We Discovered the Magic

  On Friday Feb 27th we got in our car and headed for Los Angelos, California.  We arrived at my Grandma Judy's house on Saturday afternoon and got to spend the day with my mom, grandma, aunts, uncle and cousins.  

The three girls also got haircuts.  Sunday we went to church and took my mom to the airport.  Monday - Wednesday we went to Disneyland!  We also went to the beach on Tuesday afternoon but found that the wind made the temperature drop too much.  So Emily dug in the sand for 25 minutes and then we left.

  

  Disneyland was fun!  The first thing we saw on the first day was Mickey.  Ashley wasn't so sure how she liked characters at first.  After she saw 5 princesses she decided she really liked characters and by day three she was hugging Pooh and Tigger of her own choice.   The weather was cloudy the first day, the second day was hot and then rainy our last day.   When I asked her what was her favorite part Ashley said it was Ariel's bathroom (in Ariel's Grotto and was green with seashells on the floor).  The picture shows the two princesses with their prince on the way to lunch at Ariel's house.  

 Emily said her favorite rides were the fast roller coaster rides with dad (Space and Splash Mtn).  Ashley's favorite characters were Pooh and Tigger and Emily's was Chip the chipmunk.  I think Bryan really enjoyed that he didn't have to work and he got to ride lots of fun and fast roller coasters.  And although I was looking forward to the beach, I really enjoyed that no one got sick or hurt and we all got to spend time together for a week.  We got home late Thursday night and are glad to have gone and glad to be home.  

  

Maegan & Molly

I am now 25 weeks along and thought it was time to post a picture of myself since both grandmas have been asking. Here's me in Bryan's basement office. Emily's latest name she has picked out for baby is Aladdin.

Also, we had a chance to dog-sit a golden retriever named Molly (8 months old) for 9 days. We got to see what having a dog is all about and found many things we liked and also some we disliked. In the end we decided not to keep Molly for now and just work on having one addition at a time. We love Molly and miss her already.

Today we are headed to Disneyland for a few days of vacation. Sunny California here we come!

Legos

Bryan bought the girls duplo legos for Christmas. Not just a few- but 600+ pieces (enough to fill up the brown 1-6 box).  I dreaded the endless cleaning up but Bryan saw the potential.  On Christmas Day we had my two brothers, Bryan and I and the two girls all building.  And since then the girls will beg for a special time when they can build together with their dad.  Here is a collection of their robots that they've been building.  Emily built all the small ones herself and the big ones with help from dad.  They all love them so much and can tell you the special powers. 

Temple & Kids Museum

The Draper Temple right now is open to the public for tours.  We went through as a family and had a great time.  The girls were very excited to see inside.  Emily said her favorite room was the married or sealing room and Ashley said she liked the cookies at the end.  

A few weeks later Emily asked, "Mommy where is heaven?"  I thought a lot about this question and I told her heaven could be in two places- on earth and up in the sky.  I told her that on earth heaven could be in temples, and then Emily interrupted and said, "Yeah like in the married room, where there was a big happy feeling in my heart.  Like Jesus was there inside me.  And angels were in my heart."  She was incredulous when I told her heaven could be up by the stars.  "Like in outer space?  That's silly mom."  She knows how to put her feelings in words.  

The girls went on a field trip to the kids museum in the Gateway Mall.  They got to stay for 1 1/2 hours and loved every minute.  Emily's favorite place was the farm/garden where she could put food toys into buckets (planting) and then pick them and make recipes with the food.  Ashley's favorites were 4 tall soft pink and yellow flowers which she carried around guarding them from other kids.   

Our latest pics

Ashley has become quite the wrestler at our house.  She randomly attacks Emily or Bryan. Her favorite insult is to call Bryan a booger.  

Emily with all their friends- Goliath the lion, Wala the quola, Tusky the small elephant, Purry Ashley's kitten, Emily the big elephant and the white unicorn.  

Emily wanted to make a recipe so she looked in a cookbook and found bread made into fun animals.  So Emily, Ashley and Bryan made Sheep Bread (shown), Bear Bread and Turtle Bread.  They were delicious!  

  As Bryan comes home from work, the girls run up to him and try to climb on his feets for a ride.  

It's a boy & Bryan's birthday

On Tuesday was Bryan's 31st birthday and we went in for our ultrasound appointment. My main objective was to find out the health of the baby but also the gender. We got everything checked and the baby looks normal and we are having a boy! Happy happy news! They moved my due date at June 13th, previously it was June 3rd. Emily is very excited for a little brother. She has come up with the name Business Hanks for him. Who knows where she got it, but I am not surprised as she called Ashley "Doojees" for many months. Ashley is still not sure what to make of it yet, but is excited for a new pwince (prince).

Bryan stayed home from work to celebrate his special day. He got cinnamon rolls from the girls and then they went off to preschoool. I made him a omelets and hashbrown feast and then he played Guitar Hero and watched some episodes of Hero. We went and bought some sheet music and then headed to the dr office. We had a family party that night with indian food Chicken Tikka Masala followed by Cherry Pizza Pie and ice cream. Happy Birthday B!
On other news, Bryan's brothers Spencer and Cameron moved out of our basement and will be staying in Houston with their parents for a while.
And Emily learned how to tie her shoes on the 6th. She is thrilled!

Emily's Recipe

Tonight as we watched more snow falling, Emily and Ashley were eating vanilla yogurt.
Emily finished her snack and told me that she thought she could make more yogurt by taking snow and adding salt, pepper, milk, etc. I told her I'd like to see that, and so she showed me. Here was her recipe for making Special Cranberry Yogurt: 1 banana, 3 drops (TBSP) of shredded cheese, 1 cut of butter, 1 egg, 1/2 bowl of hard packed snow, 2 1/3 c milk, 4 hand-fulls of craisens, 3 scoops (TBSP) vanilla yogurt. Put all ingredients in a saucepan. Stir with a wire whisk and then a rubber scraper while on low heat. Add 1 slice of cutie, 1/2 cup oatmeal and 2 TSBP hot chocolate mix. Mix together until thickened.
Upon sampling, Emily decided that she didn't end up making yogurt but Oatmeal Soup. I tried it and found out it was delicious. I had two bowlfuls of chocolate banana craisen oatmeal. The girls loved it too. Emily was so proud. She asked Ashley if she liked it to which she replied, "It tastes slimy." Emily agreed and they both laughed. Who knew a 4 year old could put a bunch of stuff in a pan and it could turn out? And I've been stressing about cooking food. I am obviously the wrong choice for the job.