I love you...

We are all trying to help Jackson work on his speaking skills, and so lately Bonnie has been trying to get Jackson to repeat after her when she says " I love you" Well earlier this week Jackson decided that he would work on his repeating back skills except he put his own twist on it. This is the conversation:
B: Jackson, I
J: I
B: Love
J: no real response
B: You
J: me!
Jackson has figured out that she is talking about Bonnie loving him, and so he just skips the you part and inserts "me" for himself every time they practice this. Pretty funny!!!

Daisy Cupcakes

This weekend Sam's brother and his wife get to have their sweet little girl sealed to them and blessed. The El Halta's assignment is dessert, so we decided to do different bite size things. I made cupcakes(which will be frosted on Sat. so no pictures) and then these adorable daisy cookies and Rolo cookies. SO yummy. I just thought the daisy cookies turned out so cute, and Zack did a great job frosting his!!

Rock stars!

Oh these boys make me laugh!!!
The boys and I went to see Mama Mia with my mom a few weeks ago, and Zack loved the music!!!

Well Just in case you were wondering, And I know you were.

Texas Sheet Cake

When I was getting married, a woman that I taught aerobics to gave me a big baking sheet, and the recipe for a Texas Sheet Cake. Now, why I have never made this cake is beyond me. 1. I love to bake. 2. I love new recipes. 3. Who does not want a chocolate cake? Well I have no really good answer for any of these. But I would like to report that I have redeemed myself!!
And I would like to report that this is absolutely the most delicious cake!!! Holy Hannah. It was really easy and I even used whole wheat flour that I ground!

Here is the recipe for anyone that wants to try it:
Combine in a mixing bowl:
2 cups flour
2 cups sugar
1/4 teaspoon salt

In a saucepan, melt:
2 sticks butter
Add 4 heaping tablespoons cocoa. Stir together.
Add 1 cup boiling water, allow mixture to boil for 30 seconds, then turn off heat. Pour over flour mixture, and stir lightly to cool.

In measuring cup, pour 1/2 cup buttermilk.
Add:
2 beaten eggs
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon vanilla
Stir buttermilk mixture into butter/chocolate mixture. Pour into sheet cake pan and bake at 350-degrees for 20 minutes.

While cake is baking, make icing:
Chop 1/2 cup pecans finely.
Melt 1 3/4 sticks butter in a saucepan.
Add 4 heaping tablespoons cocoa, stir to combine, then turn off heat.
Add:
6 tablespoons milk
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 lb minus 1/2 cup powdered sugar
Stir together.
Add pecans, stir together, and pour over warm cake.

Cut into squares, eat, and totally wig out over the fact that you’ve just made the best chocolate sheet cake. Ever.

Interview with Zack

I saw this interview on my friends blog and I just had to copy and ask Zack the same questions. I guess you can tell that we work on listening a lot in our house.

1. What is something mom always says to you?
Zack: You love me
2. What makes mom happy?
Zack: when I listen
3. What makes mom sad?
Zack: When I don't listen
4. How does your mom make you laugh?
Zack: You make funny faces at me an tell me you love me
5. What was your mom like as a child?
Zack: You played( he was responding to my question that I posed in first person)
6. How old is your mom?
Zack: I don't know. 6?
7. How tall is your mom?
Zack: This tall(holding up his arm as far as it reaches above his head)
8. What is her favorite thing to do?
Zack: Swimming
9. What does your mom do when you're not around?
Zack: Look for me
10. If your mom became famous, what would it be for?
Zack: For driving cars (not sure what he think I do that is so cool in the car, but ok)
11. What is your mom really good at?
Zack: playing baseball
12. What is your mom not so good at?
Zack: Playing tennis
13. What does your mom do for her job?
Zack: You work hard
14. What is your mom's favorite food?
Zack: Broccoli and potato soup
15. What makes you proud of your mom?
Zack: That you say Hi
16. If your mom were a cartoon character, who would she be?
Zack: Disney
17. What is something you and your mom do together?
Zack: We play at the park
18. How are you and your mom the same?
Zack: We have the same feet
19. How are you and your mom different?
Zack:Our hair color
20 How do you know your mom loves you?
Zack:You hug and kiss me

Great Examples...

We have been watching lots of Olympics, and this morning women's basketball is what is being broadcast. The US is playing New Zealand, and during the broadcast, the commentators said that 2 of New Zealand's players were not playing today because they are "Mormon" and do not play on Sunday. How awesome is that?!!!! I was so proud of those girls, for standing up for what they believe. The girls were there cheering on their teammates, but not playing.

All I can say, is that I think it is wonderful that those girls were strong enough to stand up for their beliefs, and they will be blessed for it. Sam also brought up how impressive that it is that they still were put on the team, knowing that those girls would not play on Sunday.

Unfortunately, New Zealand lost to the US, but it was a great day for members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints!!! Way to go New Zealand.

Boys...

How cute are these boys?!! Obviously, the 2 on the outside are mine, and the middle boy is our neighbor Bronson. He is exactly Jackson's age. I think they are like 3 days apart, and his mom Breanne is pregnant due in October. It is kinda fun to have a friend next door.
On Monday night we were outside because the boys had Popsicles for their treat after FHE(Family Home Evening) where we talked about missionary work, and how we can all be missionaries. So the boys were trying to be missionaries by including the neighbor and sharing a popsicle. After the popsicles, the boys saw water and decided that it looked like fun to play in it.

Pirates...

We don't have church until 1pm so on Sunday I was making breakfast and Sam and the boys were sitting at the counter waiting for their plates. And this is the conversation I had with Zack:
Z: Mom, pirates aren't good people.
M: Really?
Z: Ya, they don't take showers, they don't take bath's, they don't listen to Heavenly Father and Jesus, they listen to Satan, and Satan is mean.
M: You are so right!!! All of those things are not good.

That was our funny conversation. It was not a long one, but funny!

As a side note, Zack has been talking about Heavenly Father and Jesus a lot lately. He has been asking questions about what happens when we die and where will we go etc. After talking to him the other day about the afterlife, the next day he randomly says:
Z:"Mom, when I die, I don't want to go to heaven with Heavenly Father and Jesus.
M: Why not?
Z: I don't know, I just don't.
M: Ok, well maybe think about it, because Heaven is going to be a good place, and that is where Heavenly Father and Jesus want us to go.

Good times!!!!

Memories of me

I guess I should post this seeing as how I have posted on many of other people's. Here is how you do it.

1. As a comment on my blog, leave one memory that you and I had together. It doesn’t matter if you knew me a little or a lot, anything you remember!

2. Next, re-post these instructions on your blog and see how many people leave a memory about you. It’s actually pretty funny to see the responses.

Addendum to Life in cedar City

****Beware, the following pictures are gruesome!!****

So after taking the cool pictures of the insects on our screen, Zack noticed that the praying mantis decided that it was hungry and started eating the grasshopper. All I can say is NASTY!! There are grasshopper guts all over our screen. As nasty as it is, it is a good teaching experience about the circle of life.

Happy Anniversary!!

I can't believe that Sam and I have been married for 5 years today. I can't say that it has all been easy, but it has all been worth it!!! I am so grateful for Sam and the great husband that he is and how hard he works to provide for our family, and for the great dad he is to our boys. I am very grateful.
When Sam and I were dating, I used to tell him that he was my "Night in shining Armor", and I just want Sam to know that he still is my Night in shining Armor! Thanks for being so great!!!
I wish I could put a picture from my wedding, but I don't know how to work the scanner. Oh well.

I love the Olympics!!!

I don't think that i have enough to say about how much I love the Olympics. It is like Christmas but every 4 years. Just like at Christmas, it seems like wars can be halted and people get along despite their differences. I think the Olympics are the same. Countries that do not usually get along, can still send their very best to do their best for the world to see!!

With the Olympics being in Beijing this year, I have been trying to help Zack learn about China. We have watched the Today show every day this week(and will for the next 17 days) where they have been showing different things about China and different places, and then we got books from the library about China, and I told Zack that on Friday we were going to watch the opening ceremonies, and have Chinese food. Needless to say, it was a fun week as we counted down to the opening ceremonies.

We made Chinese lanterns, and then for dinner I made ham fried rice, and tempura veggies and shrimp, and we watched the opening ceremonies as a family. It was so much fun!!!! And I love that Zack is now recognizing things like the Wall of China etc. Jackson even had fun watching the whole thing, and stayed up way past his bedtime watching all the fireworks.

Zack is watching the mens gymnastics as I write this, and is loving it!!! These are the good times!

The things we find to do here in "Cedar"

Jackson woke up at 6:30 am, and so by like 9:30 or 10 he was out. I thought it was so cute that he just fell asleep on the teddy bear. Zack told me that he was asleep, and not to move him because "he was just fine"
There is a park here that has some kind of irrigation run off that flows just like a river through the park. It is not very deep, so perfect for the boys. We went there a couple days ago and spend like 3 hours and time flew by. * I only got a picture of Zack, because I did not really trust Jackson to be in there by himself, long enough to take the picture.

We have been going through our garage, trying to see what is there and to organize it. One of the things that we found was this Bajio hat that was Zack's, and Jackson obviously took a liking to it, because he came out of there room wearing the hat just like this. It made me smile and I had to take a picture!!! That is Zack under the sheet. He was pretending to be a "ghost" and was having Jack chase him.

The next 3 pictures are from just today. The first is of the boys looking out the glass window and the very large bugs on our screen. The next 2 show in close up, what the bugs are. One of the interesting things about Cedar City are all the bugs. Ok, really I am not a fan, but if they stay outside, it is ok!

Oh the things that Zack says

For those that know and have met Zack, know that he does not stop talking. I am not complaining, I think it is pretty funny the things that he comes up with. Today, being one of those day.

We were in the car after park day, and we did not have anything at home to eat so we were trying to think of something cheep and easy. Zack gave a few suggestions that I said were to expensive, so his last suggestion we Bajio. It would be an understatement to say that We have eaten at almost every Bajio in Utah. The only ones we have not eaten at are in like Salt Lake and Ogden. We eat at Bajio so often, that they are reffered to by who the manager or owner is. Ex: Aaron's Bajio-that would be the one in American Fork. Brian's Bajio-that would be the one here in cedar City, Mike's Bajio- he owns the ones in St. George as well as the one here. So you get the idea, and EVERYONE knows us. Scary, and usually sad to say I am just "peanut's mom".
Well he made the suggestion about Bajio here and I said no. I said it was gross and didn't want to eat there. Zack then began the following conversation:
Zack: Mom, does Bonnie still work for Bajio?
Me: Yes
Z: Then why is she looking for another job if she still works for Bajio?
M: Well, maybe she wants to work somewhere else?
Z: But is Bonnie doesn't work for Bajio, they can't cook their food and then it will be gross!
M: Ya I guess you are right.
Z: So why does she not want to work fro Bajio? Does she want the food to be gross?
M: I don't think she wants it ti be gross, she just wants a new job maybe. Kinda like Daddy. Daddy has a job but is looking for a new one.
Z: You know, the world changes. Things are always changing. The leaves change. People go outside every day to see if the leaves have changed colors.

I know there was more to the conversation about the world changing, I just can't remember it all. Zack cracks me up!!! But have no fear, Bonnie still works for Bajio, so the food is still good. And if anyone is ever in Utah County, the American Fork Bajio is by far the best one of all!!!