Family Pictures

This pretty much sums up our family picture photo shoot! Don't all my children look so happy and cooperative? I think Macy is plugging her ears in this picture. How funny! It was complete chaos but also a lot of fun! I can't believe the shots our photographer was able to get with our children running all over the place. Half the time we were chasing Nicholas and trying to keep him out of the streets of downtown Corvallis. He was determined to get away! I was so worried that none of his pictures would turn out but now I think his are the cutest! Wouldn't you know, he fell asleep the minute we got back in the car.


I have to laugh at Mark. He was such a great help to pack the diaper bag and the only treats he stuck in there were M&M's and chocolate Teddy Grahams. Are you kidding me? Our kids looked like they had dirt all over their faces by the time we were done taking pictures from all of our bribery! I don't think you can edit that out! I love the pictures though! They totally capture our real life! I'll post more when I get all of them back! This is just a sneek peak! You can see more pictures here. Kim Greenfield took our pictures and she did a beautiful job. She was so relaxed and cute with our family! We loved her! Thanks, Kim! They are perfect!

Good Southern Cookin'

We hosted dinner club at our house Saturday night and wanted to expose these Northwesterners to some good southern BBQ. We had pulled pork sandwiches with coleslaw and some homemade sauces (compliments of Al & Alyssa Mackelprang) that were all the rave! I made cornbread and banana pudding and freshly squeezed lemonade. Others in the group contributed baked beans, homemade Macaroni & Cheese and fried Okra. It was all so delicious and took us back to our days in South Carolina. We miss you guys... and the food!

Mark's co-worker at the children's clinic in South Carolina shared her famous banana pudding recipe with us! Thanks, Donna! It was my personal favorite dish of the night!

Banana Pudding Recipe:
1 (8 oz) container of Cool Whip thawed
2 cups milk
1 (5 oz) pkg of Instant Vanilla pudding
1 (8oz) container of Sour Cream
1 box Vanilla Wafers
4-6 Bananas
1 Hershey bar

Stir milk and pudding mix together. Add your sour cream and cool whip. Alternate layers of vanilla wafers, bananas and pudding mix in a 9 by 13 glass dish. End with pudding on top. Add chocolate shavings. Chill. Delicious!

A little, red "spicey" BBQ sauce and Al's original Maple Mustard Sauce. They both turned out just perfect and were oh, soooo good!

Kids and Leashes

The twins haven't been lasting very long in their stroller so I picked up these child restraints at Target just to give them a little independence when we're out and about. They are super cute and soft and have a cute little furry friend that hugs them from behind and that seconds as a backpack. I'm sure people are going to think I'm one of those crazy moms that leash my kids but I just wanted to give them a try to see how they fared. The twins are at that stage where they love to run in opposite directions and always away from me. This video is from the first day we tried them on. They were loving being tugged and pulled around. I caught Macy taking Nicholas for a little ride. I had to share!

Lincoln City Getaway!

For Mark's 30th Birthday, I had big plans to surprise him with a night away to the coast. I arranged a babysitter and booked the hotel. It was all "hush, hush" and I was so excited to see the look on Mark's face when he found out. Well, about a week before Mark's birthday, he was scouring every line of our American Express account when he came across the hotel charge in Lincoln City. When he asked me if I thought it was fraud, I had to tell him what I was up to. I was so disappointed that the secret was out. It actually was better that he knew. We had to push it back a few weeks since his birthday landed right on Easter weekend and the weekend I threw my friend her 40th birthday party. We wanted to go when we had nothing to hurry home for.

We stayed at the Inn at Spanish Head, a hotel right on the Oregon coast in Lincoln City. We had a beautiful ocean view from our room and I loved falling asleep listening to the sound of the waves crashing up on shore. The best part was dinner at the Tidal Raves Restaurant in Depoe Bay which came very highly recommended by everyone. We had a table overlooking an ocean cove and were able to watch the sunset as we ate (sappy romantic...I know). The food was absolutely incredible. We had crab cakes, clam chowder, grilled shrimp and fish and a big cookie a la mode for dessert. You would have thought we were starving by the way ate. It tasted so good! It was the first hot meal I've actually been able to sit down to in a restaurant (let alone at home) and enjoy without having to wrestle three kids.

We swam in the heated outdoor pool, sat in the hot tub and shopped the outlets the next day. It was so much fun just to be with Mark. We missed our kids but enjoyed the simplicity of it all.

View from our hotel room!

The happy couple

Frankenstein Sand Art

View from Tidal Raves Restaurant at Sunset

The Beautiful Oregon Coast

Happy Easter

We hope you all had a wonderful Easter! We wish we could have been with our families in Utah but had fun watching Macy, Nicholas and Karlee running around the house finding eggs the Easter Bunny had hidden. Macy kept asking for a Barbie and a "Prince." She thinks Easter is like Christmas. I tried to keep it toned down this year because I don't think Easter should be about the presents. She was very excited to find that she had gotten what she was hoping for. I'm having some regrets thinking maybe we shouldn't have started with Barbies so early. What's next...make-up?


Both Nicholas and Karlee loved opening the eggs and finding jelly-beans inside (which they shoved immediately in to their mouths). I emptied all the eggs very quickly. Nicholas also ate half of a hollow chocolate bunny, tinfoil and all, before we caught him. Little rascal! I can't wait to get rid of all this candy since I am one mostly eating it. But, I must admit that Easter candy is definitely the best!

Nicholas carried around his Easter Basket all morning! I just love this picture. The basket is almost as big as him!

The Difference Between Boys & Girls!

It's been so fun watching the differences between Nicholas and Karlee growing up along side each other. They pretty much reach all their major milestones together, just in their own little ways. In this video, Nicholas and Karlee are just learning how to use spoons to eat with. Karlee has it all figured out. Everything comes easy to this girl. As you will see, Nicholas is having a harder time figuring out why he isn't getting any food in his mouth! I love it!

Celebrating 40!

My good friend turned 40 on Saturday and we threw her a big party to celebrate! We wanted her to turn 40 in style. No "Over the Hill" balloons or gag gifts, just pretty invitations, beautiful flowers, and lots of great food, good music, and fun family and friends. We had over thirty people there. It was a great night and I hope one she'll remember! Everyone should have a party when they turn 40! Happy Birthday, Girl! Your 4o's are going to be great!