Happy Birthday Matthew!!

Today is Matthew's birthday and we love him soooo much!! He is the best husband/dad in the whole world. Our lives could not be happy without him. He makes us smile and laugh all the time. We appreciate all of the many things that he does for us each and every day. He is the absolute greatest man!! Yesterday we spent a fun day together as a family. We went to Deseret Book and Seagull Book and of course came out with quite a few items. We went to Dairy Queen for lunch and ate it out under a tree with the pigeons. It was fun having a family picnic. We went to the Temple visitors center and saw a neat photography exhibit called "Reflections of Christ". The pictures were really neat and there was such a neat spirit there. We also watched the Joseph Smith movie. We had so much fun together. Later in the evening the girls and I had a little "surprise" party for Math. The girls and I made homemade oreo cookies with blue frosting. We thought that it better be a blue-boy party because that is dad's favorite color. We made a sign and wrapped our gifts. We gave Matthew a book and a movie. We watched his "Johnny Lingo" movie and of course Math and I laughed and got a good kick out of it. The girls don't quite get the complete message, but they liked it anyway. Well enough of my rambling, but we are so glad that we are a family and we enjoy being together so much! HAPPY BIRTHDAY MATTHEW/DAD!! WE LOVE YOU!!

Locks of Love

Awhile back Sage was talking to her cousin Eryn who was telling her about donating her hair to locks of love. After learning that you give your hair to kids who don't have any, she immediately wanted to do it too. We have been waiting to make sure that her hair was long enough and I was also making sure that she really wanted to do it. You have to donate a minimum of 10" of hair. Sage donated almost 11". She was really excited about doing it! She thought that it would be fun to have short hair too. My friend Danielle took such good care of her. Sage was really good during the whole process. We think that she looks so cute with her fun new haircut. I am also touched by her excitement to give to a child in need. She has such a sweet and tender heart. When she showed up to preschool with her new haircut, they made such a big fuss over her. They asked if it was a planned idea and I told them that she had made the decision to donate her hair. Her teacher, Mrs. Gormann, got chills when I told her and she had to give Sage a hug and tell her that it was a special thing to do. She also announced it to the whole class and all the high school students that help out. They thought that was neat too. It was cute. I think that Sage felt special, but I could tell that she was a little embarrassed about being the center of attention. I'll have to admit that she gets that from me. We love Sage so much!!

About Me!!

Where was I 10 years ago:

Holy cow!!! I don't know if I can think back that far. We'll see how I do.......I was serving a mission in Baton Rouge, Louisiana. I had only been there for probably 1 month. I was definitely a greenie. People were asking me why I chose to be a nun at such a young age and I was experiencing a whole different world down in the Bayou. I was one of the "lucky" sister's to serve in an area where we got to ride bikes! Oh yeah, bike riding and dresses did not go together if you ask me. I opted to walk whenever I could. Anyway, enough of that. I am lucky to remember 10 years ago with my "mommy brain".

5 things on my to do list today:

• Go to my friend Danielle's to watch Alvin and the Chipmunk's (My kids loved it)
• Call Sydnee's Cardiologist and schedule her yearly appointment
  
• Call the dentist to schedule my crown
  
• Go to the gym
  
• I always have cleaning on my to do list, but it rarely gets done :)
  

5 Snacks I enjoy:

• Well of course anything CHOCOLATE!
• Fruit and fruit dip
  
• Chips Ahoy Cookies and Milk
• Homemade oreo cookies
• Anything sweet!!
  

5 Places I have lived:

• American Fork, Utah
• Baton Rouge, Louisiana
  
• Thibodaux, Louisiana
  
• Spanish Fork, Utah
• Mesa, Arizona

5 places you have been:

• California
• Florida
• Virginia
• South Dakota
• Bahamas
  

What would I do if I were suddenly made a Billionaire:

I would sell my house and move to Utah. I would buy a great ranch there. I would help out any family members in need and make sure that they were living comfortably. Basically I would buy them houses, new cars or whatever would help them in their daily lives. I would set up accounts for my children so that they would have money for college, missions, or whatever paths they took in life. I would go on super fun trips with Matthew, Sage and Sydnee. I would love to do random acts of kindness for people, like paying for someones groceries just for fun. I would blah, blah, blah.......what wouldn't I do I guess.

5 jobs I have had:

• Fiesta Time in American Fork, Utah (Went out of business :( )
  
• Wendy's in American Fork, Utah
  
• Secretary at a Law Firm in SLC, Utah
  
• Secretary at the American Fork Clinic in AF, Utah (Working for Dr. Brent Johnson)
  
• Teller at UCCU in Spanish Fork, Utah ....... and many other jobs..........
  

5 Things you didn't know about me:

• I love being in the sun if I am on the beach or by the pool!
  
• I love the outdoors! (Hunting, horseback riding, camping, riding 4-wheelers etc.)
  
• I love being a mom!
  
• I've gone bungee jumping and I will never do it again! I jumped 3 times and it never got any better. Not fun!
  
• I am a worry wart who cries easily. My Grandma always said I have the Chesnut tears.

Tag you're it: I tag Leah Davis and Shelley Radmall (Have fun ladies!!)

Sydnee is talented!!

Our little Sydnee is quite the bike rider these days. She wanted us to take her training wheels off a couple of weeks ago and it didn't take long for her to catch on to the whole idea. She is now doing wheelies like you wouldn't believe. We have such a talented 2 1/2 year old. Maybe we'll have to try to get her on t.v. or something. Hee-hee, just joking!! She does want to ride without her training wheels, but we have to run along behind her and that is enough to kill a parent. Matthew and I take turns so that neither of us keels over from a heart attack. Oh yeah and about the pictures.........we just thought it would be fun to do a little touch up on these so that she looked like she was a professional BMX bike rider.

Sharing a few recipes...

Hey, I thought that it would be fun to share some yummy recipes. I am always looking for something new and easy, so maybe you will enjoy these. Now just remember that I am not a Rachel Ray or Martha Stewart, but you can count on these being super easy! Well, here are a few yummy things for you to try. If you are up to it, share some of your recipes with me too.

Delicious Enchiladas:
Cook chicken in butter. (Whatever amount of chicken that you want-don't ask me) Pour off any extra butter and add 1-8oz. cream cheese and 4-5 jalepeno's chopped up (very small if you ask me :) ) Let the cream cheese melt and stir while preparing the next step. Hint: You can also do the chicken, cream cheese and jalepeno's in the crock pot if you don't want to stand over the stove. I'm lazy and let the crock pot take care of it while I take care of other stuff. Next, take 1 container of heavy whipping cream and mix with salsa. (As much as you would like) You will cover your tortilla's with the whipping cream/salsa mixture and then put your chicken mixture and grated cheese into the tortilla and roll up. Continue this process until your pan is full. Pour any extra sauce over the enchiladas and add grated cheese to the top. Cover with tin foil and bake at 350* for 30-35 minutes. Uncover and cook until cheese on top is melted. Our family, or at least Matthew and I, love this meal. YUMMY!!

Cheater Mint Brownies:
My friend Danielle taught me this trick. Just bake up a pan of brownies, either homemade or from a box. If you are all about the shortcuts, then use the box. That's what I do. While the brownies are hot, place Andes mints on top. As they melt spread them around like frosting and let cool before serving. The Andes mints come in a pack of quite a few. You will only need 1 pack. These are sooo addicting. I hope that you enjoy!!

Well, that is all from me today. I am such a nerd, but I thought that I would share these with you. I will post more another time. Just watch out, because most of my recipes are for sweets. I love to bake and we eat most of the goodies in 1 or 2 days. Treats don't last around our house. Have a great day and let me know if you try either of these. Bye!!

Easter

Well, I am a little slow at posting pictures from Easter, but here they are anyway. We colored Easter eggs on Saturday. The girls loved every minute of that. They were such good girls. Sage and Matthew sang in church on Sunday. Sage sang with the primary and Matthew sang with the choir. It was a very nice Easter sacrament meeting. We got the movie "Enchanted" from the Easter Bunny, so we watched that as a family after church. We had a great time and hope that you did too.