Easter

Grandma Porter hosted her annual Easter Egg hunt. Quinn was thrilled.




Elise found the $10 silver egg.




The Easter bunny hides our baskets. Quinn discovered hers behind some pillows. When she found her basket she kept saying, "Oh my goodness. Oh my goodness." So much excitement.


Are Easter Sunday pictures a joke for everyone? Hello cooler in the picture? Squinting Eyes? Late for church? A total rush (except not true for my niece-in-law who seems to have the best Sunday pictures).


But Easter dinner was a success. I think. I tried this new salmon recipe that I found on Pinterest. Winner.
And of course we had our traditional bunny rolls.

And PS - we are doing no sugar (meaning - cookies, candy, soda, anything classified as treats/desserts) this month. Everyone was willingly on board. Such a great challenge. We got Easter* off and we sure enjoyed the treats but none of us ate nearly as much as we thought we would. Gavin was still trying to get a few last bites of a peep in before bedtime but couldn't stand another bite. I was most sad this morning when I couldn't have a leftover bunny roll.

Tonight for dessert - pineapple. And we were all totally happy. It can be done.

*We get one day off a week - Sunday.

Happy Valentine's Day!

Our Heart Attack wall (to replace our Christmas card wall). We copied the idea from 71 Toes. Don't you love what the kids wrote? "Mom is a good cooker." Love it.

Don't you love this Valentine from Gavin? He worked so hard on it. Remember when you thought giving your mom some money was a great gift? He was pretty sure giving me 50 cents was a perfect gift.

And OH MY these marshmallows were good. And it does calm sibling rivalry. Magic.

PS - I love this blog - Read this post and more importantly listen to this radio program - the blog authors are talking about Choosing Happiness. Working on that idea. I love it but not there yet.

Our Version of the Nativity

For Christmas Eve, we went to my Grandma's house in Bountiful. She asked me to be in charge of the nativity. Wow. I learned that I will never be a good play director. It was pretty silly and we all laughed a lot. Quinn was a shepherd but wanted to take care of the baby and was pretty ticked when she saw Joseph (who also looked like a shepherd). She thought Joseph (aka Gavin) was trying to upstage her. She stormed on the stage and shoved him off yelling, "You not a shepherd. I is a shepherd." If only it was on video.

Besides the acting, the craziest part was how bad one family can sound singing the simple little Christmas songs. But it made for some good laughs and memories.

Hopefully some touch of the real meaning of Christmas got through all the silliness.

We love going to Grandma's though and it was a wonderful evening.

Merry Christmas!

We wish you all a Merry Merry Christmas!





Porter Family 2011 - By The Numbers


55 members of the Porter Family - camping at Heber Valley Girls Camp


365 days this year that Quinn thought it should be her birthday


14.26 Teague's time at the 2 mile state cross country meet. His team took 1st place.


6 weeks Aunt Carla and Grandma Holly lived with us. It was a sweet, peaceful time in our home.


555 feet to the top of the Washington Monument on Teague's trip with his grandparents and cousin.


2 new knees and counting for Kenyon


5 Metcalf sisters and parents make the 7 mile walk around Lake Union in Seattle. We also did our share of shopping, eating and celebrating.


4 Chinese Governors and State officials that Gavin performed for in Chinese at the Utah State Capitol


16 Elise's number on the #1 girls U10 soccer team


1 boat, 25 rides with 12 excited cousins, 3 grandparents, and 9 aunts and uncles at our first trip to Bear Lake. Endless fun and excitement


And of course another year full of countless blessings, our friends and family.

Sugar Free November - DONE.

S0...did you join me in 30 days of no treats (minus Thanksgiving)? How did you do?

My kids rocked it. Seriously. They did it without very little compliant and they did not cheat (that I am aware of). They even said no at birthday parties and friends homes when offered treats.  Life, your health, your self control - all better when you make a change like that to your eating. We will do it again.

I want to keep doing it for so many reasons but man I will be back to sugar for December (however we are going to try and be more careful and thoughtful about what and how much we put in our mouth. One of our families favorite holiday treats can be found at your local Chick-Fil-A. Oh my. And then there are the mint M&Ms. I better stop. 

A Family Tradition -Bunny Buns

I am sorry that I am late on this post. You really needed it by Saturday. But go ahead and make some today. Or come snag one from me because seriously they are tempting me.

The original recipe for Bunny Buns was posted in the Friend magazine in 1980. My mom made them that year and we have never gone an Easter without them.

Bunny Buns

1 package active dry yeast

1/4 cup warm water

1 cup milk, warmed not quite to boiling

1/3 cup sugar

1/2 cup shortening

1 teaspoon salt

2 eggs, beaten

1/4 cup orange juice

2 tablespoons grated orange peel

5 1/2 cups flour, sifted

Glaze: 2 cups powdered sugar, 1/4 cup hot water, 1 teaspoon butter

1. 1. 
   Wash hands with soap and water.
2. 2. 
   Sprinkle yeast in the warm water and set aside.
3. 3. 
   In another bowl, blend milk, sugar, shortening, and salt. Cool until lukewarm, then add eggs, water with yeast, orange juice, and orange peel.
4. 4. 
   Stir in flour a few cups at a time to make a soft dough. Let stand for 10 minutes.
5. 5. 
   Knead dough 5–10 minutes on a lightly floured surface until dough is smooth and elastic. Place it in a lightly greased bowl, turning once to grease surface. Cover bowl with a clean towel and put it in a warm place. Let dough rise for 2 hours, or until double in size. Punch dough down and let stand for 10 minutes.
6. 6. 
   On a lightly floured surface, roll dough into a rectangle 1/2 inch thick. Cut dough into strips 1/2 inch wide and 14 inches long. Roll between hands into rounded snake shapes. Cut one strip into pieces 1/2 inch long, and roll into balls.
7. 7. 
   Place one long piece of dough on a greased cookie sheet. Place one end of the strip over the other to make a loop; bring the end that is underneath up and cross it over the other end. Place a ball of dough on top of the bottom loop.
8. 8. 
   Cover bunnies and let rise in a warm place for 45–60 minutes, until nearly double in size. Bake at 375ºF (190ºC) for 12–15 minutes.
9. 9. 
   For the glaze, stir powdered sugar, water, and butter together. Frost bunnies with the glaze while they are still warm.

 So sad that our family picture is not in our Easter attire. Not that we actually wore anything special but we definitely looked better.

Egan and Jane planned an awesome Easter Egg hunt full of games and challenges. It was very exciting.

PS - If you are ever a Bishop - don't ask a whole family to speak on Easter Sunday. Serious Stress. But truly it kept us focused on the meaning of Easter and the kids were super speakers!

Valentine's Day

Every holiday is pretty great, but dang I love the treats that come around for Valentine's. My most favorite might be cinnamon hearts, but you can't go wrong with sugar cookies, chocolate fondue, or perfectly fudgy brownies.
And I really loved my felt heart garland this year. I have no other Valentine decorations so it was a huge improvement on last year. Thanks to my clever sisters for the idea.

Merry Christmas!

Me and my sister. Can you see the top of Jen's red rubber boots. Love it! And I really love Jen's hair. And my goofy smile that my parents had to pay a fortune to fix. Mom - how old were we in this picture? 5 and 3?

Funny thing - I found this picture over on Inchmark's blog. Actually - there is a good reason for that - Jen and Brooke are friends but it was funny to see my little face hanging out there too.

Hope all is happy and well for each of you this Christmas. We love our Savior Jesus Christ and celebrate his birth and the gift of His life.

President Thomas S. Monson said,

"What will you and I give for Christmas this year? Let us in our lives give to our Lord and Savior the gift of gratitude by living His teachings and following His footsteps."

Food Drive - Monday!!

For the past 3 years, we have hosted a neighborhood food drive. I really look forward to it. We feel so blessed to have so much and we want to give back. This idea struck me one day (I know it isn't unique) and I ran with it.

Here are some interesting facts about hunger in Utah.

• 1 in 10 Utahns, and 1 in 8 Utah children, lives in poverty.
• An impoverished family of four makes about $22,000 a year to cover health care costs, shelter, food, and other household expenses.
• Utah has the fourth-highest rate of food insecurity in the nation. About 350,000 Utahns risk missing one meal every day.   
• More than 134,000 Utahns receive food stamps, and 63,000 eat dinner at a soup kitchen.
• 1 in 7 Utah children is at risk of hunger, and nearly 40 percent receive free or reduced school lunch.

Check out the Utah Food Bank for more info or other ways to help out.

Last year we gave over 700 lbs to the food bank and I HOPE we can beat that.

So come join us and bring some non-perishable food or baby items. And I will be serving scones and hot chocolate. Tempted?

Halloween Mystery Dinner

This just might be the kids' most favorite tradition. Of any holiday. Seriously. I will NEVER get out of this so be careful what traditions you start. Several years ago, my sister-in-law's sister-in-law (is that confusing?) gave me the idea of a Halloween dinner with menu items and crazy food. Thanks to my sisters - it always turns out better than I could do on my own.

Egan's creation. Melted Witch. So clever.

Jane's creation. Bad Heads. Yum.

Valentine's Dinner

I really need a lesson on taking pictures of food. But we kicked off the morning with Pink Puffy Pancakes (aka - German Pancakes). We pretty much have puffy pancakes every Sunday morning. It is a favorite. But the pink tint to them was kind of interesting. 

Dinner was better.

Valentine's Dinner Menu

Strawberry lemonade

Creamy Raspberry Jello hearts (made with jello and pudding) - no surprise but it was Quinn's favorite

Pink Mashed Potatoes (looked like really yummy frosting)

Homemade bread with raspberry jam

Cauliflower

Pioneer Woman Parmesan Crusted Chicken

Dessert: It was going to be chocolate fondue but I decided to save that for FHE tomorrow. Our friends dropped off some yummy chocolate dipped strawberries and we have plenty of candy so that was perfect for dessert.

And we delivered Valentine's to each person's plate and read them out loud. 

Bummer part of the night - Kenyon wasn't hungry because his knee hurts so bad. And he hobbled off to bed with his crutches at 6pm. He hasn't come back out or I would take a picture. His knee is humongous. Really it is and he is miserable. Good times.

Coolest Mom Award

Everbody already knows that "Grandma Hottie" is pretty much the coolest mom/grandma ever.

This picture (thanks to jane?) was taken in Snow Canyon on Christmas Eve. It is our favorite spot to go. My mom made the COOLEST nativity costumes for each of the kids.
And she wrote a wonderful script. We love watching the kids act out the story of the Nativity out on the red rocks. We even get fellow hikers stopping by to watch the scene.

Quinn did not behave - she really just wanted her own part - so I ended up in the car with her.

My mom always knows how to make family gatherings great. She is a wealth of ideas and knowledge. She is a great problem solver. And she has an amazing testimony.
Plus, is the best cook and a really, really hard worker.

The Neighbor Gift

Instead of neighbor gifts (which are fun), we decided to give to the Utah Food Bank. We invited all our neighbors to our home for hot chocolate and treats. All they have to do is bring a donation for the Utah Food Bank. We collected 800lbs of food. It was a great but very cold night.

Gavin was so helpful. No surprise. He wanted to be involved in all the details. The heat lamp in the garage, loading the food, the mechanics of the trailer, passing out hot chocolate.

Ungrateful?

Yesterday I had a several bad moments of being very ungrateful. It's embarrassing really. I knew it at the time too but it just seems like some things are too much sometimes. Right? But watch this. Please. Don't be afraid by the "Mormon Message" title if you are not Mormon. It's only 4+ minutes. This is about being grateful even in adversity. So perfect for the coming week and the whole feeling of the season.
Isn't this video cool? I love the music and the fun people they picked. Don't you feel bad for that kid with the skateboard. I wanted to give him a ticket home to his bed. And I love that guy who is thankful for breakfast, lunch and dinner. I would like to be walking on the streets of NYC. Perfect place to watch people. I know my niece (in-law) Angie can't wait to come home from NYC but I would trade her in a heartbeat. But - see - that is kind of ungrateful. I should be happy where I am. Working on that. But really if Kenyon wanted to take a job in NYC - I would go.

Totally Random - but speaking of jobs made me think of it. One of my FAVORITE podcasts is "This American Life" on NPR. You can subscribe to it for free on iTunes. I think this particular episode called "Rest Stop" was one of my favorites and I thought - what a fun job. Someone I know should go work for Ira Glass (maybe Jane) so that you can tell me all about it.

Oh - and a few things I am grateful for -
1 - M&Ms - plain or mint, please.
2 - Diet Pompegranate 7up (holiday edition - try it today!) Thanks Amy!
3 - Going to Twilight - New Moon tonight!!
4 - nap times - for the baby
5 - Cool things to watch and listen to on my ipod or youtube.
6 - Reading the Book of Mormon with my kids each morning
7 - Good friends

You're My Only Hope

Princess Leia - costume and wig created by her Grandma Porter

We were SHOCKED that she kept the wig on the whole night.

Star Wars meets the Mummy (our cousin Max)

Check out Darth Vader's eyes.

Star Wars meets a Vampire
If I could only get my act together. If I had a little more time. If if if...Kenyon would have been Obi Wan or Jedi. Acutally he wanted to be yoda. But, I am just not that clever and way too cheap this year. Other than Quinn's (which was made) the costumes were borrowed or purchased at yard sale.

I think we love her

Random Mother's Day Photos

Jane and Kristine are pretty much obsessed with all things Quinn. And I love it. How could you not be? Really. She is pretty squishy and slobbery and smiley. Hard to resist. Thanks for being such cute aunts. They brought gorgeous flowers, fruit, salad, and treats for me. By the way - Sophie the Giraffe that Quinn is holding is pretty much the coolest toy I have ever bought and I just might buy it for you if you are having a baby. Quinn and I both LOVE it.

I mostly just want you to notice that I have gorgeous sisters and I am inspired to do a little work on my appearance. Looking a little worn. But I really want you to notice this cute little brooch that Gavin made for me. Love it.

Do you like our Sabbath day activity? A pediatrician or ER docs worst nightmare!

I loved this idea on Stephmodo and so I had to copy. These little vases were $1 at Target. Go get some. They are so perfect.

And lastly - but most importantly - HAPPY MOTHER'S DAY. I wish I was in Italy with my Mom. She is living the good life. :) She is the best mom. She continues to teach and inspire me. I want to be like her. Check out this super cute picture of her as kiddo.

Thanks to all the good mothers out there who surround me. I appreciate your example. I am working on it.

Belated Easter

Oops! I meant to post these pictures a while ago. Actually - I was kind of hoping to re-do Easter. We were so rushed that the pictures just didn't turn out that great. Oh well. It was just a little too bright.

Copy Cat

I am a copy cat. I admit it. My sisters and I have been having this discussion this week about copying ideas. Cool or Not Cool? I certainly hope I always give credit to my ideas. And you can always be quite sure that whatever it is - it wasn't my idea. I wish I could be more original. I wish that I could even take a good idea and change it enough to make it mine. But I can't. Or Don't. Or something. Maybe I am just lazy. Anyway - here are a couple of things I copied this week that I really liked. I found them on this blog. Matchbox Valentines. Gavin LOVED this project. He loved emptying the matchboxes and filling them with candies. He loved writing his G on each one. And I think he loved passing them out to friends at preschool. And it was a cheap project. Always a good thing.

I fell in love with these cute little party favors and it was perfect for valentines and so easy. Plus really what could be better than sour grapefruit balls and cinnamon heart candies. Yummm.

So there you have it. I copied and I loved it. It was nice to have a little creative outlet this week but it didn't require too much time, money or running around.