First Day with our Special Visitors

We are so excited that Alycia and Lulu came for a visit!!!

On the first day that they were here we went to Anchorage to pick them up.

We don't get there very often (it is about three hours away). 

We ran some errands...

 One of our stops was Costco and Lulu found a moose to get her picture taken with. Too bad it was too big, we could of got him for her to take home to Utah to remember Alaska :0)

After all our errands we came home and had dinner head to bed.
Lulu was so cute in how she was eating dinner and using her fork.
We are so glad they are here for a visit.

Boys Camp out = Girls Time

Kyle and Jaron went on the ward father and son camp out, Jaron was so excited to go camping. They had a great time. They didn't take any pictures, but they had so much fun. Late night fun, campfire breakfast, flag football, canoeing, hiking and being with nature.

While the boys were out we had some girls time. That evening we went over to a friends house and had pizza and snacks and watched movies and played and stayed up late. 

Next morning we got up and went to the safety fair at SoHi.

 We enjoyed a yummy BBQ and listen to fun music. 

Then walked around to the displays

There was one that the girls got a kick out of, it was an earthquake simulator.

 Before the ride could start they had to be buckled in for the wild ride.

 After the ride that is all they could talk about :0)

They got to meet smokey bear, Karlee was ready to run away.

After the safety fair we headed over to Fred Meyers for some grocery shopping. And then waited for the boys to come home.

Karlee's Jake and Neverland Pirates Birthday Party

For Karlee's 4th birthday party, she wanted a Jake and the Neverland Pirates party. I went online and found many ideas for this theme. At our house we have access to a double car garage and I have loved it because it has been able to be turned into a party room twice. That is why in the background you will see some garage stuff, but it is a great party space. Karlee was a pirate for Halloween so she had a costume to wear to the party, we wanted the kids to be pirates too. We found some red polka dot fabric and some eye patched for them to wear and we had a room full of pirates. Karlee invited all the kids from her preschool group. We did the party on a Friday afternoon while the older kids were at school and Kyle had the day off. Kyle was called into work and so I lost my decorating crew and helper at the party, but luckily he made it home in the middle of the party and was able to help me out.

 When the kids first got there, we had their pirate gear  ready to go and some coloring sheets that I printed off at disney jr. We even came up with pirate names for the kids.

 Busy at work.

  Jake with his pirate crew.

 We played pin the eye patch on the pirate. I put the first letter of their name on their eye patch so that we would know who's was who.

 Karlee giving it a try

 The pirate with patches all over

Then we all had to walk the plank.

Karlee getting ready for her jump.

The kids loved this activity that they wanted to keep doing, I think that each kid went about ten times each.

 Another one ready to jump.

 After walking the plank.We went on a treasure hunt, they were given a map that led them to treasure. They had to jump like a frog to a tree, fly like a bird to the front porch, hop like a kangaroo to the garage door and swim like an alligator to the X that marked the spot. I had gotten a large bucket and put sand in it. 

 Buried below the X was a treasure box, that they all dug for.

I love this picture in how they all into the dig, with only their pirate hats showing.

 Another shot of the dig for the treasure

 Once they found the treasure box, the girls were eager to see what was inside.

 The boys on the other hand were enjoying digging in the sand, I had left some of the treasures through out the sand that they were finding.

Then we sat down and had Karlee's favorite lunch bbq hot dogs, juice boxes, goldfish (shark food), pretzel stick (swords), carrots, and grapes (cannon).

 I had a hard time trying to figure out what to do for a cake. Karlee wanted the one off of Disney Jr., but then changed her mind and wanted the ship Bucky, I thought that would be cute and went on a hunt for blue and white stripe fabric to make the sail out of, no such luck. Running out of time I got desperate and grabbed some white covered moon pies that I found at Wal-Mart and grabbed some red candy melts, red M&M's, white cake decorating dots and food marker and came up with this below:

 I was happy with the way it turned for being thrown together last minute.

 Birthday girl ready to blow out the candles as we sing Happy Birthday to her.

 Here is a close up of one of the cupcakes. You can't tell but I used a blue cupcake liner so the pirate would have a blue shirt. 

 Karlee opening her presents.

Kyle helping her as she reads her card.

Thank you for all the birthday wishes, gifts and cards for Karlee she had a great birthday.

Wildlife Preschool

Once a month the Kenai National Wildlife Refugee does a Preschool for Preschool age kids. We were albe to go this month and we invited some friends to come too. The lesson was on Sea and River Otters. They read stories, talked about them, acted out how they carry and eat their food.

They also got to see the size of the otters and be able to touch their fur. They tell you to use the back of your hands to pet the furs, less oil on that side of the hand. Karlee wasn't so sure of touching the otter fur.

For a craft they made river otter puppets.

 Karlee, Lacie, Ben and Henry are showing off their puppets.

After the class we hiked down to the lake and enjoyed a snack.

 It was a beautiful day.

Overnight Blueberry French Toast

For Mother's Day Kyle made me breakfast in bed.

 He made this yummy new breakfast.

Overnight Blueberry French Toast

• Ingredients:
• 
  
• 12 slices day-old bread, cut into 1 inch cubes
• 2 (8 ounce) packages cream cheese, cut into 1 inch cubes
• 1 cup fresh blueberries
• 12 eggs, beaten
• 2 cups milk
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1/3 cup maple syrup
•  
• 1 cup white sugar
• 2 tablespoons cornstarch
• 1 cup water
• 1 cup fresh blueberries
• 1 tablespoon butter

Directions:

Lightly grease a 9x13 inch baking dish. Arrange half the bread cubes in the dish, and top with cream cheese cubes. Sprinkle 1 cup blueberries over the cream cheese, and top with remaining bread cubes.

In a large bowl, mix the eggs, milk, vanilla extract, and syrup. Pour over the bread cubes. Cover, and refrigerate overnight.

Remove the bread cube mixture from the refrigerator about 30 minutes before baking. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C).

Cover, and bake 30 minutes. Uncover, and continue baking 25 to 30 minutes, until center is firm and surface is lightly browned.

In a medium saucepan, mix the sugar, cornstarch, and water. Bring to a boil. Stirring constantly, cook 3 to 4 minutes. Mix in the remaining 1 cup blueberries. Reduce heat, and simmer 10 minutes, until the blueberries burst. Stir in the butter, and pour over the baked French toast.

Karlee's Cookies

Karlee is always wanting to help in the kitchen. The kids were of to school and it was raining outside so we decided to make some cookies. I decided to let her do all the stirring and dumping, I would just measure out the ingredients. We made Oatmeal Scotchies.

Karlee mixing in the first few ingredients.

As we were adding the ingredients;

Karlee: We need to add the next ingredient.

Mom: What is it?

Karlee: Butterflies.

Mom: Oh okay - go get some.

Karlee goes into the pantry, comes back with a jello packet.

Karlee: I mean butterfly food.

It got a little harder to stir once we had all the ingredients in, except for the chips so I help hold the bowl.

She was excited to dump all the chips in.

Before she put the chips in I asked her how many needed to be added and she said only five, but dumped the whole bag.

Had to taste a couple chips that had fallen out of the bowl during the dump. 

Once we had everything in I asked her if there was anything else we needed to add. She looked at the back of the bag where we were getting the recipe from. Pointed to back of the bag where the Nestle logo was at and said we need to add two birds.

She watched the cookies cooked in the oven and waited for them to come out. Once they had cooled down and were ready to eat I asked her if she wanted to one. She didn't. I had one and they were great. Great job  cook Karlee, butterflies and birds included. 

Oatmeal Scotchies

Ingredients

• 1 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 1 cup (2 sticks) butter or margarine, softened
• 3/4 cup granulated sugar
• 3/4 cup packed brown sugar
• 2 large eggs
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract or grated peel of 1 orange
• 3 cups quick or old-fashioned oats
• 1 2/3 cups (11-oz. pkg.) NESTLÉ® TOLL HOUSE® Butterscotch Flavored Morsels

Directions

PREHEAT oven to 375° F.

COMBINE flour, baking soda, salt and cinnamon in small bowl. Beat butter, granulated sugar, brown sugar, eggs and vanilla extract in large mixer bowl. Gradually beat in flour mixture. Stir in oats and morsels. Drop by rounded tablespoon onto ungreased baking sheets.

BAKE for 7 to 8 minutes for chewy cookies or 9 to 10 minutes for crisp cookies. Cool on baking sheets for 2 minutes; remove to wire racks to cool completely.

• 
  

Mother's Day

It was a great mother's day. I was treated as a queen. Kyle made me breakfast in bed with this new recipe. And the kids gave me cute handmade items, Jaron gave me a frame picture of his head and told me it was titled the floating head with a sweet card that went along with it. Kelsie made me this cute card at school with a very colorful bouquet of flowers on the front. Kallie made me an armful if friendship bracelets. They all helped out around the house and wished me Happy Mother's Day all day long.

In Primary Karlee's teacher  helped her fill out this form for me, it was funny to see what Karlee thinks of me;

The color of my Mother's hair is Brown.

My Mother is 2 years old.

My Mother's shoe size is 4.

My Mother like's to wash clothes.

My Mother is happy when flowers are bright.

My Mother is sad when she sees dogs.

The funniest think I ever saw my Mother do was fish.

The funniest thing I ever did with my Mother was fishing.

I like when my Mother cooks bacon for me.

I like to help my Mother.

My Mother's favorite food is frosting.

My Mother does not like to eat cupcakes.

If I could give my Mother anything, I'd give her cupcakes.

My Mother works at home.

The first thing my Mother does when she wakes up is make her bed.

I love when my mother cooks.

I love my Mother because she cooks fish.

The color my Mother likes best is blue.

By: Karlee age 4

For Mother's Day we got the kids bikes, the plan was also to get me one too. But we have not found the right one for me yet. But the kids are having a blast with the bikes. There are many bike paths around town and we are excited to explore them this summer.

We hope that everyone had a Happy Mother's Day. We are so grateful for the mom's in our lives and all they do for us and the great example they are to me. We love you Ma2, Grandma Kenner, and G3!!