Utah Trip

I guess I'm back tracking a little to tell about our visit to Utah in June. First of all - we got there on a Tuesday afternoon and on Thursday I left my girls with my brother and his family for the weekend. I got to have a "girls" weekend with my mom as we went to St. George to help out with my nieces because my sister was having baby #4. I was so excited that baby Kate waited for her aunt Mo-Mo to come!!Such cute girls - all whom were VERY excited for their little sister to come!
Katelyn June Hawkins

Fortunately Ali and Andie warmed up quickly to Jared, Summer, Emma and Carson. They had such a great time!! Summer was a trooper being 8 months pregnant and letting my girls sleep with her while Jared got kicked to the couch. Ali took a liking to Jared and when I returned Saturday night, my kids new names were "Drew" (Andie) and "Bruce" or "Big Al" (Ali). Leave it to Jared!
He soon became the "horse" for Emma, David and Andie. These three LOVED playing together!

Hold on tight.
It's so fun to have cousin's so close in age. Emma was the best little friend to Andie. She would always introduce her to everyone, "Hey guys! This is my cousin, Andie." Even with all the cousins finally were together in town, Emma was introducing "her cousin Andie". It was great! Thanks Emma and David for playing with Andie - she sure misses you guys.
This was our first time meeting little Abigayle! She is so dang cute and ALWAYS had this smile on her little face - I love it!Best of Friends! Andie was always asking for "Day-bed" and David was always asking for "Ann-knee" Funny because when they played together they would usually fight over the same toy or get into mischief (like dumping out 7 puzzles and scattering the pieces together.) We were trying to get family picture with the grandkids and grandma and grandpa. Everyone was cooperating EXCEPT this little girl....she just wanted to sit at the picnic table.
Oh and this little girl. She didn't want to be held - just wanted to wonder around the back yard. The girls LOVED playing in the backyard - I loved it too!
Andie with her cousin Ashlyn - such cute girls.
Speaking earlier of cousins so close in age - here they are all. We sure love and miss you Grandma and Grandpa.My girls are so cooperative....hahahaOffer a little food and they were more willing to smileWe sure had a great time and were glad to be with everyone. We missed Shawn, who was the only one MIA - well and uncle Tys who is on a mission in Chile. Thanks again for everyone's help while we were there - and we love and miss you Grandma and Grandpa - they are doing great in Russia!

Brown Bananas

What do you do when your Banana's look like this?
I wanted to make oatmeal banana cookies, but couldn't find the recipe. I didn't want to make banana bread because it sounded "heavy". Next I looked in the cupboard and found vanilla wafers. So I made this...After a few sprinkles of chocolate chips, I added a whole bunch more in melted form and made this... Yes you noticed...what about those brown banana's? Don't worry - they helped make this...
Then I mixed this....
...and put it on top to finish my masterpiece...
Which made Shawn and I like this....
...and boy oh boy - it was YUMMY!

15-month Check-Up

I know, it is hard to believe - but - Our little Ali girl is ONLY 15 months old. The little stinker would not look at the camera.
She has her new sound, "unt-nu" (Which means NO!) when you ask her to do something. The doctor asked if she could listen to her heart and she said, "Unt...nu" The nurse asked if she could give her a shot, "Unt...nu" It is so funny. Finally I got her trying to put her shoes on
Sort-ofSo here are the stats for our "Big" little girl. She weighed 28 lbs and 33 inches tall. That puts her in the 97% for her age. The nurse handed me a paper telling the "normals" for an average 15-month old. I thought it was fun to compare Ali to the normal...
"Don't worry if you child eats only one good meal a day, as this is normal for toddlers" I wish I could get Ali to ONLY eat once a day...haha. "Most babies have four to eight teeth by now" Ali has 14 and working on 2 more! "Most 15-month old toddlers will know 6-8 words" Yeah....we can't get Ali to stop jibbering. But we love her so much and wouldn't trade her for the world. She is walking/running and talking all over, climbs on everything, EATS everything and loves to play with her sister!
We are glad you are good and healthy - Andie, you better keep up, because this one is bound to run you over....soon!

4th of July, Part 2

I never finished the rest of our 4th of July fun. We enjoyed a great time with people from Shawn's Department at a BBQ at one of his professor's home. It was so much fun, and the food was so yummy. I was excited because there was a point in the afternoon, where I had everyone's attention (probably 10-12 people) as I was explaining about my parents and their mission in Russia. People had questions and wanted to know why they would serve. It was a great missionary opportunity and fun to be excited for my parents. Why would my mom and dad go to Russia for 2-3 years? E-mail me and I will tell you more!

I decided to be patriotic and took a fruit pizza for the BBQ. It was really yummy and everyone enjoyed!
When we got home - the elder's joined us for the evening. Athen's is pretty much dead during the summer - so there weren't any real celebrations. We had sub sandwhiches, chips, soda, and icecream bars for the Elder's. I think they enjoyed. We then played Carcassone and Mormon Bridge and had a fun time!
Then on Monday we were actually scheduled to feed the Elder's. It was a first to make ribs, we don't have a BBQ grill - so we just put them in the oven and then broiled them for the last 15 minutes. They were DELICIOUS!!! Thanks to my brother Jared for the good recipe. It have a feeling these will become a regular on our menu. We also had corn on the cob, rolls, salad and homemade banana-berry ice cream.It was a perfect ending to a fun weekend!

The Wedding

We were invited to a wedding last Friday and we had a blast. It was a very different experience - but a great one at that. Brian and Diana both are students in Shawn's department and Diana lived in the same complex as us, just across the street. We felt like royalty (as I am sure they did) for being invited to such an elite evening.

Here we are with the Gleason's - Brian and Joy. Thanks for hanging out with us! They had table assignments and name tags - it was really neat!To the Happy Couple!!!Oops - I mean congratulations to the Bride and Groom.

Happy 4th of July!

Happy 4th of July!!! We are alive and well and hope to start with our updates again. As I downloaded my camera I had 157 new pictures - yes it has been a while.

Our morning has started out great. I woke up at 6:30 and went running with some ladies in the ward. It was a great workout. We had a ward breakfast, french toast and crepes, at 8:30 and have a Math Ed Department picnic/BBQ (I am taking a fruit pizza and jello - pictures to come) at 2:00pm. Then, we are probably hanging out with the Elder's tonight.

Anyways - here are a few pictures from this mornings festivities. We hope you are all having a great day so far!!




Big Al needed to get her hair done - they look the same size and can wear the same clothes - but Andie still has a few inches on her and a few pounds (4) heavier. They are fun girls!