Baking with Mom

I love to bake! It is something I really enjoy. I love to try new recipes, tweek them a little and make them my own. I found this box mix (I know, not true baking) at Wal-Mart and pumpkin bread sounded good. So it ended up in my cart and into my kitchen.
Livvy was such a good little helper. She cracked the eggs and helped me stir. She loves to help Mommy in the kitchen.
Even though this recipe came from a box mix, I made it my own by making it low-fat with applesauce instead of oil. It came out really moist and yummy! I'll probably eat the entire loaf by myself!!

Memorial Day, the kick off to....fall?

So Memorial Day dawned gray and rainy. The Greer, Melton, Greenwood, Day bunch had made plans to head up to Vivian Park for a day of fun, food, and frisbee and we wouldn't be stopped (except for the frisbee).

We braved the weather and enjoyed each other's company for a brief visit to the park. The food was good (even with our frozen fingers) and the scenery was beautiful. It was worth it to see Mom's smiling face (though we left sooner than she wanted).

Kaylee and Livvy

Tanner and Jonathan

Livvy and Ali
Dad, the "World's Greatest Fisherman"

Mark the Great

The beautiful Provo River

My Mama

NeNe, proudly displaying her school pride, Go Buckeyes!

I can breathe again

Well, I did it. I taught my first ever Relief Society lesson. I can breathe a sigh of relief....whew!

I guess it wasn't all that bad, but boy was I nervous. The lesson was on Testimony (you might have had the same lesson today) from the Saturday session of April General Conference. The talks by Elder Oaks and Elder Hales.

I like the topic and talks and I guess I did an okay job, but since it is Memorial Day weekend there were only about 15 people there so the room was quiet. Luckily a few people commented, but I was willing the clock to move faster.

I don't think I am a born teacher, at least not to adult women. Primary I can handle, maybe because I still think and understand the gospel on their level!

Maybe they'll think I did such a bad job they won't ask me again. One can hope! I don't know how anyone could do this or teach Sunday School on a regular basis. It is too scary!!

Avacado allergy? Maybe mango?

So tonight we went to dinner at one of our favorite spots, Los Hermanos to celebrate Jonathan's birthday (and Mom's and Abby's who are also in May). Most of us wore shirts like the one below because you get a free specialty drink if you do. Well, Mom is allergic to something she ate. Luckily it wasn't a severe allergic reaction, but it was a pretty funny one. Just take a look at her lips!

"The Eternal Coupon"

She claims it was the guacamole, but she has eaten that before. She did have mango in her specialty drink, I think that was the culprit.

The Birthday Boy with his fried ice cream

Abby is enjoying her ice cream too

Micah, with his 6 teeth, enjoyed the refried beans.

Mark and Cari and more ice cream. Well, fried ice cream is really good. Who can blame us?

The love birds, Tanya and Aaron (what no ice cream?)

Wendy, JJ and Cody. Kaylee and Livvy were too busy playing for a picture. They try to avoid the paparazzi.

Paige, Audrey and baby. I still say it is going to be a boy!!

Today was also Brenna's Kindergarden graduation!!!

Huntington Beach, CA

Here are some pics from the day we spent at the beach. Neither Livvy or Micah was sure of the water, but Kenny and I loved it!! In fact, we both got FRIED!!! We are paying for that now. I have to give credit for the pics to my cousing Sara. She is pretty amazing with the camera. Thanks again Sara!!!

More Disneyland

More pictures of our visit to Disneyland.

First visit to Disneyland!!!


Riding the teacups



Finally pulling some weight around here!!



Her new best friend



We used our magic feather to make Dumbo fly.



This is a video Kenny took while riding the Matterhorn with Livvy. It is pretty shaky and loud and dark a lot of times. But when you can see her face, it is pretty funny. It is a look of terror, confusion, enjoyment? Make sure you pause the music on my blog before playing. Enjoy!!

Disneyland

We were also able to spend a day at Disneyland, one of my most favorite places on Earth, next to Disney World. (Does that make me lame or what? I have traveled quite a lot, but really love these places!)

Anyway, Livvy was so excited. It was like her imagination had come to life. She was so excited to ride the train and when we walked down Main Street she was sitting on Kenny's shoulders, she looked up and saw Sleeping Beauty's castle, she clapped and cheered "Yea, Sleeping Beauty's Castle."

We ate lots of good food (Kenny and I are foodies and base our visits on how good the food was!!) probably too much. Turkey legs, ice cream, cotton candy. Both Livvy and Micah were spoiled with treats.

Livvy was a very brave little girl. Not even 2 1/2 and she rode two roller coasters, Gadgets Go Coaster in Toon Town and The Matterhorn (my favorite ride). She actually rode the Matterhorn twice, once with Kenny then with me. When I got the the gate with her, she looked up at me and said, "We're not going on this ride Mom. We're not going on this. Let's go ride the horseys" (sp?) meaning the carousel. I kind of side stepped her request and made her ride it again, what a horrible mother I am!!!

Micah fell asleep right before we got on the teacups (a ride request from Livvy). He slept through the whole ride, even as Kenny spinned us (not too fast of course). I could see people watching, pointing at Micah saying how cute he was.



Livvy also got to meet her "Princesses" in real life too. Cinderella and Jasmine were so cute with her, she really liked them. Then she met Aurora, her very favorite, and she wasn't quite as cute with Livvy as the others. I even told Aurora how much Livvy loved her and she kind of just blew her off. It sort of made me a little sad.



We stayed until almost midnight. Micah fell asleep around 10:30. He didn't have a nap all day and Livvy only took about a 45 minute nap while we ate dinner. She woke right up when it was time to ride the carousel.

All in all, it was a fun day. Disneyland holds so many special memories for me, I hope it will for Livvy and Micah too.

California Trip

Kenny, the kids and I were lucky enough to spend this last weekend visiting family in Cali. It was so much fun. I love my family and wish they were closer. We were able to stay with my cousin Sara and her family, but she is really more of a sister and her children are like nieces and nephew to me. While staying there we were able to see my Grandma Melton and Uncle Paul and Aunt Penny (this is my dad's mom, brother-in-law, and sister). We also saw Aunt Barbie, but I didn't get a picture of her (she is my dad's sister also). This was Grammy's first time seeing Micah. She is almost 96 years old and has macular degeneration, but she was still able to tell how much Micah looks like his daddy.



We went to The Market with Sara's family on Thurs night. It was a really neat farmer's market they have every week, unless raining. I wish they would do something like this in my town. I would rather support the local farmer than buy from the grocery store. Anyway...Kenny, George and Bo (Sara's husband and son) walked around for a bit and left the kids to Sara and I. We tasted the local fruit and it was really good! I only got one picture at The Market, I am so bad a taking pics. But it was too cute so I had to post it anyway.

I forget to write about our drive down. Livvy fell asleep playing with her princess dollies. One minute she was making them talk to one another, the next I turned around to this.....poor Jasmine.

We stopped at Palace Station in Las Vegas for a breakfast buffet. Micah really loved the donuts. He now as 5 teeth, number 6 on the way. Anything he can put in his mouth he will, but he is becoming a very good eater, picking food up, like Cheerios, and feeding himself.