Taylor's Tenth Birthday

Taylor is ten. Wow a whole decade has just flown by. I hardly know where the time has gone. She is getting so tall and beautiful. She was exceptionally excited for her tenth birthday because that means that she is now old enough to start pointe class in ballet. That also means she goes to dance class three days a week instead of two. She wanted a ballerina cake for her birthday. We had the family over for presents, cake, and ice cream. As usual she got spoiled by all the wonderful family members we are blessed to live by. She got a towel set with ballerinas on it that she thought was beautiful and so appropriate. As a girl what fun would a birthday be without getting clothes? And she received pair after pair of dangle earrings. Mac was (sarcastic tone) thrilled and suggested that a better use for her new earrings would be as fishing lures. It was a nice day for her.


Taylor loves unwrapping presents not just pulling them out a bags.

Could you find a better towel for her?

Purple, what a fabulous fall color

She loved the cake and said it was exactly what she had wanted.

Make a wish!

The cake

The topper, made from gum paste so it would actually harden. She still has it on her dresser. I was really happy with the roses.

So Sorry I will be back

To my avid readers (all three of you)I have been working on turning all the pictures I took in Alaska into a book so I have been neglecting my blog. I promise as soon as I get my book done I will be back. I will cheat by changing the dates of the post to the date I should have posted them. Sorry!

Mac's Birthday

This year on Mac's Birthday he got the day off from work. They had a fire out at work and closed the place down for two days, so we went fishing! I would say that fishing is a far better way to spend your birthday than working. We drove up past Ashton to Warm River and then headed up to a little lake in the mountains. We got a little lost and it took us a lot longer to reach the lake then we had planned. We left at eight and thought for sure we would be fishing by ten but we took a wrong road and then had to turn around and try again. We reached the lake around 11:30 and fished for 4 hours. The luck of the birthday boy, Mac was the only one who caught a fish. He only caught one though and it was pretty small. Mac got to use his float tube which he enjoyed since he hardly ever uses it. Taylor was the most patient in fishing. She really wanted to catch one. She just kept trying even though she wasn't getting any bites. Eliza and Bobby gave up trying to catch fish and tried to catch butterflies. Bobby was also using his shoe as a boat. He tied the fish stringer onto his shoe and kept throwing it in the water and then pulling it around and back in. One time he threw it in and let go of the string. His shoe went flying out into the lake. He turned around, eyes as big as saucers, looked at Mac and then just burst into tears. It was a look of sheer panic, "Oh no I'm in so much trouble!" Mac told him to go get it but it had drifted out a little too deep for him to walk and he started crying even harder, "I can't go get it. The water is too deep." Mac told him to stop crying that we would get it but he wouldn't so we had him sit in the car until he stopped crying. I grabbed my pole threw my line out there and voila, my only catch of the day, Bobby's shoe! It turned out to be a pretty nice day.

The Birthday boy caught the only fish.

Mac got to kick back and relax!

My only catch of the day.

Bobby and Eliza stalking butterflies.

Taylor waiting for a bite.

Another go at Camping

We went camping with Mac's family up to Spring Creek. It is always so nice to go up there because there is never anyone around. We left Idaho Falls and picked Mac up from work on our way out of town. We arrived at camp in the rain. The soft light dust instantly turned to a slurry of mud in the campground. We hurried and parked the trailer and everyone got in to wait for the storm to die down. It came in waves for the first couple of hours we were there. We would get all the chairs out and then it would start raining so we would hurry and throw them under the trailer to stay dry. Thankfully the weather cleared up and then the kids were able to play outside and we made a fire and roasted hot dogs and made s'mores.


We spent most of the day Saturday fishing. The first catch of the day happened to be Bobby. No he didn't get the first catch, he was the first catch. Alexi snagged him in the cheek with her hook. He was not a happy camper. Then, I gave him some gummy bears and it was all better. We had a lot of fun. The girls walked in the creek with Mac's mom and Mac. I helped Bobby fish for most of the day. He caught quite a few. Later in the afternoon it was starting to get a little windy and another storm was coming in. Bobby was fishing under this tree and had lost two worms. Mac walked down to see if we were still fishing and I told him he had to help Bobby catch the sneaky fish thief. So mac stepped in the creek and Bobby stood right in front of him and in ten minutes they pulled five fish out, one right after the other. Bobby could not have been more excited! It was lucky he caught those fish because we decided to pack up and head home rather than weather another storm.
We had fun to bad the weather cut our trip short.

Bobby couldn't go fishing until he finished his breakfast burrito.

Mac cleaning up the dutch ovens after cooking breakfast.

Mac took the hook out of Bobby's cheek and cleaned it all up.

An hour and 3 dozen gummy bears later Bobby had forgotten all about his cheek.





All of the kids caught at least two fish.

The Picture He Will Want to Forget

Blame it on having two older sisters. Blame it on the fact that at least a third of our kids movies are in either pink or purple cases. Blame it on the fact I told them to go play while I cleaned the kitchen. Blame it on whatever you want, but don't let Mac see this picture! I thought it was quite funny and so did Bobby. However, in 12 years when I pull out the scrapbook and show Bobby's homecoming date this picture, he will wish I had lost my camera that day.


It must have been something about the long hair framing in those chubby cheeks that just made me think of my own round face. You think he might have some of my genes?

More than just a pioneer story

Since the 24th of July is coming up quickly we have been doing activities in church based around the pioneers. Well my Great Great Great Grandmother Cecilia Swenson was a pioneer that came from Denmark to Utah and I have her story which I think is simply amazing. The trials she went through to come to this country make me so grateful I have such a strong ancestor. Any way I wanted to share this story with the children of my primary and make it more of an experience then just a story. So I dressed up as a pioneer and told them the story as if I was Cecilia. But I also made sea biscuits and corn meal pie. I found two authentic recipes online and made them and then took them with me so the kids could experience a little bit of what it was like to sail across the ocean and then walk from Nebraska to Salt Lake. The lesson went really well and the kids were so scared and excited at the same time to taste the food I had prepared. When I told the part of my Grandmothers story that she walked for so long that her shoes literally fell off her feet and she just tied them back on and kept walking but every night she would peel the bloody shoe scraps off her feet I had 32 pairs of eyes on me and not a sound in the room.

Sea Biscuit Dough, it had oats and rye flour. It looked like oatmeal cookie dough but they did not taste like oatmeal cookies!

Finished biscuits, I didn't let them dry out enough. I;m sure all my biscuits would have gotten moldy before we crossed the ocean.

Fabulously Fifty Cake

I have two co workers who both have birthdays around the 4th of July and were turning 50 this year. So we decided to throw them a little surprise party at work. I decided to make a fabulously fifty cake since both of these women are far more fabulous then fifty. I did black and teal stars with a big fifty and then scroll work F's to decorate the body of the cake. I loved it and so did they. Not only did it look fabulous it tasted fantastic! I made a chocolate cake with cheesecake swirls and cream cheese frosting. They were good sports about the party and the gag gifts they received like hemorrhoid ointment and a magnifying lens.

The Fourth of July

Since the Fourth of July was on Sunday this year we had four days of celebrating. Friday we went to Tyler and Amanda's house for a BBQ and fire works. As always there was lots of great food. That what happens when you have a chef in the family. And my brownies were a huge hit at 11:30 after the fire work display and everyone was ready to munch on something again. Bobby loved the pops but he wanted a big bang so he dumped half his box out and jumped on it. Of course then he had hardly any pops left to throw so the next box he was a little slower going through.
Then on Saturday we went and watched the big fireworks display with our friends. That was fun it is always a good show. On Sunday the actual 4th we went to church and then over to our neighbors house for dinner.



The two handsomest boys in the world.

On Monday, July 5th, since everyone had the day off from work we went ice blocking in the afternoon and out to my parents house for dutch oven chicken. Yum! Ice blocking was a blast. The kids had never even heard of it before so they thought sledding in the summer was awesome and at least as fun as sliding down the hills in the winter. The kids picked it up quite quickly and were soon zipping down the hill without falling off. Bobby had the most fun riding on Mac's back down the hill. Mac put Bobby on his back and our friend put his 3 year old son on his back and they raced down the hill. It was photo finish at the bottom of the hill! We all had a great time.

One way to get out of dinner

So we have this problem with Bobby. He likes to sit at the table and not eat. When we have dinner he will just sit there and stare at his food. It is not even that he doesn't want to eat, he just wants help doing it. However, we tell him, "You are four now Bobby, I think you can pick up your fork and eat dinner by yourself." This of course leads to crying and sobs of "no I can't, it won't stay on my fork! Can I have a spoon too?" The last several meals of course have led to Bobby sitting at the table after everyone else has finished. If you feed him he will eat every bite and ask for more. But, alas, I think he is old enough that I shouldn't have to feed him every bite. So the other day he is sitting at the table whining that he needs help as usual. We all finish or meal and me and Mac go into the front room and talk for a while. Well pretty soon the kitchen grows quiet and I don't hear Bobby's protests. So I go in to check on him assuming that he has just gotten up from the table.
Well much to my surprise he had not gotten up from the table but he was certainly not going to be finishing this meal any time soon.

I suppose that is one way to get out of finishing dinner. Of course (Nana you would be proud) I made him eat it for breakfast.

He can definitely be stubborn sometimes. The other night I jumped in the shower before going to bed and Mac put the kids to bed for me. Well Bobby told Mac, "Dad, don't turn off my light. Mom will do it when she tucks me in." He kept asking "When is mom coming up?" Mac told him it would be in a few minutes and asked if he wanted him to tuck him in. "Nope, dad. I want mom to do it." So I go upstairs and Mac tells me that my son, mind you my son, is waiting for me to tuck him in. Stubborn or not, he was really tired and this is what I found.



I laid him in a more comfortable position, pulled the covers up and turned off the light. He then muttered "you forgot to do tuck tuck toes" which we do every night. Even asleep he is as stubborn as his father but I can't help but love him!

Summer Fun

Bobby got a slip 'n slide for his birthday. This of course meant Mac had to go out and show his moves off with the kids. The weather has finally decided that it can go a head and warm up now that it is the last week of June. So it was the perfect day to go out and play in the water. The kids have set the slide up a couple times and "slid" down it. This means that they turn it on and walk up and down the slide. Every once and a while one of them would get brave and really run and slide down it but usually cautiously enough that when they hit the pool at the end they didn't get splashed. Mac went out there and just ran and slid. After watching him do it a couple of times the kids had to give it a try too, and for real this time. Pretty soon they realized that sliding down it is a lot more fun then walking around dipping your toes in the water spraying out from the sides. Bobby was certainly the bravest. He loved it when Mac picked him up and threw him down the slide. It was great summer fun!

Hip Horray Bobby's 4 Today

Bobby turned 4. I can't believe how fast he is growing up. Bobby had a great birthday. We had family come over and Bobby opened presents and we all ate cake and ice cream. Bobby got a scooter, with a helmet and pads, then a big Buzz Lightyear doll and a toy lawn mower. He is spoiled but boys are so much easier to shop for then girls. They like everything. It was a nice day and it makes it even nicer that we live around family that can share these events with us.




He wanted a cake that was a mountain with a truck driving up it. I wasn't worried about it at all. Then, two days before his birthday he tells me he wants a Backyardigan Robot cake. Hmmm, this one takes a little more work. His favorite episode of the Backyardigans is one where they are all superheros trying to stop a giant robot and he wanted the robot and the characters from the cartoon. Of course I love doing stuff like this, even when it is a challenge. The cake turned out good, Bobby absolutly loved it. Everyone thought the fondant Backyardigan characters were toys until the kids told them I had made them.

The Robot didn't turn out as well as I had hoped but the characters turned out better then I thought they would.

Bobby really likes this episode, he thinks the Robot is funny.



These are the Backyardigans

Here are my Backyardigans

Moments

So the other day I'm in the kitchen making dinner and I can hear the kids out front laughing and yelling. So I go peek out the front window and see all three of the kids, Mac, and the dog chasing and tackling each other. I couldn't help but smile as they rough housed. I thought, "These are the moments that slip by so fast but we always want to remember." It wasn't a big moment or even a vacation, just the simple happiness we find in our own home, these are the things I want to remember when I look back at my life. So I grabbed my camera and snapped a couple shots so at least I will remember this moment.