Sweet Strawberries

Chocolate-covered strawberries for your kids to eat for their afternoon snack: one of the many perks of having a pastry-chef as your next-door neighbor. Thanks, Natalie!

Signs of Spring

It must be spring because my allergies have begun their annual assault on my head. Also, on a sweeter note, there are many tender sights to behold: Kids catching bees and other bugs (don't worry, we have a catch and release system at our house, especially for the bees), BBQ's in the backyard, pretty little flowers in the front yard, and my boys playing in the hose even though it's not really warm enough yet...

Jaime's Birthday Bash

Happy Birthday to my baby sister! 27 years old! That makes me... well, older. We had a great celebration at my parents' house with all the kids, grandkids, and even a couple of neighbor boys. I love Jaime so much! I gave her a pair of cute Vans, supporting her shoe habit... she always has the cutest! Hope your b-day was fab, Jaime! You deserve it!

Also, thanks to Mom who provided an excellent Family Night lesson about recognizing the hand of the Lord in our everyday lives, as President Eyring counseled in last October's General Conference. It is easy, as Mom pointed out, to see blessings in our lives as chance, luck, or even due to our own fabulous skills. We listed some of the great things that have happened in the lives of our family members this year, and it was truly humbling to realize how much we are watched over and cared for, even down to the little details in our lives. My #1 blessing: family of course.

Gramma Linda Visits

We had the good fortune of a visit from Gramma Linda this weekend. She did her traditional spoiling of the kids (and adults) while she was here, and many adventures were had. It is always fun to have her stay. We know she loves Logan and secretly wants to move here! (Especially when we compare weather patterns between Bellingham and Logan in the spring!) She is so much fun to be around, and takes such good care of us. Thank you, Linda! See you again at the baby's blessing, we hope!

Bend it Like Bennett

He is having SO MUCH FUN!
(We had to have a tiny talk about not chanting the score out loud when your team is winning 10-1.)

Maternal Glow? Nope, Computer-Generated Glow.

Hey, everyone, you may have noticed on my blog that the countdown is on.  I have 3 weeks left until my due date.  I thought I would post a photo in honor of the occasion.  I took it with our photo booth application, and used the "GLOW" setting.  You know, because pregnant women glow.  Ha!  So they say.  I just liked the glow effect because it is pretty blurry and hides a lot.  :)  Really, we are getting so  excited to meet the little man.

Today I Gained 10 lbs.

Okay, so I've been eating a lot lately. Today was no exception. In fact, I think I ate more today than any other day I can remember. I'm kind of in a carb coma tonight. It's awesome.

My dear friend Becca came up all the way from Cedar Hills to teach me how to make bread. She knows I have great fears of making my own bread, but I really want to do it. She showed me how to make not just bread, but fancy sandwich braids, cinnamon twists and rolls. She also brought gifts: a massive bag of Lehi Roller Mills bread flour, SAF yeast, liquid lecithin, and some kitchen implements to help make my experience a good one. (Did you know a putty knife is a very handy bread cutter?) Seriously, what a great gift. She called it a "baby gift." With my last baby she gave me 2 really nice bras from Victoria's Secret, where she worked at the time. Becca is a great baby-gift giver. So anyway, we had the BEST day together. In under 2 hours Becca had given me quality instruction on baking all these tasty items, as well as making a glaze for the cinnamon twists and the most divine honeybutter for the rolls. Our kids played happily the whole time. Jake ate about 5 popsicles. Kiki ate sand. Bennett begged and begged for Kate to be able to sleep over tonight, and can't wait to see her again.

In the middle of the fun, sweet Aundi came over with onseies for the new little one. It was so fun to see you, Aundi. You are the cutest. Thanks for being my friend, and have fun on the Jersey shore this summer!

So, it was a great day. I just can't believe how much I have eaten, and yet the rolls and honey butter are still calling me... I better just go to bed!

Love you, Becca. Thanks for a WONDERFUL day!

Cache Valley Food Production Tour

Wednesday we went with Kate and Andy and all the kids on a driving tour of food manufacturers of Northern Utah. First, though, we started out with a stop for dinner at a greasy spoon-typed locals only place, L.D.'s Restaurant in Richmond. It was great. The kids shredded napkins, spilled drinks, played with the fake deer and rabbits display in the window, and surprised us by eating almost all their food. Good job, kids. Then Andy ordered an entire bowl of beets after the waitress wouldn't give him the salad that was supposed to come with his rib dinner. Jason ate "tots" and chili, and Kate and I had burgers. It was delicious, I have to say. Bennett and Owen were dying to play pool until they saw who was hanging out back in the pool room. The patrons that hang out in the back of the restaurant are big, rough looking guys who don't take kindly to strangers. So we left. On to our second stop: Pepperidge Farm, home of the Milano cookie and Goldfish crackers. The kids cleaned out the samples in about 2 seconds. We stocked up on the previously mentioned items, and then headed for our final destination: Casper's Ice Cream. YUM. We all got ice cream, and then Andy surprised us by buying us a HUGE box of Fat Boys, which are made at Casper's along with Casco bars. As you might guess, we were pretty sick after our evening of eating. But it was so fun!!!!!!!!!

Happy Birthday, Aunt Cami!

We had a little birthday shin-dig for my sister, Cami at Andy & Kate's new place in Smithfield on Sunday. I can't even tell you how many of my mom's chicken enchiladas I ate that day. Yum. The kids had a great time on the trampoline, and Jake mostly hung out on the back steps. Clara hung out with him for awhile. I LOVE my family! We love you, Aunt Cami! Happy birthday! You are awesome!

Willow Park Zoo

Saturday we took advantage of the good weather and headed out to the little zoo in town. It was really exciting because the zoo actually acquired some exotic animals this year. Monkeys! But we still enjoyed seeing all the varieties of ducks, geese, swans, more birds, more birds and turtles. There is a loud parrot that says, "Hello," which the kids thought was very cool.

Daddy's Boy

Jason is on an overnight work trip in Denver. He called to tell the boys goodnight, and as soon as he hung up Bennett started to cry. He asked for a picture of Jason to keep with him, which I found and gave him. Later, I put my arm around him while he was falling asleep, and found that he had the photo of Jason tucked inside his shirt, next to his heart. Awww. I'm getting all teary just thinking about it!

Bike Posse

Today we woke up to snow on the ground, but by this afternoon we were riding bikes around the block. That's April in Cache Valley! Here's a pic of the "gang." My nephew, Jack is staying over tonight. We didn't have his bike, of course, but he kept up with no problem on the scooter. While following along behind them, I realized that if Jake decides to follow in Owen's footsteps, he'll be riding a bike this summer or fall. I can't believe it! For those of you who don't know, Owen started riding a bike with no training wheels when he was 2 and a half. True. I have photos and video. The kid is crazy!

Nesting.

So apparently I am reaching that "nesting" phase of pregnancy. I have been cleaning... washing windows and windowsills, etc. This is very unlike me, as many of you know. Yesterday was cold, but the sun was shining in through the newly cleaned windows as I worked to clean up Jake's (soon to be baby's) room. The boys like to follow me into whatever room I'm in and mess up whatever I've just cleaned. So rather than get upset, I decided to help them out. We made some sweet forts.

Bummer Mifflin

All I can say is, what a letdown.  And to think Jaime and Tyler got Costa Vida in honor of the occasion.  Even Jim and Pam couldn't save things tonight!  Better luck next week?  Somebody let me know.

What are You Watching Tonight??

All in a Day's Work

Today I spent several hours in the yard, trying to get things under control and ready to plant our garden. I was totally amazed at how much I was able to get done. In one day, our Mittleider beds were cleaned out, soil turned and raked. We love the Mittleider method!

Above, you will see last year's garden sitting by the street, ready to be hauled away by the city of Logan. And below, a magnificent sight: the beds, all cleaned out and ready for it to warm up enough to plant. Most of the neighborhood was out today, working in their yards. This meant that all the kids on the street played together, running from yard to yard for hours, but mostly hanging out on the trampoline a few doors up. I think Bennett and Owen played on the trampoline for at least 2 hours straight!

*A special thanks to Julie, who helped me cut down all the twine from last year's trellises, a job that required squatting down low, which can be very painful for a woman of my size.
Here's this year's garden...
Hello, little jalapenos!
These are the beans, Cinderella pumpkins, watermelon, cantaloupe, etc...

Good Patient

Here's a photo Jason permitted me to take with his phone in the recovery room at the hospital after his tonsilectomy last Friday. He actually looked great. It might have just been because of the nice tan he got while visiting Jules in Florida last week, but he looked good. He was munching on ice chips and drinking grape juice. I was highly impressed. He continues to be a good patient at home, except that he is working too much. I knew he was going to be okay when he ate one of my Mom's chocolate chip cookies Saturday night.

For those interested, I have photos of his tonsils, both before and after they were removed if you would like to see more. And for those of you who are REALLY interested, like my brother and sis-in-law, Andy and Kate, come on over to watch the MOVIE of the procedure. Eeeew.

Jason really surprised me by wanting to go with me into Wal-Mart to pick up his prescriptions on our way home from the hospital. His reason: to drive a Jazzy in the store. Keep in mind this was just a few hours after his surgery. We stocked up on popsicles and ice cream-type items, along with a jug- no really- a jug of Oxycodone.