The Eyes of a Child

My children have beautiful eyes and they are all different. Lila with her brown and a little bit of green eyes. Calvin has deep blue eyes and Emmett has light blue. Not to mention the shape of their eyes. Lila has an almond shape to hers. Calvin and Emmett's are more similar to each other. Theirs are a little bigger and more round. Oh and their eye lashes, oh the eye lashes! So long and full and absolutely beautiful. They get those from their dad. Anyway, I wonder what baby boy #3's eyes will look like. No doubt they will be just as beautiful.

Bake-Off 2013

So, we've decided to make our own bread from now on. Only we haven't settled on 'the recipe' we like best. A few weeks ago Chris and I decided to compete with our selected recipes. My recipe is from an old bishopric member in one of my BYU wards. He and his wife would give out homemade bread and jam on birthdays. I remember it being sooo good. However, I was a little disappointed with the batch I made. It was good but I remember it being tastier. Not sure if my memory of how good it was because someone else made it and food you don't have to make yourself is always better. Or if I was just a poor college student and not as picky as I am now. Anyway, both the recipes we made were good but we are still looking for something better. 

Here's pics of my bread...

and, here's Chris'. 

 They look yummy, don't they?

My Little Artists

We finally checked out a children's art studio I've been hearing about. It was AMAZING! I loved it and the kids definitely loved it. The lady running the place was so nice and helpful. Lila and Calvin were free to roam around and paint whatever they wanted. No rules, is what the nice lady kept reminding me. We were all free. I was free from telling them what to do and cleaning up after them. They were free to explore and create as they wished. Emmett was a good sport sitting in the high chair and eating snacks. It was a refreshing experience and we all had a great time. I can't wait to go back and see what other projects they will do.  

This is What its All About

This is a combo post about two of my favorite things, apple pie and my birthday. We went apple picking a couple of weeks ago and so our apple pie season begins. Chris makes the best apple pie and so that was my birthday dessert request. It was delicious but also look at the detail in the before and after pics below. It was beautiful and tasted even better.

We only took one picture from apple picking. This is our second time going to SkyTop Orchard and it didn't disappoint. The view was beautiful, weather was cool and crisp, the donuts were even better then I remember, and the kids had so much fun running free and picking apples. The first variety of apple we picked had small trees close to the ground. It was perfect for Lila and Calvin. They picked most of the apples and Chris manned the quality control station by the basket. Lila, Calvin, and Emmett also loved the tractor ride. This is one of my favorite family outings and I look forward to continuing the tradition.

My birthday has become one of my favorite things more and more. I know, I know, who doesn't like their birthday anyway? Well, Chris LOVES birthdays, his especially, but he also loves celebrating mine and our kids. He sometimes is even more excited then the birthday person. Anyway, he puts a lot of thought and effort into making the day a great one. I'm so grateful for all he does and how much he cares about me. I felt like my birthday celebration was more like a week than just one day with everything he planned for me. He truly is amazing and I am very lucky to have him as my husband. I got everything I asked for and more. Happy Birthday to me!

Emmett's 1st Birthday

I can't believe it's already been a year since Emmett was born. In some ways it feels like a short time but others it feels like he's always been with us. He is such a sweet and happy boy. Easy going is the best way to describe him. He loves to cuddle and has a tight grip when he wraps his soft, squishy arms around  my neck. Smiling comes easy and he's not picky with who he shares his smiles with. 

He had his first walking attempt a week before his birthday and has been practicing non-stop since then. I think he is walking more than crawling at this point. He's still a big eater and getting bigger everyday. His weight and height testify to that. Emmett plays great on his own but really lights up when Lila and Calvin play with him. Also, he loves his daddy time. Both Chris and Emmett really enjoy their play time. I always hear them laughing and see them hugging when Chris comes home from work. He has eight teeth right now (one partially chipped due to playing with Calvin). His stats from his 12 month checkup are:

Height: 31.25 inches (92nd %)

Weight: 24 lb 3.2 oz (88th %)

Head: 47 cm (76th %)

We had a lot of fun celebrating his birthday in CA with Chris' side of the family. We spent the day at Fairy Tale Town and then went swimming. That evening we sang to him and watched him eat his own cake. We stopped him before he could eat it all because we're good parents like that. He opened some presents than said goodnight and went to bed. It was a great day. We love our Emmett and look forward to many great days with him!

Here's pics from his birthday:

(Our niece, Kiley, took some great photos of Emmett while he played in Sherwood forest.)

Happy Birthday Emmett, we love you!

Sacramento Trip 2013

We survived:) Not only survived, but had a ton of fun! Traveling with 3 small children will never be easy but the kids did as well as expected. We lucked out on a couple of flights by having some empty seats next to us. Our first day was spent adjusting to the time change and lounging around. The next two days we rented a van to get out and about on our vacation. We went to Fairy Tale Town on Emmett's birthday, then the zoo and the outlet mall the following day. Chris and I even got to go on a date too. We met up with two of his long time friends and their wives for dinner at Garcia's. We had a lot of fun visiting and I haven't seen Chris laugh that hard in awhile. Nothing like catching up with old friends. Another day, all the girls headed to the nail salon. Lila loves getting her nails painted. She picked out the color and they added some flowers and sparkles. She loved it! We spent almost every afternoon swimming. At the end of the week was Chris' sister, Ashley's wedding. The whole trip was fun and it was so great to see everyone. I love how much Chris' family laughs. It's really a non-stop party when they all get together. The kids loved playing with their cousins. They still ask to go back to California and play with their cousins. I'm grateful we were able to celebrate Emmett's birthday with extended family too. (I'll blog more about that later) It was a great time!

Here are pics from our trip: