6 Months

(taken on Easter Sunday '09)

Today our little Ava turned 6 months old! I can't believe how fast it has gone by! She loves to sit up (but if she leans to one side she tips over). She is really good at rolling over, but would much rather be held. She LOVES to eat! We love her sooo much!

Since we had never been to the Bellagio (I know, how lame is that?!?) we decided to go today. The weather was awesome! The water show was so amazing. I am still in awe.




While we were they were also able to see the worlds largest chocolate fountain, it was pretty cool.

Easter Weekend

We had such a great weekend!

I woke up Friday morning missing my Mom, so I asked Tyler if we could go up to Utah for the weekend. Since we had nothing better to do we went. We didn't tell anyone that we were going so it was a total surprise.

On the way up we stopped at the county fair. Our friends Cory, Sarah, and John were there with their race car track. They got us in, and we had so much fun visiting with them. Nathan got to race a million times, ride ponies with Abigail, and had a blast! We were there for a few hours, until storm started to blow in and we decided to continue on the road.
My Mom was totally surprised when we got there. It was fun to do something like that.

On the way to the house we noticed a banner about the annual Easter Egg Hunt they have up by my parents house. We got up super early the next morning dyed our eggs, and then it was time for the hunt. I was feeding Ava, so I sent Tyler and Nathan down to the field without us. Right after they got there it started sprinkling. They were back within 30 minutes, but Nathan got so much stuff! They divided the field into age groups, and let them get as many eggs as they could. Some eggs had numbers on them that corresponded with different big prizes. Nathan ended up with a big new ball, a stuffed bunny, a hat/mitten set, mini golf passes, free DQ cones, candy, and so much more. It was AWESOME!

After that we headed to Tyler's parents house (they also didn't know we were in town). We had fun visiting, and eating candy. It was such a great day.

On Sunday I woke Nathan up early to check out his basket. He was so excited. We had a yummy pancake breakfast, and then went to church. The kids looked so cute in their springy clothes. After church, we came home and had more good food.

It was a beautiful day, and I am so glad that we were able to spend the weekend with our families. Thanks Dear for taking us up there! I love you!!!

Best Sugar Cookies Ever

I made these cookies last week and they were so good that I just HAVE to blog about them! I have NEVER been able to make good sugar cookies, so I was super excited. These were so soft and just perfect. I tweaked the recipe a little and this is what I ended up with. You have to try these.

2/3 cup shortening
2/3 cup butter
1 cup powdered sugar

1/2 cup granulated sugar
2 eggs
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
3 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon salt

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

In a medium bowl, cream together the butter, shortening and sugars. Stir in the eggs and vanilla. Combine the flour, baking powder and salt, stir into the creamed mixture until dough comes together.

Roll dough into walnut sized balls. Place them on an ungreased cookie sheet about 2 inches apart.
Bake 10 to 12 minutes until bottom is light brown. Remove from baking sheets to cool on wire racks.

After cooled frost and enjoy!

The Mormon Mom

Good news, my friend Sarah got her website up and running.  When she first told me about her plans for this website, I thought it was genius! Sarah is such a great cook, and loves to entertain. She is also such a smart shopper.   Sarah told me once that not everyone was like us (we both enjoy cooking, and have a tasty meal on the table every night), so she decided to put together this site to help:

(click on the button to go there)

There are so many great things on the site - Date night Ideas,  Food Storage Help, Organization Tips, and my FAVORITE~ Marvelous Meals.  

To receive the Marvelous Meals just subscribe for a small fee of $5 a month, it will be SOOO worth it! You will get 5 delicious meal recipes per week, with a shopping list,  and hints to get it on the table super fast.  You can even try it out for 2 weeks to see how you like it.  If it doesn't work for you,  you can cancel at any time, but why would you?!? 

Check it out, to find out more!