Cupcake Pops!

Thanks to Bakeralla's creative ideas, I saw this and knew that I had to try and make it. It was the cutest things ever! The question was, when would I find the time to make it and for what occassion?? So, one of my co-workers had a birthday so it was the perfect excuse.

These are not hard to make, it just takes a lot of time so plan accordingly. I recruited Steve to help me and I'm so glad we were both working on it.

Here they are all lined up ready to be 'frosted.'

Some of them didn't quite survive so they had to be taken out of the line up.

Here they are.....all nice and pretty

I decided to make some of them 'truffles' instead of cupcake pops (it was easier at that point to just sumberge them in chocolate versus trying to make them into the pops). It still turned out great and tasted the same.

Washington D.C. Temple in the Spring

We went to the temple last Friday evening after work and it was such a beautiful site! All the tulips were in full bloom! We try and go to the temple every month. It is such a peaceful place to be. Whenever I'm inside the temple, it always feels like I'm in a different world and all my worries are replaced by the warmth of the spirit.

Abbey - No Words Needed

Easter Egg Hunt 2009

We spent Easter Saturday at my sister's house with her family. The weather was not condusive to have the egg hunt outside so we had it in the house. The kids were very excited to start the hunt.

Steve had to 'talk' to Abbey and explain to her that since she was the biggest kid, that she would need to help Daniel and Rachel find eggs. She was REALLY good about helping them. I was very proud of her for being such a big girl.

She would help Daniel by telling him where the eggs were!

Rachel Marie and Daniel counting their eggs with their dad.

Christopher kept crawling around to everyone's baskets and trying to steal their eggs.

After the egg hunt, we dyed eggs. The kids enjoyed putting the stickers on them. We didn't have any major spills or accidents. No eggs were hurt in the process.
Abbey with her smiley face egg.

The Margands (my sister's family)

Overall, it was a great day spent with family. On Easter Sunday, we went to church and had a great musical sacrament meeting. We didn't have Easter dinner this year since Steve's parents are now in NY. I was bummed that we didn't get to have the traditional Ham, rolls, scalloped potatoes, and deviled eggs...maybe next year! It was still a great day to celebrate the Savior's resurrection. I enjoyed teaching my Primary class about the purpose of Easter.

Cherry Blossoms

We made it to D.C. during the Cherry Blossoms peak and parade weekend. After rain all week, the weather cleared up and it was a beautiful sunny, WINDY, day. There were tons and tons of people down town. We packed our lunches and enjoyed sitting down by the tidal basin and 'people watched.' That didn't last very long as Steve doesn't like crowds very much so we decided to see if we could go to the Smithsonian Museums.

We ended up going to the American History Museum. That too was extremely crowded. We were only able to see a few things and then it was time to leave. We'll have to take a weekday off and head down town when it's not so busy. It was nice to get a glimpse of some of the displays:

The original Ruby Slippers from the Wizard of Oz.

Muhammad Ali's boxing gloves.

Steve in front of a HUGE Bison. His dream is to raise buffalo on his farm.

Although we only got to see a small part of the museum, my favorite part was the orignal American Flag. This flag was the inspiration for Francis Scott Key's 'Star Spangled Banner' during the war of 1812. The flag was kept in an enclosed glass room with special lighting. No pictures were allowed, but I found this picture on the internet. It was really a wonderful experience to see it on display.

After our D.C. excursion, we went to Mike's American Grill for dinner. Mike's is part of the Great American Restaurants that we love to dine at. Our all time favorite that they have at all the restaurants are the Aussie Rolls! And Steve loves Sweet Water Tavern because they brew their own root beer. It was a great way to end the day.

Why girls are so much more fun to shop for.

I saw these in a store and thought they were the cutest things ever! How much more fashionable can a baby girl get?! I wish they made them in adult sizes. I love buying baby girl clothes. I remember when my sister in law was pregnant with Abbey...everywhere I went and saw something cute, I would buy it for Abbey. She had tons of clothes before she was even born! Now that she's older (and much more pickier), it's harder to find her cute stuff without having to take out a second mortgage.

Birthday Month

It was around this time last year that I declared to Steve that I was going to have a Birthday MONTH (actual bday is the 15th)! I use to have a bday week, but since I was turning 30 last year, I wanted to have a whole month. Not only was I turning 30, I was going to be 30 and childless! I thought for sure that it would be a sad bday, but Steve threw me a SURPRISE bday party and I had a SUPER 30th bday! It turned out to be the best bday ever!

A few weeks after that wonderful bday, I found out I was pregnant. But that didn't last very long because I miscarried at the end of May. Suprisingly, I handled that second miscarriage much better than the first one. I was overcome with peace and comfort and I know that Heavenly Father was behind those feelings.

So, here we are one year later....except this year, I will be 31 and still childless. But that's okay, I continue to have faith and believe that those BabieS will be sent to us in due time.

What does a birthday month entail??

I get to use the excuse 'But it's my bday month' to get out of doing some of the housework.

I try to get Steve to take me out to dinner on Fridays (although this year, he has said we need to REALLY watch our budget. I suggested we push the budget to next month). I think he'll end up making me dinners instead of taking me out (which is even nicer since it'll be made with love).

Steve is more inclined to do things that I want to do that he wouldn't normally like to do. Like going shopping, watching chick flicks or going to see the Cherry Blossoms.

Basically, I just try to squeeze as much out of him as I can for the whole month. (He's such a trooper).

Look what I got for my bday so far:

Stampin Up! Markers...I had one of the color sets, so I needed the other three sets. This will be put to good use when I'm making cards!