We made it through Christmas!

We had such a blessed and peaceful Christmas season. The kids constantly reminded us how fun Christmas is supposed to be. They were excited for so many things, not just their gifts, although they were plenty excited about their gifts. On Christmas eve we went out to dinner and drove around to look at Christmas lights afterword. Before bed we watched some Christmas specials and opened a gift. Christmas day was so relaxing and enjoyable. We just hung-out together all day at home. This last week has been spent getting my mom's new place set-up and our house moved around. David has been painting our room and getting it ready for the delivery of the baby. I'm trying to make sure that we have everything in place in time and trying not to think about the chore I have ahead of me. But we are excited. We expect the birth to be about one week away. As usual, we'll keep you posted.

It's been too long

There is no excuse for neglecting you for so long. So I'll just give you a bit of info as to what we have been up to. Let's see...In October we took our final camping trip for the season. We went up to Bryce Canyon again and everyone had a great time. I was 7 months preggers and Emma was about 15 months old so the trip had its challenges and limitations. But in true Foy Family style we had a great time. Then there was Halloween. It's amazing how busy the holidays get with kid stuff. There were school parties, neighborhood parties, and of course the church
trunk-r-treat. Then in November we had a peaceful Thanksgiving. We were supposed to get together with friends but Sohpia and Nathan were sick with the flu. So I went ahead and made a super yummy vegan meal (Tofurky and all). You wouldn't believe how good it turned out. Now we are in the middle of the tornado known as December. We have stayed very busy this month with all kinds of Christmas-related activities. In the beginning of the month I made costumes for the Christmas recital at Sophia's dance school. Then we took off to California's Newport Coast for our annual winter get-away. There we visited with David's family and went to Disneyland. Of course, the kids were sick. Sophia and Emma both had the flu. But, as usual, the show must go on. Disneyland was interesting with me having contractions as we walked and Sophia having to use the restroom to relieve her diarrhea every few minutes and Emma throwing-up all over David on the Peter Pan ride. But it was Disneyland and Disneyland is fun no matter what, right? The night after we got home it was our turn to host a dinner party for the dinner club we are apart of. We're talking linens and a full course meal with dessert, decor, and a game for 8 couples! We had a great time, but we were so glad to have that behind us. Now it is crunch time. Christmas is almost here and we are still in the middle of moving my mom into her own place. I just started my Christmas shopping for the kids last night. I managed to find the random things the kids asked for but still have not got my Tofurky. Believe it or not, they actually sell-out. Keep in mind that I am 37 weeks pregnant. This month will go down in our family's book as being one of the busiest. I'll let you know how it all turns out.
Merry Christmas!

Our California Adventure

Some might call me crazy... I loaded up all three kids and my 6 months pregnant self into the car and drove 6 hours to California to visit family. The kids had such a great time. And yes, it was a lot of work and I am very tired today, but it is so rewarding to know that the kids have new memories of their family. We brought my mom with us and so first we drove to Claremont to drop my mom off at her mom's (Oma) and we stayed there for the first night (Thursday). We hung-out there for most of Friday. We went to a park and then had lunch downtown in Claremont. After lunch we made our favorite stop at the "Some Crust" bakery and got some yummy and spooky halloween cookies. That afternoon the kids and I got back in the car (Gigi stayed at Oma's) and we braved the Friday afternoon traffic on the 10 freeway to stay with the inlaws. It took us 1 1/2 hours to go from Claremont to Redlands! I don't know how people do it. Grandma Donna and Jamie were so excited to see us. The kids could hardly waite to see them. I think they have more toys at their house than we do. My kids turned their house upside-down! On Saturday we got back in the car and drove to my nephew Josh's b-day lunch which was at the Rainforest Cafe at Downtown Disney. We had such a great time seeing Josh and Ryan & Geraldine and their beautiful baby. To the kids it was like we went to Disneyland. We drove back to Redlands to stay with Donna and Jamie again after a visit with my sister and her sweet little girl Leilani. On Sunday we drove home. I'm so tired of driving, but I am very grateful for the chance to see everyone we love. This was David's first time ever being home alone. I came home to a tidy home and a man who missed his family! We sure missed him too. We'll have to take him with us next time.

Just FOY Fun

On Saturday we took a very last minute trip tp Park City, Utah. It is not easy to pack up two kids, a baby, and a dog, but we did it! It rained and snowed on us all the way up. On Sunday we were blessed with beautiful fall weather. We went to the Hogle Zoo in Salt Lake City on Sunday. SLC is so pretty in autumn. The air was crisp and the animals were lively. After a long day at the zoo (we like to get our money's worth) we went to the Spaghetii Factory for dinner. We had another full day on Monday and some more beautiful weather. We went to the Discovery Kids Museum in SLC, which was a lot of fun. This museum is new and you can just let the kids run around and play all day. Even Emma June had a great time. After that we visited Temple Square and then back up the mountain to our room in Park City. I made dinner and we rested for what seemed like forever, but it was still only four o'clock. So we decided to drive back down the mountain to Thanksgiving Point to go to the Dinosaur Museum. The kids loved this museum. There were a lot of hands-on things for the kids to explore. Mom and Dad were tired by now. We had planned on staying another day, but we were all ready to head back home. On Tuesday we picked up Bishop at the kennel in Heber, which is the town next ot Park City, and drove back home. It was great to spend time together as a family. Emma was a little uncomfortable being away from home, but Sophia and Nathan had the best time.

Vegan can be good

I have given vegan cooking a go. So far, baking has been more successful than cooking. We have enjoyed some yummy pumpkin bread, banana bread and peanut butter cookies. But, the grossest thing I have ever tasted was a version of cheeseburger macaroni. I should have known, it had tumeric, yeast and soy in it. It smelled terrible and tasted even worse! To top it off, the night I made that meal David and I were supposed to go to the Morrissey concert and we decided not to go because the weather was so bad in Vegas that we were afraid of crashing and dieing and leaving our kids homeless. So I was pretty bumbed that night. So we left the kids at home with Gigi and went out to dinner. Oh, I tried a vitamin B12 patch this week. It's the same concentration as the shot, which gives you energy and mental clarity, but costs less. I think I feel better.

Here is the recipe for Super Moist Pumpkin Bread. I'm sharing because I don't want to be a recipe nazi, no one likes that. I don't put walnuts or coconut flakes in it, instead I use vegan chocolate chips (choc. chips without any milk or butter derivitive, I like the walmart brand chip).

1 cup chopped walnuts

3 1/2 cups flour

2 cups dark brown sugar

2/3 cup white sugar

2 teaspoons baking soda

1 teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon ground nutmeg

1 1/2 teaspoons ground cinnamon

2 cups pumpkin puree

1 cup vegetable oil

2/3 cup coconut milk

2/3 cup flaked coconut



Preheat oven to 350. Grease and flour two 8" X 4" loaf pans. Spread walnuts in a single layer on an ungreased baking sheet. Toast in the oven for 8 - 10 minutes until lightly browned. Set aside. In a large bowl mix dry ingredients. Add the pumpkin puree, oil and coconut milk. Fold in the coconut flakes and walnuts. Divide evenly into pans. Bake for 1 hour and 10 minutes. Remove from oven and cover with foil to allow to steam. Remove foil and let cool.

Okay, fine!

Okay fine, I'll cook vegan. I have spent the last few days searching through vegan recipes. Most of which contain things that nobody wants to eat and are full of way too many ingredients. I'm a simple girl and when I try complicated recipes they turn out bad. But I think that I can do this, at least for dinner. What can I say, David is a good husband and works hard, the least I can do is feed him what he wants. If I don't feed him he does not eat and when he doesn't eat he is not so nice to be around. So I have been driving all over town getting the right ingredients. I know, things could be far more difficult, but having three little kids with me all the time tends to get trying at times. I am starting to accept that having a job just would be too difficult to manage right now. I almost started real estate school last week. I like the idea of working a few hours a week. I had a job in January. I worked in an office for three hours day for three days a week and worked at home also. It was too difficult to manage my time and priorities. So I have decided to embrace scrubbing toilets and doing the laundry. I'm greatful to be here for the kids. It is a joy. They will be grown soon and I will have the rest of my life to sew my oats. But for now I am needed at home. I'm fortunate to be around so many women that make homemaking an art. Did you know that you can make your own maple syrup, just ask Emily. And, believe it or not, I didn't know that people made homemade icing, just ask Lori. I have been trying to keep the house clean. I admit that I am not good at that. It isn't easy with all these kids and animals. But I feel so good and calm when my house is clean. If I could just keep both the upstairs and downstairs clean at the same time.

Vegan? Really?

Yesterday was one of those days that leaves you with a not-so-good feeling. David was sick with the flu, I wasn't feeling well, my house was a MESS and to top it all off I forgot about Sophia's ballet class which starts at 4:45. When I remembered her class it was already 4:50. I ran upstairs to get Sophia, who was taking quiet time, and got her dressed real quick and threw her tangled hair up into a sloppy ballet bun. With her face covered in chocolate and dirt we ran out the door. When we got to the studio about 20 minutes late we were greated with some "better than you" glares from the other moms who's girls were there on time. I felt like such a worm. This experience is on top of my already having forgot to pick Sophia up from school on Friday. Fridays are early day. I was across town having lunch with David prepared to pick her up at the normal time of 11:45. While I was enjoying lunch my poor baby was yelling towards our house, which is directly next door to the school, "somebody pick me up!" Good thing my friend and neighbor was able to pick her up and waite for me to get her. So as you can imagine I was not feeling too good about myself or things in general yestaerday. But the icing on my yucky cake was when my sweet husband told me that he had decided to become vegan. If I can remember correctly, I think I yelled at him. "You're crazy" and "good luck with that" are some of the things I told him. He told me about a video he had seen on the internet that showed the standard practices of the animal industry and said that he did not want to be any part of that. Keep in mind that our family is already vegetarian, even the baby. I was so frusterated about the idea of having to buy and fix him"special food." I appreciate that he is a man who is always looking for ways to better himself and become a more conciencious person. He is very sensitive to the plight of others. But as for me and the kids, we will eat animal by-products. I can't even keep the house clean or remember to get the kids where they need to go, let alone read labels and make sure that everyone is getting their nutrients. Maybe I am a lazy American. I acknowledge the truth and choose to continue to eat cheese and milk. David showed Sophia the video of the animals being tortured and she was able to make her own decision. This morning when David asked Sophie if she wanted soymilk with her cereal she said,"no thank you, I'll have cow milk." I did go out and get the man some soy milk. But I had just gone to the market and planned all of the week's meals, none of which are vegan. So David will have to pick through everything. Again, good luck with that.

Well, I did it!

I took the leap and let everyone know about our blog. Now everyone will know how poorly I spell, yikes! Currently, Sophia and Nathan are upstairs getting ready for bed and David is outside working on his garden. The man is addicted to his plants. It is still hot outside, I look foreword to when it starts to cool-off. It is hard to believe that it gets cold here. Things to look foreword to this week are going camping and going to see Morrissey in Las Vegas again! I finally got David to come with me to a Morrissey concert last month. Every time I got tickets he told me he would come with me and then would back-out last minute and I would have to take everyone from my sister (who had fun I hope) to my mom! Finally, he agreed to go and he had a great time. I was so excited to find out that Morrissey was coming to Las Vegas again this month. This Friday we are hoping to head up to Bryce Canyon with our 1965 pink trailer "Priscilla". Good times!

Is this thing on?

We are just figuring out this blogger thing. It could be a great tool to let those we know and love know what our family is up to.