similar weather the next morning -- risking another cancelled event -- we scraped our plans of staying overnight to attempt seeing the launch the next morning and just headed home late that night. We both figured we'll most likely be in El Paso next year and we can try again then. In the meantime, at least we were able to see the evening glow -- so fun!

If you're ever in the area, I highly recommend it! It was something different to do and we're always up for that...