It's been a long time. . .

I hope that everyone had a wonderful Christmas. I haven't written anything in a long time, partly because I have been COMPLETELY, ABSOLUTELY enjoying having my family home. The boys are home from school and Dylan even took time off from work to enjoy Christmas vacation with us. Another reason I haven't written is because I am simplifying my life, cutting the clutter, trimming the fat, etc. Usually, after Christmas I tend to feel down in the dumps. Not this year. This year I'm ready to take down the decorations (which, by the way, are all down except the Christmas tree) and face the year with a clean and de-cluttered house. I'm ready to face the New Year with hope that this will be an awesome year for everyone. Hope and Simplicity. Those are my new themes for the new year. Just like that Primary song that says, "I want my life to be as clean as Earth right after rain", I look forward to the fresh start of a New Year. Well, that's all I have for now. Happy New Year, everyone!

Better late than never!

As I mentioned before, we went to my niece, Ashley's, wedding in October down in Anaheim. Michael was asked to be the ring bearer, and to my surprise he really enjoyed it! Here are a few favorite shots. It was really difficult to narrow it down.
Here he is with the flower girl, Kylie. She helped bring him out of his shell a bit. I don't think she has a shy bone in her body!


This is Ashley and her new hubby, Randy. Adorable couple!


My niece, Alyssa, got Dylan out on the dance floor! I realize that all of my boys are going to need very outgoing girls to get them out on the dance floor if there ever is any hope of them dancing.


Michael cutting a rug.


One of my favorite pictures!



It's hard to believe that this beautiful little bride used to crawl around on her knees all day pretending to be a dog!


This is right after Dylan Jr. and Nathan caught Michael's eye while going down the aisle.


Three of my handsome boys. The other one did this most of the time -

Happy Birthday, little Michael.

Today Michael turns 7 years old. I can't believe that we are just one year left until he is baptized! He is still my cuddly little Michael for now, though. He was my pudgiest baby, and a very well behaved baby, too. I can still remember how, when he'd get excited or was happy, he would start spinning his little feet in circles. Each would go in the opposite direction of each other. This picture is of him dancing with the flower girl from my niece's wedding. I would never have been able to get him to do that, but for a complete stranger, he did it. Go figure! And here he is with his giant pumpkin that he had to carry back to the car, all by himself.

He still has fluffy little cheeks that I love to pinch!

Bubbles!

While we were down in Anaheim for my niece's wedding, we stayed in a place that had a jetted tub in the bathroom. What a hit it was with the boys! It may look like we added soap to the tub, but those bubbles are just from the baby-bath and shampoo that Dylan rinsed off of the boys. I would love to have a tub like that some day, but we'd have to live in some other town where the water wasn't so expensive!

Something scary . . .

I am so behind in my posting. I've been waiting for some photos to do a post of my niece's wedding that Michael was the ring bearer for, so that is still a future post. But I do have to tell you what happened to me last night. I had been in bed for about an hour, so I was pretty out of it. It was time for me to turn over, and when I turn over, I don't just roll over, I sit up a bit and then flop over. Well, as I turned over, there was Nathan. Just standing there. Beside the bed. FREAKING ME OUT! I let out some weird sound that wasn't really a full scream because I realized that it was Nathan, and not some stranger standing over me. He calmly said that he was feeling sick. Let's just say that I didn't really feel like going to sleep after that for about, oh, another TWO hours. I'm sure I looked just like this:

His Favorite Things

Lately William likes to ask us, "Who is your favorite good guy?", "Who is your favorite bad guy?", or "Who is your favorite spiderman character?", etc. Today, as I fed him a bowl of Spongebob noodle soup and watermelon, he asked me, "Who is your favorite girl?" I thought for a moment, and answered "Tinkerbell." So, I asked him, "Who is your favorite girl?" He then smiled and said, "You." He has totally, completely got me wrapped around his little finger!

This may sound a little cheesy . . .

. . .but being at the vineyard yesterday evening was a wonderfully spiritual experience. I know, like I said, cheesy. But you know, it was. I wish I had a camera to take pictures of our dusty group walking together to our last row. It sort of reminded of the scene from "Man in the Iron Mask" where the Musketeers have just been shot at in the prison. They come walking out of the smoke, a little ragged and injured a bit, but they persevere. I know, totally cheesy, but as I saw our ragged group trudge along to our extra and final row, I thought to myself, "This is what it is all about." People were enjoying friendships, families were enjoying being together, and everyone had that "put you shoulder to the wheel" mentality. I am so glad that we made it there.

Ashley's Bridal Shower

So, this last Saturday we threw a bridal shower for my niece, Ashley. I think it was a great success . . .she got lots a goodies for her new married life. I can't believe that my little niece who used to crawl around on all fours, barking like a dog, and who used to say she was going to marry Gonzo (Yes that's the blue one from the Muppets with the long nose), is getting married in October! I do have to tell one story about her before I go. Shortly after I got my driver's license, I wanted to take her to the movies. She was probably three or four years old. We went to go see "Thumbelina" and when we sat down in the theater seats, she was too tiny to keep the seat from folding up on her! She had to sit on my lap for the whole movie. Well, she hasn't gown much since then. But she will be a beautiful little bride.

California

This last Saturday we took a fun family trip up to Sequoia and Kings National Parks. It got me thinking about how many wonderful things there are about our state. On the way up we passed this beautiful citrus grove. I just love something about seeing lush green trees planted in rows on hills.

Where else can you go from seeing a beautifully kept grove of fruit trees to this?


I've spent a lot of time complaining about the state of California. It's just not the same California I grew up in. I can't tell you the number of times I've wished we could just move away and find that perfect quaint little town in a state that I felt was right to raise a family in. But I imagine that could be said of a lot of other places as well. There's so much that I wish we could change about how it is run. But for now, I've just got to think of the positive points this state has, and pray for the best.

Happy 3rd Birthday, William!

Today William turned 3, and it has been a very busy day. The start of the day wasn't too fun for him, he was a bit under the weather, but felt much better by noon. Here he is shooting his brothers with his Buzz Lightyear gun, and the other picture he is holding his mini Book of Mormon. When we bought that for him on the way home from Utah, he kept saying "I love my Book of Mornin." It kept him occupied for about half an hour! We love you, little William!

I need a panini press

All I've got to say is yummmm! Pound cake, strawberries and my new favorite, Nutella. I really need to find a panini press! I happened upon this yummy looking concoction while searching for Nutella recipes. Again, I can't claim that I came up with the idea, or that I took that delectable picture.

Examples

I don't know if any of you do this, but as I was contemplating what we should cover in Family Home Evening tonight, I started to get that overwhelmed feeling. "A talk from General Conference," I thought, then, "well, something from gospel principles would be good." Then I thought to myself, "But there are so many stories from the scriptures the younger ones haven't heard yet." My mind started reeling with the thoughts of all the things we need to teach our children, things that we need to cover before we send them off into the world on their own. Then I thought, "thank goodness for teaching by example." Not that I'm saying that I'm a good example for my children, I know that I need to be a thousand times better. But it is nice to think that the example of those around my children can help to fill in the gaps where we haven't had time to cover all we've wanted to in verbal communication to our children. Whether it has been family, primary teachers, church leaders, school teachers - I'm glad that every once in awhile someone has been a good example to my boys.

Busy, but fun, summer

I have to apologize for putting our whole summer so far into one post, but I don't get on the computer as much any more. We have been on the go quite a bit this summer. We started it out going to Yosemite the day after school got out. I would not recommend that. It was sooo crowded! But it was also beautiful weather and the falls were going full-blast.

This is where we ate lunch. There was no room at any picnic tables, but this spot was very serene.

After Yosemite, the boys and I went up to Shaver for an afternoon with grandparents and cousins. Now the boys want watercraft so they can zoom around the lake like other people we watched. We tried a little fishing, but the boys got tired of that and started throwing rocks into the lake. Then they tried throwing boulders.

Yes, they did get a little carried away there.
Here are some more shots from that trip.


Well, then we went to San Simeon for a few days, but I can't retrieve the pictures off that disc, so, oh well!
Then our last trip was to Southern Utah. It was very hot, but we got to visit some beautiful places. The two Dylans hiked, what would have been frightening for me, up to Angels Landing in Zion National Park. Here's some pictures, not taken by me, just to give you a taste of what it is like.


Yes, they hiked to the top of that. Maybe I could've done it a few years ago, but my fear of heights seems to get worse as I get older.

So much going on

So, it's been awhile. I have been enjoying my summer and have been spending a lot less time on the computer. It must have something to do with all of those articles they keep having in the Ensign about appropriate internet usage or something like that. But in order to keep grandparents up to speed with photos, I have to post every once in awhile. So here it is. Our life from the past few weeks . . .
In the last week of school I had 3 award ceremonies to attend.

Michael received all of his Kindergarten awards and is ready for first grade!

Nathan received artist of the month and an award for getting straight A's all year, which he's managed his whole school career.

Dylan got a few awards, one was for getting straight A's in his 7th grade year, which he has been able to do his whole school career. (He's got me beat. I got my first "B" in 7th grade and was devastated!)
And William has been doing this . . .

and this . . .

Yes, that is a toilet seat on his head. All I can say is thank goodness it hasn't been used yet! Oh, and that shows what he thinks about toilet training:)

I'm the mother of a teenager!

Well, today is Dylan Jr.'s 13th birthday, and it still hasn't sunk in. It seems like yesterday when he was walking through parking lots, naming every make of car. And going to Sears or Home Depot to name and study each vacuum cleaner. At least he doesn't want to grow up yet, so maybe he'll stay a kid longer instead of hitting teenage years full-stride. I often wonder, "What did I do to deserve this kid?" (Sometimes in a bad way, but most of the times I am thinking that with gratitude in my heart). Although he can be a little absent-minded sometimes, he is a very sweet and caring son and big brother. Happy Birthday, Dylan!

Michael is almost a first grader

Today Dylan and I went to Michael's Kindergarten award ceremony. At the end they sang the cutest "Little Pig" song. It was like a blues song, so it wasn't like it was sentimental or anything, but I got tears in my eyes! They just kind of snuck up on me, I wasn't feeling emotional or anything. How will I be when the boys each graduate from High school?

In search of a recipe . . .

Dylan has made some good friends at one of the medical groups he frequents. One of these women is an awesome cook. She has sent Dylan home with some out-of-this-world guacamole. It was so spicy, and it made an awesome burger. She also sent home some Pepsi chicken she made, and it was delicious. I instantly wanted more. It was also very spicy, yet had a sweet taste too. Around the holidays she makes tamales with this chicken and I am wishing we bought more than a dozen. The one problem is that she will not share her recipes, and she doesn't have any plans to open a restaurant any time soon, so I'm on the hunt. I've found several recipes for Pepsi chicken that were basically this:
PEPSI CHICKEN
Printed from COOKS.COM
1 cut-up chicken
1 stick butter
1 can Pepsi
1 (20 oz.) bottle ketchup
Salt and pepper to taste
Melt butter in electric skillet. Place chicken in skillet and pour Pepsi and ketchup over chicken. Cook at 250 degrees for 2 hours.

But, the spice is not in any of the recipes I find. I've thought about adding Cayenne chili powder to the recipe on my first attempt, but wanted to see if anyone out there had any suggestions. She might use a chili sauce instead of ketchup . . . hmm I really don't know. Any clues? Anyone?

New names

I've become my mother and my grandmother. I'm constantly getting my boys' names mixed up, and I often run through 3 wrong names before calling each by their given name. Well, ever since Dylan and Nathan were little I found it easier to just call them "Thing 1" and "Thing 2". Then "Thing 3" and "Thing 4" came along. Well, Dylan Sr. happened to be in Florida for work last week and they were having dinner at Universal Studios (I know, poor thing) where he happened to find these t-shirts. Perfect! Who would have thought they'd have things 1-4?

Just what I needed

I, just like all of you, have taught my children when they are young about opposites. Open, shut. Dark, light. Hot, cold. Well, it seems I've taught William too well about big and little. Just a minute ago, he grabbed his little diaper-clad bottom and said, "I have a little bum!" Then he came up to me and swatted my behind and said, "Mommy has a big bum!" Thankfully, he then asked, "Where is Daddy's big bum?" I replied, "Sitting at an airport, waiting to come home." At least I wasn't singled out.

a hodgepodge of things

Dylan has been missing the boys this week, so I told him I'd post some photo's. Too bad I'm not getting them done until the day he gets home;) The first is of William with his new glasses. They are a darker blue, a little more round, and to my eyes they are a little more blurry. He is a tad bit more farsighted than before. But I think he looks very cute in them.
Next is Michael. Here he is after a day of kindergarten, just plain tuckered out. But he did get to drive the swather today and cut hay out at my parents farm. He was excited that he actually steered all on his own.

Then there's Nathan. This is him after I told him to stop procrastinating and start taking notes for his Biography project on Neil Armstrong. This is his "You caught me" and "I'll do what you say, mom," smile.

Here is Dylan. I wish I had a close-up of him, but this was taken tonight at an awards ceremony honoring a few kids who were chosen out of the district for Honors Choir. He likes to dress up in a tie. I'm sure that in a few years from now, he'll be sick of it.
Well, here they are. I'm sorry I didn't get them posted sooner. We love you, Dylan, and we'll see you soon!
By the way, I have no idea what I did to get the pictures like this!

Ready to go!

We recently ordered new bike helmets for the boys in order to get ready for some family rides. When the doorbell rang and the boys saw that it was Fedex, they were tearing open those boxes in no time. Michael even decided to put Williams' on his head even before it was out of the package! They are chomping at the bit to go for a ride, but we're still waiting for the bike trailer to come. So a few more days of noses being pressed to the windows . . .

Just a thought . . .

I've been reflecting on life lately, and I just wanted to share a few thoughts. I mentioned it a bit in my lesson the other day, so it may sound redundant if you were there. There are times in life where we all experience great disappointment, or where things just don't go how we want them to go. But if we've prayed and asked that the Lord's will be done, then there is nothing more to worry about. Those few words, in my mind, are the biggest safety net we could have. I really can't count the number of times in my life that things haven't gone the way I planned, but because we turn the outcome over to the Lord, it has always turned out much better for us.

A fun evening with the family

For weeks now I've been trying to pin down a night when we could watch "The Princess and The Frog" as a family and have a fun New Orleans dinner to go with it. We finally got to do that last night. We had jambalaya (thanks to Zatarains)and beignets (thanks to Mom T. and Paula Deen) for dessert. The beignets are tasty little pillows of fried dough, sprinkled in powdered sugar that you dip in chocolate sauce or raspberry jam. They were really good! And the recipe makes a ton.

I don't think I'll ever go to New Orleans, but I've always been interested in the place. Maybe it's the look of the buildings with the wrought-iron balconies, or the look of the trees draped with moss, or it could be simply the descriptions of the food. Then again, it could be that when I think of New Orleans, I also think of Disneyland? Let's just say that I like other people's idea of New Orleans.
Here's the recipe that I stole from my mother-in-law and I think Paula Deen:
Ingredients
1 1/2 cups lukewarm water
1/2 cup granulated sugar
1 envelope active dry yeast
2 eggs, slightly beaten
1 1/4 teaspoons salt
1 cup evaporated milk
7 cups bread flour
1/4 cup shortening
Nonstick spray
Oil, for deep-frying
3 cups confectioners' sugar
Directions
Mix water, sugar, and yeast in a large bowl and let sit for 10 minutes.

In another bowl, beat the eggs, salt and evaporated milk together. Mix egg mixture to the yeast mixture. In a separate bowl, measure out the bread flour. Add 3 cups of the flour to the yeast mixture and stir to combine. Add the shortening and continue to stir while adding the remaining flour. Remove dough from the bowl, place onto a lightly floured surface and knead until smooth. Spray a large bowl with nonstick spray. Put dough into the bowl and cover with plastic wrap or a towel. Let rise in a warm place for at least 2 hours.

Preheat oil in a deep-fryer (I used a pan since my deep-fryer is on the fritz) to 350 degrees F. They cook really quickly, so keep an eye on them.

Roll the dough out to about 1/4-inch thickness and cut into 1-inch squares. Deep-fry, flipping constantly, until they become a golden color. Drain on a paper towel, then sift powdered sugar on them and warm up your jam and chocolate sauce.

An embarrassing moment

This morning started out as I had hoped . . . I got to sleep in! Complete bliss, but that didn't last long. I had a plan for this morning. I was going to start some laundry, then shower. I would then clean floors and sit down to watch General Conference. I had time . . . 45 minutes to be exact. Well, I was in the laundry room when I heard some odd knocking sound. I went out to the living room to investigate. 3 of the 4 boys were on the couch, with Nathan missing. What was he doing? Now, as a very relevant side note, I was not dressed at this point. Let's just say I had my underclothes on. What can I say, I had planned on making my trip to the laundry room a quick one. As another side note, in order to get from the side of the house that has the laundry room to the boys room, I have to pass by the front door and the small window by the front door. Just as I start to cross that line of view from the small window, that has no covering, I see the Elders through that window. "Oh, crap did they see me?" I ran straight to the laundry room, while saying a few choice words (none that would make a PG movie a PG-13, but let's just say they would have made a G-rated movie PG). As I booked it to the laundry room, I yelled to Dylan,"The Elders are here!" (Insert a few more choice words). Well, to make a long story short, I was stuck sitting on my dryer while Dylan finished his shower, entertained the Missionaries and then forgot about me. Yes, he forgot about me. I couldn't hear what was going on because the dryer was on, so 45 minutes later Dylan comes in and says,"What are you doing? The Elders left 10 minutes ago." He said that he told the boys to come and get me as he walked the missionaries out. Suffice it to say that I was a little upset. Then as I was getting ready to hop into a quick shower, Dylan Jr. calls into my room and says, "Oh, mom, the Elders left." No kidding, really? Let's just say my morning didn't go as planned.

A Great Easter Egg Coloring Tip

I love my Family Fun magazine. This months issue had a great idea in it to help little ones color their Easter eggs without having to use a spoon or those little wire dipping tools that comes with the kit. Use a wire wisk instead! Just slip the egg between the wires, and your egg is nestled in a safe basket of wires! Less chance of breaking the egg as you dip it into your cup!