Welcome to the world...

As our announcement email said, Elodie Cadence Gourley was born on December 25, 2009. She is our Christmas baby. She was 19-and-a-half inches, weighed 7 pounds and 1 ounce, and had 9 and 9 apgars.

Labor was confirmed on the evening of the 24th (Christmas Eve) when Bryn-Erinn's contractions were less than five minutes apart. In the morning, Bryn-Erinn wanted to keep active, so we busied ourselves with going to various stores to walk. We knew that the stores would be busy with last minute shoppers, but we were willing to risk it in order to keep Bryn-Erinn on her feet. On our way home from the store we hit a slick spot on the snow-covered roads and Brett did everything that he could to keep from hitting the barriers. He succeeded in not hitting anyone or anything, but he did leave the car backwards in the lane. We made it home safe and sound, and

Bryn-Erinn focused on her self-hypnosis to control the labor pains. She had been having pre-labor throughout the day, and Braxton-Hicks contractions for two weeks. Brett was

very supportive, and in the midst of a Midwest winter storm which left a foot-and-a-half of fresh snow, he kept the walks shoveled in case we had to make a quick escape. We watched the "Nativity Story" before we went to bed, and Brett slept on the couch to be ready at a moment's notice in case we had to go. Bryn-Erinn's water never broke and the contractions slowed enough to allow her a few hours of sleep.

Christmas morning came, and Brett woke early to shovel the driveway again. We had breakfast and in-between contractions we opened gifts. The contractions gained in severity and Bryn-Erinn decided that it was time to go to the hospital. Brett loaded up the car, and we drove slowly over the snowy roads and we arrived to Abbott Northwestern hospital in Minneapolis without a hitch. Bryn-Erinn's general appearance and groining gave a passerby a good scare, as well as the male security guard, so we got a security escort to the labor and delivery department. Bryn-

Erinn was triaged, and she was shocked to hear that she had not made any changes since her last OB appointment. It was decided that they would observe her for an hour or two and see if she made any changes, they also wanted to run HELLP labs as Bryn-Erinn's blood pressure was high. The labs returned normal, and on the next check Bryn-Erinn's cervix had made progress. She continued in hard labor

for many more hours with the very helpful Jessica (our L+D nurse), including two hours in a hot shower. However, the pain was great and cervixal changes were slow even after the membranes had been ruptured. After 25 hours of labor, Bryn-Erinn had used up all of her coping strategies and energy, and anesthesiology was called in to place an epidural. After the bolus, Bryn-Erinn expressed her love and gratitude to the anesthesiology

team. She was able to sleep for an hour while the cervical changes were completed.

Better rested, Bryn-Erinn began to push. Both the doctor and nurse were surprised at the strength she had while pushing, and she attributed it to her years of Pilates training. Within an hour, Bryn-Erinn reached down

and brought our baby girl into this world. Brett cut the cord. From this point on it was mostly smooth sailing with the hickups of new parents (at one point of the night Bryn-Erinn shouted in her sleep, "she isn't breathing" and Brett jumped up to find that she was fine). We took some extra time to consider her name and after a good half day of discussion, we came to Elodie Cadence Gourley (we are quite proud of it).

We are very much in love with her, and are looking forward to taking her home to teach, guide, learn from, and grow with.

Chrismas time is here....

Once again we have passed the Christmas season. We had a unique time this year at the Gourley home on Oregon Ave. On Christmas Eve we picked up Bryn-Erinn's mother, Terri. She is staying with us for the week. Before coming, she had been coaching Bryn-Erinn, over the phone, on the Christmas day feast. After arriving in Minneapolis, she got right into the kitchen and was working on pie crust, seasoning the turkey (Bryn-Erinn didn't want to touch it), and helping in other chores around the house. I was ban from assisting from the kitchen, as Bryn-Erinn wanted this to be all her. So I had my "honey do" list which I worked on in the days before Terri's arrival and during the morning of Christmas.
On Christmas morning we woke up at a leisure time (Bryn-Erinn was the last up) and we talked and read Luke chapter 2. Reading the scriptures on Christmas morning has been a long tradition that I grew up with. After which we opened our modest gifts to each other. This year since money has been so tight we put a twenty dollar limit for each person. Bryn-Erinn recieved a framed picture of me on our wedding day to match the one of her that we have in our bedroom, she also received some thermal underwear to battle the cold. Terri received a 1-hour massage from Bryn-Erinn's friend April (Bryn-Erinn has been trading pilaties with her for massages), and a new deck of cards (we wanted some on a previous visit). I received a subscription to "Popular Photography".
At 9:30 I picked up both sets of our Elders. They were excited for the "day-off", and were dressed in P-day clothes. I brought them to our home and we had fresh cinnamon rolls ready. They all had one or two and then we sent a couple of them off to talk to their family's. At noon, before Elder Denny had a chance to make his call, I took the young men to the Oak Park ice field and we played some boot hockey. We were joined by one of the brothers on my home teaching route, Chris. We played for a couple of hours, and no one got hurt. I was glad for this, as I would have had to call a mother to report that I broke her special young man. We returned to the house, greeted by a fresh batch of cider. We warmed up, played games, talked, napped, and Elder Denny called his family and apparently his girl-friend was present as well (he has only been out for 2 months).
At 3:30 or so we had a fabulous dinner. Bryn-Erinn and Terri had prepared a turkey, yams, mashed potatoes, rolls, stuffing, peas and cranberry sauce. Everyone ate until they were full. Surprisingly enough there was still left overs. We spent the remainder of the day watching church Christmas movies. We had some gifts for the young men, retro (70's) ties and some hand warmers. I called my family to wish them a Merry Christmas, and here about their Christmas adventured. It took the missionaries home just before 9:30. After my return we finished cleaning the house, and went to bed.
On the day after Christmas, we decided to brave the mall for some hopes of an after Christmas deal. We not only chose a mall, but we went to the Mall of America. There were masses of crowds. The deals weren't a good as I had hoped, and I didn't buy anything. However Bryn-Erinn and Terri found Alpaca sweaters for a great price. They also found some other odds and ends, including chocolate and some finds at the Nordstrom Rack. We walked all the floors and saw all the shops that everyone wanted to see. All in all it took us 5-6 hours.
On the day after the day after. The girls woke up early and went to Bryn-Erinn's studio, Core, to do a pilates work out. While they were gone I took the opportunity to hit the ice and do some hockey drills. I broke my stick taking some slap shots so at some point I will need to replace the blade. After wards we all got back together and went to one of Bryn-Erinn and mine favorites, "A taste of India" for a big lunch. We ate great curries and I had some of the best chicken vindaloo that I have ever had. After our feast, I decided that I would like to graduate from the hand-me-down kitchen table that I have been using as a computer desk to a real desk. This took us on another shopping adventure. I first looked at Target. I then took the group to Costco. We then traveled to Office Max, followed by Ikea. After looking at all the options, I decided to go with the one desk that they had at Costco. It took me about two hours to clear off my old desk, to clean the area, and to put together my new desk. I think that it turned out great. Thanks Mom and Dad. And now it is a joy to type on, it is the right height, and I can put my legs under the table. We finished off the night by watching "Hairspray", and going to bed very tired.

Hot Cocoa...

So it is wintertime, and almost Christmas (four more days). We had a great church service today, with talks about our savior Jesus Christ and great musical numbers. Bryn-Erinn performed a great arrangement of "Silent Night". She was a little nervous, but did a great job. She was going to play an arrangement of "What Child is This", but someone else had planned to do the same number so Bryn-Erinn changed at the last minute. We got home and started cooking, as we are going to have a crowd of seven in our house on Christmas day. Our house smells like homemade rolls and mashed potatoes.
Since it is a chilly -10 right now, I decided to make some homemade Hot Cocoa. The idea came to me after I had a discussion about Hot Cocoa vs Hot Chocolate with a fellow church member (one is made from cocoa powder and the other from melted chocolate, Swiss Miss would technically be a Hot Cocoa mix). Before I go further, I consider meself a great lover of Hot Chocolate, although my palate isn't particularly refined. I like it in all its forms from the church cannery mix to Swiss Miss and all the others. Over all it is like pizza to me (I'll eat and enjoy it all). Also, because of the quantity I consume, I have a "special" cup. Only the picture can do it justice (the cups' centers are in the same place). Bryn-Erinn got it for me so I would stop using a bowl. It holds about a 400 cc (almost half a liter) of liquid. I found this great recipe on-line. It is very simple and tasty, and now I'm passing it on to you.

Hot Cocoa

4 cups of milk
1/3 cup of sugar
1/4 cup of cocoa

Heat in a sauce pan until smooth, but do not boil. Stir often, so as not to burn the bottom (I have done this many times). If you want it richer, add cream. You may also add whipped cream to the top. I prefer mine topless.

The Christmas Cake...

In Japan they have a unique tradition of having a cake on Christmas day. This is also something that is done in Europe and it is likely that the missionaries in the 1600's brought the idea of Christmas as they were teaching about Christ in Japan (this was before Japan closed it boarders to all foreigners or gaijin). Now a days, it is strange that they would do this as they are primarily a Buddhist country. However the history is quite interesting and a nice way to get friends together. You can link into a brief history about the Christmas cake here. So now it is the Christmas season. For our ward Christmas party they asked those who had lived abroad to help out and bring a treat and a tradition to the party. So I made two Japanese Christmas cakes. They turned out well so I though that I would post the recipe.

Ingredients:

• For sponge cake:
• 3/4 cup all purpose flour
• 2/3 cup sugar
• 1 tbsp milk
• 3 eggs
• 1 1/2 tbsp butter
• For topping:
• 1 1/2 cups heavy cream
• 4 tbsps sugar
• Various fruits (strawberries, peaches, cherries, and so on)

Preparation:

Whisk eggs in a bowl (for a long time) you want them to at least double in size. The more you whip the fluffier your cake will be. Place the bowl over warm water in another large bowl and whisk further. Add sugar little by little. When the egg mixture becomes light yellow, sift flour and add to the bowl. Mix the flour lightly in the egg mixture. Mix butter in warm milk. Add mixture of melted butter and milk in the batter and stir gently. Preheat the oven in 350-degree. Place baking wax papers inside of a round cake pan (18cm) or use a fat (i.e. butter or crisco) to line the pan. Split the batter between two 9 inch round pans and in the preheated oven for 20-25 min or until a knife can be placed and removed with out any batter sticking. Remove the cake from oven. I let the cake cool in the pan and then remove it to further cool on the rack. Mix heavy cream and sugar in a bowl. Whip the cream well. Take the half of the whipped cream and mix with chopped fruits. Place the cream on top of a round cake slice. Place another cake slice on top of the cream. Spread the rest of the whipped cream on top and around the cake. Decorate the cake with colorful fruits and Christmas decorations. Enjoy.