1. With a soccer practice, a soccer game, two baseball games, a baby shower, and working on Saturday I was able to accomplish it all and finally see Nick play a game!
2. Liam's first soccer game was one of the cutest things I have ever seen. When I told him that he just needed to kick the ball into the goal, he said "Oh mom, that's easy."
3. I taught the boys how to play war with cards.
4. Our ward talent show was a blast. It brought me back to Wasatch Ward times and how much fun I thought the talent shows were back then. Nick and Andrew played the violin and they did a great job.
5. Both Liam and Luke fell asleep on me cuddling last night. I will definately take it while I can.
Monday, April 26, 2010
Monday, April 19, 2010
i could do this every weekend
Last weekend was the infamous free trip weekend I won off the radio.
I was a little worried while checking in at the airport that the confirmation number I was typing into the kiosk would be bogus. A huge flashing message would pop up saying "INVALID ENTRY." But no, it was real. We got on the plane, flew to LA via Phoenix, and had an amazing time.
We stayed at one of the original Hiltons--the Hilton Checkers. It was adorable. It had an old school feel to it and the people who work there are super nice. After checking into our hotel, we tromped around the city. We ate lunch at a little deli, saw the Walt Disney Concert Hall, rode on the shortest railway in the world, went to an outdoor market and had ice cream.
If you squint really hard, you can see the Hollywood sign
Does anyone want a sugar cookie the size of a dinner plate?
Then we headed back to the hotel to get ready for the concert. We arrived at the Staples Center and realized we were the only adult people there without a star struck preteen girl and felt a bit out of place. We also realized that the screams coming from these said preteen girls would be at such high decibles that the ringing in our ears would not be gone for days. We had amazing tickets on the front row and didn't want to be standing there like our middle aged-selves and not be singing along or really knowing any of the words. So, we sold them to a cute couple that loved Taylor and we went to dinner at Wolfgang Puck's across the street. My two qualifications for the restaurant we ate at were Diet Coke and an amazing dessert menu. This far exceeded expectations. We sat outside on comfy couches and ate amazing food and it was a perfect people watching spot. We agreed that we totally made the right choice by not going to the concert.
The next day we headed to the beach. We drove along Santa Monica Boulevard and saw Beverly Hills. Justin saw the sign to Rodeo Drive and I wanted to go and to walk along the famous street. Our little rented Pontiac looked very out of place next to the Bentleys, Ferraris, Range Rovers, Mercedes, and Rolls Royces that were all over the place. I am sure that my old hoodie, my unpedicured feet, my bushy eyebrows and our flip flops didn't make a great impression either but we were just keeping it real. We didn't see anyone famous, but did see a local Utah DJ there eating breakfast at a hotel.
After seeing all of that superficial commercial stuff, we saw the beautiful Los Angeles Temple while driving toward the beach. It is absolutely stunning.
Then we made it to the beach. Oh, I love the beach. We walked along the pier, rode the ferris wheel, ate Hot Dog on a Stick, and just sat on the warm sand and listened to the waves come in.
Off again to the airport where I taught Justin how to play gin rummy while we waited for our flight to leave. My plan is to enter as many contests as I can so we can do this again soon...maybe next time we will actually go to the concert.
And, thank you mom and dad for watching the boys...they had a fabulous time as well!
I was a little worried while checking in at the airport that the confirmation number I was typing into the kiosk would be bogus. A huge flashing message would pop up saying "INVALID ENTRY." But no, it was real. We got on the plane, flew to LA via Phoenix, and had an amazing time.
We stayed at one of the original Hiltons--the Hilton Checkers. It was adorable. It had an old school feel to it and the people who work there are super nice. After checking into our hotel, we tromped around the city. We ate lunch at a little deli, saw the Walt Disney Concert Hall, rode on the shortest railway in the world, went to an outdoor market and had ice cream.
If you squint really hard, you can see the Hollywood sign
Does anyone want a sugar cookie the size of a dinner plate?
Then we headed back to the hotel to get ready for the concert. We arrived at the Staples Center and realized we were the only adult people there without a star struck preteen girl and felt a bit out of place. We also realized that the screams coming from these said preteen girls would be at such high decibles that the ringing in our ears would not be gone for days. We had amazing tickets on the front row and didn't want to be standing there like our middle aged-selves and not be singing along or really knowing any of the words. So, we sold them to a cute couple that loved Taylor and we went to dinner at Wolfgang Puck's across the street. My two qualifications for the restaurant we ate at were Diet Coke and an amazing dessert menu. This far exceeded expectations. We sat outside on comfy couches and ate amazing food and it was a perfect people watching spot. We agreed that we totally made the right choice by not going to the concert.
The next day we headed to the beach. We drove along Santa Monica Boulevard and saw Beverly Hills. Justin saw the sign to Rodeo Drive and I wanted to go and to walk along the famous street. Our little rented Pontiac looked very out of place next to the Bentleys, Ferraris, Range Rovers, Mercedes, and Rolls Royces that were all over the place. I am sure that my old hoodie, my unpedicured feet, my bushy eyebrows and our flip flops didn't make a great impression either but we were just keeping it real. We didn't see anyone famous, but did see a local Utah DJ there eating breakfast at a hotel.
After seeing all of that superficial commercial stuff, we saw the beautiful Los Angeles Temple while driving toward the beach. It is absolutely stunning.
Then we made it to the beach. Oh, I love the beach. We walked along the pier, rode the ferris wheel, ate Hot Dog on a Stick, and just sat on the warm sand and listened to the waves come in.
Off again to the airport where I taught Justin how to play gin rummy while we waited for our flight to leave. My plan is to enter as many contests as I can so we can do this again soon...maybe next time we will actually go to the concert.
And, thank you mom and dad for watching the boys...they had a fabulous time as well!
Monday, April 12, 2010
Thursday, April 8, 2010
field trip
Nothing says headache like a second grade field trip.
Did I say headache? I meant FUN.
On my way back to the school after dropping Liam off at daycare I thought about stopping and getting a diet coke. I thought I was late so that didn't happen but in the end I wasn't late so I could have stopped but all is great now because I am sipping on one as we speak. Ahhhhh.
We headed to the Museum of Natural History up at the University of Utah and then after lunch to the Hale Center Theater for a tour. Like one of the girls in my group said: "It's two field trips in one!" Yep, it was a bargain.
Here are Luke and his best buddy Jack on the bus and okay, do you ever remember your school bus being souped up like this? I don't either. We watched Brother Bear on the way to the museum and Monster's Inc. on the way back to the school. I don't know if anyone heard anything, but it was there to stare at and make up your own dialog if you wanted to.
My cute group I was in charge of for the day...Luke, Jack, Aimee, and Shaylie
Here we are at the museum. We had a scavenger hunt to find different minerals (there were even ones that glowed in the dark), the mine, and parts of the life cycle. The highlights were the huge T-rex skull, the mine, and the display of spiders and creepy crawlies. After exploring for a while we ate lunch outside and let the kids run around.
Then off to the Hale Center Theater.
This was our tour guide. She was very purply.
The kids got to act out different things...a circus performer, an old man/woman, and the girls were supermodels and the boys were muscle men. All the pictures I got of the performances were either too dark or too blurry but I got a kick out of watching these little people. Then we got a backstage tour. Luke says he wants to go back to see the moveable stage actually move. I think this can definately be arranged.
Did I say headache? I meant FUN.
On my way back to the school after dropping Liam off at daycare I thought about stopping and getting a diet coke. I thought I was late so that didn't happen but in the end I wasn't late so I could have stopped but all is great now because I am sipping on one as we speak. Ahhhhh.
We headed to the Museum of Natural History up at the University of Utah and then after lunch to the Hale Center Theater for a tour. Like one of the girls in my group said: "It's two field trips in one!" Yep, it was a bargain.
Here are Luke and his best buddy Jack on the bus and okay, do you ever remember your school bus being souped up like this? I don't either. We watched Brother Bear on the way to the museum and Monster's Inc. on the way back to the school. I don't know if anyone heard anything, but it was there to stare at and make up your own dialog if you wanted to.
My cute group I was in charge of for the day...Luke, Jack, Aimee, and Shaylie
Here we are at the museum. We had a scavenger hunt to find different minerals (there were even ones that glowed in the dark), the mine, and parts of the life cycle. The highlights were the huge T-rex skull, the mine, and the display of spiders and creepy crawlies. After exploring for a while we ate lunch outside and let the kids run around.
Then off to the Hale Center Theater.
This was our tour guide. She was very purply.
The kids got to act out different things...a circus performer, an old man/woman, and the girls were supermodels and the boys were muscle men. All the pictures I got of the performances were either too dark or too blurry but I got a kick out of watching these little people. Then we got a backstage tour. Luke says he wants to go back to see the moveable stage actually move. I think this can definately be arranged.
Wednesday, April 7, 2010
cinni-yum
I have until recently been a little intimidated by yeast.
Baking yeast, not the other kind that I tend to see on a regular basis at work.
Not only does the word sound a bit creepy and gross but I never knew what kind to use, my dough never seemed to raise the way I wanted to, and people would talk about it like it was sacred. Wait until the yeast is alive, let it activate...these terms confused me and made me nervous.
Well, I think I have started to become a bit more confident with this eluisve ingredient. I have made a homemade pizza crust from a recipe that my sister gave me that involves yeast and these delicious and super easy and delicious cinnamon rolls.
I got this from a friend at work I think over 2 years ago. I have lost it several times and had to ask her to make me another copy each time. Finally she just emailed it to me. I finally made these for the first time on Easter Sunday.
CINNAMON ROLLS
1 yellow cake mix
2 1/2 cups water
2 TBS yeast
4 1/2 cups flour
1 1/2 tsp salt
Margarine, sugar, brown sugar, and cinnamon
Soften yeast in warm water. Mix in cake and flour. Knead dough until smooth (it was extremely sticky!). Let dough rise for 1 hour then roll flat on floured surface. cover with layer of softened margarine, then sprinkle with sugar, brown sugar, and cinnamon. Roll into log and cut into rolls. Place rolls on cookie sheet and let rise for an additional 1/2 hour to an hour. Bake at 400 degrees for 10 minutes. Remove from oven and frost immediately.
So if you don't want to wake up at 4 am to bake your family delicious rolls because I sure don't--there are two options. I put mine in the fridge overnight and took them out an hour before baking and my friend lets hers raise first for an hour and then puts them in the fridge overnight and takes them out a half hour before baking.
FROSTING:
4 oz cream cheese
1/4 cup butter
3 cups powdered sugar
1/2 tsp vanilla
2 TBS milk
Soften cream cheese and butter in microwave. Add remaining ingredients and mix well.
Enjoy!
Baking yeast, not the other kind that I tend to see on a regular basis at work.
Not only does the word sound a bit creepy and gross but I never knew what kind to use, my dough never seemed to raise the way I wanted to, and people would talk about it like it was sacred. Wait until the yeast is alive, let it activate...these terms confused me and made me nervous.
Well, I think I have started to become a bit more confident with this eluisve ingredient. I have made a homemade pizza crust from a recipe that my sister gave me that involves yeast and these delicious and super easy and delicious cinnamon rolls.
I got this from a friend at work I think over 2 years ago. I have lost it several times and had to ask her to make me another copy each time. Finally she just emailed it to me. I finally made these for the first time on Easter Sunday.
CINNAMON ROLLS
1 yellow cake mix
2 1/2 cups water
2 TBS yeast
4 1/2 cups flour
1 1/2 tsp salt
Margarine, sugar, brown sugar, and cinnamon
Soften yeast in warm water. Mix in cake and flour. Knead dough until smooth (it was extremely sticky!). Let dough rise for 1 hour then roll flat on floured surface. cover with layer of softened margarine, then sprinkle with sugar, brown sugar, and cinnamon. Roll into log and cut into rolls. Place rolls on cookie sheet and let rise for an additional 1/2 hour to an hour. Bake at 400 degrees for 10 minutes. Remove from oven and frost immediately.
So if you don't want to wake up at 4 am to bake your family delicious rolls because I sure don't--there are two options. I put mine in the fridge overnight and took them out an hour before baking and my friend lets hers raise first for an hour and then puts them in the fridge overnight and takes them out a half hour before baking.
FROSTING:
4 oz cream cheese
1/4 cup butter
3 cups powdered sugar
1/2 tsp vanilla
2 TBS milk
Soften cream cheese and butter in microwave. Add remaining ingredients and mix well.
Enjoy!
Monday, April 5, 2010
happy easter 2010
I can't believe it is April already. Time seems to be going so much faster than I ever remember--is it possible that the Earth is spinning faster than it did when I was little?
We had a great Easter weekend.
Here are some photos that I haven't posted yet of the fun annual neighborhood Easter egg hunt that I organize. My friend initiated this in my old neighborhood and I loved it so I have carried on the tradition here in my neighborhood since moving in three years ago. I remember going to huge Easter egg hunts when I was little and not getting a ton of loot and being grumpy about it. Because of this, I have never taken my kids to a huge hunt at a park and this hunt is a wonderful alternative. If anyone wants any info on how to do this, it is super easy and so much fun. It is divided into 3 different age groups and I can't believe that my baby has moved up into the big leagues. It was the weekend before Easter so and the weather was actually nice instead of the snowy mess that arrived the weekend of Easter!
Two of the cute girls in the neighborhood, Kate and Nyah, with the boys.
On Friday, April 2 to continue with the Spring Break activities, we hung out at Discovery Gateway for the day. This super freaky Easter Bunny was there handing out eggs full of Silly Putty to all the kids.
On Saturday, Justin and Andrew went on a Daddy-Son date to see Clash of the Titans. It received a very enthusiastic thumbs up from Drewbie and Justin liked it but says he liked the old one better. After the morning session of General Conference (wasn't Julie Beck's talk awesome?) Luke, Liam, and I went up to see my parents and ended up just running errands. It was actually a lot of fun--we stopped in a pet store, went to lunch at McDonalds, and then to get candy for the hunt the next day.
Easter itself was super fun and super busy. Poor Nicholas didn't arrive home from his tournament until 4 am on Sunday morning and since Justin and I stayed up to wait for him, we had a pretty lazy start to the morning. Luckily the night before I made cinnamon rolls to pop in the oven for breakfast and the younger three were so very considerate to let us sleep in a little and they didn't even try to find their baskets or snitch any of the candy the Easter Bunny left them! It was nice to eat chocolate and cinnamon rolls while watching conference in our jammies rather than having to get up to go to church.
At Grandma and Grandpa Scotts (I totally stole this picture from my sisterinlaw's blog but it is so cute of all the cousins!):
The Easter Bunny dropped off some goods for all the kids--a towel for the pool, money, a whistle, a pinwheel, and of course, chocolate.
Then the boys were spoiled even more with another hunt at Grandma and Grandpa Winegars but the hit of the hunt were the bubble wands:
My cute cousin Dave playing with the boys:
Justin taught Nicholas everything he knows about Whopper egg lipstick and how to channel his inner Zoolander:
And some random photos captured by our intern photographer--none of these photos are very flattering to many of the subjects pictured but holy cow, he was laughing the entire time he was taking them.
A self portrait:
Erika:
Gigi:
Dad:
Erika and Laura:
Kate and Clark:
Just a little sidenote about conference, I loved it. I always do but this one was an answer to many, many prayers. So many inspiring talks about family and what we as parents need to do for our sweet children. I feel a bit overwhelmed at all I still need to improve on but excited for the challenge. Can't wait for the next issue of the Ensign!
We had a great Easter weekend.
Here are some photos that I haven't posted yet of the fun annual neighborhood Easter egg hunt that I organize. My friend initiated this in my old neighborhood and I loved it so I have carried on the tradition here in my neighborhood since moving in three years ago. I remember going to huge Easter egg hunts when I was little and not getting a ton of loot and being grumpy about it. Because of this, I have never taken my kids to a huge hunt at a park and this hunt is a wonderful alternative. If anyone wants any info on how to do this, it is super easy and so much fun. It is divided into 3 different age groups and I can't believe that my baby has moved up into the big leagues. It was the weekend before Easter so and the weather was actually nice instead of the snowy mess that arrived the weekend of Easter!
Two of the cute girls in the neighborhood, Kate and Nyah, with the boys.
On Friday, April 2 to continue with the Spring Break activities, we hung out at Discovery Gateway for the day. This super freaky Easter Bunny was there handing out eggs full of Silly Putty to all the kids.
On Saturday, Justin and Andrew went on a Daddy-Son date to see Clash of the Titans. It received a very enthusiastic thumbs up from Drewbie and Justin liked it but says he liked the old one better. After the morning session of General Conference (wasn't Julie Beck's talk awesome?) Luke, Liam, and I went up to see my parents and ended up just running errands. It was actually a lot of fun--we stopped in a pet store, went to lunch at McDonalds, and then to get candy for the hunt the next day.
Easter itself was super fun and super busy. Poor Nicholas didn't arrive home from his tournament until 4 am on Sunday morning and since Justin and I stayed up to wait for him, we had a pretty lazy start to the morning. Luckily the night before I made cinnamon rolls to pop in the oven for breakfast and the younger three were so very considerate to let us sleep in a little and they didn't even try to find their baskets or snitch any of the candy the Easter Bunny left them! It was nice to eat chocolate and cinnamon rolls while watching conference in our jammies rather than having to get up to go to church.
At Grandma and Grandpa Scotts (I totally stole this picture from my sisterinlaw's blog but it is so cute of all the cousins!):
The Easter Bunny dropped off some goods for all the kids--a towel for the pool, money, a whistle, a pinwheel, and of course, chocolate.
Then the boys were spoiled even more with another hunt at Grandma and Grandpa Winegars but the hit of the hunt were the bubble wands:
My cute cousin Dave playing with the boys:
Justin taught Nicholas everything he knows about Whopper egg lipstick and how to channel his inner Zoolander:
And some random photos captured by our intern photographer--none of these photos are very flattering to many of the subjects pictured but holy cow, he was laughing the entire time he was taking them.
A self portrait:
Erika:
Gigi:
Dad:
Erika and Laura:
Kate and Clark:
Just a little sidenote about conference, I loved it. I always do but this one was an answer to many, many prayers. So many inspiring talks about family and what we as parents need to do for our sweet children. I feel a bit overwhelmed at all I still need to improve on but excited for the challenge. Can't wait for the next issue of the Ensign!
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