What do YOU think?

Madi has been blessed with beautiful red hair and blue eyes. I'd be thrilled if neither her hair or eye color ever change. Recently, we've had a number of people comment that we should look into signing her up to be a baby model. We just chuckle (besides, where would you even start?) Yesterday I got a Carter's advertisement in the mail and was a little surprised at what I saw on the cover. Here's what the ad looks like:

I showed it to Owen and asked, "Does this look a little like Madi?" He said yes.
I showed it to Gavin and asked, "Does this look a little like Madi?" He said yes.
I showed it to Cam and asked, "Does this look a little like Madi?" He said yes.
I showed it to Spence and asked, "Does this look a little like Madi?" He said yes.

What do you think? (I sure wish I could capture my adorable children's faces better...I need a live-in photographer.)

Birthday Breakfast

To celebrate Emily's 25th birthday (yes, she's a quarter of a century old now), we decided to go to Kneader's for breakfast. Kneader's is a Utah-only restaurant that bakes their own bread and desserts and I've never tasted anything there that wasn't fabulous. So, here's what we ate...Cinnamon French Toast, YUM!!!

And here's who got to go to this delightful breakfast:




I'm loving our new tradition of celebrating birthdays. I only wish No'el & our mom lived closer so they could celebrate with us. Happy 25th Em!

Four Month Check-up

I took Harrison & Madi to the doctor for their 4-month Well-Child on February 1st...they were almost 5 months old, oops! Both babies are very healthy and they are growing so quickly. They both have great smiles and Harrison has the funniest laugh. He usually only laughs at his daddy so we anxiously await Spencer's arrival home from work each day. I heard someone in our ward call them the "ward's babies" because they get passed around on Sundays. The young women always want to see what Madi's wearing and we get a lot of help at church. We love it! Here they are, waiting for Dr. Sheri:


And their stats:
Harrison~ Weight= 16 lbs 5.5 oz, 60%
Height= 26 inches, 75%
Head Circumference= 16.8 inches, 60%

Madison~ Weight= 14 lbs 11.5 oz, 60%
Height= 24 inches, 25%
Head Circumference= 16 inches, 40%

Madi recently met Madi Fullmer, our friend from Idaho Falls. We thought it was appropriate to take a picture of them together!
And just a few more pictures of the twins...I can't get enough of them! Madi generally loves getting her picture taken. Harrison, not so much!

Life is like a ...

Bountiful Basket. You never know what you're going to get! (Okay, that was way too cheesy.) My sister, Emily, & I decided to get our first Bountiful Basket this month. You can visit their website here. We were both a little apprehensive about what we'd get in our first basket, if we'd be able to use everything, if we'd recognize everything, etc. I'd heard that sometimes you get out of the ordinary vegetables or fruits that you aren't quite sure how to prepare. However, it was fabulous and we've ordered our second basket already. Included in the first was:
8 bananas
7 green apples
1 cantaloupe
16 oz strawberries
12 pears
3 tomatoes
1 bunch spinach
1 bag red potatoes
2 red bell peppers
4 broccoli florets
1 head cauliflower
2 bags celery

One thing I loved about the basket is that when we picked it up there were a few things that weren't ripe yet. I was able to use the fruits and veggies at my own pace and didn't have to throw any of it out. Totally worth the money!!!

A Celebration (or Two or Three)

Callie turned 29 on January 25th. We celebrated a few days early to accommodate work & school schedules. We were happy to have the Hardings and Petersbergers over for the impromptu party! (I'm always looking for a reason to have friends over & Spencer loves having a reason to use his charcoal grill so it was a win-win for both of us.) After a fabulous dinner of "bring your own meat + something to share with everyone", we sang Happy Birthday to Callie & ate cupcakes. Plural. Mike decided to see if he could fit an entire cupcake in his mouth. Then Spencer tried. The girls couldn't be outdone! Can you even imagine the noise level at this point? Ya, IT WAS AWESOME!!! We finished the night by taking some HORRIBLE pictures that I will not include on this blog. I will just say that if you try to take a picture when someone is blowing out their lips to make a horse sound, they end up incredibly hilarious but horrible!




Now to change gears just a bit...my Grandma Marie was best friends with her sisters. They began a tradition of going to lunch to celebrate each other's birthdays. This tradition was passed on to my mom & her sisters (including sisters-in-law). So on Callie's actual birthday, Emily & Miley, Callie, Madison, Harrison, & I went to lunch to celebrate. We went to Olive Garden for their Soup, Salad, & Breadsticks lunch and it was wonderful. Madi & Miley wore their "I heart My Aunt" shirts in Callie's honor. Harrison slept through the entire meal. LOVE MY BABIES!!! And my SISTERS!!!



And as if that wasn't enough celebrating, we got together later in the week with our cousins who live in Utah to have dinner for Callie, Hugh, Candace, and Spence McArthur's birthdays too. Good times, good memories.

Snuggies for All

Tonight I received a text from Tisa that said, "We have presents! If you are not going to be home this evening please text me back." We were home so I told her to come on over...I mean, they had presents!!! A few weeks ago she told me that she had ordered something online for everyone in the family. She was hoping they would arrive before our Christmas dinner but, unfortunately, they did not. When they walked in the door they had 5 boxes, all wrapped in Christmas paper. She told us to open them at the same time. SNUGGIES FOR ALL!!!! BTW, don't knock 'em until you try 'em...they are amazingly warm and comfortable.


As a side note, my parents asked us for Snuggies this year. So we got them matching Snuggies...and mine is the same as theirs! We should have a Snuggie party.

Eggs, Berries, & Rice

Twenty years ago Callie quit eating eggs. She was never a huge fan of eggs anyway but one day after school she was walking home from the bus stop with some of her friends (Kandice & Jake). They stopped at Jake's house and he offered them a hard-boiled egg. They were home-grown, brown eggs and when Callie bit into hers...let's just say it was not a good experience! Fast forward 20 years...

Callie & her boyfriend, Mike, were playing the Wii with the boys on Thursday night. I asked her if I should plan on them for dinner. She asked what we were having. I replied, "Breakfast." She said to count them out. Mike started encouraging her to try eggs. He told her it had been 20 years and she needed to get over it. Pretty soon my boys started in on her too. After much torment she gave in. But, she informed me, if she was going to do it, she was also going to prepare them!

So she cracked them into a bowl,

Whipped them up,

Poured them into a hot pan, added ham & cheese, and stirred them until they were done.
Then she made her plate,

Took her first bite,

And exclaimed, "They aren't that bad!"

I'm not sure when she'll eat them again but she did finish her serving that night!!!


Mike has a strong dislike for berries so to support Callie as she ate eggs, he bought a carton of berries and ate them with his meal.

We decided to give Madison & Harrison their first try at Rice Cereal that night too. Madi likes it, Harrison does not!





What a fun night of Firsts!!!