Christmas

So I didn't get out the digital camera and take pictures on Christmas day we were only using the other camera so my pictures are limited. We had a great Christmas and thanks to everyone for the fantastic gifts. We have been enjoying all of them. The boys got a tent and have been having fun in it. They even slept in it. Well for part of the night! We've enjoyed making gingerbread houses and playing the Wii and have been enduring strep...yuck . We even tried McCall with some solid food and she did pretty well. We surprisingly don't have much snow but we'll see what the new year brings. Hope everyone had a great holiday!

Ward Christmas Party

We had our ward Christmas party on Saturday. It was a lot of fun. A fantastic program was put together. They had a really good message sent from it. Mo participated in a rap for the program and I thought all the guys did a great job. Mo is the one wearing the ski goggles. The primary kids also dressed up as angels and sang two songs. I'll try post the video of that. Tanner was in the front spinning circles and swaying from side to side. It reminded me of my sister Shalene lifting her dress up and down at our was christmas party lots of years ago!

O Christmas Tree O Christmas Tree...

We headed out to the forest this past weekend and after enduring cold winds, crying children we found our christmas tree. This is our second time cutting down our own tree and it was so much fun. McCall was tired and didn't like the FREZZING wind but she eventually fell asleep. Here is our tree in the wild before we cut it and after we decorated it. I think I should buy some really big ornaments to fill in the gaps! It's fun getting a real tree but I do miss the nice big full FIR trees we had growing up!

countdown calendars and Thanksgiving

We had a great Thanksgiving and were able to enjoy visits from my brother Lance, Grandpa and Grandma Hemming and Great Gma Betty. Dinner turned out great despite Mo starting a fire from the turkey drippings! The boys also made the traditional countdown christmas calendars. They ask first thing in the morning for their candy of the day.

Napkin holders

The boys just made these cute turkey napkin holders for Thanksgiving out of their hands!

New Moon

Tonight Mo took charge of the kids and gave me a night out! I went out to see New Moon with some friends. It was so good. Much better than the Twilight movie. We had two babies with us and I couldn't believe how quite they were. Thanks Tanya for picking up the tickets I had a great time!

Decorating!

The Boys started to decorate for Tanner's pretend 5th birthday and they ended up with this! My whole bedroom floor was covered with their books! We also had our Super Saturday recently and I made a Scarecrow door hanger. The black thing is a crow on his hat!
I also got a crazy deal this past week. I got tanner 3 pairs of jeans and a shirt from Old Navy for $11 dollars. I just happen to get lucky that a friend sent me a 30% off coupon and Mo and I both were able to get gift cards that were being past out at the Mall that day. In the last couple of days tanner has gotten 3 pairs of jeans, 3 shirts, 2 pairs of shoes, a package of socks and a belt for a total of $30. I fell like a great shopper.

Power Punch

Oh ya another way I've added healthy things to my kids meals is by putting pureed coliflower into mashed potatoes or scrambled eggs. Tanner always ask for green eggs which is just cooked and then pureed spinach put into scrambled eggs. I also have a great recipe for homemade chicken nuggets that is pretty healthy if you're interested.

Pumpkin Oatmeal

1c. skim milk
1/4c. brown sugar
1/4c. canned pumpkin or sweet potato puree (i use pumpkin)
1t. vanilla extract (opt)
1/4t cinnamon or pumpkin pie spice
1c. oats
2 t. peanut butter (opt. but very good)
dried fruit and nuts and maple syrup for serving (opt)

Bring ingredients to a boil and add oatmeal. Tasty and fun for the holidays

Yummy Rice Balls

Here's for the neighbors! I thought this was pretty good and my kids loved these

1c brown cooked rice
3 t. olive oil
1/4 lb chicken
1 1/4 t. salt
1/8 t. pepper
1/2 c. sweet potato puree
1/4 cup shredded cheddar cheese
1/4 c. buttermilk (I used skim milk and added a little lemon juice)
1 egg lightly beaten
1/2 c. spinach or broccoli or butternut squash puree (i used butternut squash)
1 1/2 c. whole wheat cracker crumbs or bread crumbs

Cook chicken in 1 teaspoon oil, sprinkle with 1/4t. salt and pepper and cook till no longer pink. Cut chicken into chunks and grind up in blender. Add sweet potato puree, cheese, 1 t. salt, and buttermilk, blend until smooth. Transfer to large bowl and stir in cooked rice. Roll into 1 inch balls and put on wax or aluminum paper. In small bowl beat egg and vegetable puree. Put crumbs in bowl. Dip rice balls in egg mixture then roll in crumbs to coat. IN skillet heat oil and add rice balls for 5-7 minutes. spray with cooking spray until browned and crisp all over. Serve warm. makes about 40 rice balls. Yummy!

Halloween

Well I didn't take to many pictures. Brayden didn't want to wear a costume and Tanner's was put together in 10 mintues (and it showed) We had a ward Halloween party and I made a cake for it. The neighborhood kids who were over that day were great helpers and told me all their opinions, if it looked good or not and what it was missing. Mo made some unique pancakes to remember the day by as well. The kids did pretty well on their candy stash and were good trick or treaters. We ended the night by eating Taco Bell's new black taco (they were giving them away for free!). They were pretty tasty!

Sandwich Rolls

I saw this on a krafts food site and thought it was cute. I made these ones as PB&J but I think a meat sandwich would work out well to. Surprisingly the boys gobbled them down. I guess I should get more creative with my food presentations so they'll eat better!

We've Been Busy

We celebrated Mo's 29th birthday last Saturday. Sadly we didn't take any pictures. I think his coolest present he received was a money jar from a mysterious person at work. When he arrived at work he had a glass jar filled with money sitting on his desk! (He took it somewhere so I don't have a pic of it) Thanks to shanna and meagan for babysitting for us so we could go out. And we finally received our bunk beds. They were only 2.5 weeks late but we got them. Here's a picture just for you mom. The boys have been having fun. They have tons of toys already on the top bunk and have tried to jump on it as well. We are going to take away the bottom mattress and make it lower for brayden. And today Mo is working at the Swine Flu vaccination. Everyone in his office is a little nervous for what might happen: pushing, punches, suspicious packages! I guess it's a good thing law enforcement will be there to help!

McCall's Photos

Here are some pictures of McCall we got. I wish I would have pulled my hair back but all things considered I think we got some cute pics of her.

I looked out the window and what did I see.....

SNOW. I think we must have skipped fall this year.

One Match Fire

This is our latest camping trip. Our family went up to Yellowstone but stayed the night in Island Park. Mo thought it would be cool to video himself starting a fire with one match. Notice all the kids in the background making loud yelling noises; those are our kids. Mo is unfazed by them and is focused on his fire. You go Boy Scout! Two lines from the clip that we thought were funny. First, Mo says it is about 40 or 45 degrees when in actuality is was closer to 32 degrees. Second, Tanner asked "Why isn't the fire getting bigger?" Thanks Tanner for making your dad feel good.

Italian Pasta and Vegetables

This is for all my neighbors who have been wanting some new recipes. I absolutely love this recipe and it's pretty healthy too. My mom purees the topping after she cooks it and it turns out pretty good like that to.

8 oz fettucine
1t. oil
onion and garlic
1/3 c. finely chopped carrot
1 med. zucchini, halved lengthwise sliced
2 (14.5oz) cans diced tomatoes with italian style herbs
2tsp sugar
2 tsp cornstarch
parmesan cheese to top optional

Heat oil add carrot, onion and garlic cook 2 minutes. Add Zucchini cook 3 minutes. In bowl combine tomatoes, sugar and cornstarch mix well and add to skillet.cook until zucchini are crisp tender. Serve on top of noodles and sprinkle with parmesan cheese. You really can add whatever kind of veggies you like. I've put in yellow squash and loved it. This recipe freezes well. Let me know if you like it!

Yellowstone

This past weekend we went camping and then headed up to Yellowstone for their Public Lands day. It's free to get in so we've gone the last couple of years! We camped the night before and the boys and I froze. Mo thinks anything cold is great and McCall was wrapped up so nicely and was probably the warmest one. Mo took the boys swimming in the waterhole and they loved it. If I remember I'll post a picture of Mo's 1 match Fire. He's so proud of that he video taped himself!

Update on us

We have been busy with lots of family visitors. My mom was here for 2 weeks helping out. And then we blessed McCall this last sunday. We were able to have lots of family and friends in town and really appreciate everyone making the long trek out for the blessing day. I made McCall's blessing dress in college and 5 years later I finally got to use it! Tanner started gymnastics up again and loves it. Brayden has been busy following Tanner and the neighborhood kids around. Mo has been treking along at work and was glad to tell me that we temporarily don't have to take furloughs because of the swine flu. So the longer people are sick the longer we don't have to take furloughs. (Not that we want people to have swine flu but it is a bonus for us) And me well I've been working in Primary and gearing up for the Primary presentation. Lets hope it goes well.

McCall Brynn Hemming

McCall

She's here in all her glory! McCall arrived Saturday August 15, 2009 at 5:57 am. After getting my membranes striped friday afternoon and walking 9 holes of golf I put myself in labor! She weighed in at 8 pounds 3 ounces and is 20 inches long. Tanner and Brayden are head over heels for her and I have already heard them say "My turn, I want to hold MY sister". They're such cuties and I'm sure they will be great helpers. My mom is here to help for a while and we appreciate her watching the boys while we were at the hospital. McCall swallowed some fluid on her way out so that is why she is underneath that fancy oxygen hood. I was afraid she would be bald like the boys but thank goodness she has hair. It is red to some but to me I think it has a little bit of blond in it. We love her and are so excited she arrived safely.

A Sad Farewell...for Mo

So you know from a previous post we bought another car. That gave us 3 cars and 2 drivers. So we posted Mo's Geo Prizm to sell and tonight we sold it. His beloved car drove away never to return. I have to admit this car has memories. It was the car he had when we first started dating. It has been in our lives for the last 7 years. It served us well but was time for it to go. We'll miss you little Geo.

Check it out!

So we think we will name the baby McCall. However we don't have any middle name. Give us your opinion in our poll or leave ideas in the comments!

Girl's Night Out

We had a Girl's Night out at the clubhouse this weekend and we made hair bows! I admit I'm not that good at it...yet. Thanks for your help Meagan! I thought I'd try my hand at making an Edible Arrangement to take over. I think it turned out pretty good for my first time!

Who can't love this guys music

Part of the Van Clan

We finally bought a bigger car. We've been looking around for quite a while to find a car we both liked and could afford. And this is what we ended up with a 2008 Chevy Uplander. Thanks to our fellow Uplander friends we started looking at these cars. It wasn't exactly what we were hoping for but I think we will enjoy the car. Tanner wanted to get this car just because of the automatic doors. I just hope he doesn't break them. Mo has informed me that we don't call it a van we call it a "Hot Rod." (I had a hard time getting the whole car with the angle I was at so just imagine the rest you can't see!)

Ross Park

This last Saturday we headed to Pocatello to go to Ross Park. It's a little water park with a lazy river, water slide and stuff. Mo's mom has been in town visiting and so we were able to enjoy a day in the sun with her. Tanner really liked going in the lazy river and Brayden well he had fun but was a little tired. He actually fell asleep leaning against my big belly!

Happy Birthday Brayden

Brayden turned 2 today! We've been practicing how to hold up 2 fingers but he still has a little trouble and if you ask how old he is he'll say "3!" He got some fun things but I think his favorite gift were the balls that we already had that I wrapped up. He also got a little tricycle. He saw the bike coming before I was able to get the video ready to tape it. He went nuts. He yelled out the whole time he opened presents "Balls" or "Bike" I'm so glad he was easy to please. Since he is so into balls I made a baseball cake. It was pretty fun and not to hard to make.

Cantaloupe and Blueberry Smoothie

I was skeptical of this smoothie but I tried it and actually really liked it. We were able to pick blueberries while in houston so I was able to use those! I didn't use the correct amounts I just kind of dumped stuff in and it was still good. Try this you'll like it!
1 cup Dannon® All Natural Plain Yogurt
1 cup Del Monte® Fresh cantaloupe chunks
½ cup Del Monte® Fresh blueberries
1 small Del Monte® Fresh banana, peeled
1/8 tsp. ground ginger
1 tsp. lemon juice
4-6 ice cubes
Blend all together and enjoy

Our Garden!

Well we really don't have a spot for a garden but we did have enough dirt to plant a few things. We have flowers, cucumbers and tomatoes. We don't have and cucumbers yet but I'm proud to say we have like 15 tomatoes on one plant! Hopefully they'll taste good!

Latest Happenings

Well we have been up to quite a few things lately. We went down to Soda Springs Idaho for a birthday party, then headed to Utah for a Bushman Family reunion, then we enjoyed a visit from my parents. While they were visiting we went to Mesa Falls (One of the prettiest places ever) and went on a LITTLE hike and enjoyed lunch. Later that same week we went camping at Rigby Lake. (Yes I went and yes I slept on the ground) Mo was so proud that he got a fire started with one match! It was a little smoky at first but was a perfect fire for hot dogs and mallows. We let Tanner try his hand at fishing and he did pretty well. We didn't catch anything but I think that was because Brayden was having to much fun throwing rocks or splashing his feet in the water. I didn't get a whole lot of pictures of everything mostly because I forgot the camera in the car or I just forgot to take pictures. Sorry!