Things I LOVE today...

Okay, what a GREAT day today turned out to be. Simply said, today was wonderful. Jared was home in the morning. We slept in until 8:21AM. I couldn't be more happier my kids played upstairs while we slept! Loved the relaxed morning. I left to do aerobics with my sisters in my sisters basement...have you ever done aerobics while watching the video on a theater screen...well let's just say it was FUN!

Anyways, then I had my sisters and Emily come on over for lunch. I recreated a yummy salad that I had from Kneaders. It's a raspberry chicken spinach salad. YUM! We had a heavenly lunch and sat and talked and talked. With Emily's help we even recreated the raspberry salad dressing...it was pretty close and so good! (Stay tuned I will provide the recipe!)

The sisters left and my kids and Emily's continued to play! We then baked bread because I had no more bread for lunches tomorrow...anyways, I then told her we could make dinner together. So with TWO recipes that I have fallen in love with I have to just post about it! Because really they are WONDERFUL!

Here's a picture of the slaw that goes to the Thai Steak Tacos...Heaven on Earth! YUM...This recipe is worth every different ingredient that it calls for. (You can find all of these at Walmart...really just in the Asian food aisle) YUM...did I say that already. Just so you know this is in my TOP FIVE favorites. (Recipe below!)

Now, let me just explain to you another item that just made making this recipe SO super easy. This is my new Bosch...this is an attachment that hooks onto my BIG new Bosch that I got for Christmas. I don't think I've posted a picture of it yet, but let's just say I LOVE THIS MACHINE!!! Thanks to Emily letting me borrow hers a few times I was hooked...so thankfully Christmas came just a few weeks later I got one. Anyways, we made this coleslaw in just minutes with this bad boy instead of chopping all the veggies by hand.

Anyways, the house is all quiet now and I just wanted to share a few items that make days at home so much more enjoyable! Oh, and what better way to end the night that giving this adorable monkey a bath! He LOVES them!!!

Thai Beef Tacos with Lime-Cilantro Slaw

Steak Marinade:
1 T. sugar
1 1/2 t ginger powder
2 t fish sauce (I use oyster sauce)
1 T sweet chili Asian sauce
1/4 t freshly ground pepper
2 garlic cloves, minced
¼ c. lime juice
2 T. rice vinegar (When I am out I just use regular white vinegar)
1 T. Montreal Steak Seasoning
A few shakes of sesame oil
1 pound flank steak, trimmed (I just use petite sirloin)

Slaw:
1/4 c fresh lime juice
¼ c. sugar
2 T. rice wine vinegar
1 1/2 t ginger powder (or fresh)
1 1/2 t sesame oil
1/2 t chili garlic sauce (I use a garlic ginger sauce)
2 garlic cloves, minced
¼ c. mayonnaise
salt & pepper
3 c packaged angel hair slaw
2 c packaged matchstick-cut carrots
1/4 c sliced green onions
1/2 c chopped fresh cilantro

Remaining Ingredients:
8 (6-inch) fat-free flour tortillas

1 - To prepare steak, combine first 6 ingredients in a large zip-top plastic bag. Add stead to bad; seal and marinate in refrigerator 20 minutes, turning occasionally.
2 - Prepare grill or broiler.
3 - Remove steak from bag; discard marinade. Place steak on grill rack or broiler pan coated with cooking spray; cook 5 minutes on each side or until desired degree of doneness. Let stand 5 minutes. Cut steak diagonally across grain in to thin slices.
4 - To prepare slaw, combine juice and next 6 ingredients (through 2 garlic cloves) in a large bowl. Add slaw and next 3 ingredients (through cilantro); toss well to combine.
5 - Divide steak evenly among tortillas; spoon about 1/2 c slaw onto each tortilla. Fold in half; serve immediately.

What kids say...

(Here's to an old picture...the only one on my computer with the two of them. - I just took all the picts off the laptop to free up some room for the next million pictures I take...Anyways, this was over 1 year ago.)

I don't know what it is about the kids lately but I have been appreciating, laughing and enjoying some of the things they say. That phrase is so right on, "Kids say the darnedest things!"

"Way-na" is how Jake says Alayna. We just think it is so hilarious. We sadly think its so cute we answer him repeating it also like "way-na" so we are reinforcing this behavior. Sorry!



"Mom, do we really need Him every hour?" Alayna - Alayna and I were getting ready for church on Sunday while listening to one of my new favorite CD's Nearer it also happens to have one of my personal favorite singers...Sarah Sample...but anyways, Alayna asked that question. It allowed for me to pause a moment and share my testimony with her why in fact YES we do need our Savior every minute.

"Mom...(big breath) Jesus loves us...He does mom, He really loves us!" Jake--I was in the office on my computer and Jake came bounding in the office sliding on the hardwood floor with his socks, he paused and just took in a deep breath and stated it so matter-of-fact and then ran back out of the room just as fast as he entered in.

"Dear Hevwenlwe Fader pray Mommy and Daddy go Oquirrh Mtn Temple, and bless our heads, Daddy's head, Mommy's head, Way-na's head and baby Kay-wubs head, and Jake's head..." Thanks to Jake all our heads are blessed EVERY day MULTIPLE times a day, and he reminds us EVERY prayer as well for Jared and I to go to the temple!

"Sorry Mom, I just hit you with my golf club...Silly Jake!" Jake (Came over with his chubby arm and placed it around my neck. He just bumped my toe...I barely even noticed I had been "bumped" not hit.

"I know what I could do...I could just look at my CTR ring next time and it will help me remember!" Alayna --Alayna was sitting on the toilet going to the bathroom one last time before bed as we were discussing "things we could improve on" the next time we experience them. I'm a BIG believer in role playing and thankfully Alayna responds VERY well to it. So we were discussing how she could react differently when I tell her its time to leave her cousins house. Instead of screaming, crying, kicking, dragging her body when I tell her it's time to go. I'm glad her CTR ring is having this big of an impact on her already! She's only been in her CTR class one time! Oh, we needed this!

"Mom, could you hand me my brown shoes?" Alayna asked. "Sure, where are you going?" I asked...she replied, "On a date!" ---"Oh, fun where are you going?" "To a restaurant and to Disneyland, of course!" she said... ---- Come on, where was I on that one! That's where we all go on dates, right?

"Mom, vegetables are free, fruits are zero and an egg is two points!" Alayna has obviously been over hearing Jared and I talking about weight watchers.

Alayna said, "Mom, we need to get gold..." "Oh, really says who? I asked... "Glenn Beck."

Adorable, Convertible, teeny-tiny are probably some of my favorite words to here Jake say!

And last but not least here is what Caleb says ALL THE TIME....ARHHH...ARHHH in a very high pitch squealer voice! I will have you know he does say, "MOMMA" Yup...he's a fan of his mommy! I love this kid.

My camera has lived in my car ever since Christmas, you'd think one of these days I will pull it out and start taking pictures again!!! Until then, here are just a few fun things to read and one really old picture to look at!

Christmas Day!

Christmas Eve...It was a wonderful night enjoying our favorite dinner...YUM! Thanks to Kierra she was able to fit us all in the picture.

Here's to opening all the new pajama's that Grandma Lou and Papi gave to all the million grand kids!

Here are the 8 grandkids that slept over at Shan & Todd's house. It was so darling to see them all lined up there. Let's just say it took about 3 hours to get them ALL to fall asleep...it was 11:47 PM when they were all asleep...just to have Kierra wake up to go to the bathroom at 2:30AM to wake them all up saying, "Santa came...Santa came!" Todd found them all AWAKE talking and chattering with the lights on...AHH thankfully they all at different times dosed off to sleep again.

The famous lining up on the stairs...let's just say it was impossible to get these kids to smile! Oh, and even look at the picture.

Posing in front of the ADORABLE doll house. Alayna is trying to have a happy face for the picture. She still hasn't figured out if she's happy or sad...watch the video below!

Here is a video of what happened when Alayna thought she wasn't given a dollhouse. For the past several weeks Todd was building these dollhouses in our garage. We had to keep the door locked from all the kids so they wouldn't ruin their FUN surprise. how much better does it get than a 6' doll house? Anyways, at one point of locking the garage Alayna raced to the door to sneak a peek...to our surprise the door wasn't locked. I heard Shandra yell..."Alayna, shut that door right now!" I grabbed her and never mentioned what she saw inside the garage (hoping she would forget). Days went by and she began telling me she saw two things that were green and white. Then later she asked if there would be a "real oven" in it...I asked in what? and she replied in the house in the garage. She asked if there would be one for her and for Shandra's girls, she replied how EXCITED she was to know what her fun surprise was... Anyways so with that in mind here comes Christmas morning...the husbands all decided NOT to bring Alayna's over to Shan's house just for the reaction, but to tell her she had one waiting at home....Well this is how she handled that.

Isn't that the saddest thing to do to a little girl...I think so. After that happened Todd said, "Who's idea was it anyways to leave her doll house at home?" Those mean dads!!! Once we arrived home she was in HEAVEN and LOVES her doll house.

See I told you she LOVED it! Look at that happy smile!

Anyways, after all the emotion of the dollhouse we went downstairs to open up several other fun presents. It really was a great day! Thanks to everyone for sharing in so many fun memories.

Here is Alayna holding her "Tea Party Set" from Santa. She couldn't have been happier about this!

After presents it was off to Grandpa Randy & Grandma Nettie's house. Let's just say they were spoiled! Oh, the list goes on and on of FUN presents. These kids were exhausted at the end of the night. They slept in until about 8:30am the next morning.

Let's just say this little guy received the BEST present ever. Grandma Nettie gave him this adorable basketball hoop. He LOVES it. He puts the basketballs in the hoop and it cheers and he squeals. Jared and I just sit and giggle with him. It really is SO cute! Again, thanks to all who helped this be a great Christmas. If pictures didn't take so long to up load I think I'd post more...maybe more later...but this is enough tonight! Merry Christmas and this week a Happy New Year!

Counting down the days...

Ya, know we had to take a picture of us all clean and ready for church. The standard Christmas picture...look how our family has changed or grown from year to year. Adding our baby Caleb this year has been wonderful. Not to mention the house and the newest member of the family....Jared's minivan...aka his newest love!

Christmas Adam at our house is just as great as Christmas Eve...well almost. Thanks to Riley his family started this tradition several years ago. We of course jumped on board and added another great tradition. We made a fun day for the kids. Here are the two little buddies smiling to show off there gingerbread house. I had to take a picture mainly to show off how cute these kids are. Don't get me wrong they are the standard kids, but today I really enjoyed them. I was taken back several times by their sincere gratitude and appreciation for family, life and traditions. Another funny thing about this picture is Jake's outfit. All of his underwear is in the laundry which is piled high now on my family room floor waiting for tomorrow to finish it! Except I'm sure it will end up back in the baskets until after Christmas. Anyways, he thought he had solved the problem of not having any underwear to find underwear already in his swimming suit! So he was so proud to have found an outfit that doesn't need "clean underwear!" You would never know what state we live in because of how my kids dress.

Today overall they played great. They held hands, danced together, sang, hugged, said "I'm sorry," and read stories together. I really love having older kids love and appreciate one another.

How cute are they? Really, again it was a good day with lots of smiles and laughs. Thanks to Jared taking them out to play in the snow. They went sledding and then built a very small small small snowman! But either way it made for some fun memories for the kids. I must admit I'm going to keep them around for a few more years!

A few more...

Once there was a snowman, snowman, snowman, Once there was a snowman...Small, Small, Small!

Happy baby! He's posing in front of his stocking that I have finally finished sewing him...not to much time to spare! He is one GOOD baby.

Here are the kids showing off there newest pj's and the "Princess" sleeping bag and "Cars" sleeping bag. I could have sewed something higher quality and actually something that would keep them warm, but when I saw the price tag, I just had to get it for the kids. There reaction was exactly what I thought it would be...Complete JOY! They yelled and screamed and were SO excited. It made for a FUN night. They were all ready to sleep with the Christmas lights on tonight...

Alayna wanted to take our picture. We had just finished reading the story in Luke about the Savior's birth. The children were adorable and Alayna said, "Mom, I just love reading and hearing about that story!" Jake was a tad distracted by the flashlight that came with his sleeping bag, to really pay attention, but I must admit it was adorable when we had them repeat the scriptures back to us. There sweet little voices were just priceless. Well there ya have it. We are ready for all the fun and busy times of Christmas to start. We had a wonderful quiet family evening at home. Merry Christmas to all!

Only Two more days...

Here are the kiddo's Santa Letters...

She has been a good girl this year! Let's see if she get's a Tea Party Set!!!

Here is messy face Jake he is asking for an orange soccer ball...Merry Christmas to one and all!

Las Vegas...Yeah Baby!

Ya Right! Las Vegas is the last place that I'd actually WANT to be. So here's to a forced vacation...if you want to call it a vacation. I tried my hardest to convince myself to have a good time. I enjoyed the drive, the food and the VIEW!


Thanks to the grandma lady that checked us in and LOVED Caleb that she said, "Oh, I have a room ready for you and it's OFF the strip!" Thank heavens I thought. So here's to the best view in town. Honestly, could it get any better than this? I don't think so!

Here is Jared showing off is National Physical Therapy conference badge. Jared had to go off to the conference all three days while Caleb and I "hung" out in our awesome room. I must admit though, that the room's at Bally's were surprisingly nice...I mean it, they were NICE!

Two words....BAJA FRESH!!! Let's just say that we ate some of the BEST food on this trip. Thanks to the company we were able to have a little extra fun than normal. These fish tacos are my absolute favorite thing to eat. I love crossing the border to a new state because Cafe Rio isn't found and Baja Fresh is....sadly they left Utah because of the Rio...Simply said, these fish tacos are heavenly! Oh, they are SOOOOO good. I would return to Vegas just to eat here again...I really would!
Okay, another reason to return is for Maggiano's Italian...Yummy...Yummy...and SO good!

Here is a little peace of heaven in a wild place. Caleb and I ventured out of our hotel room to go and see the Las Vegas Temple. It was beautiful.
Okay, so the best part of the trip was my chubby, thumb sucking little guy! I am so glad that I kept him with us and didn't make him stay at home. It was so fun to snuggle just this one little baby...he had all my attention and he reminded me that there are cute people left in the world!! :)

Merry Christmas 2009

Caleb (6 months), Alayna (4 1/2 years old), Jacob (2 1/2 years old)

The baby of the family...he's sitting, eating solids and smiling more than any other kid! He's one happy CHUBBY little dude. Jared and I are still fighting over him and we both MUST kiss him good night. We are hooked on him.

Then there was Jake. He's full of personality, spunk and just an adorable personality. Let's just say, with him in the room there is never a dull moment. He has a very sweet and tender spirit. He came out aware and sensitive to temples, the prophet and Jesus. He adores his sister, he will be heard jumping off EVERYTHING, running everywhere and throwing anything and everything. He is "all boy" he loves the sports, BYU football, tennis rackets and his golf club at Grandpa Randy's house. Oh, and we can't forget how our crazy dude turns into "Charlie Brown...Linus" Jake can instantly turn to our shy guy and walk around with his "ball blanket" in his mouth and only want to be at HOME! He's the one I turn to when I want to hear something sweet and tender, he always tells me, "Your beautiful Mom!" Ahh, it really doesn't get any better. Jake is a complete delight, he ads such a peacemaker, flexible, calm and crazy spunk to our little family. We really just stare at him in complete joy...he's a keeper!

Our little princess. She may be the oldest of the family but she's the first to cuddle, snuggle and stay close to mom and dad. She is the brightest little girl I've met. Her mind is VERY complex and she has this amazing memory. She is a great problem solver and negotiator...let's just say, she thinks through everything I say and do and she knows what she wants. She picks up on ALL adult conversations, and stays involved, by commenting and asking questions. On her good days, she's happy, helpful and very fun to be around...on the other days, we wonder where she went! She's a HUGE help to me, loves her brothers and still dislikes any and all kinds of food. She really likes "fancy" clothes, shoes and jewelery. She's still into the "princess" stage...I'm counting down those days, but they have yet to decrease! She loves learning and has been enjoying preschool this year. She is also our little social butterfly...everyday I hear, "Mom, who can I play with?" She loves surprises, traditions and party's. Oh, and she refuses to have her hair cut until it's down to her waste...so we will have to see if it gets cut this year.

Merry Christmas 2009

We really have lucked out with such darling kids...I must admit I am enjoying each stage...babies I love them dearly, two-year olds keep you laughing and smiling and four year olds you love the independence and relationship. I couldn't be enjoying this wild, crazy, hectic, busy, always changing, unpredictable ride anymore....well on the good days! (Please send more in 2010!!!) It has been an adjustment to say the least but somehow each day passes and I keep pushing along...I think it's because of their individual personalities and the smiles. It's really the smiles that keep me going. Here's to motherhood!

Thanks Grandma Denny!!!

This holiday season has been so enjoyable thanks to a few wonderful things that were given to the kids. Grandma Denny has this great ability to find such adorable things. She gave the kids an advent calendar that is so adorable. It isn't your "standard" candy one it is centered around the nativity. I just love it!

And then she thankfully sent another count down chain....with all the candy! They couldn't be happier!!!

Alayna LOVES to count how many days until Christmas after EVERY day we take one off.

This would be Jake's favorite part....EATING ALL THE CANDY...he has a thing for all the GREEN candy! They are cute though, because they divide up the candy each day....she gets the red ones and he gets the green ones.

Welcome to the Fam!

Let me introduce you to our newest addition to the family....Rigdon Drew Peck. He joined us on the great day of Thanksgiving...all the girls in the fam ran to the hospital to wait for this little one to be born, while the husbands stayed back watching ALL the kids and COOKING all the food.

Caleb and Everett doing what they do...rolling, and scooting and chewing on EVERYTHING! They are no longer the "youngest" grandkids of the group.

This is little Rigdon or a little Riley...he looks just like his daddy. I couldn't be happier that this little one arrived so healthy and happy. Let's just say simply that miracles happen, prayers are answered and the Lord watches over us all. He is perfect in every way! We love you little Rigdon, you are so sweet and tiny!

Oh, just a cute little guy!

Something I love...

Okay, something I love about the holidays is that my kids have their cousins close by to enjoy fun days together. Jake and Isaac had such fun living together that they really have a great time when Isaac comes back over to play. Even though they eventually end up with bite marks, scratches and in time-out they do have cute moments like this. When they are sharing and smiling! I just had to take a picture because not more than a few minutes before they were fighting and crying. Oh, well I just enjoy these cute little moments!

Are you ready for Christmas???

6 Months old and counting...he's a heavy weight weighing in over 20 lbs!