Happiness is...

family
fun
big smiles
lots of laughs
and
four kids banging on a piano.

Joseph

I love this little rascal so much!  He has the brightest blue twinkling eyes and he makes me smile every day.

Love Day

I used to think that Valentine's Day was for couples, but I've come to see, for me at least, that Valentine's Day is for family.  I don't want to make reservations at an over-priced restaurant and leave my little ones in a baby sitter's care when we can stay together, have lots of fun, and I can smother them all in hugs and kisses and Valentine's Day schmaltz. 

 It's a wonderful excuse to have pink drinks and flowers and candles.  The boys think its neat to have these things on Valentine's Day, instead of unbearably girly (which it would be any other day of the year).

 And who doesn't want a pink frosted heart-shaped sugar cookie?  (Let's not talk about how I ate almost all the chocolate covered strawberries.)

It's another day to show them I love them, just with pink extras thrown in for fun. (Aren't they the cutest little stair-steps ever?)

A First Birthday

Joseph turned the big 0-1...same day I turned the big 3-7 but we made it all about him, I mean...you only turn one once!  There were presents...

and a birthday cupcake!

We opened presents...all together now!

Then it was time to eat!  Joseph was pretty suspicious of this strange new food...

but he quickly caught on that chocolate is AWESOME!

Woo Hoo!!!!!!!!!!

But then came the crash.  Birthdays are, after all, exhausting.

When he started sucking his thumb and twirling his hair we knew the end had come.  His big day ended with a bath and a nap.  Happy Birthday Joseph!!

Trip to St. George

 We had the opportunity to travel to St. George and gather with family to see my niece Jocelyn baptized and nephew Dallin blessed.  It was so fun to get together and celebrate!  While we were in St. George we wanted to take the kids to see the sights.  On the drive down we stopped at Cove Fort. 

 It was cold but lots of fun.  The kids really enjoyed touring the fort but were SUPER excited when the time came to climb to the lookout area.

 

We drove out to see the Jacob Hamblin home.

We couldn't believe the difference in weather from Cove Fort to St. George.  What a difference a few hours of south-bound driving makes!  The kids were in shirt-sleeves heaven!

Next we visited Brigham Young's home.  What a beautiful place!

Just a short hop away was the St. George Tabernacle.  Our sweet missionary guide had spent years serving in the Primary and knew just how to talk to our kids.  She was amazing!

Spiral staircase built by Miles Romney.

Podium where Lorenzo Snow received the revelation on tithing.  Awesome!

Our final stop was at the beautiful St. George Temple.  What a marvel it is, so white against the red rock cliffs.  The kids were so taken with the temple, especially since our after-dark arrival on the first night of the trip meant that their first view of it was in a halo of light.  They usually have to squint to see temples from the freeway but this one was a beacon even Grant couldn't miss!

We had a wonderful trip and our success has made us bold.  We are planning our next family trip for the summer...yeehah!

The Question

Why do we bother buying baby toys when said baby would much rather leave the toy in a corner and be doing this for an hour?

That is one of the secrets of the universe. Maybe it's because we're all rather perverse at heart. I don't know for sure. One thing I do know is that Joseph is stinking cute!

A Souffle for the New Year

I like having food traditions. You know, like ham at Easter and turkey at Thanksgiving and prime rib at Christmas. Food traditions provide a marvelous sense of security and wonderful expectation. Last year I decided to start a New Year's Eve food tradition...a souffle. We tried a savory dinner-type one for the end of 2010; ham and cheese. The kids weren't crazy about it and I was a little apprehensive to try again as 2011 rang it's last bells, but I finally figured that I couldn't go wrong with chocolate. I poured over the instructions in my trusty Cook's Illustrated Cookbook, carefully stirred, whipped and folded, and was finally ready to bake.

I think the looks on their faces was worth every minute of effort. Best New Year's Eve EVER! Hello chocolate souffle food tradition!