Salsa Making Day!

My mom has been making salsa for years and this year she showed me the ropes! A huge thank you to my mother-in-law who let me raid her lovey garden for fresh tomatoes!! We had a great day and the girls actually cooperated just fine, thank goodness. I am so excited to know how to can and make homemade salsa, yummy!! Thanks mom!!


Chopping and canning. It actually wasn't as hard as I thought it would be, and it was fun!

Yummy!! Arn't they cute, I am so proud! Homemade food is always so delicious!

Productive day=happy me!

I love productive days. They make me feel like a better mom, wife, and person. It is nice to feel like you got tons done! Which today I successfully did. Ok, everyday I get things done, but today felt extra great. I mean there were still a few timeouts, naps, crying children and hot car rides....but for the most part a great day. We did our normal Thursday morning ritual: grocery shopping day. I love grocery day. I love thinking about all the delicious food I will be making (and eating:) over the next week. Next, home for lunch with the girls. We then went to Wal-Mart for more errands, picked up a text book for Rex and the U of O bookstore. Came home and made blackberry jam, colored with Annie and made a ton of towers out of blocks for the girls to tip over, made dinner, walked with my dad and still have hanging out with my hubby to look forward too! What a great day!

My first time making blackberry jam.....mmmm just right!

Annie has to color on the stair landing with the baby gate up so Macey doesn't get into her markers. She is nice and cozy next to Rex's school bag and all the coats. She loves it!

Macey is a huge help in the kitchen. She loves to pull out everything and get in the cupboard. As you can see, she is trying to eat the powdered sugar here. Who can resist that smile....not me!

Macey 11 Months!

One more month and my baby will be one! Ahh!! Ok, it is going by much faster than Annie's first year, and I don't like it! It is still hard to believe that she is almost 1! Well, she is such a great baby. She love love loves to eat and will eat an assortment of different foods. She is crawling at light speed and also walks along the couch, wall, my legs and has discovered the stairs. :( Annie likes playing with her more, making her laugh, and pushing her in the stroller too. These girls are my life and I love them so much. I have been soooo blessed and they make me a better person and mom:)

Macey loves to stand at the coffee table and push everything off of it, including drinks, which we have learned to not leave there :)

Annie riding her tricycle, she is better at riding it backwards than forward...... not sure why :)

Annie loves to take walks and Macey is very patient and enjoys them too. Even when Annie is running her into bushes or almost off the curb, she just smiles. My sweet babies.

A year older ......

Yeah, I had my birthday on Friday and let me tell you it was a great day!! I love birthdays. I love giving parties and receiving parties :) I think that you are never to old to get excited about your birthday, cake, friends, gifts, cards in the mail from your grandma in Kansas, and a little bit of attention. My day was a wonderful day. I started off by getting up early, working out and heading off to a very nice salon to get a manicure. It was great! Thanks Uncle George and Aunt Marlene!! Next a little shopping ALONE.... Thanks mom a ton! It was great to just relax and not chase Annie through the store and look for her hiding in racks of clothes. Then lunch and naps for the kiddies. Next off to my parents where we had my b-day dinner. Yummy, the same thing every year, burger and fries :) Then we dug into my favorite dessert made by my loving and handsome husband, chocolate trifle. Oh so good! To finish off the night we went to a movie while my parents watched our sleeping children. I would have to say it was a wonderfully perfect day!! Thank you everyone!! Annie had just returned from using the "potty" and this was what she looked like :) My mom made the girls matching dresses they wore to the party. Thanks mom!!

Macey enjoying some juicy watermelon.... she is our really good eater.

Me and my dessert!

My sweet family, they made my day the best! I am so blessed to have such an awesome family. We are all really close and it is so much fun to live near each other. They help me more than they know and I really appreciate it, I love you guys!!

Old friends, Good times

On Friday night we had another good excuse to use my parents beautiful back yard and bbq. We had our friends Spencer and Mark (brothers, as you can tell from the photo) over to chat and eat! All of us grew up together in Sweet Home and went to high school, youth group, and church together, and we have SO many great memories! It was so much fun to see them again. Spencer is a teacher in Salt Lake and Mark is going to BYU so we don't see them that often! Thanks boys for coming up!

The gang

I know it is hard to see this picture but it is Rex, me, Brianne, and Spencer when we were all in high school. I know, I look awesome. Anyway, we had watched "Cool Runnings" and there is a part in the movie where they are practicing bobsledding in a tub and we were wondering if you could really fit 4 people in one.....so we tried it!

A day at the Beach!

Yesterday, we took advantage of the beautiful weather and went to the beach! We had never been to Florence, so this was a first for all of us. We had such a great time!! It is so much fun when we can spend time as a family. Rex has been super busy fighting fire this summer but we promised each other we would take a trip to the coast. We lucked out because it was warm and sunny! First we.....

took a picture by this huge anchor! Annie thought it was really cool, especially because she got to climb all over it! Then we ate at.....

Annie relaxing with her favorite drink... milk!

A trip to the beach is never complete without Mo's!! It over looked the water and the food was great, as it always is! Next....

we walked around and looked at all the shops and found a look out spot too! We found so many fun stores and of course bought salt water taffy and frozen yogurt! Next off to the ....

beach! Talk about beautiful!! It was the perfect day!

Macy loved the sand.... so much that she took a big handful and ate it ! AH! She loved how it felt in her little hands!

Playing in the water, Annie loved the water. It was a bit chilly, but we got used to it! They went out pretty far to jump the waves!

Me and the girls, Macey didn't like the water as much, to cold for her taste! Overall, we had a great day, one for the books!!

It's Potty Time!

We are on Annie's second week of potty training and it going great! I am really relieved and very excited too. She loves to wear her panties and of course show everyone that she is wearing them. She also has figured out the she thinks public restrooms are the best! Yep, every where we go she "has" to use the bathroom. But once we get in there she asks me to go and then says she doesn't have to go anymore....:) That's OK, because she is doing so well, I don't even care! Yeah, no more diapers so we will be buying a significantly less number of diapers for now, sweet.

Using the potty and snacking at the same time.....nice, I know.