The Big TWO for Caleb!

Yesterday was Caleb's birthday and he got this super cool tent in the mail from Grandma. It was a bit of a trick putting it up seeing as how I'm no girl scout, but we managed and our two little mountain men had a great time playing in it.
Here's a picture from the inside. Roomy isn't it? Continuing on with the western theme, I made this cowboy boot cake.
And here we are trying to light the candles which Caleb kept blowing out before I could light the other one. It was a fun day. Can't believe he's already two!

Where does the time go?

Have you ever looked around and realized that life is passing by too quickly? I could swear yesterday I was running around with bear feet, a bad perm, and a teddy bear on my t-shirt. Now, all of a sudden I am the mom, and my own children are growing up before my eyes, doing the same things that my sisters and I were doing not so long ago. This week has been one of those times when my fast paced life seemed to slow down just long enough for me to see life as the miracle that it is.

It all began with my oldest sister Angie and her new baby who we went to meet for the first time this last week. There's just something about a new baby, especially when it belongs to your sister who you have literally known every second of your life. Angie and I are only 13 months apart so we have shared a lot since we were babies. Toys, clothes, friends, and a multitude of experiences. Now we get to be moms together.

Baby Cal 5 days old.

So maybe I was already feeling sappy with the new baby and all that, but the next event of the week was Greg's fourth birthday. Four years has passed so fast. I, of course, know that everyone loves their kids and that all of them are special. But sometimes it just hits me how lucky I am to have my children. Greg is more EVERYTHING than I could have ever imagined. He is cuter, smarter, funnier, and crazier than Marc and I knew was possible.
Here's an example: A few weeks ago we had a ward service auction to raise money for the youth camps. People from the ward offered different services and then all families were given a paddle so they could bid while they ate dinner. Being the penniless students we are, we stuck to buying small items from the bake sale table and weren't paying super close attention to the actual auction. I left Marc to manage the boys while I helped the YW run the bake sale, so needless to say he had his hands full. Marc was chit-chatting with another couple in the ward when all the sudden they said, "Oh-oh, Greg just bid on something!" Sure enough, Greg saw everybody having fun with the paddles and wanted in on the action. So he picked ours up and started bidding away. He won too! Luckily it worked out OK. He ended up winning a free swimming lesson and it only cost us $15.
What would life be like without Greg? Dull, dull, dull. We are so happy and grateful for Greg in our family. Happy Birthday buddy!
Not to be outdone, Caleb is following right in Greg's charcter filled footsteps. Here he is-about to go swimming in Marc's parent's hot tub. He insisted on wearing the goggles. If someone had pulled me aside at 17 and asked me where I thought I would be in ten years, I would have probably told them that I would be a mom with a couple of kids. However, I never knew then that I would also be having the time of my life and loving, if not every minute, then almost every minute of it. Cheers to motherhood, childhood, and life!

Let's Celebrate Passover

Most people may not know that Marc's school is actually a private Jewish school. And although we're not Jewish, it's really been a nice thing since he gets all the Jewish holidays off. This weekend was Passover so Marc didn't have school Friday or Monday so we celebrated by doing a few extra things. Greg has been begging us to take him bowling lately, and so we finally went. It was a hit. Both Greg and Caleb could have bowled forever.
Caleb's favorite part was waiting for the ball to come out of the hole.
Greg got the highest score. Marc and I each planned on bowling a game, but Caleb was so excited that we ended up letting him take all Marc's frames and Marc and I just kept taking turns boling my game. I guess we weren't on a roll or maybe I just dragged Marc down because our ending score was 97 and Greg's was 100 (but in our defense, Greg did have bumpers).
Marc also did a triathlon this weekend. He and some other students at his school participated together and Marc was the first through to the finish line from his school. Yeah dad!

So Many Pictures- So Little Time. . .

We just got back from a trip to Utah for Marc's Spring Break. It was a blast as usual, but we also got to fit in a lot of extra family events that we would normally miss. Our newest nephew, Kevin, had his baby blessing last Sunday. Here is Marc's brother, Dan, with his little girl Audrey and Greg and Caleb.Here is Marc riding his mountain bike up a trail, Which he did do while we were there but this picture is actually really old. I accidentally uploaded it with all the others and I didn't know how to get rid of it without messing up the rest of them, so yeah Marc! (What a tiger!)
Lily- My sister Julie's little girl, Lian- my youngest adopted sister, and homie G-Greg, all looking good in snow hats.
This is my fifteen year old sister Lisa, who, coincidentally had her school musical while we were there. It was Beauty and the Beast and she played Belle. I was stunned! I swear my younger sisters got ten times as much talent as me. That's OK though, I'm just proud of them.
Here is Caleb at the Easter Egg Hunt at my Aunt Em's house. Caleb and Greg both loved it.

We stopped at a fire station that was having an open house. It was really cool. We got to go inside the fire trucks and spray the big hoses. It was a little boy's dream come true.
Here is Greg putting on the gear.
Greg, Caleb, Lily, my mom, and Lian (sleeping). My mom is truly wonder woman. How can you be a mom to a four year old, teenagers, college kids, married kids and also a grandmother all at the same time? She's amazing!
And of course, my favorite past time (joke) video games. Greg and his two cousins, Caden and Shane playing together. Greg doesn't have any video games at home so now he has to pretend.
I know that is too many pictures but we packed in a lot of fun. We love our families and are so glad we are close enough to visit frequently.

Fun Easter

Happy Easter- a little late. My aunt is starting up a photography business and offered to take pictures of my kids for free! It was so fun- especially since she had live baby chicks and all. Caleb and Greg thought it was great.

The chicks were surprisingly cooperative, other than pooping occasionally.

Here is where Caleb decided that he was sick of sitting and smiling for the camera. But I think this is one of my favorite shots, nonetheless. Sometimes it's best when you catch your kids making faces that are so characteristic of them, even if it's not a happy face.

It's also a miracle that I got them to wear the ties. On Easter Sunday I tried to wrestle them into wearing them again, but I wasn't so lucky. They only velcro so it wasn't that hard for them to pull them off.

It really was a fun Easter and we loved spending it with our families, even if we had way too much candy and other yummy food after going to both our families houses. And a big thanks to my Aunt Alayna for the pictures. She really is awsome.

Hippity-hoppity Easter's on its Way!

So, the other day we went outside and Greg said he saw some snow under the car in the driveway. Then, checking a little closer he decided it was a rabbit. Both snow and rabbits seemed like unlikely things to have under the car, but guess what, it really was a rabbit. We chased it around for a while and finally we caught it when Caleb mesmerized it. For some reason it was really interested in him and held still when he got close to it. That's when I slipped up behind and snatched him up. He was pretty tame. Probably someone's escaped pet.
We held it and pet it for a while. Caleb called it "Bunny Foo Foo" as in "Little Bunny Foo Foo" the song, which really fit since he also kept bopping it on the head (ha ha). Anyway, it was a fun surprise especially since Easter is coming up. I really liked that rabbit and almost wished we could keep it, but I'm sure it belonged to someone else. Hopegully somebody finds their pet! Or maybe it was the real Easter Bunny.

This is a really easy recipe. . .

So I went to a little get together lunch with some friends the other day and brought some potato cheese soup. It's a good and easy recipe and pretty much everyone seems to like it. My mom has cooked it for years. So for those of you who requested the recipe, here it is.

Two potatoes peeled and diced (1 1/2 -2 cups). Two carrots peeled and sliced (@1 cup). One half onion diced very small. One stalk of celery diced very small

Boil together in 2 quarts of water with 8 cubes of chicken bullion until all veggies are soft. (2o min.)

In anothr pan melt 1 cube of butter on low heat and add 1cup of flour. Whisk together and then slowly add some of the broth from the vegetables a little at a time stirring until the mixture is smooth and creamy. Add that to the vegetables and the rest of the broth and stir together. Microwave one can of cheese whiz for about 1 min. and then add to the soup and mix it all together.

I usually leave out the celery becasue Greg refuses to eat anything with a hint of green specks in it. Also, the picture is courtesy of Claim Jumper. My presentation has never looked quite that good and I usually don't do toppings, but I'm sure it would be good with them.