Jessica Kopp

Just a little higher

Its been several years since I've had to have a baby-proof tree. I started out decorating this year with false hope that Evan would be a perfect angel and look and not touch all the pretty decorations. Boy was I wrong! Slowly over the past few weeks things have been moved to higher and higher ground. The tree has ribbon and snowflakes on the bottom, but all the important ornaments are just out of his reach...that is until we added perfect little stepping stools around the bottom.

They really do love me

Derek took the girls out this week for a special daddy-daughter date. They were so excited to get the spend the whole night with Derek and to pick the restaurant for dinner. I had no idea where they were going but when they walked in at 10:00 PM with a Cheesecake Factory bag I was suddenly super sad (and a little mad). I am in LOVE with their thin chicken with lemon sauce (sorry I don't know the official name) and had been craving it for weeks. I couldn't believe that had gone there without me.

I jokingly asked if my dinner was in the bag and to my surprise, IT WAS. They knew how much I loved it and had ordered one for me to go. YEAH!! I love that my family knows that when it comes to cheesecake and chicken, chicken always wins for me at the Factory!

Snow Fort

After having almost no snow for the month of December the girls were so excited to finally see the yard covered in fluffy white on Tuesday. The only problem was it arrived the same day I had planned to get all my errands done. They were NOT excited to be running around from store to store finishing up last minute holiday stuff while their friends were home building snowman and having snowball fights. I had to promise that we would not leave the house on Wednesday and they could spend the whole day outside building a fort.

I kept my promise, and they worked for hours on their snow fort Wednesday morning. Evan, with his nasty cough and runny nose and I stayed nice and warm inside, but the girls convinced Jordan to do all the heavy lifting.

Homemade Gifts

I love handmade gifts. I espeically love handmade gifts from my kids. They are always super cute and the kids are always sooooo excited to give them. Syd has been begging us to open hers everyday since she brought it home from school last week. Last night we finally caved and opened them as our traditional Dec 21st present. Syd made Derek and me this adorable ornament covered in fingerprint snowman. And Abby made this amazing needlework stocking.

Our Special Guest

I love that at our house it is totally normal for Sydney's sock monkey to be riding a camel in our Nativity. It's been there for a couple of weeks and never moved. Syd told me he is keeping baby Jesus safe.

Sock Animals on Parade

Derek's brother Dan and his wife Marissa came to town last week. They live far far away in Rochester, New York so it was extra special to have them in town. They stayed with us all weekend and even an extra night after their flight was canceled on Sunday. We had an amazing weekend full of laughs, family and food. We went non-stop the entire time they were in town. And I can't wait until we get to do it again.

On Friday night we had a Kopp Family Adult dinner at Trio with Melissa, Rob, John and Sierra. The food was amazing, we laughed until our sides hurt and we all enjoyed picking on the poor waiter. 

On Saturday the guys all went to Brighton to play in the snow, so the grils (and Evan) stayed home and cooked, cleaned, shopped, played restaurant and crafted. Abby and Syd thought they were in heaven and feel head over heels in love with Marissa as she spent the entire afternoon on the floor with them gluing, cutting, and sewing sock animals. They ended up with Rapunzel, a mouse, a girafee, a monkey and an elephant. And every single one is creative, unique and has a tongue!

Please come back soon Marissa....and Dan. We miss you so much and there are a bunch of clean socks ready to be transformed.

Sunday Dinner of Champions

I was exhausted after church on Sunday. I'd gone from working all week, to being in charge of the Relief Society Christmas Dinner, to a fun-filled, non-stop family weekend and then chased a tired, cranky Evan around for 3 hours at church. I was done for the day and the last thing I wanted to do was make dinner and clean it up.

So, I threw together a very embarrassing, totally processed meal of Stoffers Mac'n'Cheese, chicken nuggets, and a can of green beans. Everything was cooked in the microwave! I even served it on paper plates with plastic cups. When it was all on the table I had to take a picture because it looked so pathetic.

When Sydney came down to eat she just stopped and stared at the table. I wasn't quite sure what she was thinking, but was totally surprised when she got the hugest grin on her face and said, "I'm going to like this meal a lot. It has all my favorite stuff. I love mac'n'chees. I love chicken nuggets. I love green beans."

And then she jumped up and down yelling "YEAH!"

Around our house right now

• Evan has started into the tantrum phase. If he doesn't get EXACTLY what he wants he flops on the floor, smacks his head into the ground and kicks his feet. The girls think it is hilarious and can't stop laughing every time he does it. I especially like it when he peaks up to see if anyone is watching him and then continues to kick and scream.

• To try and stop the Evan tantrums I taught him how to saw "please' and 'more' in sign language. I'm amazed at how fast he caught on and how often he does it. Between the signing and all 4 molars finally coming in, the screaming is almost all gone.

• We all got entrance bracelets when we went to the corn maze in the middle of October. Sydney is still wearing hers. She has covered it in black tape and refuses to take it off. I told her it is starting to smell and she told me she washes it every time she gets in the tub.

• Abigail is obsessed with camo pants. She tries to wear them to school at least 3 times a week. I wouldn't mind it so much, but she pairs them with the most interesting tops and shoes. She says it is her style....I say it is her being lazy and not wanting to look for more clothes. 

• I am in full party planning mode right now. I'm in charge of a couple of things over the next few weeks: Thursday night I have a RS dinner, Saturday night is a family party, Monday night is the Rivetal party, and then the Lasson party is the next week. Derek thinks I should be totally stressing out, but I love doing stuff like this....it makes the holidays more fun to me.

• Derek's company is in the middle of a HUGE video shoot right now. We're talking extra's and semi trucks full of equipment. They spent yesterday shooting at the airport and a hotel and today they are moving onto a couple markets and sound stages. 

 

Turkey Day

We had an amazing Thanksgiving. Tons of laughs. Tons of family. Tons of food.

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Here are a few of the highlights that made it so special.

• Derek trying to convincing everyone that he carved the turkey shaped butters. 

• Using my new shiny dishes.

• My dad putting pancake batter blaster on his pie instead of cool whip and then eating it.

• Aiden winning the perfect prize for him in bingo....an air horn. Sorry Shayna.

• Having seconds on EVERYTHING and then tasting every single pie.

• Melissa's amazing homemade rolls.

• Going to Harry Potter and on the way almost running out of gas and missing the exit.

• Watching how excited the kids got when I told them they got to color all over their table.

• Having Grandma and Grandpa Lasley sleep over.

• Getting to keep all the leftovers and making a huge batch of chicken soup, turkey and stuffing casserole and shepard's pie.

• Celebrating this wonderful day with family and friends from both sides of our family.

• Focusing on everything we are thankful for and have been blessed with.