Kent's 38th Birthday

Kent's birthday was on Monday, and in our typical fashion, we celebrated all weekend long. In fact we had a little soiree at his mom's house a whole week early!

 We dined at Tepanyaki with my parents and a long-time family friend (Who happens to share Kent's day!) on Saturday night before his birthday. Taylee enjoyed her meal (which surprised me a little), but was TERRIFIED when our chef lit the cooktop table on fire. It was tough to keep her seated at the table afterwards. Once he made the "onion volcano" Taylee was ready to get the heck out of that fire dungeon! She was literally shaking in fear. Poor thing. She's a fraidy cat like her mommy. :(

On Sunday night I took Kent to Logan to spend the night at the Anniversary Inn. I booked the Rich's Drive- In theme room. We slept in the back of a truck! It was sooo nice to have a night away from real life, but I always miss Taylee when we are away. Unfortunately my brilliant birthday plan was foiled when the restaurant which I so carefully selected was closed on Sundays. Boo. So we ate at Olive Garden (which I secretly love!). 

 Monday, we headed back home and were able to grab some Jimmy Johns subs and head for the golf course. We hacked our way through 9 holes before heading to pick up Taylee, and going home to find out what kind of trouble Skyler got into while we were away. Fortunately, none!

Kent was surprised with a new patio set for our back patio when we got home. Thanks Nana and Poppi! 

We finished up Kent's birthday weekend with burgers at Five Guys, and a little cake and ice cream. Taylee was more than happy to share in this celebration!

Happy Birthday to the best husband in the whole world! Hope you had a great birthday and a great weekend. Looking forward to many more birthdays together!

Sixteen Year Old Drivers

I am sad to report that just 3 months and 2 days after receiving his driver's license, Skyler had his first accident. :( Last week during his lunch break he rear-ended another car. Luckily they were only travelling 15 miles per hour so the damage was minimal and no one was hurt. Unfortunately, the bumper of the car he hit is cracked, and we suspect it will have to be replaced, which is going to cost him a pretty penny. The ticket for following too closely is another painful reminder of his error in judgment. Skyler is VERY lucky, however, that the police officer didn't cite him for having other kids in the car. Utah law doesn't allow for drivers to have other minors in their vehicle (outside of immediate family), until they have been licensed for over 6 months.  Kent and I had turned a blind eye to the fact that he was transporting his friends to and from lunch and other occasional engagements. Ooops. Lesson learned. Pretty sure that the four kids in his car were part of the problem when he was "following too closely." Our blind eye is now wide open and Skyler is being forced to follow the letter of the law. No kids in his car! Apparently this is really cramping his style. We're not too sympathetic.

All in all, we are pleased that our son is in general such a good kid, and this is a minor glitch in his record.  

Accidents happen, and hopefully a valuable lesson will be learned.

On a side note, it turns out that the apple doesn't fall far from the tree. I have been informed by Kent's parents and siblings that Kent was involved in multiple (as in greater than 5!) fender benders in his first couple years of driving. Oh boy! Hope that's not what we're in for with Skyler! Luckily, Kent finally learned his lesson, and hasn't even had a ticket in over 10 years. Better knock on wood, right?!

Easter 2012

This year Easter was A-May-Zing! It was a day filled with family and laughter. Taylee awoke to find that the Easter Bunny had hidden her basket, and left her with a pink stuffed bunny. Which she now calls "my Easter." It took 45 minutes to find 10 eggs hidden around the living room (the Easter bunny was quite obvious, if I do say so myself!), because Taylee stopped looking every few minutes to hop like a bunny or dance with "her Easter." Too cute!
Once Nana and Poppi arrived it didn't take long to find her Easter basket and commence the egg hunt outside. Skyler, being a teenager and all, slept through all this early morning business. We finally woke him at 9:30 to have breakfast and join the fun.

Here's a little early morning Easter bedhead eggscapade.

If you happen to notice the freaky bunny shadow, don't be worried, it's just me. Just trying to get in the holiday spirit!
Taylee with "her Easter."

After spending the day relaxing and hanging out together, we headed to grandma and grandpa's house for Easter dinner and the traditional family Easter Egg Hunt. Taylee jumped right in with her cousins and hunted those eggs!

Some of the kids take this hunting VERY seriously!

But some of them . . .don't.

Dessert and an Easter Basket hunt brought us back inside.

Our two little bunnies sure do love each other!

And we love them!

Happy Easter!

Not a "he" anymore!

I've decided to post my "recipe" for Taylee's Fruity Shake on my blog. I have had a few requests for it recently, so here it is. Keep in mind, I don't measure anything, so this is just an estimation.

1 banana

3-4 frozen strawberries

10-15 frozen blueberries

4 ice cubes

1/2 cup strawberry yogurt (the bad for you, lots of sugar kind!)

1/2 cup plain greek yogurt (the good for you, lots of protein kind!)

8-10 fresh spinach leaves

1/4 cup orange juice

1/2 cup milk

Blend and enjoy!

Taylee often helps me make her fruity shake. Here she is pretending to help and enjoying some of her yogurt. (the bad for you, high sugar kind, of course!)

A note about the title - Taylee used to call her fruity shake a "he" - we think it was her estimation of fruiteee. After months of trying to break this habit, she finally calls it her shake!