The Easter Bunny can bring a miracle.

This year we had our annual Easter Egg Hunt at Grandma and Grandpa's house. We do this every year, and it's fun to see how the kids have all grown; until they become too old to participate. At some point, they decide that they are too old to join in the fun. That is when this face happens:



Brian, you can pretend that you don't want to be out there, but we know better!

Most of the candy and eggs are on the ground, there aren't many places that you can hide things in this yard, so it seems pretty easy for the older kids.

Then again, we can find some pretty tricky places to put things. The trees have some nice branches that hold eggs, among other things, that make it a bit more challenging. Who am I kidding? One good shake of a branch, and the eggs, along with a bushel of needles, will come raining down upon you.

Shake it, Miriam! Shake it for all you're worth!

Some of the grandkids get a bit too excited when it comes to the long awaited hunt. They just can't contain themselves. Secretly, I think Whitney is stealing Taylor's eggs when he isn't paying attention. Why else would cousins hug so much?

Some of the eggs have to be more difficult for the older kids, because we have to make it harder. This is where Uncle Doug thought it would be a good idea for Sydney to sacrifice an arm to the chicken wire, in exchange for those prized candy-filled eggs. What a guy. 

This year, we had some super-fun toys in the mix. This is Doug, and his brother, Ron, in their "disguise". I don't know what it is, but suddenly, they actually look alike......

Even Celisa thought the glasses were super cool! Ah, who am I kidding? Her smile is adorable!

Why is it, that whenever someone puts on a pair of glasses, they start thinking they are a Rock Star? 

Whitney couldn't wait to wear her glasses, she had to start living the rock star life while looking for her next candy fix, she just couldn't wait.

Then, as if it couldn't get any more fun, the pirates came out.

Ahoy, ye mateys!

Hunter had a chance to learn how to wear a pirate earring and eye patch. Every young boy should know how to do that, right?

Trust the actor to know how to do it right!

Aaaarrrrgggghhhh!

This is what happens to your teeth after eating all that easter candy. Just one more of the Dentist's favorite holidays. I think we'll be buying him a new car this year.

There were bubbles-a-plenty to find, and Nene and Sydney took full advantage of the moment. Jaxson had a blast! What a cutie. I'm thinking of a great Christmas present for Shannon this year. A bubble machine would give her some seriously needed time off!

Even though this is at the end of the blog, I saved the best part for last. Grandma and Grandpa opening their mission call. Yay! I'm so excited for them! I can't remember the exact place, but they are serving in Eureka for the handcart treks they hold there. They will meet so many people while they are gone for the summer, I can't wait to hear about all their adventures! They always chat up the most interesting people, and have wonderful stories. This will give us a chance to add them to our missionaries that we pray for. What a fantastic example to the family. I'm so proud of them.

Happy Easter! (It's late, I know.)

We sure love you Grandma and Grandpa! Our prayers and our hearts are always with you.

Carving the turkey.

This year for Thanksgiving, I had some extra time on my hands. Usually, I end up making pies, but this year, I only had to make one. Hmmmm.....What should I do with all that extra time? What to do....what to do..... I should think that would be obvious. Make a turkey cake, of course!

I started with 3 layers of cake:

and carved it into a turkey-ish shape. Do you have any idea how many different shapes of turkeys there are? I looked up about fifty pictures of turkeys on the internet so I would have a model to go by, and I found about fifty different shapes to carve. In the end, I decided to wing it. Get it? WING it? Ok, so a decent sense of humor is not required for carving a turkey, sue me.

I then used Rice Krispy treats to shape legs and wings, (I promise, I am out of wing jokes) and covered them in white chocolate so the fondant would stick to them.

I frosted the cake, and then covered it in fondant, and added a dent. I know it looks like a mistake, but it isn't. I promise. I did not accidentally stick a finger or thumb into the fondant. This little dent is on purpose.

I know we jumped a few steps here, but they were boring to most people, anyway. This is the finished cake. I colored the fondant with some food coloring, and stuck the legs and wings on. Notice the pop-up timer? There it is, proof that the dent was on purpose. I made some lettuce, fruits, and veggies to garnish the board. It looked pretty plain when it was just a turkey on a foil covered board. The stuffing is the cake I carved off. Hey, I had to do something with the leftovers. Waste not, want not, you know? If you think I was going to take the time to make fondant stuffing with little celery bits, you've got another thing coming. Do you have any idea how much time that would take? Ok, not very long. But still, the cake was just sitting there, begging to be used. So what if nobody would be able to eat it because it would dry out and be disgusting? I am more concerned with the effect. It almost looks like real stuffing. So there. 

Lettuce, lemons, and corn. Now, I know they are not to scale. I was working with limited amounts of fondant, here. I didn't want to have to make a whole new batch of fondant, just to make the garnish look more realistic and life sized. They turned out really cute, anyway. 

Here, we have an orange and an apple. I know that seems obvious, but for those that may be fruit challenged, I thought I better specify. My nephew asked me if they were made of cake. I said no, and he looked so confused. I then explained that they were made of marshmallows. You should have seen his eyes light up! He asked me in a soft, reverent voice, if he could eat it. I said yes. He looked like all his dreams had come true. I gave him one of each kind of fruit and veggie. Even one of the pumpkins, which I did not post a picture of. I figure that everyone should know what a pumpkin is.

Everyone was afraid to cut the cake. I finally had to cut it myself, or it would all go home with me. I seriously did not need that to happen. The legs and wings went first, just like a real turkey. There was a yellow cake, a white cake and pumpkin chocolate chip. The pumpkin layer was my favorite. Soooo good. I will definitely have to make that one again.

Colton was a good sport, and didn't eat his turkey leg until I got a good picture of him. He later complained that it was good, just too much white chocolate. Is there such a thing? I don't think so.

Celisa chose a wing. (Insert your own wing joke here, mine have flown the coop.) I don't think I have ever seen someone eat a wing joint first, have you? In that respect, I decided that this was better than a real turkey. No bones.

What do you do after you have had turkey, mashed potatoes, cranberries, and turkake? Why play cards, of course. I would have thought that was obvious, as well.

When I first brought the turkey into the house, a few people thought I was really carrying a turkey. There were many comments on the fact that we didn't need another turkey, and they were a bit upset, or maybe confused that I would just decide to bring a turkey without telling anyone. When they realized it was cake, there was a general sigh of relief from the family. It was worth all the work just for that moment. :)

My nephews and nieces posted pictures of it on facebook immediately. Within minutes, I was hearing comments from around the world. Ok, maybe only the nation, or maybe it was mostly around the state, but there were comments, nevertheless. I put this on my cake blog, but facebook and my neices and nephews beat me to it. What a technologically advanced world we live in. It never ceases to amaze me.

This was a fun adventure for the holiday, but does this mean I have to top it next year? Not possible. Might as well give up now. Leftover turkake, anyone?

It's Autumn time, it's Autumn time! The leaves are falling down.

These are pictures we took yesterday of our little family in between conference sessions. Ahhhhh, fall.

This one is my favorite. I love timers on cameras. Oh, yeah, I guess I should say I love my family, too.

Really, I do.

It's Autumn time, it's Autumn time, pretty colors all around.

Finally getting around to Labor Day.

Over Labor Day weekend, we went to Flaming Gorge with Ron, Sandy, and their son, Taylor. I know, I am really behind in my blogging, so hang tight, I have a lot to say about this trip. We had such a great time, and Taylor was a great model for most of my pictures. Personally, I think he liked it. Good thing he is very photogenic. And a good sport!

We spent most of the weekend in the boat. If it wasn't watersports, it was sight seeing or scubadiving. Mostly sight seeing. We went through Horseshoe Canyon several times. I must have taken a thousand pictures of the scenery. This is where I publicly admit that I love landscape photography. L-O-V-E it. I am addicted. Have been for years. I am beginning to think I need a 12 step program to deal with this problem, but thankfully, digital cameras can easily handle high volumes of needless photos that I will someday delete for more hard drive space on my computer. And before you give advice, yes, I do have external hard drive space. I just tend to fill things up quickly. I mean really, who needs 12 shots of the same sunset when you can have this:

Ok, Zeus, if you have to go, now is the time! And, of course, I took multiples of this, too, just in case one didn't turn out. You just can't miss an opportunity like this one.

On one of our tours, we took the opportunity to check out the bridge. Pay careful attention to the ominous clouds overhead. We didn't.

Here we are, hanging out underneath. We were able to watch a few people jumping into the water from underneath the bridge. Apparently, I am the only one that thought we were more interesting than the jumpers. And, yes, I have about 20 pictures of the bridge. Some are really cool, and I would post them if it was at all interesting to anyone but me. I just don't have that kind of time or space on my blog. Lucky for you! Pay attention to how dry and comfortable everyone is at this moment. It won't last long.

Remember those ominous clouds? Well, being the adventurers that we are, we were totally oblivious to the fact that it was getting darker and darker every minute. The clouds were moving in, and we were too busy enjoying the scenery. On the other side of the hill behind us in the picture above, is the dam. We drove over to check it out when the mother of all rain storms began.

First there was a clap of thunder, and just like in the movies, rain instantly began to pelt us in our tiny little boat. The fact that we were looking at a little island called "Gilligan's Island" started becoming a bit too realistic. Here we were, in our little boat, when the weather started getting rough; The tiny ship was tossed. If not for the courage of my handsome man, the Amber Waves would have been lost! Ok, maybe that was a bit dramatic, but it was plenty wet and wild on the lake at that point. This is what it looked like after the rain had stopped:

I wanted to get pictures of the rain pelting down on us, but unfortunately, my camera was not water proof. We huddled down under our tiny bimini top and prayed that we would somehow stay protected. Riiiggghhhhtttt. Wishful thinking. It's hard to stay out of the rain when it is coming at you sideways.

We hid under towels and jackets until Doug could drive us out of the rain. Then we took a minute to have a good laugh. We were completely soaked, not to mention the towels we had to wring out.

That being said, it was nothing to how wet Doug was. I felt so bad for him, we all hid while he drove, and I'm not even sure he could see. He had water streaming down his face, and pelting him right in the eyes. He grabbed his sunglasses at some point, but by the amount of water dripping from his eyebrows, I'm not sure it did him any good. I've always said he was my hero. Here's the thing that made me the most nervous: Doug put on a life jacket. (Pause for effect while this sinks in....) The man can hold his breath underwater for almost 3 minutes, and frequently has to save his scuba students, yet when I looked up after things calmed down, there it was. Even after all the rough water, THAT was the scariest part. I can't tell if that face is because he was having fun, or if he is just relieved.

While everyone went scubadiving, Miriam and I hung out in the boat. Miriam was playing in the water, and I saw a great opportunity to take pictures of the divers. We realized that the water was clear enough to see them as they explored the lake. I'm not sure who this is, but it was fun to watch them. You can see their bubbles, and then a yellow tank with black straps. When I took the picture, I wasn't sure you would see anything. Turns out, you can see more than I did when I took it. It's just too bad you can't see everything when it's this small.

On Saturday night, there was a city celebration happening on the lake. They decorate boats with lights, then drive them around the lake. After that, there are fireworks that you can watch while you sit at the water's edge. The coolest part was how they reflected on the water. I think I missed most of them because I was too busy with my camera. Like I said, I have a problem.

We spent that evening around a campfire. We had smore's, and laughed at old memories of childhood. We were with Doug's sister and her family, and her best friend's family, as well. It was such a great evening. I can't even find anything to make fun of. Maybe we didn't do it right.

There was so much fun on the cliffs. The kids had a blast jumping from them, and I just had to have a picture of them, but Miriam was a bit angry that I made her get out of the water to take a picture. She just refused to smile. Moms are so mean.

I also took way too many pictures of everyone jumping into the water. I had so many fun photos, but had to pick just one to post. So many pictures, so little space. Out of gratitude for Taylor posing for me, I chose to post my favorite of him. He has some serious hang time.

Then there is Doug. He drove the boat the entire weekend, saved us from becoming the remake of Gilligan's Island, pulled us around the lake on the tube, made water runs so we could take a shower every day, cooked dinner for me, played pirates with us, and was generally one cool dude. Oh, how I love my handsome man.

We had a great time with our family. These are the times that you realize how grateful you are for the incredible people you get to be around. The more I spend time with them, the more I love them. You would think that I would take more pictures of these people because they mean so much to me, but, alas, I can't get rid of the urge to photograph the world around me. Even in the dark.

You and me goin' fishin' in the dark....

This summer Doug has really used his boat. He has kept everyone busy by taking night fishing trips every chance he can. In June, we took my sister, Vauna, and her husband, Mike, out for their first night fishing excursion. Unfortunately, for Doug, this is the position he was in most of the night: Fish wrangler.

You see, we had somehow forgotten to bring a net to facilitate the removal of fish from the lake and into the boat. This is when we talk about the prodigious skill of my handsome man. He spent the whole night reaching over the side of the boat and actually throwing the fish into the boat once they were reeled in. Notice how everyone conveniently moved away from the fish-flinging danger zone?

Mike had a great time. I'm sure you couldn't tell. He hides his emotions with great skill, doesn't he? It's one of the few times that I actually saw his face. Secretly, I think he is just excited to have an excuse to wear his head light.

Usually, every one is turned to the outside of the boat, staring into the dark. The only time you have a chance to speak to someone face to face is when they are baiting a hook, or they are taking a fish off of their line. That looks something like this:

You have to remember that this is about midnight, and out in the middle of a lake, there isn't a whole lot of light. When the flash of a camera goes off, you are temporarily blinded. You have to give instructions that should they loose the ability to see what they are doing, they should freeze where they are. Not a good idea to move around on a boat when you can't see.

Poor Miriam. I took a picture of her, and she was starting to wonder if her eyes really would return to normal (She looked right at the camera). Hint: When taking a picture of your daughter in the middle of a lake in the middle of the night, warn her first. Even if she is so freakin' cute.

This is where the story finally gets interesting. Well, OK. Maybe not interesting, but at least it's more humorous, at least to my strange sense of humor.

A few nights after this trip, we took my sis-in-law, her husband, and one of their sons on a night fishing trip as well. We had a great time. Doug was busy, as usual, but this time we remembered the net. He was much drier.

At one point, I caught a fish, (not my first of the night,) and Doug grabbed the net to help me out, leaning his own pole against the window. Just as he is helping me bring in my fish, his pole jerked, and then disappeared over the side of the boat. He ran to the other side of the boat to give a last-ditch effort to save the pole, but all was lost.

It is important to note at this point, that we had been harassing my brother-in-law, Kent, for bringing an extra pole. We thought he was paranoid, or that he got bored easily, or just couldn't make up his mind until the last second. Maybe he was just really attached to his fishing poles. It was at this point we had to eat humble pie, and ask to borrow the pole. He was most gracious, and obliged.

Doug baited my hook, (Thank you sweetie, I hate smelling like powerbait.) and I went back to fishing. Doug was finally getting a chance to fish for himself, and mourning the loss of his pole. It was then that he mentioned he had been using MY fishing rod. I had forgotten that we had swapped in the beginning. Dang. I liked that pole.

Meanwhile, Kent told an unbelievable story about a friend he was fishing with that also lost a pole overboard. When they went to leave some time later, they pulled up anchor, and there was his pole, and the fish that stole it, wrapped around the anchor line. We chuckled about that, and tried to feel better.

About half a minute after I dropped my line in the water, I felt another fish. I couldn't possibly have caught another one already, could I? Wow, what skills I have. Just call me "Mighty, Mighty Fisher-woman" from now on! I called to Doug to tell him that I had another one on my line, and he was stunned. I think he thought I was making it up, just to harass him. Then he saw the fish on the surface of the water.

He grabbed the net, and ran to my side. He reached in, and pulled out my fish. And another line. And another. Suddenly, every person in the boat started yelling, "I've got a bite!" It was complete chaos. Doug and I were laughing. Then suddenly, he was yelling at everyone to stop reeling in my fish! Somehow, my fish was tangled in everyone else's line. I pulled up one fish, and 5 other lines were hanging from it.

As Doug untangled everyone, he realized that there was an extra line. He pulled. Then he pulled some more. Suddenly he shouted "No way!" He pulled up out of the water his missing pole. That's right, folks! On one hook, I caught one fish, 4 people, and a lost fishing pole! Doug's fish had gone in circles when it was caught on his line, and wrapped all of the lines together in a big tangled mess. Didn't I say I was a "Mighty, Mighty fisher-woman"? You didn't believe me, did you. I wouldn't either, except this really happened.

I now have proof that it really happened, and isn't just a fish story. If you could see the picture better, You would see all of the lines that remain in the tangle that Doug was cutting away. Just in case anyone needs further proof that this really happened, I took a picture of the offending fish:

There it is, and notice the look of delight on Doug's face. He was very happy to have caught the culprit, and also to have back our favorite (OK, maybe just my favorite) fishing pole. Maybe he was just relieved that he wouldn't have to suffer the wrath of a ticked-off wife who no longer had her own pole. It's red, and I like it. We've been through a lot together.

Miriam caught the biggest fish that night, so of course we had to take a picture. She is turning into a Mighty, Mighty Fisher-gal herself. I'm proud of her for catching it, but mostly for standing there, holding it, while I try to take a picture of her in the dark again. This time she knew what was coming, and recovered quickly.

This is the final total of the night. Let's just say that we had fish for a few meals, and I am getting better with cooking ideas. Doug is polishing his filleting skills, and I must admit, he does a mighty fine job. Maybe that should be a Mighty, Mighty fine job. I guess we are a Mighty, Mighty family, now.