When friends come to town

It's always fun when friends come to town.

Too bad I didn't get any pictures with the kids and our friends.

Oops!

Daniel, Jared, and Sara riding the elephant sculpture at the zoo.

Oh no! Sara's out of bread for the ducks.

Grandparent visit

Grandpa and Granny Flores stopped in the weekend. It was so nice to see them. The kids had a blast!! Of course, Bryan and I were able to slip up to Mesa and attend a temple sealing of a family in our ward. Another one of the "perks" of Bryan's calling, gotta love it!!

Thanks Grandpa & Granny Flores for watching the kiddos!!

Stumped

I'm sad to report that our beloved ash trees have passed away. One of the things that first caught our eye about this house were the trees. Well, ash trees have rather hard wood, commonly used to make tool handles, bows, baseball bats, etc. Thus said the removal of stump #1 was no easy task. Bryan and Zach really went to work on it. Darryl and his chain saw came over to lend a hand but it wasn't until our home teacher and his father stopped by that the stump decided to budge. That was one tough stump!! In a couple of weeks, the process will begin again with stump #2.

Spring Carnival

Once again the carnival committee did an amazing job with this year's event!! Everyone had a wonderful time. Of course, our favorite performance of the night was the 3rd grade show.

Daniel we're so proud of you!!

Sara loved clapping for all the performers!

Cake Walk

We saw some really great cakes at the cub scout blue and gold banquet. They were inspiring! So, I decided once again to attempt craftiness and mimic one of the cakes we saw at the banquet. What do think? We certainly had fun putting it all together. So much fun that we made two!

Check out Family Fun for the recipe.

Auction Items

Okay, so this year for the school carnival's silent auction I thought I'd attempt to be crafty. Scary, I know but what can I say, we like livin' on the edge!

a few supplies & a couple of hours later....

...the finished products!

Happy Birthday Dr. Seuss!!

Cub Scout Blue & Gold Banquet

We had a great time at this year's

Cub Scout Blue & Gold Banquet.

Daniel earned another bead towards his rank of wolf.

The scouts singing a fun rendition of "Do your ears hang low?"

Daniel chose to display his quarter collection and marble collection.

Daniel made a batman out of black beans and lentils.

Part way through dinner, Sara decided to "adopt" herself into another family. She picked up her plate and relocated into Carrie's lap. Sara simply adores Carrie and Tarin.

The leaders did an amazing job with the decorations. Wow!! It really felt like we were transported back in time and stepped into an old fashion fair. If you have a minute stop by Camille's blog for better pictures of the decorations. They really were amazing!

New Background

Daniel picked out our new blog background.

What do you think?

The Princess is 2!

Sara spent most of the day in her favorite pink princess dress, pink crown, click-clack shoes, and toting her pink blanket. Was she a sight to behold! Bryan came home early from work so we could sing "Happy Birthday" and enjoy Sara's cupcake tree before heading out to the church social.

Happy Birthday Princess!!!

WE LOVE YOU!!

Disclaimer: Don't look to close at the cupcake tree or you'll see the disfigured cupcakes she sampled before I was done frosting!

Check out our pretty princess!!

She did a fantastic job of blowing out her candles

without any help!

Hmmm.....Yummy!

Daniel checks out Sara's new Dora DVD

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!!!