New Years Trip. Part 2. Famiy Is Where It's At

We had a family portrait taken by a very brave photographer friend of my dad's. I say brave because look at those mites!!! For the most part they tried to smile, sort of. Mostly their was a lot of running around, a few tears, some begging, a little bribery and a promise of gifts from Grandpa. My parent kept looking around and saying, "Look what we did." Not necessarily in a good way either...just kidding. We are quite the group when we're all together though, and in reality they were the ones who had 7 kids, what did they think was going to happen???

Here are those gifts Grandpa promised.
Ring Pops, Candy necklaces, Coloring books and dart guns for everyone!
My Dad just can't help himself, he's dime store crazy!
The kids of course loved it!

Carley took over this pair of Addi's shoes. She wore them everyday. That's Grandma in the background making cinnamon rolls!!! We had to beg, but she gave in...she always caves eventually! Thanks mom!

That's my girl!

Taylor & Jen
(expecting, but shhh, it's still early, don't tell)

We took everyone but the babies to see The Tale of Desperaux. We were a very large, very obnoxious group. I'm sure we drove everyone in the theater crazy until the kids settled down. It was fun to watch all the cousins sit by each other and just "hang out". It gets a little crazy at times because they're all around the same ages, but it's also a lot of fun!

I thought I'd post a few pics of myself, since I'm usually behind the lens.

Emry & Hugo were missing....well, I'm not quite sure if anyone knew they were missing or even that they knew they were missing and stuck inside a bedroom....BUT they were & Aunt Jen found them. The door got jammed up on the carpet and it took some brute strength to get the door open and let the kids out. Freedom!

Here is Zack. Zack is the cutest little boy. Zach loves his big sister Addi and she's a great big sister to have. Even more than his big sister, Zack loves to wear her princess costumes! The funniest part of the situation is not that Zack likes to dress up like a princess, it's that he's the child of my brother Joshua. Josh is 100% MALE. He is a guys guy all the way. We're talking hunting trips for whatever is in season, tools out the wazoo and sports. He wouldn't ever have been caught dead playing dress up. He used to beat us up! I'm not kidding here. He once chased me down and mauled me in the neighbor's yard because I wouldn't clean my room. In all fairness, Josh is a great dad. Kristene, Josh's awesome wife, told me that Josh has changed too. He even let Zach wear a princess get up to a party where other adults could see him!! So cute! It's nice to know Josh has a soft side too!

Here is Miss Daisy May!
She's such a cutie.
I am in love with her wispy curls.
So precious!

This is Owen or "O" as his family calls him.
He's a pretty shy little guy, but so cute.

Here is my brother Ephraim, his daughter Daphne & Cameron.
Epher is a great dad.
One thing I've noticed about him is that he rarely turns his kids away when they are seeking his attention. He's always up for a story or song or wrestling match or whatever it is they're wanting to do. He even does hair. I love this quality of his and I wish I had more of it.

This is Liz, the newest Mom in the family, with her little cherub Keegan.
Keegan looks just like his daddy, I'm talking spitting image.
He's such a happy little guy, it was really fun to hold him and all his extra "tankness"!!
Don't you just want to squeeze him!
I do!

Emry & Addi were joined at the hip the entire length of our visit.
They are a year and 10 days apart in age, but you wouldn't know it. They are like twin sisters when they play together. They just laugh and change clothes, giggle and change clothes again...repeated over and over all day long.

Meet Kade.
He's a little guy in stature, but don't be fooled.
He's really a monkey disguised in human skin!
The boy is all over the place.
Kristene is going to really have to watch him because the boy is never still, never!

This is Taylor and Master Hugo.
Hugo is just one little ball of energy that runs from one room to the next from sun up to sun down. In fact I'm not sure he even knows how to walk. He's a one speed only kind of guy....fast!
Taylor is going to be wonderful dad someday! All kids are drawn to him. They all love him.

Here is Cody, Liz's husband, with his sidekick Addi and Zack.

Here is Roxi, Epher's wife, and Daisy!
I think Roxi looks really good in this photo.

Caution: Cousins At Play!
It was really fun to watch all the cousins play together. They were all so unbelievably good. This is Harry & Hugo. I have to say that I was most surprised by Harry this visit.
I haven't seen him in a while and he remembered my name and was so chatty and polite.
I think he had a smile on his face the entire visit! Such a delight!

Their are a few people missing from this post, but some of them I'll cover in other posts....Maggie you're off the hook, I don't have one single shot of you. What's up with that???

New Years with the May Clan. Part 1

We went up to my brother's house in Newton, Utah for a May Family New Years Reunion. We hadn't all been together as a family in almost 4 years. I was excited and nervous at the same time. We (I have 6 siblings) were going to be ALL staying in the same house, along with 13 grandchildren (all under the age of 7). So let's recap. That equals 7 May kids, 6 spouses, 13 cousins, and 2 grandparents which equals======28 bodies under the same roof! All eating, sleeping, playing, using the bathrooms, and chillaxin'. Who wouldn't be scared heading into that!

I am happy to report that it was AWESOME!!! The cousins were all so well behaved and such a joy to be around. It was fun to watch them all play and get reacquainted. They ran around like a little flock of sea gulls, or was it a heard of elephants??? The whole trip was so fun, thanks for hosting Josh & Kristene, you guys are so wonderful and patient. Thanks for opening your house up to us. And a special thanks goes to your kids who shared everything they had with us. Bedrooms, toys, snow clothes and dress clothes! WOW!

The present game did not disappoint either! My family doesn't exchange gifts in a traditional way, when we're together we play the present game and sometimes it gets down right nasty!!! It seems that the last few times we've played that Taylor has been the entertainment, and this year was no exception. He opened not only 1 girlie gift, but 2!!! so funny, lucky for him Cesar felt bad for him and helped him out in the end.

Some of the fun things we did were hang out together, play games, watch movies, Trent & Cesar went skiing, we had lunch with Trent's brother Troy's family, a group of us including Trent & Luke got to go see a USU vs WYO basketball game, we went the the movie theater, the kids went sledding, the ladies went out for dinner and shopping, the guys went shooting, duck hunting and of course we ate! Here, in the next 3 posts are a lot of photos from our trip. None taken by me, my camera would have stayed in it's case unless my sister hadn't pulled it out to play with. So the following pics were taken by my sister Alissa, thanks for sharing!

Arriving

We left for Utah on Monday morning as soon as Trent was done working. We drove allllll day, thankfully the kids were wonderful. We stopped in American Fork to have dinner with Uncle Jerry and to pick up Trent's 50 gallon fish tank that has been in Jerry's storage shed since we lived there (Thanks Jerry!!). It was so nice to get caught up and visit with Jerry, it's been a long time and I haven't been the best letter writer.

Back in the car we piled and traveled up to Roy, UT to sleep at Trent's brother, Travis' place. Travis and Angela are always so good to put us up when we're driving through. We arrived around 10pm, let our kids run a little and then everyone went to bed. Everyone except me that is... Trent and Carley were snoring so loud that I couldn't sleep. In fact, I'm surprised that they didn't keep the entire house awake....it was like a freight train kept circling the house. Finally I got so fed up that I fled to the couch....sleep found me at last.

This morning we woke up and Uncle Travis made us french toast! We let the kids play with their cousins Kendrick and Cohen for a few hours before we made the final push up to Newton, UT. (Almost all of the pictures I'll be posting for this trip were taken by my sister, Alissa. I was busy working and chasing kids, so I let her take my camera over and I'm glad she did b/c otherwise I wouldn't have had any shots at all, so thanks Ali!)

When you're driving up to Josh/Kristene's house their is this sign. It's got to be the craziest sign ever. This really is how the road goes at this intersection, but to see it in a sign is just weird. So I had to have a picture of it.
Visiting Utah makes me miss the mountains. They are so gorgeous no matter what time of year you visit, but this year they were absolutely stunning! We saw snow about 3 hours North of Las Vegas and Emry went nutz! She wanted us to pull the car over so she could make a snow angel...she didn't care that she was also in her pajamas, we kept on driving. She did make one at Uncle Travis' house, she even went outside barefoot, she's one crazy girl! By the time we reached my brother's place, Luke & Emry were delirious with excitement for the snow. Before we were even inside the house they were asking to go out and play.

These photos were taken about 30 minutes after we arrived at Josh's house. Luke & Emry were supposed to be inside visiting with Trent's parents who'd driven down from Idaho to see us, but they were being too obnoxious so out they went. The snow was deep!

Here are Harry, Luke, Emry, Daphne & Addi

Emry sledding, she had so much fun, she dreamed about sledding for the next few nights!

Christmas 2008

This year our Christmas celebrations were a little strange. Trent had to work Christmas Eve, so the kids and I watched Christmas movies and put out the goods for Santa & Co. all by ourselves. Luke taped the news Christmas Eve morning b/c they were tracking Santa's route and he was currently somewhere over China...we got updates all day long. Luke got "reindeer food" at school and when we put it outside he was soooo excited! I was so relieved b/c we've had to answer a lot of tough questions about the "true identity" of Mr. Clause this year. My little boy is getting so grown up. Anyway back to the story, after the girls and I had come inside I noticed that Luke lingered a little longer outside. I went out to see what he was doing and he said, "I'm looking for sparks Mom. Santa's sleigh always leaves sparks in the sky." My heart just melted, what a sweet, tender hearted boy I have!

In the morning the kids were gracious enough to wait in my room and not peek at the Christmas tree while we waited for Trent to get home. He was home by 8am, so they didn't have to wait too long. Of course they did not disappoint in their excitement level and they really enjoyed themselves! Here are our pictures of the big event.

This is Luke's gingerbread house. He made it at school.

The stockings were hung, poor Santa got fruit at our house b/c we'd just moved in and I didn't have time to make sugar cookies. I heard he really likes citrus, in case anyone was wondering!

Carley got this caterpillar and she didn't get off of it all day!
It plays music and rocks, she loves it!

Luke & Emry received skateboards from "Santa's helper"
aka our landlord Larry, who is a skateboard designer.

Santa also gave our kids bikes! Lucky ducks!

Luke also received some Nerf toys.

Emry got a skirt and shirt.

Carley got a baby doll and she's barely put it down since. She really is so cute with it.
Holds it, pats it's back and gives it kisses. She's definitely a little mother.

Family Funnies

January-Emry, Luke and I went to get flu shots and no one was in line when we arrived at the hospital. So we walked straight up to the nurse and Emry got up onto the chair, yanked up her sleeve, slammed her bare arm onto the table and said, "Give it to me." Which they did and she didn't even flinch.

December Begins with an advent calendar!!!

My mother gave me this lovely advent calendar for my birthday and I could not wait to use it! Although, I'm not sure who's more excited me or the kids! When I pulled it out of the box, they went bananas. They are having an extremely difficult time keeping their little, grimy hands off...it's just too tempting! This afternoon I noticed Emry standing in front of it softly repeating to herself, "don't touch, don't touch, don't touch"! Funny girl.

A close up of the detail.

The activities and goodies.

All tucked in and ready to go!

In preparation, I consulted my own brain, Trent's brain and many, many websites for fun ideas that our family would enjoy. Here's my list:

• watch A Charlie Brown Christmas, Polar Express, It's A Wonderful Life, Scrooge, etc.
  
• read The Best Christmas Pageant Ever
• write letters to Santa
• make various holiday crafts
• take food to a food pantry
• play Christmas bingo
• go for a walk as a family
• Make cookies
• Deliver holiday treats to friends & neighbors
• write a note or color a picture for someone in the family, then give it to them secretly
• extra bedtime stories
• eat dinner by the light of the Christmas tree
• pick out a toy for Toys 4 Tots
• eat dessert first
• make paper snowflakes
• go for a drive to see neighborhood Christmas light displays
• read the Holly Berry Story
• legend/history of the candy cane
  

Each Sunday and then Christmas Eve & Day we're going to read from the scriptures about the Saviors birth. Here are the scriptures I'm planning on using: Mark 1, 1-8, Matthew 1:18-24, Luke 1:26-38, Luke 2, 3 Nephi 1:15-21.

I've never done an advent calendar this involved, so I'm excited to see how this works out this month! Happy Holidays! Feel free to leave any additional advent ideas for me b/c I already have a file going for next years ideas!!!

5 favorite things...November 30, 2008

I haven't been journaling very much lately, so I thought I'd better get back in the swing of things. I missed posting my 5 favs last week so this post will cover 2 weeks. Things have been a little crazy around here. Trent is on a very busy rotation this month (up at 4am, home by 7pm, bed by 9pm...and the cycle continues, brutal). I've been busy with my new job, the kids have been off school for veterans day and thanksgiving break. Carley is cutting 4 molars, watch out! And finally, we are in the process of moving! More about that later. Without further adieu, drum roll please....

• a day totally devoted to giving thanks!
  
• a new home to decorate.
• pumpkin pie & sweet potatoes with marshmallows on top
• playdates at the park
  
• shopping for Christmas
• girls only movie night...Twilight

Daring Baker's Challenge - November

MAN O MAN, What A Day! I thought I was never going to get this posted!!!! I have had one thing after another go awry today....some days are just like that, I know, but I'm glad this one is about over.

This month's Daring Baker Challenge was this wonderful
Caramel Cake With Caramelized Butter Frosting!
Mmmm Mmmmm Mmmm, doesn't that sound super yummy!
Needless to say I was excited to give this challenge a go.
The recipe is a signature of Shuna Fish Lydon, check out her blog Eggbeater. You can also find her on Bay Area Bites.
I would also like to say THANKS to the Hostess' & Host'. Feel free to peruse their blogs as well. Dolores, Culinary Curiosity; Alex, Blondie And Brownie; Jenny, Foray into Food; and Natalie of Gluten-a-Go-Go!!!

Let me tell you, this cake made my house smell delicious! Every time I came in and out of the house while it was baking was pure joy to my taste buds and olfactory senses! The actual cake itself was very dense, which I like in a cake, but I wasn't a huge fan of the frosting. Burnt frostings in general are not my favorites, but everyone else who tried it really enjoyed the combo.

CARAMEL CAKE WITH CARAMELIZED BUTTER FROSTING

10 Tablespoons unsalted butter at room temperature

1 1/4 Cups granulated sugar
1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
1/3 Cup Caramel Syrup (see recipe below)
2 eggs, at room temperature
splash vanilla extract
2 Cups all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1 cup milk, at room temperature

Preheat oven to 350F

Butter one tall (2 – 2.5 inch deep) 9-inch cake pan. (I used a bundt pan)

In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with a paddle attachment, cream butter until smooth. Add sugar and salt & cream until light and fluffy.

Slowly pour room temperature caramel syrup into bowl. Scrape down bowl and increase speed. Add eggs/vanilla extract a little at a time, mixing well after each addition. Scrape down bowl again, beat mixture until light and uniform.

Sift flour and baking powder.

Turn mixer to lowest speed, and add one third of the dry ingredients. When incorporated, add half of the milk, a little at a time. Add another third of the dry ingredients, then the other half of the milk and finish with the dry ingredients. {This is called the dry, wet, dry, wet, dry method in cake making. It is often employed when there is a high proportion of liquid in the batter.}

Take off mixer and by hand, use a spatula to do a few last folds, making sure batter is uniform. Turn batter into prepared cake pan.

Place cake pan on cookie sheet or 1/2 sheet pan. Set first timer for 30 minutes, rotate pan and set timer for another 15-20 minutes. Your own oven will set the pace. Bake until sides pull away from the pan and skewer inserted in middle comes out clean. Cool cake completely before icing it.

Cake will keep for three days outside of the refrigerator.

CARAMEL SYRUP

2 cups sugar
1/2 cup water
1 cup water (for "stopping" the caramelization process)
In a small stainless steel saucepan, with tall sides, mix water and sugar until mixture feels like wet sand. Brush down any stray sugar crystals with wet pastry brush. Turn on heat to highest flame. Cook until smoking slightly: dark amber.

When color is achieved, very carefully pour in one cup of water. Caramel will jump and sputter about! It is very dangerous, so have long sleeves on and be prepared to step back.

Whisk over medium heat until it has reduced slightly and feels sticky between two fingers. {Obviously wait for it to cool on a spoon before touching it.}

Note: For safety reasons, have ready a bowl of ice water to plunge your hands into if any caramel should land on your skin.

CARAMELIZED BUTTER FROSTING

12 tablespoons unsalted butter
1 pound confectioner’s sugar, sifted
4-6 tablespoons heavy cream
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
2-4 tablespoons caramel syrup
Kosher or sea salt to taste

Cook butter until brown. Pour through a fine meshed sieve into a heatproof bowl, set aside to cool.

Pour cooled brown butter into mixer bowl.

In a stand mixer fitted with a paddle or whisk attachment, add confectioner's sugar a little at a time. When mixture looks too chunky to take any more, add a bit of cream and or caramel syrup. Repeat until mixture looks smooth and all confectioner's sugar has been incorporated. Add salt to taste.

Note: Caramelized butter frosting will keep in fridge for up to a month.
To smooth out from cold, microwave a bit, then mix with paddle attachment until smooth and light


***I have to take back my comment about not caring for the frosting. This cake was sooooo much better the second day! The flavors were more subdued in the frosting and the caramel in cake really stood out much better***

Thanksgiving The Day After Thanksgiving

We celebrated Thanksgiving a little backwards this year. While everyone in the country was eating turkey and watching football, my kids and I went to the park and hung out around the house. Trent had to work, so we decided to postpone the annual feast until Friday. So our Thanksgiving the day after Thanksgiving was wonderful! Luke made festive place mats for our table and Emry helped set the dishes out. I was about 15 minutes from serving up the bird when Trent arrived home and wouldn't you know it...the kids started acting up, something fierce! I felt bad, poor Trent had just gotten home and the kids are naughty. After we got all that sorted out, we had a very nice dinner, no complaints!

Earlier in the week, we had a play date with some friends in the neighborhood. We made pumpkin chocolate chip cookies...none made it home, we read a story about a Tom Turkey and we made these mayflower wall hangings. All in all it was nice to have the kids out of school for the week.

A "Matilda" Party

In her latest move, my sister, Maggie, decided to once again "down size" her possessions. So, one of the items we inherited was a most beloved children's movie MATILDA....hope you've read the book by Ronald Dahl, so wonderful! Anyway, my kids love the movie and have been watching it non-stop over the last few months. Currently it's in the car...and at our house, you know a movie has hit the big time when it has made it to the car's DVD player.

Emry, who more recently wishes we'd named her Matilda, asked me why we never have chocolate cake like in the movie. I told her that I didn't know she wanted one. She said she did, so we decided to make one. Her sweet declaration reminded me that my other sister, Ali, had recently made the Hershey's "Perfectly Chocolate" Chocolate Cake off the back of the Hershey's Cocoa box...so the plan was born.

We put Carley down for a nap, tied on our aprons, retrieved all the ingredients, scooted a chair up to the counter and got to business! Luke and Emry are becoming quite the little kitchen helpers. I can hardly bake anything anymore without one of them offering their help. You might be thinking, "Wow, what nice kids." Don't be fooled, they are 100% opportunists! They know that at the end of the day, a bowl or spoon or beater or something always needs to be licked clean!
While the cake was baking we decided that we needed to share it's yumminess. We decided to invited Dylan & Charlie over as special guests at our Matilda Party. While the cake was cooling, the kids played inside and in the back yard. Then we frosted the cake and went to the park while it set up for a few minutes.

Dylan & Luke

Charlie & Emry (They are boyfriend and girlfriend, very cute)

Carley decided that she'd had enough of staying on the wood chips. So for the FIRST time, she climbed right up the playground toys, crawled over to the slide and down she went. I didn't have to coax her or anything, she just went for it! Headfirst it the preferred mode of transportation. It was pretty funny. I was in shock because she never wants to do anything but swing. Now all she wants to do is go down the slide over and over and over again!!

The "Perfectly Chocolate" Chocolate Cake

...don't tell Miss Trunchbull,
but we're going to eat some!!

Hershey's "Perfectly Chocolate" Chocolate Cake
2 cups sugar
1 3/4 cup all-purpose flour
3/4 cup Hershey's Cocoa
1 1/2 tsp baking powder
1 1/2 tsp baking soda
1 tsp salt
2 eggs
1 cup milk
1/2 cup vegetable oil
2 tsp vanilla
1 cup boiling water

1. Heat oven to 350 degrees F. Grease and flour two 9-inch round baking pans.
2. Combine dry ingredients in large bowl. Add eggs, milk, oil and vanilla; beat on med. speed for 2 minutes. Stir in boiling water (batter will be thin). Pour into pans.
3. Bake 30-35 minutes or until wooden pick inserted in center comes out clean. Cool 10 minutes; remove from pans to wire racks. Cool completely.
   

"Perfectly Chocolate" Chocolate Frosting
1/2 cup butter
2/3 cup Hershey's Cocoa
3 cups powdered sugar
1/3 cup milk
1 tsp vanilla

1. Melt butter. Stir in cocoa.
2. Alternately add powdered sugar and milk, beating on medium speed to spreading consistency. Add more milk, if needed. Stir in vanilla. Makes about 2 cups.
   

**for cupcakes: Line muffin tin with paper cups. Fill cups 2/3 full with batter. Bake at 350 F for 20-22 minutes. Cool; frost. Makes about 30 cupcakes.

5 favorite things...november 09, 2008

• time spent with family
• oatmeal raisin cookies
• spending time with my kids
• watching Carley explore the world
• a clean car...inside and out!
  

November, the month of giving thanks

Giving thanks is something everyone likes to receive, but at times can be hard to give. That's why I like November so much...it's a gentle reminder to get over your obstacles and say "thank you" to those you're most grateful to.

I've been thinking a lot about how to help my kids grasp this concept and today I got my answer while I was checking out the crafty crow site. I found the most darling activity for the month of November! This family hangs up one tree for Thanks and one for Giving and each day of the month they put up a new leaf that tells what they are thankful for or what they have given to help others. Wonderful! By the end of the month you tree is full of leaves and you have a visual representation of true gratitude!

I printed out the trees and leaves today and today after school we're going to start this activity! It's from the site, Chocolate On My Cranium, she's got a lot of great resources on her blog, so check her out. I'll update the project as the month goes on.

5 favorite things...november 2, 2008

Tonight I'm trying something a little different. I'm posting my 5 favorite things from this past week in photos! Here they are in alphabetical order.....

Airplane...so fun to play, if you haven't done it lately, go for it!

Fish faces...Carley has just started to make these, so adorable!

Handy men...Trent taught Luke how to use his power drill. Is he that grown up already?

My Man...he's such a hottie! Did I do good or what? Holla!!

Sister-in-law...meet Angela, she's the coolest! It was fun having her visit.