Stepping into Spring

Erika standing up in front and talking about her art work

We were very proud of Erika for making the effort to enter the Reflections contest this year.  It was even more exciting to discover that not only had she won First place in visual arts for her age level at her school, but she had gone on to Regional and won first place there.     

All the kids who won Reflections for the District

On March 8th, we went to the school where they recognized the winners of the contest and gave the kids each a nice plaque and had some refreshments.   We are proud of Erika for being involved.  

Here is the picture Erika drew for Reflections.  The theme was "Diversity Means..."
It is not a very good scan of her picture- I tried.  

We have been enjoying the warmer weather this last week and the kids have loved getting outside to play.  Yesterday grandma and grandpa Parkinson came down for conference weekend and the kids had a great time coloring eggs with grandma.  Afterward, they each took a turn hiding them all outside and then everyone had to come out and find them.   I love how excited they get about something so small!  

Jared enjoyed his ice cream cone to the fullest.  Now this kid knows how to eat a cone!  

I don't know what it is about having ice cream in a cone, 

but to mine it is just way more fun than a boring old bowl.    

Heidi decided to give me her cheesiest grin.   She loves to pose for the camera.  

Fun at the Cabin

We have had hardly any snow this winter- It has been so different that what we are used to.  And, the few times it has snowed, it has only been a small amount that melted in a day or two.  So, we headed up to Oma and Opa's cabin at Strawerry Reservoir the weekend of Aaron's birthday- Feb 17-20th. 

It was actually kind-of an adventure for us but turned out being a lot of fun.  I still laugh about snowmobiling out on Sunday with our snow clothes over our church clothes, taking them all off in the car, and then going to church.  It was really pretty comical.  I guess we have never stayed over Sunday at the cabin in the winter time before.   Aaron's brother Dave and his sweet family also came up and we were so lucky to have them.   We had a great time together!   (They were good sports for sure.)  

We took the opportunity to play in the snow while we were there.   As you can see above, Jared wasn't so sure if he liked being out there in the sled.  He looked like a little marshmallow man after we had him all bundled up and brought him outside.  He fell over a few times and started crying and I had to try really hard not to laugh because he was so cute!   

You can't see his face, but Jared actually had a lot of fun going down the little hill with me.  Heidi, of course, loved it and didn't want to stop.   

After the rides, Jared actually started to like being out in the snow and didn't want to go inside.  He just had fun tromping around in the snow and making tracks, touching the snow, etc.  

Erika and Kyle got really into it and dug a snow cave on the big hill behind the cabin.    It was really sad when the snow cave ended up collapsing.  They made it pretty deep!    

Erika, Kyle, and Heidi also had fun sledding down the big hill and Aaron drove the snowmobile down to pull them up.  Jared even got a few short rides on the snowmobile and loved it.  

We are grateful for the great opportunity of going to the cabin and for the fun memories we have been able to make there.  I guess excursions like these make the drab, cold winter a little more fun.  

All the kids loaded on, for our final trip leaving the cabin.  

Good times on the ice at Hyrum reservoir. We caught our limit in 3 hours.








- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad

My Husband the Handyman

Okay, so when I married Aaron, I knew he was a wonderful guy.  But,  the longer we are married, the more he surprises me.  Fortunately, most of those surprises are good.   The longer I am married to Aaron, the more I learn about him, and that's fun!   And, the more I learn about him, the more I grow to love him.
Anyway,  this winter he has gotten busy on a bunch of projects around our home.   I have been so amazed and impressed with his handyman skills.  Even more impressive to me is the fact that he wasn't born with them, and they don't even come naturally for him.   He has really gotten out of his comfort zone even since we were married and made it a goal to learn how to do things on his own.   I am just so proud of him!   Okay, enough babbling and I'll show you the pictures....

Two summers ago, Aaron built this two-car garage in our backyard.  This is his workshop/ truck and toy shelter.  He did an incredible job, I think.  Since the weather has been cold and there is less to do outdoors (especially without snow) he had been busy sheet rocking and organizing his garage.   Now, that's some man cave!  

 I also never knew when I married Aaron that he cared so much about things being organized.  Wow- I thought I was an organization freak, but I guess I'm not.

I wish I had the before pictures but forgot to take one.  Since we will be moving some bedrooms around within the next few months due to our new addition,  Aaron went ahead and built some organizing shelves in two of the downstairs bedroom closets.  He just came up with it all on his own.   I helped a little- speckling, caulking, and masking, and he did the rest.  

Then Aaron got out in our garage and built a large shelf in the back corner for other big things in our garage to make some room.  

And, last but not least,  we were so sick of the clutter of bikes all over in the way so he made a bike rack out of wood for the side of our garage.  I was really happy about this.  Now we just hope that the kids will use it  :)

I realized the other day that not many things make me happier than a good honey-do list done.  The other day Aaron dropped everything and did all my honey-do's.   I was one happy honey.  So, I can't help but brag a little.  I never knew I married such a handyman but boy is he ever!  

Sausage Calzones

This has become a family favorite at our house.   (Adapted from the "Taste of Home" Cookbook)
I love any recipe that includes spinach and kids still like it!

Dough:   1 package active dry yeast
               1/2 C warm water
               3/4 C warm milk
               2 T plus 2 tsp olive oil
               1/2 tsp salt
               1 tsp sugar
               3 to 3 1/4 C flour

Filling:  1 package (10 oz) frozen, chopped spinach, thawed and squeezed dry
              3/4 to 1 lb ground italian sausage
             1/2 onion, chopped
             1 C cottage cheese
             1 C shredded mozzarella cheese
             1/2 C shredded parmesan cheese
             1 T minced fresh parsley (or dried)
             1/4 tsp pepper

In large bowl, dissolve yeast in warm water.  Add the milk and 2 T oil, salt, sugar, and 2 C flour.  Beat until smooth, then add remaining flour to form a soft dough.  Turn and knead on a floured surface 6-8 min until smooth and elastic.   Place in a greased bowl, turning once to grease the top.  Cover and let rise in a warm place until doubled, about an hour.
Meanwhile, cook the sausage with the onion until no longer pink, drain.   Add the spinach, cheeses, parsley, and pepper.  Mix well.
Preheat oven to 400 degrees.  Punch down dough and divide into 6 pieces.  On a floured surface, roll each piece into a 8-in circle.  Top  half of each with 2/3 C filling, then fold the other half over.  Fold edges over and pinch to seal.  Place on greased baking sheets sprinkled with cornmeal.  Brush tops lightly with remaining oil and sprinkle with garlic salt.   Bake for 20-25 min. or until golden brown.

Making our own fun

The other day Erika and Kyle were busy playing together in Kyle's room and finally came out to announce, "Mom and Dad, we have a surprise for you!"   This sign was posted on the door:

(Notice the words "parents free" are crossed out in red.)  We thought it was very creative so Aaron and I each went and found a few quarters for the kids to put in their banks.  Who wants a free "plain-old-regular" massage when you can get a "super duper massage" for 50 cents?   So Aaron and I laid out on the bed while the kids gave us our "Super Duper massage".  It was relaxing, and in another way pretty comical.   I had Kyle as my masseuse and he pretty much just did whatever Erika did.  Aaron and I got a good laugh out of it anyway.  

The weather has been so uncharacteristically warm this year and the kids were outside playing in the backyard like it was spring.  Jared found himself a nice little nook to hide away in.   I thought it was adorable!  

Christmas 2011

We had a wonderful Christmas holiday this year.  To head off the season,  I was in charge of the program for the ward party on December 9th.  I put together a musical program with characters dressed up from the nativity who sang musical numbers, including two songs from the Forgotten Carols.  We also had a nativity scene and a narrator dressed as a Roman Centurion who spoke in-between the musical numbers. It was a lot of work for me to put it together but rewarding, too.    I learned a lot from the experience.  I was also glad to have it over.  (I wish I had a few pictures to show from the program).   After the program, we had dinner and then a surprise visitor came to the church.   The kids lined up to sit on his lap and get a candy cane.  

As you can see, not everyone was thrilled
to sit on Santa Claus's lap.

A few days later, when I was tucking Heidi in bed, I asked her, "So, what do you want Santa to bring you for Christmas?"  She said, "A candy cane."   "Oh, really?  Anything else?"  and all she would say was "a candy cane".   I thought,  "Wow!  I guess I shouldn't push that one!   Give it a few years and she'll have a list a mile long."  How fun that they are thrilled with the simple pleasures of life!  

We enjoyed a nice Christmas at home with our family.  We have had fun the last few years establishing our own traditions.  We took a trip down to Salt Lake on Dec 22nd to visit extended family.   We went to my grandma Schulz's Christmas party and then also visited my Oma and Opa Michel.  It was great to see all of them.  We also stopped in to visit Aaron's grandpa Christensen.  His wife just passed away in September and she is greatly missed.    We met up with Aaron's brothers and parents at Temple Square where we enjoyed the Christmas lights.  

On Christmas Eve we had a nice dinner and a program with our kids and with Aaron's parents and brother Ryan.  Erika and Kyle played songs on the piano, we sang some Christmas songs and then acted out the nativity while Aaron did the narration.  

Jared loves to climb into things and if he's lucky,
his siblings will push him around.

Jared was figuring out the whole "opening presents" thing
and just happy with a few small gifts.

Heidi was loving opening presents.  
They all got new pajamas for Christmas.  

Erika and Kyle were the most excited about the Wii and couldn't wait to play it.  

Erika, Kyle, and Heidi each also got a scooter from Santa Claus (the rest was from mom and dad and grandma and grandpa).

After church we took some pictures in front of the Christmas tree while everyone was still dressed up.

We had a nice turkey dinner and then just enjoyed playing with our new toys and spending time together.  It was such a great break!   We enjoyed relaxing and being with family.   One thing that was different this year was the lack of snow outside, but we found other things to do to have fun.