Girl party

Erynne sat down with the girls one night and set up some goals with some awesome rewards. If they didn't fight for a week they could have a party with her. They did it! and hear are the pics of their girl party. They got to wear Erynne's clothes and everything.

Joseph didn't want to miss out on the action so yes he got a facial to.

The girls also did their nails.

They both used Erynne's makeup and dolled themselves up. Yes Emma did her own makeup! It makes a mother proud!

Lucas

While the cats away...

How cute are they! We all went out to dinner and then to see Brian Reagan. It was so funny. The guy before him had the funniest joke about a straw.Ryan had a business meeting in Chicago so Erynne and I took the kids to Sea port village in San Diego. We bought the best kite ever and now I know why my cheap $3 kites never worked. It was so easy to fly and it actually stayed up.

We walked along the beach and saw some really awesome boats. This

was so cool to see in person.

We also took the kids out to dinner at Islands. The kids got sundaes and loved it. Surprisingly they do really well when we go out to eat.

A New Car, Fun Get Togethers, and a Yummy Cake

I forgot to post about our new car. Really it is Ryan's. He bought a 2001 vw bug about a year ago. For the price it was a great deal. And it got great gas mileage. But really it is not what he really wanted. About a month ago he had been visualizing getting an expedition. Just a few days later Trent and Sarah traded theirs in for a new one. Once Ryan found that out he called them up and got the car for almost the same that Trent and Sarah traded it for. Yeah for Ryan. It is really nice to drive and we totally love it. Thanks again Trent and Sarah!

Sarah took these pictures. The kids love taking pictures.

Erynne's friend Ashley spent the night Friday night. The girls love it. She did Sarah's Hair in cute braids with little white bows. Sarah told me, "Ashley's my friend." I remember bugging my brother and his friends when I was little. Erynne is good and has a nice relationship with the girls. Last night Ryan and I went to conference for our church and Erynne stayed home with the kids. She set goals with them and had a good bonding experience. Having Erynne here has been good for Emma. She needs a little extra special love and Erynne seems to be able to give that to her.

Erynne also did Emma's hair with these adorable curls.

Ashley's masterpiece.

We had Easter dinner at Ryan's Mom and Dads. It was a nice Sunday. Here is Ryan and his brother eating ice cream. Ryan loves anything sweet and I guess it is something all of the brothers have a habit of doing. All of us girls are much more health conscious so it is funny that all the brothers have to have their sweets. I was trying to get a real sweet picture of Josh on the stairs. He kept jumping off. So we put Joseph in the picture but that was a joke. Joseph just kept trying to "squish" him.

I love this angle with me and Joseph in the back ground.

Jared was eating salsa and some how splattered it up all over his face. When I saw it I thought it was blood and it really worried me. Oh boy the joy of boys!
Last night we had a our monthly birthday party at with Ryan's family. We got to see family that we have not seen in a long time, like Aunt Terri and Uncle Brian. Ryan's cousin Andrew was there also. The last time we saw him he was around 13. He is now around Ryan's height and all grown up. Erynne gave a really good presentation on the law of importance. It is something she and Ryan have been studying for work. I will post more on that at another point.

I made this cake for the party and it is the best cake I have ever made. It was super easy and soooooooo good. I bake a 10 inch cake using the full cake mix. Then I cut it into 3 layers. Each layer was lined with pecans and covered with homemade caramel. Then I drenched the top layer with caramel. YUMMMY! I also made a German chocolate.

I got the recipe off the Internet. I searched on Google pictures for chocolate cake and found this. The lady made up the recipe herself after having something similar at a restaurant.

Cinnamon Pecan Caramel Chocolate Cake
Recipe By: Lynn Kellogg
Ingredients:
18.25 oz box chocolate cake mix, plus ingredients it requires, made according to directions and baked two 9” pans. ( I used a 10 inch and cut it into 3 layers so their was much more carmel them cake)

Caramel Sauce Ingredients:
2 to 3 c. pecans

1 c. butter
2/3 c. heavy cream
2 ¼ c. brown sugar
1 tsp. cinnamon
1 1/2 tsp. vanilla
Preparation:
Bake your cake in two 9” pans and cut each cake into two layers.
To prepare caramel sauce: In a heavy saucepan, melt / boil butter, cream and brown sugar. When candy thermometer reaches 230 F, mix in cinnamon and turn off burner. Then, mix in vanilla.
To assemble: On first layer of cake, sprinkle a handful of pecans. (I arranged them whole around each edge then crushed up in the center) Keep them toward the outside, so if your cake isn't level, it will not begin to "mound" in the center. Then, drizzle sauce (heavily for my friends, perhaps lightly for yours) over nuts and cake. Repeat these steps with the next two layers. For the top layer, place a circle of pecan halves, then sprinkle the center with the chopped nuts. Drizzle away with this last layer, so it runs over the sides.

Growing like a weed

I made these pictures to put in Joshua's room.

All of the kids got to visit with the dentist this week. It seems funny to me that Jared, Sarah, and Emma love to go to the dentist. Joseph on the other hand was not convinced that this was an OK thing to do. He stared at the assistant and refused to open his mouth for an x-ray. I was laughing because I figured this would happen./ He has never really been fond of people he doesn't know. He did let them clean his teeth and we were able to talk about possibly getting him a mouth guard. They thought we should wait to see if he will grow out of it. No hurry.
Sarah on the other hand had a much different experience. Jared, Sarah, and Joshua are all tongue tied. It has never caused a problem. They can talk fine and eat fine. The dentist brought me back and showed me how bad hers is. The little tie under her tongue is so short it is pulling her gums back and causing them to dimple. It has also caused a gap in her teeth. So they want to perform a minor surgery and clip it. I am curious to see if she talks different after this.
Joseph was walking around the house singing today. He didn't think I was watching. As he realized it he smiled a sly little smile and ran off.
Since I lost my camera I could not take the kids pictures I normally get done. So last night I took Joshua and Sarah into the picture people and got three of the cutest pictures taken. One of each of them and one together. I thought I did not like the picture people but they have updated how they do things and it was so much better! When I get the link to view the pictures I will post it for you Mom.
My parents are probably on an airplane to France right now. I am so excited for them.

Easter break... remember when it was called that

Easter was so wonderful. I would post pictures had I not lost my camera at Sea world. We had an Easter egg hunt on Saturday. Aunt Kaylee spent the night so she got to join us. Ryan hid the eggs super hard for Jared and Sarah. In fact he hid them so good Jared could not find a few of them with out help. Ryan loved it! We had a very mellow Saturday. On Sunday I got to sing a duet in church. It was a most marvelous experience for me. I loved being able to sing my testimony and praise to my Savior on such a special day set apart special for remembering him. I felt as though their were angels in the chapel taking record of my testimony. This time when I sang was different for me. I was not singing for anyone. I was singing to My God and my Savior. I hope that makes sense in words they same way it did in my spirit. It was wonderful!

We started off our spring break by going to Sea world. We went with my MIL and her 4 youngest. Travis and Tyler were so helpful with the kids and they are such a delight to be around. Joseph got to spend some time with just me while the older kids went on the ride. It was so fun. We went into one of the aquariums and he was racing with one of the fish. When he caught up to him he got real excited and said, "I got you!" He loved being in charge and asked the name of every fish. It was nice for the bigger kids because they got to go on the rides they can't normally go on because I have the boys. The show was their favorite. I am not sure how I feel about losing my camera. On the plus side, if they don't find it I can get a new camera. Maybe even a better one. On the down side I have pictures that are lost.