What You Do When School's Out!

So, now that school is done for the year, we've been taking the last few weeks to catch up on some fun!  This last weekend was bitter/sweet.  Rob, Ammon, and I ended up getting a bit sick, but Rob had the worst of it.  To give him a bit of a break from crazyness, on Saturday I took my kids and my younger brother and sister for an outing.  We had planned on going to the zoo, but when we got there, I couldn't park within about a 3 block radius because it was so crowded!  There was a parking lot just across the street, but it turns out it was a parking lot for the This is the Place Heritage Park, which also had a sign saying no zoo parking!  So, we decided to change our plans a bit and went there first, and then made it to the zoo for about an hour after that!  It was actually a lot of fun!  I hadn't been there for years, and I didn't realize how much stuff there was to do!  We got to ride on the train all around the whole park, and then the kids went on a pony ride, and there was a petting zoo with baby lambs!  They have play places for kids as well, but we didn't make it back to those because we did want to get to the zoo.  We saw the baby elephant at the zoo, and they have some fun dinosaur robots scattered around the park for the year that make noise, and one that squirts you!  But, like I said, it was super crowded, and we didn't stay for very long, so I never got my camera out! 

This is Eden riding her pony.  Actually, she would be upset if she knew I called it a pony, because it was a horse!   

Doesn't Emma look all natural riding her horse?!  I was worried at first about having all the kids ride at the same time because I didn't know how they would do by themselves!  But, they all went right on, and loved it! 

When the ride was over, the guy who was running it was helping the kids get off.  Isaac was the last one to get off, and his horse decided it wasn't stopped where it wanted to be, and pretty much walked another full circle before the guy could catch up!  Isaac just giggled the whole time!

All the kids got the chance to feed the baby lambs.  I forgot to get my camera out with the first group, which was Laurie, Isaac, and Eden, but I did get a few pictures of Thomas and Emma.  We were actually really lucky to get to feed them.  They only do it once or twice a day, and we just happened to be there for one of the feedings!  The baby lambs were so cute, and it was so much fun petting them!!!

I can never get my pictures in the right order!  Here is Laurie getting her turn riding the horse!

We signed Isaac up for T-ball this year, and out of the 4 games so far, 2 have been rained out!  This was the first game that wasn't rained out, and he just played his second game today.  It is so much fun watching them play!  When his team is outfield and the ball gets hit, pretty much the whole team runs to the ball and try to dive on it!  It's pretty funny!  Isaac's coach taught them how to be ready in the outfield, and I think Isaac looks so cute out there!  He's actually one of the few kids that still does this, and he does it the whole time he's outfield!!  The only problem right now is that he gets really frustrated with his hitting.  This is his first time using a real bat and ball with a tee, and he hasn't figured out how to hit it hard yet, which makes him mad!

So, Ammon is only one, but he has already discovered a new favorite activity! He loves our little slide, and yes, he climbs on it all by himself and goes down all by himself! I have to hide it in the closet because he would spend all day on it, and I worry that he will fall off! He is turning out to be quite the climber. He climbs in and out of his walker all by himself as well!  Some of the following picutes are blurry, but I was trying to get a more video feeling of him going down the slide!

Not only is this a cute picture of EmmaLee, but take a look at Ammon's face!  He is not happy that someone besides himself is on the slide, and he's trying to push her off!

This is my cute nephew Alexander.  He is Rob's sister's baby that is about 2 1/2 weeks younger than Ammon.  The next time they come over, I'll have to take a picture of Ammon and Lex next to each other so you can see the height difference.  Lex is about 5 inches taller than Ammon!  He is so cute, and all my kids love when Lex comes over to play!  He's such an easy going baby too!

Today was such a nice day (finally!) that I took the kids to a nearby park for a couple of hours to play.  I had Ammon in the stroller with the shade over him, but he still managed to get some sun!  The pictures don't show it as well as in person, but we all have pretty red cheeks tonight!

Eden and her pink cheeks!

Okay, so this is a very weird picture, but I think it's kind of funny/amazing too!  Eden was taking pictures and took this one of her mouth.  I thought it was funny how her tongue looks like a heart!  For whatever reason, the picture fascinates me!

New Article

I'm sure like many of you I have been saddened by the tragedy in Joplin, Missouri this last weekend and that massive tornado!  My heart goes out to all those who have been affected!  It amazes me how quickly our lives as we know it can change!  I am so grateful for the knowledge of the gospel, which helps me to find peace in tragic times.  I know that we have a Heavenly Father who loves us more than we can understand!  While we might not always know why the things happen that do, we can always have faith and trust in Him that things are as they are meant to be, and that He will help carry us through those difficult times with perfect understanding and love!  Besides just the gospel, there are other skills, or knowledge that can help make coping a little easier.  I just published an article on examiner that talks about how to help children cope with tragedy, and while it's focused on children, many of the ideas are true for adults too!  Find my article here.

Ammon's First Birthday!

Today is Ammon's first birthday!  I cannot believe how fast this last year has gone!  He is such a joy to have around!  He walks everywhere now, and he also likes to try to whistle, although mostly he just manages to blow spit!  He is a mama's boy, and holds his arms out to you know when he wants you to pick him up!  He is also my first blanky baby!  He loves a couple of his soft blankets, and gets very upset with me when I wash them!  He loves to play with balls and to chase his siblings all around the house!  He also makes lots of faces, and loves it when Isaac makes faces at him!  He is such a sweet boy, and I'm so glad he's a part of our family!  Sure love you Ammon boy!

Oh, and my second article is published!  You can get to it by clicking on the logo on the side bar!

First Article

My first article for examiner.com is up!  Check it out at http://www.examiner.com/family-parenting-in-salt-lake-city/developmentally-correct.  You can actually subscribe to my articles with a link on the page if you want to get emails when I publish new articles.  I'm very excited and hope people will enjoy and find my articles interesting and helpful!  If you want to share my link with others, I wouldn't mind a bit!:)

The News!

Guess what?!  I'm going to be a paid writer!!!  A couple of weeks ago I applied to be a writer for a website called examiner.com.  It's kind of a news site for local areas, and they have sites for international places too.  It's more of a community site, so the articles are written by local people for their local area.  There are a bunch of different categories, including food, entertainment, fashion, and family and parenting, just to name a few!  I applied to be a writer for the parenting and family section, and they accepted me!  I had to send in a sample article, and I honestly have no idea how hard it is to be accepted by them.  For all I know, everyone who applies is accepted, but regardless, I'm excited!  I'm planning on becoming a family and marriage educator with my degree, and this will be great experience to go with that goal!  I also have to admit that I have no clue how much I will actually get paid.  I know it is based on how many hits my article gets, so I'm hoping you all will check out my articles and spread the word!  But, regardless of what I make, I'm just excited for the opportunity and experience!  I should have my first article up in the next day or two, and I'll be sure to put a link for it on here.  I'm officially writing for the Salt Lake City Family and Parenting section at examiner.com!  And, hopefully my articles will be a bit more fluid than this post; I'm just excited because I got the official email today!!

New Marriage and Family Blog

Okay, so I have finally created my new marriage and family blog which can be found here.  I don't have much on it yet, but will be adding things soon, and picking up where I left off on communication.  I am also very excited about something else that has happened, but I don't want to say too much until I have more solid information to share, so I'm going to leave you in a bit of suspense (since I know everyone is extremely interested in what's going on in my life) for a few more days! :)

Updating with Pictures!

It's only a couple of weeks late, but here are some Easter pictures!

The Easter bunny came to our house, and left some fun toys and candy!  Or, in Eden's case, he also left a new book!

He brought Isaac a Donkey Kong monster truck, which is still a big success!

Don't be fooled by the lack of smile in this picture!  EmmaLee loved her new fairy Barbie, but was concerned about me getting a good picture of it!

Ammon got a cool baby ball with lots of buttons, but he also found Isaac's new truck very interesting!

After finding their baskets inside, it was time to go outside to see what the bunny had hid around the yard!  The kids liked this part, just a little! :)

Searching for more chocolaty treasure!

So, moving on from Easter, Ammon is turning more and more into a little boy!  We have had this musical chair for a few years now, but just recently put in new batteries.  He LOVES it! 

He likes to sing and dance when it's on, and I think he likes having a chair his size!

Like I mentioned in an earlier post, Ammon is a walker now, which is so cute!  But, he's in an awkward size where the 9 month pants are too short for him, but twelve month pants are long on him!  I haven't bought him any shoes yet, but he's learned to keep his balance when walking, even with the pants over his feet!  He can walk all over now, and even pivots when he wants to turn around.  It's so cute to see this tiny, short little person walking around!!

German Pancake

This is a recipe from The Food Nanny, who can be seen on PBS. I bought her cookbook, and, so far, I have liked the recipes I have made from it! I think this is going to be a new favorite! My husband's father came to the US from Germany right after WWII. He was only 5, and his family had to sneak out. My father-in-law carried all his family's important documents in a toy briefcase as they went by security. They were able to make it, and lived here in Utah the rest of their lives! While this is not a recipe from the family, we made it on my husband's Oma's (grandmother) birthday a couple of weeks ago. It looks a bit funny, but tastes great! Also, I was a bit hesitant to make the sour cream topping, but made it anyway, and I LOVE it! The recipe calls for strawberries, but recommends raspberries as well. I have made both (the picture is with raspberries), and they are both good! Also, because this is more of an egg recipe, some of my kids prefer it plain with ketchup. I like the sweet version myself, but I also like how it is more of a protein dish for the morning because of the eggs. It's really easy to make! Enjoy!




1/4 cup (1/2 stick) butter (not margarine)
3 eggs
1/2 cup all-purpose flour
1/2 cup milk
1/2 teaspoon salt

1 cup sliced fresh strawberries or half of a 16-ounce package frozen unsweetened whole strawberries, thawed and sliced
1 teaspoon granulated sugar
1/2 cup sour cream
1 tablespoon brown sugar

1. Preheat the oven to 425 degrees. Put the butter into a 10-inch ovenproof skillet and place it in the oven. (As an alternative to a skillet, use a 9-inch round baking dish.)
2. Meanwhile, mix the eggs, flour, milk, and salt in a blender.
3. When the butter has melted, carefully pull out the oven rack and quickly pour the egg mixture into the skillet. Bake 15 to 20 minutes or until the pancake is puffed up and lightly browned. It will flatten slightly after it comes out of the oven.
4. Sweeten the strawberries with the granulated sugar in a small bowl and mix the sour cream with the brown sugar in a separate small bowl.
5. Cut the pancake into wedges and serve on individual plates. Top with the strawberries and sweetened sour cream.

Variations
*Use raspberries instead of strawberries.
*Double the recipe, using a larger skillet or baking dish, such as a 9 x 13-inch pan.

D-O-N-E (for another semester at least!)

I am officially done with school this semester!!!  A whole summer to catch up on everything that has been neglected for the last two semesters!  My spring cleaning list is written out, along with other goals and to do lists!  One of the top things on that to-do list is that I've decided to create a new blog for the stuff I'm learning in school.  Instead of trying to combine the two in this blog, I'm going to keep this one for my personal life, and create a new blog that will focus on marriages and families.  It will include anything I find that relates to marriages and families, including religious things.  This way I will be able to focus my energy on one thing at a time (amazing concept, I know)!  I'm working on getting it set up, so watch for the link soon. 

I still need to download a bunch of pictures, but for now, I wanted to mention a few things.  Ammon is officially a walker, and has been for almost a week now.  He'll still crawl once in a while, and falls a lot still too, but he can stand up without the assistance of people or things, and likes to walk all around the house.  Now that he can get around so well, his two sisters have decided to "help" him more, which usually means they pick him up in the middle of a walk and carry him somewhere, much to his irritation!  I can just hear his thoughts, "Great, all these months I've haven't been able to go to where I wanted to go, and nobody would help me most of the time, and now that I can finally move and get there myself, NOW they try to help!"  In all honesty, Ammon loves his siblings and tries to follow them all around the house.  He is getting so big, and he will be turning ONE on the 19th of this month!  I can't believe how fast this last year has gone!  Oh, and he is also now officially weaned and loves to eat normal foods (as long as they are soft or approved by me, that is)!  Because he is a new walker, his head is sporting numerous bruises and bumps, and while he doesn't know it, he is probably very glad to have padded diapers to make such a soft landing so many times a day!