More cousin fun!

Bry and Ty (one of my cousins on my mom's side) had fun on Guitar Hero while Brie watched intently with her big curious eyes!

Afterward we divided up into teams...GIRLS vs. BOYS :0), brainstormed 5 possible types of cuisine and ending up drawing Brazillian! (The girls got the appetizer and dessert and the guys got the main dish and drink.) Then off we went to Walmart to buy our supplies.

Appetizer: onion and cheese bread. Big hit!

Drink: Strawberry, banana smoothie.

Dessert: Grilled pineapple (and Coconut Macaroon Crunch icecream, that was our own addition :0))

Main dish: the guys outdid themselves. They made a spinach rice, steak and a delicious ham and black bean stew.

Tyler and Tiffany, we had SUCH a fun time spending the day with you two. Thanks for a wonderful time and fun competition! We'll have to do it again sometime.

"techno samba" anyone? ;0)

C O U S I N S.

You know, I have to admit that I've never been super close to any of my cousins, but I am grateful for all the fun memories we've made over the years. Some of my favorite memories are of many a Christmas Eve spent at Ba and Nana's...having a nice dinner, singing songs, reading the nativity, presents from Ba's bag, and Nana's bag o' goodies--homemade chocolates and all.

Lilli and Brie's 1st time playing together in the kiddie pool.

For the record: I can't believe Brie is old enough

to hold her own in a kiddie pool.

Gotta love the good ol' cousins-in-diapers photos :0)

And fun with stickers. LOVE these pictures of Brie. Thanks for decorating her Lilli :0)

Speaking of cousins, I also remember many a road trip to California to visit my dad's side of the family. That usually invovled eating out, twizzlers, coloring books and us forever asking, "dad, are we there yet?!" I have so many good memories spending time with my extended family and cousins...swimming, riding horses and 4-wheelers, playing pool and games, eating "sugar cereal" :0) and watching cartoons.

Yeah for cousins!

Even though Brie is probably too young to remember, I am glad that she has this time to live close to family and spend with her cousins.

Sun glasses & Sippy Cups.

One Schnazzy little bugaroo, sporting Sue's sun glasses.

...

Brie's first sippy cup. This is a big moment, folks :0)

Our little girl is growing up.

Making good on promised birthday fun.

So our cute nieces, Jocelyn and Jessica, both celebrated birthdays at the beginning of July. (In June we had great plans of making their birthdays special, but ended up s p r e a d i n g out the fun. We didn't make it up to Stansbury Park to celebrate until just this last week.) Instead of buying gifts we thought it'd be more fun to do a dinner/movie sleepover, and I'm so glad we did. We had such a great time!

Here I am with Jocelyn, Jessica and Brie. Bry kindly humoured me...I wanted a picture since we all happened to be in pink. I know, I know...

For dinner we brought up supplies to make pizzas. Such an easy yet fun way to have pizza, especially with kids involved.

For dessert we made our own "Coldstone" creations...the girls were in heaven. After they thoroughly mixed all their mix-ins in...they both had purplely looking icecream. One of the girls pointed out that the purple sky matched. Now that's my kind of observation :0)

To finish off the evening we told the girls that we'd watch one of their favorite movies. I was impressed by the four options that they picked...all such fun classics! We ended up going with "Seven Brides for Seven Brothers."

In the morning we got up and made french toast and sausage and played a quick game of "King, Queen, Beggar" before leaving.

Thank you Hamiltons. We had such a WONDERFUL time!! :0)

P.S. After reading my most recent posts, I've decided that apparently every happy moment for me involves friends, family and food. Sounds good to me :0)

Kiddie pool anyone?

Saturday we had Alan & Liz and Lilli over to hang out AROUND our pool...our kiddie pool that is! Lilli and Brie looked like they were having too much fun and I couldn't pass up splashing around with my little Breebsie. In I went. Good times.

Hmm...I can see why they call this a Kiddie Pool.

Pioneer Day, cont'd.

For our "getaway" we spent the night at Grandpa and Grandma's the 23rd and ending up spending all of Pioneer Day with them. It was definitely the most memorable and fun one I've had!

The day started off by Grandma making us a delicious breakfast. (She is a an excellent cook and hostess.) Then we headed up to Ogden to see a parade float that our Aunt Jolynn had helped to make... as well as our cousin Libby who was one of the carrots :0)

Afterward we ducked into Arby's for some shade and air conditioning and to get a bite to eat. It was Brie's first time using a restaurant booster chair...crazy how fast she is growing up!Grandpa was so sweet to share his lemonade with Brie. He'd "siphon it" into a straw and then pour it into her mouth...she looked like a little hungry bird with her mouth wide open :0)

From there we headed up to see a beautiful home near Weber State's campus that Grandpa and Grandma own. Several years ago Grandpa helped his father build it, so it holds a lot of sentimental value for him. Today they have people who rent it...so they visit often to maintain the house and yard.

Next, as I already posted about, they took us to get icrecream cones at Farr's. Yum! (Cherry chocolate chip, Keebler Grasshopper and Pistachio were the flavors of choice.)

To finish off the day we went to Rod and Jolynn's in Layton for a BBQ. What a GREAT way to spend the holiday...with family!

Pi-o-neer: One that goes before, showing the others the way to follow.

Just a thought or two on pioneers: My dad is a pioneer in our family; he was the first to join the church in his family and is still the only member. How grateful I am for the sacrifices he made AND continues to make to be a member of the church and to have raised us in the gospel.

On my mom's side, the Robertsons, we have ancestors who travelled from various countries and who crossed the plains...motivated by faith and tesimony. I honestly can't imagine the hard, HARD circumstances they lived in, but how grateful I am for their courage and their faith. (My mom has definitely carried on that tradition of faith and courage and determination!)

In a way we are all pioneers.

As we turn away from past and poor ways of doing things we forge ahead into new territory. I hope that in our little family Bryan and I can be pioneers for our children...that we can turn from any patterns and habits and traditions that are not becoming and choose a better way. How grateful I am for a Savior that makes that possible and who will walk with us every step of the way.

(Click link below to watch a short video clip on Pioneers.)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J2rV0ey6Op0

First Quarterly Getaway.

So a few months ago while driving back from Salt Lake City, Bryan and I decided that we wanted to make it a priority to do quarterly getaways.

(Since we're saving up for grad school and on a bit of a tight budget we thought that 2 of those times could be a more low-key, change of scenery option...spending the night away from home but bringing Brie along with us. And then twice a year saving up for something more extravagant...a bed & breakfast or such, just the two of us.)

So this last week we had our first "change-o-scenery-getaway."

It was my turn to plan...

Grandpa and Grandma Steveson were wonderful, as always, to welcome us with open arms. They watched Brie and put her to bed while we headed downtown for a little evening out, just the two of us.

First stop was the Garden Restaurant on Temple Square. We had yummy fruit smoothies and pita chips with artichoke dip to start us off.

Our main dishes weren't super fancy but were fun. Western hamburger for Bry and a beef dipper for me. Pretty darn good and great presentation :0)

Us outside the the Joseph Smith Memorial Buidling snagging a few quick pictures together. Wahoo! ;0)

Next we were off to the temple to do sealings. What a special time. (How grateful I am for a husband who values attending the temple and was excited to hear that that was what I had planned for our "activity.")

We finished off the evening by going to Hatch Family Chocolates for some delicious chocolates, of course, and a mango & coconut italian soda. So fun!

(If you haven't ever been there check it out. They're basically on 4th and 4th in the Avenues.)

In any case, we had a great getaway, in large part to wonderful grandparents who made it possible! Next post I'll finish updating about Pioneer Day. Til then :0)

Pioneer Day.

I think this was one of the funnest most memorable Pioneer Days I have celebrated, thanks to Grandpa and Grandma Stevenson! Having ice cream cones at Farr's Ice Cream parlor in Ogden was just one of the many fun happenings of the day. More to come.

Our new date night craze...

During busy season Bryan was often out of town during the week so we wanted to make sure to really make the most of our weekly date nights. We started getting into dinner competitions (one person had the main course and the other person had the dessert) which eventually led to our latest craze... doing international evenings :0)

Last Friday I did a German theme

(in honor of Bry's mission--Berlin).
A cabbage dish. Bratwurst. Boiled potatoes. Sparkling apple juice. Traditional cookies.

Saturday Aunt Elaine and Uncle Bob

came over for French themed meal.

Chilled cucumber soup. Parisienne Salad. Shepherd's Pie. Homemade baguettes. Crêpes.

We had some fun "parisien café" music playing in the background with a slideshow of my pictures from France. Bob and Elaine added an extra fun touch with their little French phrases, "Bonjour", "Merci", "Bon Soir", etc.

AND last night our good friends Ben and Ashley were
over for a Far East Indian themed evening.
(While doing our Saturday cleaning I noticed one of my silk scarves in my closet and realized that I could pull together some items from around the house to decorate and add to the ambience of the evening. With a little Bollywood music from Pandora.com we were set!)

Raita. Yummy yogurt/almond drink. Curry Chicken. Green Beans. Coconut & Spices Rice. Mango slush. Indian cookies.

Ben and Ashley made the drinks and main dish and Bry and I made the appetizer and desserts. The kitchen was bustling and a bit small for 4 cooks, but the smells from the different dishes were AMAZING! We finished the evening off by watching a Sri Lankan film, "A Peck on the Cheek." We all had SUCH a great time!

Today in Sacrament, in honor of the upcoming Pioneer Day, the speakers spoke about their ancestors who had travelled from various countries to be in Zion. It dawned on me that we could theme our international evenings around our ancestors' native lands...try our hand at their cuisine, listen to some "native" music and share journal entries/stories about the lives that they led. Cool idea, eh? I need to ponder and brainstorm a bit more, but I think we're on to something. What a great way to get more excited about family history :0)

Chocolate Soufflé.

Definition: [soo-FLAY] A light, airy mixture that usually begins with a thick egg yolk-based sauce or puree that is lightened by stiffly beaten egg whites. Soufflés may be savory or sweet, hot or cold. (Source: The New Food Lover's Companion, Secon Edition, by Sharon Tyler Herbst)

The other night Bryan and I decided it was time to try out a new dessert. We skimmed through the Mayo Clinic Recipe Book (thanks to Aunt Elaine!) and found an awesome recipe for Chocolate Soufflé. We invited Tim down to help us out since he is very gifted with cooking. (He is considering Culinary Art School in the future.)

(Tim garnishing my soufflé.)

Et Voilà! A beautiful chocolate soufflé. Delicious :0)

Growing up TOO quickly!

Yesterday I was reading a post (by my dear friend Rebecca) about how it's bitter sweet to watch her little girl grow up. Man, I feel the same way about Brie!!

Last month my brother and sister-in-law, Julie and Walt, welcomed their first little child into their family, Isaac.
Seeing Brie, almost 7 months old, meeting new baby Isaac was quite something.

How much she has grown up since December!

She's doing all those little things I frequently envisioned her someday doing when she was "older".
Eating solids...

(cauliflower all over her face. Wasn't a big hit. But let's be honest, how many people really LOVE cauliflower?! :0))

(Aunt Rachie feeding Brie carrots....for some reason she likes to suck her thumb between each bite. I have no idea why, but it seems to work for her!)

(Brie and her daddy after eating peas.)

(One of my friends gave me the great idea of blending up food and freezing in ice cube trays. It has worked SO well! 10 for $10 frozen vegetables at Smith's has afforded Brie many a healthy meal :0))

Kneeling down and playing with toys...
Standing up (while holding onto things) and sitting down...

WOW! Our little girl is growing up....she's already 7 months old!

(as old as she gets EVERY day I still feel like I have SO much to learn about parenting! Wowsers :0) But, it's good. It keeps me humble and teachable and brings adventure to each and every day!)