Fall Break #1

For Fall Break this year we decided to go to Goblin Valley. My sister and two of my brothers came with us. We had a great time playing all weekend. Here is a picture of many of us up in a cave. We ran and played all day long. We saw some beautiful scenery. It was a great big playground for all ages.

The big boys had just as much fun as the kids they climbed and climbed. Everyone at the bottom didn't much like this sight as you will see in the next picture.

This is the full shot of the mountain the boys were trying to climb. From this view it was scary.

If I could figure out how to put these collage in one post I would do so, but I don't know how so they are all separte.

Fall Break

The kids had so much fun, climbing was the major activity and everyone joined in. BenBen was is heaven and he couldn't stop smiling. The weather was perfect, which made the trip one of the best of the year!

Fall Break 2009-3

Here are some of my favorite photos from Goblin Valley. The kids favorite was the Valley of the Goblins but I enjoyed Little Wild Horse Canyon.

Redwood trip

Here are a few pictures from our Redwood trip in August. I made this collage and never posted it. We had such a great time Everyones favorite part was the beach. If wasn't super warm but that didn't matter the kids loved playing in the water. The trees were amazing but most of all it was fun spending time as a family.

Lagoon Day 2

Day 2 was even better. The sun was shining and we had the whole day. I tried WICKED and loved it but Colossus right after made me nauseated. We went to Lagoon a Beach, played at the campground and rode many more ride. As you see in a few pictures it wore some us right out. What a great trip to spend with the kids. It was most fun just watching them laugh and smile. We have a great kids and love to be with them!!!

Camping at Lagoon

We woke up Thursday (July 2nd) with no specific plans but work in the yard, and clean the house. Darren had this day off cause ne normally has friday's off and it was considered a holiday. So we asked the kids what they wanted to do. Kylee suggested Lagoon. We responded with the usual "I don't think so!" And then Darren said why don't we! We could take the trailer and stay the night and do the bounce back and make it a camping trip. If you know us we usually don't pass up a good camping trip. So at the last minute we loaded up and were on our way. Can you tell by these pictures what happened on Thurdsday? The second we walked into the park it stared to rain. It drizzed all day long. We were soaked but look at those smiles. It was a blast. The evening turned out perfect with no rain and lots of fun riding.

4th of July Party

What a fun 4th of July party we had! The Thayn Family came over and we decorated t-shirts for the 4th. They all turned out so cute. Heather cut out a bunch of stars and sayings and we set them on the t-shirt and lightly sprayed them with spray paint. We must have forgot to tell Hannah about the lightly spraying part. Everyone was so creative and they were all awesome. We missed Todd's girls and not pictured are Kristie boys but they were there.-

Spalding Reunion

Every year my mom's cousins have a family reunion. Usually some of my family attend. This year it was at Crystal Hot Springs in Honeyville, Ut. So we decided to attend. We heard it was alot of fun there. We had a great time with my mom and dad, Trent, Lori, and Scott's families. Here are a few highlights.

Crystal Hot springs has a pool that is around 95 degrees. So much of the time was spent sitting on the edge. Kaleb was a dare devil. He loved going down the slide. Sorry you have to see those white legs and chest twice, I can't figure out how to erase the picture.

Playing in the sand is where my boys spent 80% of their time. Their cousins also joined them.

Happy Happy BIrthday Cakes

In May we celebrate Kylee and Kalebs birthdays. Some years I go all out on birthday cakes and other years not so much. This year was not so much. Kaleb got an expensive Walmart cake that wasn't very good and now that Kylee is 12 she got the more mature cake of strawberry shortcake.(That was yummy.) As I love creative blogs I am going to share with you the many years of birthday cakes. I guess I missed a few cause I couldn't find a picture of the barbie cake and I don't remember what else. But lets start off with the cakes of all the first years.

So the farm was my most favorite cake yet it was the most time consuming. Here are a few more close ups to see the details. I made up the barn and then copied the cupcakes from the cutest Wilton magazine.

Here are the various cakes I have done over the years. Some have been fun and others not so much. Enjoy and maybe these will spark and idea for your childs birthday!

So these are the mess of birthday cakes over the years. Some were fun to make but not always.

Yummy Cake

Since I am on a roll with getting my pictures to download I am doing it all at once. Some of my favorite blogs are those that have creative ideas or yummy recipes. So I thought I would share my latest creation. I had to make a cake for enrichment so I wanted something different. I have heard of a coconut cream cake before so I found a recipe for it on my favorite recipe website Allrecipes.com. Try it, it's yummy. In fact there wasn't enough to share after enrichment with my mom(since she loves coconut). So, I had to make another one for my birthday cake! Everyone loved it! So here is the recipe:

Coconut Cream Cake

Bake a white cake as directed, but add a 1 tsp. of coconut extract(I could not find this so I omitted that)

Mix 1 can of sweetend condensed milk with one 14 oz. can of cream of coconut(found in the drink mix isle or the asian section of the grocery store.)

Take the cake out of the oven when baked and poke holes all over the cake, when cake is still warm, pour the previous mixture over the cake and then refridgerate several hours or overnight.

When ready to serve, whip 1 cup of heavy whipping cream and spread over cake. Top with coconut.

Winter or Spring?

Haven't you all been frustrated with the weather here. One day it is beautiful, the next it is snowing. That's what spring is like here. Kaleb has come up with a way to solve your delima with what to wear this spring. It fit either weather situation. (This picture was actually taken in Feburary when I told him to get ready to go to the store. This is what he presented himself with. He did this multiple times throughout that week or so, with different shoes. I even let him wear it a few times.)

Naptime

This is for those that have a difficult sleeping at night. Twice this week Kaleb has fallen asleep in random different places. Darren picked him up after work and brought him home. He told Darren he wanted to help him in the woodshop. Next thing Darren knew was Kaleb was fluffing up his tool bag and sound asleep he went. In the second picture we came back from grocery shopping. He grabbed a cookie to eat and I found him at the top of the stairs still holding the cookie with his eyes closed. He was even still chewing the cookie!