Easter Weekend

We have had such a fun Easter Weekend. It started out with a BBQ at our house with the Hinckley and Wood Families. Lucas was in 7th Heaven with other kids to play with.

On Saturday we went to Mesquite to spend the day with Minna and Bompa. Sadly, I didn't take any pictures.

Saturday night our good friends the Murray's threw an Easter Party. Lucas loved playing with so many new toys.

All the Mama's and Babies

Sierra did a great job with all the details of the party. Each child had their own personalized bucket for the egg hunt. This was Lucas' first egg hunt so I wasn't sure how he would do.

But I think it is safe to say, he loved it!

A HUGE thank you to the Murrays for such a fun night!

Andy and I have never done Easter Baskets so this year we were excited to make one for Lucas. When he woke up this morning he knew something was up when both of us when in to get him out of his crib.

The Easter Bunny brought Lucas his own set of Hot Wheels. He instantly lined his cars up.

Then it was on to the Egg Hunt...



Can you tell Lucas had chocolate for breakfast?

Last, but not least, here is our attempt at a family picture. Lucas had just woken up and was NOT happy. But alas, here we are Easter 2011:

I always love Easter Sunday. Today I had to teach all the Young Women in our ward so I was a little nervous all day long. I am happy to say it is over and now it is time to pack and go to CHILE!!!

Emergency Preparedness

Am I prepared if an emergency strikes? Big, fat NO! This keeps me up at night. I am so far behind in 72 hour kits, food storage, the whole bit. I don't know where to begin. Water? Food? First Aid?

For months I have been telling myself that I was going to get prepared. I have high hopes of getting there at some point and yet I have done nothing. Then Tuesday happened.

Lucas and I ate breakfast and then we decided to go in the backyard to play for a little bit. I was in my robe, Lucas in his PJ's. I was reading through my YW lesson and Lucas was playing basketball. After about 15 minutes we decided to go back inside and the door was locked. I started to panic and then I thought I could just go to a neighbors and ask to call Andy. We walked over to the side gate and Andy had put a lock on the gate prior to our vacation to ward off intruders. And as luck would have it I didn't know the gatecode. So there Lucas and I sat, stuck in the backyard.

I went to the shed, got some sheers of sorts and tried to cut off the lock. No luck.

Then I took my bobby pin out of my hair and tried to MacGyver the door and unlock it. No luck.

I threw a chair on the side of the gate so I could jump over, flag down a neighbor, and jump back over. I couldn't even get over the gate. No luck.

At this point 1 1/2 hours have passed and I am now beginning to really panic. What are we going to do? Andy doesn't get home till 5:00! I have NO diapers, sippies, food, NOTHING! So I said a little prayer that Andy would come home. Now Lucas has pooped and it is not your normal poop, it is a full on explosion. So I took off his clothes and his diaper wiped him with the socks I had on (don't worry... the socks were thrown out) and literally hosed him down. Lucas actually loved the hosed and we played in the water for about an hour. (Andy said the lawn was a swamp the next day... oops!) We would have played in the hose the rest of the time, but I started to notice Lucas was getting sun burned.

So I wrapped him in my robe and tried to find shade.... but of course it is now 11:00 and shade is no where to be found. So what do we do? We sit in the playhouse.

Now I have stopped praying for Andy to come, but rather pray that he listens to the promptings he is getting so he will come home.

It is about 12:00, 4 1/2 hours since we first went outside and I hear the garage door. I start screaming for Andy and when he walks through the door I'm sure we were quite the sight. Me in my underwear, Lucas naked in my robe... Andy said about 11:00 he had a feeling he needed to come home.... he called the house and my cell phone a few times and when I didn't answer he decided to come check on us. Phew!

I tell you all this because I got a first hand look at what it is like to be in an emergency type situation and NOT be prepared. Let me just say, I never ever want to be in a situation like that ever again. Not having diapers, wipes, food, water... it is a helpless feeling. I physically couldn't take care of Lucas and it scared me.

I am now ready to take the time, energy, commitment, and necessary budget to get our family prepared!

Zane's BIG day!

After Disneyland we headed down South for Zane's baby blessing. Lucas love love loves my mom's house. He gets excited as soon as we pull in. I think it is a combination of a few things.

1. Hot wheels. My little brother has an awesome hot wheels collection. Mainly because every time my mom went to Target she bought him a hot wheels to keep him entertained. The result? Hundreds of hot wheels. I guess us Bruce Girls like Target :-)

2. Walter. Lucas LOVES my mom's dog, Walter. Walter is an 80lb+ dog who is so sweet with the kids. He lets them crawl, pull, ride and he just takes it. Lucas loves his tail.

3. Ottomans. My mom has 6 ottomans in the center of the family room and all the grandkids like to make forts, throw toys in the center, and play in them.

4. Freedom. I guess when I go to my parents I become a little more relaxed and just hang out with the family. This results in Lucas running like a wild child, doing whatever he wants. I am pretty sure Sunday afternoon he even ran around in just his diaper, gasp.

At any rate, Lucas ran around for a good 2 days straight. Here are some pictures from the weekend:

Ashy and Zane

Sissies In the left side of this picture you can see the ottomans

Cute Larsen Family

Lucas and Great Grandpa Steve. Lucas loves Grandpa Steve. Probably because Grandpa throws him in the air, tickles and teases.

Stay tuned for my Emergency Preparedness post... It will be a doozy.

Vacation time!

We just got home from a great vacation to California. We go to California several times throughout the year, but this time around it was considered a "vacation" because we got to stay in a hotel and go to Disneyland! We were able to go with Grandma Jane and our Bompa and Lucas had the time of his life. We drove down Wednesday morning and checked in to the Embassy Suites. We went back and forth between staying at Disney and Embassy, but ultimately the free breakfast, happy hour, and unlimited Diet Coke at Embassy won :-).

We all took a nap and then headed to the Angel Game. It was Lucas' first time at a sporting event so we were a little nervous how he would do, but I think it is safe to say he loved it. All my photos were WAY over exposed, so these are the only ones that worked. These peanut shells kept Lucas entertained for a good 30 minutes. He loved stomping on them.

We all dressed in Angels Gear and Lucas look adorable.

Minna keeping Lucas warm

Someone brought a blow up beach ball and everyone was hitting it. Lucas was in a trance watching the ball going back and forth. He wanted it so badly and when it finally got to him, the wind picked up and blew it away. He was very sad to say the least.

Andy and John bet the whole game.... I believe in the end Andy was up 3 Churros and John was up one frozen banana, both to be consumed on Day 2 at Disneyland. The Angels won and fun was had by all.

Day 2: Disneyland

Ever since Andy and I have been married we have talked about the first time we would take our kids to Disneyland. So needless to say, we were excited. We woke up bright and early, got ready, ate breakfast and headed to the happiest place on earth. Lucas could tell something was going on and was smiling the whole way into the park. Going in is not complete without a picture in front of the Mickey Flowers.

And the castle...

Here we are at Storybook Land. Lucas loved the boat ride and sitting with his Minna.

Meeting Mickey Mouse! Most of the pictures from this are on Bompa's camera. Lucas LOVED Mickey. He was a little nervous until he saw Mickey's nose. He went right for it... when Mickey said, "No, no please don't touch" which Lucas thought was hilarious and kept grabbing. We were then kindly escorted out, but it was so fun to have Mickey and Lucas meet.

On to Fantasyland! We went on Mr. Toads Wild Ride...

Minna and Lucas in front of Matterhorn

The carousel... which we loved.

Dumbo! Minna was our line champ. She stood in line for Dumbo (the notorious slowest line in the entire park) while Lucas rode the carousel. Then we got to ride it together.

Lucas loved controlling Dumbo. Minna tried to help him and Lucas hit her hand away. So we let him do it on his own... up and down we went!

We ventured over to California Adventures A Bug Land and went on the Caterpillar ride.

All Lucas wanted was a balloon. Every time he saw one he pointed... so by the end of Day 1 we purchased a balloon. He was in heaven.

Day 2 ended at the French Cafe in New Orleans square, a ride on Pirates and a caramel apple from the Candy Shop!

Day 3: Disneyland

Day 3 was just as much fun. Lucas now knew what to expect so when we said "It's time to Go" he ran to the door and said, "go, go, go".

Here we are on the carousel for the third time...

Before Casey Jr, my new favorite

Autopia! Lucas LOVES to drive cars so we knew this would be a huge hit.
Waiting in line...

Driving...

The highlight of the entire trip was our last night at Disney. We took a nap, then headed back for round 2. We took the train around the park to Toon Town and went to Small World. Small World was our first ride when we got to the park, and our last ride that night. Lucas l-o-v-e-d it. He was laughing, pointing, dancing, and squealing. He loved everything about it. These pictures do not even do it justice because he was so happy.


Afterwards we walked around the park and enjoyed the atmosphere. Jane saw the neon light up necklaces and thought Lucas would like it. That would be a HUGE understatement. He LOVED it. He was dancing with it, using it as a steering wheel, putting it on, taking it off, putting his legs through it. We ventured over to Tomorrowland where Elvis was performing. All of us danced the night away. Lucas especially liked the music and with his light up necklace he was in heaven. It was the absolute perfect way to end our trip.

The next morning Lucas got up and ran into Minna and Bompas room, grabbed Minna's hand, and rand to the door and said, "go, go, gooooo!"... He was ready for another day at Disney. Sadly, we were not headed back. We had a great breakfast, said good-bye to Minna and Bompa, (Lucas was very sad) and headed down to Grandma Tracy's house for Baby Zane's big weekend.

To be continued....

Daddddddy?

Lucas loves looking out our Windows. This window is his favorite. You can usually find him at least once a day looking out the window and saying dadddddy... then knocking to get Andys attention. Unfortunately, Andy is usually at work. But if Andy is outside, Lucas goes crazy running from the window to the back door.

Too cute. Tomorrow we take off for Disneyland!!

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BBQ Chicken Sliders

At the beginning of every week I look at what is on sale at the grocery store, then look at all my recipe books and plan out our weeks worth of dinners. I try to make new things so we don't get too sick of the things we love. The frustrating part is usually the meals that I plan and prep and look forward to turn out Bleh... and the meals I just throw together turn out SO YUMMY. Usually these meals happen on Friday and Saturday night when we are too tired to go out, but there is nothing left in the refrigerator.

Tonight I decided to make BBQ Chicken Sliders. I am not even kidding when I say they were one of the best things I have ever made. The meal started with Picky Palates BBQ Chicken Slider, found here:

I didn't have a coleslaw mix, but I had cabbage so I looked up yummy Coleslaw recipes. I found one that I had most of the ingredients and went to work. I found Bobby Flay's Creamy Cole Slaw, found here: Only use 1 Tbsp onion and NO celery salt. I baked some Trader Joe's French Fries and the meal was complete.

Together these items had all three of us silent while we ate. Andy asked that I make this a weekly meal. I agree. Chances are if you are invited over for dinner, this will be on the menu. It was THAT good. (Don't worry Sara, we will make something else with NO mayo!)

Some of you have asked for my Chocolate Chip Cookie Recipe. I cannot take the credit, because it is actually Sandy Huish's recipe... but I did alter it a little bit, so maybe I'll take some credit.

1 cup butter (2 sticks)

1 cup brown sugar

1 cup sugar

1 Tbsp vanilla

2 eggs

Cream together well, the add:

1/2 tsp salt

1 tsp baking soda

1 tsp baking powder

2 cups flour

1 cup bread flour

1 cup coconut

1 1/2 cups mixed semisweet and milk chocolate chips

Bake at 350 for 10-12 minutes, till slightly brown.

**Sidenote, I HATE coconut. Cannot stand it. I hate the smell, the texture, everything about it. In fact when I put it in the cookies I plug my nose as to not smell it. BUT it makes the texture in these cookies, and I actually like it in these, and only these, cookies.**

ENJOY the best meal EVER!

"Stiches"

When my little brother "Doodle" was 3 (maybe 4) years old he slipped in Macys Furniture Department and landed in the corner of a coffee table. To make him feel better he got a stuffed teddy bear he affectionately named "Stitches. To this day he has a little scar on his lip.

Well... today Lucas had a similar experience. He slid straight into our cubes and did the silent cry. He sat there with the saddest expression on his face and then about 10 seconds later he started wailing. It was the saddest cry you had ever heard. I quickly scooped him up and we rocked until he was feeling better. I got some ice and when I put it on his eye he naturally hit it off. He took the ice pack from me, then put it on himself. I guess it doesn't feel AS bad if you do it yourself.

He is one tough little guy. I turned on some Kipper while I made lunch and he was a happy camper.

His new black eye:

Nothing a little Choclate Chip Cookie couldn't cure:

Love him!