Disneyland

On Thursday we went to Disneyland. It was the perfect time to go - the weather was great and the lines weren't long at all. We met up with Scott's bro and his family and had a great time. I'm really sorry we didn't end up staying up there and doing 2 days at the park with them, but my kids were pretty tired the next day. Somehow we forgot to get a photo with both families together - ugh. But it was so fun seeing you guys, Kierstin! Let's make it an annual thing!

Wow - 3 smiles and 6 eyes looking at the camera. I thought that was an urban legend!

What cuties I have!

Cousin Lauren, Cousin Kate, and Caden in the train cage. These are 2 of the cutest, sweetest girls - with one of the cutest, sweetest boys!

Now back to the real world.

I don't want to jinx us, but...

I think Caden has finally mastered pooping in the potty! We started this long process called potty training in Jan, but he refused to go #2 in the toilet. I don't know why. We went through countless pairs of underwear. I bribed him with all sorts of things if he could just go stinky in the potty. Cars, cookies, a trip to Chuck E. Cheese, anything. I even bought a few "Cars" characters that were really hard to find (we have almost all of them), and told him he could have a car every time he was successful. Nothing worked. I was so frustrated that I considered putting him back in diapers. That, or ship him off to Grandma's house for the summer so she could try her luck. ;->
Then something clicked this week. He's been successful 4 times - yes, I'm counting and you would too! - and my stash of cars is down to the last one. I couldn't be happier. I'm hoping he's figured it out and soon I'll be able to start calming down the bribes a bit. Unless you find the "Bob Cutlass" or "Mario Andretti" car character for me.

Around the World in 80 days

Whew! It has been one crazy month! After our fun with Jenna and family, we ran to Phoenix for a week. My cousin got married, so it was a great excuse to see lots of family, eat lots of food and do a little shopping. ( I would have preferred lots of shopping, but at least it was QUALITY shopping!) The bride was beautiful, the family was fun, the weather was enjoyable. It's on the brink of getting hot over there, so it was the perfect time to get married. I got to spend some good time with my closest, bestest cousin Jill (her sis was the bride) and her kids and hubby. (Jill and I were roommates and both met our husbands the same nite at ward prayer. (so Utah, I know) Scott and I beat Jill and Spencer to the alter by 4 months...guess who got the hormones in the family? ;->) Plus some of my Mom's family came into town the same weekend, so we got a double dose of family catch-up. Lots of fun. (You look great, Brooke! You have that beautiful pregnancy glow that always eluded me. I had that green, nauseated glow.) It was a fun trip.

Scott, the kids, and I with Jill, Spencer and baby Logan enjoying the outdoor reception.

Soleil danced ALL night long. That's her in the pink. Her and cousin Avery (Jill's daughter on the far right) kept everyone entertained with their dancing skills. Those girls are so like their mamas!

*Thank you for the photos, Aunt Judy!! It was great to see you!

Then 2 days after our return from Phoenix, my mother-in-law came into town for us to go to Hawaii to celebrate our 5 year anniversary. We had a great time in Kauai! Our resort was beautiful, the pools were fantastic, the food was delicious. Scott surfed, we both snorkeled and swam and hiked. We did a zip line tour with lunch and swimming at a waterfall. So fun! Highly recommend if you aren't too afraid of heights. I did some more shopping - are you surprised?? - and we both ate and ate. Thanks for the restaurant tips, Melissa. Dinner was delicious every nite. Now for the fun photos:

This is the back of the resort. There were 2 adult pools, 150 foot water slide, a lazy river, 3-4 hot tubs, and countless other pools for everyone. We would get yummy smoothies and relax!

This is the saltwater lagoon. The beach is next to the lagoon.

Overlooking the coast on top of the Kalalau Lookout.

Nothing like an early morning hike along the coast to make you feel manly.

Scott zipping. He is trying an advanced trick of trying to touch the ground. So adventurous.

Going out to dinner. This is the hotel lobby.

Leaving Kauai. So sad. I don't know why I'm pushing my chest out in this picture. Wishful thinking maybe!

A huge thank you to Linda, my dear mother-in-law. She took fantastic care of the kids at home for us. The kids had lots of fun with her. Caden is still asking for you, Linda. We love you and a million thanks!

Until next time, friends, Aloha!

BFF

Sunshine and Jenna - BFF's 4EVA.

My best friend Jenna and her family came into town to play for a week. We did Disneyland, Legoland, Wild Animal Park, the pool (still too cold for the beach) and ate and ate. It was so fun to hang out with her! Since she lives far far away, our time together is limited nowadays, so we got a year's worth of talking in in a week. I love this girl like my sister. She has a great hubby Eric, and three of the cutest kids - Sydney Marie (after me), Matthew, and Noah. These kids are like my niece and nephews. Thanks for coming, Torgersens! We love you!

Waiting for the Pirates of the Caribbean ride.

Caden and Scott at Legoland.

Are we having fun yet? Notice Caden is saying "cheese". Soleil is mad she can't grab the NYC Lego people.

While I'm online, blogging, and no one is bothering me....

...I'll keep going.

Caden was sick today. High fever and very lethargic. I hate it when my kids are sick (like all moms). Since he obviously wasn't going to church today, Soleil stayed home as well. I'm sad we didn't get an Easter picture of everyone dolled up in their new outfits, but maybe next week. Scott spoke in sac. mtg, and I didn't get to hear him. Hey - those who did hear him, how'd he do? After he spoke, we switched, he came home and I went to nursery. It was like a Children's Place fashion show in there. SO cute!

Caden and I took another trip to the e.r. this week. How many times can you take your child into the same e.r. before they start reporting you to Social Services? This is our second time. I was taking a plate out of the microwave when it slipped out of my hand, and came crashing down on his nose. Right between his eyes on the bridge of his nose. It was a bleeder. Poor guy! And oh, the Mom guilt!

Caden had to have the blanket wrapped around him at breakfast - not that he ate a single bite. Soleil polished off his pancake, and Caden went back to laying down. Poor guy. I really hope he's better tomorrow.

Here's Caden from a couple of weeks ago. He "dressed" himself for church. This is his cheese face - as in he says cheese until you take the picture. How cute is he??

Onto other completely different thoughts:

On a scale of 1-10, how cheesy is it to match your daughter? I don't have 2 girls to dress alike, and so to quench that matchy-match part of me, sometime I coordinate Soleil and I. Is that cheesy?

This is us in our should-have-been St. Patrick Day's dresses.

We aren't really matchy here, but it's a cute photo. I was trying to get a picture of her cute outfit, but you can't see any of the embellishments. It's all tulips. How spring-y! I love girl clothes!

And since I need to post a picture of Scott too....

"I'm so glad when Daddy comes home!"

Hope you all have a great week!

My Big Fat Jewish Wedding

(Please ignore my crazy eyes. We barely knew the guy who was nice enough to take our picture and email it us. I couldn't be picky and ask for a retake.)

It's official. Mormons do not know how to throw a wedding. How often do you attend a Mormon reception in the church gym (hey - if there is a basketball hoop overhead, it's a gym not a cultural hall), with half the male attendees in jeans, and eat green jello with a side of mints? Ok, so I'm stereotyping a bit. And I apologize if you did have your reception in the cultural hall. But after this last weekend, I think Scott and I are going to become Jewish. Or at least find some more Jewish friends. Cause this wedding ROCKED!!

It started on Friday night with the couple renting out a ritzy downtown Philadelphia steakhouse. Open bar and hor d'ourves (did you know that diet coke can look a little like wine when it's in a wineglass? the ice gives it away.) then onto the 3 hour dinner. It's been awhile since I've seen a lot of drunk people in action. Pretty funny.

The wedding was Saturday nite, so Scott and I had the day to roam downtown Philly - saw the Liberty Bell, Congress Hall, ate a cheesesteak, all the appropriate Philly tourist attractions. Did a little shopping too...of course.

Then it was wedding time! I am so desperately sad that we forgot our camera. The 2 pictures I have, one is from Scott's phone camera, the other from a guy we met at the wedding that was kind enough to take our pix and email it us. Love that digital age.

Anyways, the wedding was in the Grand Ballroom of a gorgeous Philly hotel. The flowers were beautiful. Gigantic. We are talking towers of flowers taller than I am. The Chuppha (wedding canopy) was beautiful. Didn't understand half of the ceremony, but it was fun and somber all at the same time. (Mine was just somber. So unlike my personality!)

Right after the wedding, it is tradition for the groom and bride to be alone for a time to embrace and savor the first few moments of being husband and wife (yuchud). What a fabulous tradition! While Adam and Julia were alone, the 400 wedding guests moved to 3 smaller ballrooms to enjoy the open drink bars, pasta bars, sushi bars, and meat bars. (multiple bars of each) We had a traveling band that walked through all the ballrooms to entertain us. Finally it was the reception. The hotel had quickly transformed the Grand Ballroom into a reception room - 35 tables, each one with a different, HUGE centerpiece, another live band, dance floor, more open bars, and my favorite, chocolate plates on each table. We ate and danced for the next 3 hours. We finally left at 12:30 am, dessert still hadn't been served (but I had done some damage on the chocolate plate), and everyone else was still going strong. (we had to get up early to drive back to Scott's parents for church) It was the first time I've gotten Scott out on the dance floor in 5 years - since our wedding luncheon. It was so much fun - although harder to dance in heels than I remember.

This is the couple being hoisted up on chairs and paraded around the dance floor. I'm sure you've seen it done in movies, etc. Except Adam is 6'5" and 275 pounds. You can see he's a bit lower than Julia. ;-> This is from the phone camera, but can you see the ballroom's ceiling? Crazy big!

It was a fun weekend. The kids were good for Grandma and Grandpa, which is important cause Grandma is coming out here in a month to babysit for our anniversary trip to Kauai. We are getting spoiled!! So does anyone have any suggestions for Kauai adventures? I'll start practicing my hula now.

A little ditty for Diane

First and foremost, a major thanks and "holla" to Diane for letting me borrow a bunch of stuff. I will be the belle of the ball, thanks to you! I have also been promising her the eclair cake recipe for way too long now. So here it is! It's so yummy; feel free to make it whenever. My only stipulation is that for any and all ward functions in which I am supposed to bring a dessert, I get dibbs on the eclair cake. Yes, it is that good!

Eclair Cake
2 small packages instant vanilla pudding
3 cups milk
12 oz. Cool Whip - thawed
Keebler Club crackers
1 container chocolate frosting

Whip pudding and let set for a few minutes. Add in Cool Whip. Layer Club crackers, then half pudding mixture, then another layer of crackers, then the rest of the pudding mixture and finish with a layer of crackers on top. (Do not forget the finish with crackers! The frosting won't adhere without them!) Cool overnight in fridge - or at least for a few hours - the top off with the chocolate frosting. Delicious!

Have a good one, everybody! See you on the flip side!