Back to School Dinner...

Saturday the kids and I went down to Ephraim for a "Back to School" dinner my mom planned. We had steak, scones, salad, and drumsticks for dessert. Jamie arrived early and saw that there was no bread dough rising for the scones. My mom didn't know if she wanted to make them so she teased her that that would be "false advertising," so she happily made them. By the way, I promise my feet are not dirty... they are just really tan, I guess I need to do a better job putting sunscreen on my feet next Summer!

Shalane and Jamison

Avery has recently taken to Justin! She comes right up to him and just sits on his lap... so cute. She has become really affectionate and loves anyone that will let her sit on their lap or will hold her hand.

Shawn meeting Scarlett for the first time.

Jamie modeling the latest fall accessory... a nursing cover :) Have you gotten yours yet?

Papa cooked us all up some mean steaks... to our liking-some more well, others more raw :)

Nana making yummy homemade scones... as always, they were a hit and we actually ran out this time.

Everybody enjoyed dinner... all of the kids even had steak. How spoiled can they be?

The kids got to grab for nickels again just like they did back in March. Maddy and Dallin tied grabbing the most-both $2.10

I chopped Maddy's head off in that first picture so I made him pretend to do a do-over haha!

Nana made sure Avery got a big handful!

My mom surprised us all and had put together a little school kit for each child that included a notebook, scissors, ruler, markers and colored pencils all in a container. The kids loved them and spent the remainder of the evening coloring (and have used them every day since.) Thanks so much mom!

Maddy coloring away...

The girls especially loved their Hello Kitty notebooks!

I have learned to bring the kids PJ's because they ALWAYS fall asleep on the way home. They fell asleep real quick this time and I had a long quiet drive to think about life and all that kind of stuff.

Before leaving there were lots of hugs...

... and of course kisses...

Thanks Mom and Dad for planning such a wonderful evening. The food was the best and you spoiled the kids as usual! We love you!

P.S. My brother Justin and a long time friend of his were also there.

Saturday 9/10/11

Water Fight...

Last Saturday the kids and I went over to Jamie's house. After the kids were tired of playing inside Ben turned on the sprinklers and filled up some water balloons for them. They had a fun time...

We also stayed and had "breakfast" for dinner... yummy ham, cheese and veggie omelette's and pancakes :)

Thanks for having us Jamie!

Saturday 8/27/11

Coloring Easter Eggs...

My sisters Jamie and Stacy (and kiddos of course) came over on Friday to color Easter Eggs. As always good times were had...

I forgot to have one of my sisters take a picture of my kids and I before they left, so this was my best attempt at a self portrait...

Friday 4/22/11

March Get Together...

We had our March family get together at my parents house on Saturday. All of my siblings (and families) made it except Jennifer (who lives in Texas) and Stacy's husband Justin. My parents made Navajo tacos, which is a family favorite. We used to have them a lot growing up. They make homemade scones and have all the fixings to put on top... it is so yummy! There was also chips and salsa (our favorite from a local restaurant) and fresh fruit. The good thing about scones is they make the perfect dessert as well... homemade strawberry freezer jam, honey butter or whatever you'd like on them (in my niece Claire's case it was whipping cream and sprinkles.) They also offered several different kinds of ice cream but I think everyone was pretty full at that point. Of course the kids didn't turn down Creamies :)

My Dad showing Jamison (Shalane's boyfriend) his gun... I think he did this with all of us girls while we were dating growing up. But if you know my Dad at all you know he's not really a very intimidating guy... I think he uses it more as a bonding experience :)

After everyone had full tummies, we all just hung out and then my parents let the kids grab for money. We used to do this as well growing up. We all loved it! How ever much money you could grab with one hand you got to keep...

The kids faces lit right up when they found out they got to do this and KEEP the money. This time it was a bowl of nickels... Maddy made out with $2.30

Avery $1.10...

Stacy did a pretty good job of getting somewhat candid pictures of everyone there...

Jamie just found out a few days ago that she's having another girl... we are so excited!

Ben usually sneaks away to take a nap... doesn't he look so cute all curled up in a pink teddy bear blanket!?! HA!

Dallin, being the oldest grandchild there of course got the most money... $3+

My parents & my niece Claire.

Lola

Stacy & Cole

Jace

My brother Shawn... can you tell where he stopped along the way???

My sister Shalane (and boyfriend Jamison) and my brother Justin

Nana & Avery

Thanks for having us Mom and Dad! The food was super yummy and we enjoyed spending time as a family!

Saturday 3/26/11

Valentines Cupcakes...

Last Wednesday my sisters (Jamie & Stacy) and I got together at Jamie's house for a playdate. In the spirit of Valentines Day Jamie made Red Velvet cupcakes for the kids to decorate. Of course they had lots of fun decorating (and eating) them. Us big girls had lots of fun catching up... It'd been a while.

Thanks Jamie for having us and making the cupcakes!

Wednesday 2/9/11

Brunch with a Witch...

Saturday the kids and I were invited to "Brunch with a Witch" hosted by my sister "Grissel" the Witch. It was so much fun and Grissel stayed in character the whole time. At first the kids weren't sure what to think of her cackle or the whole thing but eventually had a fun time.

Grissel's house and table were decorated all festive and all the kids had their own setting at the table with some kind of gooey body part or creature for their appetizer... Maddy had a bloody ear and Avery had a spider and fly. Now on to the main course...

Spider web pancakes with accompanying (chocolate) spider.

Skeleton bacon and eggs. We also had some "orange" potion to drink and lots of magic fruit.

Avery was still a bit confused by it all and refused to smile for the camera. She is also very focused when she has food in front of her.

Maddy ended up coming down with a stomach bug and wasn't feeling well and didn't want to smile either.

Sibling picture... just missing Jen and Justin.

(Shawn, Shalane, Stacy, Jamie, Me)

After all bellies were full Grissel invited the kids over to her cauldron so they could fish out a surprise...

She also let them guess how many gooey treats in the jar... winner takes all (at least that was the plan-LOL!)

The kids watching Curious George while Uncle Shawn also read them "Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark" (the same one's we loved hearing Miss Erickson read to us in Elementary School) while Grissel's potions seemed to be setting in...

One seemed especially sensitive to the potion and fell into slumber almost immediately...

Thanks Jamie for a fun brunch and getting us into the Halloween Spirit... can't wait until next year-you are awesome!

Saturday 10/9/10