Remember When...

This comes from Heather's blog. Thanks Heather, Great Game!
Remember when? Here is a fun little game...Leave a comment on my blog of a memory that you and I have had together. It doesn't matter if you've known me for a short time, or a long time, anything you remember! Next, re-post these instructions on your blog and see how many people leave a memory about you. It's actually pretty funny to see the responses. If you leave a memory about me, I'll assume you're playing the game and I'll come to your blog and leave one about you. If you don't have a blog, then I'll email you a fun memory. On your mark... Get Set... Blog!

Want some?

Everytime I make these cookies, somebody always- never fails- asks for the recipe. My mom would make us these cookies as little kids. Then when we got old enough to bake, we made them. And we're still making 'em. :) So here's the recipe for anyone who is dying for a

great cookie recipe... (or as my kids and Ronnie would say, THE BEST cookie recipe EVER) But you can be the judge.

In a mixer, blend 1 cup shortening (yes, Crisco), 1 cup brown sugar and 1/2 cup sugar. Beat in 1 tsp vanilla and 2 eggs. Sift (or whisk together) in a seperate bowl, 2 1/4 cups plain flour, 1 tsp salt, 1 tsp baking soda. Add that to the mixer. Mix well. Stir in 1 1/2 cups chocolate chips. Drop by spoonfuls to cookie sheet and bake at 350 degrees for 10-12 min. It's just that easy!

The secret is to let them get slightly brown on top, then take them out of the oven while they're still a little melty and gooey. Let sit for a few minutes before transfering them to a cooling rack.

YUM!! Go ahead... try it! Let me know how they turn out!! :)

My Flowers

This is the front of my house. Last year when we moved in, it didn't look like this at all! I've done alot of weeding and re-planting and put down some new dirt and mulch. It made the biggest difference. Doesn't it look pretty? I thought it was, so I wanted you to see it.

(Amy, do you recognize the wooden pots? :)

Palmyra Trip

This weekend our family drove to Palmyra, NY to see the Hill Cumorah Pageant. The last time I saw it, I was probably 13 or 14 yrs old. So it's been a long time. Ronnie has never been and obviously, it was the girl's first time. Since it starts at dusk, Brandi and Brooke were exhausted and slept through most of it. They were troopers though because they woke up at 5am in the morning to start our trip, and here it is at 9:00 pm hoping they would still be awake to watch an hour and a half play. Nah, didn't happen. But it was a great to be there. We had so much fun.

This is the Palmyra temple. The grounds are beautiful, there were flowers everywhere!! My picture doesn't show how beautiful it really was.
In the Sacred Grove...
Taking a quick break from walking...doesn't she takes the cutest pictures. :)
Lunchtime...
I love this statue of Christ. When you see it in person up close, it is so powerful. Anyway, this was at the visitor's center in Palmyra.

At the pageant

One of the cast members from the pagenat talking to the girls. We had tons of people stop to talk to us, but this one stayed and talked to the girls for a long time, so I snapped a picture. She was cute.

Waiting for the pageant to start- notice that Ronnie, Brandi and Briana all have i-pods hanging from their ears. Nice talkin' to ya!
Brooke being Miss Social-lite, she makes more friends than anyone I've ever seen. She met this little girl that was sitting down on our row. She's 3 and adorable. They played together for over an hour. It turns out that her grandmother is Nancy Giles's sister from Irmo! It's a small world after all!

Niagara Falls

On Saturday, we made our way to Niagara Falls- it's only about 2 hrs away from Palmyra. What a beautiful sight!! :)

Maid of the Mist boatride

Waiting in line at the Maid of the Mist boatride. It takes you right into the falls.
this is where the boat went

About to get on the boat...

We stopped for lunch at the Hard Rock Cafe- this is Briana's Big Bite

And Ronnie's Big Bite. Yow-sa! That's a big mouth! :)

ice cream

It's sooo hot out- ice cream sounds good.

Is there a 5 yr old out there that can eat a chocolate ice cream cone without wearing it?

I don't think so... glad to know my kids are normal. :)

isn't that a sight to see?

The end of our trip! What a blast! We can't wait to go back!!

Reading...

I've tried to be better at picking up books and reading them over the past few years. And I have to admit, I've been pretty good at keeping my goal.
I wanted to share a few books I've read this summer that have been really good. The first one is called 20 Wishes by Debbie Macomber. The next is called The Wednesday Letters by Jason F Wright. Both are feel-good books- with people trying to do better with their lives despite traumas they've had. I'm glad I read them. It makes me think about my own life and what I can do to improve it.
So pick up a book and read!! :)

Where Do I Begin?

I know I'm hit or miss on writing, so where do I begin to catch up? :) The girls let out of school last week. Here's what we had to deal with the last week of school--

Doesn't that look like fun? It looks like a pharmacy!! :) All of the girls got strep throat. They got better just in time to attend their last day of school. Lucky them. haha

On the up side- This is of Brooke in her kindergarten program and with her teacher, Mrs. Plomer, who retired this year. She was a little ball of fire. The kids loved her so much.

Here is a picture of Briana receiving her Academic High Honors awards for having a 3.95 GPA. (actually, those pictures didn't turn out so well- it was too dark. So we took one of her when she got home) We don't have report cards yet, so I think that's what her GPA is. She has straight A's. Briana was asked to be in the Honors Math Program for 7th grade next year. They will be studying Pre-Algebra. Yippie! :) Go Briana!!

This is her best friend, Izzy.

What's wrong with me? I didn't get a picture of Brandi! Shame on me. But Brandi had a fun last day of school. She forgot her lunch box, so I had to run it to the school around 10am. I only did that because it was the last day and she had depleted the money in her lunch account. So I ran it up to her only to be called an hour later to tell me that she had fallen off the monkey bars. So I went back up to the school to pick her up. I brought her home, gave her Tylenol, fed her lunch (she brought her lunchbox back home and ate it- so much for the first trip) and then I took her back because she couldn't bare missing the last day playing games, etc. with her friends. She was fine- we took her to the chiropractor the next morning and they fixed her all back up. :) So no pictures of her. Oh well. I will post some pictures later of her doing some of her gymnastics moves. She's pretty darn good! :) Yay for Summer!

Slip 'n Slide Fun

The girls just had to get out the slip 'n slide with all of this warm weather we've had. Alec, Ian and Hannah Day came running over with their swimsuits on too. They had a blast- so much fun as a matter of fact that the slip 'n slide tore up! But it was time for it to tear up. Aunt Pamelia gave that to Briana when she turned 5!! That was 7 years ago. So we've had it for a long time.

Happy Birthday to me!

I have the nicest friends... I was treated to lunch at Red Robin's. Too fun! Ronnie gave me an IPod for my birthday. It was an early present a few weeks ago and I have really loved it! Thanks everyone for making my birthday so memorable.

Huge American Idol Fan

I AM IN FRONT OF THE TV WATCHING AMERICAN IDOL EVERY TUESDAY AND WEDNESDAY. I CAN'T MISS IT!

Okay, I've been going back and forth for awhile now- cause I like both David's. However, David A blew it away tonight!! :)

so,

GO DAVID!

I HOPE YOU WIN!!!

WHAT A CUTIE!!

Briana Turns 12

My, oh my! How time flies. Didn't I just give birth to this child? :) So, Briana turned 12 on May 9th. She had a few friends over for a sleepover. Did you notice the Giant Cupcake? I found the cake mold at Williams-Sonoma and just had to have it. The cake looked much cuter at the store, but it's still alot of fun.

Briana got an IPod Nano. She's already put 130+ songs on it. The young women at church came over on Saturday morning and surprised her with balloons and chocolate covered strawberries. They are so cute. So overall I'd say she had a very fun birthday.

Happy Birthday, Briana!!

Happy Cinco De Mayo!

Happy Cinco De Mayo!
(I wish I would've posted that yesterday, though when it was actually Cinco de Mayo. )Anyway, this day used to hold only one anniversary... now we have two anniversaries on this day. First of all, Ronnie proposed to me on Cinco de Mayo 15 years ago! :) And now we have a new reason to celebrate- we moved into our house on Cinco de Mayo one year ago! So last night we had chicken enchiladas- my favorite- and chips and homemade salsa. We also had sparkling grape juice to toast with the girls. That was fun and they think it's pretty cool. Briana offered the toast. It was quite silly and I don't remember exactly what she said. But it was cute and sweet.
So HAPPY CINCO DE MAYO!!

Ooops- I forgot to tag someone else!!
I'm tagging Amy G and Jeanine N. :)

Seven Random Things

Okay, Christy Peake. I accept your tag. I've been gone so I'm just getting around to it~ so here are my 7 Random things about myself:

1. I'm very quiet in a big group of people (like 5-6 people or more) and then when it's just somewhere between 1-3 people, I can talk their heads off! For example, in Relief Society or some type of class, you won't see me say a word! But poor Ronnie, I can talk his head off.

2. I'm a tad chlosterphobic. Examples: I will not get in a crowded elevator. I will gladly wait 15 min. for another one if I have to. If too many people start to crowd around me, I'll escape where I'm out of the way. When my children all pile on top of me, they are quickly thrown to the floor. (gently) I guess I just need my space.

3. I too, like Christy, my tagger have a hearing loss. I had tubes in my ears when I was younger. I cannot talk on the phone with my left ear. If someone leans over and whispers in that ear, I have NO CLUE what they said. I will turn my head so they can whisper in the right ear.

4. I love to shop. If you call me and I'm not home, most likely I'm shopping! Maybe that's why I loved Chicago so much! :0

5. My biggest social pet peeve... people who interrupt me when I'm talking-- to try to tell me a bigger, better story. It's rude and they're really not listening. Clearly, they're more interested in themselves. LET ME FINISH MY SENTENCE, DANGIT!! Ughhhh!!

6. I am very forgetful. I swear I was never a child... I don't remember hardly anything. I forget dates, times, etc. etc. If it involves a number or the past, I won't remember it!

7. Okay, one last thing: I asked my family about some quirks that I have... here are their responses:
from Briana- I laugh too loud and it is sometimes embarassing for her. (gee, who hasn't ever embarassed their child before?)
from Ronnie- I walk like a duck, especially in heels. (thanks, honey!)
from Brooke- I cry alot. That is true. I cry watching tv almost every night.

Don't Hate Me...

But I just got back from a long weekend at Chicago. FUN... FUN...FUN! Me and 6 other women from church went and ate at great restaurants and shopped until we dropped. We also saw a musical called The Drowsy Chaperone. It was hilarious. We laughed all the way through it. If anyone ever has a chance to see it--- GO!! It's worth it!!
(I forgot my camera, so no pictures until somebody else from our trip sends them to me.)
Now I need a long weekend with my mom, sister, sister in laws and cousins and my favorite aunt. Now THAT would be fun!!

Great weather

I just have to say that I was outside most of the day today because it was a whopping 73 degrees! Yippie!! Last weekend my nephews were literally walking on the frozen pond behind our house (the ice was thin, but it was still frozen). And this week it's been beautiful and warm. All the snow is gone, the pond isn't frozen anymore and the kids are actually outside riding bikes, walking around in flip flops and short sleeves. Halalujah! Spring is coming... finally! As I was weeding out old, dead leaves, I could see new green buds underneath. The excitement was overwhelming. I didn't expect to see green yet!

Having fun in the snow

Jase has never seen the snow!
Lili having fun in the snow.
What is this stuff??
Love this picture!
Jeff with Jeff Jr. :)