Bonneville Dam and Fish Hatchery

So I still haven't had a chance to post pictures from last week....I promise I'll get to it!!  But here are the pictures from today.  We took a drive out to the Bonneville Dam and Fish Hatchery....which would have been really neat if the weather was nice....but it was still pretty cool.  I would like to go back when it's warm and there are more fish going through the fish ladder.  (For you ignorant people like myself, the fish ladder is how the fish get through the dam and they have these great big windows you can go down and watch the fish swim through.)

It was cold and rainy like usual, and Garrett was messing around....like usual, and what do you know, he falls in a HUGE, WET mud puddle!!!

Top Left to Bottom Right-  Sturgeon fish tank (these MONSTER fish are the size of sharks!!), the top of the fish ladder, Nana and Haylee looking for fish down below at the fish ladder, rainbow trout, the dam, Garrett all muddy, fish swimming through the fish ladder, Haylee taking a rest after this long week!

OUR little VACATION

This week Josh is off for Spring Break and Mom and Gene are here,  so I was determined NOT to sit around the house and waste our time together watching TV and not having anything enjoyable to remember....so we went to the coast.  I knew that it would be cold and rainy but we got a SWEET deal on a condo and I knew we'd have a blast....

It was cold and VERY rainy but we had a BLAST anyway!!!  

Haylee coloring on a rainy day at that beach!!  May I note how my barely TWO YEAR OLD is holding her pen!!!

What we did when it was TOO rainy to go play outside!!  The condo had a rec room and no one was using it, so we had a BLAST!!!  We played pool, air hockey (of course Josh beat us all!!), Garrett shot some bears (pre-tending to play a video game), and Haylee and I danced!!

Along the coast they are famous for their salt water taffy and in several shops you can watch them make it.  We happened to show up at a perfect time.  We got to watch him make it basically from start to finish.  In this picture he is putting the color on the taffy.  The kids we so amazed!!

This picture is hard to see because I'm taking it through a window but the taffy is in that machine spinning.  At the end of the machine it cuts off the taffy and wraps it in the paper!!  How cool is that??

One of the lighthouses we went too.  You could climb to the top but you had to be 42 in and Haylee was very upset she couldn't go with us and Garrett was right at 42in but the lady said he couldn't go, so then he got upset...so we decided it wasn't worth it!  It was absolutely gorgeous though from the outside...but cold and rainy!!  

BIG LIGHTHOUSE.....little jody

You could walk down to the beach and look at some tide pools below the lighthouse.  The beach was called cobble beach....

...can you tell why!!  The kids kept falling so we had to end up carrying them, but we did see some pretty cool ocean creatures!!

Jody looking down below!!

We got a chance to walk down a couple of neat streets right on the bay.  The coast is such a neat place to roam around.  Cool shops, lot of sea food, and wildlife!!

This is another lighthouse we went too but it was closed and raining VERY hard so we took a picture from the car and went to Walmart....yes Walmart!!  What can I say....we don't have a Walmart around here!!  I dare you to shop at local stores and not step foot into a Walmart for FOUR months and then see if you don't think it's pretty awesome!!  TRY IT!!

On our way home from the beach we took a little detour and stopped at Silver Falls State Park.  It's an amazing park that has over 25 miles of hike trails with 10 waterfalls!!  We didn't have much time and to tell you the truth we were all a little bit tired from our coastal trip, but we stopped and hiked a little to this one AMAZING fall....South Falls!!  You can walk behind it......but you do get SOAKING WET!!!

This picture does NOT do her justice!!  She was dripping water from EVERYWHERE!!!  Her chin, her nose, her glasses....she couldn't even see because her glasses her so wet....you would have thought we went THROUGH the waterfall, not behind it....but it was so much fun!!  We laughed SO hard!!

Walking behind the falls....(Haylee missed out....she fell asleep as soon as we put her in the stroller!!)

So I wish this picture was a video, instead of a still shot but you can get the idea!!  Gene has been working with Garrett on playing with bugs and not being afraid.  He found a warm and got Garrett to hold it but right as I was going to take a picture Garrett dropped it and then was too afraid to pick it up.  We kept after him to just hold it and after a few minutes of him getting close and then running off he finally put it in his hand and SQUEALED!!!  

He then became good friends with "Wormy" and we found him a nice little home by a tree as we left!!

PS:  I have some more pictures of us around the house and Gene's birthday but I'll have to get to them later!! I'm TIRED and we have another adventure planned for tomorrow!!  I'll try to post a little everyday!!  ENJOY!!!

GREAT NEWS!!

NO I'm NOT PREGNANT!!!

This news is pretty FANTASTIC though!!!  Well to a baker anyway!!  I figured out how to make a FLAT cake!!!  Do you know how every time you make a cake it domes, then you have to cut it and you end up cutting it diagonal, then you have to cut off more, then you end up having more scrapes than cake!!  Well fear not I have a solution!!!  

All I did was take an old dish towel and cut it in 4 sections (I made two).  I sewed two of them together (twice, so I'd have two).  Then I wrapped the towel around the cake pan and cut off the extra.  You fasten it with a safety pin.  

When you're ready to make a cake you get the towel wet and ring out the extra water (don't forget this part or you'll have a kitchen full of smoke (I know from experience).  

VOILA!!

Big Girl

I've just really noticed lately how big Haylee is getting!!  

She put on her own shoes....or Garrett's house shoes!  

She wants to do everything by herself.  

Her favorite phrase is "Haylee do it!"  

She has an attitude. 

 She LOVES babies!  

She likes Cinderella.  

She likes to watch Barney.  

She loves her "Bubba" but is also annoyed by him at the same time. 

 She's recently discovered chewing gum and tries to get some every chance to gets.  

She says the cutest little prayers.  

She's lights up our life!

Homemade Pop-Tarts!!  Days like these I feel like a pretty cool mom!!

Dr. Joshua Lee Sorenson

....well he will be.

This is my husband, soon to be.....Dr. Joshua Lee Sorenson.

I always post pictures of the kids and brag on them and I just wanted to take a few minutes to brag on my husband!!  As much as I get annoyed with him at times (don't hate, you know you get just as annoyed with your spouse too....we ALL do!!) he's really awesome and I don't give him enough credit...and believe me credit is due!!  

This man has A LOT on his plate and manages to get everything done!!  His alarm is usually set somewhere in the 5:00 hour (I'm not sure exactly when because I'm FAST ASLEEP....and YES that's AM)!!  He then heads to school to get work done BEFORE class starts, so he can come home as soon as class is over with....but that's not usually until after 5:00.....PM!!  He then comes home....sometimes to dinner being ready, and sometimes not....oops!!  We eat (which sometimes he fixes for us) and he helps get everything cleaned up.  He plays with the kids for a little bit then helps put them to bed.  He then either studies or spends the rest of the evening with me before he heads off to bed.  If he has to go to school on Saturday, he usually gets up really earlier and goes so he can come home by the time we're getting around, so he can spend the day with us!!  

He NEVER misses church, NEVER misses Life Group (Wednesday night church), ALWAYS plays with the kids (even if it can only be for a few minutes), and ALWAYS makes time for me.  He watches the kids most weekends so I can work.  Gets the kids up and ready and takes them to school with him the days I have to work....so we can exchange them (I get off at 7:30am and he has class at 8:00am at the same place...it's pretty AWESOME).  Fixes dinner AT LEAST twice a week if not more.  Washes dishes every night.  Does a load of laundry every once in a while.  Stays up until midnight fluffing balls to make his 2 year daughters birthday party pretty!

He's pretty awesome!!  He might not have everything down and know exactly what I want, when I want it....but I am girl and that can be a little hard.  I can say that I he tries....and truly tries.  He WANTS to make me happy and does whatever he can to fulfill my needs.  If I want to go marriage counseling...he goes.  If I want to have a romantic night...we do.  If I want to watch a chic flick...we watch one.  

Josh, thank you for trying so hard to make our lives better.  Thank you for being the awesome father you are being to our children!!  You are an amazing husband, an amazing father, and you're going to be an amazing doctor!!  I love you!!

PS....do you notice the chipmunk mouth!!!  They have been practicing giving each other injections and I guess his partner didn't do such a great job!!  His check is all swollen and sore.  The oral surgeons said they aren't sure what happened but there's a big pocket of blood in there (hematoma).  He said it hurts pretty bad....AND he can't take any pain relievers because they thin your blood and it could make it worse!!  POOR GUY!!  

Life....plus another cake :)

There is a church down the road from us that has a FREE exercise group that meets Monday, Wednesday, and Friday!!  It's AWESOME!!!  Everyone has little kids, so the kids just run around and play.  On Monday we do Zumba~ which may I say is AWESOME!!  I'm NOT a dancer but it sure is fun to pretend!!  Then on Wednesday we do a aerobic/weights and Friday's a ballet dancer teaches a ballet/weight class!!  All the teachers are volunteers!!  It's fun because I get to exercise but it's also like a play group!!  The kids LOVE going!!

We also signed Garrett up for T-ball this year!!  He's had two practices so far.  I believe his first game is April 9th!!!

.....and now for the CAKE!!!

Oreo Covered Chocolate Covered Cherry Cake

1 white cake box mix

2 boxes of chocolate covered cherries

2 containers of buttercream frosting (I think cream cheese frosting would be yummy too!)

1 box of Oreos

1 jar of hot fudge (the kind you get for ice cream)

1.) Bake two cakes (I did six inch cakes, but any size would work)  Level the cakes (cut the humps off so they're both flat on top)

2.) Place the cake on wax paper (believe me this cake is messy....you'll thank me later!)

3.)  Frost the cake with a good amount of frosting on top (it's part of your middle layer)

4) Place chocolate covered cherries on top and then frost over them (you can put it in the freezer to make it firmer...it makes it a little easier to work with)

5.) Place the second cake on top of that ( I recommend putting the first layer and chocolate cover cherry layer in the freezer for about 15-30 mins before putting the top layer on). 

6.) Frost the entire cake!

7.) Poor hot fudge all over the entire cake (told you the wax paper would be helpful!)  I had to spread it around with a knife.

8.) Cover it with crushed oreos.  Top with a dab of frosting and a cherry!

ENJOY!