SALT LAKE CITY, HERE WE ARE!!!

Hello, all!  We are back from the blogging dead!  Since moving to Salt Lake City a few days ago, I decided I better start up the old blog again as we are now (again) living away from most of our closest friends and family.  It has been yet another sad move for us - we just loved our time back home in Henderson, and are extremely sad to leave behind those we love so much.  But, on the bright side, we have been breaking into our new home and life, and are enjoying our time here so much!  

Today we spent the afternoon at Sugarhouse Park - just a few blocks away from our new home, and we had a blast!  We fed the birds...  topins a bag.  Actually, food stamps paid for the bag.

 Penny's classic funny face. 

 These beautiful mountains are the view just to the southeast of us.  They take my breath away every time I see them.  They fill my soul. :)

 We played at the playground!  Blake ate the swing.  Cutest baby in the world.

And to finish the afternoon off, we hung out by the stream.  That picture of goofy Penn holding the stick and Ada posing defines exactly who they are!

A Weekend with Grandma Jules and Papa Oren

Last weekend we were so happy to have Grandma Jules and Papa Oren come and visit us. We haven't seen Julie and Oren since Christmas, so it was a visit that was long overdue... we missed them so much! We had such a fun time just talking, catching up, and spending time with eachother. We are so blessed to have such a wonderful family who we love so much. We started our weekend out at Kyle's Medical School Clinician Ceremony. The ceremony signifies the end of the 2 classroom years of Medical School, and the beginning of his schooling in a clinical setting. We're half way done with Medical School - Yay, Ky-Bud!

Afterwards, we went to BJ's with Grandma and Grandpa and our buddies the Radmalls. And just so ya know, their fish and chips are FABULOUS!

The girls had so much fun playing with Grandma and Grandpa, and we had so much fun talking with, shopping, and hanging out with them... Grandpa Oren taught Ada how to really tease and bug Kyle - by calling him a "girl"! There hasn't been a day that's gone by without Ada jabbing Daddy. It is absolutely hilarious... she definitely inherited her Dad's and Grandpa's teasing skills!

Ada and Grandma playing Memory and Candyland... of course Ada just can't get enough.

One of the best weekends ever! We can't wait to live closer to Grandma Jules and Papa Oren, and look so forward to seeing them next month! We love you guys!

The Dreaded 3-0!

Oh, My. Oh, My. I can't believe it happened?! My big sister turned the big 3-0 today! Scary? Yes. Because where she goes, I will be. Fun? The BEST. We had the funnest girls' night out yesterday celebrating Natalie's Dirty Thirty Momentous Occassion. And by the way, she was such a good sport... she wore that birthday crown all night last night!

We started off at the Lucky nail salon and all got pedicures. Some rare royal treatment for us poor folk. It was fabulous.

Here is Kristin squirming and laughing her head off...

because her Pedicurist was doing this... the dreaded cheese grater! I must admit, it is REALLY hard not to squirm and laugh when they take the zester to your foot - anyone else have that problem?


Sexy, or what? I guess only if you have a foot fetish?


We were then off to Ichiban Japanese Grill for some yummy and pretty much the funnest food you can get - right?? We only had eggs, spatulas, and salt and pepper shakers hit us in the head a few times. It was great fun.

And then, I am ashamed to admit, the sinning started. Because when you mix a bunch of this...

with this...

and a few of these...

not to mention a pound of melted this...

the final outcome is this sinfully delicious masterpiece!

Salted Caramel and Chocolate Ganache Cake. THE. BEST. CAKE. EVER. Nevermind the fact that it took me 4.5 hours of mixing and measuring and using a candy thermometer and assembling. It was SO worth it. If you would like to be the committer of the most decadent, amazing, rich, sweet, and succulent sin ever - all you need do is go to MarthaStewart.com and download the recipe for the Sweet and Salty Cake. Yes, that is salt sprinkled on top... delicious.

Overall, it was such a fun night! Natalie, I love you so much. Thank you for being my best friend. I hope you had the Happiest of Birthdays because you truly deserve it.

... and p.s. - ha, ha... You're 30!

The Big "R" Mountain

Last week Kyle actually had a little free time so we decided to make a family outing of it! We live pretty close to Reno's big "R" Mountain... close enough to make it a little 2 hour walk/hike from our front door. Can you see the R on the mountain in the photo below? That was our goal, and I wasn't quite sure if we were gonna make it having the clutziest 2 year old in the world, but we actually did okay!

We first had to walk through a few neighborhoods to get to the trail. While walking, we were trying to get Ada excited about getting to the R, but she was kinda having a hard time. There were a few times when she really got confused that we were even going to the R because she couldn't see it. We were definitely on the right path, but the view of the R was often times obstructed by homes or hills. I thought this was a great object lesson that she pointed out: the same is life. We know what our destination is, but there are so many things that can obstruct our view and divert us off the right path... we really just have to have faith in the path that has been outlined for us to arrive safely.

Just up the hill! We actually had fun when we got to this point of our little travel. Ada is obsessed with Dora, and I think she really felt like a true explorer trudgin' up the mountain! All of us were even singing Dora's song "Come on, vamanos - everybody lets go! Where are we going? Big R Mountain!" You definitely know you're a parent of a 2 year old when you have all the Dora songs memorized...

We Made It!

Views from the Mountain. O, Reno, Reno...

We are definitely going to miss Reno when we're gone!

Everything Easter

So, I have, of recent, had an epiphany... Easter is my absolute most favorite Holiday-hands down. I'm not just talking about the BEST and most AMAZING candy that seems to only come out around this time of year - but everything about it! We get to celebrate Christ and his atonement and crowning ressurection! I mean, Christmas is great, but we tend to focus so much on the nativity and His birth when the real and most awe inspiring reason He came was to do what we celebrate every Easter - to free us from every bad thing that could ever possibly happen to us. To give us eternal life! Woo hoo! I love that at Easter time the ugly winter starts to melt away, and warmth and color come back into our lives. And to top it off, we get to watch General Conference at Easter time (which I get very excited about). Life is grand, isn't it? Here are some things we've been doing to to Celebrate our Easter Week...

Ada and Penny in their Easter Dresses.

Ada giving Penny a dandylion... what a sweet big sister. :)

Ada loves rolling her tongue...

Pretty Penny.

Thanks, Grandma Neibaur for the cute Easter Dresses!!


Dyeing Easter Eggs

GLITTER EGGS! My friend Rebecca gave Ada that cute little apron.

Although an artist, Penny refrained from helping too much knowing that her oral fixation usually gets the best of her in such situations... we know you'll nip it in the bud someday, Penn.

The Fam, as taken by the wall. It was pretty early... morning breath and all.

"Ta-Da!" Can't you just see her saying it in this picture?? It is definitely one of her favorite phrases...

Carrot Cake Cupcakes

We went over to Natalie's house to make our dessert for Easter dinner on Sunday. The best carrot cake cupcakes ever - with extra walnuts! Natalie, Cozette, Ada and I had such a fun time decorating...

and Ada planted a garden...

Ada - not so sure she can really eat it now... and cute Claire in the background.

YAY!! We love Easter!