Marielle in Bethlehem

Last weekend was our ward temple night so I asked my friend Tricia from Storytime to watch Marielle. Her little boy, Brayden, is just one month older than Marielle, so babysitting trades are great since the babies play so well together and are in the same stages. Out of the kindness of her heart she accepted even though it was their Ward Christmas Party! There ward did "A Night in Bethlehem" and they even managed a costume for her. I think she looks like a nun! We never got to see our little Jewish baby in action because by the time we picked her up the costume had long since been ditched. But it makes a great picture right?

Serious little baby!

Marielle's adopted family for the night.

Here's is little Marielle with Brayden a couple months back on another "date."

My favorite part is watching these two toddler after each other. Never a dull moment. :)

Here's a picture from this morning. Notice the girly jeans and shoes....sorry Brayden, but it was cold outside!

The Christmas Pictures

Here's our attempt at a nice family Christmas picture. They didn't turn out that great but they'll do. Here's a few behind the scenes "fun facts":

• We took this picture in a apartment complex lobby. We know no one who lives there, but we've noted that generally those lobbies are decorated nicely in an effort to attract customers. We guessed they'd have a good tree, and they did!
  
• Ryan's shirt was as close to a Christmas color as we could find in his closet.
• I made a bow for Marielle's hair that morning to match her outfit. You can't see the bow in tree pictures because it looks like one of the tree decorations.
• Last of all, what we'll do different next time-- Get someone who knows us to take the picture. Perfect strangers don't do well with "take another one. Was she smiling? How about one more? Let's see if we can make her laugh. Now! Oh, we missed it. Here let's try again..."

So, Are YOU a Molly Mormon???

We saw this on Wikipedia and thought it was pretty funny. What do you think? Do you fit the mold? :)

Molly Mormon

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Molly Mormon is a term for the popular stereotype of a female member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. A Molly Mormon is thought to be the "perfect Mormon woman" - an attractive and pure woman whose life revolves around the family and marriage and the social demands of Mormonism, and who embodies the cheery, chipper and domesticated female in Latter-day Saint culture. Peter Priesthood is the male version of the same term, though used somewhat less frequently. Many "Molly Mormons" are stereotyped as being consumed by their life within the church, and as gullible and out-of-touch with the reality outside it. These terms are occasionally used in a disparaging way by members of the Mormon church to refer to other Mormons who display or promote an ultra-conservative interpretation of their understanding of the church's teachings. An example of a person that may be labeled this way is one who abstains from drinking caffeinated cola drinks (based on an interpretation of an ambiguity in the Word of Wisdom), won't watch television on Sunday, and tells on her 15-year-old friend for dating before age 16, and who insists that others do so as well, perhaps claiming to be "setting an example". Abstinence from these behaviors is not required by the church to remain as a member in good standing, but is often preached unofficially as interpretations of church teachings in lessons taught by members of the church's lay clergy.

Usage in LDS culture The term Molly Mormon can take on both positive and negative connotations, depending on who is using it, and toward whom. When used by or toward teens, it can refer to prudish behavior. When it refers to an adult LDS woman, it often refers to a stereotype which may or may not be welcome. The term is used openly in LDS churches, and has even appeared in magazines published by the LDS church for more than 20 years, as in the phrase "they had taunted her and called her a 'Molly Mormon' because she would not participate in their questionable activities" appearing in a 1989 edition of Ensign. The term is often simply abbreviated to "Molly" (or sometimes to "Momo") or used as an adjective: "She's gotten so molly lately - all she could say about these new shorts is that they were too short."

Thanksgiving in El Paso

We had such a fun Thanksgiving weekend in El Paso. It was much colder than we expected. And much snowier. Like five inches snowier. The snow made it feel really holidayish (if that makes sense) and encouraged us to bum around the house for even longer than we usually would. We ate a fantastic Thanksgiving dinner, watched the Mullen Family favorite Elf, hit up the zoo and Chuck-E-Cheese, and visited with Granny. We also got hooked on Guitar Hero and are looking for Houstonites who want to rock out with us (preferably those who already own the game).

(Click on the picture to go to the slideshow)

Thanksgiving 2007