Heaven on Earth

I made this yesterday. Seriously, it is the best recipe ever. This has to be my favorite thing in the entire world. If heaven doesn't have almond roca, then I don't need to be there. Now I remember why I only let myself make it once a year.... I think I just drooled a little.

The recipe is on my co-authored recipe blog. Enjoy!

Words Cannot Describe...

How I feel about our new Christmas gift. But I will get to that in a minute. We had a fun Christmas party at my mom and Dad's house the day after Christmas this year. The highlight was talking to my little brother Ben on the phone for a couple of minutes. He is such a good missionary. Then we had dinner/lunch and opened presents from the Siblings, kids and mom and dad. Tyler and Jacob loved it. and so did we. Then the guys all went shooting and the girls played games while the kids played with their new toys.

But the best part is..I am saying goodbye to these

And saying HELLOOO to these bad boys! "Helloo Luvah!" What shoes are to most women, these are to me. They are so nice.

I cooked our first meal tonight with the new "everyday pan" (we had honey sesame chicken with vegetables and rice)

Welcome to your new home pots and pans! You will be loved.

THANKS MOM AND DAD!!

MEWWEY CWISTMAS!

We had a fun filled Christmas morning. I guess our kids were good this year because Santa brought them a lot of loot.We started the morning waiting for Jacob to wake up. Lily had some breakfast.

Lisa's Family and Grandma and Grandpa Bremner gave us an X-box 360 Tyler was too excited to contain himself.It is so fun to open presents. Even Lily got into it.

Tyler with the skateboards he got in his stocking

Here Jacob is playing with his new play food. He loves it! (Even though randy thinks it is girly)

Lily got her first baby doll and her first "perfectly pink purse." The purse came with a little teething compact, money with a coin and a lipstick rattle. SOoooo adorable. I love having a girl.

Here are the kids playing connect 4. Jake is crying cause he lost.

And this is my gift I got from Rick and Eileen. They are the BEST! THANK YOU!

I hope everyone else had a Christmas that was as fun as ours. Merry CHRISTmas.

You wouldn't think so..

Especially since most of my posts include her, but for some reason in my mind Lily isn't here for Christmas. I bought stocking stuffers for us and COMPLETELY forgot my little Lily. Looks like I really do have to go shopping the day before Christmas. She doesn't need anything, nor does she care, but I think the boys are old enough to know something is up when "Santa" doesn't bring anything for their sister. Then again she hasn't been sleeping through the night lately so maybe she made it on the naughty list.

Birthday Fun

Tyler's birthday was fun today. I made him an R2D2 cake and he opened presents from his grandparents as well as gifts from us. He was disappointed he didn't get another friend party today like he did last week, but he still had a good time

Jake loves Tyler's new toys. My mom and dad visited the birthday boy too.

He is so old!

6 Years old to be exact.

What does that make me? It is crazy how fast Tyler has gone from baby to toddler to boy.

We are so thankful that he is in our family. He is a wonderful son and big brother. He constantly makes us laugh. He likes things neat and tidy. He wants to do what is right. He is such a blessing to us. Happy Birthday Ty By!

Smile... you're on "Canon" Camera!

We tried out the Canon EOS Rebel T1i EF-S digital camera that we are thinking of purchasing for Christmas this year. the clarity is amazing. I got a couple of cute shots of this darling little girl who is always hanging around my pant leg. This is after her bath, so you can see her cute little curls. they are getting VERY long on top.

Tyler Says....

While at the doctor for his 6 year checkup, the pediatrician gave Tyler his stethoscope and let Tyler listen to his heart.
Doctor:"What do you hear?"
Tyler: "I hear beeping."
(I'm really trying not to laugh)
Doctor: "Oh yeah? what kind of beeping?"
Tyler: "It is going BEEP....BEEP....BEEP...BEEP" (sounding like a heart monitor)
(I'm thinking maybe he has a bomb in there somewhere)
Doctor:" Yes, your heart beaTs! do you think there is a little bunny in there playing the drums?"
Tyler: Laughing really hard "Oh you crack me up!" and he continues to laugh at the joke.

Also, later that day, I asked Tyler if he would eat some salad.
Me: "Tyler, you need to eat some salad"
Ty:"No, I don't want to"
Me:" You told the doctor today that you would eat your vegetables, so eat some salad"
Ty: emphatically "No I didn't! I told him I SHOULD eat my vegetables. that's different."

9 months

Lily is 9 months old as of Sunday. It is amazing how fast it has gone by. She is getting to be quite the little girl. Her feelings get hurt VERY easily and she is extremely sensitive. Your tone of voice can make her happy or sad. She is SO different then her brothers were. Luckily for me, she hasn't decided to walk yet. (Jake was walking by 8 1/2 months) She is content with pulling herself up on things, shuffling from side to side while holding on to something and crawling wherever she wants togo. We went for her checkup today and she is once again she is NOT like her brothers. Shis 50% for height (27 1/2 inches) and only 10% for her weight (16.2lbs) I know seriously CRAZY! Tyler's yearly checkup was today as well and he was 75% for height and 85% for his weight. That is what I am used to. they are both doing great and are healthy and strong (despite Lily taking a tumble down the flight of stairs yesterday).
Jacob wanted to "take his 9 monfs pictures" too. I love the look on Lily's face when Jacob took her spotlight.

Yoda Says...

"To Tyler's Star Wars party go. You must."

We had a super fun birthday party for Tyler today. He and 11 of his closest friends attended Jedi training

First, they tested there jedi skills by throwing a bean bag at the droidsThen they tried there hand at protecting the galaxy without being able to seewe took a break to sing happy birthday.

And what is a party without a cupcake decorated in "dueling lightsabers" and "Yoda Soda"

Time to open presents
Then their final task was to make it through the obstacle course in less than 2o seconds

If they defeated the obstacle course it was proclaimed that they could now carry an official Jedi weapon and they recieved their own "lightsabers"

needless to say...they loved it!

(They are attacking balloons we had hanging from the ceiling.

We are glad we went with foam instead of plastic.

They got this certificate to take home with their bag of goodies
This was definitely the most successful birthday party Ty has had thus far. I guess having it a week before his actual birthday is a good idea.