Ice Cream Sandwiches

For snack today we had ice cream sandwiches or “cookies” as the babies called them!  They really enjoyed them, and it was a good thing we were playing in the baby pool, because they were covered in chocolate and ice cream!  Sometimes the most fun is when you get good and dirty :)

 

Today was the beginning of an uphill heat wave, and I for one am psyched for it!!  Bring on the heat!!

From a GREAT day to a CRAPPY (literally) ending!

I’d say 99% of my day was fantastic!!  It started out fun, I met Jaime & Amy and their girls at Lake Tye where Madison & Camryn played in the water.  I have to say it was really breezy out, I was wrapped up in a towel so it wasn’t overly enjoyable for myself, Amy or Jaime – but the girls loved it!  We hung out their for a couple of hours then I went home with Jaime, who put her girls down for a nap then we just rested. 

After naptime, they took me home.  Erin was babysitting for Kim today so I went over to visit.  We played outside until Kim got home about 20minutes later.  We chit-chatted about how the Jonas Brothers concert went (Sophia LOVED it apparently!).  Then we headed to my house to wait for Brandi to get to Duvall. 

Erin had offered to drive Paul Elkins to pick up his car in Renton, so Brandi & I tagged along.  Turns out Paul works right across the street from IKEA, so after we dropped him off we headed over to IKEA to walk around.  IKEA is just a fun place to wander around, Brandi bought 2 boxes of cookies and a pizza cutter (random stuff I tell you) but we had fun browsing! 

After IKEA we went to the Factoria Red Robin where Erin treated us to dinner as a thank-you for driving with her!  I had delicious chili-nachos!  They were amazingly yummy!  We had a great time this evening hanging out!!

However, when I got home I was greeted with CRAP….CAT CRAP.  Yes, one of my lovely cats (ugh) pooped and peed all over my BED!  OMG it was awful!!  I had to first pick up the nasty contents then completely dismantle my cleanly made bed (and the mattress I had laying on the floor that Alex had left their) put as much as I could in the washing machine (probably still have 2 loads) to wash on sanitary which takes 2 hours to clean – I’ll never have my bedding back.  I then bleached and scrubbed my mattress and then had to clean my floor.  Luckily Alex is at camp all week and I can sleep in her room.  What an awful end to a great day!

Sophia's Birthday Party

Today I went to Sophia's 7th Birthday Party along with Jaime & the girls. We lucked out and the weather was beautiful!! We hung out all afternoon out by the pool and hot tub watching the kids go back and forth between the hot tub & the swimming pool!!

It was really fun to watch the 5 little kids (triplets, Madison & Cody) playing! Jack & Nate refused to go in the water but they had a lot of fun dragging and pushing the floaty-car in and out of the pool! Gabbi was absolutely fearless and would jump in the hot tub and float around in her life jacket! But, oh my gosh...Cody...he is amazing! He is 2.5 and is learning to swim he has absolutely no fear of the water! He was jumping into the deep end of the big pool!! He was really fun to watch! Madison was shy of the water at first, but as long as she wasn't in the 'center' of the pool or hot tub she was happy! The little kids spent 6 hours playing in (or around the water).

Sophia played with them for awhile, but left around 4pm to go with Kim and her friend to see the Jonas Brothers in concert! She was so excited to go it was really cute! The funniest part was she couldn't figure out the right outfit to wear - and she's only 7! She tried 3 different outfits and then had us all vote on them. She was all ready to go until Ava showed up and had a Jonas Brothers shirt on and Sophie went and changed into a matching shirt!

For Sophie, I am taking her to see Miley Cyrus in September along with Brandi & Erin (we think). I was really excited to give her, the gift. So in September we get to head down to the Tacoma Dome to see her Best Of Both Worlds tour! Sophie has to be the only 7 year old who gets to go to both 'major' concerts (if you are a pre-teen) of the year! Lucky Girl!!

Monday tomorrow, hope it's another nice day like it was today! Loving the heat and sunshine!!

Alex’s Family Birthday

Tonight we celebrated Alex’s birthday as a family.  She chose homemade pizza for her birthday dinner so we made pizza and hung out enjoying the sunshine!  One cool thing we did was, Grace & Leslie got Alex a piñata as part of their gift, so we had fun whacking and hitting the piñata (okay I just videotaped, but you have me to thank for this video)!  Alex was pretty embarrassed of the whole concept at first (we made her cover her eyes and spin around first), but after a few hits you could tell she was enjoying it!

Some of the pictures of the poor piñata being beaten!

Other than that we did normal birthday things, opened presents, sang “Happy Birthday” and ate cake!  The piñata was definitely the highlight of the party!

Quick Camano Trip

I went up to Camano on Tuesday night for a quick visit…and I mean quick, I came home Wednesday night :) But this was one trip I wasn’t going to miss! MacKenzie’s birth parents (both of them) were coming to visit. I have met Ashli (birthmom) on several occasions, but this was the first time Joe (birthfather) had actually ever met MacKenzie (she’ll be 2 in September). So I had extra reason for wanting to be there! I missed the first day when they came over, but was able to spend sometime with them on Wednesday when they came back!

Ashli & MacKenzie

Joe & MacKenzie

In addition to meeting Ashli & Joe, I went with the boys & Julia to their Vacation Bible School to volunteer. Julia & I were put in charge of the 3rd graders. There were 21 of them and boy were they sassy!! Julia decided she doesn’t want her boys to ever be that old :) I had a lot of fun helping out!

Julia showed me a recent layout she did for Alec for Father’s Day and it had an adorable photo on it of all 3 kids…I asked her to email it to me so I could post it! I also said, feel free to email any other cute picture! I got an email with 91 adorable photos! It was hard to narrow it down to just a couple...but wanted to share how cute (& big) Aiden, Connor & MacKenzie are now!!

Aiden & MacKenzie (front)
Connor (back)

Connor MacKenzie

Aiden

Julia & MacKenzie Julia & Aiden

The Twins (Connor & Aiden)

LOVE this photo!

I had a great time…I am heading back July 7-11th. Alex is supposed to come with me, but looking at the calendar it appears she’ll be having her birthday party a couple of those days. But maybe by then she’ll have her license and can drive up for a few days!!

Thanks again Julia & Alec for having me!! Can’t wait for next month so I can go back and stay a little bit longer!!

Alex’s Sweet 16

Happy [belated]

16th Birthday

Alexandra!

Enjoy your new car :)

We celebrated last night by attending Alex’s piano recital where she played 4 amazingly hard pieces and did awesome!   We then went to the Olive Garden for a delicious dinner!!  She’ll have her ‘real’ parties this weekend!!

Funeral Potatoes Recipe

I've had several people ask me "what funeral potatoes are", so I thought I'd post the recipe. From what I understand, Funeral Potatoes (aka Ruby's Cheese Potatoes) are a common Mormon dish for funerals (aka "funeral potatoes"). I had no idea this was the case and just thought my mom was crazy for calling them that until I attended a couple Mormon funerals and saw a common theme....funeral potatoes...lots of them...called funeral potatoes.

These are a favorite amongst my family and love it when they are made for dinner!!

Funeral Potatoes (Ruby's Cheese Potatoes)
6-medium Potatoes (could add more
1/4 cup butter
1 pint sour cream
1 can cream of chicken soup
1/3 cup chopped green onions
1-1/2 cups Sharp Cheddar cheese
1/3 cups crushed corn flakes (yes the cereal)
2-tablespoons melted butter (cool)

Cook potatoes (night before is best) and grate on grater. Heat 1/4 cup of butter with soup until melted. Blend in sour cream, onion, and grated cheese. Mix well and warm. Combine corn flakes with melted butter. Fold gently the soup mixture with potatoes in large bowl. Put in 13x9" dish. Sprinkle with corn flakes. Bake at 350degF for 20-30mins.

Speaking of Funeral Potatoes...I'm going to go have some leftovers right now!!

Today is also Alex's birthday!! Hopefully I'll post more tonight!! If not....HAPPY 16TH BIRTHDAY ALEX!!

Happy Fathers Day, Daddy!!

My Daddy

Hope everyone had a Happy Fathers Day!!  Fathers Day for my family today was pretty laid back.  We had the family over and made a huge breakfast then most people hung out and watched golf (BORING) up in the bonus room.  However, Brandi & I Ebayed a portion of her scrapbooking stuff she’s selling.  So we spent the afternoon taking pictures and listing items on Ebay.   (Hint: If you are looking for SCRAPBOOKING STUFF check out Brandi’s Ebay stuff…Ebay ID: brafie1).

Zak enjoying some peace & quiet while reading Twilight

Dinner tonight was yummy, my dad chose to make it himself he claims “I’m the only one who knows how to cook” so he made delicious bbq ribs, corn on the cob, funeral potatoes, and veggies.  Did I mention it was delicious!!  I have to brag, but my daddy really is the best cook around!!

After dinner we (okay him and Zak) opened gifts…

“Oh Yaaaah”

 

Then of course, Fathers Day wouldn’t be complete without our tradition of Bridges….mine wasn’t overly impressive tonight :(

And while this was all going on we had a torrential rainstorm with thunder and lightening!  Until yesterday, we had 30 days of no measurable rain…well apparently today it made up for it!  It rained so hard all day long!

 

Happy Fathers Day, Dad!!

I LOVE YOU!!

Tragic Loss

Just 20 minutes after Cedarcrest High School let out for the summer vacation, a 16-year-old tragically lost his life in a fatal car accident on Big Rock Road.  Since the boy’s name hasn’t been released yet, I am not going to use his name.  He was Alex’s age and had just completed the 10th grade.  He also was a member of the Carnation Ward, who attended seminary with Alex everyday before school for the past two years.  Alex and her friends are very distraught over it and just keep saying “I just saw him a couple hours ago”.  It’s just awful to believe that a friend of theirs whom they just saw is now gone. 

I cannot imagine the pain and agony that his family is going through right now.  I wish them peace in this tragic time and send my thoughts and prayers their way.  I didn’t personally know him, but from what I have heard it was an amazing kid with lots of friends and an amazing family. 

Cheri Thurgood posted this message on Facebook and I thought it was really beautiful and wanted to share it …

“Death is so tragic for those of us left behind - the one who leaves us is perfectly content, hopefully that can be a small reminder and bring a sense of peace for us who grieve with the loss and shock of losing someone who should have had more time here on earth. My heart goes out to [boy’s name] family & friends!!”

Here is the story from Komo 4 News as of 6:10pm on Friday, June 19, 2009:

DUVALL, Wash. - A 16-year-old boy was killed Friday when he lost control of the car he was driving and skidded into the path of another vehicle near Duvall.

Deputies responded to the fatal crash, in the 29500 block of NE Big Rock Road, at about 11:15 a.m., said King County Sheriff's Office spokesman Sgt. John Urquhart.

The 16-year-old was heading east on the two-lane road in a Honda Civic when he lost control of the vehicle and skidded sideways on wet pavement.

He was hit by a Jeep Cherokee that was heading west. The Jeep was driven by a 20-year-old woman.

The 16-year-old was taken to Harborview by ambulance, and he died shortly after 1 p.m. The woman went to Evergreen Hospital and the extent of her injuries are unknown at this time, but are not considered to be life-threatening.

Urquhart said the roadway was wet at the time of the crash, and speed is thought to be a contributing factor.

Chance to Win a $100 Visa Gift Card

One of the blogs I follow is giving away a $100 Visa Gift Card from BlogHer and SmartFood!! All you have to do is go to Makes Quads Happy: Because It's the "Smart" Thing To Do and leave a comment answering this question ... "How Do You Celebrate Girls Night In".

Check it out when you have a chance ... then again don't so I have a better chance of winning!! J/k!

Cute Emmalee Pics

Today is my first day with Emma & Madison while Zak & Jaime are in Vegas.  I am watching them until they get home Wednesday evening.  So today we went to Anderson Park so Madison could run and around and play.  While Madison played I was able to get a handful of cute pictures of Emma and wanted to share them!!

 

Old Friends

Today Dad, Alex, Kelly & I attend both Sam Knapp & Bianca Sult’s graduation parties.  At both parties there were people that we hardly get to see, so it was really fun to go!!  My dad grew up with Tim, Tom Knapp, Bruce & Tom Landis, so I’ve known these families since I was born!  So it was really fun to catch up and hear all new stories and old ones being retold!

Sam’s Party

At first we attended Sam’s party and in addition to Sam we saw Tim, Tom, Dianne, Maggie, Angie & Gordon!  The weather was once again beautiful and we had a fun outdoor bbq with LOTS of food!!  Maggie’s bbq beans were delicious and I ate like 4 platefuls, wasn’t feeling so hot after the 4th one!! 

Tim & Kelly

 
Kelly, Sam & Alex

Alex, Kelly & I

Alex, Tim, Kelly & I

Tim & Dad

Dianne & I

Tom & Kelly

Maggie, myself, Alex & Kelly

 Bianca’s Party

Later in the afternoon we headed over to the Sult’s to celebrate Bianca’s graduation.  After spending several hours in the sun it was nice to be inside in air conditioning!  It was great to see everyone there too!  We saw lots of the Sult’s family that we hadn’t seen in a long time!  Moniece’s mom, Mona, was there and I hadn’t see her in years, so it was great to catch-up with her!!  Other than that we had more food and a lot more reminiscing!

Spencer

Bianca & Bruce

Bianca & Moniece

Tom & Bianca

Mary & Dad

Mom is still down in Salt Lake, so she missed all our fun today, but she comes home tomorrow and we’re all excited to see her!!  I’m exhausted and am now ready for bed now that I got this post up!!