Parades and Garage Sales

Last weekend we went to the Meridian Dairy Days Parade. We went home with lots of loot, including chocolate milk and string cheese that they handed out. Oh, and I got free Meridian Dairy Days t-shirt too! Score.

This past weekend we went to a friends house for a BBQ. I made a cake and we caught Evan sneaking a taste. The cake we made is something Tom's mom makes and we love it. It's a yellow cake mix (we split it between two pans), vanilla pudding mixed with cream cheese layer, lots of sliced strawberries layer, and cool whip layer on top. Since we split the cake mix in two, we made two cakes. You can eat a ton of it because it's light tasting. Great cake for summer!

On Saturday morning I had the brilliant idea to take Evan in the jogging stroller and literally run around to all the garage sales near us. It might be our new Saturday thing! I think we hit about 7 garage sales and went a total of 4.5 miles. I wish I could say I found something really awesome, but we just left with a couple of Sesame Street videos. Maybe next time we'll have the greatest find ever.

The picture I posted above makes me think of something funny. If you know my dad well, you know that one of his pet peeves is bad garage sale signs! (Are the ones above good ones dad?) It's so true though, don't you just hate when someone uses a plain little white piece of paper and writes on it with a regular pen? Or their sign is barely taped down to a post and flapping in the wind so you can't see it? Or sometimes the paper is SO bright you can't even read the tiny writing? Or like my dad saw recently, a box with a garage sale sign taped to it... blowing down the street!? Now you will all be looking at the garage sale signs in your neighborhood and see how bad some of them are! Someday when we have our first garage sale, we'll have the best signs ever (with advice from my dad of course)!

Milestones

This week is full of milestones for us. First, we've officially lived in Idaho for one year! And that also means Tom can finally get paid vacation... yay! We decided we like living here and if our families want to see more of us then they'll have to move HERE! So there.

Second milestone. I think we are done searching for a diagnosis for Jordyn. At least for a few years or so. We got the results back from the genetic testing we did a few months ago. All of the results were normal including the test for Rett Syndrome which we really thought she might have. The genetics counselor didn't have any more ideas, her other doctors are out of ideas, and I'm out of ideas too. So, I guess we're done! Oh well, I'm sure in a few years someone will come up with a new test to do. But I guess we'll take a break until then.

Third milestone. Carter is turning six months old this week! Tom told me the other day that he thinks Carter is my "favorite child". I just laughed really hard. I guess I might pay a little more attention to Carter. But how can I resist!? He is so adorable and kissable. And he isn't capable of doing many naughty things like the other kids! We also decided that Carter is a momma's boy which I am SO happy about. Jordyn and Evan have always seemed to like Tom better. They always want to snuggle with him and are just better for him. But, all I have to do is look at Carter and he laughs and giggles. Finally, one that likes me better! hahaha Carter has started getting up on his hands and knees and rocking back and forth. He is also close to sitting on his own too. He's just growing up too fast! We love our little guy!

What's For Dinner?

Our dinner is baking in the oven and I have a few minutes to post what we're eating. But first, do you like my blog makeover!? I have to give all of the credit to my sister Jenny. I told her what photos and background I wanted and she did the rest! She's got some mad skills on Photoshop! I think I've clicked on my blog about 20 times today just to see how cool it looks. I love it!

So, because I can't think of much else to blog about I thought I would post a good recipe. I think I got it from my sister Susan who got it from an old Lion House recipe book. I changed a few things, which I'll include in the recipe. I love this recipe because it's so easy to make and good. I also love that you don't have to cook the macaroni before you put it in the oven!

Mac & Beef Bake

2 tbp. cooking oil

2 lbs. ground beef (I use 1 to 1.5 lbs and think it's plenty)

2/3 c. chopped onion

1 c. macaroni

4 c. tomato juice (I buy two individual cans that are 11 oz. each)

1 can tomato soup

1 1/2 c. shredded cheddar cheese

1 1/2 tsp. chili powder

salt & pepper to taste

In frying pan, in hot oil, brown ground beef, onion and macaroni. Add tomato juice, tomato soup, half the cheese, chili powder, and salt & pepper.

Bake in a large casserole at 350 degrees, for about 1 hour or until macaroni is tender. Cover with cheese and return to oven until cheese melts. Makes 8 servings.

We're Back/Father's Day!

We made it back! We had a great time visiting my parents and we were sad to leave. (Thanks again mom and dad for everything!!!) But, we missed Tom a lot and it was so great to finally see him! The kids did awesome on the drive home. We only had a few moments of listening to Carter cry until we could stop somewhere. And as long as Evan was full of snack food, he was happy. I am 100% convinced that Jordyn LOVES to go on drives. She NEVER cried the entire time we were driving. She just looks out the window the whole time... makes you wonder what she's thinking about.

I'm actually thinking right now I shouldn't even be on here blogging. I have so much to do to get back into our daily routine. Don't you love all the stuff you have to do when you get back from a trip? I was catching up on phone calls this morning. I've got unpacking, laundry, dishes to do, and grocery shopping for the week. And Jordyn has two appointments this afternoon. So, I'll try to make this quick.

Picture I took out the car window in MT on the drive home. Look how much snow is still on the mountains!

Evan sleeping on the drive home. He always has to have the blanket over his face!

Now for my belated Father's day post! Happy Father's Day Dad! I have such a great dad. He is a great example to me. Love ya dad!

And Happy Father's Day to Tom too! I couldn't ask for a better father for my kids! We made him french toast and scrambled eggs for breakfast. Then we had steak, mashed potatoes, and fruit salad for dinner. For dessert, I bought one of those mini German chocolate cakes in the Walmart bakery and vanilla ice cream because I knew I wasn't going to have time to bake something. But we discovered something really great... if you microwave your piece of cake the frosting melted off and it tastes just like chocolate lava fudge cake! It was actually really good! It might be our new "quick" dessert idea.

When I was at my parents, my mom volunteered to make the Father's Day treats for their ward. (she might say she didn't really volunteer.... who knows how it all came about!) Anyways, with a few suggestions from a few different people, we came up with trail mix in a little bag and a note that says "Happy Trails to you on Father's Day." We were quite proud of the finished product! I called my parents yesterday to see how the father's liked the treat. They said that unfortunately the men couldn't open the treats at church because there was a little boy in the ward who was violently allergic to nuts! Oh well... maybe having to wait to eat them made them even better when they got home!

Montana! Part 3

Over the weekend we went on an outing to the zoo. The day we went just happened to be the first day to see the new bear, Bruno. It ended up being a perfect day to go to the zoo... not too hot and not too cold. Even though the zoo here doesn't have a ton of animals, I really love that you feel like you are walking around in most of the animal's natural habitats. It was really green and pretty!

A peacock. Don't you just want to pluck off one of their feathers?

Jordyn kicking a goat.

Evan is quite fearless of all animals. A little too fearless actually!

My cute bear cubs.

Grandpa and Evan. Evan keeps calling Grandpa "Daddy"... so we've been trying really hard to get Evan to at least say "Pa". Evan will say "Pa" when you tell him him to, but he's still calling grandpa "Daddy" most of the time! We'll see if he can learn it by the time we leave!

I think every one's favorite exhibit at this zoo is the sea otter!

Bruno the Bear

Here we are at Riverfront Park in Billings. I used to run my cross country meets here... ah, memories. It's a great place to go walking on trails and see ducks and other wildlife. There were a lot of baby geese and Evan got "hissed" at by one of the moms for getting to close!

Evan and his new friend Rex. Evan loves chasing Rex. He's getting more and more comfortable with Rex and is starting to terrorize him!

We thought this picture was pretty funny! I think my dad took it while at Costco the other day.

Montana! Part 2

On Thursday, some of Tom's family were nice enough to drive up to Billings, from Wyoming, to see us. It has been a year and half since we have seen almost all of them! You can't imagine how much bigger all of the kids are since we've seen them! Ninny (Tom's mom - the grandkids call her Ninny) treated everyone to Chuck E. Cheese for lunch and the kids played for a long time. Then we headed over to their hotel and the kids swam for the afternoon. After that, we went to my parents, fed everyone, and visited for awhile. Then Friday morning, the cousins came back to play for awhile before they had to head home. Those who came up were Ninny (aka Glenda - Tom's mom), Linda - Tom's sister and her two boys Clay and Cole, Misti (wife to Chae - Tom's brother) with her kids Ryan, Caleb, Joseph, and Megan. We also got a chance to see Kayla, Tom's 2nd cousin who is living in Billings for the summer and Trent (who also lives in Billings), Linda's nephew. We had such a great time and I loved that Evan, Jordyn, and Carter got to see their cousins. I wish we could see them more often! Maybe some day soon we'll live closer to everyone. I'm so lucky to have such great in-laws! I also can't wait to hear Tom's reaction to the pictures of all the cousins! We all wished Tom could have been here to see everyone.

Montana!

The kids and I are in Montana visiting my parents this week. Tom had a business trip and I decided I didn't want to go crazy being alone for a long time. My parents were nice enough to meet Tom, me, and the kids in Idaho Falls and then drive the kids and I to their house. So thanks to my parents and Tom for being so willing to drive me and the kids back and forth! I immediately started missing Montana on our drive to my parents. It is so green and so beautiful! We like living in Boise, but man do I EVER miss the trees and mountains! I really feel like a Montana girl through and through. I love it! Here are some photos of our first few days:


We stopped near Bozeman for a break on our drive up and played near the river. Evan loved throwing rocks with Grandpa. It was perfect weather and still is today too.

Carter and Rex just hanging out. I'll have to get some photos of Rex and Evan because Evan is always chasing Rex around and bugging him! Below: Jordyn sitting our on the patio this morning. She must have sat out there for 2 hours and loved every minute of it. My parents were getting their garden ready to plant.

Grandpa put Evan right to work helping with the yard work! Actually, Evan probably makes MORE of a mess than anything! Many more photos to come! PS: We miss you Tom!