Quotable Kids

Hope does not like to be called a dude. In fact, if you do she will tell you, "grils are not dudes". Yes, she does say grils not girls.



Sophia had a silly smirk come across her face this morning while getting her hair done and then she said, "I am going to fart in 10, 9, 8, 7, 6, 5, 4, 3, 2, 1!" I don't think she actually did fart, but it got me laughing.

Grateful ....

The last two weeks we have had some scary situations happen to some members of our ward. It has given me time to reflect on the many blessings Heavenly Father has given me. I am so grateful for good health. I am so grateful for having had healthy babies and that they have continued to be healthy. I am so grateful for Mark and the companionship we have together. I have thought a little bit more lately about the BIG picture and I can't wait to spend eternity with my family. I love each of them so much. I am so grateful for the wonderful friends I have had throughout my life, they have been such a blessing in my life.

Most importantly I am so grateful that Heavenly Father has a plan. I am so grateful for my Savior and they Atonement and the peace the gospel brings. I am so grateful for the power of prayer and fasting. I am so blessed.

Chocolate Chip Cookie Pie

So the other day I was at a friend's house and she made this very delicious treat. It is Chocolate Chip Cookie Pie, so yummy. I thought I would share the recipe.



Chocolate Chip Cookie Pie
Recipe from Nestle

1 unbaked 9-inch pie crust, homemade or store-bought.
2 large eggs
1/2 C flour
1/2 C white granulated sugar
1/2 C packed brown sugar
3/4 C real butter, softened (1 1/2 sticks)
1 C chocolate chips (semi-sweet or dark works best, you might find milk too sweet)
1 C chopped pecans (you are welcome to make it without nuts)

Vanilla ice cream, or sweetened whipped cream for serving (a must! I prefer ice cream)

optional: chocolate sauce (honestly, doesn't really need chocolate sauce, but it looks pretty!)

Preheat oven to 325° F.

Beat eggs in large mixer bowl on high speed until foamy. Beat in flour, granulated sugar and brown sugar. Beat in butter. Stir in morsels and nuts. Spoon into pie shell.

Bake for 55 to 60 minutes or until knife inserted halfway between edge and center comes out clean. Cool on wire rack or serve slightly warmed. Serve with ice cream or whipped cream.


I can't wait to make this on Sunday!

Mini Me

When I was a little girl, which really wasn't that long ago, I was a neat freak! I was a fanatic about keeping my room clean (which I shared with a little sister). Everything was always put away. I loved to vacuum it because then it had those nice lines on the floor. I just loved how it looked when it was all nice and tidy. Then it got a little out of control, I began cleaning my brothers room because I couldn't stand how messy it was. I know that they totally didn't appreciate it, but it made me feel better. I loved doing it until one day they made a fatal mistake, they began calling me their maid. It drove me crazy that their room was a mess but they were NOT going to call me their maid. Another time my parents took us to some of their friends house in Mapleton. They were going to babysit us for a couple of hours and asked what we would like to do. They took me to their game closet and I almost had a heart attack. Oh my goodness, there were games and pieces everywhere, it was totally unorganized. I asked if it would be okay if I just cleaned their closet. I think they were embarrassed (I would be if a kid did that to me), but they let me do it. My parents were totally embarrassed when they found out that was what I had done all day.

I have no idea what happened once I got married and had kids, obviously you have to let a few things go, which finally gets me to my point. So my kids have jobs. Like Sophia, was supposed to vacuum the front room, dust, and then put everything back. So yesterday she was vacuuming up next to the kitchen. She asked if she could use the hose and clean up on the tile, of course I let her. Then she got over to the other side by the pantry and it was messy in the pantry. She asked if she could just vacuum out the pantry , which lead to moving everything out of it and throwing things away. It reminded me so much of myself, she is my little mini me. You can literally draw a line down Kate and Sophia's room and tell whose side is whose. Her bed is always made, her half of the dresser neat and tidy. Kate's has stacks a mile high. Its fun to watch your kids develop, what makes one clean and one messy. I just don't get it, but I love them just the same!

She is just a go getter, maybe she can learn to multitask and learn how
to do it when she is a mother! (Sorry such a blurry picture.)

Yes, we did have Christmas!

In reading everyone's blogs about Christmas I realized that you might be wondering if we actually celebrated anything this year. (Because I blog so frequently and all.) Well, we had a wonderful very low key Christmas. I have realized that there is no such thing as the perfect Christmas. The perfect Christmas consists of having my family surrounding me and I could give or take the gifts. Despite all of this, I have kids that still love the magic of Christmas. Christmas lights, Christmas stories, family traditions and, of course, Santa and his reindeer. We even put reindeer food out this year, it worked, Santa made it.

Well, here are some pictures of our Christmas. We went ice skating, the kids loved it.

We got to watch the zamboni clean up the ice.

Hope didn't want this night to end. She outlasted us all.

After we went and got frosty's and fries at Wendy's!

All she wants for Christmas is her one front tooth. Perfect timing!

We also made gingerbread houses, Kate's was the fanciest.

Holy cow, handsome boy! He was dying to have a vest for Christmas,
then he spent some his Christmas money to buy a bowtie.

Just waiting, is it my turn yet.

Sophia asked Santa to bring make-up. That's all. But when I ran over her bike about two weeks before Christmas we let Santa know right away and he pulled through.

Kate got a camera and somewhat of a crazy hairdo!

Nick got a couple of video games. He played them all day!


Kimball got a John Wall jersey and is still waiting for his other jersey! Santa got a late start and the mailman must have been too busy! (Jan. 3rd, it still isn't here.)

Hope's Perspective

Apparently we go through a lot of batteries. Everything takes batteries right! Well today Hope informed me that the batteries in the toilet needed to be replaced. (It must have not flushed right!) Just thought it was funny.

Another tender moment with Hope was her Christmas list. The most important things on her list were a Christmas tree and Christmas lights. She informed me of this many times until we finally put our Christmas tree and turned on the lights. She was so excited. She ran to the door and looked out into the darkness and was sure that it was snowing. Then she came and sat in front of the tree and said, "Oh, this is just like heaven." Oh, through the eyes of a child, it brought tears to my eyes. Who knows maybe heaven is like having the snow fall and the Christmas lights shining.

Soda Pop turned 6!

So this post is just a few days late! This year has been an exciting one for Sophia. She is finally in kindergarten and she is loving it. She is having her first friend birthday party this weekend and can hardly stand the wait. Sophia is such a fun girl to have around. She is so grown up and is going to be a fabulous mom someday. She likes to write and is learning how to sound out words. Sophia has lots of friends and is always orchestrating some type of game. She is a great big sister and really takes care of Hope. Our family would definitely have a hole without this little ball of energy. We love you Sophia and wish you a happy birthday.