Mamma's Helper

This is Elaina's favorite spot in our home.  Right in the middle of the kitchen counter.  She loves to sit up there and sample dinner, help stir up something, play in the sink etc.  

She loves avacodos and if you turn your back for a second- she has no problem digging it out of the shell with her teeth.  I can't blame her- avacados are divine!

Happy Birthday Babe!

Kai calls our little Laini Cakes "Babe".    It's pretty cute.  Babe- Do you want a drink?  Babe- do you want to sit by me?  Don't take my book Babe!  It cracks us up!

We can't believe this tiny ( 21 lbs) little love bug is already 2!  She is such a joy.  She doesn't say much - well at least not much that we can understand- but she sure shares a lot of love.  She knows exactly what she wants and keeps working until she gets it or is sufficiently distracted.  If she is sad- all you have to do is read her a book and she will cheer right up. 

Elaina Through the Years

1 day old

6 months old

8 months old- I just had to include this picture because anytime she was excited she would do this with her hands and I absolutely adore the motion.

1 year old

Wow!  She blesses our lives in so many ways.  We are very grateful that we get to love on her and share her beautiful life!  We love you Cupcake!

St George- Ice Breaker

Poor us!  We had to head down to sunny St. George for a soccer tournament.  The weather was perfection!  We left the 3 older boys in Farmington with their cousins.  They had fun skiing and Boondocking and playing around.  We enjoyed spreading out in the car and having a conflict free weekend! Truly!  Katry played two games on Saturday.  Won one and lost one.

Sunday we went to church- took a nap and went to the St. George temple checking out the visitor's center.  The church makes such great movies.

Kai woke up everyday for about 5 days asking if this was the day he could play mini golf.  So we loved taking him on Monday so that he could practice his swing.  He loved every second of it.  In fact he loves everything.  Hopping out of the car he will let out a Yahoo!  Going into the hotel he will bounce up and down with a yeehaw!  He has so much excitement for Life that we just can't keep the smiles off of our own faces.  What a treasure!  

Elaina even got in on the action.

Though lets be honest- her best moves were throwing the ball into the holes.

This picture cracks me up.  Kai took 28 swings to get his ball into the hole.  After which he collapses on the ground.  Elaina seizes the opportunity to swipe up all the balls.  I love the smile on her face!  Right after Kai's  infamous "28 swings" he got a hole in one.  I think he was shocked!

Katry and Kai took the Go Carts for a spin.

Then Katry played her best game of the tournament although they ended up losing.  They ended up with a third place finish.  After the game we loaded the car up as fast as we could and raced home- picking up the boys of course.  Brig had a soccer game at 8:30 and we wanted to make it if we could.  We didn't stop for lunch and we didn't stop for dinner. We got home in 7 hours and fortunately lucked out with the cops as well.  We pulled into the indoor soccer arena at 8:31!   Just in time!  It was a great sunshiny weekend!

Robot Day

For Spirit week- Katry's school had a "robot" day.

She made this darling shirt out of tape. It was soo cute!

So is she!

Accolades

These three kiddos pulled straight A's again- 7 semesters running.  For their reward they chose to eat lunch at Chik-Fil-A and watch Sherlock Holmes at the theater.  They work hard so it is fun to see them play hard.

Congrats!

Katry was the runner-up in a writing  contest.  She received $50 for her efforts.  Not bad!

Brigham was awarded the honor of being named National Honor Society Junior Class President.  Not bad at all!

Impressive!

Ski School

Our fearless skiers and snowboarders about to hit the slopes! 

Seth has gotten pretty good at snowboarding and Brig is starting to pick it up now that basketball is over and he can go.  Brigham is having a blast hanging out with his boys!

Love Fest Part II

We were so stuffed after our 4 course meal that we saved our 5th course for Valentine's Day.  My all time favorite dessert is Creme Brulee, but I had never made it before.  Turns out it was a breeze and  soooo good too!  I love the creamy crunchy'ness of it.

While enjoying dessert we created our Wall O'Love.  The kids did a great job writing down really thoughtful things.  What a treasure!  It feels great to feel so much love!  

Happy Day of Love

“God does not look on the outward appearance. I believe that He doesn’t care one bit if we live in a castle or a cottage, if we are handsome or homely, if we are famous or forgotten. Though we are incomplete, God loves us completely. Though we are imperfect, He loves us perfectly. Though we may feel lost and without compass, God’s love encompasses us completely.”

Elder Dieter F. Uchtdorf

Love Fest 2012

This year for our Love Fest we made a 5 course French meal and ate it by candlelight!

Everyone made one of the courses, which they served to us.  It was a lot of fun!

During each course we talked about one of the kids and then made a toast to them.

Kaleb made a tasty Green Bean & Tomato Vinaigrette salad with french bread.

Katry made French Onion soup.  Sooo good!

Brig's dish was the trickiest.  He made a Parisian Gnocchi with Cream and Tomatoes.

It was delicious!

Seth made an amazing Tartiflette.  Cheesy, bacony, potato goodness.

Dad grilled rib eye steak to Perfection!
For dessert we have Creme Brulee- for tonight.  We were way too full to eat it yesterday.

Of course, after the meal everyone had to see if they could stuff their fist in their mouth.

Almost caught her trying!

The most successful- ie the biggest mouth!

A Five Course meal does have its drawbacks.  The cleanup was monumental and we had used just about every pan.  Poor Seth- he was on pan duty.

It was a fantastic evening.  Full of Love!

Squish Balls

We found this idea on Pinterest and they have really been a blast to play with.

First- Make a batch of your favorite playdough.  Here is mine- it has such a nice smooth texture.  I just made the dough white since I was stuffing it into colored balloons.

1 1/2 cups of flour
3/4 cups of salt
1 1/2 cups water
1 TB vegetable oil
1/2 TB cream of tarter 
*food coloring - I use the liquid kind but I hear the gel is the best.

Mix all of the ingredients into a saucepan. Add the food coloring to your liking. - Children can help with this step

Adults only - 
Set your stove top to medium-low (about a 2.5 on a glass top stove). Stand by the pan and stir occasionally. When the batter look is gone and the ingredients start staying together when you stir (5-8 minutes), remove the pan from the heat. Lay out some wax paper and scoop play dough onto the wax paper. I can usually start kneading right away, but make sure that you check the dough for heat - you don't want to burn yourself!
Once the dough has been kneaded into a nice texture, place in an airtight container or zip lock. 

Pull open your balloon.  I used large 12 inch balloons and I thought it was easier to use 3 fingers on each hand to pull it open.

Roll dough into a snake and then stuff it into the balloon.  

Once you get it all stuffed in- squish the air out and then tie off the end.

If your balloon rips open simply remove the dough, and place it in another balloon.  As long as they are sealed they won't dry out.  We have had ours for a week and they are still going strong.

They have been a blast!

Cupcake in a Cast

Sweet Little Laini Cakes was the victim of an aggressive bounce on the trampoline.  The culprit, who feels horrible will remain nameless unless you know who Gramps implies.

Fortunately, the resident Doc had some casting materials in his bag of tricks and fixed her up nicely.

It took a couple of days but she is walking around on it more now.  Which means a little more freedom for all of us!  She is so so sweet!

Color Cast

Self Color Cast