Embarrassing

You should have just worn a sign that said "Kick me!" That is what my husband told me when I came home from the grocery store and was advised to look in the mirror.

Note to self: Wearing two hats at one time to entertain and keep your child awake on the drive home is okay to do. It is not okay to forget that you are wearing two hats and go grocery shopping and run into multiple ward members. I am torn between being mortified and laughing. I am so embarrassed; but go ahead, and have a laugh at my expense.

Birthday Shout Out

Today is my sister-in-law Jamie's birthday! Happy Birthday Jamie! Here are three things I love about Jamie:

1) She is such a sweet mom and has raised the sweetest little kids.
2) She always wants to have a good time. I love her spontaneous activity ideas, and how she is willing to do anything. Some of the funnest camping trips or day activities have been total last minute ideas Jamie has come up with. I love it!
3) She is hilarious. Hanging out with Jamie reminds me of me and my girlfriends in High School. She is not only an awesome sister-in-law but a great friend!

Happy Birthday!

Home Sweet Home

After a long 10 hour drive back to Utah we finally arrived home! Porter has been very entertained today seeing all of his toys and belongings for the first time in nearly a week. And much to our surprise, the snow FINALLY melted off our yard for the 1st time all winter. It was 55 degrees at 11am this morning and we were soaking it in. We spent at least an hour outside, and Porter happily pointed out all the birds and dogs to me. I think I am having a bit of spring fever, because I am in warm weather heaven right now! I can't wait for summer!!

Weekend Getaway to California

Thursday night after Jared was getting off work, we decided it would be fun to go to California for the weekend. So we packed our bags and left a couple hours later. We drove through the night and arrived at 6 something in the morning and said "surprise" to my parents. The weather was amazing! It was 60 something and Porter wanted nothing more than to be outside all day. He even figured out how to open their front door. We had plans to take Porter a few places and enjoy being outside but my poor little baby was tired often and fussier than normal. Sunday he actually took a 4 1/2 hour nap that we woke him up from. He has NEVER slept that long (other than in the night). He started to come around towards the end of our trip. It was great to see the family and enjoy beautiful California!

California - Porter and Grandpa

Because Porter wasn't feeling the best on the trip, he didn't have much of an appetite. But for some strange reason, my Dad could always get him to eat! How did you manage to get him to eat the ice cream bites, and the brownie sundae dad? Ha. Thanks again for sending Jared and I on a much needed date all alone, and watching Porter with mom. That was fun!

California - Porter and Grandma

This 1st image is the perfect picture to start this post. Porter had his grandma wrapped around his little finger from the moment he arrived! He signs please when he needs help getting something, usually a ball that has gone under a table or up high. But he quickly realized my mom would do ANYTHING if he said please. So he would throw a ball and tell her please and watch while she "fetched" it for him. This morning he has tried it a few times on me, but it's not happening. Back to self reliance...

Crazy Soccer Skills!

I can't get over this video!

Just Cuz

Happy Valentines Day

This is an early Valentines post, but the next couple days will be busy, so I am going to do it now. First off, I have a couple of Valentines thanks to give out:

JARED: Thanks for the early Valentines present. I LOVE LOVE LOVE having a desktop again, and I especially LOVE having a computer that works great and is fast. Um, oh yeah, I LOVE you too.
MOM & DAD: We got your Valentines package in the mail today, what a fun surprise. Porter loved carrying around his card and opening and closing it, and showing it to anyone he could. Thank you for our card and for the new sweater! I tried it on and it is really cute. You always have such good taste when picking things out for us!
KYLE: Thanks for installing the Photoshop CS4 on my computer! I am SO excited to be able to edit photos with it!

Now I will go back in time. 6 Valentines ago Jared and I were younger and a few pounds lighter, and we liked each other so much that we spent every second we could with each other. It was a Valentines weekend like this year, and after a night out together, Jared surprised me with roses and a ring and asked me to be his wife. Valentines is always a special holiday because it brings me back to our dating years, and the butterflies, and feelings on being in love for the 1st time. I can hardly believe that was 6 years ago. I feel like it was just yesterday my roomies and your roomies were running into each other at the hot tub. Those days were so fun and exciting.
I'm thankful that we still enjoy to spend every second we can together, and that I still get to enjoy your quirky sense of humor day in and day out. Our beautiful little boy adores you just as much as I do, and I will forever love you for giving me him. I am thankful for all of the hard work you put in to provide a good life for our family, and for all of your support to me. I look forward to the years ahead... Meeting our other little angels, seeing them grow up, spending summer nights watching their sports games, family vacations, and all of the wonderful memories we will create as a family. I couldn't have picked a better person to enjoy this life with, and I feel incredibly blessed. I love you, and Happy Valentines Day.

To Die For

Carmelized French Toast Recipe

I truly wish I would have taken a picture before digging into this delicious dish because it was almost too pretty to eat. Almost. Jared's mom got this recipe from a Bed & Breakfast and I swear it is the tastiest breakfast I've ever had. I would HIGHLY HIGHLY HIGHLY recommend making this. I split this into 2 square casserolle dishes so my sister in law and I both had some. It was plenty for both families, so next time I make I will probably half the recipe.

1 cup butter
4 Tbl Corn Syrup
1 1/2 Cup Brown Sugar

12 Eggs
2 Cups of Milk
2 Tsp. Vanilla
2 Loaves Thick Sliced Bread (Texas Toast) - We used regular bread & was still yummy.
Cinnamon to taste

Frozen, Sliced Strawberries
Vanilla Yogurt

Combine the first 3 ingredients in a small saaucepan. Cook over moderate heat until bubbly. Grease a 9x15 baking dish. Pour syrup into baking dish. Nestle bread slices into the syrup, making 2 layers. Mix together the eggs, vanilla milk and cinnamon and pour over bread. You might have to lift some bread pieces to make sure milk mixture gets under all the bread pieces. Cover pan and refrigerate overnight. Next morning, remove dish from refrigerator and uncover. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Bake bread for 45 minutes. Loosen edges of the bread then invert pan onto large plate so that caramel is on top. cut into 8 portions and top with berries and yogurt. (We also added sliced banannas.)

Uncles

Porter loves his uncles! It's so fun that he gets to see them on a daily basis. Treat him good boys, he just might be your boss one day when he takes over the business. :)

Super Bowl

We were rooting for the Cardinals, and were bummed they gave it up at the very end. Porter had fun playing with the cousins and occassionally took a break to clap along or throw up the "touchdowns".

Ashlee.

Ashlee is my adorable niece whom Porter adores. She modeled for me during the Super Bowl today. Love this girl.