January
Ross has a birthday
I got a Cake Boss recipe online for the cake
and frosting and made a filling of homemade custard cream mixed with
peanut butter and whipping cream and Reese's Peanut Butter Cups folded
in. Topped that with chocolate ganache. The filling was amazing and the frosting recipe is divine!
I think he liked it.
February
Logan decides to shovel the walk. Just look at that strength!
(Samantha actually had the same idea a day or two before this, but I didn't get pictures.)
I also did some tiny updates to my living room with help from my college roomie Beth. Her amazing blog, Free Stylin', is what inspired me. If only I was done with the whole room! I did get this bookcase painted and some new curtains up and it makes a world of difference!
,
The bookshelf looked this pretty for about 2.3 seconds. Timmy the Toddler may have gotten his hands on a few items...
Hooray! No more ugly blinds!
March
I got to do a presentation with my friend Kris for the Young Women in my ward.
It stemmed from teaching the Beehives and getting views up their skirts every week. Love the girls, but that drove me crazy. I figured they needed to learn things like this:
There was more to it than that, of course. We talked about the theme for the year "Arise and Shine Forth..." and discussed how the girls can do that by holding themselves well and improving physically, mentally, spiritually, and socially, all based on some things Kris and I learned when we went to a camp called A Look at You back in 1993. I'm sure you were looking at this picture of us from then thinking that surely it must have been more recent than that, right?
March
I got to do a presentation with my friend Kris for the Young Women in my ward.
It stemmed from teaching the Beehives and getting views up their skirts every week. Love the girls, but that drove me crazy. I figured they needed to learn things like this:
There was more to it than that, of course. We talked about the theme for the year "Arise and Shine Forth..." and discussed how the girls can do that by holding themselves well and improving physically, mentally, spiritually, and socially, all based on some things Kris and I learned when we went to a camp called A Look at You back in 1993. I'm sure you were looking at this picture of us from then thinking that surely it must have been more recent than that, right?
The following picture is one of me and Logan and my sweet Aunt Vonnie. She was the most fun person. At the end of March she went home to heaven and we miss her more than I could possibly explain here in this space. But I will say this. She lived two doors down from us for the past year and I am so grateful. I was able to help her in the tiniest ways while she was sick in the few days before she unexpectedly passed on. It reminded me of the saying "Never supress a generous thought" and I am so grateful to have been blessed with that gift of seeing her and helping her.
April
Samantha gets her braces off! She'd only had them since August of 2011, but she was thrilled to have them off just the same.
Before
During
After!
