Monterey Bay Aquarium

If you visit the bay Area, this place is a must! Riley had a school field trip there, and we all had so much fun, everything is so beautiful!

Riley and all her classmates.

This was the prettiest thing, it was an entire room with a Ginormous tank.

This is Chloe pointing.

Riley & her buddy Esmeralda

Riley & her buddy Michael

Summer's almost here!

A few things we love about Summer:

Otter Pops

You can never get enough, seriously

The Sandbox

Love/hate relationship: Kids get hours of play,

I spend all day cleaning sand off the floor.

Fresh Cali Fruit
Mike whipped this dish up on Mothers Day (so cute)

Flip Flops
Wish I could wear them year round

The Beach
Don't get me started
(You just might get sick of beach pictures this summer)

My Favorite Season!

Thanksgiving in the Spring

Last week, I made this recipe that came from my Mom, its called Turkey Casserole.

It tasted so yummy and comforting, it reminded us of Thanksgiving. Its easy too!

Try it!

2 boxes of prepared stuffing
2 cups of diced, cooked turkey (I only had chx breasts, it still tasted great)

Place cooked stuffing on the bottom of a 9x13
Add turkey on top of stuffing

Topping
Cook all together in pan until thick:
1/2 c butter (I used smart balance)
1/2 c flour
2 c chicken broth
1/2 c milk
1 tsp salt
2 well beaten eggs

Pour over turkey

Top with 1/2 cup bread crumbs
Bake 35o for 20-25 minutes, or until topping is cooked through.

Serve with Cranberry Sauce.

Yumm! Enjoy your Thanksgiving in the spring!!

I'm doing this post every year!

Its beach season, Baby!

Here's last years :)

Morning Conversation with Riley

R: Mom, everyone at church is prettier than me

Me: what did you say??

R: I said, all my friends at church look much prettier than me, with their dresses and long hair!

Me: Riley, you are beautiful and pretty and gorgeous, and you don't ever need to think that someone is prettier than you. You are great just the way you are!

R: You mean I'm PRETTIER than everyone else?? (with a big smile)

Me: Well, lets say you are pretty JUST like everyone else is pretty.

She was OK with that.

{I must admit, my very first thought was YES, you and Chloe are the most beautiful things I have ever seen! - but not sure it would translate, should she tell her friends, don't all Mom's think their kids are the cutest?}

I swear she is a teenager wrapped in a 4 year old body.

Utah 2010

We visited St. George, Utah this April for a baby blessing of our new baby niece Emily. My parents just bought a house there too, so that was fun to be in the adorable new home they bought!

The entire family was there. It sure was a busy time, and super fun too! Here's just a little peak from our trip:

Our Easter Dresses (Taken the week before due to General Conference)

Easter Baskets from the Easter Bunny! I might phase out the Easter Bunny next year, the thought of a big ol' bunny in the house kinda freaks me out!

Jumping Jacks in St. George. Its just this big warehouse with bouncy stuff and slides, the kids had a blast!!

The kids loved playing in Jon & April's driveway with all their scooters and bikes! They were pretty much here the entire time we would be at their house! Riley and Lauren

We went to this super cool FREE water park in St. George. I am totally wishing we had one of these here. It was clean, safe, and I didn't have to get in with them! They loved it!

This is Chloe contemplating whether or not to enter...she's my scaredy cat.Aunt Traci, Mama, and Chloe

Where'd all the boys go? This is all the girl cousins (minus baby Emily)

Left to right: Camryn, Haleigh, Riley, Chloe, Lauren

We enjoyed a big picnic at this great park! You could climb the mountain in the back of us, not to mention the great play structure that was covered from the sun!

My ladies

Riley and Chloe's yearly pics! I love the colors! I love the faces!

She tried to get one of them together, but little Miss Chloe was NOT having it!

These pictures make me smile

The Carnival

For years we have driven by this carnival that comes here every year, and think "hey, that might be fun!" - Yet we never go "

We finally went - I'm not gonna lie, I was not really not impressed. I definitely think Riley was, though. It must have been so bright, and big for her. This was her favorite ride :

Chloe was too little to go on ANYTHING! So she got a big long licorice rope to make her happy while Riley rode all the rides.

Glad we went. Won't go back next year :)

Riley's 4th Birthday

Turning 4 is fun! Its a great age, because you can actually know what they want for their birthday, they've started developing their personalities and interests, and I love EVERYTHING about my little Riley's personality. She is so precious to us.

She is so smart. She is hilarious. She is sweet and says things like "Mommy, in the morning, I'm going to give you a thousand hugs and kisses" She is feisty and independent. She is our girly girl and we are so proud of who she is!

This year has been the year of the horse for Riley. Everything horses. Always asking for a horse. So, we took her on a horse ride! (it was actually a pony, for kids under 8) She got to go on a 'horse' ride in the mountains at a horse ranch. It was so fun!! And a little smelly too :) We surprised her with this little trip, I loved her face as we drove up to the ranch!

We had a little family celebration, with cake, ice cream and presents. Mike was taking pictures, and the top 2 are Riley posing away, so cute! She also got birthday fruit basket from Mike's sweet family!
The funniest part of this day was when I asked her what she wanted for dinner, she thought for a minute and said "I want toast with butter and cottage cheese" So the birthday girl got her dinner of toast and cottage cheese, and ate every last drop!



She also had pre-school on her actual birthday (she only goes 2 days a week) So we made some brownie cupcakes and brought them to school. The kids were a chocolate mess afterwards, but they didn't mind!

Happy Birthday Riley girl!

Ghirardelli Square

In honor of Mike, Riley, and Chloe's Birthdays (which all fall within 2 weeks of each other). We headed up to the San Francisco and went to yummy Ghirardelli square!

It was a beautiful night all around!

The birthday kids!

The view of the harbor was so pretty, so we had to put 2 pretty little girls in there too!

Riley took this picture of us~ not too shabby!

Enjoying the chocolateeeyyy yumminess!

We were all a little overloaded on chocolate at the end! But it was worth it!