The Roaming Gnome

We didn't pull him on a sled, we just posed him there for several reasons: Our arms were tired of holding him and we wanted to take pictures of him. Notice his sweet gloves and shoes. He did have a heavy, one-piece footie pajamas under the socks.
Looks warm, huh? Jack and Tristan are in the front and I'm holding Hudson. Brian is the tallest... duh.

Jack preferred to ride, than be towed. He's turned around so he can be the lookout.
The kids spent hours playing cards. (We're missing the boy that's Tristan's age from this pic)
Tristan's catch at the fishing pond.

A scout, a baby, a war and a dog whisperer

This is one of Tristan's Lego Mindstorm creations. In the end it was a "shooterbot" that shot different color balls out. He builds and programs it. Sometimes it reacts to a certain color or movement.

This is the Blue and Gold dinner. Tristan is getting his Bobcat. I'm a blur.

He's mobile! He is SO CUTE right now. I wish I could bottle it up.





Seriously? Look at him!
He crawls under the table and gets stuck... several times a day.

He also loves the dogs and crawls over and pulls their hair. They just tolerate it.

Dog Whisperer and future Vet... but only if they get lunch breaks.

"Mom take my picture again with Cedar... and again..." I didn't post all of them.

The prize the war is being fought over.

In one corner... Cedar the Dog.... and in another corner....
Babyzilla!!!

If Hudson has the babydoll, Cedar sneaks over and quietly takes it out of his hands and takes it back to her bed. If Cedar has it, Hudson crawls over and takes it off the bed and crawls away as fast as he can... over and over.


Mmm... smoothies.

Yummy Buttermilk Syrup

We had french toast at the cabin this past weekend and our friends served it with buttermilk syrup, fresh strawberries and whipped cream. Even Tristan gave it two thumbs up. It was delicious!

Here's how to make it:

1 1/2 c. white sugar
3/4 c. buttermilk (I didn't have any on hand so I put 1T of lemon juice (or white vinegar) in 1c. of milk. Let it sit for 5 min.)
1/2 c. butter
2T corn syrup
1 tsp baking soda
2 tsp vanilla

bring all ingredients to boil (except vanilla) and boil for 7 min. This stuff expands A LOT so make it in a ridiculously large pot. After 7 min, take off heat and add vanilla. Let it cool a bit and enjoy!

We had it on crepes tonight for dinner.

Weekend away

View Weekend trip in a larger map


We had friends ask us to go away with them to their cabin for the weekend. This is a map of where we were. The marker at the top left is where their cabin is. On Saturday morning we drove up, past the lake, to where they don't plow the roads anymore. We then drove snowmobiles up to the second marker. The second marker is where the pioneers first glimpsed the Salt Lake Valley. Even I drove a snowmobile. I was nervous, but it was easy. We pulled the kids on sleds and Brian held Hudson. I forgot my camera, but the other mom took pictures. I'll post them when I get them. I don't even know where we got Hudson's snowsuit, but it wasn't purchased in the last 20 years, that's for sure. It's bright blue with a pointy hat. He looks like the roaming gnome.

On Friday night everyone went night skiing. We went to this tiny resort that was super cheap. Everyone skied except for me and Hudson. I spent the 2 hours sitting in a barn-shaped building with gross floors, sitting on a plastic chair, with no arm rests, holding Hudson, and watching the basketball game on mute. Yeah... I had no cell service. My arms were super sore.

We had a great time. The kids spent the weekend playing all the games I used to play as a kid before non-stop TV and video games. They played sardines, hide-and-seek, Uno, war, BS, etc. They fished at the fish pond and each caught HUGE fish. They were both over 2 feet long. It's a pond on their property and it's catch and release. The fish just keep on growing. We took the dogs and both the dogs got in the pond several times. They boys shot bb guns and did other man stuff. We pulled the kids on sleds around in the field with a snowmobile.
All in all, it was a good time. We wish we had a cabin too!

PS. I forgot to mention that the map was obviously done in the summertime. Picture everything white with snow.

This video is cool

This pretty much sums up Tristan's idea of heaven.

PS. Why is this video so giant?

Heart-shaped cinnamon rolls

Jack is a serious baker. He always wants to help.

Tristan just wanted to do the cinnamon sugar part.


I should have taken pictures of the rolls after they rose and baked. They were yummy, but I next time I'll give more away. We couldn't eat them all.

Jack

Jack posing outside the library this past fall.

Jack angry that Tristan is ruining his carefully crafted photo-shoot.


One thing's for sure... Jack has personality.

Jack goes to afternoon kindergarten and his carpool picks him up at noon. At 11:50am, I said to Jack, "Run upstairs and brush your teeth. It's almost time to go." He goes upstairs with his friend and after 5 minutes he comes downstairs. I hear his friend say, "Your face stinks." Hmm...

Me: "Jack, why does Kalob say your face stinks?"

Jack: "Well, I put on a lot of cologne so that when people think my breath stinks, I can say, 'I didn't have time to brush, so I smell like cologne instead.'"

Me: "What have you been doing upstairs?!!! Go back upstairs this instant and do what I asked you to do in the first place!"

So, in the end, his teeth got clean and he smelled very manly.