Maranda the Artist

We have recently become amazed at Maranda's skill as an artist. She will draw pictures from coloring books or other pictures that she sees. We would ask her if she had traced them because they were so much like the originals. So Dan asked her if she could draw a face and Maranda said that she couldn't. Dan asked her to draw this guy from 101 Dalmatians: We think it is pretty great especially since we don't have any talent in this area ourselves and she is only nine years old. Anyone know where we can find inexpensive drawing classes?

Cucumbers for Dessert?

Andria is not a great eater. She never thinks she is hungry. So now I bribe her with a cucumber. That's right, I tell her if she eats her dinner then she can have a cucumber for dessert. This works whenever I think of it. Crazy! She just wants it whole and eats it like a big pickle. Luckily they are on sale now at Superstition Ranch Market four for a dollar!

Oh, yeah, sometimes she has to share with her sisters.

Cousin Weekend

We had some of our cousins spend a few days with us last weekend. It was so much fun! We went to the green belt to run off some energy before dinner time.


Here, Kindyl and Maranda built a brick tower around Andria. I think they took turns being in the middle.
Rachael curled everyone's hair.
Andria and Breazy, beautiful!

Zanya and Brenley all ready for bed.

Zan and Sam were so excited for Brenley to spend the night in their room. Zan wanted to sleep on the floor so Brenley could sleep in her bed. They were so good and they all slept through the night. Cousins are so fun!

Valentine Treats

Here is the cupcake with the fluffy pink frosting. Well, it isn't very fluffy but it is pink. It uses the juice from maraschino cherries for the pink part. The chocolate cupcakes have a hint of cinnamon which I thought was delicious and different. I thought they were great but not all my kids liked them. All my kids do love valentine sugar cookies. We tried a new recipe this year from a friend of ours. They are delicious! I liked the cookies almost better without the frosting because they were so good. Most of the rest of my family likes a little cookie with their frosting (Dan). Actually, Hanna made these for her seminary class so we didn't get to keep too many for ourselves.

I think I might need to start taking pictures of all the nutritious meals we eat over here so that you don't get the wrong idea about our home. We do not eat treats all the time. We have a healthy balance of nutrition and treats. Probably most of my kids would say we have too many healthy things. I'll try to remember to take fun pictures of healthful things next time :)

Photo Shoot

Hanna and Kylee goofing around one Sunday afternoon at Grunyon Run. I think Kinsey is the photographer.

It's great to have cousins!

Winter Formal 2009

New suit (birthday present), tie picked out on a shopping trip with Hanna, hair cut compliments of Callie, waiting for the lovely Sarah.

Chandler and Sarah :

Sarah's Mom told us that she just loves Chandler. Well who wouldn't. He is not afraid of adults, he has interesting ideas and he is easy to talk to. Plus, Sarah has five younger sisters and Chandler is quite used to younger sisters. I am thinking he will thank us one day for making him so comfortable around women, but I won't hold my breath :)

Teenage girls

Hanna went bowling with some friends a while ago. Then she downloaded the pictures somewhere in our computer where I couldn't find them from Blogger. Dan told me how to locate them and trace the path back from Blogger. So here they are.

I love teenage girls. Christy, Brianne, Hanna, Clara


Christy, Brianne, Hanna, Clara

Christy, Brianne, Hanna, Clara