Museo Rafael Larco Herrera

This is the second museum that we visited on Friday. Here are Garth, Dad, and I in front of the museum.
A quartz necklace I thought was pretty. (very fine workmanship for SO long ago!)

You can't see the engraving very well, but it is extremely detailed. The museums contain a lot of gold items from Pre-Inca and Inca times. Precious metals were in abundance here and they have the artifacts to prove it!

There has been so much pottery uncovered here in Peru. I really liked this guy's smile. Of course we don't know if these pots, etc. were designed to look like someone, but if they were I bet this guy would have told great jokes!

There were mutliple varieties of bouganvillas on the walkway up to the museum. They reminded me of two of my favorite people, Bill and Jerry Wade, because they have the same flowers in front of their house.

Peru-Museo Nacional de Antropologia, Arqueologia e Historia

Our first day in Lima we visited museums. For some reason I didn't get any pictures of Garth and I at this museum (I am horrible about remembering to take pictures of us, but I am really trying to be better!). Below are a mummy and skulls that show where brain surgery was performed-we thought they were pretty cool! :-)

Easter

Below is a picture of the kids right before they started hunting for eggs! Obviously they decided against their nicer clothes. Since I am a bit worn out from the past week with laundry, getting ready to leave town, etc. I was fine with their lack of what I would normally call appropriate Easter attire (although I did flinch internally). The point is that they had fun and that their Uncle Jonathan did a great job hiding the eggs! Trevon found the golden egg with $10!!

We had Broc, Joanna, Brady, Jaleen, Jonathan, Jenna, Casey, plus Garth, myself, and kids here for dinner. This year was pretty laid back. We enjoyed the day with our family! We, as always, missed those that weren't here and hope that all of them had a great day as well.

What a blessing this season is to remember our Savior and the fact that he died for us!

March Madness at the Isoms

So, Jenna & Casey are in charge of the March Madness brackets for them and their friends each year. Since they were here, the brackets went up on our wall. On another wall in our family room went the Garth and Janelle Isom family bracket (Garth and I plus kids-Jenna & Casey helped those that couldn't read by saying the two names and then letting them pick.). We had a great time finding out who won and probably watched more basketball in March than Garth and I had watched in our whole marriage combined. The best part was that we liked it and really enjoyed the games!

In our family bracket I won with an "oh-so-huge" score of 1000!! Yeah for me, the huge first-timer! Trevon came in second with 770 and the rest of the family came after us! I actually did a little research-not much-but Trev did pretty well for just picking by the sound of the names! :-) Anyway, here is what we had on the walls-we had so much fun that we had to post it!

**We can't wait to do it again next year!**

Garth and Janelle family (above)

Casey, Jenna, Jason, Ashley, Chris, Nartker, Melody, and friends (below)

Trevon & Casey

I came out of the house and saw Trevon & Casey and just needed to take a picture. How cute do they look? Casey was helping Shelby work on her swing for softball, so Trevon decided he needed to "hang out with the coach!"

Trevon's Easter "Bonnet" for School

Trevon's school had an Easter bonnet parade. Me being the "great" Mom that I am put off doing his hat. Not that it mattered since he wanted a Star Wars hat anyway and I could put that together pretty quick. Our biggest obstacle was finding a hat we didn't mind gluing and stapling!! So, here is Trevon's Star Wars "bonnet." You should have seen some of the hats-I think some of the parents/kids spent HOURS on them! It was pretty amazing. Below is Trevon and his great friend Davis (who also has a Star Wars figures hat-they are two peas in a pod), and some better views of Trevon's hat!
(Thanks to Garth for unknowingly donating one of the free hats that he gets from suppliers! We know he would have given freely had we asked! ;-) Next time we'll do that!)

Preschool Easter Party

Starlee had her preschool Easter party the other day. We had a fun time coloring, decorating Easter cupcakes, playing, paiting suncatchers, decorating our Easter bags, and ending with an Easter egg hunt. Ryden had a lot of fun joining in on some of the fun!
Her preschool friends are cuties!

Spring Break here we come...

Another picture from the tidepools!

I am wondering what everyone's plans for Spring Break are! We leave on the 12th of April, but I am hoping to take some field trips with the kids before then. Shelby is going with a friend to Magic Mountain, Garin is participating in a climbing merit badge, I think we are going to have to head to the park a lot, maybe swim some (our new pool isn't quite as warm as our old pool was), I would like to go to Sea World or the zoo. I really haven't given it much thought yet, but I would love to hear what everyone else is doing! :-)

For me, here are several things that I am very excited about:

1. I can run on my treadmill at 7 am instead of 6 am
2. I can organize my closet.
3. The kids and I can have a little more fun. I feel like I am constantly yelling to get ready for this or that!
4. I am baking cookies-lots of them!
5. I would like to try a couple of peruvian recipes before we go, just to give the kids a glimpse!

Okay-so here is what I am thinking will be fun! I know that blogs aren't always a conversation type thing, but I am curious to see what everyone else is doing.

Ryden is worn out

The other day we came home from a very long day at the park. Ryden was so tired he fell asleep in the entry way because he couldn't walk any farther. One minute he was behind me, the next he wasn't and I turned around to find him like this!! (He is using Starlee's dance bag as a pillow.)

The kids thought this was the most hilarious thing. Here he is from the other angle. You can see he didn't make it very far in the door! Silly kid! Maybe next time we should shorten park day! ;-)

Garth & Brady

Since I probably don't need to state the obvious fact that I love pictures of Garth because he is so cute ;-)-I will instead mention that we took this picture because we have pictures of Garth asleep with ALL of our kids and now we are onto the nephews! ;-) Brady slept right next to his uncle looking as cute as could be. So-those of you that have our nieces and nephews-bring them over to us when they are babies! Garth has some incredible talent to get them to sleep (of course he has to sleep right along with them!).

60 Minute Rolls

One of our favorite family recipes is called 60 minute rolls. We had them for Jenna's Birthday Dinner and then again last night. I got the recipe from a Laurel Activity (when I was in Laurels, not serving in YW) and we have used it ever since. The recipe is simple and fast-does it get any better? Below is a picture of the dough after you separate it up (I did a triple batch-so only 3 blobs for 1 batch!). If you look closely you will see the dough cut into the "pizza shape" right before making it in its crescent roll shape! :-) And then of course the finished product-just so you know what you are making!

60 Minute Rolls

3 1/2-4 1/2 c. flour
3 T. sugar
1 t. salt
2 pkg. Active Dry Yeast
1 c. milk
1/2 c. water
1/4 c. margarine

In a large bowl thoroughly mix 1 1/2 c. flour, sugar, salt, and undissolved yeast.

Combine milk, water, and margarine in a saucepan. Heat over low heat until liquids are very warm (120 to 130 F). Margarine does not need to melt.

Gradually add wet mixture to dry ingredients and beat 2 minutes at medium speed of electic mixer, scraping bowl occasionally. Add 1/2 c. flour. Beat at high speed 2 minutes, scarping bowl occasionally. Stir in enough flour to make a soft dough. Turn out onto lightly floured board; knead until smooth and elastic, about 5 minutes. Place in greased bowl, turning to grease top. (I usually put the greased bowl in another larger bowl that has VERY HOT water in it so that it has a moist environment. I also put a towel over it!) Let rise 15 minutes (or until about double).

Turn dough out onto floured board. Divide into three and shape. Roll each "blob" into a circle. Cut each circle into 8 wedges, like a pizza. Then start at the wide edge and roll to center. The end result looks like a mini croissant. Cover; let rise in warm place free from draft (about 90 F) for 15 minutes.

Bake at 425 F for 12 minutes, or until golden brown. Remove from baking sheets and cool on wire racks.

Is anybody else ready for a break?

I thought this picture of Starlee & Casey was so cute! He is so patient with the kids and they (and Garth and I) absolutely adore him! Probably because Jenna did such a great job picking him out! ;-) Casey has been helping me organize my office (he is great at organizing and has skills when it comes to office stuff-must be the masters accounting program at BYU or his terrific Mom or both) and I will be eternally grateful for all of the help that both Casey and Jenna have given while they have been here! How did I get so lucky?

Is anybody else ready for a break? I AM!! Between dance, preschool, gymtrix, softball, and scouts I am just about done with everything! :-) I am so ready for a break from the chaos that we call 6 kids! ;-) I should also add that I am so thankful for my blessings in great family that help us out so much-Garth, the kids, Casey & Jenna, Jaleen, Joanna & Broc, Jonathan, Moms & Dads, Trevor & Jocelyn, Chad, you get the picture...! I can't wait to go to Peru and see some of the sights! We are leaving the kids with Casey & Jenna for 12 days and as crazy as I know it will be for them-I am so thankful! I am looking forward to a vacation with Garth AND to where Garth served for 2 years and I am thankful that I won't have to worry the entire time we are gone because they will have an AWESOME aunt and uncle here! Yeah for us! We will get to see the sights with Mom & Dad Isom and visit all of the ruins. I can't wait to post pictures to the blog...now if I can just get through the next few weeks!

Have a great day everyone and I hope everyone is feeling a little less worn out than I am today! ;-)

Shelby's Birthday Party-Manicures & Midnight Breakfast

Shelby had her first Slumber Party this year! The pictures are backwards (because I am too lazy to fix them), but we started the night with manicures for all, then headed home for some pizza, presents, & cake, and then about 10:45 pm headed for breakfast in our pajamas! The next morning we had an oh-so-healthy breakfast of doughnuts and played in the front yard. We had the greatest time! Shelby had a blast and she has great friends!!

Below are pictures from out Late-night PJ breakfast!! :-) Starlee came too since she is our other princess and her wonderful Aunt Joanna & Aunt Jaleen came along for the craziness as well! :-)

Not the best picture (immediately below), but here is Shelby with her birthday cake and a little messy fun afterwards with her friends! Aren't they silly?

Presents- Shelby loves to write & color (Kirra pegged her perfectly) & Noel knows she LOVES to jump rope (double dutch jumprope set) & wear jewelry (a flip flop necklace for a CA girl)! She also received the book Little Women, which she has already started on, another jumprope, and a Target giftcard (perfect since she LOVES Target too-like mother like daughter)!!

One of the activities we did was to go and get manicures~ The girls looked so cute while they were getting their nails done! (I had a pedicure thanks to getting my nails done by Jocelyn that morning!) The technicians were great and the girls seemed to have a great time!

Kirra's Birthday

Shelby and I had a chance to hang out for Kirra's birthday! She and a few of her friends (thus the Shelby and I coming) went out to Souplantation for lunch. We had a great time and I for one am glad that Kerity needed another driver so that I could come too! :-)

Happy Birthday Kirra!

Jenna's Birthday-just a few pictures, check out her page for more!

How many guys does it take to light the birthday candles on a cake? (At our house-3!)

Isn't my sister beautiful! It was a lot of fun to spend her birthday with her!

Jenna & Casey are the cutest! I love watching how sweet they are together!

Our new nephew Jared

We have a new nephew! He was born December 29th, 2006 and his name is Jared Michael. He joins his big brother Jon! My sister Jocelyn and her husband now have 2 boys! Yeah for them! See the pictures below of the cutie patootie! :)