surprise attack!

There is nothing like a surprise waterballoon attack! Especially when it's little GIRLS(and their uncles) against teen and pre-teen BOYS. One minute the boys are showing off to the camera. (I was sent out to distract them and get the whole attack on camera.) They can make some really nice dunks with the trampoline.
And the next minute they are being attacked with water balloons. They moved fast!

Todd, Brian, Gary and all of the little girls were in on it. The girls were really excited about it!! They filled lots of water balloons. They had some water guns and a few bowls of water. While the boys were jumping, the girls(and Uncles) were making the necessary preparations.

As soon as the first balloons were thrown the boys ran for the fence and were in the neighbors yard.

I hope the boy's revenge is atleast somewhat kind!

Cousins

My children can't get enough of cousins when we all get together. They all play so well together and make sure everyone is included. Oh, sure, there are times when someone gets sad but not very often. All of the girls line up on the floor at night in one big bed. They get a "foot massage" by one of their uncles. And not the kind of foot massage you are thinking of! If they want a foot massage they roll over on their tummy and Uncle Brad or Uncle Todd come by and put their foot on their back and vibrate. The girls all get a kick out of it.

The red shirts are our reunion t-shirts this year. My kids end up wearing their reunion shirts to bed every night. This picture was taken when we went out to Spanish Fork Canyon and played in the creek and then had smores for dinner(that's another post!)

Chicken Parmesan

This is another great recipe from Marie. She made this dish for us years ago in Lexington when they invited us to dinner. I've made it a lot since then. The only thing better than eating all of Marie's good food is their great friendship. We love being with Micah and Marie! Our gut hurts for days after being with them because of all the laughing.


Chicken Parmesan

4-6 boneless skinless chicken breasts
1/2 cup flour
2 eggs
3/4 cups bread crumbs(I like to use "stove top")
1/2 cup parmesan cheese(divided)

Gravy:
2 tbsp margarine
2 tbsp flour
1 1/4 cup milk
1 tsp salt
1 1/2 tsp dry basil
1/2 tsp dry oregano
1/4 tsp pepper

Toppings:
1- 8 oz can tomato sauce
1-8 oz mushrooms(optional...I don't like mushrooms very much)
1 cup shredded mozzerella cheese

Dredge chicken in flour, then eggs, then crumbs mixed with 1/4 cup parmesan cheese. Bake 400 for 20 minutes-uncovered. Melt butter with flour until smooth. Add milk and boil until thickens. Add seasonings. Pour gravy, tomato sauce, mushrooms, mozzerella cheese, and parmesan cheese over baked chicken. Bake for 15 mintues at 400.

morning hugs

My kids all love getting morning hugs. On this morning Charlie just kept hugging and hugging Eliza. It was so cute!! So I had to grab a picture to post.

12 Dancing Princesses

Brenna just had her end of the year performance with the acting school that she goes to. That is her in the blue dress. She is being kissed on the forehead(hand to forehead) by the king. Her princess name was Marla Lee. We have a friend from Nashville named Maura Lee. So we couldn't help but call Brenna Marla Lee all the time and think of our good friend.
Brenna had a wonderful time participating in the performance. She has her sights set big!! She loves being on stage. She loves acting, singing, dancing. Anything that has to do with an audience clapping for her. She is talking about Broadway and NYC. I tell her to keep working hard and anything is possible!!

first father's and son's

This is Todd and Charlie heading out on their first Father's and Son's campout. Charlie, of course, had no idea where he was going but he was really excited to be going with Dad all by himself. Once they got their, Todd said Charlie was in heaven. As soon as they got out of the truck, a couple of boys in the ward said, "Awesome, he brought Charlie!". Charlie had the best time being with all of the boys and dads. He explored, got dirty, loved petting the lizards that Dan Palmer and Kent Udall brought, and fell off the bench of a picnic table and hurt his elbow. Russ Crawford, who is a doctor, popped his elbow back in place. It still took Charlie until the next night to really use it though. That made me a little nervous!!
They came home at 3:00 in the morning...Yikes! I woke up with a screaming baby suddenly in my bedroom. Charlie fell asleep okay around 10:00 but then woke up in the night and couldn't go back to sleep. Todd couldn't sleep either and was uncomfortable. So they packed up and came home. Charlie was awake for the 2 hour drive home. I put him in his crib and he slept until 10:00 that morning.

don't play with your food

Rigatoni noodles just somehow lend themselves to being played with. My kids just can't help themselves. So the noodles very quickly start going on fingers. Then Todd joins the action and gets out the dry noodles and does his little tricks for the kids. He puts a dry noodle in his mouth and then pretends to crack his neck or any other bones. Oh the laughter! This just encourages him to keep going. This night he was acting like he was cracking Charlie's neck. Then the girls just had to have their necks cracked. Watch out Dr. Brimhall...Todd might just take over your job!