Happy Birthday Ainsley!

Today Ainsley turned one year old, I can't believe it! She seems so little to me, but I'm sure that's because she's my baby. She has already taken her first step, on Father's Day. It made the day that much more special! So anyways we just had a small party with our Washington family, Shane and Connie and their daughters Caitria and Tarin, my friend Jennifer and one of her twin girls, Faith.
Shane hanging out with the girls
Aunt Connie
Caitria and Ainsley, modeling her new outfitJennifer and Tarin
Jennifer and Faith

This is the cake I made, it's very easy to make and so cute!

Ainsley had a great time eating her cupcake, and kept saying ooh the whole time. It was very cute.She got the most adorable outfits, the cute pink polka dot one in the pic with Caitria, this sweet little polka dot dress(LOVE THE POLKA DOTS!!!) and this precious one from my friend Jen.Sorry my hand is in the way She looks lovely in all of them. We had a great time, here's just some silly pics of the kids. I'll post more this week, lots of fun things happened this week but I need to get ready for some more family about to arrive. I'm sure there will be some fun adventures to share from this week as well so keep checking back. And by the way Sophia your comment was so sweet, that's one of the nicest things anyone has ever said to me. And I love and miss you tons as well.

Summer Days

So here's what we were doing on Monday. We went to Kayak Point, it was a beautiful day for going to the beach, I have always wanted to live near the beach and now all I have to do is hop in the car drive for twenty minutes and I'm there. Not to mention how beautiful the scenery is on the way there. Oh, I was feeling so homesick during the winter but the summers here more than make up for it. Everyone had a blast, the guys took out their kayaks and were finding giant crabsI was trying to take a picture of me and Ainsley but it's hard to take a picture holding a baby and trying to do it one handed. But this is for you people who have been asking to see more of me in pictures and I have no make up on so give me a breakHere is cutie-patootie Tatum in her new bathing suit, can I just tell you how much I am addicted to polka-dots. LOVE THEM!Aren't they adorable!And here's sweet little Avery
We went with my friend Connie, who the kids affectionately call Aunt Connie and her daughter Caitria. I love these people so much they have become part of our family up here and I don't know what I would do without them. This is Caitria with the girlsBehind where we were sitting was this awesome fort made out of all the driftwood on the beach. The kids loved it of course, and when I say kids I mean Ash too.In the garden everything is starting to bloom, we have our first little strawberries here is my first red one. Actually this isn't my first, Madi went outside the other day and picked the ripe one and ate it. And not even an hour after taking this picture she went out and picked this one and ate it too, geezie pete! So now I'm on strawberry watch. Here's a few pics of things that have been blooming as well. This is my climbing rose, when it first opens it has pink and orange edges, it's so pretty! The purple one is a delphinium, in the back are miniature hollyhocks that I hope will bloom soon, and my orange poppyThis little bee came for a visit and stayed for over a half hour, he really likes it hereMore rosesAvery standing next to one of our sunflowers in her cute little owl pajamasTyler rinsing out his kayak that he got for a gonga deal!
And here's Madi getting the hose and spraying him, she is so awnry. So we are going back to the beach tomorrow because it's supposed to be another beautiful day! I can't wait and I'm sure I'll have more to share. And after that I've got to get busy cleaning my house because we are getting three more visitors on Monday. Ash's mom, sister and step dad are coming for a visit so we are going to have a fuller house than usual. WOW! I'll post again soon.

Recipes of the Week

I'm sorry for not posting recipes lately, I actually have been cooking them and taking pictures, I just haven't been posting them. So here's a few that I've done recently and Anna I'm glad you liked the chicken pillows, I did however make an error when I wrote out the recipe, but it works either way. I forgot to write that they were Pillsbury Grand Crescent Rolls, so try it that way to and see which one you like better. So here it goes, this first one is a Spaghetti bake.
Ingredients:
-1 lb. 6oz. bag of angel hair pasta(you'll only need half of the bag)
-1 lb. ground beef
-1 26oz. can of spaghetti sauce
-2 8oz. cans tomato sauce
-1 10 3/4oz. can cream of mushroom soup
-1 cup sour cream
-shredded cheese( I use cheddar, but the recipe called for Colby and Monterrey Jack cheese, so do what ever you like)

Directions:
Cook pasta to pkg. directions. Meanwhile, in a large skillet cook beef until no longer pink. Stir in spaghetti sauce and tomato sauce. Pour into bottom of 13 x 9 in. dish. Drain pasta and pour on top of sauce. Combine soup and sour cream and spread on top of pasta. Cover with cheese as much or a s little as you like(my motto is the cheesier the better). Bake @ 350 degrees for 30-35 minutes. Enjoy!

This recipe is a must at your next party! People go crazy over them, I know I did when I went to my friends party and she made these. And they're so easy to make, you could make them for a quick snack for your family.
Ingredients:
-1 pkg. cream cheese
-Italian cheese blend(shredded cheese blend in an 8 oz. bag)
-1 can chunk chicken in water

Directions:
Drain water from chicken and mix all ingredients together. Spread on sliced french bread and bake @ 350 degrees until cheese is melted. Enjoy!

This next recipe is a ham and cheese quiche, very yummy! I served mine with homemade rolls, it's perfect to make on those cold winter nights. I got this one from a special friend back home, Sue Sunderland.
Ingredients:
-4 eggs
-1 cup heavy whipping cream
-1/8 tsp. nutmeg
-1/2 tsp. salt
-1 tbsp. flour
-shredded cheese
- pre made dough for crust( I use Pillsbury)
-precooked ham, cubed
Directions:
In pie shell layer ham and cheese. Mix together first five ingredients and pour over ham and cheese. Sprinkle cheese on top and bake @ 375 degrees for 40-45 minutes or until center is fully cooked. Sometimes it has taken longer to cook, just watch it. Enjoy!

Translation, please!

Any of you who know Ash knows that he will try anything once. Well on this particular day when he was servicing one of his Korean markets he noticed the packaging on this ice cream and thought that it sounded interesting. Not being able to read the writing he asked the clerk and found out that it was corn flavored ice cream. Now only Ash would think that something like this would sound good, although he does make life more interesting because he's willing to try these crazy things. So anyways he brought some home for all of us to try. The outside is like a wafer shaped like corn and inside is corn flavored ice cream(tastes a lot like cold cream corn to me)and in the center is chocolate. I tasted it but couldn't get over the fact that it tasted like corn, but Avery and Prestin couldn't get enough. Tatum wanted nothing to do with it. So if you ever go into those Korean markets try one, but I'll be sticking to my Dreyer's ice cream. Which by the way is the only ice cream you should buy!(hee hee)

Sun, Snakes and Sunburns, oh my!

It's finally summer! We have had the longest winter, I thought the sun would never come out. The weather has finally gotten above 60 degrees here and the sun just came out on Friday. So we've been barbecuing almost everyday, the kids have been going outside to blow bubbles and play in the sprinklersyes this is me in my pajamas, pretty much my wardrobe everyday of the week, take a look at Prestin's face, holy cow mom! Avery and Tatum were being wieners so we had to get them into the action. Before After, she wasn't to happyHere she is a little while later BeforeAfter, either was sheHere she is ten minutes later Little does Tyler know that he'll be paying for this with a bad sunburn for the next couple of days. Actually we both got burned pretty bad. We've been roasting marshmallows on our little outdoor fireplace. This is my most favorite picture of all. It's been wonderful! But when the sun comes out so do the snakes, the guys caught this little guy on Sunday in our backyard.Notice the girls keeping their distance I was really impressed with Tatum and Prestin, they got over their fear really quick and were holding the snake and playing with it. I'm just fine with holding on to my fear of them though, ooh they're creepy. Here's Prestin giving the snake bunny ears, he's such a goober. Here's Tyler being disgusting.Today and yesterday was back to overcast but the sun peeks out every once and awhile. They say that summer doesn't officially start here until after the fourth of July. Which I think I remember that it was more sunny after the holiday, so I can't wait. On the gray days we've been trying to do some crafts to brighten up the day a little. So we bought the brightest paints we could find and some canvases and let the kids go to town. These three Prestin didThis is Tatum's painting of her singing on stageThis is Avery's painting, she's more of a modern art kind of girl.And I should probably be embarrassed for posting these, but I did a couple paintings myself. This one is called "Madi the Monster", pretty self explanatoryAnd this one I was thinking of painting the word "Hoot" on it, but Ash thought "Hoot, poot..." was better, let me know what you think. I used some of my scrapbook paper to make this one, but I think it's cute.I don't know about you, but I think we could sell these babies and retire for life(hee hee). Actually I think we're going to hang them all in their rooms. It was actually a fun project to do. We had a great Father's Day on Sunday, of course you already know about the snake, but we had a softball game at our church for dad's and kids. It was really fun and perfect weather. We also gave Ash all his gifts that morning at breakfast. Here the kids did hand prints on canvases that we'll hang up the stairway.And this is a frame we filled with a pic of Ash and Prestin, a tracing of his hand, a picture drawn by Prestin of both of them camping, and a note written by Prestin telling him that camping is his favorite thing to do with his dad. Here's a closer look.So we had a really nice time and are excited for some more sun, although me and Tyler will be putting on a boat load of sunscreen from now on!































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