Vecinos y Carne Asada (Neighbors and BBQ)

Brian and I like to take walks on Sunday afternoons. Sometimes we smell families having a "bar-b-Que" in their backyard and it smells more like their burning leaves or twigs. But today, ahhh....we passed a home just a few houses down from us and the smell coming from their yard was wonderful! As we passed, I noticed they were Latin. I said to Brian, "I didn't know we had Latin neighbors! They sure know how to cook." Brian asked, "Do you want to go say hi?" I was skeptical at first, but then a breeze blew that wonderful smell of Latin Bar-b-Que past our noses. Why not?

So here we are. Brian and me with our two children, strolling up to our Latin neighbors home, having never met them before, and wanting to make friends and introduce ourselves on a Sunday afternoon....when they are having a family Bar-b-Que. This situation might deter some people, but those people have never had authentic carne asada. And they probably don't understand how kind and open Latin people are. The phrase " Mi casa es su casa" (my house is your house), is a reality and a real part of Latin culture.

Before we knew it, they were more or less pushing plates of food on us and asking us to sit with them. Never mind that they were drinking beer and smoking! The food was delicious and mouthwatering! I learned how to makes a really yummy authentic pico de gallo from the lady of the house named Graciela. It all makes me laugh just thinking about it.

They were easy to talk to, fun and welcoming. We had some laughs, and I understood most of the Spanish conversation. Jackson mingled with their kids and looked at the horses. In the end, we invited them over to our place next month for another BBQ. They kept saying, "we have a big family!" We can handle it! Brian loves to grill.

What a great Sunday afternoon!

Happy Baby

There is a yoga pose called "happy baby" and it's not too far off of what you see Zoey doing these days. I've always thought it was so appropriately named, and I love it when I see my babies doing 'yoga' poses in their own! Jackson is very familiar with yoga already. He will see me stretching and ask "yoga?" How many 2 year old know what yoga is? I love it.

In reality, Zoey is our happy baby. She is such a delight. I think a lot of it has to do with the amount of sleep she gets, but she is just so pleasant to be around. Of course she has fussy times, like when she's hungry, tired, teething, or if Jackson bites her (or any combination of these), but these times are few and far between her happy times. She's so wonderful.

She is rolling, scooting, pivoting, and starting to balance her body weight on her arms and toes....before long she'll be crawling! She got her two front teeth in a week ago, and she hadn't started solid foods until yesterday.

She is soooooo uninterested in baby food. There is a rat on the Pixar movie Ratatouille that says to his brother, "If you work your way past the gag reflex, it opens up all kinds of possibilities!" That's Zoey. She can't get past the gagging. I've tried pureed bananas, pears, applesauce, peas, and finally sweet potatoes. She will eat sweet potatoes, but she doesn't like it! I'm afraid she'll never want to stop nursing.

I can't believe she is almost 6 months! I love seeing her little personality come out. I also love seeing how different she is from Jackson. She is very much a girl and I LOVE it (or maybe it's because Jackson is such a boy that he makes her look more girl-ish)! Either way, I love having one of each.

Jackson's Two!

Happy Birthday to YOU, Jackson dear!

Today, Jackson is two years old. I can't believe it! He's such a little helper in so many ways. This is a picture of him helping me make his birthday cake. He LOVES chocolate. He gets that from me, ha ha!

We're celebrating his birthday tomorrow by having a swim party with the family at the Lehi indoor pool. It's one if his favorite places to go.

I just wanted to write down a few things I love about my ever-growing boy and the sweetness that comes with the innocence of childhood. I'd hope for these things to stay for ever, but I'll know he'll grow out of it someday, as he should. I just want to make sure I remember what he's like at this time in his life.

I love it when (if he wants something REALLY bad) I can tell him "it will cost a kiss" and he quickly obliges! But I love it even more when he does it unprovoked, and just wants to give me a kiss.

I love it when I catch him doing silly things when he doesn't think anyone is looking, like making faces at himself in the bathtub faucet (reflects like a mirror) or walking on his heels just to be silly.

I love it when we ask for "bear hugs" he's all about making the sound more than the actual squeeze.

I love how he sucks on his bottom lip and plays with his cowlick when he's a little unsure of things.

I love how me asks me to kiss his owies better.

I love it when he wants me to do something with him, he'll take my hand and say, "come with me!"

Although I love that he's independent, I love it when he needs me too.

I love how anxious he is to be able to play with Zoey. He can't wait for her to be his playmate!

I love his facial expressions and his excitement over little things.

I just love, love, love him! I'm so glad he's a part of our family.

Play Time

I got a book full of great toddler activities for rainy days. Jackson and I have loved working on these activities together and he LOVES helping create, mix, and cook...then make a mess and play.

This week, we made our own finger paints. He loved being allowed to stick his hands in this fun, gooey stuff without getting in trouble! His favorite was the green.

Here is the recipe we used for those who want to give it a try. Your kids will have fun with it. It's super easy to make, but it only last a day. I tried to store it and it turned into gel instead of paint.

3 teaspoons of sugar

1/2 cup cornstarch

2 cups cold water

food coloring

1)add water to first two ingredients and cook over low heat

2) stir constantly until mixture is blended together and thickens a little

3) remove from heat and add coloring as desired (the more coloring you add the brighter the paint, but it also leaves a residue on their hands, as I found out)

April Showers...Snow Showers, that is!

When I think of Spring, I think if the saying. "April showers, bring May flowers". I know that Spring has beautiful days that make the waiting through months of winter worthwhile. A few days around Easter, we had a couple of those beautiful spring days, which was just enough to make our trees blossom. But then it was back to winter. We got hit hard with heavy damp spring snow. The snow stuck to all of those pretty blossoms and weighed down the weak branches until they almost touched the ground. We knew they'd break under that kind of stress. Brian and I shook of the snow off as much as we could during the day, and he even ran around at 2am in the morning to shake more snow off of the branches of our trees...and off the trees of our elderly neighbors... and the neighbors who were out of town (isn't he a nice guy?).

Anyway, it wasn't enough! Last Saturday we spent all day chopping the snapped branches. It was so sad. Our trees will look a little funny for a season or two, but at least the trees survived... for the most part.

Popcorn Popping!

"I could take an armful and make a treat. A popcorn ball that would smell so sweet..."

Who doesn't love this old primary song? Jackson asks us to sing it again and again! He loves the actions we do with our hands and loves that there is a song about popcorn, one of his favorite treats.

The last couple of days have been beautiful promises of Spring. Although it may last for only a few days (tomorrow's forecast calls for snow!), we've tried to enjoy it the best we can. Our trees are bursting out in pink and white blossoms, and really do look like popcorn, or "pakern" as Jackson would say. He will even point at them and say "pretty". I love this time of year and the life that begins to creep out of a long winter of hibernation.

We spent all day outside enjoying the sun. We had a picnic at the park with Dad, played with bubbles and sidewalk chalk, went for a walk and even played in a little water. For FHE we sang the popcorn popping song and made popcorn balls for desert.

As much as I love Spring, it wouldn't be near as special without these two guys!

April Fools!

If you're like Brian, you probably celebrate the big holidays like Thanksgiving, Christmas and Easter with pizazz while giving hardly any thought to the little holidays like... April Fool's Day. Which makes it all the more advantageous for someone like me, who revels in even the smallest reason to celebrate, to get away with pulling a prank.

I read about this idea of coloring milk and thought it would be a great prank to pull where Jackson could participate and have fun with it too. We had just enough milk at the bottom of our gallon (which happens to come in an opaque container-perfect!) that I didn't feel like I'd be wasting perfectly good milk.

I can't believe how childish I felt as we gathered around the breakfast table this morning and waited to see Brian's reaction! I causally waited, poured cereal into mine and Jackson's bowl, and allowed Brian to be the first to the milk. He poured just enough to notice something was "wrong" and looked at me. I busted up laughing and gave Jackson a high-five! We got him!

I have to say that blue milk in cereal is in no way appetizing! In fact, Jackson was the only one who couldn't get enough of the blue milk. He drank it so fast from of his bowl that it barely made his cereal damp. But whatever, it was fun! April Fool's, honey!

Happy St. Patty's Day!

I remember my mom doing fun things for the holidays when we were young. It was something that was fun for us. I enjoyed looking forward to each holiday and have good memories of them with my mom. I want my children to have the same thing, so I planned this "green theme" for St. Patrick's day, only Brian was going to be out of town for the actual day, so we celebrated it early...

We got Dr. Seuss's "Green Eggs and Ham" book (Jackson loves books) and we've been reading this one in preparation for our meal. For breakfast, we ate green eggs and "ham" (Brian picked up bacon at the store instead of ham, saying it was more or less the same thing...),

You do not like them.

So you say.

Try them! Try them!

And you may.

Try them and you may, I say.

Say!

I like green eggs and ham!

I do! I like them, Sam-I-am!

And of course we dressed in green. It wasn't anything outlandish, and maybe he'll never remember eating green eggs for breakfast, but we had fun doing it. Maybe on the real holiday we'll frost some sugar cookies with green frosting or something.....

Zoey

Zoey is almost 4 months old now. Time flies! She's the cutest little chunk. I just love her baby soft skin and chubsy rolls. She has had a lot of "firsts" already-- which makes me both excited for the things to come AND sad to see her grow up at the same time.

She has found her hands and tries to fit both of them in her mouth at once! Drool slides down everywhere...in her neck rolls, in between her fingers, the front of her shirt....only moms think this stuff is cute!

She had her first laugh this week! This is one of my favorite milestones! It's the cutest little belly shaker! I've only been able to get her to do it a couple of times though. I caught one on those episodes on film, but I was working so hard to entertain her, that I missed most of her face in the shot!

She is starting to roll too! Her first roll from her tummy to her back startled her and made her cry! Jackson likes to "help" her more than she likes getting the help, but it's fun seeing him interact with her (now that she's big enough to handle a little roughness that is).

If you've been keeping up with us, you also know she had her first bad cold. We are so glad that she is better. Although she lost a little weight and has been playing catch-up ever since, she is now growing and thriving as ever. I can't wait for Spring!

I know that all moms think their children are cute, but I just can't get enough of mine! Albeit they have their moments that can drive me crazy, I'll be honest! Zoey's cheeks beg for kisses and Jackson keeps me laughing and a smile in my heart. I'm so lucky to be a mom. It's the best!

Thanks to my wonderful friend Trina who took these shots! She has such a talent I wish I possessed (check out her other work on her website, trina nelson photography). I love how pictures capture moments in time, and these will be cherished forever!

Wedding Cake

I have never made a tiered cake before and decided to give it a try. Well- actually I was more or less "assigned" to give it a try. I am on the enrichment committee for my ward. Since we are celebrating the Relief Society's Birthday this month, our ward put together a program centered around the wedding feast from the 10 virgins parable (BTW- it was fabulously uplifting).

Now, we all know that women can outdo themselves, but what would a Relief Society function be without a wedding cake as a center piece on each table? I am one who usually votes for simplicity... and trust me...this was easier than what was originally planned!

I have to admit I was excited to give it a try. I took a few pictures of the process, because it took a day to make, and because I was a little impressed with the outcome.

I baked an Italian pineapple wedding cake. It was dense which made the layering aspect easier to work with, yet moist and tasty too. Brian hates cake (along with pineapple and coconut) and he loved this one! The recipe can be found here: http://allrecipes.com/Recipe/Italian-Wedding-Cake/Detail.aspx

I used the frosting from this recipe as the filling in between the layers by adding 1 cup of crushed pineapple to the batter. For the rest of the cake, I frosted it with a typical vanilla cool whip frosting.

I have to give a big THANKS to my husband, who did all the leveling and cutting the layers for me! He is a perfectionist, and did a meticulously good job. Much better than I would have done!
After the cake was leveled and layered, I placed a simple syrup coat over the cake to keep it moist, covered it with Saran wrap and refrigerated it over night. Then I iced the cake with a crumb coat, let that set in the fridge, and then iced it again with the final coat. I sprinkled toasted coconut over the top, and added a few flowers for decoration (with help from my mom- she came over to watch the kiddos while I attended Enrichment becuase Brian was gone- THANK YOU mom)!

I won't be starting up a cake bakery soon, but I think it turned out fairly decent for my first try! A little rustic, but good. And the most important part is that it tastes good.