Finally...sledding!

It is has been such a mild winter for us. We haven't been able to go sledding until just recently. Even then, the snow was melting so fast that it was half way gone before we were done. But I am not complaining...I like when it snows and melts away quickly. I hate the bitter cold that lasts for days on end. But we like sledding too and it seems like you can't have it both ways. So we were grateful for a little window of time to get in some sledding.

This year we tried a new place. Our usual place was packed...I am sure because everyone felt the same way as us. We actually loved this new place because it was bigger and closer to parking and a little longer "sled-way." We got two new sleds too so now we have four which makes it a lot nicer. None of us have to wait for a turn anymore. Because, heaven forbid, we have to wait! ;)

Chris coming down with Asher.

Cousin Emma watching Allison go down. I am not sure why she looks awkward in every picture. :)

Asher and dad coming back up. Asher loved it! And he didn't complain about walking back up the hill by himself either. He had so much fun. (Allison looking awkward again in the back round.)

Allison running back up....not looking awkward...just looking like she is running. ;)

Asher with Uncle John. He is covering his eyes because when ever he goes with Chris, Chris' feet kick up snow on his face so now he just instinctively covers his eyes every time he goes down. :)

Austin coming back up. Austin LOVES sledding. He could go ALL DAY if we let him. He also is quite the daredevil and will go off of every jump and in every type of position (head first, feet first, on his belly, on his back, etc.) He is actually not really a daredevil in most other circumstances but I guess he feels pretty comfortable sledding.

Allison crawling back up the hill....looking awkward. ;)

Austin getting to ready to race, Uncle John with his girlfriend (hopefully soon to be fiance...they just need to do it already!...I mean, get married) and Jake.

That is me down at the bottom sitting against the wall. I actually hit the wall. ;) Mainly because SOMEONE pushed me! We have always had double rider sleds but we got the single rider circle ones and they GO FAST! I wasn't used to it and it scared the bajeebers out of me! Lets just say, I did not go on that sled again! :)

Chris going on the single rider sled for the first time!

Asher, Uncle John and Abigail. It was a beautiful day as you can tell...Uncle John got a little too warm.

Uncle John and Stephanie racing down the hill...Uncle John is only in front because he cheated!

Abigail with a big block of ice.

Emma, Allison and Abigail getting ready to go together.

That is a lot of our group coming up and Asher is standing down by himself. I actually don't remember who he even went down with but he must have made it back up the hill alright. ;)

What a great day of sledding!

Zions in January

A couple of weekends ago, when we were having unusually nice January weather, Chris and I decided to take the kids to Zions to go hiking. We love hiking. We love everything about it. The warmth. The fresh air. The scenery. The exercise. The price. The togetherness. Hiking is lovely. I think I have said this before but we really do LIKE hiking.

Our kids didn't fight once that day! And they didn't whine either! Another reason to love hiking. They love hiking too! Even Abigail and Asher hiked the two miles without whining once. Even when Abigail fell a little off a ledge onto a rock, right on her bum, she got right back up and started hiking again. Any place else, she surely would have cried. But she wanted to be so tough like the older kids. And she was!

Uncle John came with us and brought his cute little girlfriend.

Can you see Allison in this picture?

Brag Session...or not...

I made croissants. They made me happy. Food usually makes me happy. But these made me even more so. So, I am going to brag.

Bragging is very subjective. Some of you won't consider this bragging because you have no desire to ever do it yourself. In that case, I am not bragging I am simply showcasing my workmanship.

If this is something that you have desired to do, then I am posting this to simply let you know that it is not only attainable but absolutely worth doing.

These were absolutely the best croissants I have ever had. And I am not picky when it comes to croissants. I have pretty much loved all the different types of croissants that I have ever had. The canned ones that you pop open and pop in the oven. The ones you buy pre-made from the nearest local supermarket or bakery. The one I got from Panera Bread that was, up until now, probably my favorite. Yep! Loved 'em all!

But these....these topped them all. I don't know if I can even go back to eating other croissants. OK, I probably will just due to shear time constraints but I will never look at another one the same again. *sigh*

If you like to bake...or if you just want to learn something new then I highly suggest making these. They will be worth it. This is not a food blog (although secretly I wish it were...another sigh) so I don't have all the fancy pictures or instructions but I will link you to some. Don't let the fact that the recipe is 4 pages long and takes two whole days to make discourage you! ;)

I promise that if I can do it, so can you. And it will be worth it!

Here is the link to the recipe from Willow Bird Baking.

Here is the link to the photo tutorial.

Here is a link to the Apple, Brie and Pecan sandwich I made with them; although I highly recommend this chicken salad on them instead.

Here a few amateur pictures just to prove I did actually do this. :)

This is a picture of what it should look like after all the rolling and folding right before you roll it out one last time to shape and proof it. I promise that it isn't that hard, just time consuming. And look at those beautiful layers!

Here is the picture of the Pains Au Chocolat. It is basically chocolate rolled up in the croissant. I used Ghirardelli 60% Cacao Bittersweet Chocolate Baking Bar.

Mmmm! Even better than Panera Breads!

This croissant is a little funny looking but that is because, like always, I forgot to take a picture of the best ones before we ate them! :)

Here is a picture of the Apple, Pecan, Brie Panini. It looks beautiful but I only liked it so-so.

I hope my bragging motivates you a little to go out and try making some of the very best croissants you will ever eat in your life!

My Silly Kids

Wow, I am actually posting twice in one month. That hasn't happened for a while but it seems like life has slowed down a little. I guess that is good except I have filled my time with a new obsession: Pinterest. I am a little addicted right now. I am sure it will wear off after a month or so or when we get really busy again. :)

I have some random pictures of the kids being cute and silly. I like these kind of pictures. The kids aren't all dressed up, usually their hair is a mess, they are not fully dressed, etc. It helps to showcase what "real" life is like and not just "posed" life. :) Although I like "posed" life too. :)

This first one is of Asher in a costume "head." I am actually not sure what kind of costume it is. Chris's brother John brought it over one night and played with the kids with it. It belonged to his girlfriend who was going to be in a parade. Asher was really cute in it! He was pretending to be a monster because I think that is what he thought it was.

My little Mummies

Abigail came running to me and said, "hurry mom, grab your camera and come downstairs." So, I listened, grabbed my camera and headed downstairs. When I got there, all the kids (except Abbie, who was hurrying to get in line) had rolled up like mummys. I love, love, love that my kids play together and they have such awesome imaginations. Even, Austin still isn't too old to play with this little sisters. I hope they always do!

Their mummy faces! Man, I love these kids! They always make me smile, except for when they don't. ;)

Puppy Tent

G & G Carter got Asher a puppy tent for Christmas. Here are the girls and him sleeping in it one night. They love it!

I thought this picture of Abigail was cute, plus it absolutely represents a little piece of her. She is my "sleepy head." I called her that once and now she always says that she is my "sleepy head." She sleeps in the latest (usually). She still takes a nap almost every day! If I try to make her take one, she will throw a fit so I just stopped making her and now I find her in random places throughout the house sleeping. She is also my only kid that wakes up grouchy if she didn't get enough sleep. Can't wait to see what the teenage years bring! :)

Christmas Rewind

I finally downloaded the pictures from Christmas off my camera. We had a great Christmas this year visiting with family and only a few minor sicknesses. Because Chris recently switched jobs he was unable to take any time off which hasn't happened since, well...never. :( It was a little weird for him not to have some time off but we are counting our blessings that he has a job at all!

We'll start off with the weird first snow we got of the year...I think this may have been the last too. All day Abigail had begged me to go outside with her to build a snowman on this day. For some reason or another and after listening to enough excuses from me she went out there by herself and started to build this snowman. Luckily, Austin came home just in time from school and helped her and they built this cute little snowman that they said was a little bottom heavy and had a "teeny, tiny face." Austin even took this picture...they were so proud of the first snowman they built without the help of an adult.

The first snow of the year didn't actually end up melting until after Christmas. That was a good thing though since we didn't get much more and still haven't in January. My kids are sad because they haven't been able to go sledding yet this year or make another snowman.

This year was also the first year the kids made their own gingerbread houses without our help too. (OK, maybe a little...but really only a little). You can tell from this picture that they got a little frustrated at times.

Austin's turned out really good...obviously age has a lot to do with it. I think Abigail ate most of hers before she finished. :)

Love this picture of my kids even though the two little ones have red sucker mouths.

We couldn't get Asher to sit up. He kept wanting to "kick-back" on Austin.

Last year I gave out 22 plates of goodies to friends and family for Christmas. Due to this talk, specifically the 2nd "Forget Me Not" I decided to tone it down this year and only do 12. This made me sad but I think it still turned out good.

I made home-made hot chocolate from this site. It was good but I probably would not make it again without some changes. I made these home-made marshmallows which were fabulous. I am not a lover of marshmallows but these were actually quite good. Just be prepared to be covered in powdered sugar while dealing with them.

Then I made this and this biscotti. Both of which were super yummy!

Next on the Christmas rewind was the In-tune Christmas concert and our visit to Santa (Chris's Uncle Gerald).

This year Austin asked for "Optimus Prime Ultimate" Transformer.

Allison asked for a Motor Scooter.

Abigail asked for a "Lala Loopsey Doll" and another Minnie Mouse.

Asher didn't ask for anything specific but when we went to a friends house he loved playing with their "Paper Jam" so we got him one too. He still loves it! The big white boxes in the picture are just white containers I bought at the store and put their names on them with vinyl. (Asher already stripped his name off!) The containers were for the kids to stick under their beds for all their "treasures" that I just want to throw away.

When I look at this picture it doesn't look like a lot but it sure felt like a lot when we were forking out the money. I think as parents we do that to ourselves. We make ourselves feel guilty for not getting more for our children when in reality they either don't really care or don't really appreciate it. I think making our kids "want" for something is an important part of growing up and will help them later in life when they can't always get what they want right when they want it. And how many times do you "want" something one minute and then the next minute you "want" something else. If we, as adults change that often, imagine how often children change. This is the thing that that Chris and I struggle with every Christmas...finding a balance between getting our kids what they want but not spoiling them. Every year we think we have it mastered but the next year things change, finances change, wants change and it seems we have to modify it a little. In the end, our kids always surprise us with joy and contentment. Maybe we should put a little more faith in them and a little less guilt on us. :)

Great Harvest Field Trip

A few weeks ago, some ladies in my ward took our kids on a "field trip" to Great Harvest bread company. It is a fun outing for the kids where they see how they make bread and decorate a cookie and, of course, have free samples!!!

I love this picture of Abigail because she looks so excited to answer the question AND she raised her hand.

Wow, that is a large dough hook. They said they do over a hundred loaves at a time.

Even Asher was getting in on the action.

Asher was actually entertained for more than 10 minutes. I was very impressed. But don't be fooled, after 10 minutes he thought he could run the store and had me running all over the place for him. :)

I have a Ten Year Old!

I feel like such a bad mom. Since I have had this blog, I have always posted a birthday post for each of our kids on or before their birthday. It is now November and almost 4 weeks past Austin's birthday and still no post! I am sorry little buddy!

My amazing, talented, heck-a smart, helpful, hard-working son -- he is 10! I can't believe it! I have a 10 year old! As sad as it makes me that my kids are getting older much faster than I want, I love the stage that Austin is at. He is old enough to basically take care of himself (although he would probably never shower or brush his teeth if I didn't make him). He is helpful with his younger siblings. He can help his dad in the yard or around the house. He whines a little (OK, sometimes a lot) but I think he is one of the most hard-working kids I know. He is super smart...smarter than me. The little stinker knows it too! He is usually right (just like his dad). At least I am smarter than Abigail and Asher (for now). :)

Austin has already read all 4 Children's Scripture readers. He loves to read so we said that we would give him $50 if he read the Book of Mormon all the way through by the end of the year. I know! I know! Maybe bribing your kid to have a testimony isn't the best way to go about it but hopefully it works! HeHe. He was hesitant at first because he said that he wouldn't understand it and that it would be boring. We told him once he got into it a little then we would help him to understand it better and that there were battles and bloodshed so it gets a little more interesting too. Once he started he would ask us questions that showed how much he really understood. He was asking things that even I didn't know. I had to send him to his dad. They sparked great discussions. Even though bribing probably isn't the best way to do it, Austin will have read the Book of Mormon before he is 11! Chris finished it in the MTC. I read it completely with Chris when I was 18. He is already talking about being excited to start the Doctrine and Covenants and the Old and New Testaments. I hope he can stick with it (without getting paid for it)!

One of Austin's greatest traits is his commitment to what he is doing or interested in. He rotates between Star Wars, Harry Potter, Ninja Turtles and currently we are back to Transformers. Everything he does revolves around this subject! We have to tell him to STOP talking about it because he gets so obsessed with every aspect of it. But you can definitely say he is committed! :) I love this kid! I am so grateful that he is part of our family.

Smells Like Chicken

I am horrible at writing down my kids funny sayings. But this is one that is definitely for the books. Here is a conversation I had with Asher today:

Mom: Asher, I need to change your diaper. You are stinky.

Asher: Smells like CHIC-KEN!

I couldn't help but laugh and I laughed even harder because he was laughing at himself because he thought he was so funny. Which he was.

And here he is trying to wear mascara as lipstick.

"Oh look, another photo op....cheese."