Role Models

Have you seen 'The Secret'? My mother-in-law sent us a CD called 'The Totality of Possibilities' and I think it's the same idea as that movie. I was casually listening to it the other day as I was getting ready and latched on to the idea that you can be anything you want to be and do anything you want to do. Don't be stopped by lack of eduction, lack of finances, lack of self confidence--those are just excuses. I don't know how far I buy into the idea; I want to plan a trip where we go do all the crazy things they do on The Amazing Race. I think that would take some financial fundage, don't you think?

But I think it's important to not be stifled or scared when thinking about what you really want to be. So this CD gave me all this confidence and ambition. For about thirty seconds before I realized I don't really know what I want. Hmmm. Artsy? Musical? Well-read? Funny? Sporty? All of the above, please. Well. I DO know that I want a strong, close family and a home where people always feel welcomed and comfortable. I guess that's a start.

There's this great family in our ward that I really look up to. I probably shouldn't post their names, but I wish I could. Justin and I really look up to what they are doing with their kids. All of them are so polite, helpful, supportive of each other, kind to each other. Their son mowed our lawn all last summer and when Justin went to pay him, he said 'Oh, just put it in the scouting fund.' What 13 year old boy says that? Their oldest daughter is adorable--sweet, talented, gorgeous. She has missed out on many high school dances because she doesn't like the music they play and feels like it's not a good environment. So I've been trying to pick their mom's brain before I leave here to see how they've raised such a great family. So far she's been pretty coy about my insistence that she has done a great job. Actually, she's probably just humble about it, huh. Well, that makes my quest even harder.

I took her two youngest to the pools the other day. They were so fun and even coaxed Abbey into the water for a good hour. They were getting the biggest kick out my digital camera and kept wanting their pictures taken in the car. Not the best backdrop, but it kept them entertained. What a cute kid, huh? It's nice to have people like this to look up to.

Birthday Pictures

The Spread

The Friends

The Sweet Birthday Girl



The Cake and The Indulgence































The Slip-n-Slide

The Presents

The Party Favors

Then Let Them Eat Cake

How many adults does it take to make a one-year old's birthday cake? Four, actually.
I had so much fun making this cake last night. Melody and I were excited to show Justin and Paul our masterpiece but when they walked in the kitchen they said 'Do you guys even know what a hippo looks like?' We kept defending our work until the boys finally pulled up some pictures of hippos on the internet. We couldn't stop laughing the rest of the night, we were SO off. So now what? Plastic surgery. Yes, our hippo needed a nose. Apparently that is a significant feature on a hippo...who knew?



So, in the end, it wasn't exactly what I pictured. Which is a good thing since my perception was obviously off. But I think it turned out really cute and it was a good memory.

Snipes

For the past two years I've been working with the Young Women in our ward and I love it. The girls here are awesome and so sweet. They really stand up for themselves and what they believe in even when there's so much pressure at their high school to do differently. Anyway, last night we were planning skits for their upcoming Girl's Camp and it got me thinking about my great experiences. My ward was a little high maintenance so our Youth Conferences and Girls Camps were at Seven Peaks and Bear Lake. But we still had the camping experience; at least the girls did. The leaders stayed in a souped up camper :) I hope one of them comes across this blog one day, we gave them the hardest time about that. I loved camp: pineapple salad food fights, hobo dinners, and...snipe hunting!

Our snipes were said to look like eewoks, have glowing eyes, and respond to clicking rocks together. Was I seriously that naive? I think they even made us put black makeup all over our faces and wear foul perfume to 'entice' the snipe. What were your snipes like?

BABY Abbey?

My baby turned ONE this week.

Here are some pictures of her big day. I love this picture of her tearing into the package from Grandma. Can you get a sense of her feistiness? We spent the afternoon at the wading pools, and she spent the afternoon taking Sophie's binky away (her favorite game right now). Then I gave in and let her have ice cream that night.

She is the best eater--tonight she had salmon, avacados, tomatoes, asparagus, and kiwis. And I didn't want to ruin this by letting her dig into a chocolate cake. Ok, Ok, I'm planning on letting her do it at her birthday party in a few weeks (yes, the party is on hold until life resumes after the boards). I couldn't bring myself to let her do it twice. But after dinner, I felt the twinge of guilt that the day hadn't been special enough for her. So off to McD's for a hot fudge sundae. And with that, I've created a monster. Here's the picture of her crawling across the table to get my dessert after J decided she was done with hers. Happy Birthday little lady!

Look Who's Walkin'

I'm so sad my family hasn't been able to see her walk--thank goodness for the internet. Here are some clips of her very first steps up to walkin' like a pro. Life just got a lot busier...

24 Hour Endorsements

These are a few of my favorite things from the last 24 hours:

Buzz Word: One of the nice things about being a med school wife is the ease of getting other med school wives together for game nights. Our husbands all have almost the exact same schedule, so we end up going through hard weeks together. The Game Du Jour right now is Buzz Word. Love it! Go buy it!

The Domestic Goddess: Katherine is quite possibly the best cook I know. She told me this week that cooking is her relaxing, alone time. What the...? She absolutely loves everything about cooking and her enthusiasm over it is infectious. It is truly frightening to think back to my pathetic cooking skills when I first got married. Not that I was a bad cook, I just cooked three meals. We ate out a LOT. Anyway, back on topic, Katherine's blog is awesome. Not only is it entertaining, but it is also very useful. I've used several recipes of hers, mostly because she puts yummy pictures of her endeavors and I trust her taste. So tonight we made her Lemon Fusilli Pasta with Grilled Lemon Chicken. J thanks you for showing me this new world of food.


Nat's Chocolate Caramel Brownies: Along with our game night, we enjoyed these brownies, a la mode. I'm always more willing to try things if I see a picture, and this picture does not do this dessert justice. So trust me on this one. Natalie, hope you don't mind me posting this recipe:

1 1/2 c flour
1 1/2 c old fashioned oats
1/4 tsp salt
1/2 tsp baking soda
1 1/2 c brown sugar (packed)
1 c + 2 Tbsp butter (melted)
1 bag caramels (14 oz)
1/2 c whipping cream -OR- 1/3 c evaporated milk
1 pkg milk chocolate chips (12 oz)

In a large bowl combine first 6 ingredients to form a crumbly mixture. Sprinkle/press half of mixture into a greased/floured 9x13 pan. Bake at 350 degrees for 10-15 minutes. Unwrap and melt caramels with cream or evaporated milk in microwave. Sprinkle chocolate chips over baked mixture and pour caramel mixture over chips. Sprinkle remaining crumbly mixture on top. Bake at 350 degrees for 15 minutes. *Make a day ahead or several hours ahead to allow caramel to set.*

And...
Baby Sign Language: Ok, it's not working yet. This either means "Feed Me", "Good-bye", or "Thank You". We haven't figured out what she means by it yet. But I have hope that this sign thing will catch on because I need to be able to communicate with this kid!

So thank you Katherine, Natalie, and the folks at Patch Inc for this installment of 24 Hour Endorsements. Hopefully soon I can sincerely endorse baby sign!

Ride On

Let me preface this post by explaining the root of our garage-sale'n problem. My mother-in-law is the QUEEN of garage sales. She lives near Park City so has a pretty good area to work her magic. She has a fantastic eye for things that would sell for 200 times more at an antique shop or consignment store. One of my favorite memories of her was joining her on one of these treasure hunts. We plotted our route the night before with the newspaper posts on one half of the table and a map of Park City on the other. Then it was off to bed; it's important to get up in the wee hours of the morning and carry plenty of water. She even had foam visors waiting for us in the car--no sunburns on this trip. I think we ran into her arch nemesis that day--the other pro that had her map out last night as well, making sure to hit the best sales before the we got there.

Well Justin followed right in her footsteps last weekend. It was the weekend before my big test, so he was spending the day trying to keep Abbey entertained. He came home with a big smile and, among other things, two matching vintage bikes. OK, they probably aren't vintage. But they're old. That's why I made the picture above sepia--to make them look more antique! My favorite part is that his has a sticker that says 'Brittany' or some other equally feminine name. No wait, my favorite part is the abnormally large bike seat since my tush was not made for this sport. I am so excited, Melody instilled me with a love of biking a few weeks ago with her truly vintage, beautiful rider--the El Camino. We bought a seat for Abbey and the weather has been perfect for our bike rides. I love that she tickles and pats my back as we go.

Uh Oh, Spaghetti Woes

Every Fast Sunday we have the Young Men over for lunch before they go do the fast offering routes. Today we severely overestimated the amount of spaghetti it takes to feed our boys. So what do you do with a pot full of spaghetti? Well, the other burning question of the day is how to keep my toddler happy, so...

Here Comes the Sun

We gave in and bought a new camera this week. If you look at the lemon pictures below, you'll see the weird lines through the pictures--what a tragedy. Justin agreed that poor picture quality will not do for our growing baby so we got this new one for Mother's Day.

So Melody and I took the kiddos to campus to try it out. Here are some of my favorite shots. I have so much to learn about this camera, so hopefully you'll see improvement as time goes on. It can do SO much. These were a few of my favorites of the day.

We wanted to head to the wading pools, but as you can see, K-ville was experiencing 'inclement weather', so they were all closed. Who's in charge of making that decision? It was like 90 degrees in the afternoon. Luckily, Katherine never minds when I invite myself over to her wading pool :)

Here's a pic of our little beach babies.