Springtime Fun and Easter

With the weather warming up, you can't help but get outside and enjoy the warm sunshine. So that is what we did last week on Thursday. I packed Carson in the backpack, packed a picnic lunch, and headed out the door with the dog. We hiked around in "the wild" as what Kelli calls it. There are a lot a trails by my house which make it fun for exploration and exercise. Anyway, so we hiked around on a trail, sat down in the trees and had a picnic lunch.

Easter came and my kids loved every minute of it. We started out letting the kids check out what was in their Easter baskets. In the afternoon, we had a BBQ and then we went back out in "the wild" to search for eggs which I hid a little earlier. And of course they loved looking for their eggs.

Here they are headed out to the secret hiding spot.

Finding the eggs.

Oh and just a little side note, look at what we have found in "the wild" by my house.

It seems quite tame which I'm sure you can tell by how close I got to it and I wonder what on earth is a pheasant doing up here!

My Little Monster

Carson loves to climb in Millie's kennel and sometimes he won't come out. I love him to death but sometimes I wish I could just leave him there for a while.

Daddy/Daughter Ski Day

My dad and I get together every year and plan a daddy/daughter

ski day. This year we decided to plan a trip up the mountains by Gunnison. So last Wednesday, I packed up the kids and my dog and drove down to Gunnison. I slept there over night and my dad and I got up the next morning and got ready for our adventure.

We packed our day packs and a lunch, dropped my kids off at my sister-in-law's house(thanks again so much Jenny) and headed up the mountain in my dad's truck, pulling the snow mobiles. Once we got to a good spot, we parked the truck and unloaded the snow mobiles. Then we drove further up the mountain to a great spot where we could put on our skies and go for a hike. And boy did we hike. We hiked up on top of the Black Mountain (for those who know the area). It's about 10,000 some feet in elevation. And what a beautiful day. I have never seen the sky so blue and there was no wind. It was such a blast. Here are a few pictures we took of each other that day.

And yes it was warm. We came home with farmer's tans.

I liked this next picture because you can see Mt Nebo and Timp way out in the background. You could see everything from where we were at. It was amazing! The snow on the mountain peaks made it a lot easier to point out different locations.

After skiing around on top the Black Mountain, we sat down and at our lunch and skied off, where we found the snow mobiles at the bottom and then drove them back to the truck. What a day!

Thanks dad, for such a fun day. I look forward to it again in 3 years. Until then, I will miss this a ton.

February Fun

The month of February was a blast. We got to spend 2 weekends in a row at my mother and father-in-law's cabin. Over President's weekend we hung out at the cabin with Chris' family and celebrated his dad's birthday. Kelli and Nana playing an intense game of go fish. Kelli loved this game and after she and her Nana were finished, Kelli insisted on having every one else play a game with her.

Saturday we spent the day taking turns snow mobiling and then we finished off the day taking the kids tubing. Kelli and Carson on the tube. Carson loved it!

Kelli with her cousin Porter.

Such a fun weekend, then we got to do it all over again the next weekend with my side of the family.

We spent Saturday skiing at Deer Valley. The rest of the weekend, took the kids tubing, the adults went snowmobiling except my mom and dad. They were willing

to let all their kids and spouses go snowmobiling while they watched all their grandchildren. All 13 of them might I add.

Carson in the snow.

Kelli in the snow.

One of the times Carson and I went down the hill, my keys and his binkie fell out of my pocket. I was an idiot for not zipping it up. After a bunch of us went down the hill, I realized that my keys and Carson's binkie were missing. We all looked everywhere digging through the snow. I thought for sure they were gone until spring. Amazingly, we dug in the right spot and found them. One of the best days of my life!

I just love this picture of Carson with his daddy.

Oh, and we can't forget the cool snow fort that uncle Greg built.

Me and Chris.

Me, Chris, all my brother, and their spouses. Don't we look awesome!

Thanks Kory and Darlene for letting my side of the family use your cabin, snowmobiles, and etc. Also thanks for always inviting us to spend time with you at your cabin when you come to Utah and for the fun weekend in February.

Thanks mom and dad for letting us go skiing and planning this trip every year. It was such a blast.

I am sad to say that this year was the last year we can have a family ski trip with my parents for 3 more years to come. They got called to be mission presidents for the Rapid City, South Dakota mission. I am sure excited for them and I know they will do an awesome job, but sad that they will be gone for so long.

Chewy Oatmeal Fudge Bars

I promised a lot of people that I would get this recipe up on my blog from Kortney's baby shower. I apologize that it has taken me so long.

Oatmeal Mixture

Cream together: 1 cup margarine, 2 eggs, 2 cups brown sugar, 2 tsp vanilla. Set aside.

Mix 2 and 1/2 cups flour, 1 tsp salt, and 1 tsp baking soda....then add to the above mixture and then add 3 cups oatmeal.

Chocolate Mixture

1 package 12 oz chocolate chips, 1 cup sweetened condensed milk, 2 T margarine, and 1/2 tsp salt. Melt in microwave and stir until well blended. Then add 2 tsp vanilla and 1 cup chopped pecans or walnuts.( You can add the nuts if you want. I didn't add them when I made it)

Spread 2/3 oatmeal mixture in greased cookie sheet. (helps if your hands are greased because the oatmeal mixture sticks to them)

Cover with the chocolate mixture.

Dot spoon rest of oatmeal mixture on top.

Bake at 350 degrees for 25-30 minutes.

Enjoy!

December

I just love the month of December. I love putting up Christmas decorations. I love the Christmas lights. I love Christmas parties. I love shopping for Christmas gifts for my kids.

I especially love seeing the excitement of Christmas on my kids' faces.

This past month was so much fun. Here is what we have been up to.

We got to have the Anderson Christmas party at my in-laws cabin. Here's a picture of all the cousins.

Carson loves to take his shirt off and he throws a fit when I try and put it back on. I guess he was just trying to show off his muscles with all his girl cousins around. It's amazing how a ping pong ball can make him so happy.

One night for family home evening we put together a gingerbread house.

On Christmas Eve night, Santa decided to drop off a little surprise early. He brought pj's for everyone. Kelli and Carson were so excited.

And yes, Carson has his shirt off again.

Their new pajamas.

And here they are on Christmas morning.

One of the things I gave Chris for Christmas was an oil painting. I started it probably back in the spring. I decided to get it finished and framed for him for Christmas. I spent a big portion of December trying to get it finished on time. So here is the finished product. It is probably one of my favorites.

What a day!

Friday morning of last week was quite the day. Our dog Millie got spayed 2 days before on Wednesday. We woke up Friday morning and I went downstairs to let Millie outside. I could smell a horrible smell coming up the stairs. I thought "oh no!" I went to Millie's kennel and she had diarrhea and vomit all over in her kennel. Not to mention that it was all over the cone she has to wear to keep her from messing with her incision. (Well, Carson wakes up early so of course he was with me. He also likes to eat shortly after waking up.) I had to put Carson down so I could get Millie outside and clean her kennel. All while I was cleaning Millie's kennel, I was dry heaving. I can't stand dog poop smell. Carson was also screaming because he wanted me or wanted to eat. Then I went outside to clean Millie off. Well, her cone was covered in dog poop and vomit. I had to get my hands in it to get it off of her so I could clean it off. I finally got it cleaned off. Then I had to sponge bathe Millie's paws off because she had stepped in it. Keep in mind that I couldn't bath her otherwise I would have done that right off. Finally, amongst all the dry heaving and screaming from Carson, I got it all cleaned up. I lit a candle and sprayed my house with febreeze because my house reeked.

Shortly after that, Kelli wakes up and wants to eat. So I start to get her food ready. While I was getting Kelli's food ready, Millie goes to the door. She does that when she needs to relieve herself. So I stopped what I was doing and took Millie outside. Meanwhile, Kelli opens the door and Carson goes outside. It is freezing cold and Carson is running outside in his pajamas and into the street. At the same time, Millie is going diarrhea again. When Millie is finished, I run over to get Carson. Then at the same time, another dog is outside and Millie is going crazy. I have her on a leash and she is pulling me and wrapping around me while I am trying to pick up Carson. Finally I manage to get everyone inside. Once I get inside, Kelli starts crying and wondering why I haven't got her food yet. That pushed me over the edge. I just lost it right then and I yelled and said, "What do you think I have been trying to do this morning?" Then I yelled, " I am fed up with you! I am fed up with Carson! And I am fed up with Millie!" Then I left everyone and went up the stairs to cool off. After a few minutes, I went back downstairs, apologized to Kelli and finished getting her food. Talk about a morning. That morning pretty much topped them all. I probably sound like a horrible mom for yelling at my kids.

Anyway, a couple of days later, I had to take Millie to the Vet again, because some lumps were forming around her incision. The Vet told me that one of her stitches had ripped and her intestines were poking though hence the lumps around her incision. Then it turned out later that it was an allergic reaction instead which caused swelling and blood pooling around her incision. Good thing it wasn't as bad, but it gave me an understanding for all the diarrhea she had the past couple of days. How awful. Now things are going better with Millie and hopefully she will get better.