The Egg Hunt

We were pleased to be invited to the 2nd Annual Easter Egg Hunt at a friend's house. She has a beautiful property which is made for hunting for Easter eggs. The day was beautiful and the boys SCORED big. I was pretty lucky to have them pause long enough for me to catch a couple of pictures. I'm still not sure why Bryce wanted his Hawaiin shirt but hey, what says Easter more than palm trees and surfboards?

We miss her

I have been meaning to post about our loss for awhile now. Aspen, our dog of 14 years, died on January 30th. We had to put her to sleep as she was suffering from a liver tumor. Jeff picked out Aspen when she was just 8 weeks old. She was Jeff's before Jeff and I ever knew one another. She was a naughty puppy who chewed on EVERYTHING and got into everything that she didn't chew. She could be grumpy and sweet. When we first got Columbia Aspen growled at him constantly. Eventually they became the best of friends. When we had Cayden Aspen was quiet and well-behaved. At the end we were sad to see her suffer and knew it was time. It was extremely difficult to say goodbye. Here are a few pictures of her in her "prime" out on a hike with Jeff and Cayden.

Sunshine?! Really?

It has been a long and cold winter for us. We have been waiting (not very patiently) for a nice day. Today was beautiful and the kids and I went into Redmond to ride bikes on the Canyon trail and then to play on the climbing walls. The sun was warm and there was no wind. The kids loved being outside and I needed the exercise. I got some pretty good pictures with the exception of the vandalism/tagging on one of the rock walls.

Before and

Before

On Friday Cayden was supposed to get two teeth pulled at the dentist.

No Go.

1 shot of Novocaine- check

2nd shot of Novocaine - check

3rd shot of Novocaine - check

Nitrous (laughing gas)- check

Even after all of that Cayden still said he felt it when the dentist would try to yank it so he decided it would be better to refer him to an oral surgeon so Cayden could take a nice nap and then wake up without his two teeth. We will try this again in the summer. Stay tuned for the "AFTER" picture.

Chocolate What? Waffles

In browsing through the internet recently I found out that one can use a cake mix (made according to instructions) and cook it up in the waffle maker. I guess it makes sense with the main ingredients in both products the same. But, I for one, would have never thought to put a cake mix in the waffle maker. However, I don't believe our family will ever be the same. Dessert will never be the same. Who doesn't like warm cake fresh from the oven? Who doesn't like warm cake fresh from the oven with ice cream on it? My family certainly loved this dessert treat. Warm cake-waffles or waffle-cakes with ice cream, whip cream, chocolate syrup and strawberries. My next try will be a lemon cake mix! Yum.