6-month Cuties

Here are some cute pictures of my babies from a few weeks ago when they turned 6-months old. I LOVE Kesley's black and white outfit and Cameron's hoodie/sweater. They are changing so quickly - I need to have another photo shoot to show how much they are changing. I just can't get enough of these little guys. Hopefully soon I will actually scrapbook Christmas stuff.

Christmas Treats (part 4)

Here are 2 more recipes for you. The chocolate cake is yummy and looks pretty - I still like my deep dark chocolate cake the best, but this one is good. And the popcorn is super yummy and super easy! Enjoy!

6-month Check-up

These pages aren't Christmasie - but I had them done and wanted to post them (especially since I haven't had time to make Christmas pages). I can't believe how big the twins are. You think that Kesley is big when you pick her up and look at her (she is 18 pounds 2 ounces) - that is until you pick up Cameron! Cameron weighs 4 pounds more (22 pounds 2 ounces)! Most importantly, they are both healthy and doing GREAT!

Christmas Treats (part 3)

Here are 2 more Christmas treats. I made these to take up to my husband's family Christmas party last Sunday but left them at home in the frig (luckily I had 2 other things that I did remember to take) - sorry. The fudge recipe is the recipe my mom always made growing up. I guess you can make it any time but it just seems like a Christmas treat to me. And the fudge-mint cookie bars (really brownies) I got out of the Betty Crocker Christmas Cookie magazine (small and at the check stand). They are really yummy (and not too minty). I am definitely going to make these again! Hope you enjoy them!

Fabulous Party with SANTA!!!!! (part 2)

This party was FABULOUS!  I think the kids (all 60 of them) and the parents ALL had a GREAT time!  I know I did!  I couldn't stop smiling as I watched all the kids sit on Santa's lap and tell him what they want for Christmas!  And it was such an easy party to do (and it was all worth it).  I made invitations, "arranged" for Santa to come, made a treat and had everyone bring a treat to share, set up a hot chocolate bar (which was so much fun but in all the excitement, I forgot to take a picture of it), and I made cute paper for the kids to write letters to Santa on.  After the party, I made a 4x6 print of everyone that sat on Santa's lap and gave them to them - they look a lot like the pages above of my kids on Santa's lap (but just one picture).  Thanks again to Amanda for taking all the pictures!  And thanks to my 2 cute neighbor girls (Heather & Nicole) who held the twins during the whole party!  And thanks to the best Santa ever!  I can't wait to have him back next year!  This is my new Christmas Tradition!

Christmas Treats (part 2)

This year, I made 4 different treats and layered them in glass vases (big round ones from Wal-Mart and smaller square ones from Roberts Crafts) and tied ribbon around them for Ed to give to people at work.  I made caramels with walnuts, Rolo pretzels (see earlier post for recipe), chocolate bark with crushed candy canes on top, and Easy Caramel Turtles (recipe above - don't know if that is really the name but that is what I call them) - all pretty easy treats to make.  I really liked how they turned out - hopefully everyone that got them enjoyed them.  

"When I grow up I want to be an Elf!"

This morning, while the boys were getting ready for school, Matthew told all of us:

"When I grow up I want to be an Elf!  I won't tell my kids that I work at the North Pole but when I get home from work I will teach them how to make toys.  I wonder how Elves make toys.  I will ask an elf when we go on the Polar Express."

What a silly little boy!  He is really into Elves these days.  He keeps asking for an Elf costume.

The picture is my future Elf eating pumpkin pie tonight.

Christmas Card 2009

This year I got our Christmas card out later than usual - but I was just happy to get one done this year.  Lots of you got one - but for those who didn't, I wanted to share it with you and wish you a very Merry Christmas!  And I wanted to thank my adorable cousin Amanda for taking our family pictures (click on her name to check out her website)!  It is NOT easy to take a good family picture in the COLD and with SIX kids 8 years old and younger - but she did it!  Thanks Amanda!

What a wonderful, exhausting, and exciting year 2009 was!

The year began with my tummy getting bigger and bigger while I tried to not get put on bed rest.  The boys stayed active & busy playing basketball, going to school, and going on adventures with Ed.  By spring, I was barely able to move, the big three boys were all playing soccer, and Brecken was trying to be a big boy.  Ed was staying extremely busy doing all the shopping for me, entertaining the boys, and working in his new role as Vice President at Xactware.

Summer brought our season of birthdays with Gavin turning 4, Matthew turning 6, Cameron & Kesley being born, and Dallin turning 8. The twins came at 38 weeks (via c-section).  Their combined birth weight was almost 16 pounds!  They were so healthy and able to come right home from the hospital.  We were so lucky to have my mom come and help us for the summer.  What a blessing!   The summer also brought baseball & t-ball, swimming lessons, cooking classes, sitting at home & not sleeping, and enjoying the twins.  The summer ended with Dallin being baptized, the twins being blessed, and Ed racing in the Leadville 100 (a 100-mile race in the Colorado mountains) – he beat his goal by an hour and a half! 

Fall brought more soccer, school (Dallin started 3^rd grade, Matthew 1^st grade, & Gavin his second year of pre-school), more sleep, Brecken turning 2, and more adventures for Ed & the big 3 boys (airplane museum, motorcycle rides, riding Trax, baseball games, football games, & so much more).  Fall left us with the boys all loving school & doing great, Brecken getting his tonsils out with an overnight stay at the hospital (his tonsils were so big he was choking on them), Cameron & Kesley smiling, cooing, reacting to all of us, and starting to roll-over, Ed still traveling for work & loving his job, & me trying to keep up with 6 kids & a very busy house. 

The year is ending with happy, healthy kids who are all enjoying each other – they love playing with each other.  The big 3 boys are such wonderful helpers with the twins but Brecken still doesn’t acknowledge they exist. 

We feel so blessed, especially this time of year, to have such great kids, wonderful families, and amazing friends.   We hope you have a very Merry Christmas and that 2010 brings you nothing but joy and happiness!

Check out our blog at http://6and2.blogspot.com to see more pictures and what we are up to throughout the year.

Christmas Treats (part 1)

Here are 2 of my favorite (and easy) recipes for fun Christmas treats.  I will post some more of my favorite recipes for Christmas treats (hopefully) in the next week.  I would love to know what you make!

Gavin's Pre-school Christmas Program

Gavin's pre-school Christmas program was yesterday.  It was so much fun to see him sing songs and say his part (which he said perfectly all by himself).  He wasn't very animated during the program - which is not normal for Gavin - I guess he was nervous, who knows, he is 4.  It was also nice because I got to go all by myself and just enjoy watching Gavin!  Ed comes to everything that he can - but he was in London (yes, England) for work most of the week so he obviously couldn't come.  And Michelle T. offered to come to my house to watch the twins and Brecken during the program - which was SO NICE!  I was happy I didn't have to take the twins out in the cold and wrestle Brecken at the program - THANK YOU MICHELLE!

I always sign-up to take treats to the Christmas program.  This year I did Christmas tree brownies (made using the Wilton Petite Tree Silicon Mold) - and the green on the trees is chocolate - and Pretzel/Rolo treats.  I have posted the recipe for those in the past but I will try to post them again in the next day or two - they are really easy and really yummy! 

Brecken - Happy Once Again

Since Brecken got his tonsils out in October, we have seen HUGE improvements in his sleeping and overall happiness.  He still won't talk or really eat much of anything - but we are working on that.  But he will play for hours and be happy.  He still loves to dance and does anytime he hears music.  Of course, he still FREAKS out when I leave (which isn't all that often) and likes to be close to me - but he really is getting better.  And when he is happy, he is so much fun!

BYU vs UofU Gingerbread Houses

For some reason, Matthew is a HUGE U of U fan.  He is always drawing pictures with U's on them.  So, of course, he had to put a big "U" on his gingerbread house.

Gavin, on the other hand, LOVES BYU and hates the U.  So, when they were making gingerbread houses he asked Myron to draw a "U" on his house (with frosting so he could decorate it).  Myron said, "Don't you mean a "Y" for BYU?".  Gavin said, "No!  I want a "U" so I can cross it out!"  And that is exactly what he did!

Gingerbread Houses

Every year, the boys decorate gingerbread houses.  This year, with Ed traveling so much, we couldn't find a night that we could make the gingerbread houses.  So, Saturday night while Ed & I were at Xactware Christmas Party, Cortney & Myron (Cortney's boyfriend) were babysitting and helped the big 3 make their gingerbread houses once the little 3 were in bed.  They all had a great time!  Thanks Cortney & Myron!  Our kids LOVE you guys!

6-months old!

I can't believe Cameron & Kesley are already 6-months old (yesterday)!  I was so excited to take pictures of them so I could scrapbook a cute page - but they were not in the mood to have their pictures taken, oh well!  They are still cute to me!  And it looks like Kesley is way bigger than Cameron in the pictures - but that is NOT true.  Cameron is WAY BIGGER than Kesley (Cameron is in 18-month sized clothes and Kesley is in 9-month sized clothes).  They have their 6-month well child visit on Tuesday so we will find out just how much bigger he is.

Happy Birthday Ed! (almost 2 weeks ago)

It was Ed's birthday almost 2 weeks ago - Happy Birthday Ed!  I usually bake several cheesecakes and take into work for Ed's birthday.  But with his new position, that wouldn't work as well.  So, I baked one cheesecake (the yummy Brownie Mosaic Cheesecake) and 3 different kinds of cookies (peanut butter, chocolate with chocolate chips & white chips, and toffee chocolate chip) and fancy brownies (I will try to post the recipe in the next few days).  I put one of each kind of cookie in a bag and one brownie in a bag and put all the bags in 2 big baskets.  That way people at Ed's work could come and grab a bag of goodies.  

Then on the weekend, we had a party for Ed and 2 of our friends whose birthday's are around the same time (but all get kind of forgotten with Thanksgiving and Christmas).  Michelle T. was kind enough to organize it and have it at her house.  We had yummy Mexican food!  I baked 3 different cakes - one for each with a birthday (their favorite cake).  Ed got his favorite German chocolate cake, Jared a plain cheesecake and Laura my chocolate cake.  It was a fun night!

2 BIG for 1 Crib

My sweet little twins are 6-months old today (because it is after midnight).  They have gotten so big!  Which is great and bad.  Great because they are healthy (minus their yucky coughs) and bad because they no longer fit in the same crib together.  So, 2 nights ago they slept apart for the first time!  It worked great last night but considering the fact that it is after midnight and Kesley is STILL AWAKE, it doesn't seem to be working so well.  Wish me luck!

Fabulous Party with SANTA!!!!!

Monday night we had the most fabulous party (if I do say so myself) at our house.  Everyone started to arrive at 6:00 (with several inches of snow on the ground).  The kids could all write letters to Santa, eat treats, and drink hot chocolate (we had a hot chocolate bar) while we waited for Santa to arrive.  Santa arrived right on time at 6:30 as the kids were singing Christmas carols.  Each kid (all 60 of them) got to sit on Santa's lap and tell him what they hope to get on Christmas day.  It was so much fun to see all the kids faces light up as they sat on Santa's lap.  I think I had just as much fun as all the kids!  My cute cousin Amanda was in town and took pictures of all the kids (and lots of families) on Santa's lap.  As soon as I get them from her, I will send them on to everyone - and blog more about this party.  Thanks Amanda!  And thanks to everyone who came and helped make the night one I know we will all remember!  I can't help but smile when I think about it and all the kids!

Brownie Mosaic Cheesecake

This one was really really good!  Definitely a keeper and a make again!  The real recipe had a recipe for brownies from scratch - but I am not a fan of brownies from scratch and it was just less time consuming to use a box (I used Betty Crocker brownies).  The recipe only uses about 1/4 of a batch of brownies (2 cups cut into small squares) so I cut up another 2 cups into small squares and froze them to use later when I needed to make this cheesecake again (worked great).  This recipe was really nice too because if the cheesecake cracks (which they do all the time - I made this recipe twice and it cracked once) you put ganache (so easy) on top.  Anyway, if you want to make a yummy cheesecake, this is a GREAT one to try!  I found it at Brown Eyed Baker.