Myrtle Beach

The beach is perfect and having so much family here is even better! Charlotte is loving the beach. She jumps over the waves and has to wash her hands off in the ocean as soon as she gets too much sand on her hands. She says, "wash off" and runs for the ocean to clean up.
She got to see daddy for the first time in 3 weeks yesterday and was ecstatic. So was I. It's good to have him back.

By being with so many cousins day in and day out she has learned to say, "my turn". Her cousin Sariah also taught her, "we will, we will, wok you." My favorite is, "flip flops" pronounced, "bib bops."

The weather is awesome. Utah better warm up before we get home. Can ya'll work on that for me? I don't want to loose my tan. :) See you all next week.

Jenny

Granola Recipe

I made granola for our Activity Days Mother/Daughter night. Here it is if you want something yummy and healthy for ya.

8 cups oats (I use about 2 cups quick & the rest regular b/c I like it chunky.)

2/3 cup wheat germ

3/4 cup sliced almonds (or more)

Feel free to add raisins, pecans, walnuts, pumpkin seeds, whatever tickles your fancy. :)

mix above ingredients in a large dripper pan with sides and set aside.

in a microwave safe bowl combine:

2 tea. vanilla

2/3 cup safflower oil (can also use Canola but safflower is better for ya and also has no taste)

1 cup honey

1 tablespoon cinnamon (or more to taste)

Put in microwave for 30 secs. This helps the oil & honey come together & distribute more evenly when pouring on the oats. Whisk it, then pour onto oat mixture stirring well.

Bake at 200 degrees for 3 hours, stirring every 30 mins. and drizzling with more honey. The more honey you add, the crunchier your granola will be.

After 3 hours, when you remove them from the oven, don't stir again. Let it sit so it can set up and harden a little.

Barbie's and Meatloaf

Charlotte discovered my Barbie's a couple days ago and she has been in love ever since! She makes them dance, takes them for walks, & plays with their hair.

I caught her playing Barbie's for the first official time with her dad. Pay no attention to what Marc is saying. He is a boy, and doesn't know how to really play Barbie's (you girls with brothers know exactly what I mean) but Charlotte loved it.

Moments after the video Marc popped Ken's head off for fun and Charlotte started to cry immediately and became very worried. Again, boys are not the best at playing Barbies. lol

To get Charlotte to eat, we sometimes use bribes. This time is was a cookie if she ate her meatloaf. She was not a huge fan and would gag loudly or spit it out after the first few bites. And to end it all, she ended up not even wanting the cookies and ate an orange instead.

Vegas Baby!

We had SUCH a fun time in Vegas celebrating Marc's big 30th birthday! It was sunny, Charlotte swam everyday, we shopped, we walked, and walked.

My sis came up from Mesa and we stayed together. Made for an even better trip!!!
I think the picture says it all. Wear sunscreen. I'll leave it at that for now. I think she's well done! lol. Okay, I'll stop.

Happy Birthday sweetheart! We ate at Maggiano's, our favorite place to go when we were dating. Can you tell Charlotte was excited about blowing out the candle? I love how she's holding onto his shirt. Pink is his new favorite color and don't give him slack about it or he'll sing you a song. I think he looks hott but that's me. ;)

She was very proud of herself for doing her own hair.

My sister sent me some boots that were too small for her girl. They are still big for Charlotte but it doesn't keep her from clomping around the house with them.

And this one was a little too small. She took the Cabbage Patches shoe and was running around with it. I don't know how it stayed on.

One Sunday we were finishing lunch when Charlotte comes in the room...and out again... and back in. She was very busy.

She seriously makes me laugh

So, it's been forever since I posted, mainly b/c of being preggie and sick. But, it has past and I feel like Jenny again! Woo hoo! Also, Charlotte has been sleeping for 2 hours now, so here I am.

Before bed, I sometimes take a warm washcloth and wipe Charlotte's face. She loves it. So, I caught her doing this in the bathroom the other day. I love how she goes ummmmmm.... If the next one is as fun as her, I am going to be laughing for the rest of my life!

AZ Trip

My beautiful sis with her 2 oldest boys. I only got to visit with them for a little bit.
I got to hike up to the wind caves in Mesa with a friend. It was beautiful and the weather was wonderful.

My sweet little nephew had open heart surgery and I went down to be with my sis. He did amazing and was out of the hospital after only 5 days!!

Once he was home, he was squealing and wouldn't stop smiling.

On his last day in the hospital we finally got him to smile.

I think all sisters take silly pictures, especially when you are bored and waiting for a table at Oregano's! We were both CRAVING a Pizookie. (A cookie baked to perfection in a skillet topped with ice cream, whipcream, chocolate syrup and I think it's sprinkled with magic yummy dust!!
It's funny when people see us together, they either say, "you look nothing alike" or "you look just like each other!" Either way, we look like idiots in these pics!!

Thinking about the Pizookie.....

This was our "SOMEONE TOOK MY PIZOOKIE"!!! face.

It was worth every bit of the 20 minute wait. :) :)

Christmas 2009

Don't you love it when people take pictures of themselves? I realized I didn't have any on here of us at Christmas, so here we are. We had a wonderful Holiday and I am soo grateful for my family both close and far. I wish we lived closer but I'm grateful to have such amazing family and friends here in Utah.
She went to the kitchen, got the shredded wheat, put it on the little guys desk then folded her arms to say a prayer! She never ceases to amaze me.

This is the face she gives me when I tell her to "say cheese." My sis gave her the hat and I love it on her.
You can probably tell she wasn't so crazy about the big bow on her dress. :)
Happy girl on Christmas. My mom in law gave me the good idea of taking a pic with all her toys. There's that "cheese" face again.
Her ABSOLUTE favorite is her pig. Thanks Emily! She LOVES it! It goes everywhere with us.

My feet are not the cutest but hers are. She enjoyed painting them.
Thanks Grandpa and Grandma for her car! We love that we can all ride it!

Charlotte did this all by herself one day. She looks in the mirror, says "dadadadadada!" then pretends to hit herself and falls over. She thought it was hilarious and so did we!