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Happy Valentine's Day!

2012-02-15T12:33:00.000-08:00

This year for Valentine's Day Jeff sent me these roses.

I gave Jeff these balloons. I saw this idea on Pinterest that I thought was so cute. It was an anniversary idea but I did it for Valentine's instead of waiting for our anniversary. You put one balloon for each year you have been married with a memory attached to it.

I made Sidney's last Valentine's Day box. Next year she starts at the big junior high so her days of trading cards in school are over (tear, tear ~ sniff , sniff). Cade's teacher had the class make their own Valentine boxes at school. I hate it when they do that. I have too much fun making them at home! Plus they are so much cuter when they are homemade.

~Molly had a party at preschool and at her dance class.

~Jens got a plate full of BIG, fat heart sugar cookies from a girl and it made his day.

~Jeff and I went out to dinner at Riverside Country Club with our friends.

Fun was had by all!

What Jens does for FUN

2012-02-05T08:29:00.000-08:00

I just don't really understand boys. I grew up with 4 older brothers and my husband has 4 brothers. I have 2 sons of my own. And with all that testosterone floating around, you'd have thought that I would have boys figured out by now. "They" always say that you can never understand girls, but if you ask me, boys are just as hard to figure out.

Girls will go shopping, curl their hair or paint their nails for fun.

Boys will have self inflicted pain for fun. -- Go figure!

Jens and his buddies love nothing more than a good ol' air soft war.

They don't stop playing until they have been shot so many times and have too many welts to make if fun anymore.

I know, I don't get it either.

Key Lime Cupcakes

2012-01-29T16:30:00.000-08:00

I found this recipe for Key Lime cupcakes. They looked so yummy and seeing as how much I love lime, I just had to try them! They were jut as good as they looked.

CAKE

1 stick (1/2 cup) butter - room temperature

1 & 1/4 cup sugar

*cream these together for 4 minutes

2 eggs - add one at a time

2 & 1/2 tablespoons lime juice

1 tablespoon lime zest

1 drop green food coloring paste

*Add to butter sugar mixture. It will looked curdled.

1 & 3/4 cup flour

1/2 teaspoon baking powder

1/2 teaspoon baking soda

1/2 teaspoon salt

*Mix together in a separate bowl

3/4 buttermilk

*Add some flour mixture to the butter, sugar mixture. Then add some buttermilk, then some flour mixture, then buttermilk, repeat.

Bake on 350 for 20 to 25 minutes

ICING

1 stick butter at room temp.

8 ounces cream cheese at room temp.

2 & 1/2 cup powdered sugar

1 tablespoon lime zest

Costa Rica

2012-01-22T12:41:00.001-08:00

Last week Jeff and I were in Costa Rica for his company's big annual trip. It was so much fun!!! By far my most favorite thing about Costa Rica were all the monkeys. I have never seen a monkey outside of a zoo. There were monkey's, monkeys' everywhere! Everyday we would see at least one monkey. Maybe we would see 6 monkey's in a day. It was something that I never got bored of.

They were SO LOUD and they would wake us up every morning around 5:00am. They had a sound that was between a dog's bark and a gorilla's "ooooo, oooo, oooo" sound.

It was the cutest when you could see a mother monkey with a baby on her back. I saw that a couple of times and it was sooo cute! The monkey's would climb up in these Buttercup trees and eat the flower blossoms.

There were white face monkey's and black face monkey's. I took this picture of this monkey right off my rooms balcony.

And I took this picture right on the beach. There were six of them in the trees above us.

We stayed at the Four Seasons Resort in Papagayo. This resort was HUGE! Really, truly huge. Remember the TV show Fantasy Island? "Da plane, da plane!" Remember how they drove golf carts around? Well I felt like I was on Fantasy Island. Every time we went somewhere, to breakfast, the pool, the beach, or back to our room, we rode in a golf cart.

I loved our hotel room!

We had a super deep tub...... one that I never got in. Not even once. And we had a nice shower too. But if I didn't want to shower in my hotel room....

Then I could use my outdoor shower!

And have this view from my shower!

We had our own private little pool outside our door.

And this was the view from our private pool. Everyday we would all sit in it at sunset and tell stories and laugh.

The thing that I liked LEAST was by far the grasshoppers! They were humongous! They absolutely creeped us all out. Just look at how big this thing is next to the phone! Thankfully we only saw them OUTSIDE!

Another view of one with a pencil. Oooh! They were creepy!

On one of the days, we went to a local village and painted their school inside and out. It was mint green. Before that it had been pink and before that it had been white. The color they chose was a limey yellow. Hummm...

I had to take pictures of the desks and chairs so that the next time my kids said something like, "I hate school!" or "I don't want to go to school today. School sucks!" I will just pull out these pictures and remind them of just how good their school is and how fortunate they are!

Sam & Whitney, Alli & Mark and Jeff and I with some of the school kids.

Most days we spent our time on this beach.

Jeff, Mark & Ryan B. and his brother in law rented a catamaran one day and went deep sea fishing. They saw humpback whales, pilot whales and caught a rooster fish. I couldn't find where I had put my camera that morning so Jeff went without one. Sadly I don't have any pictures of it.

We rented jet skis a couple different days.

We would have lunch either pool side or on the beach. I know I know, this really is the life!

Loved, loved, loved my trip!

Chili Toast

2012-01-09T08:06:00.001-08:00

This morning Caden got up for school and made himself some cinnamon toast for breakfast. He took one bite and said,"Eeeww! I don't think this is cinnamon..." I smelled his toast and sure enough, it was not cinnamon!

You can totally see why he got confused and put chili powder on instead!

Lemon Crinkle Cookies

2012-01-08T19:02:00.000-08:00

Say hello to my new favorite lemon cookie!

I have three other lemon cookie recipes and this one is my new favorite. It has a light lemon taste and it bakes up so moist. If you like the taste of lemon, you've gotta try this recipe. It won the LDS Living cookie cook off contest.

2 sticks (1 cup) butter

2 cups sugar

*Cream these two ingredients together until light colored and fluffy.

2 eggs

1 teaspoon vanilla

2 teaspoon lemon zest

2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice

*Add to butter/sugar mixture and beat in well

3 cups flour

1/2 teaspoon salt

1/2 teaspoon baking powder

1/4 teaspoon baking soda

*Add to mixture until just combined

1 cup powdered sugar - in a separate bowl

*Roll dough into 2 inch balls, then roll the dough ball in the powdered sugar. Place on a greased cookie sheet and bake on 350 degrees for about 9 - 11 minutes.

Makes about 3 dozen cookies

Merry Christmas 2011

2011-12-31T16:15:00.000-08:00

Christmas this year seemed to come and go in a flash. It didn't even seem like Christmas this year to us because it has been sunny, nice temperatures and NO snow. Nevertheless, it was Christmas and Santa did deliver.

Miss Molly was hoping and hoping for red Tom shoes.

She was completely delighted to get them!

She was also hap hap happy to get a new American Girl doll.

And the Lalaloopsy Tree House she wanted.

Four years ago I bought some Hot Wheels cars for one of Jens' birthday party's. One of them looked like a shark car. Cade wanted that car sooo bad but I had only bought just enough cars for Jensy's friends. Cade has never forgotten that "shark" car and we have looked and looked and looked in every store every time we went shopping. We have never been able to find one. Finally Caden just decided to have Santa make one so he FINALLY got a shark car. He was so happy!!!

He saved one of his best presents for last, a Red Rider BB Gun. He is so happy and feels like a big kid with his new gun.

Like Molly, Sidney also wanted red Tom's so desperately. But sadly Santa couldn't find red ones in her size anywhere. So she ended up with turquoise ones instead. She liked them just as much.

She got her own Ed Hardy perfume.

(Now hopefully she will leave MY Ed Hardy perfume alone)

Toward the end of the kids opening their presents everyone heard some weird ringing sound coming from Sidney's stocking.........

It was a new cell phone!

She was so happy that she started to cry.

Which made me cry too.

Jens got the XBox that he wanted.

And the Skull Candy Skull Crusher headphones that he wanted.

After everyone had finished opening their presents I had them all sit down while Jeff went upstairs for one last present.

This cute little cocker spaniel came to live with my two boys who have asked for a puppy for several years. I am NOT a dog lover, but I finally gave in and let them have one. They were so happy to finally get a dog!!!! Jens gets up in the night with him to let him out to potty and the boys take care of all the feedings and walking. Even though they are the ones taking care of him I am still not completely on board with the whole dog thing. Hopefully I will warm up to the idea soon!

Higginson Family Christmas Party

2011-12-27T16:22:00.000-08:00

Every year Jeff's parents have a big Christmas party. This year after dinner, the kids sang songs.

And then they heard someone upstairs jingling bells!

It was Santa!

Everyone got a chance to sit on Santa's lap and tell him what they wanted for Christmas.

Jeff's face was cracking me up. He was making the funniest facials in the pictures!

Just watch Jeff's facials. Too funny!

I wonder what Sid was saying to make Jeff look like this.....

Grandma and Grandpa always give the kids pajamas.

And then the kids exchange gifts.

Great Grandma Gustin and Great Grandma Higginson

And last but certainly not least, Duane read us the story of Christ's birth from Luke.

Once again it was a great party. I love my in laws!!!! They are all such wonderful people. I feel so lucky to have ended up with such a great family!

Gingerbread House Making Time

2011-12-27T16:08:00.000-08:00

Every year my aunt and her family make gingerbread houses. They invited us to come over and make them too.

Everyone had fun. Next year I need to bring a gingerbread house for me to make!

They all turned out cute!

Elf on the Shelf

2011-12-22T09:26:00.000-08:00

We have had so much fun with our elf Bernard this year! We have had him for 5 years but this year has been the most fun by far!

One morning we caught him in the hutch getting into the candy dish. He had already eaten several pieces of candy and had left the wrappers all over.

On another morning he was found downstairs in Molly's Barbie house having a treat with Barbie.

We haven't had any snow yet and so he got creative and made himself a sugar angel.

He even wrote us messages with lipstick!

Thanks for the fun memories Bernard! You have kept my kids excited each morning as they would try to find you. And you have saved me from much tattling by letting the kids tattle to you instead. We can't wait to see what you will be up to next year!

Izzy & Ivy Designs

2011-12-20T15:16:00.000-08:00

Last night I was talking to my neighbor Shasta who is an owner of Izzy & Ivy Designs. I was telling her how I needed to get a cute Christmas outfit for Molly. I told her how I was just about out of time to get one because our parties were all but over now and how I just really wanted one still. I told her the specific colors I was looking for and how I couldn't find something like that.

She shows up this morning with this. She had a bunch of material at her house with the perfect colors that I wanted! She just cut this out and sewed it up really quick and Wah Lah! I now have the perfect Christmas outfit!!! Thank you, Thank you Shasta!!!! We love it!

If you are a quilter or a sewer, you need to look at her website. izzyandivydesigns.com They have the cutest patterns for clothes, purses, quilts, etc.

A Cabin in the Woods

2011-12-14T20:20:00.000-08:00

Jeff's parents rented a cabin for an early Christmas present for us all. We went on Friday afternoon and came home on Monday.

I went off again and left my camera at home. I was so mad! But thankfully my sister in law Suzanna is always fully equipped with her camera. So thanks to Suzi for the pictures of this weekend. Our memories would be lost without you!

We had such a great weekend! Everyone hung out in the hot tub as much as they possibly could. The kids LOVED the it!

The boys played on the gaming system and totally hibernated in the basement the whole time. It was Heavenly!

The kids had a lot of air hockey games and they played a ton of pool.

Uncle Jeffy told the little kids stories.

Lia and Peyton got themselves milk and cookies. They went to town eating them. They were so cute.

Cade built a ton of "forts" out of Jenga blocks and lots of huts over the pool table.

Miss Molly got her self dressed to go out sledding. She headed out in the snow and was ready to sled! I had to make her come back in and get dressed the right way.

Little Miss Gracie

Gracie again...

Jens and Molly

Alivia

Jaxon

Averi

Joel and Julie

Sidney was flying down the hill and she put her feet out to slow herself down a bit and ended up first doing the splits and then flipping herself into a backward flip.

The kids having a snowball fight.

Averi - Chase - Gunner - Sidney

It was a great weekend! Thanks Duane and Julie for the great memories!

My Christmas trees.... Finally!

2011-12-12T17:56:00.001-08:00

I put up all my Christmas decorations and all my trees in the end of November but I am now just finally taking pictures of them. This is the tree in my upstairs entryway. It's a flocked tree and I have all the ornaments in lime, red and silver. I love how the decorations look on the flock. It always looks like it's glowing.

This is the tree in my downstairs family room. I have had these decorations for several years but I still love them.

And my favorite tree of the house....... drum roll please......

This is the tree in my bedroom. It's 9 feet of red, gold and green elegant goodness. I can hardly see the tree amidst all the decorations and that's just how I like it!

I am one of those mean mom's who doesn't let my kids decorate the Christmas trees. I know what you're thinking, "Mean mom! Let your kids enjoy it too! Build some memories! Have a tradition! Blah! Blah! Blah!"

Well it's not going to happen.

So to compromise, my kids each have a tree in their bedrooms that they can decorate themselves. See, I'm no so mean after all.

Sidney and Molly's bedroom tree. It's done in hot pink and lime green with fairy's and butterflies on it. Totally girly!

The tree in Cade's room. Stars with red and rust colored candy swirls and candy canes. Matches his room great. He loves it!

And alas, the tree in Jens' room. It's done in red and green with candy swirls, cookies, gingerbread houses and gingerbread men. It does NOT match his room in any way, shape or form. But have you ever shopped for Christmas ornaments that were pheasants, deer, fish, hunting or outdoor things? I have and let me tell you, they have been a hard find. So instead he has the gingerbread tree.

A second picture so you can see the decorations a little bit better.

I changed the way I decorate the top of my entertainment center this year. I used to have a ton of snowmen and Santa's up there. They are all still great decorations, I am just tired of looking at them. I climbed a step ladder and took this picture. It's bit blurry but you get the idea.

I changed my mantle too. I usually have it all decked out in lighted garland like my entertainment center. It's always really pretty but it's nice to have it look simple this year.

Molly the Red Nosed Reindeer

2011-12-12T17:52:00.000-08:00

Molly came home from preschool with the cutest little red nosed

reindeer mask that she made. She is just so cute!

THANKSGIVING 2011

2011-12-12T17:34:00.001-08:00

This year we had Thanksgiving dinner at Danny and Suzi's house. All of Jeff's family came, including some of his cousin's from Idaho. It was so great to be able to visit with them.

Cousin's

All the little girls who were all born back to back to back.....

And of course the most awesome people there.... at least according to them.

The teenagers.

Cade's Baptism

2011-11-18T12:52:00.001-08:00

Cade got baptized this month. He kept telling us all along that he "wasn't gonna do it! Nope! Not gonna happen. Not gonna get baptized!" But in the end he did, and he was actually excited and happy to get baptized because his little buddy Michael got baptized with him. (thank goodness for Michael!)

Jens' Football Season

2011-11-02T12:48:00.001-07:00

Jens' football team did so good this year! They only lost one game the whole season!

So because they were almost undefeated, they qualified to play in the Superbowl. We were the best team in the league. Other teams had lost more than us.

They played the Superbowl against a team that we had beat before. But we lost by one touchdown!

Good job on the season Jensy!

Happy Halloween 2011!

2011-11-02T11:52:00.000-07:00

I loved my kids costumes this year. Sidney wanted to be a punk fairy. I thought it was a dumb idea at first and then we put together her costume and I loved it!

She put on Katelyn's old dance costume, our neighbors army boots and we added some fishnet tights, a fishnet glove, and wings and she looked awesome!

She was the perfect Punk Fairy!

I ordered the c u t e s t costumes for Caden and Molly this year from Chasing Fireflies. They were NOT excited to be the Big Bad Wolf and Little Red Riding Hood but when their costumes arrived and they put them on, then they decided that they were cute and they loved them.

Mostly I think Cade loved it because he could chase Molly around and scare her without getting in trouble.

On Halloween we always go to Sam and Whitney's neighborhood to trick or treat. We have a big dinner party with all of Whitney's family too. All the kids bring their friends and they have a blast. We all bring a ton of candy so every kid likes to trick or treat from us too because when the kids come to the door, they get to take like 5 or 6 pieces of candy instead of just getting one treat.

THE BIGGER KIDS IN THEIR COSTUMES

*Cooper: We're not sure what he was (including him!) *Alli: The 80's fashion girl *Keyne: The Chick Magnet *Jens: We're not sure what he was either. Just some kid with a mask on *Katelyn: The 80's fashion girl *Nick: Coach Hines from Mad TV *Sidney: A punk fairy

Every time these cousins take their picture together I always laugh to myself because:

Katelyn in 14 years old

Averi is 10 years old

Sidney is 11 years old

So even though Sidney and Averi are close in age, Averi looks like a tiny kid next to her and Sidney is a few years younger than Katelyn but she is almost taller than her and she looks just as old to me.

THE MEDIUM KIDS IN THEIR COSTUMES

Gunner - Chase - Hunter - Caden

THE LITTLE KIDS IN THIER COSTUMES

Ellie - Lia - Emma - Gracie - Molly - Alivia - Peyton - Addison

Italy

2011-10-28T09:56:00.001-07:00

Jeff and I went to Italy because Jeff had some work there. Rich, another employee and his wife Mari came with us. We had an absolute blast! We spent our first two days in Jesolo and then we took a water taxi across the bay to Venice and spent two days there. It was the most amazing place! I fell in love with the entire country. Every day we would get gelatto. It was divine!

We ate the best food! Everything single thing is delicious! I loved the little restaurants. Tables would be set up right on the street. Cars and pedestrians would be all around us and I loved it!

Venice was my favorite place that we went to. It is so pretty. It looks just like I had always seen in paintings. Gorgeous little streets with canals in the middle of them. Flower pots hanging off of windows, cobblestone and brick pathways...... So pretty!!!! Our water taxi pick up spot, which was literally just outside our hotel doors was even so pretty!

There truly are not cars around. Everyone walks or takes a boat. I loved the gondolas! I had to keep asking myself if it was real! We rode in the gondolas with a man in a stripped shirt and he sang to us in Italian! It was just so pretty.

I loved all the laundry hanging out to dry. I don't know why I loved it so much. It was just so quaint!

Rich, Mari and I walked way FAR away from the main tourist part of Venice to the residential part of the city. (Jeff was in the hotel taking a nap, suffering from jet lag!) It was so pretty and quiet. I loved this doorway going into the residential area.

There was also a beautiful park over there. I loved how the trees formed an archway over the path.

Then we took the train from Venice, down through Milan an into Arona, which is just outside of Milan. It was such a beautiful area. It is 45 miles from Switzerland. You could see the Swiss Alps off in the distance. Arona is known for it's lake. It is the most beautiful lake in all of Italy. This was our view of the lake from our hotel room.

We took a boat ride out to the middle of the lake to an island where there is this restaurant and nothing else. It was really neat. There was another island across from where we were at and it had a castle on it. The castle was stunning in the dark and I could just imagine how amazing it had to be in the light. I wanted to spend a few extra days here to sight see more. It was a beautiful place.

We had the best meal.......and even better desserts!

Then we flew to Rome. We spent 3 days there. Rome was awesome! There is so much history and so many things to see. We went to the Colosseum.

Right outside the Colosseum is Constantines Victory Arch.

We went to the Trevi Fountain. We all made a wish and threw our coins in backwards like we were supposed to.

The streets were narrow and there were a million little cars and a million scooters and motorcycles.

All the cars would seriously park this close! I would watch people parallel park into a spot so tight that it seemed impossible. But they did it with no problem. It helped that their cars were itty bitty. I could just see myself trying to park my Expedition or worse yet, Jeff's monster truck. I would crash into not only cars, but also buildings and people!

I am only 5' 6" and I totally towered lots of cars. Can you just imagine Jeff and I TOGETHER at the same time in this car! It would be horrible!

People would park all over in Rome. Anywhere and everywhere! Even in the middle of crosswalks. They would park 2 and 3 cars deep too. I guess you just had to wait in order to leave if you needed to.

We went to The Pantheon. It is an amazing building.

It was built in 448 BC! It was built with a big hole in the top of the dome so that they could have light and it also helped control the temperature inside the building.

The floors were slightly built on a slant towards the middle so that when rain water came through the hole, it would all go down into these little holes in the floor and they could collect the rain water.

Every building and structure of every kind was built so beautiful. I know that I keep saying the words "amazing" and "beautiful" and "gorgeous" but it all really was!

We went to the Vatican City.

I can't even describe how big this place is.

After we left Rome and drove to a place called Fiuggi and stayed there for 2 days. It was a beautiful, mountianous place. It was a "spa town" and it was quaint and really pretty. Then we drove back to Rome for 2 more days and then we flew home. Do you remember the movie with Steve Martin and John Candy called Planes Trains and Automobiles? Well that was totally our life on that trip, only it was planes, trains, boats, and automobiles! It was so much fun but after 6 different flights to get us where we needed to be each time, I was very ready for home.

Hershey Corn Flake Bars

2011-10-05T20:42:00.001-07:00

3/4 cup White Sugar

3/4 cup Karo Syrup

*Heat together in a sauce pot until bubbly. Remove from heat.

1 cup Peanut Butter

*Add and stir in until smooth

3 cups crushed Corn Flakes

*Stir all together and press down in a 9x13 pan

4 Hershey Chocolate Bars

*Break into chunks and place over the top of the hot bars. Allow the chocolate to melt and then spread the chocolate evenly over the top of the bars with the back of a spoon.

Taylor Swift Concert

2011-09-29T10:14:00.000-07:00

Last night Sidney and I went to the Taylor Swift concert. We went with Shasta & Gracie, Hannah and Gracie's cousin Sami. Sidney went to her concert last year with Shasta, Gracie and Hannah and we just had to go again. Taylor is such an amazing performer. This was probably the very best concert I have ever been too - - entertainment wise.

Gracie - Hannah - Sidney - Sami

Taylor Swift changed her costume 8 different times, there were multiple stage changes, she played several different guitars, the piano, the banjo and even the ukulele!

She had great backup dancers that were really entertaining. Tap dancers, ballerinas, trapeze acts...... Really entertaining!

She ended the show by singing a song in a little balcony that flew her around above the audience. I took a video of it but I can't figure out how to upload it.

I only knew about 1/3 of her songs because I just hear what is played on the radio. (Sidney has a few of her CD's and knew all her songs). But even though I didn't know all of her music, this was by far the most entertaining concert I have ever been too! Thanks Sidney for loving her so that we could go to her concert!

Cade's 8th Birthday Party

2011-09-24T13:08:00.001-07:00

For Caden's 8th birthday, we had a Pirate themed party.

His invitations were messages in a bottle.

For his cupcakes I frosted some with chocolate frosting and for the others I dipped the frosted cupcake in crushed graham crackers to make it look like sand and I stuck a caramel filled chocolate treasure chest on top.

When they first got to the party, I read them the book, "How I Became a Pirate" by David Shannon. It's a really cute little book. Then the boys went on a treasure hunt. I had clues hidden all over the yard. One was in the kid's tree hut.

One was in the mail box.

One was in the fire pit, another in the pirate ship that was on the cake table, and another on the patio table.

The treasure was hidden under the main table that had the cupcakes on it. They each got either a sword pack or a hook pack.

Then they divided up into teams according to whether they had a sword or a hook and had a big sword fight.

Happy Birthday Caden! You FILL our house with life!

Backyard Movies

2011-09-14T18:12:00.000-07:00

I love my neighborhood. I love summer nights. I love spending summer nights with my neighbors! Just about every year we do a big block party movie night in either my backyard or the Parry's backyard.

I had to take pictures before the party actually started so there weren't many people here yet but it would have been too dark to wait until later.

Jens and his dorky friends. I actually love them too!

There are SOOOO many things that I would LOVE to change about my house. Sometimes I get to thinking that we should just build a new one. Then about 5 seconds later I realize that no matter how great the house is, if you don't have a great neighborhood to go with it, then the house won't be great either. I just can't beat my neighborhood!

Hot Fudge Sauce

2011-09-10T12:34:00.000-07:00

1 Stick (1/2 cup) butter

6oz (half the bag) semi sweet chocolate chips

*Melt together in a sauce pot on medium heat.

1 can Evaporated Milk

2 1/2 cups Powdered Sugar

*Whisk into the chocolate mixture. Bring to a boil and boil for 5 minutes. Remove from heat, then add:

1 teaspoon Vanilla

*Sauce will thicken as it cools.

***THIS RECIPE IS NOT PART OF ANY DIET PLAN***

Low Country Shrimp Boil

2011-09-06T15:30:00.000-07:00

I had a few of my neighbors over yesterday for a low country boil. I love shrimp boils. So fun and yummy!

We were just getting the kids set up with theirs when the wind picked up and it started to lightly rain- -- - right on my parade!

So we moved inside.

Low Country Shrimp Boil

Water in a pot

2 packages of Zataran's Crab and Shrimp boil (or one whole box of Old Bay Cajun seasoning. Zataran's is spicier than Old Bay)

6 lemons - cut in half

*Get water boiling with seasoning and lemons. Then add:

Bag of new potatoes - boil for 7 minutes then add:

6 onions cut into big chunks - boil for 7 minutes then add:

Big bag of chicken tenders - boil for 7 minutes then add:

Mini corn cobs (however many you want) - boil for 7 minutes then add:

Cleaned, peeled, raw shrimp - boil for 3 to 5 minutes until the shrimp is pink.

You can really add a lot of different stuff like spicy sausage, crawdads, crab, etc.

*Drain water out and dump food down the middle of the table that has been lined with newspaper. Grab your food right from the pile with your fingers and dip food in a pink sauce and ENJOY!

Pink Sauce

Miracle whip

Ketchup

*mix together until it's a nice pink color

A sprinkle of garlic salt

A squeeze of lemon juice

*add garlic and lemon until you like the taste

Clean up is a snap! Just wad up the newspaper and toss it in the trash! No plates or silverware to wash!

Molly's first day of Preschool

2011-08-31T12:43:00.000-07:00

My baby started preschool today. She was so excited to go to school at Miss Roxann's. It's all she's talked about for weeks. When it came right down to the time to leave the house for school, she was scared and didn't want me to leave her.

As soon as we got there, she saw 2 of her friends and she was all excited again. She hugged me and told me "bye!".

I am no longer a "young mom".

I have no little toddlers at home. There are no more babies to come..........

I have graduated to the "old mom" stage of life.

I remember envying the "older moms". I remember thinking, "Oh I can't wait to not have to chase after my toddler. I can't wait to NOT smell like spit up. I can't wait to not have to slip out of the party/dinner/Disneyland/church/etc to nurse! I can't wait for my kids to be more independent......"

Now that I am here to "this" point, I'm not sure how I feel about it.

Creepy Old Cat Lady

2011-08-29T17:33:00.001-07:00

You know those creepy old maids who never got married and they just live with a bunch of cats. They pet them all day long and love to hear them purr. They talk about their cats like someone talks about their children. They buy cat toys and think that the kittens are "just so darling" when they play with the toys....... You know THOSE people? The sort of weird ones.....

I AM TOTALLY ONE OF THOSE CREEPY CAT PEOPLE!!!!!!!!!!!!

Long story in a nut shell. Remember my post back in May when I posted that I got a "darling" new kitten named Panther? Well sadly, my brother in law (I don't want to name names but it was SCOTT) accidentally backed over him and broke his right leg and broke his left pelvis. So we had to put him down. Jens and I bawled like babies in the vets office. It was pathetic. We took him home in a box and buried him in the backyard. Two months later..... much to Jeff's DISMAY and DISAPPROVAL, I got a darling new little kitten! Her name is Peaches and she has the prettiest pale blue eyes! We love her!

Carrot Zucchini Cake

2011-08-28T19:49:00.000-07:00

Carrot Zucchini Cake

4 Eggs

2 cups Sugar

*Beat together

1 cup Oil

*Add oil and mix in

2 1/2 cups Flour

2 tsp. Baking Soda

2 tsp. Baking Powder

2 tsp. Cinnamon

1 tsp. Salt

1 tsp. Allspice

1 tsp. Ginger

1 tsp. Cloves

1/2 tsp. Nutmeg

2 cups Grated Carrots

2 cups Peeled, grated Zucchini

*Pour into two 9" pans and bake on 350 for 35 minutes

Cream Cheese Frosting

8 ounce Cream Cheese

1/2 cup (one stick) Butter

2 tsp. Vanilla

About 2 cups Powdered Sugar

Super Easy Hair Ideas

2011-08-26T09:43:00.001-07:00

The first idea is so simple that a kindergartner could do it. All you have to know how to do is tie!

Start out by taking a small chunk of hair and separate it into two sections and make a loose tie, just like you are going to tie your shoes. This looks best if your hair is damp. Then you won't get so many fly-aways. (I did it when her hair was dry so it's a little fuzzy)

Then just repeat the process as many times as you like.

You can just bobby pin the ends underneath your hair, or you can tie each side and connect them in the middle with a hair holder, or bring them back into a pony tail...... so many possibilities!

The next idea is just as simple. So easy that I had Sidney's friend, who is 11 years old, do the hair do while I took pictures.

Make a braid that is on the looser side. This works best when your hair is very wet. It slides easier and looks better without fly-aways.

Once you get to the bottom of the hair, hold the braid loosely with one hand and hold just the center strand with your other hand. Hold the center strand tightly.

Slide the braid up the center strand.

Once you get to the top, put a hair holder in it. That's it! So simple!

Fun in the Mud

2011-08-18T16:15:00.000-07:00

Every time we get a heavy rain, the dirt roads in the fields across from our house fill up and make these giant mud puddles. Jens and his friends went four wheeling through them a couple weeks ago when I wasn't home. I was so sad that Jeff hadn't taken any pictures of them. So yesterday when they decided to go four wheeling through them again, I tagged along with my camera in hand!

Now this is a WALL of water!

This picture is my favorite! I love each of their expressions! Especially Jensy's.

Each one of them wanted a turn driving. After about 2 puddles, they decided to loose their shirts. The muddy water would just run down from their hair, down their faces, and down to their stomachs. Then they would laugh and laugh and say, "Let's do it again!" Boys and mud.

This picture is my other favorite. This wall of mud is picture perfect!

I brought out some shampoo and told them to just wash with the hose. Good thing it was a hot day!

I was trying to take a picture of Jens and Cooper's ears. They were filled mud. Nick popped up in the middle of them and his expression is the best! It says just how much fun they had!

Happy Anniversary to ME!

2011-08-16T16:40:00.001-07:00

For my 16th wedding anniversary this year I booked a trip to Atlanta. I have always wanted to go there. After I got the trip all scheduled and booked, Jeff sprung it on me that he would not be able to make it because he had "too much work to do". Soooooo..... I called my dearest friend Allison and invited her to come along. No need for me to not have fun still right?!

Alli lives in Phoenix so we met in Atlanta. The first night we were there I told her that we HAD to go to Turner Field to watch the Braves play the Cubs. But they were sold out so instead we went to eat at a place called Fat Matt's BBQ Shack. It has been featured on Food Network. It was good but not my favorite.

We had the best 4 days!

We had fun driving around neighborhood after neighborhood just looking at houses and the sprawling yards. I loved the yards!

And I loved all the greenery! Alli lives in Phoenix, so between she and I, we both live in deserts. I really don't why I STILL live in UTAH!

One of the days we spent at the Atlanta Aquarium. It was the best aquarium! It was HUGE! If you ever get to Atlanta, you have to go here. The dolphin tanks were really neat.

They would jump out of the tank and come splashing back down in. They would come right up to the glass and look at you and then do flips. They were so fun to watch.

There was so much to see! So many fish, alligators, otters, etc.

There was also a tank with 4 Beluga Whales. They were fun to watch too! They had me intrigued forever!

At the aquarium, they have a place where you can scuba dive with them. Cool huh!

On Sunday we took a helicopter ride over the city. It was really neat but I got a little queasy.

I loved all the views from the air.

We flew over Stone Mountain, which is the largest exposed piece of granite in the northern hemisphere.

After the heli ride, we went shopping at this underground mall. It is underneath the subway system. Then we went to see the movie The Help, which has just come out. The movie was awesome to see! It was a sold out crowd. I loved the book but watching the movie there was really a neat experience. Then we did a little shopping and then had dinner at this delicious place called Copeland's Cheesecake Bristo. It was fabulous!

We split this appetizer that was lump crab meat, craw fish, and cheeses............ Oh My! It was DELICIOUS!!! Then I had crab cakes for dinner. Heaven found!

We stopped by this chocolate shop called Kilwin's. If you have ever been to Rocky Mountain Chocolate Factory, it's just like that only on steroids.

Chocolate dipped apples, Oreo's, Twinkies, rice crispies, short bread, you name it!

Thanks Alli for coming with me! It was one of the most fun anniversary's I have ever been on!

A Fun Day at the Lake

2011-08-11T19:35:00.001-07:00

I can't believe that summer is just about over! I already have my kids all registered for school and school clothes shopping is going to happen this weekend (courtesy of Jeff, bless his heart!). I feel like I need to cram in all the stuff that I have wanted to do all summer but just haven't yet. We have all but lived at the ball park this summer.

So.... we have managed to see 3 movies in the past couple of days and today we went to the lake with some of our neighbors. Molly swam and splashed and played with Leah, Sarah, and Abby.

Caden didn't leave the water all day.

Jens and Sean paddled across the lake and fished the afternoon away.

And these three girlies.....

did what girls love to do best. They paddled out into the middle of the lake and tried to get some sun and dark tans before school starts back up.

Mandie and Jody paddled the little girls around and I sat on the beach with my camera! It was perfect! Couldn't have asked for a better day to spend at the lake.

Molly was beat and fell asleep on the way home. One of my favorite things about Molly is how she loves hair. It's her security blanket. I think she is sweeter than sweet!

Why?

2011-08-11T19:25:00.001-07:00

Why Miss Molly? Not only does she have the red up and down her arms, she also has a horrible little red Hitler mustache.

National Little League World Series

2011-08-10T08:49:00.000-07:00

Did anyone watch the Little League World Series on TV (CBS Sports Network) this year???

My oldest son Jens plays on an accelerated baseball team called the Diamond Dawgs. They have played so incredibly well this year! It has been so fun to watch their games. They qualified to play in the National Little League World Series in Steamboat Springs, Colorado this past week.

Our boys came in and for some reason in the pool play, they lost 2 games that we should have won. The teams were completely beatable but we made a couple of errors that cost us the games. As a result, we were seeded really low. But our team did not let us down! They got on a winning streak and battled back hard to beat every team we played game after game (including the teams we lost to in pool play). After 13 games, which translates into 26 hours of baseball...... we were finally finished. We ended up taking 3rd place overall and we could not have been prouder of our boys!

This ski jump is right on the side of the mountain next to the ball park. I literally did not even have to leave my seat to take these pictures of the jumpers. The baseball park is in such a pretty setting. I could watch games there everyday!

After the games the kids would go swimming.

The boys all tried at once to attack Jeff and dunk him.

These boys are on an average of 5' 3" to 6 feet tall and try as they might, they could not get Jeff down! It was so funny to watch!

Then Travis got in the pool and they went after him but they couldn't get him down either!

Then after everyone was exhausted from the "stay afloat struggle" they went to relax in the hot tub.

Baseball, baseball, and more baseball!

On Sunday afternoon we finally lost out. Our team (in blue) congratulating the opposing team.

Then we had the awards ceremony and received our medals. The World Series officials said that they have not seen a team who was seeded so low come back to win as far as we did in the last 35 years! I thought that was a real compliment to our kids of how hard they work and how well they play together.

Also, after EVERY SINGLE game, the opposing coach would comment to Jeff (who is our head coach) on how impressed they were of our boys because they had clean language. Everyone else that we played would drop the "F" word when they would strike out or use other profanities. But our boys are not allowed to swear on the team and it's a rule that is enforced. So long story short, I'm proud of the Dawgs for their good example, their clean language, and how hard they played!

After the games on Sunday afternoon, just before we came home, we went tubing down the Yampa River to celebrate and relax!

It was so much fun.

I got flipped over along with 2 of the boys (that's me in the red with the yellow tube trying to get to where the current wasn't so strong so that I could get back on!)

It was such a fun trip!

Loop Hair Bows

2011-07-30T11:37:00.001-07:00

I have been wanting to make Molly some of these loop hair bows but I didn't know how. I finally found out how to on the Internet. They are really easy! Here's how!

*You will need some korker ribbon of your choosing. Whatever colors or patterns you like that will match with the clothes you want to wear them with.

*sharp scissors

*clear nail polish, an E6000, a lighter or some other type of instrument to seal your ribbon ends so they won't fray.

*needle and thread

*hot glue gun/hot glue

*alligator prong clip or a barrette

*embellishments for the top

Cut your ribbon into strips of the same length. You will need 2 to 3 different lengths of ribbon. I stacked my bows 2 lengths deep but 3 lengths is really cute too. The length of ribbon size changes how big the circumference of the bow is. So if you want your bow to be about 3 inches in circumference when it's complete, then your first layer of ribbon needs to be 7 inches long. The next layer of ribbon needs to be 6 inches long. And if you did a third layer, it would need to be 5 inches long. You will also want to decrease the amount of layers down too. If you want a bigger bow, cut your ribbon 1 inch longer per layer. Does that make sense? I am a total visual person so I have to see what it looks like to understand. Hopefully this picture will make more sense than my instructions do.

Take your first layer of ribbon all together and fold directly in half with the patterns facing inward.

Put your needle through the center.

Then fan out the layers and put another stitch though so the layers will stay where you want them.

Flip it over so the pattern side is down.

Then take one layer at a time, fold it over and sew it up.

When you are finished with it, you can use either side of the bow because they will look the same.

Then repeat the same procedure for each layer.

After they are all sewn together, hot glue some type of cute embellishment to the top to cover the stitching. Then hot glue it to the alligator prong.

And Wah Lah!

Sam's Cake

2011-07-27T23:31:00.000-07:00

Jens' friends are so fun to have around. They are always hanging out at our house.... even when Jens is out of town! We love having them in our home. One of his friends, Sam, is always giving me tips on my cooking/baking. He is always telling me things to throw in a cake to make it more moist or more dense. He tells me what spices to use when I cook to make my food "pop with flavor". He cracks me up! I just remind him that he is only 13 and doesn't know what he is talking about. But he watches Food Network all the time so he thinks that he is an expert.

He made me a cake just to prove it. And I have to admit, he did a really good job! It tasted great! His frosting was even from scratch and he wrote my name in green frosting on top. It was really cute. Thanks for the cake Sam. It was just as good as you said it would be!

The Lake House

2011-07-13T18:38:00.001-07:00

We spent a week in this beautiful house on Lake Pend O'Rielle in Sandpoint, Idaho with our friends, the Parry's and the Johnson's.

Idaho....... Yes Idaho. Who would have thought! Sandpoint is north of Coeur d'Alene and about 60 miles away from the Canadian border. It is WAY up there in the panhandle of Idaho. You have to fly into Spokane to get there.

The house was amazingly beautiful with the most gorgeous views all the way around!

The owner had her brother make this canoe for the light above the kitchen bar.

My favorite room in the house was the breezeway. It had a glass garage type door that we would close down at night and during the day it stayed open so we could enjoy the fresh air.

It had a zip line in the trees.

We had our own private dock that the kids lived on.

There was a beach spot that the kids could build sandcastles in.

The Johnson's made the 13 hour drive up and hauled their boat. It made the week so fun to just be able to go out any time of the day and just have fun in the boat.

Sidney is knee boarding in this picture.

Sidney and Jens on the tube

Jack, Reed, and Cade rafting in the little raft.

We all had a fun time in the kayak and the canoe. Even little Caden took the kayak out.

On July 4th, we BBQ'ed hamburgers, went boating all day and that night we had the kids put on a talent show for us. They had all been working on what to perform for a month and it was really good! We were totally entertained! The 2 top winners got and iPod Shuffle!

Some of the talents were:

Sidney danced

Reed did a magic trick

Jens, Tyus, Garrett and Isaac did an impersonation of us mom's at Zumba! It was too funny!

Hannah did a gymnastics routine

Molly did the splits......... And Gracie sang and Brayden did an impersonation of Jeff.

At the end of the night the city of Sandpoint shot fireworks off from City Beach, which was across the lake from us so the fireworks came at us. They were really pretty to watch over the water.

The kids spent their time fishing from the dock.......

and from the water.......

from the grass and from the boat.

We drove over to Trestle Creek. It was so pretty there. I loved all the tall pine trees.

I felt like I was in FORKS!

(all Twilight fans will know what I mean)

My cute family!

My kiddo's with the Parry's kids.

(You should see people's faces whenever we walk into a restaurant with all the kids.)

On our flight home, the captain said, "hi" to Cade and asked if he wanted to sit up in the cockpit with him. Cade thought he was awesome!

This was the most fun trip in the most beautiful place!

Steamboat Springs, CO. Triple Crown Magic Mountain Tounament Champs!

2011-06-20T22:44:00.000-07:00

We went to Steamboat Springs, Colorado for Jens' baseball tournament this past weekend. Steamboat is such a pretty place. It's a ski resort town and it reminds me of Park City, Utah.

We played 7 games. We 10 ran each game!

We played at the base of one of the resorts. It was such a beautiful backdrop! This Olympic ski jump practice thing (I don't know what it's called) was right behind the field and sometimes they were out there practicing during the day.

Cade and Molly had a blast running all over playing with all of their cousins who came with us to watch the tournament.

The mountain was on one side of us and literally on the other side of us, just where the ballpark grass ended was a train track and the really full, raging, yet beautiful Yampa River. I was nervous the whole time that one of the kids were going to wander too far.

The Dawgs played so good. Everyone hit the ball awesome and everybody fielded great too. We ended up winning the whole tournament and took home not only the championship, but we also qualified for the Triple Crown World Series in August!

Jens getting his trophy.

WAY TO GO DAWGS!!!

On one of the days there we took the tram up to ride the Alpine Slide.

The kids did a little hiking around and Cade was so excited with his findings.

And of course another hit was the pool!

When I was on the tram to ride the slide, I took a picture of the baseball diamonds below me.

I thought it was a pretty little town.

The Yampa River

Cades highlight of the trip:

Being able to ride this silly dinosaur at the gas station on our way out of town!

What are you doing???

2011-06-14T09:56:00.001-07:00

This morning Molly was playing downstairs with her Barbie's. I heard her yell, "Ummm...Hello? I need a little help here! I'm stuck!"

This is what I found.

So me being me.... I said, "Stay right there" (like she could go anywhere) "while I just grab my camera first. Then I'll help you out."

Blueberry Ice Cream Pie

2011-06-07T14:17:00.000-07:00

I saw this recipe yesterday in a magazine and had to try it. It's really cool and perfect for an outdoor treat for a party.

ALMOND-BROWN SUGAR CRUST:

1/2 cups slivered almonds

2 tbsp. brown sugar

1/4 tsp. salt

3 tbsp. melted butter

Pulse almonds, brown sugar and salt in a food processor until they are coarsely ground. Transfer to a bowl and add the melted butter.

Press into a 9inch pie dish and bake on 350 for 8 to 12 minutes, until lightly golden brown. Allow to cool completely.

BLUEBERRY SAUCE:

3 c. blueberries

1/3 c. sugar

1 tsp. cornstarch

1/4 tsp. salt

1 tsp. grated lemon zest

2 tsp. freshly squeezed lemon juice

1/8 tsp. nutmeg

1 tbsp. water

Put all ingredients together in a pan. Cook and stir over medium heat until the blueberries begin to pop, give off juice, and come to a simmer. While simmering, gently stir for 1 additional minute until sauce is lightly thickened and cornstarch is well cooked. Refrigerate until COMPLETELY COOL! Otherwise you will end up with a blueberry milkshake instead.

After the blueberry sauce has cooled, spread softened vanilla ice cream in the bottom of the crust (you may want to just put your ice cream in the fridge for 30 minutes or so to soften). Then spread half of the blueberry sauce on top, then more ice cream on top of that. Cover with plastic wrap and re-freeze for 8 hours or overnight.

After it has frozen again, spread whipped cream on top. You can sprinkle fresh blueberries on top and serve with the remaining blueberry sauce that has been warmed.

Now that you have gone to this much work - - - - DO NOT CHEAT YOURSELF by using store bought cool whip!!! Whip fresh whipped topping yourself! Don't know how? It's SOOO easy!

WHIPPED TOPPING

1/2 pint whipping cream

1/2 tsp. vanilla

about 1/4 c. powdered sugar

Pour the whipping cream into a bowl and beat on medium to high for several minutes, until the whipping cream starts to thicken and makes peaks. (don't over-whip or you'll end up with butter!) Add the vanilla and powdered sugar. Whip all together and that's it!

Molly's Pinkalicious 4th Birthday Party

2011-06-03T17:16:00.001-07:00

We celebrated Molly's 4th birthday today with the most adorable Pinkalicious party! I ask Molly what kind of party she wanted and she said a Pinkalicious one. I wasn't quite sure about what to do for a Pinkalicious party.

I called my amazing friend Allison in Phoenix and told her what I wanted the invite to say and look like and about 30 minutes later she emailed me back this!

Soooo cute huh!

Ever since I saw the invite, I haven't hardly been able to wait to give this party!

So I made some tissue paper flowers and butterflies and bought some pink Chinese lanterns at Hobby Lobby.

I couldn't find a cute "Happy Birthday" banner so I scrapbooked one of my own that turned out too cute.

I made cupcakes to look like the cupcakes in the book.

I bought a whole bunch of different candy that was pink and put them in different jars.

I also bought some diamond rings and wands like Pinkalicious has at Hobby Lobby.

I put pink food coloring in white chocolate and dipped marshmallows in it and topped it off with a red heart and put them on a stick.

Sidney and I made Molly this cute tutu to wear today.

We painted the girls fingernails pink.

(As I was getting out all of my pink and red nail polish, I realized that I have WAY TOO much PINK and RED nail polish!)

Then I made this little cupcake and we played Pin the Cherry on Top -- which is my version of Pin the Tail on the Donkey.

Then we had a cake walk. As each girl would get out, I would give them a little treat so that they wouldn't feel bad. Turns out, they were more excited to get the treat and they were actually trying to get out.

After the gifts I read them the book of Pinkalicious.

Then we ate cake!

At the end of the party the girls got to fill their treat bag.

I was so happy with how this party turned out! I loved it just as much as Molly did. It was so cute! Happy Birthday Miss Molly!

Mother's Day

2011-05-17T21:45:00.001-07:00

Two years ago when my little Caden was 5 years old, he gave me the sweetest little Mother's Day gift. We have a lost and found at our church and apparently he had his eye on this pair of "lost" earrings for quite some time. He kept telling the librarian that he wanted them for his mom. She told him that if no one had claimed them by Mother's Day that he could have them. Well, Mother's Day came along and no one had claimed them so I was the recipient the them! I had no idea that he was looking at them and talking to the librarian about them. It was a surprise to me. So to all the friends I have at church...... If these earrings once belonged to you, sorry! They are now mine! And Cade is soooo proud still to this day each time I wear them.

For Mother's Day this year Jeff gave me new corian kitchen counter tops! I had been in St. George for the week prior to and he had stayed home for work. He had these installed while I was gone. It was a total surprise! We had talked about re-doing them for a couple of years but never talked colors, styles or anything. I seriously had no clue that he was doing this. When I came home and saw them, I loved them, but I didn't like my cupboards with it. So I painted my cupboards BY MYSELF! I glazed them with a darker paint and then I had Jeff's cousin, who is a cabinet maker, stain some darker bead board wood to go around my bar.

I had a couple of bids to glaze my cabinets and they were both around $2000.00 and I did it by myself for less than $20! Sure it took me HOURS of work by hey, you can't beat $20!

I love my new kitchen!

Here is what my cupboards and counter tops used to look like.

Is a Divorce in My Near Future???

2011-05-10T14:46:00.000-07:00

I L O V E cats! I think they are so darling! Jeff on the other hand H A T E S them! Jeff came home from work yesterday to find out that that the kids and I had got ourselves a cute little kitten. Needless to say, he was NOT pleased. Not pleased at all! He was rather...... angry about it. So I think he may divorce me over it!

No not really, but I wouldn't be surprised if it had crossed his mind yesterday!

But just look at that darling little face!

I wanted to name him either: Keith, Rodney, Gary or Donald.

Just some kind of name that IS NOT a cat name. Can you imagine how funny it would sound for me to go out on my back deck and yell, "Rodney! Here Kitty Kitty!" I laugh at how funny it sounds. But my kids refused. So........... we settled on the name Panther. Not my first choice but oh well. Panther will work.

Hippity Hoppity Easter's on it's Way!

2011-05-03T19:29:00.000-07:00

Actually, Easter has PASSED! Mother Nature just would not cooperate. It seemed like the rain was never going to let up, and when it did it was c o l d! So my Easter egg hunt was well after the fact again. Oh well, it was still just as fun.

This year I had 1,320 eggs.

And just 30 hunters. That makes 44 eggs each!

The race is ON!

The kids bring a grocery sack to hunt with because Easter baskets are just too small.

Look at the ridiculous amount of eggs they got!

We had a fun hunt, yummy food, perfect company and just an overall great night! Can't wait until next year!

Bryan Hardy Easter Tournament and Easter

2011-04-25T19:03:00.000-07:00

We went down to St. George for a baseball tournament. We played in St. George and Mesquite.

Our team played great and we won all 5 of our games getting us in the championship game.

Our boys played hard but we ended up losing the championship game and took second place with a 5 and 1 record.

Because we got into the championship, it qualified us for the tournament of championship in July. GREAT JOB DAWGS!

We also celebrated Easter down there.

We had a little egg hunt with the Parry's. It was a great weekend of sun, great baseball games, BBQ's and great friends!

Spring Break in St. George

2011-04-18T20:47:00.000-07:00

I took the kids to St. George for the week of spring break. Jeff was in Chile so he couldn't come but our neighbors the Parry's and the Knudsen's came with us. We had a blast! My brother and sister in law, Joel and Julie were also there. We went hiking with Joel and Julie's family in Snow Canyon one of the days. It was a really pretty place.

I am always amazed at how incredible the mountains down there look. The swirls in them look like God took a paintbrush and did some pretty creative artwork.

We hiked to the top of a couple different ridges. (I was stupidly wearing my usual...... flip flops)

There is an area where there are some pioneer names. You can hike up to them and you can also repel just beside the names.

They were all from around 1881 to 1919.

Then on another day we went hiking up Slot Canyon with my neighbors.

We swam and swam and swam!

The younger kids caught 7 lizards and kept them in the pool in the garage. They built a little home in the pool for them with rocks and dirt.

We went shopping at the mall and Shasta, Bella, Abby and Sarah all got their ears pierced. We ate out, played tons of fun games (adults included!) like sharks and minnows, whiffle ball, freeze tag and capture the flag. Jens and Brayden hung out at Dixie State a lot with Coach Brumfield. Brayden got offered a scholarship to play football while we were there so he was pretty excited. We BBQ'ed burgers and made carne asada and soaked up every ounce of sun that we could get!

NCAA Final Four Trip

2011-04-06T11:30:00.001-07:00

My friend Shasta and I gave our husbands tickets to the NCAA Final Four games for Christmas. This year the games were in Houston.

Had to take a picture of Travis in front of the Planters Peanut vehicle. We also saw the Oscar Meyer Wiener vehicle. You know that hot dog in a bun car that totes around from city to city....

Jeff was in charge of the camera for the games. He didn't get one single picture of the players in action. Figures.

He and Travis went to the first two games and then Shasta and I went to the final one with them.

While the guys were at the first two games, Shasta and I went to this gigantic mall. We were there for hours and only saw half of it. Now I have to say that we did see a movie in that time and get a pedicure, but still, it was massive!

Funny story about our pedicure. We went into one of those nail places that are in every mall. We sat down to get out feet and toes done. Our feet and toes only.......... or so we thought. They start to do our pedicures and other ladies kept coming up saying things like, "You get eyebrows waxed." It was a statement, not a question. We would say no. They would say again, "You get eyebrows waxed!" We'd say no again and so on until we both ended up getting our eyebrows waxed. Then they said, "You get hands and nails done." Again, it was a statement, not a question. And we said no. "YOU GET your hands and nails done!" Same thing over and over until we both ended up getting our nails done too. They put my hands in a hot oil treatment (keep in mind that they are still working on our feet this whole time) and then they go to put Shasta's hands in hot oil. She says, "Oh my wedding ring is stuck on. It won't come off so I can't put my hand in the oil." They say, "Okay!" and plunk her hand in the oil anyway. Shasta looked at me with a look that said, "Are you kidding me?" We thought they could speak English but apparently the only language they were fluent in was Vietnamese. Then the lady starts saying to Shasta, "I wax you lip." Shasta went through the same bantering with her. No, she would say and the lady would say, "Yes! I wax you lip!" Finally Shasta just had to get stern and say NO! Then this little Vietnamese girl comes up to me and asks if she can see my tattoos. I tell her that I don't have any tattoo's and she looked at my like I had just sprouted wings. "Well when are you gonna get one????" she asks. I tell her that I'm not going to get one and she simply cannot conceive of it. She then proceeds to tell me that she has a tattoo. I said, "honey, how old are you?" She says seven. SEVEN! I told her to show it to me because I thought she was full of it. She then told me that the doctors at Texas Children's Hospital told her that she was too young to have one so they covered it up for her. She said it was of a dragon and proceeded to tell me exactly how a tattoo is given. I then ask, "Where is your mother?????" She points to the lady doing my pedicure, who has seemed oblivious to our conversation. I asked her mom something and the little girl says, "She don't speak no English, she only speak Vietnamese." No kidding, I figured that out when I told her she was hurting my feet and she just kept at it until 3 of my toes were bleeding. In the end the girl confessed to just be teasing us about the tattoos, thank goodness. Needless to say it was quite an interesting, and expensive trip by the time we were through at the nail salon. And Shasta is still picking wax out of her ring.

On Sunday we decided to take a little drive down to the George Bush Library. We got in a little car accident on the way. This poor little Chinese family hit into us.............. that is to say that they hit into us AFTER we ran a red light. This was their car.

And here is the damage to our rental car. There is seriously something to be said about driving around a big gas guzzling car.

The way their streets are set up is confusing. Their light rail system runs down the center of the streets and the train stations are in the middle of the road blocking your view and when you want to make a left turn you have to drive on the train tracks. There is also a completely separate light for the left turn. We found all this out AFTER our wreck. I don't know if you can tell from the picture but it's a little confusing. I guess there have been hundreds of wrecks, literally hundreds, because of how confusing it is. The police don't even come for them because there are so many. But the passenger of the Chinese family was really upset and in shock, so the police and ambulance and a firetruck all came to check her out. In the end, no one was hurt and no one was issued a ticket. After the tow truck hauled off the Honda, we hopped in our car and we went on our way.

Because of the long delay at the accident, we didn't have much time to spend at the George Bush Library. It was really neat though.

They had his car that he used to ride in.

There were all kinds of photos and clothing and memorabilia.

They had his personal boat that they would take fishing and all kinds of things from the war. They had Manuel Noriega's mug shot and the hand cuffs that were used to extradite him to the States. There was a body target of President Bush full of bullet holes that the enemy used to target practice with. There were a lot of his personal photos and other personal things from Camp David and such places on display

This is an exact replica of the Oval Office. It was the same dementions and set up with the photos in the same order and everything. Sadly my pictures aren't great because we couldn't use a flash in the Library at all but it was really neat to see.

On Monday we decided to go to the Johnson Space Center in Houston.

"Houston, we have a problem..." Travis decided once we got there that he didn't want to see it after all. He was afraid that it was more focused toward kids. So we left.

Then he got R E A L L Y hyper! He honked and laughed at people all the way back to the hotel. He was making me laugh so hard!

This was a really fun trip! I loved Houston! The games were fun and the restaurants and sightseeing were awesome!

A Pit of Snakes...

2011-03-31T22:08:00.001-07:00

A pit of snakes..... Yes, a PIT of snakes!

I have a river behind my house and also some wet lands to the side of it. So we get water snakes. Today all the kids in the neighborhood were out searching for snakes. My neighbors have an unfinished backyard. There is this area with a retaining wall built up around it and a section of it is dug out. The kids put all 16 snakes in the pit.

They were so gross. I hate snakes. The mother of the house where the snakes were put was so upset about it. She was totally creeped out. I was just thankful they weren't at my house!

My New Years Resolution (better late than never...)

2011-03-29T18:57:00.000-07:00

I have finally come up with a New Year's resolution. I have decided to change out everything in my wardrobe that does not contain spandex in some way. I am switching out all of my jeans to elastic waist pants. I don't care if people think I look like a grandma. I don't care if people think I am a sloppy woman because I will be wearing nothing but tee shirts. I don't care if people look at me funny because I will be wearing stretchy biker type shorts all summer long. I don't care what people think. My resolution is to be comfortable!

Look out elastic waist pants....... Here I come!

Maple Mountain Dance Competition

2011-03-27T15:54:00.000-07:00

Sidney had a dance competition yesterday. Her team took first place in one dance and third place in their second dance. Her dance company took high point which means they placed first overall.

The girls hate these costumes and I think they are so cute. I love the colors. The look great on stage.

This is the dance that they placed first in.

Sidney is on the far left in both pictures.

Triple Crown Tournament

2011-03-21T21:11:00.000-07:00

Jens' baseball team had a tournament in Phoenix this past weekend. We left on Wednesday and came back home on Sunday. It was a horribly long car ride! Molly only got carsick once. She puked two times and was fine the rest of the time. She is my little carsick girl. I always have a cup or a bag of some kind at all times!

We played our first two games on Friday. We played two teams, both from California and funny enough, they were both called Longhorns. We lost to both teams! Must have been something to do with the name....... or the state!

On Saturday we played our first game against a team from Texas called Pro Source Athletics. It was a long hard game. We played 9 innings and finally ended up beating them and went to play the rest of our games at the Big League Dreams Park.

The Big League Dreams Park was really cool! I liked it just as much, if not more than Cooperstown Dreams Park in New York

All the fields were replicas of major league fields. There was an Angel Stadium, Yankee Stadium, Fenway Park, Wrigley Field, and several others.

We played on Sportsman's Park which is where the Cardinals play.

We played a team called the Vandals from Arizona.

This kid was sliding back to first base. Colton caught the ball and dove after him and got him out. It was a great play.

Jens hitting a hard ball to center field.

We beat the Vandals and played our third game of the day against a team from Pasadena, California called Play Hard. (dumb name huh!)

I know this picture is terribly blurry but this was a great catch! Jens caught a line drive to first to get an out.

Our boys were simply exhausted from the long day and we ended up losing to Play Hard. This was a single elimination tournament so we were out but our boys played great!

We were able to visit our great friends Mark and Allison while we were there. Sidney and Cade stayed with them instead of the hotel. Their house was much cooler!!! Our kids played together everyday and they loved it.

On our last night there, Cade stayed with us at the hotel. We had been at HOT ballparks all day and we were all exhausted. Cade fell into bed! He was so tired. I looked down at his feet and about died! They were FILTHY!

On our way down, Jeff was in some kind of mad rush to get there. We were lucky to have bathroom and food breaks on our 11 hour car ride. We drove over Hoover Dam. I have never seen it and he didn't stop! We flew over the bridge at about 87 miles an hour. I hardly even realized where we were before it was gone. I was so mad. Then we drove through this really neat Joshua Tree National Forrest. Bazillions of Joshua Trees! They were so cool! He wouldn't stop. I was so mad. Then we went through this place with MILLIONS of huge cactus's all over. Again he wouldn't stop and again, I was so mad! So on our way home, I drove! We took a different route so our scenery was different but by dang I was going to get some pictures!!! These are the type of cactus's that we saw on our way out but they were few and far between compared to the other place.

The red rock was so neat.

The desert really is pretty.

We drove over this bridge called Navajo Bridge. The bridge pictured is the one you drive over and then there is another one for you to walk out on. It is 467 feet above the water. We were so high! Can you see that white speck on the left side of the bridge? That is a car driving along the bridge. It gives you an idea of how big and how high this bridge was.

Jeff was so irritated with me stopping. He said he was allotting us 5 minutes to see the place!!! Turned out to be more like 3 minutes on the bridge and 3 minutes in the bathroom. And then he wanted back on the road!

Then he refused to let me drive anymore!

So sadly, the pictures stop here. But it was a great trip!

(*Note to self: Never Ever take a road trip with husband)

What to do about Jens........

2011-03-14T12:13:00.000-07:00

My oldest son Jens is one of the sweetest kids you will ever meet. He is thoughtful, considerate of others, mature WAY beyond his years and he LOVES donuts!

However, he is also the messiest child I have ever known! He is a huge procrastinator and hates to clean his room. For a couple of days I have been telling him to go and clean it. He will slump his shoulders, drop his head and say, "FINE!". Then he saunters off downstairs to "clean". Well today I went down there and actually walked inside of his room, as opposed to just walking by. Here is what I found. Keep in mind that he has been spending an hour or so a day supposedly cleaning this pig pen.

His bed is neatly made............. with piles and piles of crap on top of it. No wonder he has been wanting to sleep upstairs with Cade. I thought maybe it was too cold down there or something. Oh no, it has been because he physically can not get into the bed without work.

He has his BB gun laying out on his bed. A big NO NO in my house. It is supposed to be locked in the safe. He has his Boy Scout merit badge papers all over the floor from his Pow Wow on Saturday. His garbage has thrown it's self up all over the floor. And do you see the shirts in plastic sticking out from under his bed? Yeah, that's his dry cleaning!!!!!!

He has more hats and jackets hanging on his bed posts than I care to count.

He has so much CLEAN laundry laying on the floor that he can't even close his closet doors. Not to mention the clean laundry (that he was too lazy to hang up) that he has stuffed onto his closet shelves.

My friend Jamie said that she makes her boys give her one hour of work for every day that their room is messy. I thought that was a GREAT idea! So I closed his bedroom door and I made a little "NOTICE" sign and hung it on his door.

I love my Jensy but I know better. This sign will help, but I am sure that I can look forward to lots and lots and lots of extra housework out of him.

5th Grade Science Fair

2011-03-11T20:59:00.001-08:00

Sidney had her science fair yesterday and today. My mother in law had sent me an email a long time ago about a science fair project about microwaved water. Two identical plants were purchased on the same day. Each one was given the same amount of sunlight. The only difference between the two was in the watering. We took equal parts of water. One part was boiled on the stove and the other part was boiled in a microwave safe container in the microwave. We watered the plants with the water after it had cooled completely. In the email, the microwaved water plant was totally dead within 9 days. We watered our plants for a month and nothing happened. So we really didn't get the neat effect we were hoping for but at least I can feel fine about using my microwave. (not like I would have quit using it anyway!!!)

Sidney with some of her BFF's: Gracie and Hannah

Cade's Disneyland Trip

2011-03-07T09:42:00.000-08:00

Jeff is always away traveling somewhere for his work it seems like. So to make it a little funner for the kids, he occasionally takes one of them with him if he is going to be somewhere stateside. This time it was Cade's turn. Jeff had some business in Anaheim, CA so he decided to take Cade along and spend a day at Disneyland. He told Cade about the trip 2 days before they were supposed to leave and he was SO excited that he could hardly wait the two days.

He went swimming everyday. The first week in March is not too warm yet, even for California but it sure felt warm enough to them coming from snow. So they had the pool to themselves.

Disneyland was so empty. They went on Pirates of the Caribbean 3 times in a row without even getting off because no one was in line. No lines at the Haunted Mansion, Tea Cups, Tower of Terror, Grizzly Rapids, hardly anywhere. The longest they waited anywhere was about 20 minutes.

DINNER! Compliments of Jeff!

He loved being able to drive in Autotopia.

He had such a great time! He can't hardly wait until his turn rolls around again.

Sloppy Joe's

2011-03-03T12:33:00.000-08:00

My plan today was to make sloppy joe's for dinner. But today has been such a cold and rainy day that I decided I didn't want to wait until dinner for them. So I made them for lunch. Growing up my mom always just used Manwich.

Four letters: Y U C K!

Sorry mom, but I don't like Manwich. I never knew anything but so it didn't matter then. In fact, I didn't even know that you could make sloppy joe's from scratch. Dumb girl I know! I always make my mother in law's recipe now. I love them. So I figured I would pass the recipe along just in case there were some other naive people in the world besides me.

2 pounds ground beef

1 onion - chopped

*Brown together

1 cup tomato sauce

1/2 cup ketchup

3 tbsp brown sugar

2 tbsp white vinegar

1 tbsp mustard

1 tbsp worcheshire sauce

*Add all ingredients to the meat and heat through. So simple yet delicious!

Chicken Enchiladas

2011-02-28T10:03:00.000-08:00

I love creamy, cheesy comfort food! But who doesn't? This is my mother in law's recipe and I love it! I have been making it for years and everyone who eats them comments on how yummy they are. You gotta try them!

*In a large bowl mix together:

16 ounces of sour cream

2 cans of cream of mushroom soup

4 ounces of mild, diced green chili's

3 green onions and tops - diced

3/4 cup grated cheese

cooked and cubed chicken - about 3 breasts

I don't know why but I forgot to take a picture of the mixture. Use your imagination!

1 package of tortillas - set aside

You can use the pre-cooked kind of tortillas but I prefer to buy fresh, uncooked ones. You can find them in the refrigerated section usually by the lunch meat or cream cheese or somewhere like that. You take them home and you cook them in a fry pan or on a griddle for about 30 seconds on each side. They are 10 times better than the pre-cooked kind!

I cheat a lot of the time too and I just buy a cooked rotisserie chicken from the deli at the grocery store rather than cooking the chicken for the enchiladas. I pull off the meat from the breasts and some from the legs. It's plenty of chicken.

*After you have cooked the tortillas, put a couple of hearty spoonful's on one side of the tortilla, roll it up and lay it in your greased baking dish.

*After you have filled your dish with tortillas, spread the remainder of the chicken, sour cream mixture on top of the tortillas.

*Then sprinkle with a little more cheese. Bake on 350 for about 25 to 30 minutes. ENJOY!

Super cute, super easy flower clips

2011-02-23T11:24:00.001-08:00

While we were stuck inside the house during the rainstorms (while we were supposed to be at baseball games.......) Shasta had us make these cute flower barrettes. They are so easy and super cute!

You start out with fabric that is 100% polyester. Very important! 100%POLYESTER. Any thing else will burn rather than melt.

*Cut out 6 circles in graduated sizes. Two of each size. We just used cups and juice lids as guides. Lightly trace around each size with a pen and cut them out.

*Take each circle and cut slits about 1/2 to 3/4 of an inch deep all the way around. You can space each slit wider or closer together. Whatever you like. Closer ones will look more like a mum and further spread out ones will look more like peony when you have your end product.

*Hold the circle over a flame or use an embossing tool to melt the edges. They will melt QUICKLY! Melt all the way around the circle.

*Start with one of the largest circles laying flat, put a dab of hot glue in the middle and stick the next biggest circle on top. Then glue the middle two and then the smallest two.

*Then when you get to the top one, put one last dab of glue in the middle and drop a small cluster of pearls on top. You could also glue a jewel, a button or whatever else you like or have on hand.

*You don't have to but if you glue a piece of felt or some other similar fabric to the back of the flower, it will be more sturdy.

*Take a clip (I like these ones that have a wider more flat surface) and glue ribbon to it and then glue the ribbon covered clip to the back of the flower. They would also be really cute glued to a headband.

And Wha Lah!!! There you have it! I made several of them in no time!

All of these items are available at places such as Jo Ann's Fabric's and Crafts or Hobby Lobby and places like that.

President's Day Tournament

2011-02-22T20:56:00.000-08:00

Jens had a baseball tournament in St. George this past weekend. It was supposed to go from Friday to Monday. We played 2 games on Friday and the rest of the tournament was cancelled because the weather was so rainy. The WHOLE tournament -- Cancelled!

We lost the first game to a team that is one of the best one's in the state. We didn't give up any runs though. All 4 of their points were made on errors so I can't feel too bad.

We won our second game by 12 so we were feeling great about that.

Even though the tournament was cancelled and we spent most of our time indoors, we still had a fun weekend. Going out to dinner, museums, swimming and shopping.