Family Pictures

We had a good friend of ours take family pictures again. She did them two years ago and we loved them, so we thoughtw e would try it again. I think they turned out awesome this time too!

I tend to like the candids better than the perfectly posed ones

I love this one
and this one
and this one! (ok, I think I love them all)

Beautiful

So what do you think? Which is your favorite?

Weekend at the Cabin

We decided last minute to head up to our cabin in Utah this weekend. I haven't been there in forever. It's hard with little kids and a husband who can never get a weekend off. The kids had so much fun. Just being with their grandma and grandpa all weekend was awesome enough. Add in 4-wheelers, dirt, fire, marshmallows and a way late bedtime, and they were in heaven.

Brayden's favorite thing to do was go on walks with Grandma. They went to the pond, where they saw a water snake (thankfully I had stayed behind.), and all through the forest.

Ethan loved the rocks and dirt.He also loved being with his Papa.We took tons of 4-wheeler rides
Brayden and his Papa...

...right before Papa threw him in the water.
It was freezing, but he ended up loving it and we had a hard time getting him out. It was so beautiful up there. The leaves were just starting to changeFor dinner we roasted hot dogs
Right after my dad laid down, the wind shifted and he didn't feel like getting up and moving. It wasn't the experience he was hoping for.Again, Ethan played with rock the entire time. I couldn't even get his attention for one second to take a picture.

Still in the dirt...
Still having funAfter dinner we roasted marshmallows. The next morning we made gliders. Brayden and Tawny had to color their first (of course).
This was Ethan's other favorite thing- the cattle. When they would moo, he would laugh and moo back. I should have got it on video. It was adorable

More walks

More 4-wheeler rides

Beautiful kids and a beautiful view

Ethan got trapped while we cleaning up to go home. It worked quite well. I was able to get so much done while he was in "baby prison".

Baking Fun

We've done lots of baking around here recently. Yesterday I made egg-free cupcakes for my friend's birthday. They were pretty tasty, especially considering they were egg free.

Chocolate chip cookie dough cupcake with chocolate chip cookie dough filling and frosting

Cocoa cupcake with raspberry filling and chocolate buttercream frosting

The cocoa cupcake was my favorite. I'm definitely going to have to make them again with eggs.

This evening Brayden and Tawny took a turn at being the chef. They made banana muffins completely by themselves. The only thing I did was crack the egg (I don't like eggshells in my muffins) and put the the pan in the oven (I don't like burnt children). They mashed the bananas, measured and mixed all the ingredients and filled the muffin tins. We'll see how they taste tomorrow, but they look pretty delicious. They had so much fun and were so cute doing it, so quite a few picture follow.

look at that concentration!
a little assist from her brotherLook!It's mixing!almost there...

Beautiful!