Big vs Bigger

Brent and I decided one day that we need a bigger car. No this is not an annoucement. So for kicks and giggles we put my car on ksl.com just to see what we could get out of it. A few days later there was a man on our doorstep offering almost what we were asking. So we sold my car. Now we definately need a new car. We can't make up our minds, well, mostly me. We've driven a million cars. My problem is that I like all of them. We can't decide between a minivan and an SUV. I really like the manuverabilty and the good gas mileage of the minivan. But the SUV's we've driven have been more comfortable and are better for towing and have 4 wheel drive. Oh and the minivans are less expensive, which highly appeals to the cheap side of me. I think what it comes down to is I have a hard time picturing myself at the stage in life where I'm driving a minivan. It probably sounds vain but it's true. So any thoughts or advice would be appreciated.

Pride and Prejudice

I've been on a big reading kick lately. I love to read but it's been put by the wayside a lot since having kids. Now I'm determined to read more because it is one of the things really enjoy doing. I just finished reading Pride and Prejudice. I loved it. I thought it would go over my head as some other books from that same era have done, but it didn't. It was so easy to read. Jane Austen is an amazing writer. It is definately one of my favorite books. To anyone else who wants to read a good classic but is too intimidated, this is a good one. After reading it I rented the A&E production of Pride and Prejudice, I already own the recent Hollywood version. I like how the A&E version stays truer to the story. But I'm also a big fan of the Hollywood version, it's good for a quick romantic fix. Brent on the other hand is not a big fan. He not only doesn't really enjoy watching, but he also doesn't enjoy having me watch. He says my expectations become too high after watching or reading stories like that. Oh well. I've also recently read Out of the Silent Planet by C.S. Lewis, it was different, but I really enjoyed it. If anyone has any suggests for good books, I'd really like to hear them.

Caden's Great Escape

This is Caden trying to escape the craziness that is his extended family.

The Big 1!

Caden had his first birthday last thursday. I'm not really sure what he thought about what was going on (maybe Terri the baby interpretter can help me out). HAPPY BIRTHDAY CADEN!!! Look how happy he is to be awake on his birthday. So he actually wasn't a very big fan of the whole 'make a mess of your first cake' thing. This is post clean up. I forgot to bring extra clothes for him. He was much happier once he was cleaned up and naked.


Brent was a "willing" model for Caden's new cowboy hat.

Will you be my valentine?

We had a fun little pre-valentines day party today.


Kyla made a cookie with lots of frosting and lots of candy hearts.


We had lunch complete with heart shaped pb&j.


This is 'Grandpa Robinson', as Kyla calls him, he helps out in nursery and all the kids love him.


The boys played in one room.


And the girls in another.


To complete the fun we played valentines day bingo.

Aahhh, almost 50

Yesterday was the warmest day in months. It was almost 50 degrees. So we decided to go for a nice little walk, even though there is still several feet of snow on the ground.

I walk the line....

Yummy Soup!

I don't usually post recipes because normally when I try new recipes they don't turn out too well (it's probably a problem with the cook and not the recipes). But this soup is awesome. We love it. I found this on a blog called Picky Palate. The recipes says to make the soup in a dutch oven, I just made mine in a normal pot and it was just fine. It's a great way to use up all the crushed chips at the end of the bag that no one wants to eat.




Chicken Enchilada Soup

2 Tbsp extra virgin olive oil
1 medium onion finely chopped
2 14.5oz cans chicken broth
1 28oz can mild green enchilada Sauce
½ tsp cumin
½ tsp roasted garlic seasoning
1 4oz can diced green chilies
2 14oz cans diced tomatoes undrained
8oz sour cream
2 Cups shredded cheddar cheese
4 large boneless skinless chicken breasts cooked and cubed
1 Bag Tortilla Chips

Place oil in 5qt dutch oven over medium high heat. Place onions into hot oil and sauté for 3-5 minutes or until tender. Add chicken broth, enchilada sauce, cumin, garlic seasoning, green chilies and tomatoes. Stir and bring to a boil. Reduce heat to low then add sour cream, cheese, and chicken. Stir and let simmer for 15-20 minutes or until cheese is melted through.
Top each soup bowl with a handful of crushed tortilla chips. Enjoy!

First Haircut

So, I gave Caden his first real haircut. He was looking pretty scragely. This was a picture of him at Christmas.


Here he is after the haircut. There are no 'during the haircut' pictures because he was crying so hard you would have thought we were torturing him. Plus it took both brent and I to hold him and cut the hair.


Brent was actually a little upset that we cut it so short. I like it because now I can do fun stuff like spike it.

Mush, Molly, Mush!

So on Saturday my sister Suzanne took her dog Molly over to my mom's to run around. We decided that it would be fun for Ky to have Molly pull her around on the tube. It was fun until Molly spotted some deer on the other side of a barbed wire fence and made a mad dash. Luckily, Molly went one way around a tree and kyla on the tube went around the other side, thus wrapping the dogs leash around the tree, about five feet from the fence. Needless to say, it was pretty scarry for both Kyla and I.

Basketball, Baby!

Okay, so tonight was the first Relief Society basketball game. Boy am I out of shape, I was being schooled. Honestly, I was dying. And I am terrible. I went in thinking that I could probably do pretty good, because back when I played in Young Women's I was good. Half way into the game I realized why I used to be so good; I was playing against beehives. I did however make one three pointer, that was the only time I scored the whole game. I did also give one hard foul in which I received a nice little battle wound. All in all it was probably pretty good for my first game back since I haven't played in 7 or 8 years. I really need to start working out.

Born Free

Okay, so today I was working on the computer while Caden was taking his nap. Kyla was playing really good. We have this old couch that we let Ky jump on to get all her energy, we're terrible parents. Anyway, as I'm working Kyla is jumping and she says 'Watch me mommy'. I turn around and she is stark, jumping on the couch, holding a pretend pogo stick. She looked like a hairless, tailess kangroo. It was really quite funny. Of course being the great mother I am, I just turned around and kept working. Then she came up and told me the she a nakie pirate and wanted to know where my treasure was. What can I say, she LOVES being naked.

Ski The Beav

So, on Monday Brent decided to play hookie from work, we dropped the kids off at the Haslem's and we were off skiiing. I didn't take my camera with me but I stole some pics from Beaver Mountains website to share with those you have never been there.

Papa Noel

This Santa wasn't the best I've seen. Don't get me wrong he was really nice. It's the costume I wasn't a big fan of. His beard covered his entire face. I guess when I thought of taking Kyla to see Santa, he would be more like the Santa from "Miracle on 34th street". Of course I wasn't the who needed to believe it was Santa. Kyla was really excited to see Santa and that's what's important.

Stupid Internet

I just noticed that my video from JibJab isn't working. The JibJab site is down. Hopefully they'll get it working again soon.

Lots of Laughs

So this made me laugh so I thought I'd post it. Kyla has watched it at least ten times because she thinks it's so funny. Lucky for my nephew Josh I needed a fifth head and his was the first good head shot photo I could find.

Don't send a lame Holiday eCard. Try JibJab Sendables!

Let it Snow!

This was our first real snow for the year. Kyla was pretty excited about having a snowball fight.
We even made a snowman. The hair was kyla's idea. She also wanted to make a snow toilet but I wasn't sure how to do that.
Ky played with her neighbor friends on the wood pile.
She got cold pretty quick since she doesn't have any decent snow clothes. So she came in and sat by the fire and drank hot cocoa.

Isn't the candy suppose to go on the gingerbread?

So the Saturday after Thanksgiving we went over to the Haslem's to make gingerbread houses. Brent was supposed to be helping Ky make hers, but apparently that wasn't fun enough. He and Ky thought it would be funny put the candy on Ky's face.
And then the crazieness escalated....
Brent tried to stick gummy santas on her face but they wouldn't stay.
So he opted for pull-n-peel licorice instead.
The end product, both Ky's gingerbread house and Kyla herself.
BTW - If you child has sensitive skin I wouldn't recommend doing this. Ky's face became really red and blotchy where the frosting had been.

The Day after Thanksgiving

So we spent 90% of the Thanksgiving weekend with Brent's family. We talked, laughed, and played a lot of wii. And when I say a lot, I mean A LOT!
Christie decided that it was time Caden was introduced to whip cream.
Brent's sisters gave Caden a rock star make over.
We thought the mohawk was a very good look for Caden.
Just hanging with Uncle John.

We had so much fun that Kyla just zocked out in the middle of the day.

Thanksgiving

Thanksgiving at the Haslems.
My friend James from England, Christie, and Mr. No Pants (i.e. Caden).
We also celebrated Emmy's Birthday on Thanksgiving.
Caden wasn't real enthrolled with Thanksgiving.