Thank YOU!

Here is our new family member Hunter.....with all of his lovely feathers. Thank you so much for all your wonderful comments and great feathers, a new tradition has begun and it is so much fun...like Jillian picking her nose...classic!

Trying to thicken the gravy....not the best but for sure not the worst.

Baby Jake wearing his "i'm stuffed" shirt!

A view of some of the yummy food!

Jake slept the whole dinner...so peaceful.

The simple but pretty table....at least i think :)

Baby Gift!

My friend Nonnie had the sweetest tiniest baby girl a few weeks ago and her shower was today. I had already taken her something in the hospital but still wanted to make her something cute. So, my sister has a very talented friend who does lots of cutesy stuff, but she lives in Texas and would've taken to long to get it to me. I decided to try it on my own. I made a cover for a diaper wipe holder and a burp cloth. I was going on faith since I didn't start it until that morning of the shower. BUT, for my 1st try I thought it was pretty darn cute. Hopefully she liked it as well.

TWILIGHT Baby!!!!!

Last night me and a few friends went to see Twilight-twice- yup you read right. TWICE!
Jamie was the one with the idea and I peer pressured into it. BUT, I am so glad, I had so much fun! It is always a little nerve wracking when a book is made into a movie. Will it be as good...what will they leave out. Will the characters look as I imagined. Of course the movie couldn't put EVERYTHING in it.....i'm not spoiling anything don't worry. The characters were better than some. BUT I LOVED IT! I was sitting there in the theatre and it brought back so many memories of Brett and I when we first started dating and how OBSESSED i was of him, ask anyone in my family...it's crazy how life gets going and sometimes you take for granted the love you have all around you. I am so in love with you Brett and thankfully I am already with you for ETERNITY!!!!!!!!!

delicishhhh treats!

So we were invited to a dinner party in the ward and I was assigned dessert. I was thrilled by the challenge, because i wanted it to be something super good but look really good and look like I spent a lot of time on...hehehe. VAIN I KNOW!
My friend Manda has this great blog on her blog called pickypalate.. really good stuff on there and that's where I found these great treats.
The two I brought were: Double Chocolate little spice cakes w/caramel butter cream frosting. and, Chocolate Chip cookie cup treat! Both super super good. Both pretty easy. The first one takes a little more prep work, but really not much and SO worth it. The trickiest part was finding the cinnamon chips which i went to the Hershey's website and clicked product locator and was able to find them at a store called Wegmans which luckily just opened not to far from us. So here's the receipes for everyone.....have fun and tell me what you think!!!!!

Double Chocolate Little Cinnamon Spice Cakes with Caramel Butter Cream

1 devils food cake mix
½ Cup oil
½ Cup water
4 eggs
8 oz sour cream
1 pkg chocolate pudding mix, 4 serving size
1 package cinnamon chips
Frosting
20 soft caramels, like werthers or kraft
¼ Cup milk
2 egg yolks
¼ Cup powdered sugar
2 sticks softened butter
3 Cups powdered sugar

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. In a stand or electric mixer beat cake mix, oil, water, eggs, sour cream and pudding on medium speed for 2 minutes. Stir in cinnamon chips on low. Fill 24 traditional cupcake size cups ¾ full. Bake for 25-30 minutes or until toothpick comes clean from center. Remove and let cool completely. * I actually used mini muffin tins and cut the cooking time to 16 min. made 65.

2. Place caramels and milk into a medium saucepan over medium low heat until melted and smooth, stirring constantly. Remove from heat and cool for 10 minutes. Place egg yolks and powdered sugar into a stand mixer with the whisk attachment. Whisk until well combined. Slowly beat in melted caramel until well combined. Transfer to a covered bowl and refrigerate until chilled, a couple hours or overnight. When chilled, beat butter and caramel in a stand mixer until whipped. Slowly beat in powdered sugar until fluffy. Spread on cooled cupcakes and serve. * I chilled in fridge for 3 hours.




Chocolate Chip Cookie Cup Treats
½ batch of your favorite cookie dough recipe
3 Cups Mini Marshmallows
2 Tablespoons butter
3 ½ Cups rice crispy cereal
1 Cup semi sweet chocolate chips
2 Tablespoons coconut oil (you can also use heavy cream)
1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Press cookie dough into mini cheesecake tins or mini muffin tins filled about ¾ way full. Bake for 12-15 minutes or until cooked through. Remove from oven and drizzle 1 teaspoon caramel ice cream topping over each cup.
2. Place marshmallows and butter into a large microwave safe bowl. Microwave for 1-2 minutes or until puffed up. Stir in rice crispy cereal until well combined. Scoop a spoonful of mixture and place over cookie cups. Spray hands with cooking spray and press gently to even out.
3. Place chocolate chips into a medium microwave safe bowl and microwave in 30 second intervals until melted and smooth. Stir in coconut oil or heavy cream until shiny and smooth. Drizzle over top of brownies.
12 cookie cups

Gobble Gobble!!

For FHE ( Family Home Evening) We made a turkey which the girls named him Hunter. That's what they wanted. He also has a workout band on his head. Which if you read "The Turkey Race" you would understand. Anyways, we put things we are thankful for on the feathers and then this year we cut tons of extras out and our mailing them off to family for them to write and decorate if they like what they are thankful for. Then they mail it back to us and we put it up on our turkey..hmmm Hunter. The girls are super excited about getting mail and i'm excited to see what everyone writes and does. I hope our family doesn't mind that we are doing this. But it is so neat to see the girls really love an activity. Oh Hunter is up very high on the wall because i fear for his safety. A certain 3 yr. old can not be trusted. And yes Jacob's belly is hanging out Jolie just thought that was way too funny.

Happy Halloween!

PUMPKINS PUMPKINS PUMPKINS!!!!!!!!

MEYERS!!!!!

We had so much fun with our friends the Meyers family. Brett's mission companion and family came up from Alabama for a baby blessing and stayed with us for a week. The girls loved having the boys here. Lucas, Carter and Jaxon. We went to the Baltimore aquarium, a pumpkin patch lunch at Red Robin where i dumped a drink all over me and Jacob. Amanda has a good group picture of us all on her blog. It was so fun getting to know them all over again. I have to say i miss my wife :) We hope we get to see you guys again soon.

Jillian's "DO"

All the girls and I ( jake too) went to the salon for a haircut. Jolie and Genevieve have already had there hair cut many times, but jillian has only had like 2 trims. So this was a big deal for the big cut. I LOVE IT! Her hair looks so much nicer and fuller, but she doesn't look like a baby anymore. The girls were quite the hit in the salon, talking the whole time. At one time while I was getting my hair washed, i heard Genna say i think she's 29. Then Jolie yells yes she's 29, MOM, you're 29 right. Yes jolie' i'm 29. The stylists just couldn't get over i had 4 kids, they made my day when they came up to me and said they thought i was only 22. Man do they know how to bring back a client or what!

ok, not sure how the picture of me got up in the corner, but that's my new do. which i really like, just ignore the no make up.

To Doo or not to Doo!!!!

I have been teaching Pilates at a small club next to my house for a few months. I was hesitant to do it at first just because of the commitment and a husband that works far away....made me nervous you know. But with a persistant owner I decided to give it a go. Once a week for one hour shouldn't be that big a deal right. WRONG! It seems like it's been way more stressful than actually relaxing. They've changed the schedule a few times, plus lots of miscomunication and i've looked like the loser teacher that doesn't show up even though i did tell him i would be out of town. ANYWAYS, we're about to start up again and i'm just not sure if i really want to continue doing it. I really love teaching and it's a great excuse to get out and be healthy. but i have 4 kids and that pretty much tells you right there that life is pretty unpredictable. I don't want to lose the skill either. ahhhh....i just don't know what to do. Tell me what you guys think?

Great Grandma Fox

Jacob was fighting sleep, he fell asleep in my arms 2 minutes later.

Do we have movie stars in the family?
They LOVE their Great Grandma so much.
We were so glad to spend time this weekend with Great Grandma Fox. She lives in Utah so it's a wonderful treat when she comes out for a visit. I know she's still here for a little bit but i just had to put up some pictures. The girls talked her ear off, and jacob probably made her arm fall off, but she would never let you know it. We love you and wish you lived closer!

Does this baby make me look fat?

Brett and I started the South Beach diet on sunday. Well Brett is doing it just to help me, but i don't think he'll last past this week. It's funny because i was dreading it for a week or so leading up to the first day. And now that it's here it's not too bad. I know i'm just finishing day 2 but so far so good right. I was HOPING from all my great friends to have wonderful comments of support and encouragment, NOT, you don't need to diet, why are you doing this...I want to feel and look healthier that is all. Hopefully i'll be able to post an after picture soon....you know in a few months. Wish me luck! Brett too!

Jillian's 1st day of school.

Mrytle Beach

THE BEACH!

Our family went on a great vacation. We went to Myrtle Beach in South Carolina. We stayed in a place that was just like a condo. It had 2 bedrooms 2 bathrooms a kitchen and a living room. A balcony looking at the ocean. A private beach. Because we went the las week in August it was pretty empty. A good price as well :) The girls had so much fun. Brett and I did as well. Brett teased me that i am more a "day tripper" go to the beach for the day and i am good. Which is pretty true. The sand is so evil. It gets everywhere and the salt burns yeah baby. Luckily the place had a water park down the road that was free to us, so we went there a few times and had a great time. they had a lazy river that the girls could not get enough of. We also went to Ripleys aquarium, we saw lots of neat fish and an octopus. The girls got to pet a sting ray and watch a scuba diver feed the sting rays and sharks. Very cool. I took Jolie and Genevieve on the pirate ship ride, you know the one at carnivals and Cedar point that goes super high, doesn't flip over but really high back and forth. Yeah bad idea. Genna hated it, screamed get me off and then buried her face in my arm. Jolie was a little nervous, but i just had her do the trick my dad taught me " Scream it out" She did and it worked, she was begging to go again. We didn't. We did ride the Carousel, which genna chose a horse that didn't move she was still in recoop mode. We also went to Dolly Parton's Dixie Stampede. It is a dinner show. When i called to get the tickets, the lady asked if i wanted tickets on the north side or the south side, so i asked her which was the better seat. She replies well, where are you from. ahh, i see a south vs. the north. Well since we live in Virginia and were in South Carolina we went with the seats on the South. The show was fabulous. The girls were mesmorized and even jillian ate all her food. It was good food too. The south won, although were pretty sure it was rigged :) On the way back we decided to stop at Larry and Mindy's house. Brett's brother and his wife and there little boy James. It was so nice being with them and so nice of them to let us stay a night. We love you guys.
Before we went on vacation, the girls and I were in Michigan for 2 weeks. I of course did not have my camera with me, but i know grandma and Aunt Kristi have some fun pics so i'll have to get them some time. We had a great visit and miss them tons. It's late and i need to go to bed so i will post more pics tommorow.

Major catch up!

these pictures are not in order at all. But I am so far behind I figured who cares. So let's see. The first one is the girls infront of there tomato plants. We had a wonderful experience growing tomatoes. The girls were so excited to watch there tiny plant grow and grow and grow. We had 3 different kinds, are favorite by far was the "100" those are sweet cherry tomatoes. Jillian the candy monster would pop em in her mouth every time which you know they must be good for her to be doing that.

Brett's birthday was small and sweet. I made a cake, yellow with chocolate frosting and the ever popular candy letters. 31 and 4 kids. Phew that is one busy dad.
HAPPY BIRTHDAY!
Another tomato pic, we had big bowls..yup bowls of tomatos.

Jillians plant was the slowest because hers was the big tomatos.
Cheerleading Camp! They went for one week and had so much fun. They got a t-shirt, water bottle. " real pom poms" a spirit stick...you can not drop the stick. a bag they decorated. They even met a few of the redskin cheerleaders. Jolie was very concerened I would throw out the autographed picture they got, because of there immodest clothing. I told her she could keep it for a little while. Magically they have disappeared and she doesn't even notice it.