gotta share it

Jake was sitting on the toilet waiting for me to wipe him and flushed it two or three times. I came in and he said, "Listen!" We listened to the toilet run and then he explained that it was singing part of the Darth Maul theme song, then sang what the toilet was singing for me. I repeat: Obsessed! 

Vacation Post #1

First I must say I am way out of the loop, but we're back... finally! Yesterday I walked into our way overgrown garden to pick some huge zucchinis and I almost grabbed a lovely black widow. It was belly up and isn't that red belly just beautiful--until you grab it! 

Before I post pictures, I must say that Jake was being so incredibly cute yesterday at the Drayson Center registration desk. He told the lady all about the fam: "This is my little sister, Alisa. And my name's Jakey. This is my mommy. Scott is at school. and there's Ali and Alisa and Jakey. And Alisa is such a big girl and she is getting really big and she is my little sister (then he hugged and kissed her)." You get the picture. It was really cute. 

We had a week in Flag before going to Lake Powell for TWO WEEKS STRAIGHT. We did some fun things with both families. We forgot the camera everywhere we went with the Seamans, but we spent a lot of time at the pool. Flag was abnormally hot and we were at the pool almost every day. They had a tube water slide. No age limit. You just had to walk up there all alone and slide down. Jake attempted twice, but got scared. I must say it was quite a shooter, so I don't blame him. He's only three, for Pete's sake! 

Anyway, with my parents we went on some beautiful hikes and took the wave runners to Lake Mary. It was really fun and the kids, for the most part, did great! 

Here we are hiking West Fork in Sedona. I think we hiked 6 miles. My dad carried Jake in the backpack the whole way. There was a ton of poison ivy growing onto the trail so we had to be really careful the whole time. Scott carried Alisa in another backpack. We passed this little slide about 1/2 mile in, and hit it on the way back. It was a great swimming spot. If you haven't ever been to Sedona/Oak Creek, I highly recommend it! Beautiful!

Dad and I helping Jake down the slide the first time.

My mom catching him. It was deep at the bottom.

Dad the mighty cliff jumper!

Scott followed soon after.

Swimming (as Jake would say) "All Together!"

Hiking. Like Jake's Darth Maul face?

On the trail. 

Alisa and Grammy.

Jake and Papa.

I know, I know. We are so hip.

This is us hiking on the San Francisco Peaks. It was so beautiful. I love this time of year in Flag! We had a crazy adventure. We took the Kachina Trial, which is about 6 miles across the mountain. We went a little crazy and decided to hike from the end of the trail to Scott's parents house, hoping Les would rescue us! After awhile, the kids got a bit stir crazy. We ended up calling our friend Jonothan to make sure we were going the right way, then hiking another 5 miles or so before getting desperate and finally getting ahold of Scott's dad to come rescue us. I guess we were only about a mile from the house, but we were so exhausted! We left at 1:30 pm or so, and got to Scott's parents at 7-ish. We were filthy and tired and thirsty, and our kids were hungry! It was a crazy adventure! Thanks, Mom and Dad! An extra shout out to my dad for carrying Jake (who leaned out one side the whole way) all the way down the rocky trail! He is not light!

Grammy, Papa, and Jakey

Jake getting some energy out in a little cave. We had to bribe him with an occasional piece of candy or fruit snack to stay in the backpack. He really wanted to get down, and did for 1/2 hour.

Alisa with Papa's hat on. 

Jake's favorite activity at either grandparent's house: Old legos. Classic Darth Maul face. He's obsessed.

Welp, there's more, but it will have to wait for another day. Peace out, Napoleon.

Cute Swimsuit

About my sister-in-law's cute swimsuit... the website is modbecatalog.com. Go check it out! Wish I could get one. Maybe next year...

Memorial Day Pictures

Late Memorial Day post, but hey! At least it's here. We drove down last minute to Scottsdale to see Scott's fam. It was fun. I think I already wrote about it, but here are pictures. We hiked at Pinnacle Peak, got lunch at Chik-fil-A (making Jake's day), swam and swam, and played games together. It was great fun. Here are the pictures...

Scott thought he'd just pick up the cactus on the trail for safety reasons... ha!

Alisa LOVES to walk--supported.

Kelsi

View from Pinnacle Peak trail in AZ

Bethi in the cutest swimsuit ever! It's from modbecatalog.com, if you wanted to know. I am in love with it!!

Jake's favorite feature: the waterfall!

Alisa's new cover up... darling!

Kelsi cuddling with A.

We are a happy family!

Jake dunking me!

Scott's parents--Thank you so much!

Bethi & Derek--engaged!!! Yea! Congrats.

Getting ready to swim

Easy Yummy Meal Idea

So, mostly out of boredom, I made up a new recipe. Sort of. I'm not that creative, but it turned out really yummy. So, thought I'd share it. When we had leftover pita bread and chicken, we made chicken pizzas on pita bread with pesto, feta, etc. We also toasted pitas with a bit of olive oil and enjoyed with some hummus. Thank you, Trader Joe's! Yum. Anyways... here it is.

Ingredients:

-Pita bread (not pockets, although they'd work)

-Good grilling veggies. I cut up mushrooms, red and green bell pepper, sweet onion, tomatoes in thick slices, and zucchini (z. from the garden!).

-Chicken 

-Olive Oil

-Balsalmic Vinegar

-Garlic salt or salt

-pepper

-aluminum foil

Mix some olive oil (maybe 1/4 c. or less) with probably 3/4 c. balsalmic vinegar. Sprinkle some garlic salt and pepper in, and whisk with a fork. Cut up the veggies and put them in a separate bowl from the chicken. Pour some marinade on the chicken and the rest on the veggies and let them marinate for an hour or so (at least 15 minutes).  

Make a foil grilling pan by turning a 9X13 upside down and lining the pan with a few layers of tin foil. Or you could just line the inside. The foil should be in the shape of a pan. Then make a little lip around the edge. Put the veggies in there and transfer onto the grill (just the foil, not the 9X13). Grill veggies for probably 25 minutes. Stir a couple of times if you want. Add salt to taste during cooking (or before). Grill chicken (usually on low-ish for 8-10 minutes a side). 

Slice chicken thinly. Spray or rub some olive oil onto pitas (I fill up an empty butter spray container with olive oil). Put on grill. Turn after a minute. Fill the warm pita bread with veggies and chicken and eat like a taco. OH, SO YUM. Tonight with the missionaries over, we added feta cheese and it was fabulous. 

Buen provecho.

Happy Birthday, Alisa-boo!

Here's the birthday girl! She slept in until 7:40 today. It was a miracle! :)

Little walk down memory lane. She was born via c-section after 36 hours of intense labor (8 days late). 8lbs. 5 oz. and who knows how long. I don't remember! Ha! I think it was around 4:00 am. Yes, that's what childbirth does... wipes out the memory (and brings great joy).

My two munchkins.

Was she really that little? Nice socks.

 I can't believe it's already been a year since she was born! We thought Jake was mellow and such a good baby (and he totally was), but Alisa is even more so. She is content to play alone, isn't clingy, rarely cries, is smiley all the time, loves Jake and loves us! She is a joy to have. I love her so much! We love her! We're so glad she was born into our family! Love you, Lisi-girl!

Here's the birthday cake. It's a 2 layer carrot cake (reduced everything to be a bit healthier). Yum!

Scott set up presents from G'ma and G'pa Seaman last night--a picnic table and a water table. She Loves them! So does her brother. Thank you so much!

G'ma and G'pa Crane gave her squirty toys for bath and water table and a baby stroller and a new dolly. Thank you!!!

Morning presents. I know, Christmas wrapping paper. Hey, she doesn't know the difference, right?

Digging in--1st birthday tradition. Doesn't everyone do this?

She was pumped about the cake. She made such sweet noises when she saw it!

Here's the stroller and dolly. She loves them! Thank you!

Lunch at the picnic table. They wanted it inside (mostly Jake did). 

Outside at the water table. Perfect height for her!

Videos: Alisa and Jake at the water table. Alisa eating cake and talking! Cute. She's so vocal now! Just fyi, Jake is really funny about us encouraging Alisa. He chimes right in. You'll hear it. He also points out when HE is standing on his own, or walking, saying things like, "I can walk all by myself! I am standing like Alisa! Yea!" it's pretty funny. Tonight we actually got her to walk a few steps on her own, and Jake had to walk some wobbly steps to me as well. Oh, well. He just wants in on the praise, I guess.

Funny Jake sayings:

Oh, there are my eye drops. Those are for when my eyes are googley. 

Mom, I want some slimey drink! (aka spicy drink, aka soda)

In the shower with me: Mom, do you have a pee-pee? 

(me) No, Jake.

(jake) Just Jakey has a pee-pee. And dada. Dada has a big pee-pee. Jakey has a little pee-pee.

(me, laughing) Yep, you're right.

Shout Out to Jefe

This is not Jefe. On my mission, everyone said Jeff looked like Carlos Ponce, so I thought I'd find a picture of him, too. What a hunk! :)

Happy Birthday, Jefe! 

Can I just say how much I love my brother-in-law? He is hilarious! (Mas frijoles por mi, let bygones be bygones, the Anasazi Trot... need I say more?) He is always fun to be around and has an amazing ability to sleep through anything, starting at 9 pm. We've had some really funny times. I am so glad he is in the family! Such a great dad and hubby and bro-in-law. 

Hope you have (had) a fantastic birthday. We love you! Can't wait to see you at the Lake!!!!

Jefe is on the left. That's my sweet niece and my bro. at the computer.