Recommendation

Several months ago I found a fabulous website that I'm sure you've heard of...I'm usually the last to know!

I absolutely LOVE it! Usually when you cook at home as opposed to eating out one tends to save money. Well, that has not been the case the past several weeks. I have been cooking and baking like a crazy lady. I don't think our family has ever had so many good meals in a row! No mac & cheese or $5 pizza nights here! At least for a few weeks. Chad has put his foot down and recommitted me to our monthly grocery budget! so I've had to rein myself in a bit. I have their cookbook which is fabulous!

It also made a great Mother's Day gift for mine and Chad's mom. The kids really love it too. The pizza on the grill we made a few months back is from there and we all had tons of fun with it. Great recipes that are right up my alley. Who doesn't need some new dinner ideas...and dessert?

Janey's Baptism

We all gathered at the Stake Center a few weeks ago for Janey's Baptism. It was a really special day. I'm so grateful for a worthy husband that can baptize our children! What a blessing that is!! And for all of our family and friends that were able to attend. Janey asked her Aunt Angela to give a talk on Baptism, which she did fabulously! After she got "dunked" we headed over to Chris & Monica's house for some lunch. Delicious BBQ Chicken Salad! Everything went perfectly. I could not have asked for a better day! I'm so proud of my sweet Janey girl. She is so excited to officially be a member of the church. She is such a good girl and brings so much joy to our family.

Russell Family Reunion

My Grammy turned 85 in February and so we decided that was a great reason to

P-A-R-T-Y!

Uncle Cliff, Mom, Grammy, Uncle Terry

I love 'generation' pictures.

~GRANDKIDS NOW~

L to R Back row: Kurt, Brett, Kara, Cory, Jason, Kyle, Leah, Joel, Scott, Brad, Chris

L to R Front row: Trisha, Amy Erin

GRANDKIDS THEN

(1984ish. Kurt & Brett weren't even born yet!)

L to R: Laurel, Amy, Kara, Scott, Erin, Kyle, Chris, Brad, Leah, Jason, Trisha, Joel, Cory

~GREAT GRANDKIDS~

Family came from across the country to celebrate with us. It was a blast!!! We haven't all been together like this since the Christmas of '89, I think. (That's the year Gram got each family a Nintendo for Christmas! Which was the greatest present ever!) Let's just say there was a lot of food, laughing, noise, arm wrestling, basketball, picture taking, talking, chaos...and very little sleep.

I just added this picture because I can!

Media Fast

Every year our ward does a Media Fast in preparation for April General Conference. For us, a Media Fast is where we turn off the electronics and spend more time as a family. That means no TV, video games, blogs, internet surfing...anything that is just basically a waste of time. We still check email and occasionally check the news but other than that we try to be technology free. Monday is usually the hardest day for everyone but by Friday we are all usually surprised that we did, in fact, survive a week without movies, Wii, DS's & Disney Channel. Here are some of the fun things we did.

Parker & I made playdoh and played several rounds of Memory. I also got him set up outside with some wood, nails & a hammer. What boy wouldn't love that? We played soccer, read books, cleaned bedrooms, organized closets, canned chicken & potatoes, went for walks...

We played outside A LOT

We made personal pizza's on the grill. It was so fun and the kids loved it. Not to mention they were DELICIOUS!

I love that our ward does this and am so glad we only do it once a year :-) It's a much needed wake up call to how much time I spend doing things that really don't matter. When I take those distractions away, I do so much better at accomplishing the things that are really important.

Brenna's Blessing

We are so lucky to have so much family live here close by. Chad blessed Brenna on the 6th of February and we are so grateful for all of our family that was able to attend; even Great Grandma Belnap was here visiting from Utah and Aunt Jamie & Uncle Clayton visiting from Montana. Chris & Monica have such a beautiful home and were so kind to let us party there. My tiny house wouldn't hold us all! So, after the blessing we headed over to my brother Chris' for a yummy dinner of soup, bread bowls, spinach salad and cinnamon rolls for dessert!

4 Generations

Grandpa Belnap, Chad, Great Grandma Belnap

4 Generations

Grandma Robyn, Grammy, Me

My gorgeous sister-in-laws Monica & Nicole. And kiddos Deegan & Kinley and Rigdon is hiding behind Deegs.

Of course I had to choose Superbowl Sunday to bless Brenna so all the men made themselves comfortable in front of the TV.

i'M iN lOvE

with this little girl!! She's 2 months old now.

love that tongue

Christmas 2010

This year we did things a little bit different for Christmas. With money being tight, like I'm sure it is for just about everyone, each of the kids got 3 gifts. Something they WANT, something they NEED, and something to SHARE. This worked out so well. The kids had a great Christmas and I didn't overspend! My brother Brett stayed the night with us on Christmas Eve so he could play with the kids and they love this! He's such a good sport and so patient with them. He played Lego's with Russell for hours. What a great Uncle. We had a wonderful day relaxing and eating. Grandma & Grandpa came over for a yummy Ham dinner and we finished off the day playing cards with the missionaries.

Ready for bed. New jammies from the Pajama Elf. Brenna's not impressed!

Nice and warm by the fire. It really wasn't cold enough for a fire...but it's tradition.

Brett & Russell playing Lego's