Happy Easter and I can't believe she is 6!

Happy Easter to everyone! I am so excited that we get to have both conference and Easter on the same day! This morning I made some Cinnamon Rings (Conference Tradition) and we went and delivered some to some families and friends who have helped us out over the past couple of months. Anyway, so on the 24th of March Shaelyn turned 6! I can't believe it! She has grown up so much! Below is a picture of her a couple days after she was born. Here she is in her birthday dress. It didn't take much to get her to pose for the camera.

Then Winston wanted in on the photo shoot too! He decided he wanted to make it a silly picture.

And then Shaelyn wanted to join in the fun too!

No more serious pictures.

Here is some video from Shaelyn's family party. She wanted to have a jello cake with whipped cream on top. Just in case you are wondering what is in front of her.

I hope you all have a very Happy Easter!

Belly Bump

I have had a few requests for a bump update. Sorry no Nakey Belly pictures, I don't like to share my stretch marks :) Anyway, this is the belly at 32 weeks. About 2 months to go, yeah! Also, I want to point out that I don't have a lot of make up on, I usually try to prepare for these kind of pics otherwise my eyes look really small. I do have a reason though, I knew I was going to be released from my Young Women's calling as President this Sunday (that is when this pic was taken), and I knew that I was going to be crying a lot so the make-up was going to come off anyway. So anyway, here is my photo update!

Where have I been?

I have been here the whole time. We have just been very busy trying to get our house put in order so we can sell it. With that said, any takers?
I have finally found a moment were can sit down in peace at the computer and update our blog a little, the kids and Walter are down for naps and it is really quiet, ahhh. I know I should be napping too but my body won't let me go to sleep, weird.
So we have a budding artist in the family. William has taken up drawing, about 95% of the time he makes it on paper. The other 5% well you can see the photos below:

I don't know what he was trying to do but it looked like it would hurt. Don't worry, he still has his sight. Happy Sunday! Big Hugs!

Gingerbread (Graham Cracker) Houses and Fudge

On Wednesday we Shaelyn had some friends over and we decorated Graham Cracker houses. They all pretty much ended up a pile of candy on top, but the kids enjoyed it! These are Shaelyn's friends, and we are so glad they could join us!

Shaelyn and her house. Nice mop :)

Winston with his house. He did a great job with his roof and walkway.

William with his house, okay mommy's house, but he did help eat the candy when I was trying to put it on. What a big helper.

This is Walters house on skis and a massive chimney. I am glad I got this picture because the chimney got a little bigger and then the roof collapsed :( Oh well.

Then on to Walter's annual Fudge making challenge. Every year he is determined to make fudge from scratch and not with the marshmallow creme (the kind I like to make, because it works every time). He likes a challenge, I just like it to taste good. I just have to say that this year it was a big success, very creamy and smooth. Good Job Babe!

Christmas Goodies

Shaelyn and I have been busy making some cookies for the holidays. We thought we would try some new recipes this year. Both recipes have turned out pretty good. We took the recipes from the Taste of Home Magazine, Love it! The first recipe we tried was Candy Cane Cookies. We had a lot of fun with these ones.

William wanted to see what was going on.

Candy Cane Cookies

1 C Butter, softened

1 C Confectioners' Sugar

1 egg

1-1/2 tsp. Almond extract (I didn't have this so I substituted 1 tsp. butter extract, turned out great!)

2-1/2 C all-purpose flour

1 tsp salt

Red Food Coloring

1/2 C crushed peppermint candy canes (I didn't have these but I did have the pinwheel mints)

1/2 C Sugar

Cream butter and confectioners' sugar til light and fluffy. Beat in eggs and extract. Combine flour and salt; gradually add to creamed mixture and mix well.

Divide dough in half; add 6-7 drops of coloring to one half. Shape tablespoonfuls of each color of dough into 4-in, ropes. Place each side by side and lightly pinch ends together and twist. Place on ungreased baking sheet: curve to form canes.

Bake 375 for 9-12 min or till lightly browned. Combined crushed candy canes and sugar; immediately sprinkle over warm cookies. Cool for 2 minutes before removing from pans to wire racks to cool.

These are a lot of fun for kids to make and they turn out pretty cute.

The second recipe we tried was:

Pecan Meltaways

1 C Butter; Softened

1/2 C Confectioners' Sugar

1 tsp Vanilla

2-1/4 C all-purpose flour

1/4 tsp Salt

3/4 C chopped pecans

Additional Confectioners' sugar

Cream butter, confectioners' sugar, and vanilla till light and fluffy. Combine flour and salt: gradually add to creamed mixture and mix well. Stir in pecans. Refrigerate until chilled.

Roll into 1-in balls and place on ungreased baking sheets. Bake 350 for 10-12 min or till set. Roll warm cookies in confectioners' sugar;cool completely on wire racks. Foll cooled cookies again in confectioners' sugar.

Yumm!