Pastry Chefs in Training

A couple days ago I borrowed a Lightning McQueen cake pan from a friend to make a cake for one of Teecee's friends.  Kellon and especially Barrett wanted to make their own Lightning cake, so I decided to let them try their hand at it.  Barrett helped me bake the cake while Kellon was at preschool.  Then that afternoon the two boys decorated this masterpiece.

In their defense, I have to say that Aubree got up on the table where the cake was, and she helped herself to lots of frosting before I had taken these pictures.  She mixed up the colors and ate all of the black frosting (you can imagine the mess on her face and hands when I found her), so I had to try to do some repairs.

As you can see, she was still very interested in that frosting.  Kellon and Barrett were very good sports about it.  They just said that Aubree "redecorated" it for them.  I think that it is quite a masterpiece.  The only trouble we had between them was Kellon scolding Barrett for eating too much frosting and not putting enough on the cake. :)

We all enjoyed eating the finished product!

Electronic Debut

We are officially announcing and introducing the 6th member of our family (4th child).

  I am about 18 1/2 weeks pregnant (due on July 19), so we had our routine ultrasound today.  Everything looks great and right on schedule.  I am feeling really good right now, and I am so grateful for that!  Mom being sick and tired all of the time like I was in the beginning really takes a toll on everyone in the family.  We didn't get any concrete evidence of a girl or boy today, but the tech is speculating a girl--I'm not laying any bets on it for now.  Everyone is really excited to meet this little one after watching it squirm around for about an hour on the ultrasound monitor.  I am so thankful for this modern technology that can bring such peace of mind that everything is alright.

I think we are already getting mooned in this one!

A Weekend Away

We just back today from a Valentine's weekend getaway.  Brice and I got to go to Island Park, ID to a cabin with four other couples originally from our area to go snowmobiling and have a break from our everyday lives.  Brice had to do a lot of convincing for weeks to get me to leave our kids for three days and two nights, but I am glad that we went.  Our friends, Derek and Megan, graciously offered to watch Kellon, Barrett and Aubree for us.  They all had a great time playing with Hallie, Mason and Reece, their kids.  I am so thankful to them for giving us the chance to spend time together.  I got to ride our Skidoo Rev that we just got a couple months ago all day on Saturday.  The only mishap I had was dropping the snowmobile down into a small creek.  Luckily, a couple of the guys got it out with a snow bungee (the most useful tool this weekend).  For those of you, like me, that aren't familiar with these, it is a big rubber bungee cord that you can hook onto two sleds to tow one that is stuck out in a few seconds--so much quicker than digging, pushing and pulling for an hour.  I will have to post pictures later to show how much snow there was and how beautiful the area is.  We were glad to get home to see the kids and sleep in our own bed, but we had a great time while we were away. 

Tonight we got to have yummy chocolate cake to celebrate my parents' 30th wedding anniversary today.  What a great accomplishment!  I am so glad that we can be close our families to share in celebrations like this one with them.  

We all need learning time

Brice and I got to go the the Billings Temple yesterday without the kids.  It was fun to have some time to spend as a couple again.  We haven't been in the temple together for probably a couple of years because one of us stays outside with the kids while the other goes in and vice versa.  We even got to do 20 sealings in the temple, just the two of us.  It was a fun day!  Thanks Grandpa and Grandma George for being great babysitters!  The kids had a lot of fun, too.

Aubree is officially in the book fanatic stage.  The boys have come and somewhat gone from this stage already.  When it gets too quiet around me, I know that Aubree has found a few books.  She usually drags out a whole pile at a time.  Then she sits in the middle of them reading through each one out loud.  At the end she says, "All done."

Kellon and Barrett's newest fascination is a dune buggy game on the computer.  If one is playing the other is watching.  It is amazing how well they can use a computer.  Barrett is able to turn the computer on by himself, get to the internet program and then open the web page to find the game.  Their little minds are so sharp!