{Swimming}

Tonight was our last swimming lesson for Crew. Even though it was a huge hassle to go 

(try to get a 7-month-old and yourself ready to swim and dressed afterwards, then outside into the 

freezing cold) I am really sad they're over. Crew gets so antsy being stuck inside all day- 

and I don't blame him. So even though there were usually some kind of tears involved, 

he was so happy to get out and do something active.

Cheesin it for the camera :)

I feel like he doesn't look anything like me...

Look at the adorable suit that grandpa Walker got for him!

Getting his all-time-favorite - the rubber ducky!

Got it!

McKenzie, Ady (12 months), Me and Crew 

(Try to ignore the weird look from Crew :)

McKenzie and I have grown up together so it was really fun to be in a swimming 

class together with our kids! Thanks for the invite! 

The only question is, what do I do now to keep him busy?

{little bundle of joy}

I'm a little late but congrats to one of my best friends,  Jennica, on the arrival of her sweet little Abby Jane! 

Look at this sweet sweet baby. And get this; she came on her due date! Talk about perfect timing.

I couldn't be happier for Jenn and Josh. They waited a little longer than they anticipated for this

little package and they are in pure bliss to finally have her here.

The blanket in the picture is one my mom and I made for baby Abby.

Even though I can't have a little girl of my own yet, at least I still get to make cute little girly things :)

Me, Whitt, Jenn, Alisa & Lindsey

Here we all are at a baby shower in St. George for Jenn. I was so happy I could be there!

She doesn't even look pregnant, right?!

Love you Jenn!

And I can't wait to love on your little bundle.

{growing}

This sweet little boy is growing up much too fast.

He outgrew his other car seat so I got him this adorable one from target.com. 

SO cute! Lance jokes that I'm going to turn him metro.

He loves the new seat. And pretty soon he'll be facing forward which he'll love even more.

Isn't he the cutest?!

Our Crew guy brings us so much joy! And he has changed and grown so much,

just in the last week. Here are some of his newest feats:

1. First word! Crew has said "mama" and "dada" for a long time but he never connected them with us. It was just vocal play. But this week, he figured out that "dada" meant Lance. It's the cutest thing! He'll say "dada" on command and when I ask him where daddy is, he'll look right at Lance or look for him if he's not in the room. 
2. No He also figured out the meaning of shaking his head "no". When he's finished eating, he is so pleased with himself that he can let me know. 
3. Crawling Our sweet little guy has figured out how to crawl! He gets around really well. He's so curious about every little thing that he tires himself out in 20 minutes because he's going going going the entire time. 
4. Claps his Hands He figured this one out about a month ago but it's still just as cute. When someone says "yay!" he'll get a big smile and clap.
5. Mmmm He loves his big boy food and every time he takes a bite he says, "Mmmm!" 

I was reminiscing last night about the day I gave birth to him. It's hard to believe it's been 7 1/2 months since then. It's hard 

to imagine life without him. He brings us so much joy and Lance and I are always cracking up at his feisty little personality.

 He's figured out that crawling through the furniture is must faster than crawling around it.

We love you Crew guy!

{What's for dinner?}

I've been experimenting with new recipes A LOT lately. And... I love it. Most recipes turn out well and I
 add them to my list of meals to make frequently. But let me tell you, this last recipe knocked our socks off.

It's the top right recipe from last month's edition of Martha Stewart Magazine.

I looked for the recipe on her website to link but it's not there.

So for those of you who want a fantastic meal that will wow your husband (Lance was in love),

here it is:

CONCHIGLIE WITH SHRIMP, ROASTED TOMATOES, AND PIMENTON

2 pints cherry or grape tomatoes (12 ounces)

4 thyme sprigs

2 T extra-virgin olive oil

1 zucchini, sliced 1/4 inch thick (2 cups)

3 garlic cloves, halved

coarse salt

1 pound conchiglie

1 pound medium shrimp, peeled and deveined

1/3 cup heavy cream

1/8 teaspoon pimenton

1/8 teaspoon red pepper flakes

1. Preheat oven to 375. Gently toss tomatoes with thyme, and 1 T oil. Transfer to rimmed baking sheet. Roast for 15 minutes. Add zucchini and garlic; toss to combine. Roast until tomatoes are just broken down and zucchini is cooked through, 10 to 12 minutes.

2. Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil. Cook conchiglie until al dente. Drain, reserving 1/2 cup cooking liquid.

3. Meanwhile, season shrimp with salt. Heat remaining T oil in a large skillet over high heat until hot but not smoking. Cook shrimp, stirring occasionally, until just opaque, about 3 minutes. Add cream, pimenton, red-pepper flakes, and roasted-tomatoe mixture. Bring to a simmer. Toss in pasta and reserved cooking liquid. 

SOOO yummy! 

I did a couple of things different, just to make do with what I had.

I used regular tomatoes, chopped instead of grape. I used 4 teaspoons dried thyme. I added extra 

zucchini because we love it around here. I used shells instead of cochiglie. I used frozen shrimp and only

 half a pound because shrimp can be expensive and I like to make it go further. I used paprika instead of

 pimenton (pimenton is a spanish paprika), and I probably put double the amount of the last 3 ingredients

 because we like things a little more spicy and creamy around here.

I also signed up for the free email newsletter EVERYDAY FOOD on Martha's website

and I'm really excited to get a new recipe every week.

If you have a new favorite recipe, I would love to get it from you! 

Feel free to leave it as a comment or email it to me.

Happy cooking :)

Yurt Trip

My honey turned 26! It was an especially good birthday this year. To celebrate, we went on a yurt trip with Jake & Melissa Garrett. If you are like me, you probably have no idea what a yurt is. It's basically 

like a canvas igloo. The one we reserved a night in was in the middle of nowhere and we had to ski in.

We started off by driving to Pocatello, Idaho. We got all strapped up to our Alpine touring skis and got

 our packs on right at about dusk and started on our way. 

The trail was AMAZING! It snowed the entire hike in. The woods around were so wildly beautiful

and quiet. And there were fresh animal tracks all around us the entire way. We had to use a GPS to find the yurt. 

Let me tell you what a welcome site the Yurt was---all nestled in the middle of the forest, blanketed 

in snow--after 6 hours of uphill hiking. 

The men got a fire started while Melissa and I got the beds ready. We even melted snow to cook dinner

with! The yurt was so warm all night. 

After we had eaten and packed up in the morning, we got our skis and packs on again and skied out! 

Even though it was super challenging and a little scary at times, it is by far the funnest trip

we have done in a long time. We just can't wait to go back again!

We returned to Lance's parent's house to pick Crew up only to find a surprise birthday party

for Lance. I didn't get a picture of the group but thanks to all those who came!

I love him so very much.

We celebrated again with my family on Sunday.

HAPPY 26TH BABY!