Happy Birthday Devin!

Devin turned 11 this week! Can you believe it? This is his year for a family party, not a friend party, so we planned a swim party at my mom's on Saturday. Then, it forecasted rain and was supposed to be nice on Memorial Day, so we moved it. Poured today, oh well. Yesterday we had some family over for dessert (after eating Devin's birthday dinner of choice--chicken & broccoli casserole--Shaylee opted for leftover mac & cheese--ugh). Anyway, here's a picture of him blowing out the candles on his cream puffs:

Showing off his Alvin & the Chipmunks movie:

His camo shorts from grandma, "Where are they?"

A serious super soaker from his cousin Ryan:

Jeremy & Cynthia were borrowing the cotton candy machine for the 6th-grade carnival, so Grandma & Grandpa Brown brought it up, and of course we had to test it out to make sure Jeremy knew how to use it:

Devin and Ryan love cotton candy!

YUM!

Jonathan (Alicia's fiance) enjoyed it as well.

Devin sporting his new shirt from Grandma & Grandpa Brown:

Star Wars legos from Grandpa & Grandma Pearson (yes, he's already built the spider droid). What do you think of that new haircut?

Shaylee & Breezy play Dance, Dance Revolution.

Shaylee enjoying the spa (the rain was so cold).

Devin's thinking, "This pool party is the best!"

Aspen telling mom, "Just go over there and I'll shoot this water to you." Uh huh.

Connor is, of course, sick again with RSV, so he stayed inside with grandma. Thanks mom for letting us use your pool and for the great BBQ--we loved it! I got off easy with root beer floats. :)

Alicia's Engagement

Dennis took Alicia & Jonathan's engagement photos this weekend, and I think they turned out beautifully! Unfortunately, we had quite the scare when they returned and the disk had corrupted--all the pictures were gone!!! Luckily, we called Inkley's and they had a recovery program--if it works, they charge $39; if it doesn't work, they don't charge you anything. It worked! Hurrah! We lost about 6 pictures, but out of the 500 Dennis took, it wasn't a huge loss. Check out these cute kids:

Recipes

So I had questions about the recipes I mentioned from our "Anniversary Celebration" and thought I'd post them here.

Hobo dinners are basically tin foil dinners. We spread out 5 sheets of tin foil on the counter, then opened a can of cream of mushroom soup and mixed it with a little water so it was nice and creamy. Devin divided this between the five tin foil sheets. Then we peeled and cubed potatoes and carrots. I then took a pound of hamburger and divided it into meatball-size pieces and we divided these up between the five sheets of tin foil. Then we sprinkled them with salt and pepper and finally opened another can of cream of mushroom soup, mixed it with a little water, and poured some on top of each dinner. Instead of cooking them on a campfire, I put them in the oven at 350 degrees for an hour or so (until I could start to smell them). They were perfect! Such a technical recipe, huh?

Molten Chocolate Cakes
4 squares semi-sweet baking chocolate
1/2 cup (1 stick) butter
1 cup powdered sugar
2 eggs
2 egg yolks
6 Tbsp. flour
1/2 cup thawed whipped topping

Preheat oven to 425 F. Butter four custard cups or souffle dishes. Place on baking sheet.

Microwave chocolate and butter in large microwaveable bowl on HIGH 1 min. or until butter is melted. Stir with wire whisk until chocolate is completely melted. Stir in sugar until well blended. Blend in eggs and egg yolks with wire whisk. Stir in flour. Divide batter between prepared custard cups.

Bake 13 to 14 min. or until sides are firm but centers are soft. Let stand 1 min. Carefully run small knife around cakes to loosen. Invert cakes onto dessert dishes. Serve immediately, topped with whipped topping (I also like to top them with sprinkled powdered sugar and/or ice cream).

Makes 8 servings, 1 half molten cake each (or 4 servings if you're a pig like my family and like to eat the whole thing).

Make-ahead: You can prepare the batter for this dessert a day ahead of time. Pour into prepared custard cups, cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate. Bake as directed when ready to serve.

Blueberry Muffins
1/2 cup old-fashioned oats
1/2 cup orange juice
1 egg
1/2 cup vegetable oil
1/2 cup sugar
1-1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1-1/4 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon baking soda
1 cup fresh or frozen blueberries
TOPPING:
2 tablespoons sugar
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon

In a large bowl, combine oats and orange juice; let stand for 5 minutes. Beat in the egg, oil, and sugar until blended. Combine the flour, baking powder, salt, and baking soda; stir into oat mixture just until moistened. Fold in blueberries. Fill greased or paper-lined muffin cups two-thirds full. Combine topping ingredients; sprinkle over batter. Bake at 400 F for 20-25 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean. Cool for 5 minutes before removing from pan to a wire rack. Yields about 1 dozen. NOTE: If using frozen blueberries, do not thaw before adding to the batter.

ENJOY!

Happy Anniversary!

Happy Anniversary to us! Can you believe it's been two years since we adopted and were sealed to Shaylee and Devin? They're the best kids ever and such a part of our family--I laughed when someone in our ward commented just last week, "They're adopted?!? No way! They look just like you!" We know. They were meant to be part of our family, and I'm so glad they are. To celebrate, we ate Hobo dinners (which the kids love), watched "Alvin & the Chipmunks" (another favorite) while eating popcorn, and ate molten chocolate cake (to die for) for dessert. So all in all it was a fun day together (the most important part). Here's our picture to commemorate the occasion:

I guess I should also say "Happy Anniversary!" to my sister Summer and her husband Tyler--they will celebrate their second anniversary tomorrow. Congrats!

For her Young Women value project, Shaylee is doing our family garden (it will be at least 10 hours, if not much, much more). We waited until Mother's Day because we are not the kind to plant and replant due to freezes, etc. (we love Utah weather). So . . . Saturday was the day. Dennis and Shaylee spent the better part of the day prepping the ground, pulling weeds, tilling, raking, and then planting. But it looks awesome!!! And I am so excited for fresh vegetables to eat and can this summer (yes mom, I'm going to take the plunge and try out the canner you bought me for my birthday last year, even after swearing off canning as a teenager when you made me do all the tomatoes myself while you picked up your parents from their mission). Okay, I'm off that soap box. These are some cute pictures of Shaylee in the garden:

So happy about tilling . . .

How she really feels . . .

We decided to save a little and not buy soccer pictures this season (playing spring & fall plus basketball can really hit you in the pocketbook). Anyway, Dennis took a couple pictures of the team and Devin for posterity:

Devin's team did win this week (and Devin scored a goal!!!). They have now played every team in the league and have won every game except for one, and they tied that game. Not bad, huh? They'll play all the teams once more before the end of the season.

My new exercise routine . . . I've been carrying Connor in this handy dandy backpack and pushing Aspen in the stroller. It's quite the workout! So I decided to try it on roller blades . . . not my best idea ever! The canal trail was great, it was the hill leading to and from it that killed me. I sprained my knee and my ankle trying not to go too fast on the way down the hill to keep from getting off balance and toppling over with Connor in tow. Yikes! I ended up blading with one foot in the grass to keep the pace somewhat moderate. Anyway, if I try that again I'll drive myself to the head of the canal trail, go up and back, then drive myself home.

Speaking of working out, Dennis and I have been doing really well. He has been using our elliptical, and I do cardio 3x/week and strength training (weight lifting) 2x/week. It's been great. Aspen comes into my room in the morning, "Are we going to exercise?" When I'm lifting weights and pause she chimes in with, "You can do it, mom!" I'm definitely keeping her around!

Poor Connor has been teething and miserable. The child never cries, seriously. He's always happy and pleasant to be around. But this teething go round (two have broken through and he's still crying, so I'm betting there's another on its way) has been awful. He got the runny nose and fever to go with it and he just has this miserable whimper/moan that breaks your heart. We've been giving him homeopathic teething tablets and otter pops (I'm a bad mom, I know, don't tell).

Is he so cute?

Aspen loves Sunday shoes. Not just a little, a lot. Her newest white Sunday sandals have heels, and she adores them. She recently found her black winter Sunday shoes in her drawer and wouldn't even take them off for her nap.

Who couldn't love a face like this?

Shaylee's working on her self-portrait . . .

Bath Time

Yes, I edited this a little bit, but everyone has to have a cute bath photo. Check out Connor's "deer in the headlights" face while Aspen man handles him.

Some cute Aspen quips I need to post:

First, Aspen has decided her last name is "Pink," because she doesn't like Brown. So she now answers to Aspen Pink, and thinks Dennis should be Daddy Blue and Shaylee is Shaylee Black and Devin is Devin Green. She says I'm okay as Mommy Brown. Ha ha.

Also, when Connor was at the doctor for his six-month checkup, he had to get his immunizations. They gave him crayon band-aids, and when he started to cry after they gave him his shots, Aspen comforted him by saying, "Buddy, you're going to be otay [sic], you have tute [sic] band-aids." Uh huh--that's my girl.

May 12, 2008

Check out my cute boys!

Devin has been playing some amazing soccer (check out that footwork!!!). His team has won three games and tied one game. He is so proud and loves every second.


Aspen also enjoys soccer games, can't you tell?

Happy Mother's Day

I hope all you mothers out there had an amazing Mother's Day. My sweet husband and children did everything to make it a beautiful day for me. I got my garage cleaned (what I asked for), plus sweet notes and poems from my children that absolutely made my day. :)

We spent Sunday evening with my family, and then Dennis' family came over to our house for FHE tonight. Unfortunately, I made darling Mother's Day presents that didn't arrive in time for Mother's Day. Ugh. More on this after they show up.

Check out this cute picture of Dennis & Connor:

Devin interviewed Grandpa Jay for his ancestor report.

Do they have the same smile or what?

Grandma Jan was thrilled to feed Connor (he'd rather eat "real food" than nurse, especially when there are a lot of people around to distract him).

Check out my cute boy!