A Sweet FHE

I have been wanting to make and decorate Valentines cookies for awhile, but sometimes it just takes so long! Plus, we didn't need to have a ton of decorated cookies just waiting for us to eat them. We decided to invite a few friends, the Marshalls, the Briggs, the Hawthornes, and the Christophers, over to help. I made the frosting and cookies earlier in the day so they were ready to go. We asked everyone to bring sprinkles and/or candy to decorate with. We had so much fun chatting and decorating. I think more cookies went home in stomachs than on plates, but they looked so good you just had to eat them! Belle had so much fun playing while we decorated. She kept getting the really good colored things all over her hands, we tried to take a picture, but she got a little camera shy!

Here is how we set up the room before people came over,


Here we are decorating, we only got one picture and not everyone made it in...


Here is my plate as I was decorating, I didn't know Marc was taking the picture,


And this is what they looked like, Shaylen got really creative and made a 3-layer cookie, it looked so yummy!




We had so much fun with all our friends, and eating the cookies! Thanks to everyone who came and played with us!

Superbowl!

Since the Cards were in the Superbowl, we had to have a little party to celebrate! We invited a few of our friends and had lots of food! Marc made little smokies, we had nachos, chex mix, delicious apple dip, and red velvet cupcakes with white frosting. The Bennions brought potato chips, dip, and candy bars. The Hawthornes brought Doritos, and ate so many cupcakes, really thanks guys!

Before everyone came over Marc was trying to decide what to do with the drinks to keep them cool, so he put them in the snow, here is what our makeshift cooler looked like, they stayed really cold!




Here is the spread before the guests came over, after they came table was so full, it emptied fast too!



And, our yummy cupcakes...



I didn't take any pictures of the party, we were too into the game and the commercials. It was a lot of fun, even though the Cards lost. We were really hoping. There is always next year!

Crossbow Park

My grandfather passed away in April of last year. It was extremely unexpected and still sometimes hard to think about. But he had accomplished many great things before he left this earth. One of his biggest projects was helping to pass no smoking bans in Arizona, he was extremely successful in doing this! Thanks to him, none of his 12 grandchildren will have to go into a restaurant and smell cigarette smoke, he really wanted to make things better for everyone!

He was very loving and kind, but he did it in his own way. He would do anything he could to serve, but he never let anyone know what he was doing. He loved planes and even had a license. He would take friends and family to breakfast at small local airports. He chose his houses based on the fact that there were airports close by.

My entire life, he did what he could to share his love with us. One of his favorite things to do as we got in the car after family parties was to throw money in the car. For the most part it was the change he grabbed off his dresser, occasionally there would be a $1 or $5 that would get tossed in. I am not sure what caused this, but he always did it!

This past Saturday one of his biggest projects was completed. A few years ago, my grandparents moved into a newly developed area. Shortly after moving there a park was put into construction. The Home Owners Association announced that it would be named Canal Park. My grandpa didn't think this was a good name for a park, so he got to work. He petitioned for the name to be changed to Crossbow Park. After trying for months, and talking to people in the community about changing the name, the HOA decided they would agree. Unfortunately, he had already passed when the made the final decisions. My grandmother received a call asking what they could do in the park to remember him. My grandma told them a plane would be good, he didn't like a lot of attention. They put a toy plane, and a plaque in the park just for him. Saturday as the park was dedicated, they unveiled the plane. My grandmother was given roses, and had all the family, there to support her. Here are a few pictures to show what a great man he was!

Here is the plaque remembering him


Here is my grandma and her sister with grandpa's plane


This is the family in Maine, the cabin is my dad's grandparent's, but he love spending time with us here!


All the grandkids sang Families Can Be Together Forever, here we are practicing before, we were missing Caleb who was on his was to Madagascar, and Asa who was 6 months and just wanted mom

Thanks Becky, I took the picture from your blog!

Unfortunately, I wasn't able to be at the park with everyone, but I heard it was a great time, one grandpa would have loved!

Apple Pie!

Marc's family has a tradition that Marc wants to have in our family. Every Christmas morning his mom makes turnovers. She usually buys the Pillsbury boxed ones, but those can be hard to find. Luckily, for Christmas we got a wonderful Barefoot Contessa cookbook! We found a recipe for turnovers and decided to give it a try before we made it a tradition. They turned out wonderful, except we had quite a bit of filling left, we followed the recipe! While we were at the store we saw that pie crusts were 50 cents! So we decided to use the rest of our turnover filling to make pie. Of course this doesn't fit into our healthy eating, but it was delicious! The turnover called for dried cranberries, so we put them in the pie too! It turned out so good, except we aren't eating it so good! If you want some come on over! It was so fun to make together!

Midnight Snacks!

I have been trying to eat healthier the last couple of weeks to get rid of the holiday weight. Unfortunately, part of losing weight is craving food, not like I was starving myself, I just get hungry more. I have been trying to eat healthy snacks, but sometimes it is so hard! I am so glad I have a wonderful husband who supports my new diet! Last week at about 9 o'clock, I was really wanting to eat. I kept telling my self that I didn't need to eat that late at night. I was too tired to just go to bed, and watching Food Network just kept the cravings coming. I think Marc got sick of it because at about 10:30 he got up and made us both a snack. He told me I had to eat it so I wouldn't complain anymore! About 5 minutes later he walked out of the kitchen with this

This is only about half of what he made, we ate it before I decided to take a picture of it. He was so proud of his ants on a log, he even convinced me that the chocolate chips were healthy!

Then Tuesday night I had a RS Presidency meeting. They had dinner for us, but the sugar cookies were bigger than the meal and I needed something more. When I came home Marc said he would make me dinner. I told him I wanted salad with tomato and hard-boiled egg. We had a bag of salad in the fridge, (again to help me eat better), Marc added a little cheese and Goldfish crackers to what I asked. He was so happy of his salad! So, I took a picture


This was before he tossed it, he really didn't add that much too it. After I ate my delicious salad, Marc told me that he likes our blog because it is the only place he gets recognized. This isn't true, he knows how much I love him, especially when he makes me yummy snacks!

Pigs do fly!

I know it has been awhile, and I promise to update soon, but pigs do fly! I saw it with my own two eyes! Anyone from Arizona has heard people say, when pigs fly...or the Cardinals make it to the Superbowl. Well, they are going! After 61 years of struggling, they had a good season. I really haven't invested that much time in football, never watching pro games (hello, my whole life the Cards were the worst team), my brothers played in high school, but that was it! Well, we watched the game, they beat the Eagles and are now in the Superbowl! We are pretty excited, after hearing jokes like, why did the Cardinals players stay inside...because someone painted and end zone in their front yard, and many more, we are happy to have a winning team, too bad it wasn't last year when the Superbowl was in AZ, but at least they are going! Who knows what the world will have come to when they win that too!

Early Christmas, Christmas in Colorado, Late Christmas, 1st Anniversary, Apartment Hunting and 2009

My Grandpa lives in Colorado and was going to be all alone for Christmas, my family decided they were going to spend Christmas there to keep him company. Marc had never met him so we decided we would go with them. We had Christmas with my family a few days before, my parents got my brother and sister Guitar Hero World Tour and wanted them to be able to play a little before we left, and they didn't want to haul all our presents up. We were very happy! We got a Kitchen Aid mixer for a Christmas/Anniversary present from my parents, my little brother and sister got us a Nerf Gun set, we each got some clothes. It was fun to get stuff early, especially since Marc hid my present so I couldn't even guess!
Here we are playing Guitar Hero!

That night we came back to his parents house and all his dad's siblings and their families came over for the annual Chase Family Party. We had yummy mexican food, and took family pictures. We also sang Christmas songs, and talked with the grandparents about their Christmas traditions as children. It was fun to see everyone, especially since that is the only time we see some of them! Then after everyone left, Marc siblings and their families stayed, we had fun playing with our niece and nephew, Tyler our 6 month old nephew even fell asleep in my arms! He is such a cutie! Our niece Teagan is almost a month old, and she slept the whole time, but she was super cuddly! We are so happy they have kids for us to play with!

The Monday before Christmas we drove to Colorado with my family! It took us about 14 hours, we did have to stop to let the dog run and play, and it did snow on us pretty hard, but we made it! The next morning we went to my grandpa's and spent some time with him. I also took Marc on a tour of town, all 10 minutes of it! We also went out and bought some sleds and went sledding. I had not been since I was little, but it was so fun! The dog would chase us down the hill, jump in front of us, then jump out of our way just in time to get away! The next day was Christmas Eve. We went to my Great-grandparents ranch, they have passed on, but their kids now own the property. My dads uncle and his wife live there. The house is really old, but it does have some fun memories! We also got to play in the Snow Cat, it is like an off-road golf cart with tank treds for tires, it was a bumpy ride, but had a cover and was heated inside! That night we had a feast of Honey baked ham, cheesey potatos, rolls and broccoli. Then we watched A Christmas Story, a family tradition! Christmas morning we got to talk to my brother in Madagascar. It was so fun! My dad used Skype, and called all our phones, we each had 5 minnutes to ask questions, but we all stayed on the phone to hear what others asked! It was so nice to hear his voice, and we got a good laugh when he called my grandpa and when my grandpa asked who was on the phone, he forgot his name! Then we went back to my grandpas and gave him our presents. The boys all wanted to go shooting, so I decided to tag along. We went to some land near the family ranch. A good chunk of the land used to belong to my grandparents, they sold it to fish and game a long time ago! We found a spot perfect for shooting, just at targets, and set up. We built a fire and set up a nice spot. We had fun trampling around in the 2 foot deep snow, so did the dog! When we were all frozen to the bone, we packed up and left! We got home and realized that we had eaten far more the night before than we thought and had no food for dinner. There was a Chinese restaurant open, and we found it fitting since we had just watched A Christmas story the night before. On the was we passed a taxidermist that even had a leg lamp in the window! The next morning we packed up and headed home. In Blanding, Utah it was snowing lightly, but there was quite a bit of snow! Some people were really snowed in their homes!
Here are some pictures of us sledding:



At the ranch...

With Grandpa:



Shooting Trip...




Snowed in... Glad I don't live here!


Saturday after we got back we got to open presents with my moms side of the family, then made a mad dash to Marcs to open our presents and give our out. We got fun stuff then too! We got a cast iron casserole pot, a cookbook, monopoly, and a few other fun presents! We had fun playing and visiting with them too! We love our family so much! We are so happy to be moving home!

Monday was our one year anniversary! We can't believe how fast time went! It really feels like it has been just a few months! I guess that's a good thing! We got married a day after my cousins birthday, this year she had a build-a-bear party on our special day! I decided I would got meet my family out in Chandler and celebrate her 4th birthday. It was fun to watch all the little girls make their bears! Little girls are very creative with their bears, really who would think of a Cinderella Koala with glass slippers, a wig, and hello kitty undies? Not me! As we were leaving we spotted the Hickory Farms cart in the mall, everything was 75% off! Marc LOVES summer sausage and cheese, especially Havarti, which is hard to find, so I bought him a little present! We then went to Famous Daves, which is the best BBQ ever! If you have never been, you are missing out! It was so delicious and I was stuffed! I came back and Marc had been hanging out with his little brother. We played some games, then Marc and I went out to celebrate out happy day! We went to California Pizza Kitchen which is one of our favorite places! Then we went and saw The Curious Case of Benjamin Button. I was so proud of myself! I tend to fall asleep in movies, but I managed to stay awake for all 167 minutes of it! It was pretty good too! It was really late when it got out and all the shops were closed, but I did get to pick out a new book at the bookstore!

Tuesday we took Marcs little brother and looked for apartments! We will not be back until July, but we wanted to get some ideas. We had fun thinking about when we live here again! We don't like just visiting! We went to FatBurger for lunch, and were too tired to look at more places! We came home and all took naps! It was so nice!

Wednesday we went to my parents to eat the top of our wedding cake that they saved, and we forgot! Good thing we have a few more days here! We also went to visit Marcs grandparents, we love listening to their stories. His grandpa was the US Marshall in AZ and has lots of good stories! Then we played Mario Kart with my brother to help him unlock all the fun things! Then we headed to Ben and Danielle's, Marcs brother and his wife, for a New Year's Party. We decided we are getting old because Marc was tired at 11! We played some games and chatted, and had a lot of fun! We got home around 1 am and went to bed! We did have fun remembering we were in Hawaii last New Years...maybe we should make that a tradition?!

That is what has been going on with us! Happy 2009!