December

We went Christmas tree hunting up passed Idaho City after church. The boys loved climbing in the snow. Garrett loved the snow falling on his face. It was so peaceful hiking through the trees. We may be making a tradition out of this.

We had an 80th (I think?) birthday party for my grandma. She requested no red or green because that was always her birthday colors.

We went to see Santa at Cabela's and that was a big fat NOPE from Kade. The other 2 look cute though.

Our good friends hosted their annual Ugly Sweater Christmas party. It was so much fun and laughter. The white elephant gifts are always the best part.

We got a letter from Spencer's school in November that said he should probably get his eyes checked. Since neither me nor Nate has eye issues we thought it was just the school being overly cautious. We ignored it for a few weeks and then decided we might as well get him checked. We spent almost 4 hours at the optometrist and turns out Spencer has amblyopia in his left eye and was compensating with his right eye. I was amazed how bad his eyesight in that eye was. He could never really catch a ball and we thought he was just uncoordinated, turns out he just couldn't see!

We left with a prescription for glasses and directions to patch the good eye for 4 hours a day, so luckily not at school, and return for a follow up in 6 weeks. He choose green and black Michaelangelo Ninja Turtle glasses. They're the coolest.

Santa also visited Spencer's class at school, and he thought that was really neat.

                                  

We of course hit up all the Christmas lights in the area, and the carriage rides downtown. That was a highlight for the boys.

                               

                                   

We spent Christmas at home this year which was a bummer as all the Moeller family was together in Arizona, but with Garrett being a hard baby and sleeping poorly, and with our travel history (remember how we ended up in the ER last time we were down there?) we just couldn't swing it. But we promised to visit in the spring/when we figured out how to help our baby feel better/be happier/sleep better. And when Nate and I felt sane again.
;)

Silly pictures from December

Instant Pot Korean Beef

Pros: gluten free and dairy free! First time buying short ribs

Cons: didn't make all that much

Ingredients:

• 1 1/2 lbs beef short ribs
• 1/2 cup liquid aminos
• 1/4 cup sweet chili sauce
• 1/4 cup beef broth
• 1 tablespoon sesame oil
• 1/2 teaspoon onion powder
• 1/4 teaspoon black pepper
• 1 teaspoon ground ginger
• 3 cloves garlic, pressed or minced
• 1 tablespoon cornstarch

Instructions:

1. In a small bowl, whisk together the aminos, sweet chili sauce, beef broth, sesame oil, onion powder, ginger and black pepper.
2. Place beef in the instant pot and pour the sauce over it.
3. Close the pressure valve, and cook on "Meat" setting on high for 40 minutes.
4. When done, turn off the instant pot and allow pressure to release naturally for 20 minutes.
5. Remove beef from instant pot and transfer to cutting board.
6. Turn instant pot to saute mode and simmer the sauce for 5 minutes, stirring repeatedly.
7. Scoop out 1/4 c of the sauce into a small dish and whisk in 1 tablespoon of cornstarch until smooth, then add the sauce back to the pot and continue cooking for 3 minutes, whisking continuously to prevent burning.
8. Shred the beef and add it back to the pot, stir the beef into the sauce.

Serve over hot rice, with sauteed vegetables (we used zucchini and cauliflower).