This is the place...

Monument park ended up "not being the place" to take the Kids to their 2ND Annual Free Easter Egg hunt this last Saturday. I have learned my lesson and when anything is advertised as "Free" that should be a sign to turn and "head for the hills", my friends! My friend and I took our kids to the Easter Egg hunt and in our decision making, we decided that we would go early and get a good parking spot because we anticipated that the parking would be crazy. Needless to say it was busy, but we were lucky and scored a close spot to the park and made our way up the hill to the small line(to wait our turns to go into the park). We made good time and got to the park around 1:30. The egg hunt was supposed to start at 2. While standing in line we learned that the egg hunt would not begin till 2:30. While waiting the kids became antsy with excitement and we let them run around close to our original spot of waiting in line. As the time drew near we waited close to the line in the general area that we had originally been standing. We weren't in a hurry by any means because the egg hunt didn't start till 2:30 and they said that all of the (I swear 2,000+) people would be let into the park before the hunt began.

Shortly before 2, the line began to move and that is when our good time ended up being a not so fun time. A man in line started yelling at my friend and me as we herded our 4 kids back into the line to start moving. He told us we were butting and that he would do everything in his power to make sure we weren't allowed in the park! He also started telling us that it was unfair to all the other 2,000 people that were in line after us. He told us we were dishonest and couldn't believe the kind of people we were! We tried to calmly tell him that we were in line and had been in line and also that the egg hunt wasn't going to start until everyone was in the park. This made him more mad! To make this long story short, he continued to grumble loudly and speak ill words to us, while the kids just stood there scared. He had completely sucked the fun out of it for us and everyone around us. Seriously! All for a couple dollars of "free" eggs and candy! We should've turned around and came home because our outing just kept getting worse.

When all is said and done, we got into the park and waited another half hour to 45 minutes after being let into the park and the kids didn't get one egg on their own after the whistle to get the eggs was blown. Thankfully, A worker gave our kids each an egg with candy in them. Kaleb got an egg that had a golden egg in it and he won a Frisbee! How ironic! We ended up leaving nearly empty handed and no plastic Frisbee in tow. (My two darling little Frisbey's were with me) The line to get the prizes was like 1,000 people long. Was it really worth standing in line for another 2 hours to get a two dollar Frisbee? No! My friend and I left with crying, upset children, vowing never to go to another "free" public egg hunt for the rest of our lives! To make it up to the kids we stopped for treats at Wendy's! I think they will forgive us with time for subjecting them to the egg hunt torture.Later that night, Mark and I went to Walmart to pick up a swing set for the kids. (A gift from the Easter bunny). Guess who I saw and walked right by? Mr. Crank!!! He saw me and gave me the look of death. If looks could kill my friends, I would not be writing this post and sharing my joyous time that I had at "This is the place" park with ya' all.

I did get some cute pictures of my kids (mostly Karmindy since Kaleb is beginning to think he is too old for pictures) while waiting for the egg hunt to start. There is a plus to every experience I say! Hope all my friends out there have a better egg hunting experience this year than we did. We will be forgoing the city egg hunt this Saturday and holding the 1st Annual Frisbey Egg hunt in our Back yard. You are all welcome to join us and boycott the madness and the notion of "Free!" Since the word "free" attracts the crazies!
Hope you all have a Happy Easter!

Discovery Gateway

This past Thursday, one of my good friends and neighbor invited us (Kaleb, Karmindy, and myself) to go downtown with her and her kids to the Children's Museum. I jumped at the chance because I have been wanting to take the kids there for so long and just haven't had the opportunity to go yet. It was also nice for the kids to go with some of their friends and experience it with them. The Museum is so cute and the kids had a blast checking out all the fun things!! Both Karmindy and Kaleb had several favorites. Kaleb loved the building site area, the Farm and the store. Karmindy loved the farm, holding the stuffed chichens (chickens), riding the tractor and playing in the life like house. We spent the majority of the time in the farm area!! Can you tell my kids long for their country roots? Kaleb was truly in heaven in the farm area and enjoyed hauling the fake bales of hay everywhere and putting his produce on the conveyer belt to load up his crops for the harvest. He also loved planting and harvesting the fake garden. Grandpa DeMille would be proud of his grandkids! It was so much fun to see the kids get excited about this excursion and I am glad that we got to spend the day and experience it with friends!Karmindy gathering eggs from the chicken coup!Karmindy loved the stuffed chichens!

Kaleb and Karmindy enjoying a ride on the horse!Future John Wayne!? He is so comfortable with horses and anything to do with being out on the farm!Loading the veggies they harvested on the conveyor belt.Kaleb checking out his groceries!I Hope this doesn't come to pass for another few years! Jaxon is gassing up the car and these crazy kids are hitting the town!Kaleb helping unload the blocks in the building area! Hard hats are a must!Cheese!The kids flying the Life - like "life flight" helicopter!
A future in show biz? I think these are the future news anchors for channel 5 news! They are handsome and are so charismatic!

Kid's say the darndest things....

So as I was writing the previous post this morning, Kaleb came in and asked when I was going to be done typing on the computer. I told him in a minute and he left the room. After about a minute he came back in and said, "Mom, while I am at preschool today, I need you to do two things for me." I asked what they were and he said, " I need you to take a shower and go to the store and buy me some strawberry yogurt because dad ate it all." Can you believe that? Too funny. Apparently, I need to shower(I must stink and apparently I embarrass Kaleb with my disheveled look of sweats and large t-shirt) and get ready for the day and then go buy the prince his yogurt. I love my little boy!

Spring is in the Air...

The weather has been pretty nice lately and we have had some nice warm days up here in Northern Utah. It isn't as warm as Southern Utah were I grew up but I think I have acclimatized and I am enjoying that hint of warmness in the still cool air! I know that the first day of spring has come and gone but we get a late start on spring up here in the mountains. I love it though! I have been busy getting things ready for Easter weekend and decorating the house with the kids to get them excited for the upcoming holiday. I found this cute wreath at one of my favorite grocery stores and just had to have it. It is gracing my front door right now and I love the

pretty pastel colors!!

I have my daffodils and my hyacinths planted in my front planter and I am awaiting their beautiful blooms. (Hopefully I don't kill them!)

I also enjoy watching this little sweetheart play with the Colored plastic Easter eggs that I have around the house. I also enjoy dressing her up in girly "spring" things and she loves it. My friend made this cute little skirt for her for Christmas and it finally fits her. Isn't she precious? I sure think so!

Meet My New Best Friend...

her Name is Husqvarna Emerald 116. I have been wanting a sewing machine for "sew" long!! After many months of trying to convince my hubby to let me get one, he finally gave in. Thanks Honey! You treat me so good! I also got a great deal on my sewing machine at JoAnn's in Draper! I got over $100.00 off. Hurray for great deals! I brought my new friend home last night and my very talented friend that I have talked about before came over and we went through the owners manual trying all the stitches and gadgets. I think she may have been even more excited than I was! Wink, Wink. Needless to say, I am really glad that I have my own sewing machine and now me and my good friend can get together in the evenings and both sew on our machines instead of sharing her sewing machine. I am "sew" excited to start some new sewing projects.

Two Weeks ago, I "cooked up" this darling little dress for my daughter. The dress originally had a bow on the side where the flower is but I decided that a flower hair clip would be a little less maintenance. I thought it turned out adorable! I can't wait for the weather to warm up a bit so Karmindy can wear her sundress.
This past week I completed my latest "cooking" project... I am pretty proud of myself and I am looking forward to sewing some more skirts like this. Of course they will be in different colors and may have some new embellishments like ruffles and Ric Rac. We will see.. the possibilities are endless!
Check my new blog out to see what is cooking in the kitchen as well as in my craft room!

Lucky Leprechauns!!

Were you "lucky" enough to get a visit from some little green men this morning? We did! Kaleb and Karmindy were so excited when they saw what the Leprechauns left for them! Kaleb was especially excited and asked a million and one questions about where the Leprechauns live, what they eat, what they look like, how they got to our house and how they got in it... Too much fun! Needless to say, it has been a long morning explaining and talking about Leprechauns!

I decided to start the tradition this year of having the kids leave their shoes by the front door so the leprechauns could come in the middle of the night and leave chocolate gold, and some trinkets. The Leprechauns were tricky lil' fellows and left green footprints to let us know that they had visited during the night. The kids loved seeing the footprints as well as their, "Kiss me for Good Luck" shirts and chocolate gold coins. The leprechauns also left Karmindy some pretty St. Patty's Day bows for her hair. O' So thoughtful! O', how I love Holidays and I love making new traditions with my kids! Go to my new cooking blog (and become a follower-wink,wink) to see what the Queen has on tap for St. Patty's Day dinner!! May you have a wonderful St. Patty's Day!! Top o' the morning to you... and the rest of the day to yourself!

Go Jazz!!

On Saturday Night, my brother and sister-in-law treated us to a jazz game! My brother had received some tickets from a lady that he works with in Hurricane. Mark and I had never been before and we had a blast! My brother scored some awesome seats and we were in the lower bowl on Row 16. We were so close to the Jazz players you could see the sweat!! The Jazz played the Clippers and it was a really good game; especially since the Jazz won!! It was so fun to be in such a fun atmosphere!! I loved all the mini games that the Jazz bear would come out and play with selected Jazz fans and it was really exciting to see the Jazz players in person. Watching Jazz games on TV will never be the same again! Mark and I want to go back again soon! Some of the highlights of the evening were trying to find a free place to park in crazy down town SLC (yeah we are cheap), seeing a random lady wearing only a bathrobe and tennis shoes walk down the street, watching some of the crazy fans dressed up like Cavemen and cheering for Kayman on The Clippers team and riding the tracks with some real questionable individuals sitting next to us. Oh the memories!! Thanks Kaden and Amber for a fun weekend of memories! I love spending time with my brother and his wife! Love you guys!My Sister Kamberee loaned me her Kyle Korver Jersey to wear! You never know when you might get lucky and run into the athlete and get an autograph. Sorry Kam I tried. I even thought about running out on to the court but I think that single act might have ruined my clean record and put me in jail.The Jazz Warming up before the game!Kaden and Amber!!

The Mayan Adventure

On Saturday Morning(3/6/10), my brother Kaden and cute sister- in- law came up to see us and spend the weekend with us! They made it up to Northern Utah early and we met up with them at the Mayan in Sandy. It was Kaden and Amber's first wedding anniversary and they wanted to try out the Mayan for lunch while they were up for the weekend. We also hadn't been there yet so it was fun try something new. For those of you that haven't been to the Mayan, it is a Mexican Restaurant that is decorated like a Mayan jungle inside and also has a spectacular show of super hunky professional divers that do awesome tricks off gigantic boulders into a tiny pool below. We got awesome seats and really enjoyed the show and atmosphere while we were eating. We weren't too impressed with the food but it was fun to try and experience "The Mayan Adventure!"Kaden and Amber- The cute Love birds. They are going to have a baby in August and I am so excited to be auntie a 3rd time!Karmindy enjoying her chips and salsa.Kaleb sat right on the edge of his seat the whole time! We had such good seats and could see the divers when they were preforming!

It's the most wonderful time of the year!!

No it isn't Christmas time but it is almost as exciting! It is Girl Scout Cookie time.....I don't know about you but the Girl Scouts have my number and also a key to my heart (or actually my stomach.) One of the Activity Day leaders that I am over in Primary has her daughter in Girl Scouts. She sent me an email back in February telling me that her daughter was going to be apart of selling cookies and wanted to see if I was interested in ordering any. So of course I bought 5 boxes from her- 2 boxes of Samoa, 1 box of Tag-a-longs, 1 box of Lemon Chalets, 1 box of Dulce de leche cookies!! I love girl scout cookies and always look forward each year to Girl Scout cookie time. My favorites are the Samoas!! They are tiny, delicious morsels of yumminess. Ssh! Don't tell anyone but I could truly eat a whole box by myself. This year I decided to go out on a limb and try some new cookies. I got a box of the Dulce de leche and the lemon chalet cookies. I was pleasantly surprised how yummy they were but "Hello!! they are Girl Scout cookies so of course they are going to be yummy!" I have decided that the Lemon Chalet cookies and the Samoa are my favorites. Mark likes the Tag-a-longs, Karmindy likes the dulce de leche and Kaleb loves the Lemon Chalets. Go figure? What child would pass up peanut butter, chocolate and caramel and go straight for Lemon flavored cookies? Apparently Kaleb has sophisticated tastes for a 5 year old. What are your favorite Girl Scout Cookies?

Mad Hatter's Tea

Some of my very dear friends and our wickedly cool head attire-Natalie, Amy, and Ashlee (Me).

This past week, my ward had their Relief Society Birthday party. The Enrichment committee came up with a darling idea- A Mad Hatters Tea. The one requirement of the evening was to wear a crazy hat or some fun head wear. I have the traditional hats and some new "old school" paper boy hats but nothing crazy. The only thing that I could think of that was kind of sassy and fun was a faux fur tiara that my daughter has. Luckily, it fits my head so I wore it that night! When I first got to the Tea, everyone wrote down their names on sticky name tags to wear. We had a light dinner of croissant sandwiches, salad, carrot cake and fruit kabobs with dip. Each of the foods that we ate that night had some little thing attached to it saying, "Eat me," "Drink Me", and other phrases from Disney's Alice and Wonderland. The gym was decorated very cute in whimsical decorations. My Favorite decorations were giant playing cards made out of stiff foam card board. They looked like the playing cards from the movie and were set up around the doors. I always enjoy the annual R.S. Birthday party because of the cute things that the RS puts on and comes up with. I had a fun night hanging out with some of my friends and also had a fun time getting to know other women in my ward.

The Queen has Spoken...

I am really truly thrilled to be sharing my love of cooking with friends and family. I have enjoyed cooking since I was a young girl and I had an excellent teacher who encouraged me along the way...My mother! I can't think of a better cook. My Mother has truly inspired me to try new things and to get in and get my hands dirty in the kitchen. I appreciate her for always taking the time to show me how to make things and talk me through a procedure; especially since she didn't have the support or encouragement during her youth to help out in the kitchen. My mom started from "scratch" and in my opinion has evolved into a Culinary Queen over the years. A true thank you to my mom for always believing in me and encouraging me to do the things that I love. If I can become a wonderful cook so can you!!
Please feel free to follow me as I cook my way through new and old recipes. I invite you to embark with me on this Culinary quest in my becoming a Culinary Queen!!My new blog is www.theculinaryqueenbee.blogspot.com or click here.

Please dear friends follow this link and become a follower of my new blog and grab my button!

Quick Family Trip...

-PIRATE ISLAND PIZZA-(The Krackin- Our super huge pizza that we all dined on! It was seriously as wide as our table)

This past weekend, Mark, the kids and myself jetted off to Southern Utah for my youngest Brothers wedding. We left early in the afternoon on Friday and were in Hurricane (my hometown) around 6. We usually don't get into town until late so It was nice to get there earlier because it gave us time to meet my brother and sisters for dinner in St. George. Kaleb has been begging us to take him to Pirate Island Pizza each time we visit. He has had an obsession with Pirates lately and we(all the adults) decided to indulge him. We all met up and had a fun night of talking and eating. My favorite part of the evening was when Karmindy pulled a huge jug of Root beer on the both of us!! Can you tell that I am saying this dripping with sarcasm? I can laugh about it now but I was so livid during the moment. What a fun way to finish off an evening being sticky and wet. Needless to say it was a long drive back to Hurricane that night for the both of us. You gotta love the joys of motherhood!! However, Kaleb had a blast and enjoyed wearing his pirate hat, playing the arcade games with his dad and getting lots of attention from his aunties and uncles! I enjoyed visiting with my Brothers and Sisters. I am really glad that we got to spend some much needed time together and it was fun to enjoy each others company and the fun atmosphere that Pirate Island Pizza had to offer!My cute little niece Kenley sporting her Pirate hat!Kaleb hanging out with his Uncle Kaden- he idolizes his Uncle and follows him everywhere!Ross, Kamberee, Me, Mark and Karmindy enjoying each others company!Kaden, Amber and TiffanyMark with his girls!

KARSON & KAMIE'S WEDDING
Karson and his Girlfriend Kamie got married on Saturday at the Villa Gardens in St. George around 11 am. The wedding and luncheon were nice and it was so nice to see them so happy despite that Karson had a really bad flu bug. Mark and I took the kids and we enjoyed seeing extended family and the luncheon that they had afterwards. For the luncheon they decided on ordering everyone their own personal chicken salads from Durangos. I have never seen this done before and I loved the idea! Again, it was so fun to spend time with family and I enjoyed holding my nephew Traeson and my little niece Kenley. I can't tell you how much I love being an Auntie!! Holding them makes me a little baby hungry. Now if I could just get Mark to agree to letting me have another baby!Kamberee and Kaleb enjoying their salads!
Me holding my cute niece Kenley!
My little darlings!
Kamie's beautiful bouquetMark, me and Karmindy(ready for a nap)My sweet sis in law Amber and Kaden!My Daddy, me and Traeson!
My Grandma DeMille and me, oh how I love this lady!The Happy Couples- Kamie and Karson and me and Mark!

THE JOY OF FAMILY
One of my kids favorite things to do when we travel to Southern Utah is to spend time with their Aunties and Uncles and especially their Grandpas and Grandmas(all of whom spoil them rotten). After the wedding on Saturday morning we headed over to Mark's parents home to spend some time with his parents and siblings. It was fun to be able to visit with them and also eat dinner together that night. Kaleb and Karmindy enjoy visiting each of their Grandparents homes because they get so spoiled. Bob and Laurie (Mark's parents) just returned from a Hawaiian vacation and brought us back presents. The kids wanted to wear their shirts right off! We are so glad we got to spend some time with them before heading home. Along with spending time with both sides of the family, Kaleb really enjoyed holding his little niece Kenley. Everytime I would ask him if he wanted to hold her, he would jump right up and say, "yes!" He truly loved holding his cousin. Karmindy also liked patting Kenleys head and holding her hands. It is so cute to see my kids enjoy spending time with their little cousins.