Sisterly Love

He's the World's Best Pa

Happy Birthday, Dad.
We love you.

At the Beach

Mabel had an extra spring in her step while we were in Mexico.
She loves it there.

(Thanks for the pictures, Abbie.)
I couldn't find my camera in the deep dark depths of our humongous tent.
That's right, I said tent.
I camp.

Around the House

And then it was on to Mexico and the beach.

We went to the snow.

It was cold and really beautiful.

Stella and I stayed indoors.

This is what you get when you try to find snow clothes in Arizona in March:

It's a pretty motley assortment, but they didn't care.

I love that they are holding hands.

It was fun.
Don't worry, there's more to come.

Easter, In Pictures

Happy Easter

from me and Stella

p.s. stay tuned for Spring Break highlights

I'm taking a break.

Here's something to look at until I come back.



















Did it make you yawn?

Multitasking

Thanks to Mike we have this lovely picture of me teaching the kids about the First Vision while simultaneously nursing Stella. Excellent placement of the magazine, I might add.

Here, Stella manages to be naked and (semi) modest at the same time.


And finally, Oliver mysteriously gets his picture taken while maintaining his strict "no pictures for me!" policy. It's a good thing Mike is so tricky.


Now I must go pack for the snow and the beach. At the same time.
That's what I call multitasking.

She's growing up.

That makes me and Oliver really sad.

(Soon after Stella was born and wasn't gaining any weight, it was Oliver's turn to say the family prayer. Mike was prompting him and told him to ask Heavenly Father to help Stella grow. Oliver whispered to Mike that he didn't want Stella to get any bigger. He just likes her little. Isn't that sweet?)

But she loves facing forward in the Bjorn.

It's much more interesting than looking at my neck.

Stella loves taking a bath.

I promise.

When you live in the desert

and you have a really cool spiderman umbrella, you take what you can get.

Family Night

We watched Mike play Super Mario Galaxy.

(Don't worry, we had a lesson on trying to be like Jesus, too.)

What did you do?

Recipe of the Week

It's Monday night.

We (and by we I mean Mike) haven't gone to the grocery store yet this week.
So we're pretty much out of food.
That means we're having pancakes for dinner.
At least they're whole wheat, right?

Whole Wheat Pancakes

1 cup whole wheat flour
2/3 cup all-purpose flour
1/3 cup wheat germ or oats
1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
2 tablespoons brown sugar
1 teaspoon salt
5 1/3 tablespoons unsalted butter
2 1/2 cups buttermilk
2 eggs, beaten
3 tablespoons unsalted butter

1. In a food processor or in a large bowl, combine the whole wheat flour, white flour, wheat germ or oats, baking powder, baking soda, brown sugar, and salt.

2. Cut the butter into small pieces with a knife, and add the butter to the flour-mixture. Mix until the mixture has a sand-like consistency.

3. Make a well in the center of the flour-butter mixture, and add the buttermilk and eggs. Stir until the liquids are fully incorporated.

4. Heat a frying pan over medium heat and grease the surface with 1 tablespoon of butter or oil. Ladle the batter onto the surface to form 4 inch pancakes. Once bubbles form on the top of the pancakes, flip them over, and cook them on the other side for about 2 minutes.

I thought the batter was a bit runny, so I added more flour. I also added some blueberries and chocolate chips (though not together, obviously). They were totally delicious and didn't even taste like they were made from the 30 year old wheat we inherited from my parents' food storage supply.

Mel, this is for you: