Wizard of Oz

Anna has had so much fun this year in her dance class. Tonight the dance studio presented the Wizard of Oz. Anna was a tornado and a jewel. She did a great job!

Anna loved being a tornado! This was her favorite dance.

I am to blame for not getting a good shot of her during her jewel dance, I was too busy watching and forgot I should be taking pictures.

The happy dancer!

Only in Utah would they build an Emerald City out of green jello cups and then have them for refreshments during intermission. Andrew and Danny were in heaven.

My Flag

Andrew's preschool teacher is a city councilwoman, so the kids got to sing the song My Flag at a city council meeting. Andrew did a great job and of course you could hear him!

School Carnival

The night of my brother Craig's graduation, Danny took the kids to Anna's school carnival. Anna and Andrew had a blast playing the games, jumping in the jump house, climbing the rock wall, and eating good food. Danny also had a fun time bidding on items at the auction. Hopefully, I can make it next year.

Anna loved getting her hair done at the Paul Mitchell booth.

Happy Birthday Andrew!

Andrew turned the big 4 on April 26th. My parents were in town for my brother Craig's graduation, so we had a fun birthday weekend. Andrew of course had to go to the Brick Oven, just like Anna.

Getting Big

Nathan has had a massive growth spurt. He weighed 6.5 pounds when he was born (9%) and was 20.5 inches long (45%). Well, at his 4 month check up last month he weighed 17 pounds (86%) and was 26.5 inches long (92%). He is definitely now a big boy! He is so much fun. I have a feeling he is going to be trouble when he is a toddler just like Anna and Andrew. He is always moving and wants you to carry him around so he can see everything that is going on.

Andrew is in a super hero phase. Everyday when he gets dressed he asks what super hero he is dressed like. He loves transformers, cars, and GI Joe too.

A couple of weeks ago, I took the kids to see a musical put on by the 5th and 6th graders at Anna's school. They did the play Sleeping Beauty. Danny was out of town for work, so I was on my own. Anna and Andrew decided they wanted to sit up front on the floor, so they could see better. I was near the back of the gym with Nathan. Well, it got to the part when the witch gets Sleeping Beauty to prick her finger and she falls asleep. All of sudden I hear crying and someone saying, "This is too scary" over and over. Instantly I knew it was Andrew. I was trying to figure out how I could get to him as the aisles were packed with parents filming their kids. A nice woman in the front tried to comfort him, but once Andrew starts crying it is pretty hard for him to stop. He then came running back to me and we made it to the very back of the gym where he could calm down.

I guess there will be no horror movies for him when he gets older!

Anna is your typical first born girl, basically she is Andrew and Nathan's 2nd mom. Nathan adores her, but I think Andrew thinks she is a bit too bossy. She also has an admire at her school. He wrote her a note asking if she would be his girlfriend and she had to either circle yes or no. Anna told me she didn't know what to do because she likes him as a friend, but doesn't want to be his girlfriend. I told her to tell him that she is to young to have a boyfriend, but that she still wants to be friends with him. After she said this, he looked at her kind of funny and asked, "How old are you?"

Easter

On Saturday, Anna and Andrew participated in the city of Provo Easter egg hunt. It was lightly raining, but that did not take away from the fun. The Easter eggs also had some great prizes - Anna got a free pedicure in one egg and Andrew got a free meal at Chili's.

We then headed over to Macey's to meet the Easter Bunny and go on a Easter treasure hunt throughout the store.

Look who's 32!

Danny wakes up each morning at 5:30 AM and immediately gets on the phone to talk with his co-workers in India or on the East coast. Usually around 8:00 AM he is done with his calls and will come and have breakfast and take a shower and get ready for the day. For his birthday today, we had birthday breakfast cake ready for him after his calls (Anna and Andrew couldn't wait and had some cake before as you can see from the picture). We then opened up presents real fast before Anna had to go to school. Tonight we will celebrate some more by going out to dinner (thanks Brandon and Amy for watching the kids).

India

Two weeks ago Danny went to India for a week for business. Luckily I was able to talk my parents to come down for a visit that week, so I had plenty of help at home. Danny enjoyed India and meeting with some of the people with which he works. His only complaint was that he feared for his life every time he drove anywhere. He has never seen such bad driving. I was also disappointed that he did not try any food. He ate granola bars everyday for breakfast and Pizza Hut for lunch and dinner. I don't know why he is so afraid of food!

Outside the hotel room



An Indian Mosque



Danny with some of his team



Anna and Andrew with some clothes and new toys from India

Crock Pot Recipes

Every month a group from church meets together and shares recipes. This month the theme was crockpot recipes. Here are some of my favorites from the night:

Crock Pot Applesauce (Trina Smith)

5 large apples, peeled, cored, and diced 1 Tbsp. lemon juice
1/4 cup water 1/2 tsp. cinnamon
1/2 tsp. pumpkin pie spice 4 Tbsp. brown sugar
1/2 cup sugar 1 tsp. honey
1 tsp. vanilla

Turn crock pot on high and put 2 Tbsp. butter in bottom. Butter melts as you're preparing your apples. Mix all ingredients and pour in crock pot. Bake 3 hours on high, or turn on medium before bed and wake up to warm applesauce for breakfast. Mash to desired consistency.

I made this and I thought it was good, but a little sweet. I think you could halve the sugar and it would still taste good.

Crock Pot Lime Chicken Tacos (Lisa Jensen)

1 1/2 pounds boneless skinless chicken

Put chicken in slow cooker on low 5 to 6 hours. Shred chicken and cool slightly.

Combine:

3 Tbsp. lime juice
1 Tbsp. chili powder
1 cup corn
1 cup chunky salsa

Stir salsa mixture into shredded chicken.

Serve in tortillas with favorite taco toppings.

Very good!

Anna hits the jackpot

Back during the holidays we participated in an office pool for the college football bowl games. Anna actually ended up winning the whole thing which amounted to $315.00. She decided to use her money by buying an American Girl Doll, donating goods to children in Russia where my brother is on his mission, and putting the rest in stocks. Here are some pictures of her with her new favorite doll which she decided to name Amy.

The next picture is of Nathan who is getting huge. He is not quite the scrawny thing he was when he was born. I am interested to see how big he will be at his 4 month check up next week.

The last picture is funny to me. Nathan had fallen asleep on the couch and Andrew was watching a show on TV or so I thought as I was hurrying to get stuff done.

Nathan 2 months

I can't believe Nathan is already 2 months. I was anxious to see how much he weighed at his appointment. He was skinny when he was born (in the 8th percentile), but average for height. Well, he has done a good job of gaining weight and is now in the 58th percentile, so pretty much average now with his height and weight. He continues to be a really sweet baby. As long as his tummy is full and he is not sleepy, he is happy to just watch the craziness around him.

Nathan still has blue eyes. I think they will either stay that color or be a green or grey color. I thought for sure all my kids would have brown eyes.



We could only get him to smile if I was holding him, so here you go.



Anna walked in when we were taking the above picture and wanted to be in a picture too.



And finally Andrew came in yelling, "Don't forget about me!"

Anna started piano lessons this year after I realized that me teaching her would not be a viable option. She had a piano recital the Monday before Christmas which was nice because my parents were able to come. She did great at her first recital.

I also forgot to post the pictures from Christmas of the kids with Santa, so here it is. Luckily they were pretty good this year and got the presents they asked for.

The Saturday I came home from the hospital with Nathan, Danny took Anna and Andrew to the Dinosaur Museum at Thanksgiving Point. They had a blast and it was nice to have a quiet house for a little bit.

Danny also took Anna and Andrew down to St. George Thanksgiving weekend to see his mom, Ally, and Jenny and her family. One of the highlights was to go to Zions National Park. I wished I could have gone, but again it was nice to just stay home in a quiet house with a newborn.

Anna and Andrew with cousins Ben and Lucas

Anna's Art

Back in November Anna was honored at her school for some of her artwork. She entered the contest all by herself. I knew about the contest, but didn't want to worry about it since I knew I would be having a baby around that time. So, I was surprised when I got a call from the school saying she had won and would be moving on for her age group. Anna has always been really artistic, which is nice since I have no artistic ability at all.

Anna with her winning piece of art. A sculpture of a ballerina made out of a paper plate, cup, spoon and forks.

Anna loves to dance. She has been taking lessons this last year from the Ruby Shoes dance studio. It has been great! Anna was able to perform in Peter and the Wolf as a baby bunny and then in a Christmas nativity as a star. She can't wait to start taking lessons again in a couple of weeks.

Christmas 2008

We had a fun Christmas as usual. It was fun to have my parents here with us. They are really my best friends and my kids love them so much. On Christmas Eve we had french dip sandwiches for dinner. We played the chimes (Anna could have done this all night long), read scriptures about Christ, and sang carols. The kids then got some pajama's from Santa. Christmas morning was fun to see all the presents from Santa. Anna's favorites were a telescope and a Barbie Jet. Andrew loved his train set and transformers. Danny and I love our Blendtec blender from my parents. I love that it can grind wheat and it makes great ice cream.