Morphed Abby Girl
Skinny Isaac
Toothless Ethan
I decided after the "dropping the kids off at the pool" post that I would start recording some of the insanely hilarious things our children say. Regrettably, there have been so many that I have missed the opportunity to write down maybe I will think of some of them now and then and include those. Here is one from early this morning: After my third night of insomnia and an interesting twist of events, I ended up in Isaac's bed and he somehow ended up sleeping with Justin. I awoke this morning to Ethan saying, "Mom, daddy says it's time for you to wake up." I opened my eyes to this sweet boy. I love him always but especially first thing in the morning. You see, he just has this sweetness about him at that time of day that many days we do not see the rest of the day. So I felt like asking him for a kiss. He rarely ever wants to give me a kiss and it is ALWAYS on his terms. In addition, he does not believe in kissing on the lips (a practice I hope he keeps for many years.) Every once and awhile I will know that I have done something really great because he will land a big one right on the kisser! This morning, I got my occasional kiss to the forehead. Immediately following this kiss he wiped his mouth and said, "Ewww, now I have to wipe the girl off of me mom." I feel special.
So many of you have asked for this recipe that I had to post it. I'm sorry there's no photo to go with it. The truth is, every time we have had these at our home they have been made by our wonderful nanny and her family. But I did finally get my hands on the recipe. They are sooooo YUMMY!
1 Cup Butter
1/3 C Powdered Sugar
1 Egg
1 t vanilla
2 C Finely Chopped Pecans
3/4 t Almond Extract
2 C Flour
1 Pkg. Instant Pistachio Pudding
1/2 C Mini Choc Chips
Cream butter, sugar and eggs, add extracts-mix well. Combine flour, pudding and add to mixture, stir in chocolate chips. Shape into 1 inch balls and roll in chopped pecans and place on greased cookie sheet. Put a thumb print hole in the middle of each cookie before cooking. Bake at 350 degrees for 10-12 min.
Prepare filling:
2 T Butter
White Choc. Chips
4 oz. cream cheese
2 C Powdered Sugar
1 T Vanilla
Place filling in large ziplock. Snip one corner and pipe filling out onto each cookie in thumbprint hole.
Chocolate topping: Melt 1/2 C Semi-sweet chocolate with 2 t shortening. Drizzle lightly over each cookie
Can you believe that this guy starts Kindergarten this week (Sniff, sniff)....He is ALWAYS making me laugh. He is so much like Justin it absolutely kills me! I love watching him and imagining that was what Justin must have been like as a little boy. I have to admit that last night while at Wal-Mart he had a moment that he realized he URGENTLY needed to use the restroom. You know, all kids do it and it's usually ALWAYS in a public place with a way icky bathroom. He waited to tell us until he was about to poop himself. We rushed to the bathroom. Then he sits on the toilet...and sits....and sits. Then he starts to try to have a conversation with me. I looked at him and said, "Dude, would you just drop those kids off at the pool already." He looks at me a says back, "Mom, I am trying but the kids won't get out of the car!" Oh man I love him....just hope he doesn't get pink slipped his first day of Kindergarten for saying something like that!
I saw this photo of Abby when she was about 5 months old today and thought it best describes how she has been feeling lately. Our poor Tweeter was in the dr. office yesterday for several hours. They were trying to get a urine sample on her. Not an easy task since she is only 2! We did finally get a sample, and discoved she has a UTI and a sinus infection. Poor girl! She's one tough cookie. We are going to stay home this weekend and nurse her back to health.
Sorry for the lack of posts. I was on quite a roll. I think I somehow managed to post something every day in July. Still not sure how that happened exactly. The truth is, Justin and I are still recovering from all of the great visitors. We were so excited for the weekend. The kids had so much going on though and we had Courtyard's Summer Party. We were wiped! I had thoughts of skipping Sacrament Meeting yesterday and asked Justin if there would be any announcements that I needed to be present for. He said probably not, just as a member of the Bishopric called reminding me to be there because they were going to sustain me as a new member and as an official member of the Primary. I hurried to get out the door, and made it there just in time (thanks mostly to Justin's help getting the boys ready). I was grateful for going, Bishop Plothow and a member of the Stake Presidency reflected on what a wonderful day last Sunday was. Getting through Primary was a challenge this week. With so many squirmy Sunbeams (my son When I got home, the Missionaries called and wondered if they could stop by just to visit. Then the Ward Missionaries called to see when I wanted to start my new member lessons. Still recovering from such an awesome baptism day and doing my best to make it to church each week....I realized that this Church IS NOT FOR SISSIES! Onward I go.......
It was wonderful having all of you as guests. We truly enjoyed sharing our home with you. We are out of food, clean sheets and towels. Regrettably, we have decided to close the Hill B& B at this time. We're taking some time off and going to eat happy meals for the next several days. Thanks for being patient with this frazzled host and all of your helping hands. We love all of you so much and are so grateful for the chance for our kids to all play together. Wishing you safe travels home.
Until Next Time: Justin, Mindy, Isaac, Ethan, Abby, Brittan the Dog, Heidi the Cat, 2 Crabs, & 1 Snake :)
The wave runner put poor Abby to sleep :(
Umm, does it look like a good time was had by all?
Lots of Hill cousins in one boat
Trying to "un-purple" his lips
Beachgoers
Ready to hit the water!
This is how a Hill Princess lounges on the beach!
With April's oldest, beautiful Natallia
Justin and I
Isaac Loved holding his new cousin Jaxson
Wow! It has been such a great time these past few days having all 23 Hill grandchildren in one place! Yesterday, we spent a fun filled day at Deer Valley riding wave runners and little boats. A good time was had by all.
Wow! I am speechless! What a great day this was for me! Thanks to the hundreds (really) of you who made Sunday one of the most special days of my life. I am completely overwhelmed and overjoyed with my special baptism day! Nearly every person I love and adore was in that room on Sunday. I am eternally grateful for The Gospel and Heavenly Father's Plan for us. I could have never reached this destination without the love and support of all of you.
1. 4 uninterrupted days off work with family
2. All my sister in laws in one place at one time
3. All 23 Hill Cousins have days to play all together
4. My Baptism this Sunday (Yeah that's right)
5. Meeting our twin nephews
6. Blessing the babies
7. Introducing Abby to the Caldwells
8. Blasting off in Gabe Hill's rocket ship
9. Water Fun at Deer Creek & The Heber Creeper
10. Seeing so many friends, especially the Tanners and Walters YEAH!
It's going to be a fun and special weekend! I am SO excited!
I love the creativity of all of my amazing friends! The boys recently went to a race car party at a neighbor's house and made these cool cars. They have loved playing with them. Just another proof of what kids love and need most are the simple things in life. Who knew that with a little paper, a box and some paper plates, one could make something this awesome! So many of you are always complimenting me on my creative ideas. The truth be known, I get most of my bright ideas from knowing such creative people! Thanks for the inspiration!
This amazing and beautiful lady is my sweet grandmother. She has been on my mind so much lately. She had a stroke last week and is working hard to recover. There is so much love in her. As a child and into my adulthood, I have been the lucky recipient of so much of her love. I inherited her forgetfulness. I remember once as a child we were picking strawberries in this huge field in Missouri. After several hours of picking, she realized she had lost her keys somewhere in that immense patch. We eventually found her keys. I love that she is so kind and adoring to my sweet babies and handsome hubby. I love that when I got married, she gave me her size 5 glitter dancing shoes. These are the shoes she use to wear when dancing with my grandfather as a young woman. These are also the shoes I would fight all my cousins for during dress up. Now my feet are far too large for those shoes, but I have a feeling that my little girl will get a chance to wear them. My hope is that her dance of life can be as beautiful as that of my grandmother. I am so grateful grandma for the legacy of love you have given to me all the days of my life.
We possibly live in the funnest neighborhood ever! Yesterday for Pioneer Day we gathered all the children in the neighborhood and let them decorate their bikes and then had a mini parade with everyone. It was so fun! We ended at Sister Liston's home and roasted hot dogs and made smores. The kids had a total blast playing with all of their friends!
