Trip to the ER July 25th 2011

When we woke up this morning we decided we would drive up Provo Canyon and have a picnic at Mt. Timpanogos park. After lunch we would drive to Heber City and have ice cream. We packed a lunch and headed out. After lunch we spread out a quilt and settled in to watch the kids play in the tree.

What seemed like harmless fun ended quickly as Claire fell out of the tree. She fell face first into a pile of large sharp rocks. We would very lucky that she walked away with just a scraped knee, a goose egg on her forehead, and a very swollen lip and nose (we were really worried she had broken it. So we took her to the ER). Anjeanette put it very well when she said; "I guess being hard headed is not a bad trait to have when you fall out of a tree."

Candy Land April 3rd 2011

The kids wanted to play "Candy Land" with dad between sessions of conference today. This is how it played out. Dad slept while Lance played for him. And guess what? Dad came in third and Lance cheated. Does it still count as family time?

Snowy Sunday. April 3rd 2011

Mother Nature has fooled us again. I only thought that the last few days of sunny weather in the 70's meant that spring had sprung. Well that was not to be the case. This morning we woke up to a wonderful white winter morning in April.

The Battle April 2nd 2011

While I sat listening to General Conference this afternoon, I learn many thing about how I can personally fight the battle against Satan and his followers. Mean while in the next room Lance and Claire waged a battle of a different kind. The battle of toys. Lance's bakugans against all of Claire's littlest pet shop, Tinker Bell, and Princess figurines. I can not tell you who won, for the battle I am sure will continue well into the night and possible until tomorrow. I am sure this battle will be symbolic of many battles yet to come. We may never discover who is the strongest: boy toys or the toys that girls play with. Something to ponder.

The battle feild.

All of Claire's little figurines.

Lance's Bakugans!!!

A Car Puppy????

You have guys who like cars, kids sometimes find them fascinating, but how many puppies do you know that love to play with them too. It has been fun having little Max around, even more fun watching him get to know his way around the house. We have discovered that he does have a love of cars, well at least he likes to chase, carry, and chew on this little car.

How do you take a toe away?

Some kids have a binky, some a passy, others find comfort in sucking on their thumb or fingers. What do you do about a child that sucks their toe. According to Claire, Reese sucks her toe all the time. I guess that I have never noticed until today. I have to admit, she is pretty flexible. It also really grosses me out. Do I know where that toe has been.

To answer my question "how do you take a toe away"? My brother Layne cut his off while riding a motorcycle. I can see something like that happening around here. Just let her spend enough time at the race track with Zack and the problem might just take care of itself.

The Newest Member of Our Family

I said once that I would never have a dog. What is that old saying? Never say Never. Well today we got a seven week old puppy. It is a blond Chihuahua, so very little. We named him Maxie, or Max as Zack calls him. The kids are so very excited, and I must admit so are mom and dad. Hopefully this new addition will continue to make us happy for along time, and it won't be something that I regret in a month. Too late, just like a child once you have brought them home there is no is a no return policy. Maxie is here to stay.

Because I said so!

Sunday night after putting the kids to bed, Zack and I were snuggling when we heard Claire yell: "Daddy!!! Come Here!!!" After Zack asked her why she said: "Because I Said So!!!" Zack replied that that only worked if you were Mom. Silly girl. We had a really hard time laughing quietly so that she would not hear us.

Lance turns Seven

Lance's Lego Cake, moms act of desperation.

Rise and shine birthday boy it is time for:

Breakfast in Bed!!!

Present Time:
Claire got him a Kung Zhu, and Reese got him a bey-blade top.

Dad got him his first "real" model car.

Mom's gift was the greatest of course: His bey-blade stadium.

So my baby boy is now seven. I am having a hard time with it because I realize what pressure I am now under to make sure that he is ready to be baptized next year. Lance is such a delight to have around. He is smart, funny, kind, and understanding. My favorite thing about Lance is that he is always so happy for others when they accomplish things. He is always building others up. He loves to read, and he reads anything he can get his hands on. He loves to play play-station, bey-blades, ride his bike, and be with his sisters. He loves Family time and is grateful for whatever time that he gets with us. He has lost seven teeth and at the present his smile is rather endearing because it is so toothless. I love my little man and I want him to have the best year of his life. I sure hope that at least it was the best seventh birthday he will ever have. It started with breakfast in bed, presents, lunch at the BYU creamery, then a movie: Gulliver's Travels, afterwards we all played play-station together and then ate pizza and watched Mega Mind. It was a long day full of fun and a whole lot of tears. That is just how birthdays go. It is my party and I will cry if I want too, and they all did.

Pear Pie

What do you do when life throws you a bushel of pears? You make pear pie. I have never had or even heard of pear pie, but I have to tell you that is was heavenly. So much better than apple pie, or cherry pie for that matter. I highly recommend that the next time life throws you a bushel of pears(or they are on sale) you make a pie.

Filling:
seven pears sliced peeled and sliced thinly
1/4 cup Flour
1/2 tsp sea salt
1/2 cup sugar
1 tsp cinnamon
2 tsp vanilla
throw in a bowl and mix together, then dump into a uncooked pie crust. (I always buy mine because I have not perfected pie crusts. That is my goal for this year.)

Topping:
1/2 cup flour
1/2 cup rolled oats
1 cup brown sugar
1/2 cup butter

Melt butter and pour over other combined ingredients and mix well. Crumble over the pie and bake at 325 degrees for 50 min. Cover the crust with tinfoil for the first 35 min then remove and let bake for another 20-25 min.

Best Cocoa Brownies

I have always been a fan of brownies, and until a few week ago I thought that a good brownie had to come from a mix. I have to say now that I know better. I have discovered that one can make a delicious, even better than a box brownie, right from scratch. I don't mean a cake like brownie but a real fudge, dense brownie. I found this recipe on one of my favorite websites to visit; foodgwakers.com. Here it is: So easy, so simple, so yummy.

Best Cocoa Brownies
1 1/4 sticks of butter
1 1/4 cups of sugar
3/4 and 2 TBSP cocoa powder
1/4 tsp salt
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 eggs
1/2 cup flour

Melt the butter in the microwave. Add in sugar, salt, and cocoa and microwave for 30 sec. more. Stir vanilla, add in eggs one at a time stirring until each one is incorporated. Pour into a 8x8 greased pan and bake at 325 for 25 min. Yummy.

These brownies are so good that you will find yourself, making them just so you can eat the whole pan all by yourself.

Science Fair 2011

2nd Place!!!!!!
(It would have been really hard to beat 1st place)

He stood next to his project for over an hour and answered questions and showed people how he got his results.

All set up and ready to be judged.

Lance and Zack did a science project together this year for the Science Fair. The topic that they choose was "Conductors and Insulators". Lance gathered household items and tested them to see if they would conduct electricity or not. It was so fun to see Lance get so excited, and even more exciting to see that he really understood the concept. He now understands what a amp is, a volt, a circuit and most confusing for me, what a Ohm is and how you measure them. All this is so far over my head that last night at the Science Fair all I could do was sit back and watch as Lance drew people into his experiment and explain it and show them his results. He did a great job presenting and was very proud of is second place red ribbon. I am very proud of both of my boy. Just sad that Zack couldn't be there to see Lance present, he and to fly to California for the rest of the week.

Pay it Forward

I swiped this from my cousin Tami's blog, it sounded like fun so I decided to play along. I don't usually do things like this but I thought that this one would be interesting. Here are the rules:
*I promise to send something hand-made to the first five people who leave a comment here. You must in turn post this on your blog and send something that YOU make to the first five people that comment on your blog! The rules are the item has to be HANDMADE by YOU and sent sometime in 2011! How fun it that!
*I am going to add that in your comments you leave me your address and if you have a preference of what you would like to make I will take that as well. Doesn't mean that you will get it, but requests are welcome. The race is on.

Skinny Jeans Jan. 24th 2011

I had to share this picture of Lance rockin' the skinny jean. This reminds me so much of what guys wore when I was in junior high. Amazing how quickly fashion comes back around. I swear I saw acid wash jeans on a model a few days ago.

Reese's Favorite pass time. Jan 22nd 2011

Now that Reese is potty trained she loves to practice her newly found talent. I walked into my bathroom the other day and found this. I guess she qualifies as a pro now.

Happy Birthday Claire Jan. 20th 2011

Breakfast in my bed

So Claire turned five this year. What can I say about Claire. Well one thing that will say everything is that she is much like her mother. She is a caring little soul, who loves to color, write, play pretend, and be the boss. She is slightly controlling and hate messes (I wonder were she got that from). She is always ready with a hug and gets her tender feelings hurt very easily. She is wonderful to have around and can not wait for her very last birthday present to get here. We decided that is was time we give her something that she might have a chance at controlling, a puppy. The problem however is that it has not been born yet and so won't get to us until the middle of March at the earliest. None the less, that is all she wanted and she is being very patience. If the baby chihuahua is a girl she will name it Daisy and if it is a boy he will be Skippy John Jones. Oh one thing more that she wanted for her birthday was to go bowling at Fat Cat. Bowling she went and all the kids had a great time. Reese won, Claire came in second, and Lance because he wanted to bowl all on his own came in last.

Claire got a strike and a spare. Way to go, birthday girl

She chose not to have a party but Sydnie, Kaden, and Chase came over for cake and ice-cream. We are lucky to have such great neighbors.

Claire and Reese get into!!!

Using one of the gifts that Santa brought them, the girls spent that afternoon creating and playing with play-doh. My how I love a toy that can bring hours upon hours of peace and quite while they create. Play-doh and Lego's were the best gifts that Santa could have brought this year. Thank you Santa.

Goodbye Grandma Randall Dec 26th 2010

My Grandmother, Mary Alice Thorne Gifford Randall, born on April 18th 1918 died in a nursing home in Odgen Utah on December 26th 2010. She had a stroke in the fall of 2009 that caused her to be place in a long term care facility. She was a very independent and active women up until that point of her life. Grandma Randall was really a very amazing person. The more I reflect upon her life the more I realize that. She never missed a family occasion. From baby blessings,baptisms, graduations, family reunions, weddings, and funerals, Grandma was alway there. She traveled a lot especially the last few years of her life. What I remember most was her always being ready with a hug and she was always holding your hand if you were next to her. One could not be with in three feet of her and not feel the overwhelming amount of love that radiated from her. I look around my home and there are many handmade items given to me by her, I am surrounded by things that remind me of how wonderful she was and for that I am grateful. I will always admire her and be grateful to be counted among her many many grandchildren. I love you Grandma Randall. Thank you for your legacy, your love, and most of all your living testimony of our Savior Jesus Christ. Your actions always emulated your love for him. (for future reference her funeral was January 8th 2011 in Jerome Id. She was buried at the Twin Falls cemetery next to Grandpa Gifford.)

Christmas 2010

All of the kids loot.

Lined up ready to see what Santa brought them. (Claire woke up at 6:30 so I did her hair while we waited for Lance and Reese to wake up at almost 8:00)

After the presents were opened and we had eaten our Christmas breakfast, we loaded up the car and drove to Idaho to spend the rest of the year at Grandma and Grandpa's house.

Craig and Joyce brought over their Christmas gifts in a gigantic Santa sack. Zack and I both agreed that Santa needs to try harder next year. Joyce and Craig's gifts to the kids far out did what Santa brought them. The girls got dolls from the movie "Tangled" and Lance got night vision goggles.

Winter's 1st really big snow storm Dec 21 2010

The last day of school before Christmas break it snowed and snowed and snowed. It took Zack two hour to shovel his car out of the driveway. It was crazy how much of a mess it made throughout the neighborhood. Not only was there a lot of it, but it was very wet and heavy. The girls loved playing in it, but it only took about 30 min before they were wet all the way through. It reminded me a little of winters in Idaho.