A week ago....

We have lost our camera and I truly miss it! Luckily my MIL had a camera on her last week so we could get a few snapshots of the family fun.

Last week was our Beutler reunion. We had alot of fun...of course I might be biased because Brian and I were hosting it this year and so we got to plan all of the activities and stuff. Thursday was the kickoff with a movie, BBQ (we also made homemade ice cream in #10 cans), slide show and games. Friday, I taught a couple of rounds of Yoga, then we headed to the pool and played until the thunderstorm kicked in, did some crafts and science experiments with the kids (who doesn't like to create bombs and rockets?), came home to play a round of kickball, and stayed up late listening to fun family stories (and playing mafia...a Beutler favorite), Saturday started off with what Brian and I called "Lindon Survivor", which were games we modified from the TV series to an "attempted at-home" version. We had high hopes, but it really turned into a family dispute over rules of the games and declaring players cheaters and such. Ultimately it ended in a big water balloon and shaving cream fight. All in good fun.

Here are some pictures of the highlights.

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This weekend is our Beutler Family reunion. We, Brian and I, are hosting this year. We have a lot of fun things planned, so we'll update after the party is over, but for now, take a look at our slide show we created of our wonderful family and the highlights from this past year.

Beutler Reunion

Make a Smilebox slideshow

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!