HAPPY BIRTHDAY DAN!!!

Dan turns 29 today. So hard to believe that our first date was 12 years ago! (The girls-ask-boys dance at our high school. I was a senior and Dan was already graduated and preparing for his mission.) Here we are today, with 2 babies and one on the way. Who'd have thought? (My mom- who always loved Dan) Anyhow, Happy Birthday to a wonderful, hardworking and always optimistic Daddy and husband! We love you! As impatient as we are, we greeted Dan at the door this morning as he was coming home from work with his presents. Dan is now the proud owner of an ice cream maker. (Which we will use for birthday ice cream tonight!) He also received some new clothes! We are looking forward to a yummy birthday dinner at home! HAPPY BIRTHDAY DAN! 

YUMMY SMOOTHIES

I should have taken a picture to put with the post, but we all drank them up too quickly. I was watching a morning show a few months ago when they had the founder of Zuka Juice (now Jamba) sharing the recipe for a perfect smoothy. They are fantastic! I can't remember if I have shared this before, forgive me if I have. But it is worth sharing again and again.

Here goes:

Frozen berries (or any fruit) goes in first (You will not use ice)

Any fresh fruit (We always use banana and strawberries)

1 to 2 yogurts

Orange Juice or Pineapple Juice

Quantities do not matter- that is the beauty of the smoothie- they always turn out a little different. I just make sure to use enough juice (always orange) to cover all of the ingredients before blending. Enjoy!

Announcing.....

WE ARE HAVING A BOY!!!!

The cousins enjoy an ice cream cone after a hot day at the Folsom Zoo and Park! 

Our little cousin Sylvia Rose on Noelle's lap. We got to babysit so Nikki and Julio could go to the temple!

We went for our ultrasound today and found out we are having a BOY! I would have been happy either way, but am really excited for Corom to have a little brother so close in age. Now we just need a name. Noelle has been pretty insistent that we share names with our neighbor's new baby. (Fin) "He won't mind sharing his name," she said. We got home from Sacramento on Saturday night after a long layover in Las Vegas and another flight back home. The only hiccup was the loss of our stroller by the airline. We just got a call today that it had never left Sacramento. It's quite an adventure trying to navigate through 2 airports without a stroller! 

We had a great time at home with the family- we stayed the whole time with my mom, dad and Brandon, though we enjoyed visiting with Great Grandma and Grandpa, Nana and Papa, Gina and Josh, Aunty Nancy, Nikki, Julio and kids and friends. We felt spoiled by all of the attention! Noelle enjoyed every minute of her stay and reported on the last day that she was going to stay with Grandma and Grandpa and that I could go home. She then went on to list all of the people she didn't want to leave behind! I had to remind her of all the people at home in Utah who were missing her. (Namely all of her friends) Thank you to everyone for a great visit! So sorry to all who we visited with without taking pictures. I could have sworn that I took more pictures than I did. 

Hello from sunny California!

On Thursday, I packed up and flew the kids and myself out to Sacramento for a much-needed trip and change in scenery. We left the snow and arrived find ourselves in 90* heat- yikes! Our first day here Noelle had a fever of 104*. My mom and I took her to the emergency room where she checked out well- guess it was just a little flu bug or something of the sort. She is feeling better now. We have enjoyed spending time with all of the family and crashing here at my parent's house. Nothing like the feeling of being at home and having a mom around again. Good food, much more space, grandparents to pamper the kids. We will be here until Saturday. Dan stayed behind to tackle the end-of-the semester projects, papers and finals. I suppose it's alot easier to study at home without a 3 year old and a 1 year old climbing on him. I'll post again later this week as I have taken more pictures since I've been here than I have all winter! (It's that change of scenery thing!)

HAPPY EASTER!

The holidays really seem to make the year fly by! It seems like with little kids, the year revolves around teaching about and celebrating holidays! I love it! We had an eventful Easter this year filled with Easter Egg hunts, preschool parties, a church party, new church attire for the kids, time with cousins and a beautiful Easter dinner at my Aunt and Uncle's house. I was just telling some friends tonight that it is as if Easter exploded in our house. Everywhere you look there are plastic eggs. I pick them up, the kids dump them out! Even Corom loves pulling eggs apart and putting them back together. The excitement of the Easter Bunny visit to our house was the highlight of my weekend! It is so much fun seeing the world through the eyes of children! Here are a few pictures from our weekend.

Even the babies took part in the church Easter Egg hunt!

The boys at our ward Easter picnic. What a fun event with pony rides and a petting zoo!

It's not often you catch Noelle off guard with the camera in a real smile! She loves to run when she sees us taking a picture!

Another photo from the ward Egg Hunt!

Noelle and Duncan McDougal

We braved the Huntsman Center Egg Hunt with the McDougals and the Gainers. What a cold morning, but was it ever worth it! We couldn't believe how serious people take their egg hunts! I kept saying "Run Noelle!" and she would just look at me like "Why?" People are ruthless about getting eggs quickly for their children! My little 3 year old had to learn a less in competitiveness!

Thank you to Nana and Papa and Gina and Josh for a fun Easter package! Corom loved the UPS popcorn! (And the contents of the package too!)

We had cousins Ruby, Grace, Ella and Addi over on Friday night for a serious girl party! Actually, Dan was the life of the party! He sure knows how to keep kids entertained. (Soccer, pizza, decorating eggs...what a fun night!)

Coloring eggs with the cousins and Duncan!

Thank you Marne and Allison for a really fun preschool complete with coloring eggs and an egg hunt! We sure love preschool! (Especially music time)

And he takes off.....

We have been anticipating that Corom would walk any day for the last month or so. He is such a fast crawler and can get anywhere by following along walls and furniture. I suppose it took us being in the living room with him all day yesterday. (General Conference) He literally just took off and is walking all over the place- across the rooms, down the hall, etc. Way to go big guy!  I also found him crawling up his slide by himself. Here goes the phase where I will have to keep a really close eye on him. He is an adventurer!

A little Easter fun!

What a week! It has been snowing on and off all week and among our family, we have had rotating days of fevers with the cold/flu. (Chills/body aches-yuck!) Thank goodness it was a open week, without much on the calendar, so we quarantined ourselves for the most part, stayed home, slept and watched movies. I am so glad to be at a time in my life where my schedule allows me to rest when I'm sick. The kids have been great and I think quiet time is needed occasionally. We are hoping to get back on track tomorrow as things will be picking up again this week! What a wonderful General Conference this weekend. I am always so ready hear what our leaders have to say. The messages of optimism, bettering ourselves, looking to Christ, getting our lives in order, etc. Every message always has something I need to hear! We shared breakfast and the morning session with some friends this morning. Always my favorite weekends of the year.

Yesterday Dan had the opportunity to go snowboarding, (The snow I hate- he loves!) so I took the kids to an Easter Egg hunt at our local grocery store. Yup, the same great store that hosted Trick or Treating. It was the perfect event for a 3 year old. They had baskets of candy hidden throughout the store and the Easter Bunny to take pictures with. I love this market! They have, over the year, won my affection. (I must go the the grocery store at least 2 or 3 times a week) There is nothing better than great customer service! (Other than good produce, meats, etc.) I can compare grocery stores all day.

We are looking forward to Easter. It seems to have crept up on us, even though it is a relatively late Easter this year. I wasn't really paying much attention to the calendar until we found out we were pregnant and now I found myself saying, "It's only been 2 weeks!" I'm so impatient with my pregnancies. We are 17 weeks today! Anyhow, not much to report. We wish you all a Happy Easter week. We can't wait to see all of our California friends a few days after Easter! 

Baskets of candy hidden throughout the store!

Who needs candy?

Our little Easter lady- fresh out of bed and ready to go! I asked her to get her hat (Thinking baseball cap) and she came out with this one on!