More Valentine Fun

There's something about chocolate

that always brings a smile to Sara's face.

Daniel with his valentines from Dad & Mom.

Jared showing off his valentines from Dad & Mom.

Bryan meet with a lovely surprise when

he reached his office at the church.

The activity day girls had decorated his door.

Each girl wrote a little message to Bryan.

This is definitely one of the perks of his calling!

Happy Valentine's Day

We love playing with food so I thought it might be fun

to surprise the kiddos with heart shaped pizza.

They loved it!

Bryan got tickets for us to see The Broadway Tenors
perform with the city symphony orchestra.

Ooohhh! What a fun night!
I loved every minute of the performance.

Thanks sweetheart! You're the best!!!

Don't they look yummy?

Cutting peperoni into heart shapes was no easy task.

...VERY MESSY...

But the look on the boys face made it all worth it!

I have the best hubby!!

Thanks Marcie & Dale for taking our kiddos TOTALLY at the last minute!

You're lifesavers!!

Homemade Valentines

Last year for Valentine's Day we made crayon hearts so this year we thought we'd try something different. The boys and I made little chocolate candies in the shapes of hearts, roses, fish, and coins. We enjoyed a fun couple of days with dipping chocolate and decorating Valentine cards. The Valentine packages were so cute, too bad I forgot to take a picture of the finished packages. Oops! Sara, of course, discovered the chocolates and put her 'Swiper' skills to work, snitching the chocolate every chance she got!

Jared hard at work decorating his valentine cards.

Daniel checking his list while

Mom fills little bags with chocolates.

Chocolates for Daniel's classsmates.

Our little chocolate taster!

Snow?

This morning we woke up to quite a sight....

Snow!!

Before heading off to school the boys and
Collin (a friend) had some fun in the backyard.

Jared, Daniel & Collin in front of our citrus tree.

Daniel on a snow-laden trampoline.

Poor Jared, he's SO cold. Brrrr!

Haircut

Sara had a her first haircut!!

Of course, she had a wonderful time

and confirmed our suspicion...

Sara is a girlie girl.

Sara was laughing and having a grand 'ol time with C.C.

Aren't kids suppose to be nightmares during their first haircut? I guess Sara didn't get the memo.

Sara loved the yummy candy C.C. rewarded her with for sitting so well.

Thanks C.C. for making Sara's first haircut so much fun!

A Playdate

Sara had a little friend over for a playdate

and they played so well together.

Don't these two little gals look just so cute?

They had a lot of fun checking out our neighbor's navitity.

A Pumpkin Pick Me Up

I received such a pleasant surprise this morning!!

My doorbell rang and I was greeted by a sweet gal with a delicious plateful of pumpkin bars. Yum!

Thanks Laura!! You totally made my day!!


For the recipe check out Laura's blog.

Autumn Kids Fun Run

The boys participated in their first kids fun run. We certainly hope this starts a love of life long health and fitness.

Way to go boys!! We're so proud of you!!

Daniel & Jared ready and eager for their race.

Our little fitness gurus in the making!

Jared at the finish line

One of the parents labeled Jared as the kid to beat in the next race!

Daniel just after crossing the finish line

Can you tell he loves it when Mom takes pictures? NOT!

I thought the little guy on the ground was hilarious, very dramatic!

Jared & Daniel after the race enjoying their ribbons.

Dinner in a Pumpkin

We enjoyed another very yummy dinner in a pumpkin!!

Thanks for sharing your recipe Eva!

Pumpkin Stew

A Taste of Home, Dec 2005

2 lbs beef stew meat, cubed

3 Tbsp vegetable oil

1 c. water

3 large potatoes, cubed

4 med. carrots, sliced

1 large green pepper, chopped

4 garlic cloves, minced

1 med. onion, chopped

2 tsp salt

1/2 tsp pepper

2 Tbsp beef bouillon

1 can diced tomatoes

1 pumpkin (10-12 lbs.)

In dutch oven, brown meat in 2 Tbsp of oil. Add water, potatoes, carrots, green pepper, garlic, onion, salt, and pepper. Cover and simmer for 2 hours. Stir in bouillon and tomatoes. Wash pumpkin; cut a 6 to 8 inch circle around top stem. Remove top and set aside; discard seeds and loose fibers from inside. Place pumpkin in a shallow sturdy baking pan. Spoon stew into pumpkin and replace the top. Brush outside of pumpkin with remaining oil. Bake at 325 degrees F. for 2 hours or just until the pumpkin is tender (do not over bake). Serve stew from pumpkin, scooping out a little pumpkin iwth eash serving.

Just Because...

On Saturday night, Bryan surprised me with these.

Why?

Just because...

I don't know how I got so lucky!

Pumpkin

I absolutely LOVE pumpkin!!

Pumpkin scented candles, pumpkin scented soap, pumpkin soup, pumpkin as a veggie, pumpkin pie, pumpkin bread, pumpkin muffins, pumpkin cookies...Yummy, yum, yum!!




So when a dear friend learned of our love for all things pumpkin, they shared their family recipe for a dinner in a pumpkin. My oh my, was it tasty indeed!!!

Halloween

We spent a fun day as a family. In the afternoon, we enjoyed attending Daniel's class fall festival. After school we carved our pumpkins and chowed some pizza before heading out for some trick or treating fun. We ended our evening by watching Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone. Scary!

Daniel & Jared are modeling their jack-o-lantern faces

A vampire, a princess, and a pirate ready to trick or treat!

Jared decided he didn't care for the pirate costume we purchased so he went digging in the dress up box and put together a pirate outfit that he liked better!

The minute Sara walked in the door, she kicked off her princess shoes and dug into her candy, wrapper and all!

Where has the time gone?

I'm not sure when it happened but our little Daniel is looking a little more grown up. He looks so smart with his glasses.


Daniel,
You will always be mommy's angel baby!
I love you!!

Another one lost

Jared came home from school today with a little itty-bitty treasure chest. Inside the treasure chest was another lost tooth.

Whoa! My baby is losing his teeth!

Cub Scout Space Derby

Daniel participated in his very first Cub Scout Space Derby.

He did a great job of sanding, shaping, gluing, and painting his rocket.
And it was a real learning experience for mom, too!

Daniel with his "golden bullet"

Getting ready to race....

Daniel's golden bullet earned BEST in the category of:

Worth Its Weight In Gold!

Way to go Daniel!!

We're so proud of you!

Gratitud

I'm grateful for....

...brotherly love

....happy children filling our home with music

...smiling faces sitting on pumpkins

...a little girl that recognizes when she's tired and puts herself down for a nap!

New Doll House

Sara LOVES the Dora the Explorer doll house!!!

Thanks Auntie Raquel!!

Going...Going....GONE

Jared lost his first tooth!!

The tooth was really bothering Jared so he asked Mom to yank it. I just didn't have the heart (rather stomach) to do it. So, Jared waited patiently until Dad got home and asked him to yank.

Dad was more than willing!!

Music

Okay so my friend put a link on her blog to some amazing cello music.

I just love the deep rich sound of a cello so I had to share it too. Enjoy!!

Click on the picture to hear the sample

Thanks Dacia!

Silly Venetian Hats

Jared & Sara

Sara & Daniel

Moments like these...

As a parent, I find myself worrying and wondering...

am I doing the right thing?

is it enough?

Then along comes a moment like this...

and I feel a peace that what we are doing as parents isn't all that bad.

Daniel & Jared working on their General Conference booklets

during the Saturday morning session



Sara playing conference bingo

(with a little help from mom & dad)

Just Because...

All aboard!!

Sara, Jared, Daniel on their way to toothbrush valley

Sara LOVES wearing momma's shoes

click-clack-click-clack

Sara hiding under the trampoline