Ricks Chicks Reunion...

My freshman year at Ricks College was probably one of the funnest times of my life.  I lived in a really small apartment complex called The Normandy, so all of the girls that lived there were pretty much my "room mates".  We all shared clothes and cooked meals together, we all went to parties together and went on big group dates.  It was seriously the best!

It has been over 12 years since some of us have seen each other.  So my best-friend from college, Michelle, invited all of us up to her cabin at Bear Lake for a "Ricks Chicks" reunion.  The initial response to the invitation was great, but in the end only 4 of us were able to make it up there.  I'm so glad that I did, it was so fun to see these girls!  (Michelle, Ranie, Sophie, and Me)...

Each of us that were able to go also have a daughter that is 7 or 8 years old, so we decided to make it a mother/daughter extravaganza.  Sophie also brought her 12 year-old niece, Hailey.  She was such an awesome "big kid" for the girls follow around. They all hit it off so fast and were best-friends in no time...

Goofy girls.  My favorite part was that they built a club house out of branches behind the cabin and created their own girl club called the Running Rabbits.  They recited an oath, or as they called it, a "solemee swear", every time they entered it.  Ana explained that "solemee swear means that you really, really swear":)  It went like this:
"The Running Rabbits solemnly swear to never spy or lie and especially never tell about our club.  Goooo Running Rabbits!! And always be nice."  It was pretty hilarious. (Ashlyn, Ana, Gracie Belle, and Kylie)...

Us moms literally sat talked for 2 days straight, it was heaven.  Catching up with great friends is seriously the best.  Here is the cabin, (Michelle is trying to hide her cute pregnant belly)...

 Michelle's husband, dad and brother built this cabin from the ground up.  They literally built everything.  I'm talking they poured their own concrete counter tops, welded their own railings, laid their own geothermal heating system... they built everything people!  It was amazing...

Our girls trip was such a success that we are planning another for next summer and demanding that the rest of our Ricks Chicks be there or else!

Till next time girls...

And the Stars Aligned...

Don't you just love it when things work out so perfectly?  It makes my day (in this case, my week).  I love that general conference happened to be over spring break... which meant that my friend Susie could road trip out to Utah with us to attend it... and that tons of my family was available to hang out with us... and that my brother Jon's wife was due with their first baby that week... and that my college roommates decided to all get together for a couple days after conference... It all worked out so seamlessly and perfectly.  It makes me so thankful for such a loving Heavenly Father that knew exactly what I needed at this time in my life.  

Since Susie had never been to SLC, of course we had to tour the town.  We  visited the LDS Church Humanitarian Center (it was so cool, but I forgot to take pictures) and Temple Square.  The weather was beautiful... OK, that is an understatement, it was magnificent!

It had been years since we had been to Temple Square, so Rob and I decided to take advantage of the opportunity and take Hayden and Ana with us (we were pretty sure that Sophie wouldn't enjoy an entire day of walking around).  But the other two loved it...

And Susie loved it, too.  She was our our personal photographer (I wish I had one of those where ever I went:) and we got some really great pictures...

And then of course there was General Conference.  I had never been to a session of conference in the Conference Center before.  The amount of people was crazy!...

And it was so fun to be there with my good friend...

During priesthood session, all of the girls from Rob's family and mine got together for a nail painting palooza.  It was so fun to be with all of the favorite women in my life...

We gave my sister-in-law, Hannah, a massage and pedicure in preparation for the birth of her baby boy.  Which happened two days later, Wahoo! 

I was so happy that little Daxton decided to arrive before I had to go home...

We packed so much into our trip that I'll have to save the Ricks Chicks reunion for another day...

The Truth About Treasure...

Well, the leprechauns found us again this year. They turned our milk green again, but were a bit sneakier than in years past... they left no footprints behind!

 They did lead us on a treasure hunt all over our house, though, leaving lucky gold coins and $2 bills along the way...

The best part about it though was the how the leprechauns revealed the truth about TREASURE...

They use it to bless the lives of others! 

This brought a whole new dimension to St. Patrick's Day for Hayden and Ana.  I was really surprised at how quick they were to jump on board with the idea (although they did still want to keep "just one" of the special coins:). They were so sweet in coming up with ideas of how they could use it.  Hayden wanted to use it to buy bottles of soda, so that he could take the bottle caps to a collection bin that he had seen at the dentist office, where the proceeds went to help the Ronald McDonald House (I thought that was so sweet).  Ana wanted to go and buy shoes for "every kid in Africa" (again, super sweet).  And Sophie just wanted to "gib it to Hemaly Father" (I love that girl).

In the end, we settled on using it to buy the supplies and ingredients to make some treats and cards to show some people that we care about them and that we appreciate what they do for us...

Getting ready to deliver their leprechaun treats

(It was almost 80 degrees outside, oh how I love the sunshine!)...

I think that this was my favorite St. Patrick's Day yet!  Thanks leprechauns, for reminding us how important it is to think about others...

It's a Jolly Holiday with MiMi...

Whenever Aunt MiMi comes to town, it's always a party, and there is always LOTS of candy involved.  This time, she got here just in time to watch Sophie do the Chicken Dance at our Ward Talent Show...

We love you MiMi!  Thanks for always making everything so fun!

Day Off...

The kids had Friday off of school last week, so we decided to take full advantage of our school-free time.  It was freezing outside, so naturally, we went swimming... 

That day also happened to be Dr. Seuss's Birthday, so why not eat Green Eggs and Ham?

I love days off. It makes me so excited for summer...

Derby Days...

Cub scout cake decorating may not be Hayden and Rob's favorite activity, but Pinewood Derby car building is the opposite.  These two spend hours talking about, planning and building their dream derby car.  Here are the plans for this year's car, the Angry Bird...

Another treat for this year's build was that they were joined by our good friends, Dan and Benjamin...

The competition was fierce, but he Angry Bird made a pretty good showing and I think ended up in 4th place.  Hayden was thrilled...

So long derby fans.  Until next year...

Happy Birthday Hay-dawg!

Hayden chose to celebrate his special day with his favorite thing... Legos.  We made Lego cookies for his class at school (I think that this was his favorite part of the whole day)...

And he got to invite his favorite Lego building buddy over after school to put together the "Mother Ship"... 

It was a fun-filled Lego Day!  And, of course, cake for breakfast.  We can't forget that...

Happy Lego Birthday Hayden!

Friendship Forever...

Ana has been having a bit of trouble at school lately... with one of those girls.  The kind that Ana claims is her "best friend", but every word that comes out of her mouth about the girl screams BULLY.  So I was talking to some moms of her other friends about the situation, and how I haven't been able to get through to Ana that this girl is not a good friend.  And that is how I came to find out that she was not the only one being affected by this girl.

My friend Susie, who has twin girls that are Ana's age, is such a go-getter.  Right away her wheels start turning, "We need to teach our girls how to be good friends and not let others make decisions for them".  And so evolved the "Friendship Forever" class.  We decided to meet one day a week after school to help our girls build their self confidence and friendship skills.  And it has been so good for Ana!  I can already see a difference in her ability to recognize when someone is being a true friend and what to do when someone is not being nice to others.  It's funny how I have told her these kinds of things a hundred times, but when it comes from another mom that she respects, she finally listens.  I'm so grateful for friends that are willing to step in and help me with a problem that I can't resolve on my own.  "Friendship Forever" was exactly what I needed.

Here are the girls decorating their special friendship notebooks.  Susie had them put mirrors in the middle (so that when they looked at it they would see themselves) with lines extending out to each of their friends, family members and Heavenly Father. It seems like such an elementary exercise, but for Ana, it was exactly what she needed to recognize that she had other friends and people that love her that she can turn to when she is having a hard time. We have already used it on a few occasions when she has come home crying about how someone was mean to her, and it has really helped...

  They have been using their notebooks to write about things that they might have a hard time talking about.  It is such a great thing for Ana because she really loves to write, and I have learned a lot about how she really feels by reading her notebook.

Cute girls, learning how to be good friends forever...

Lots of Love...

Ana's sweet little friends decided to send her lots of love on her birthday by "heart attacking" her bedroom door.  She thought it was the most wonderful thing ever...

And we can't for get to document the traditional birthday cake for breakfast...

Class-y Treats...

The night before her birthday, Ana announced to Rob and I that we still needed to make treats to share with her class on her birthday.   Then she proceeded to tell me that she did not want to bring cupcakes or cookies or Rice Krispie treats or anything else that anyone has ever brought on their birthday.  Apparently the need for her own identity has already begun, AND SHE'S ONLY 7! 

OK, so what should we bring?  We headed to Pinterest.  I let her browse through all of the "treat" ideas and she finally decided on none other than... Chocolate Covered Twinkies.  My first thought was: gross.  But she was elated with the idea, so chocolate covered Twinkies it was...

But the funniest part of the whole thing was the colors that she chose: red, green and light blue, "All of my favorite colors,"  she claimed.  So here are the Christmas-colored chocolate covered Twinkies for Ana's birthday, which happens to be on Valentine's Day...

Her teacher and I had a pretty good laugh about this one.  It was so totally Ana.

Cub Scout Cake...

Hayden's Cub Scout pack has [what I think is] a funny tradition.  Every year for the Blue and Gold Banquet, each boy and their Dad are supposed to decorate a cake to go along with the theme for the banquet.  It's funny to me because that would describe the farthest thing from fun for Hayden and Rob. 

So each year, I purchase things for them to decorate their cake and then they both wait until the last minute to throw the thing together, and it ends up looking like just that: a cake that was thrown together at the last minute.  Well, this year, I decided to try to help Hayden get excited about it.  I got everything set out, tried to pump him up and show him all the cool things that he could make, and... 

he lasted about 3 minutes.

So Ana, Sophie and I were just sitting there with all these cake decorating supplies (which is like a dream come true for the girls in our family)... 

Needless to say, we took the matter into our own hands and whipped up this baby...

We're talking real s'mores people...

It was a win-win situation.  Hayden got his "camping" cake, and us girls had a blast making it :)

Wheels...

It seems as though the need for speed has already begun at our house...

Bumpers and all!

Cooking with Sophie...

Hello everyone, I'm so happy that you could join me in my state-of-the-art kitchen once again. I always love sharing my kitchen with my viewers. Today we are going to be learning the age-old art of frosting cupcakes. So get out your knives and buttercream, and let's get cookin'...

 The first thing to know about icing is that pink is always the only way to go. Trust me, girls and boys alike LOVE pink! So take a big ol' spoonful of buttercream and place it in the center of your cupcake. Then proceed to spread the icing from the center out toward the edges. Just like that... ooops, got a little too much on my knife, I'll just take care of that...

 Yep, pink frosting is definitely the best. Put's a smile on my face any time of day...

 Just keeping spreading the frosting out toward the edges until you have an even coat all the way around. And then I always take my knife and swirl the top just a little to make it look nice and fancy...

Add some sparkly sprinkles, and that's all there is to it folks. Easy Peasy. And you have beautiful cupcakes to share with your sweetheart, in this case, it's my Daddy. He's just going to love these...

Thanks again for joining me, cooking with you just makes my day.  Don't forget to tune in next time, we're going to be mixin' up some cookies that are to die for. 

Love and best cupcakes, from my kitchen to yours...