Kiana is 4!

Happy Birthday baby girl. We love you!

My Sister Caitlyn

Happy Birthday! Caitlyn is so wonderful. She such a fantastic aunt and now mother. It was so wonderful to get to spend so much time this month with her. She is so fun and vibrant and funny. I loved seeing her become a mother and how that has made her that much more wonderful. She was always special to Luke-do in large part to all the babysitting she did for us when he was tiny. And she is very special to me. I will always cherish the memories I made with her, especially around the time of her wedding. I love you Caitlyn, Happy Birthday!

Jesus gives us...

Last night for family home evening we talked about all of the wonderful things Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ have given us in our beautiful world. Luke is really into bugs lately so we talked about bugs and animals etc. He really seemed to understand that these are gifts from a loving Father in heaven. Then he looked at us holding his star wars toys and said, "Jesus gave us Star Wars toys!" So sweet. I thought about it and realized how many things we enjoy, things that bring us happiness in this life-much like Star Wars for Luke, these are gifts from our Savior and Heavenly Father to bring us contentment and joy. We are so blessed.

Updating

I know that it has been such a long time since I updated my blog. Finally, now that we are home from our 2 week vacation to Florida and then for Me and the boys to Louisville, I will get back in the swing of things.

Ty is changing so much!! He has been crawling now for 3-4 weeks. While in Florida he finally mastered sitting up on his own, getting from sitting to crawling and crawling to sitting and yes-the first tooth! While in Louisville he learned to feed himself small foods by grasping them with his thumb and forefinger. Now he does it all like a pro and follows me around the house. So fun!

Our Fabulous Florida Trip!

We had such a fantastic vacation. They were so many wonderful parts it is hard to put is all down. The boys loved being able to be with family they don't get to see as often. Nee-Nee and Papa, Uncle Taka, Aunt Caitie and Baby Cloe. Luke keeps asking about them and talking about them.

Nee-Nee and Papa's house is a child's fantasy playground. Beautfully landscaped and right on the water. With acreage to explore-on a golf cart no less, a chicken coop, a boat and fishing off the back deck we were never at odds for things to do. To top it all off we were minutes away from Pensacola Beach, the Air force Museum, and the Pensacola Zoo. Nee-Nee and Papa spoiled us with TONS of yummy good old fashioned southern food and warm hospitality. Ty has never eaten so much ever--boy did they have a great time feeding him anything and everything, especially those butter beans!! Luke LOVED the ocean and the beach! We had to use considerable force to keep him from just completely throwing himself in. We went twice, once in clothes just see it. Luke was completely drenched-head to toe, and so was Jake. When we went back again, we got the same response. We were surprised he wasn't scared of the ocean. It was so fun to see him experience that for the first time. Our last day there we went boating. Everyone was sore for days from attempting to water ski. Luke loved it when the boat went fast when we were pulling Jake skiing. We got to see a lot of extended family as well in Atmore, Alabama and with Dolly and Tubby (Grandma's Aunt and Uncle) there in Pensacola. Luke spent as much time as possible with the chickens-usually feeding them anything and everything he could find to stick through the holes in the coop. Every morning Luke raced to the chicken coop to collect the eggs with which Grandma would make me my favorite potato salad, mmmm...

I can't begin to express how much fun we had, we can't wait to go back and we miss everyone so much since we left. Thanks so much Grandma and Grandpa for having us-we will never forget it.

Oh, How I love Jane Austin

You are Marianne Dashwood of Sense & Sensibility! You are impulsive, romantic, impatient, and perhaps a bit too brutally honest. You enjoy romantic poetry and novels. You feel deeply, and love passionately.
Take the Quiz here!

By the way, if anyone hasn't seen "Becoming Jane", I recommend it. But grab a box of tissues first.

The Overackers are Here!!

Oh, how we love it when we have visitors! We have been so excited for Ben, Caitlyn and Baby Cloe to come and visit. Ty and Cloe are so cute together. They just want to grab each others faces, toes, fingers, binkies or anything else they can think of to suck on. Luke loves them all! Uncle Taka (Ben's nickname from when Olivia was younger) made balloon animals for Luke. And both Auntie Caitie and Uncle Taka have played many a lightsaber duel.We have had a ball this weekend, and tomorrow we are off to Florida!! Whoohoo! We can't wait to see Nee-nee and Papa. We told Luke that they live by the ocean and he hasn't stopped talking about it since. See you guys late tomorrow night!

One of my favorite days

Today is April 12th. This is one of my favorite days because it is the day that I get to celebrate Jake! So forgive me, but I am going to gush a little. Jake turns 28 today. Happy Birthday!!!!!

When I first met Jake I remember thinking that he was way out of my league. From that first flirtatious introduction in our singles ward I was lost to his charm. However, always being surrounded by other girls at church, I was usually to intimidated to approach. However, he always found little ways to reel me back in, paying just enough attention to me to keep my interest sparked. It worked because I obviously couldn't resist too long, for soon I asked him on a date to Lagoon. Thus history was made. I was so impressed by his maturity-at least in things that really mattered, but at the same time he wasn't afraid to be his silly self. I had never met anyone so confident yet humble, funny and engaging but casual. Anyway, I was hooked-all the way. I am grateful to say that he was too. As we continued to date I remember feeling constantly overwhelmed that HE like ME! In my eyes he was too good to be true and I didn't deserve him. I still feel that way almost 7 years later.

As we have grown together throughout our journey I love him even more. He is a great Husband, Father, Son, Son-in-law, Brother, Brother-in-law, Uncle and Friend. Here are a few of my favorite photos of him.

I think that my boys literally are the luckiest little boys in the whole world because he is the BEST dad in all the world (sorry to all of you who thought it was your dad/husband) nope- Jake takes the cake!!!! Hay it even rhymes. Well hopefully I have gushed enough. I love you Jake more than I could ever say. Happy Birthday!

More Recipes

Honey Mustard Bacon Chicken

4 chicken breasts
honey mustard dressing
4 strips cooked bacon
Mexican cheese blend
salt and pepper
Olive oil

Tenderize chicken and saute in olive oil. Salt and pepper to taste. Then spread with honey mustard dressing to taste while still in skillet. Place cooked bacon on top of each chicken breast. Then top with cheese. Cover and heat until cheese is melted.

Recipes

My friend Sarah was asking for some new recipes. I have actually been meaning to post some anyway. So here are a few.

7 up marinaded chicken

8 chicken breasts
2 cans sprite or 7 up
1 1/2 c. soy sauce
1/2 tsp. garlic powder
1 1/2 c. oil

Marinate over night. Grill. This makes for a large group or you can 1/4 it and do it for about 2.

Tortellini Soup

49 oz can chicken broth
Turkey ground 1 lb. seasoned to taste
1 pkg. frozen oriental veggies
4 Tbl. soy sauce
4 drops of Tabasco
1 pkg cheese tortellini (fresh or frozen)
snow peas- 1 pkg

(to save on your grocery budget you can omit the snow peas and do frozen tortellini. This makes so much soup that you can freeze half of it and do it for two meals.)

Brown turkey. Add broth and veggies. Simmer two hours. add tortellini and snow peas 1/2 hour before serving. You can add additional broccoli or other veggies when you add the broth if you desire.

Roasted Broccoli with Walnuts

This is such a quick awesome side dish! I love it.

1 head fresh broccoli. Cut off florets.
Olive oil
salt and pepper
splash of lemon juice

Sprinkle all above ingredients over broccoli making sure to coat evenly. Place in 400 degree oven for 8 minutes. Stir and let finish roasting 1-2 minutes. The broccoli should be bright green and have crispy golden brown edges. Toss with chopped walnuts and serve. (I use cashews because Jake doesn't like walnuts.)

Cream of Cauliflower Soup

1 head cauliflower -steamed
3 Tbls. margarine
1/4 c. diced onion
2 c. chicken broth
2 c. half and half
1 tsp. salt
1/4 tsp. nutmeg
1 c. grated cheddar cheese
3 Tbls. flour

Steam cauliflower. In large pot saute onion and margarine until onion is clear. Stir in flour to make roux, slowly add broth and cream. Stir and cook until thickened. Add salt and nutmeg and cauliflower. Just before serving stir in cheese.

This will have to do for now. In a few weeks I will do more. I am going out of town in a couple of days and my friend here has borrowed my favorite cookbook that has some other great new things. Hope this helps.