Friday, October 23, 2009

The Mighty Hunter...and good family times!

Alan got his first Buck ever! All week long Alan, along with my dad, brothers, and friends have been hunting from when the sun comes up to when the sun goes down...my mom and I have felt a little abandoned. My dad got his Buck on Saturday, the first day of the hunt, which never happens, and Alan got his on Tuesday. It was kind of a team effort to get Alan's deer down. Reed, Dan, and Alan all shot it, but Alan shot the killing shot. I'm so proud of him! It's a 2X3 so it's even a good size! Good job honey! (Sorry for those of you who don't enjoy looking at a dead deer...)



Here is Reed actually skinning my dad's friend Cory's antelope that he got last week.

This may gross some of you out, but when we were little we would play with the deer feet after my dad cut them off...I know it's a little morbid, but Reed bribed JD with Ice Cream if he would play with them. He was a little skeptical, but he thought he was pretty cool afterward.

It's been so nice to have all of my family in town. Reed and Rachelle have been transfered back out here! So they will live in Las Vegas and we are all so excited for them to be closer. I haven't seen my brother in two years, so that has been very fun! The kids were enjoying crawling all over Alan one night at my parents so I made them pause for a picture. Can you believe how big they are all getting? It's crazy!

We've been trying to show Madison "gentle" and "soft" with baby McKinley. I'm so afraid she's going to grab her and break her, but she is very interested in looking at her and touching her. Here are Rachelle with Madison and McKinley (with Brooklyn on the inside). Can't wait until there are 3 of them to all play together!

You can just tell that Reed is so excited for his little girl to get here. He loves Madison and McKinley so much! I can't wait to see him with his own little girl!
On the first day of the hunt my Mom, Beth, and I decided to take the kids to Pirate Island Pizza to get some energy out. They loved it! JD played some games and won a Twizzler and a little finger monster thing.
Garrett loves to just run around and go everywhere! He's such a little ball of energy.
Afterward we went to a park to sit outside because the weather has been so nice lately. The boys played and the girls sat in the shade. Madison would love to get down and play too, but I told her not until she walks and stops eating wood chips. It shouldn't be too long!
And little McKinley! She's the easiest in the group. I forget how nice it is to just have a baby that lays there and sleeps all day...sigh. Isn't she beautiful?
I feel like I haven't updated about Madison for a long time so I will tell a little about her doings lately.
First of all she is everywhere! She is crawling super fast now and loves to go up (and somewhat down) the steep stairs in my home. She gives me a heart attack because she seriously has no fear. She thinks she can do big people things because other people can, but she isn't always successful. She's fallen a couple times, but has only gone down 1 or 2 stairs. I'm not looking forward to when it will be the entire way down. But there's no keeping her away from them...gates help.
She is trying so hard to walk. She has taken some steps and is getting closer, but she's not quite ready to let go. She has been walking along things forever it seems like, but just won't let go yet.
I've been trying to gradually take the binky away and only give it to her at naps and at nightime. I'm not very good at it because, sad as it is, it's a way to stop the noise...But I really don't want her to be a little addict (although I think it's already happened.) If you have any advice on taking it away, it would be much appreciated.
She was teething last week and was ornery as ever. It is so hard when she teethes. I wish that they would just come through and get it over with. She's happier this week then last, but I know it's not the end of it.
She is getting so big and will be a year old in a month and half. It makes me sad to know that before I know it, she's not going to be my baby anymore, but my little girl. She is so fun and the biggest joy in my life.

Wednesday, October 14, 2009

McKinley Abigail Olsen




Here she is! My beautiful niece McKinley was born on Monday October 12, 2009 at 12:08 PM. She was 7 lbs. 1 oz. and 19 inches long. She is so beautiful! They came home yesterday and both Beth and baby are doing great! Welcome to the family McKinley! We love you!

Wednesday, October 7, 2009

Yay Madison!

Saturday, October 3, 2009

Pumpkin Carving

Last week Alan decided that he wanted to carve a pumpkin and since there really is no way to keep Madison out of it, we decided to let her just make a mess and play with it :) So we put a tablecloth down and let her at it.


Getting ready to play.



Alan looks like he's karate chopping the pumpkin, but he's not I promise. (p.s. he got his hair cut! Doesn't it look so good!)



She was a little skeptical at first...


But it didn't take long for her to dive in. This is just proof that Madison will truly eat anything...even nasty pumpkin. Also, I wouldn't recommend letting babies eat pumkin...the diaper is horrible the next day. BLECH!

Tuesday, September 29, 2009

The Best News EVER!!!

I am so very excited to announce...that I no longer work at The Spectrum!!! I'm a free woman :) I have been counting down the days the past two weeks and today was my last day at The Spectrum. Jill Olsen (a family friend and Reed and Beth's mother-in-law) offered me a job working with her scrapbooking business. Beth works for her too and I cannot even begin to describe the joy I am feeling right now. I will work on Monday, Tuesday, and Thursday's with Jill and I will be able to take Madison with me! This is the best news of it all. I'm so grateful for my mom and her willingness to watch Madison for me while I work, but it killed me to leave her everday. I'm so glad to have my precious girl with me all the time. I will have Wednesday and Friday's off. I'm so excited to have some time back in my life and my stress level has already been cut in half. Anyway, I had to let you all know so we could all celebrate together!
Over the weekend Matt and Ali came up from Phoenix for a visit to St. George. It was a nice little visit. On Saturday we went up to a campsite to roast hot dogs and marshmallows and shoot guns.

This is how we build campfires...hick style :)




Alan's parents took their turns shooting Al's shotgun.


Dryden and Cohen are such cute boys!




Madison did NOT like the water very much as you can see.



It was very pretty where we went. I love being out in nature. It's good.

Wednesday, September 23, 2009

Fondant Recipe

I've had a couple people ask me to put my fondant recipe on here so I thought I would put it up for those who want it.
16 oz bag white mini marshmallows
2-5 tbls. water
2 lbs powdered sugar
1/2 cup shortening
(I found that all of these ingredients are estimates, so you may use more or less than one or more.)
Note: Be careful this first stage can get hot.
Melt marshmallows and 2 tablespoons water in the microwave. Put the bowl in the microwave for 30 seconds, stir, and repeat for about 2 1/2 minutes or until marshmallows are melted. If you are going to use a color put it in the melted marshmallows now.
Grease the counter generously with the shortening. Place 3/4 of the powdered sugar over the shortening on the counter and pour the melted marshmallows on top of it. Grease your hands and wrists well because this next step is really sticky.
Start kneading like you would bread dough. You will immediately see why you have greased your hands. (At this point I thought I had done something wrong because it seems so odd, but I promise it gets better.) Keep kneading. Add the rest of the powdered sugar and knead some more. Regrease your hands and counter when the fondant starts sticking. If the mixture is tearing easily it's too dry so add some water. In the end you want a firm smooth elastic ball that will stretch without tearing when you apply it to the cake.
It works best if you can let it sit wrapped overnight, but you can use it right away too. Prepare the fondant for storing by coating it with a good layer of shortening. Wrap in plastic wrap and then a plastic bag.
You are done making the fondant! Now it's decorating time (that's the fun part!). I hope you have as much fun as me! Enjoy!