Flake Fun

What a crazy couple of weeks it has been.  The weather has been super windy and my allergies have been going crazy.  

The three highlights or events of the weeks were: 

We built a small raised bed strawberry box. They just won't grow in ground here! I'm keeping my fingers crossed that the wind doesn't kill them.

James had 2 teeth removed by the dentist after smashing his mouth a few times too many.  He was a trooper through the whole ordeal and he is still smiling. 

The kids did a color run this weekend and had a blast. 

Love you all! Can't wait to see you in a few weeks!

Hyde Happinesses

 Hello hello! This week was pretty great. Like most weeks it had its ups and downs, but it was still great. Stetson is just hilarious these days. He has these obsessions and I’ve never met a 1 year old more persistent than he is. He also has the best memory ever. It’s almost weird how good it is.

 Anyway. I did quite a lot of baking this week which always does my soul good and my wallet less good. I made some blackberry freezer jam that is now syrup (any suggestions on this?…), meringue Eton mess, and a copycat recipe for those frosted circus animal crackers. Those were awesome actually. I got the cutest cookie cutters and they tasted really similar to the real deal! I was really happy with the way they turned out. Then all the cake making got to my head and Cam and I finished off the week with a bake off: cakes. He chose to do a better than anything cake and I went with a classic carrot cake. His was the clear winner! I was super impressed that he was able to actually make the cake soggy even when it was stacked! The carrot cake was pretty good! I’ve been fascinated by buttercream painted flowers lately (look them up- they’re incredible) so I tried to replicate it and honestly it wasn’t as bad as I thought it would be 😂 my colors weren’t my favorite but now I know for next time :) 

We also got to go to the Layton temple open house which was so great. Mom and dad and Yanny and her kiddos went too and it was really awesome. The temple was huge and oh so gorgeous. Cam was especially taken with the stained glass and I loved the nature paintings. Stetson liked the fountain outside the best I think. It was super fun to spend some time with Yanny and play with her cute kiddos. Stetson is not a huge fan of Jane… well, that’s not true. He loves babies. Adores them actually. But I made the mistake of holding Jane and oh boy. That was not the right thing to do. I picked her up and he immediately said “all done” and began reaching for me and trying to push Jane out of my arms. The next time I tried to hold her he burst into tears, so Cam took her and, well, I guess you guys probably know how that ended 😂 there were lots of tears and “all dones” involved. I guess Stetson will just have to be an only child 🤷🏼‍♀️

If anyone wants to go camping, hiking, or rock climbing this summer, let us know! We’ve got the itch but it’s a lot more fun when there are other people around :) Cam really wants to do a lot of climbing, but it’s very difficult with Stetson around so if anyone wants to play with a really cute kid for a couple hours, let me know 😅 love you all! Can’t wait to see you in a few weeks! 

Big fan of the puppies 

Just hanging out with his great grandpa Hyde. He raises peacocks and chickens and Stetson was pretty enamored with both 

Animal crackers! There were T-Rex shapes, cactuses, llamas, elephants, dogs, bunnies, and long necks. SO CUTE. 

“So big!”

He loves his grandpa 

He climbed into his chair and requested that alllllll of his balls be brought to him 😂 then he just grinned and grinned. I adore him

The master at work

Getting our hiking game on 

Why is throwing rocks in water so therapeutic??! I love it

Hyde Happinesses

 Hello all! First of all, so sorry about your friend moving Jenn :( that is so not fun. But I’m glad the Lord does work in mysterious ways and I hope you can find some more good friends (YOUR friends) in Snowflake. It is very difficult to live somewhere and be unhappy about it. I’m very sorry :(

I haven’t written on the blog for awhile now! We’ve had lots of fun things going on and it’s just about to get more busy. I really love this time of year, but I do wish the weather would stable out as far as temperature goes… this week it’s supposed to be high 50s to low 60s… a little chilly after enjoying some nice 70s. One of these days it’ll figure itself out! 

Stetson has decided that naps are not his thing and it just about drives me out of my wits and makes me feel like a crazy person. He screams and screams when I try to put him down for a nap so generally I just give up and lose my sanity for the rest of the day. He will only nap on the go… and that’s hit and miss. And often enough I don’t want to always be on the go 😂 he also decided it was morning time at 2:30am yesterday and didn’t go back to sleep until 5. And refused his first nap this morning. Cam and I are running on fumes. 

We’ve had so much fun being able to see some of you lately! It’s been great to catch up and chat with you. Wesley’s baptism was a great spot for that, as well as Camille’s wedding. We missed you Yanny and Jenn! 

Cam is a champion and encouraged me to do Camille’s cake and was my ultimate hype man when we finally put it all together. It was a success and Hana was able to enjoy at least the cake part as it was dairy free. 

Anyway. Love you all. Can’t wait to see you in a month or so for Thomas’s play! It will be a blast. 

The best cousins: always at Stetsons beck and call

at the Health Days parade to see Uncle T

Speaking of uncle T…

Stetson and his friend Emma

Stetson always insists on trying the lemons when I cut them

One of my favorite pictures of late 

The cake looked lovely thanks to Ruth and Elise 

Have a happy week everyone!

Flake Fun

It has been a good week.  We got a lot of the garden planted and hope to get some more in this week.  We had a few low temp nights but the forecast is promising warmer nights so I'm going to put the tomatoes that are ready out this week.  Fingers crossed that it isn't a mistake!! 

Scott had to work during graduation on Saturday which was an experience.  He transported 1,100 cupcakes from Snowflake to Holbrook.   

We only made a small amount of progress on the acreage (if anyone has ideas for a better name, I'd welcome suggestions!). We put some concrete behind the rocks lining the culvert to help reinforce it.  Hopefully it will help strengthen it.  We still need to get more in but baby steps.  We should have several hours to work on it on Saturday.

Now for some pics.

Yes, they are dangling!

Rand wanted to look like Dad today-too grown up.

What a handsome guy!

This is possibly the first picture that I have with me and the kids.

Flake Fun

I have been thinking a bit lately about the way things work out.   Just over a year ago I was really struggling with being in Snowflake.  I was quite unhappy and couldn't seem to get myself out of that rut.  So I had a frank conversation with God about what I was feeling.  That week, at the park I met Esther.  We had similar backgrounds (homeschooled, mission, married to accountants, etc.) And we hit it off.  She was MY friend with no other connections and it made me feel like, yes, I can survive in Snowflake.   We made homeschooling plans, chatted about life and did park play dates.  Fast forward to February. We met up at library storytime and she dropped the bombshell that they are moving to Sweden.  It slightly rocked my world.  But I realized that because of our meeting I have come to appreciate Snowflake and she got me through the last year.  The Lord works in mysterious ways.

Anyway, she is moving on Friday so I'm a bit down about that.  Here are some cute pics. 

James face planted into the stairs and did a doozy on his front teeth.

Leaning literal ropes with Uncle Bruce.

Our new Champion Juicer thanks to Esther

James was thrilled to finally be a twin.

Robin and Rand have taken a greater interest in reading lately.

In the "sloth tree".  The branch is low enough that they can hang on it like sloths.

Love you all!

Nilsson News

 It has been a bit crazy the past few weeks!  It is foaling season and we have four out of five here!  I wish I could say it has been smooth sailing, but we've had a few anxieties.  We had a mama with a blocked udder, a red bag emergency delivery, two foals born two weeks early, one of which came with a snowstorm and the other that has angular limb deformity.  It's exciting and so fun to see all the babies running all over the place.

We are awaiting the true arrival of spring and working in the yard and garden.  The kids have been living on the trampoline and Henry just learned how to do a back handspring and back flip.  We finished our homeschool co-op which was fun and we're almost done with the rest of school and extra curricular commitments.  Addy is getting excited for the high school musical "Suessical."  She is playing the keyboard in the pit and it's proving to be a fun show.  Let us know if anyone wants to come.  It's May 15-18.

Sorry about my random ramblings but that's all for now!

We hiked the Menan Buttes with our 4-H club.  It was rather exhausting but most made it to the top.

We also went to the Museum and saw the Under the Canopy exhibit.  It was fun to see all the real live animals.

Dane loves Stanley!  They are buddies!

This is a photo of May 3rd.  This was on the ground along with a new foal!

This is Miracle!  She is a doll with the most beautiful little face.  We are keeping her!

This is little Storm.  He is so tiny and stocky.  We love his all black face.

I'm feeling slightly guilty showing so many pictures of donkeys when Emma posted tons of adorable photos of Stetson (sigh).