Happy 18th!

I can't believe I have been with this beauty for 18 years!

We had to celebrate, so we invited our family down for a birthday & graduation party for Andrea. 

 If you're having a party you definitely need a cake & decorations!

Andrea made her own delicious chocolate strawberry cake.

It was fun to have so much family to celebrate Andrea's big day.  It was a little bit warm, but the younger kids kept cool with some water and a trampoline.

 Andrea received some fun gifts she could enjoy now and also to take with her to college--Mac & Cheese, BIG earrings, Top Ramen recipes, chocolate, her own blender, $$$, and lots of love from family!

It's been an AWESOME 18 years!  Thank you Andrea!

Dressing Up!

April must be the month for dancing, dressing up & having fun!

The Dance

The Dress

The Fun!

How do you . . . .

How do you get a comb that has been wrapped several times around your hair, OUT of your hair?

You ask your sister to patiently try to untangle the hair mess until your mom comes in with the scissors! 

(You can also use scissors if you get Silly Putty stuck in your hair!)

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How do you get your money's worth of string cheese when you can clearly see that you've been cheated out of 1/4 of a stick?

You create a little cheese stick family, leave it in the fridge, only to discover that no one wants to break up the little family until they are the last sticks left!



Golf Team

Seth joined the golf team!

He has never played golf before (unless you count minature golf),

but they needed an extra player on the JV team, so Seth signed up!

I love how Seth is not afraid to try something new.

He had a great season.

  I often heard how relaxing it was to be out on the golf course every afternoon. 

Seth improved his game a lot and at the end of the season he received the coach's award.

Congratulations Seth!

 

Stinson Beach

Tax season is over so we headed to the beach!

 

The kids had never been to Stinson Beach, so we decided to extend our weekend a bit and took them out of school on Friday so we could enjoy some family time on a mini vacation in the San Fran area.

We couldn't have asked for better weather.  Although the water was cold, we had temperatures in the 70's with lots of sun. It was perfect for taking lots of pictures!

 

 Here are some of Andrea's beautiful picture creations . . . .

After spending the day in the water and sand, we headed to the city to revisit one of our favorite restaurants, the Rainforest Cafe.

We wished we could have stayed longer, but sometimes a quick weekend trip helps everyone to get through the rest of the school year.

Table Top 2013

It's our yearly trip to Table Top Mountain.  A sunny, windy Sunday afternoon of visiting, flying kites, picking wildflowers, and a family picnic.  The only thing missing this year was Andrea, who was visiting family in Utah for spring break.

Easter 2013

Every Easter we make sure to have an egg hunt.  Even though the kids are growing up, they never seem to out grow hunting eggs, especially when there is candy involved.  The Saturday before Easter, we had an egg hunt and family dinner at Grandma Leila's & Grandpa Rick's house. 

The weather was great so we spent a lot of time outside.

Kiana hunting eggs . . .

and enjoying her cousin Hazel.

Traditional Easter Photo

Aaron's sister Heather was in town for the holiday--her husband & kiddos too--so we had another egg hunt and dinner Sunday afternoon with the Chatfield clan.  More candy anyone? 

I love that my kids can still have fun no matter the occasion.

March 2013

We've been busy this month . . . .

Look what Kiana and I built together!

We've been needing a place to put our games (they were still sitting in boxes from our move in August.) One night, when the older kids and Aaron went to YM/YW , the two of us set to work to assemble our game closet. We followed the directions very carefully and only had to redo a couple of things.    It's so nice to have them neatly tucked away and easily accessible. I never realized how many games we had!  Anyone up for a game night?

(OK, I admit that I may not of told the complete truth about putting this together--it was a little more difficult to put together than I though it was going to be and if you look closely, you can see the HOLE I drilled in one of the doors by accident. UGH! Kiana & I laugh about the experience we had now, but at the time, it was quite frustrating.  Next time, I'm just going to leave the putting together to someone else.  It looks good from a distance, right?)

Goodies for St. Patty's Day and nails to match!

Some of Andrea's Art work from school was displayed at an art exhibit in town.

This is another one of Andrea's picture creations

We were in the NEWS!

CHURCH WOMEN’S GROUP DONATES EASTER BASKETS FOR FOSTER CHILDREN

Women and young women from The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints from the Sutter Buttes congregation, collected, donated, and assembled 72 Easter baskets as a service project for foster children in Yuba and Sutter Counties. The baskets contained Easter goodies, toys and hygiene items for children under the care of Child Protective Services locally.

This is the 10th year the congregation has provided the baskets for foster children.“Working on this project makes you aware of the needs of others and brought together the women and young women in our congregation. It’s great to see how a simple act of service, like making Easter baskets, can brighten the lives of children,” said Gina Chatfield, first time worker on the project.

Awards Night

After basketball season ended, the school had an awards night to recognize each of the basketball players.

Seth was awarded the most improved for his JV team.

Way to go Seth!

Will You Be My Valentine?

Happy Valentine's Day!

It's always fun when Valentine's Day comes around--you never know what sweet treats you'll find!

I thought it would be fun to heart attack my loved ones.  Each day, starting on the 1st day of February I left a heart on their bedroom door telling them something I loved about them.  This continued until Valentine's Day.  It was so much fun to think of things to write to each of them and then sneaking to their door at night to leave the sweet note.

I guess the love notes were catching . . . about a week after I started leaving love notes on their doors, I found a BIG red heart in the hallway with love messages on it from my loved ones.

We should have Valentine's Day every month!

Basketball Season

Basketball season went by quickly, but we were able to take some great pictures, cheer for our our favorite player (#40) and are looking forward to doing it all again next season!

Go River Valley Falcons!

Here are some of #40's faithful fans!

Seth learned a lot this year and did an excellent job at defense!

This boy knows how to rebound!

Thank you, Andrea, for the GREAT pictures!

It's All About The Food!

Well, since this post is all about the food, I thought I would start off with our Super Bowl feast.  I asked each person to tell me one food & one treat they would like to have while they watched the game--this was the result.  A delicious calorie filled spread of carbs, sugar & starch--YUM!  (I did sneak some fruits & veggies into the mix to add some healthy color to the meal.) 

Go Niners!

Every day after school the kids come home and ask for a snack.  They say they are "STARVING".  Well this is what one of them made for themselves to keep their stomach from growling until dinner. 

We call it the toasted double potato patty, sausage & egg that doesn't fit in your mouth sandwich!

Can you guess who's after school snack this is?

I've decided that I need to make sure my kids know how to cook--more than just boiling water or heating something up in the microwave.  One day they will move out of the house and I'd like them to have the cooking skills to prepare meals for their future families.  I have decided to have them each choose 3 days a month to cook a meal for the family---I supervise and help as needed.  Here is a meal prepared by Seth--bring on the meat & potatoes!

I never win anything . . . or at least it seems that way.  But not any more!  I WON!  We have a favorite yogurt place in town.  The last time we were there, I entered a drawing they were having the next week to win a free yogurt.  They informed me, that if I won, I would need to come back in a week to check.  (I knew I wouldn't make a special trip back just to see if I'd won, but I entered the drawing anyway.)  But, luck was in the air--a sister in my ward had my back.  She happened to go there with her family on the night of the drawing and saw my name as the big winner of the night.  She texted me the great news and I was over in a flash to pick up a yummy chocolate peanut butter ice cream cake--it was delicious! 

Baking is so much better with a friend!



I love you because . . .

Last Spring, I created a love board to hang in my kitchen.  Under the glass of the picture frame it says, "I Love You Because . . . ".  We then use a dry erase marker to write love notes to each other.  It has been a lot of fun & an easy way to share the things we love about each other.

Sometimes we we get a little silly when we write our notes,

but having fun with our love is what it's all about!