Five Years!

Mike and I celebrated five years of marriage last weekend. So much has changed in my life during that time! My parents came to stay with the kids. Mike and I went on a nearly 14 mile hike and then out to dinner, and then we stayed at a wonderful hotel here called Destinations Inn. If you are ever anywhere close, consider staying there. We stayed in the Rio De Janeiro room, and it was awesome! The kids went to the zoo with Grandma and Grandpa, so I don't have those pics. Then my parents spent the rest of the weekend with us, which was great. We walked around the temple, did yard work, tried to race monster trucks, and just had a good time relaxing. Thanks for coming, Mom and Dad! Here are a few pictures from our weekend.

Our family at the temple:
Grandpa, Grandma, Mike, Carson, and Natalie:

Our family:

Grandma and Grandpa at the temple:

Natalie at the temple:

The boys playing with monster trucks:

Carson and Grandpa flying a kite:

Carson and Mike flying a kite:

Baby ducks at the river:

Baby geese at the river. Apparently we didn't take any pictures with people in them at the river.

Wii Love It!

This was fun! I just realized that Grandma is in most of these, so sorry Mom. But they sure are entertaining to watch.

Carson and Grandma boxing on Wii.

Carson and Grandma boxing again.

Mike and Dean boxing

Grandma and Grandpa boxing

Grandma and Grandpa boxing again

Fun with Family

We took an overdue trip to see my family last weekend. It had been nearly six months since I'd seen my dad or my sister and her family, so it was great to visit. Dean even stopped by for the weekend. on Saturday, Rachel had a book signing for her new novel By Love or By Sea, so Dad, Dean, Mike, and I took her kids and mine swimming. We had a great time! Too many pictures to choose from, and my camera's not so great at taking pictures anyway, but here they all are anyway. After swimming, we stopped by some sort of kid safety fair the rec center was having, and we saw Spiderman. Carson was so excited to get his picture taken with him, though you can't really tell from this picture.

Tonight's Show

"Mommy, we need a stage because we're going to have a show tonight!" Carson told me, so I put a stool by a little red chair, by my piano bench, so he had steps up to a little stage. He climbed up the stairs and performed his "show."

Naturally, Natalie insisted on having her turn.

All I can say is, I hope my recital this week goes half as well as this little show did!

Outdoor Bug

As you can see, my little one LOVES to be outside! I can't keep her in anymore, no matter what the weather is like outside. Here she is in the sand box, which she also loves.

This One's For Dean

This morning Carson found Natalie's barbie, and where do you think it ended up? Dean, it brought back memories from our childhood, so I just had to take a picture and post it for you. We had some good times together, huh?

P.S. Carson now picks out all his own clothes and dresses himself, so don't look at me and wonder because he's wearing grey, black, and brown at the same time. I'm just happy I don't have to dress him anymore!

I'm the New Gluten Taste Tester

I made Natalie's Easter dress this year, and it was pretty cute. Carson got an organge shirt, which he loved! It's a good thing I got this picture before church, because Carson threw up when we got to church and had to come home to change. I guess with all the unmonitered candy he got from the egg hunt in the park, he got some gluten in his system on Saturday. I felt pretty bad about it. I'll have to be more careful next time. Now Carson makes me try EVERYTHING before he'll eat it, so I can make sure it doesn't have any gluten in it!

Stroller Poll

My sister-in-law is expecting twins, and she was asking me about double strollers. I figured my opinion wouldn't be worth as much as the opinion of several moms, so I'm setting up a poll. Leave a comment with your opinion of the best stroller. What are the pros and cons of a double stroller? Are double strollers too bulky? Any favorite or least favorite brands? What about the ones that can be used with car seats? Let me know, and I'll pass along the info. Thanks for the help!

Spring???

Well, our average high right now should be around 53 degrees, but I look out the window and what do I see?

A great big blizzard staring back at me! So much for early morning runs and Easter egg hunts outside. Maybe by next weekend our weather will improve. My camera isn't good enough to do the storm justice, but many of you will be experiencing this same storm in a day or so, so you'll see what I mean.

Summer PJ's

Apparently I'm not the only one wishing for spring here. Carson was so insistent that he should wear his summer pj's that Mike finally had to compromise with the kid to get him to put on warm ones. Here's how he looked once he was all dressed:
At least he'll be warm tonight!

Here are some pics of the kids helping Mommy with her chores.

Cars, Visitors, and BEDROOM!

John and Mel came to visit last weekend with Abbey and Jack, and the kids had a good time playing together. Unfortunately, we didn't think to take any pictures! Then, Grandma L and Dean came to visit during the week, and of course I only thought to take pictures on the last morning, but I'll post a couple.
Natalie and Uncle Dean

Carson and Grandma L

Dean with the kids

Here are the pictures of our room all done! I still have a few more pictures to hang, and Mike is still going to make some bookshelves, but otherwise, we're done. It turned out great, and we love it.

Our new bedroom moulding up close

At a distance

Saturday, we drove 50 miles to a nearby car show, and it was a hit! They did single racing outside, which we watched for a while, and then we went in and saw all the cars. Carson took his own camera (a hand-me-down from Grandpa and Grandma) and had a great time taking pictures of all his favorite cars. And a nice older gentleman let Carson and Natalie sit inside an old roadster, and they loved that. It was a fun and WARM weekend for us.

This is a custom 2007 Expedition. It was pretty cool!

Mike's favorite, a Mustang

Michelle and kids by a Vet, which are always my favorite

Mike by another Mustang, 2009, 427 Cobra

Carson and Natalie inside a hot-rod roadster

The Decision

Well, we decided to add gluten to our diet for one week to see how everyone felt. We started Friday night, and by Sunday evening, Mike was done being sick and tired, so he cut our week short by about five days. Today we're back to the whole gluten-free thing, and this time we don't have plans of quitting any time soon. Part of me is glad. I want my family to be healthy. Part of me is sad, because I'll miss some things, like Craigo's Pizza, girl scout cookies, etc, just to name a couple. I suppose I could still have them, but I don't think that's really fair, and I'd feel bad that nobody else could, so I guess it's goodbye to all those things. I suppose I'll just have to find a few more really good recipes to replace the things I miss!
I haven't really taken pictures lately (we've been busy trying to put up crown moulding in our bedroom), but here are two I took of the kids just for fun. Natalie is showing off her upper lip, where she face-planted it on our front porch. I'll be sure to post pictures of our bedroom later this week, when it is all done! It's going to look awesome!

New Bedroom

Mike has been busy making me new bedroom furniture, and then we also painted the room. It looks great. All that is missing is some crown molding around the top. I'll post pictures when it is all done, but for now here's a sneak peak.

Cookies and Rings

The other night I noticed that my ring was broken on the back where the two are soldered together. I took it to a local ring shop and asked to get it fixed. The guy tried to tell me I also needed to get it refurbished, but that was an additional $30 on top of the $20 I was already paying to get it fixed. He promised it would look like it did when Mike gave it to me, but I decided that I couldn't fork over $50 at once. I asked to only have it fixed, planning to get it refurbished some other time. Well, the goldsmith must have taken one look at my sad-looking ring and decided to refurbish it anyway, because when I picked it up the next day, this is what I got! It looks bran new! How wonderful, and I didn't even end up having to pay for it. What a wonderful surprise. So my advise for the day: get your ring refurbished. It's amazing how it sparkles when it's clean and dent-free. Thanks again, Mike, for the perfect ring! I love you!
Of course, my camera doesn't do it justice.
For Valentine's Day we skyped Grandma and Grandpa L and joined their cookie bake via the Internet. It was fun, though as Grandma says, not quite the same as being there. But our GF cookies turned out amazing! I modified our favorite sugar cookie recipe, and it worked! They were perhaps a tiny bit more crumbly than usual, but I think I'll add more zanthan gum next time to fix that. They tasted great! Soooooooooo yummy! And the kids had a great time doing them. As you can see, Natalie mostly ate the frosting!

Rosy Cheek Test

Pictures of the kids coloring. Both of them LOVE to color.

We are all starting to get a little cabin fever. I even opened our bedroom window for a few minutes to let in some fresh air, before I realized it was FREEZING and shut the window. We are still undecided about the whole gluten diet permanence in our home, but I can't help but think we'll do it for at least a few more months. Carson is eating 2 to 3 times as much food as he used to! And Natalie is eating better as well. Mike thinks that Carson is gaining a little weight, too. But to me the real test of this diet is in his cheeks. They are rosy! He's always been really pale looking, but in the last month, he has developed a case of rosy cheeks, and he just looks healthier. So for the time being, we'll be sticking to the diet to see what long term results we have for Carson, Mike, and Natalie, too.