Hanging out...

Our cute little guy hanging out...


...and watching his sisters play croquet.

We've got grass...

The girls (and Steve) could not wait to walk on the grass. Kendyl quickly asked if they could play croquet, so we got it out.

We actually have enough room to play a good game!


Fortunately, there were no casualties with balls or mallets! :)


Can't wait to play soccor, t-ball, slip-n-slide, etc.


We even have enough room to set up our tent! Backyard camping anyone?

New lawnmower...

If you recall, we prematurely gave our old lawnmower to D.I. last summer, in the hopes of getting "fake grass". But when expense pretty much squashed that idea, we had to revamp our backyard makeover. Now that our grass has grown in (for the most part), Steve had to go invest in a new lawnmower. He decided to go green and got a cordless electric mower...nice!

Cream of Cauliflower Soup

Several people were asking about Grandma's Cauliflower Soup recipe so here it is...

1 large package frozen cauliflower cooked in:

2 c. chicken broth
4 T. flour
1 can evaporated milk
1 c. milk
1 t. worcestershire sauce
1/2 c. margarine
1 can cheddar cheese soup
onion powder

Do not boil, to avoid curdling.

First Smiles...

I was finally able to capture these cute smiles on my camera!

Memorial Day...

We traveled to Utah for Grandma's funeral and found the cemetary quite beautiful with all of the flowers.


We were packed in tight, especially since we hauled my harp all the way there, but it was worth it.


My cute girls!


Ryder was a great little traveler. He slept most of the way and even slept at night once we got home!

Ryder's Blessing Day...

Our handsome little guy dressed up well. He was also perfectly behaved during the blessing even though he was awake, he was quiet and content and just looked around. Of course, we already knew he was perfect!


Steve gave a nice blessing and I got to share (unexpectedly!) my testimony. It was nice to share this special day with our family in the ward where I grew up.


Thanks to all our wonderful family who came and shared Ryder's special day with us. We had a fun time visiting with everyone.

My Grandma

As I've been reflecting on thoughts of my grandma, I noticed that a lot of my memories of her revolve around food. We used to go over to her house on Sunday for dinner and I often remember eating the same comfort foods I only found at her house. Some of my favorites were scones with honeybutter, grandma's dippies (she only hinted at the ingredients in her secret recipe!), eating pringles with those dippies, hidden mint cookies, cauliflower cheese soup, homemade bread, chocolate zuchini bread, pumpkin bread and banana bread with chocolate chips...to this day, I always put chocolate chips in my banana bread thanks to Grandma! She had a treat bucket that we could choose a candy from if we ate all our dinner...really it was an empty 5 gallon icecream bucket filled with candy, mostly Hershey's miniatures that I remember!

My grandma loved to crochet and embroider and she was talented at it. I remember her telling me that she'd once heard a surgeon say he enjoyed embroidery because it helped him relax and practice his stitches. She was always working on a project or was sorting through embroidery thread or winding yarn into a ball. I remember Grandma trying to teach me to crochet an afghan one time. Mine was very crooked and uneven and looked nothing like hers...I know I did not even make it long enough to cover much, and I still have the leftover yarn in a box.

I remember the duplex and all the clover in the grass, coming up from the basement and seeing Grandma at the kitchen sink washing dishes, the wall in her living room was covered with family photos and there was a big upright piano. I remember them moving to their first condo and watching Grandma iron and do laundry. She used to tell me about how she would earn money during the depression by ironing for people and all the ruffles on the shirts she would have to iron. Grandma was clean...her house was always spotless and she would wash the dishes before putting them in the dishwasher (she never trusted them to get completely clean!), she would even rinse paper plates before putting them in the trash! Grandma had beautiful, neat handwriting. She took wonderful care of her parents and I remember going with her and Grandpa to visit Grandpa Schoenfeld to bring his laundry and go grocery shopping for him. We would go to Harmon's and buy orange rolls, they were her treat for doing the shopping. I remember Paul typing "Dear Old Lady" letters on the typewriter down in the basement. She used to say at least she was a "dear" old lady. Are you funny ha-ha or funny peculiar? She loved to talk about meeting Grandpa at the dentist's office, having twins...waking up to be told there were two, telling stories about the pictures of our pioneer ancestors. Trips to Las Vegas to see Papa's siblings. Never driving a car. Getting her hair done by Bill. Her nails were always done. Pink and baby blue were her favorite colors. Her scriptures sat on the table next to her chair downstairs and I would find her reading them sometimes. I remember going with her to the Cambodian Branch while they were serving their mission. I remember taking out my own endowments for the first time and watching Grandma go through the session and thinking, if she can do this, so can I. Grandma in the sealing room the day I got married. She set a wonderful example of a wife, mother, and homemaker. She was a loving Grandma who cared for us and never forgot a birthday. I loved spending my birthdays and holidays with them and lots of special times in between. I couldn't have asked for better grandparents. I knew I could count on them and when I needed them, they were right there. Thank you, thank you, thank you. You are loved and already missed.

Joyce Schoenfeld Russell
August 23, 1921 - May 18, 2008

Obituary



Happy 65th Wedding Anniversary Grandma and Papa!
May 19, 2008 - Celebrated together!

Pinkalicious...

So this weekend we went to a fundraiser at Kendyl's school. They had a spaghetti dinner and book basket auction along with a raffle which included a 40" flatscreen tv. For the baskets, each teacher chose a book and the class was supposed to bring items in related to the book to make up the basket. One teacher picked the book Pinkalicious and the basket was, of course, filled with all things pink! It was so cute!

We bid on the basket and were lucky enough to win. We had to up our bid a couple of times, but it is money that goes directly back to the classrooms so we were happy to bid. It was a silent auction so no paddles or emotional bidding wars, we just kept writing our number down on the paper next to the basket.

The girls thought it was Christmas/Easter all over again. There were tons of cute toys, candy, soap, lotion, makeup, etc. I loved the Bath and Body Works soaps and the girls divided up the toys, candy and lip gloss. Poor Steve had to make due with a pink rubber squishy ball. Good thing Ryder is not old enough to put up a fuss or we might have had to bid on two baskets!

Is this a smile?

It seems like Ryder has been on the verge of smiling, but I haven't quite been able to capture it with the camera. This is as close as I could get today.

Loose teeth...

After weeks of wiggling and wiggling, Kendyl's two bottom teeth were finally ready to come out. She's been so excited to lose some teeth that she was begging Steve to pull them out for her. (I think her excitement mostly stemmed from the upcoming Tooth Fairy visit!) So, yesterday, she finally got them pulled...



You can see her permanent teeth coming in already. We are definitely going to need some braces.



She came skipping into our room this morning to show us the loot the tooth fairy left her and has had the biggest smile on her face all day!

Mother's Day...

My wonderful husband and kids treated me to a very nice Mother's Day. I got lots of hugs and kisses, cute homemade cards, handpicked flowers, delicious meals, rest and relaxation. But, I have to say I think my favorite gifts were Ryder sleeping a 5 1/2 hour stretch last night and Brityn going poop on the potty this morning!

I just had to share that the gift they handed out to all the mothers today in church was a mini loaf of Great Harvest honey whole wheat bread. Yummy!

Hola! or Aloha!

We ate two different cultures of food this weekend. Mexican, because I've been thinking about Cinco de Mayo coming up and Hawaiian/Samoan at a wedding reception luau. I was feeling homesick for Hawaii when several members of the polynesian family bore their testimonies at church today...so much aloha! Que lo pase bien y Feliz Cinco de Mayo!


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It was a fly.

On Saturday Brityn came in the house crying hysterically and when I asked her what was wrong she said a bee landed on her. I checked her for a bee sting, but saw nothing, however, she was clearly upset. When Steve came inside he said there was no bee, but that it was just a fly. Yesterday, we were eating lunch and there was a fly in the house...you never saw a kid so frightened, I mean, the fly was just flying and she was screaming hysterically again. We tried to explain that flies are annoying, but harmless and she's watched the Bee Movie, so she knows bees can be nice too. I guess we might just have to invest in one of these electronic fly swatters to combat the fear of flies!

This whole incident reminded me of the movie "Ever After" with Drew Barrymore when in the movie the mean stepsister and stepmother are visiting with the queen and she has a fit when she finds out that Danielle has been with the prince and to explain her "tantrum" she says, "It was a bee." I always thought that was the funniest line in the movie and we often quote it whenever someone has a tantrum.