Archery

Emma and Aiden got the chance to take a free archery class at our local shooting range.  They are having a great time learn to use a bow and arrow. The fun part, aside from archery, is they are joined by a few of their friends.

 Here is Emma with her life long friend Aeryn standing side by side leaning to shoot a bow and arrow

Here's Aiden giving it a try

Princess GG Gwenie turns 5

Are you wondering where the name GG gwenie came from?  For those of you who don't know, Gwen is named after my sister Gwen.  One time both of our families were in Washington with the rest of our family for my brother Dan's wedding.  My sister Gwen was pregnant at the time and my kids kept calling her big Gwen.  Being pregnant, I'm sure this was not an easy thing to hear so her husband started calling my Gwen GG.  My Gwen then called herself GG Gwenie and thus the new nick name was born.

What a joy she is to have in my life.  She is a spunky fun loving spirit.  She's beautiful in all respects and loves to care for others.  The other day I found Gwen with her baby sister Eva in their room with the door shut.  I opened to door to find Gwen changing Eva's diaper.  She quickly came to the door and said "Mom leave, I'm helping Eva get dressed for the day.  If you open the door she escapes".  When she is not quiet she is humming or singing a song.  She has a taste for fashion.  Being a more experienced mother now I don't do anything to squash that ability unless she is wearing something that is immodest.  She brings laughter to our family with all the funny things she says and I am so grateful for a beautiful girl like her.

This is the second year in a row that Gwen wanted a princess birthday party.  I figure this desire will die with age.  The wonderful part about this party is that Robyn and Emma took it upon themselves to plan and create this fun event for Gwen.  So here are some pictures of Gwen on her special day.  Do you like her clothing selection?  According to Gwen all princesses are ballerinas too!

Grandma's Little Pizza's

When I was a child, I have fond memories of driving to California to visit with Grandma Jill.  I have many fond memories to Husker du to the lemon tree in the back yard.  Most of my memories stem around food.  My favorite thing my Grandma Jill would make are these easy mini pizzas.  I hadn't made them in a long time and decided to try it Kibbie style.  She would make them on English muffins.  Since I can't have them I made my homemade rolls and cut them in half.  The rest of the recipe is as follows:

One can of olives

Home made pizza sauce

shredded cheese

Dice the olive then mix the ingredients together and spoon on to bread halves.  Put them under the broiler for about 5 mins or until the cheese is melted and golden color.

So yummy on a cold winter day!

 I found this non dairy cheese at Whole Foods the other day and love it.  It actually melts and as far as I know it tastes good and there really is no dairy in it.  Aiden, Emma and Eva love it! (for those of you in Utah, it's cheaper at Whole Foods than Good Earth)



Christmas in our new house!

Pictures from Christmas in our new house!  Sorry about the picture quality.  I did not realize the lense was dirty.

Robyn, 12?!?

Yes, it's true. My young girls are turning into young ladies right before my eyes.  Robyn turned 12 this past December and is an amazing young lady.  She's a very caring older sister and loves to be around children.  She loves to read, create and do anything with animals.  Her friends love her because she is a devoted friend.  She is a beautiful young lady and is very good at looking at life a little deeper than most.  I love to be around her. 

Seeing that I have 4 girls all bound to become little woman, I only hope to someday be like Mrs. March with words of wisdom that spew from my mouth with out a second thought.  I know one thing that my girls can count on.  As Mrs. March counselled to her girls "One thing remember, my girls: mother is always ready to be your confidante, father to be your friend; and both of us trust and hope that our daughters, whether married or single, will be the pride and comfort of our lives."

How grateful I am to be a mother.  How much more grateful am I to have a daughter like Robyn.

Here she is with her friends at her Pajama fashion show birthday party



Human Body Study Part 1

This year we started a science curriculum on the human body.  The curriculum is great because it is filled with several short lessons in a chapter followed by an experiment.  It take us about 2 weeks to get to the experiment which are very hands on.  Here's a link to the curriculum that we purchased.

 Here are the kids making an edible "cell" out of jello and candy. Don't worry they are all sugar free :)

The finished product

Temple Square Tradition

One of our favorite new Christmas traditions is to go to temple square sometime during the month of December.  We love to see the lights and watch the nativity dramitization with wax figures near the south visitors center.  It's magical to see all the lights and be reminded of the birth of Christ.