Everyone help me remember

(this is the picture my dad took that I spoke about in my talk to represent how our focus sometimes gets blurred and we focus on the things of the world rather than the temple- cool picture- huh!)
So, Nate and I had to give talks in church yesterday. We figured it was Heavenly Father's way of getting our minds off Nate's training stuff, and focused back on Him. The topic was temple attendance. It was a really good topic for me to think about and actually I felt really strongly that Heavenly Father was trying to emphasize the importance of going to the temple TO ME. I felt like that was his helpful hint for me on how to make it while Nate is gone. Which is funny because I haven't been for a while and I was thinking "I should hurry and go before Nate leaves". But it hit me that I NEED to go while he is GONE TOO. So that's my new thing- as soon as Noah is eating solid foods (only 11 more days!) and I can leave him with someone and not worry about him getting hungry I am going to go to the temple!! I just wanted to put this on here so that everyone could help me remember this and kinda nag me if necessary to get on it. I feel really strongly about the blessings of temple attendance and how it can bless my life and the lives of my children, so I was very grateful for the reminder! (even if I did make a complete fool of myself up in front of my whole ward. I used to love giving talks, I don't know what's happened to me-)

She lost another one!

Sunday morning Charity "just twisted her tooth and out it came"!!! We were pretty excited for her. And she was relieved to not have to have the Dentist pull it out.

It's funny because that permanent one behind it was already pretty much all the way in there so you can hardly even tell that she lost one :) Her teeth are just like her- doing things too soon! She's just growing up so much!

Saturday at the Taylor Cabin

Luke taking a lunch break :)


Here's Nate in action- hopefully Meg can get me one of those good ones I took with her camera ;)

Saturday was a total blast! We got to go up to Nate's sister's husband's family's cabin (how's that for a mouthful :) did you follow that? My sister-in-law's in-laws invited all of their children's in-law's families to a fun little day at their cabin. I thought it was a really fun idea. It was a beautiful location, and wasn't too hot. We mostly just sat there which personally made the whole day quite heavenly. We were watching (and kind of playing) in the Horshoe Tournament (it was really fun even though I totally stink at it) Thankfully I only had to lose 2 games before I was done :) It's a little embarrassing to keep throwing the horshoe so terribly in front of so many people. Better luck next year I'm hoping.


My kids had the time of their lives as well. Charity and Kelly played with Sierra and her other cousins in the play house (I really am not sure what they did the whole time, they were just off having fun most of the time) If I could see the girls it was because they were sneaking more cookies! My kids are total food addicts. They just kept coming back for more! Bradley and Luke played in the pool most of the time- Luke was hilarious to watch- he's so good at entertaining himself, and playing with other kids- kinda makes me laugh to see him interact with other kids. He totally fried the LOWER half of his back (he was the only one I didn't get sunblock on and he was the only one that stayed in the sun the WHOLE time) but he had been bending over to play in the water most of the time so he has a really unusual sunburn :) poor kid.... where were his parents anyway! Noah, Nate and I just sat there :) the whole time :) I LOVED it! Thanks again Meg and Chris for all the fun and food!! We hope to get invited again next year!! (we need to redeem ourselves in horshoes)

Nathan Ryan Scott Lignell

On Friday we got to go meet the newest member of the Lignell family- Nathan Ryan Scott Lignell. Everything went well with the c-section he was 7 lbs, 3 oz, 20 in long. He has SO MUCH cute, black hair!!! I couldn't believe how much hair he had :) But anyway- it was a pleasure to meet the little boy that was named after my husband :). (these were the only 2 pictures that even remotely turned out- the room was way too dark :( hopefully Scott's "photogenic one" of Nate turned out and I can steal it later :) Congratulations Scott and Debe- he's so handsome!!

Grandpa Hatch and Nana Came to visit

Nana and I just sat on the porch talking the whole time- so nice. And it's so miraculous that Nana let me sit there and take pictures of her!! She NEVER would have stood for that a few years ago :) she must be getting old.



I love this face :)



Okay so this is my favorite thing lately. lol. I had just changed Noah's diaper and he was laying on my legs, and I think he just gets bored or something, but he found his toes and just goes to town sucking on them :) It's hilarious if you ask me :) I was just happy to finally get a picture of him doing it :) lol.


this is another one of my favorite Noah faces :) the bottom lip in.... he's such a little man, it's funny.




and another one :)


Wednesday was a pretty crazy day. But it couldn't have had a better ending. Grandpa Hatch and Nana met us at McD's in Lehi and then came back to the house to play around for a while. It's so fun to get visitors, Nana gives Noah all the attention he could ever want, and the rest of the kids just follow grandpa around begging him for rides on his shoulders. They also got to take Grandpa to the park. It was a really great evening for all of us. Thanks again Dad and Nana (if you're actually reading this that is :)) (oh, and on the way home we saw a HUGE snake- just outside of our subdivision- it was seriously like 3 feet long- Nate got out and played with it while I sat in the car trying to teach the kids that we never touch the snakes by ourselves :) good times!) sorry no pictures of the snake or Grandpa- couldn't slow grandpa down, and didn't want to give Nate more reason to play with the strange snake.

Poor Little Noah

This little kid was insane last Tuesday. I seriously did not know what to do with him. He would not be happy unless I was holding him. Which is pretty typical with him, but not quite as bad as it was that day. Of course it's the day that I'm trying to look up things about Nate's move, and finding him a place to stay, bla bla bla Noah and I just weren't on the same page at all. I would nurse him to sleep, and then when I would try to lay him in bed he would startle awake- every single time- I couldn't believe it!! So finally as I was getting lunch ready I decided I would just sit him down in his little seat, and he fussed a little, but it was only a few minutes before he was like this....dead asleep.....and the first few times this happened I tried picking him up to put him in his bed so that he could be a little more comfortable, and he would just wake up. So I just left him! I don't like doing that. But whatever floats his boat I guess- he did it a few more times that day- fell right to sleep in his seat with his head all kinked to the side- poor little guy. I was starting to think there might be something wrong with him, but he was back to normal the next day....Anyway :) Blog worthy?? probably not :) but isn't he such a cutie :)

BIG NEWS!

Nate got his official offer with his date for training!! We are really nervous and really excited!! I don't want to put a lot of info on here, but just wanted to let you all know that the waiting part is over!! Let me know if you want me to email you the details!

Tuesday Tell All- TASTE

The topic this week was of course Taste- so I thought I would post some of my favorite (most of them are not so healthy) recipes. Here they are:

CLONE OF A CINNABON- (I had to add this one for Charity and Kirstina)

1 cup warm milk (110 degrees F/45 degrees C)
2 eggs, room temperature
1/3 cup margarine, melted
4 1/2 cups bread flour
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup white sugar
2 1/2 teaspoons bread machine yeast

1 cup brown sugar, packed
2 1/2 tablespoons ground cinnamon
1/3 cup butter, softened

1 (3 ounce) package cream cheese, softened
1/4 cup butter, softened
1 1/2 cups confectioners' sugar
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/8 teaspoon salt
DIRECTIONS
Place ingredients in the pan of the bread machine in the order recommended by the manufacturer. Select dough cycle; press Start.
After the dough has doubled in size turn it out onto a lightly floured surface, cover and let rest for 10 minutes. In a small bowl, combine brown sugar and cinnamon.
Roll dough into a 16x21 inch rectangle. Spread dough with 1/3 cup butter and sprinkle evenly with sugar/cinnamon mixture. Roll up dough and cut into 12 rolls. Place rolls in a lightly greased 9x13 inch baking pan. Cover and let rise until nearly doubled, about 30 minutes. Meanwhile, preheat oven to 400 degrees F (200 degrees C).
Bake rolls in preheated oven until golden brown, about 15 minutes. While rolls are baking, beat together cream cheese, 1/4 cup butter, confectioners' sugar, vanilla extract and salt. Spread frosting on warm rolls before serving.

STUFFED FRENCH TOAST
1 (8 oz.) pkg. cream cheese, softened
1 tsp. vanilla
1 loaf white bread
4 eggs
1/2 c. whipping cream
1/2 tsp. vanilla
1/2 tsp. nutmeg
1 (12 oz.) jar apricot preserves or seedless raspberry jam
1/2 c. orange juice
Beat the cream cheese and vanilla together until fluffy. Spread about 1 1/2 tablespoon of the mixture on a slice of bread. Top with a second piece of bread (like a sandwich). Repeat this process 10-12 times until the mixture is all used.
Beat together the eggs, whipping cream, vanilla and nutmeg. Dip the "sandwiches" into the egg mixture. Cook on a lightly greased griddle until golden brown, turn to cook the other side. Keep the cooked "sandwiches" warm by placing them on a baking sheet in a warm oven.
Meanwhile, heat together the preserves and orange juice. To serve, dust the Stuffed French Toast with powdered sugar and drizzle the warm sauce over the top. Makes 10-12 pieces.
~We only made this one time, (and we just used regular old jam- no orange juice) but it was DELICIOUS- very full of calories and fat :)- obviously why Iliked it so much:)

STICKY POPCORN
3/4 cup unpopped popcorn
1 cup brown sugar
1 stick of butter
1/2 bag miniature marshmellows
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 teaspoon baking soda
Pop popcorn, set aside. Melt brown sugar, butter and marshmellows on low heat just until marshmellows are completely melted. Remove from heat, stir in vanilla and baking soda. Pour over popcorn and stir in until completely covered.
~This is kind of like gooey caramel popcorn- I was totally addicted to this stuff when I was pregnant with Bradley- so Sarah, Julie and Debe- watch out! I don't know if I would recommend trying it when you're pregnant. My kids love it though!

CHOCOLATE BALLS (I got this one from Meg, it's SO GOOD and SO EASY!)
1 giant chocolate bar
1 tub of cool whip (softened)
1 cup of crushed Nilla wafers
Melt the chocolate in the microwave. Stir in cool whip. Form into balls and roll in crushed wafers. Refrigerate. SO YUMMY!


HOT FUDGE SUNDAE CAKE
1 cup Gold Medal® all-purpose flour
3/4 cup granulated sugar
2 tablespoons baking cocoa
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup milk
2 tablespoons vegetable oil
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 cup chopped nuts, if desired
1 cup packed brown sugar
1/4 cup baking cocoa
1 3/4 cups very hot water
Ice cream, if desired
1. Heat oven to 350ºF.
2. Mix flour, granulated sugar, 2 tablespoons cocoa, the baking powder and salt in ungreased square pan, 9x9x2 inches. Mix in milk, oil and vanilla with fork until smooth. Stir in nuts. Spread in pan.
3. Sprinkle brown sugar and 1/4 cup cocoa over batter. Pour water over batter.
4. Bake about 40 minutes or until top is dry.
5. Spoon warm cake into dessert dishes. Top with ice cream. Spoon sauce from pan onto each serving.
~ this was the EASIEST thing EVER!! But it totally looks like something that took a lot of skill (something I have little of when it comes to cooking :)) You don't even dirty a bowl! Really yummy too.

CREAMY ITALIAN CHICKEN IN THE CROCK POT
3 Chicken breast halves
1 can cream of chicken soup
1 pkg dry Italian Dressing mix (I've used the liquid dressing before too though)
1 pkg cream cheese
Spray crock pot with non-stick cooking spray. Place chicken, soup and dressing in crock pot. Cook on high for 4-6 hours, until chicken is easy to shread. Cut the cream cheese into cubes and add during last half hour of cook time. Serve over noodles or rice.
~I've made this just in a frying pan as well- works good to just cube the chicken, then mix in the other ingredients- in fact I almost like that more. It's yummy though!!

Saturdays are the BEST!

We had a really great day yesterday!! Nate started the day out with smoking some salmon. I woke up to the sound of the boys getting the smoker all set up outside- I just love these moments, have to capture them! And it was REALLY yummy salmon! If you haven't tried Nate's famous Smoked Salmon recipe- you need too- it's mooms filly babba (I really have no idea how to spell that- it means yummy in Swedish- Brent taught that to my kids and now we all just say it :))
So after the salmon was smoked we took Charity, Kelly and Bradley to the Primary Activity. They did such a great job on this activity- they were teaching the kids about flags, patriotism, etc. I was there for a few minutes to do a flag ceremony with the scouts, and got to hear a nice talk from one of the guys in our ward who is in the National Guard. He was teaching the kids about the army and he told us why the flag on their uniforms goes the opposite way from the flags on the cubscouts uniforms. It's kind of neat- he said it's because back in the old days when they would march onto the battle field they would carry a flag. So if you were looking at this scene from the right side of the soldier (that's the arm the flag patch is on) it would look backwards. So they put their patch on that way to symbolize them carrying the flag out to battle (since they don't do that anymore). I thought it was kind of cool :) ya learn something new everyday :) But anyway- it was a neat program. The kids all got flags, and had their picture taken at the end- really fun!
Then after the activity we drove up to Sandy for my good old friend Wendy's baby shower! It was really exciting for me! I was just so excited that she was able to get pregnant and finally start her family. I've known Wendy since I was in Second Grade. We got baptized on the same day, got our Gospel in Action Awards the same day, we did pretty much everything together (we were actually stuck to each other :)) for all of Elementary School and most of Middle School too. We did lots of things in Choir together- such memories. We had different groups of friends in Middle School so we did less together, but we were always good friends at church. Then I moved to Bountiful and we didn't really get to hang out all that much. But she was still one of my Bridesmaids (she went all out for me the day of our wedding picking up some things that I had forgotten) just as we had planned, and had our last sleepover the night before I got married :) So anyway- we did lots of things together and were really close, but somehow I passed Wendy up and got married and had 5 kids before she was able to have her first baby! So anyway- I got to go to her shower and see her all cute and pregnant- no picture :( but it was really fun. I can't wait till she has her baby girl. During the shower Nate took the kids to my old park that I used to play at in Draper, and pushed them on the swings for an hour :) After the shower we went to the store, and on the way home we let the kids eat the treat they had picked out and this picture is to show what happened with Lukey's treat :) He's SUCH a messy eater!! It cracks me up though- I couldn't help but laugh and take a picture- he kept saying, "Mommy, twocket o my hinds! twocket on my hinds!" (chocolate on my hands) What a chocolate covered nut!

Then that night we had Jared and Paulette's kids with us and we went to the Ward Olympics Activity here at our park and had a lot of fun with the ward. I am really starting to feel comfortable in our ward. It's nice to actually know a few people and be able to talk and have fun at these things. What a great day it was!! I just love my Saturdays!

Andrea's house!!!

So we finally made our way down to Spanish Fork to Andrea's house! Andrea was one of my best friends in High School. She was in my ward and was the first friend I had when we moved to Bountiful. We were also roommates in college (not our most shining moments :) but we have stayed pretty close over the years). But it was such a fun day! As always I sat and talked with Andrea while my kids destroyed her house :) hopefully we haven't been banned from her house yet :) The kids had a lot of fun with Charley and Ean though. What good times.


What an awesome picture


I just love this picture because you can see how Ean was eating his ice cream cone :) Who needs icecream :) Well, and everyone else looks cute too- but that was just funny!

And just as a little side note- we have our whole days open now to just go hang out with friends and play!! So if anyone's up for a visit....let's plan something!!

Our latest pet

I know I mentioned the frog that Nate caught on Sunday- we still have him, his name is Groda (Swedish for frog), and he is doing great. He's got Nate working for him when he gets home to catch him the next day's worth of flies to munch on. And I'm starting to think that Nate would do better as a Zoo Habitat engineer- you should see this box he's decked out for the frog- it's incredible :) I would get a picture but the flash is just going to reflect off the plastic. Someday I'll make Nate hold Mr. Groda for a picture. It's kind of fun though actually (I have to admit) watching him catch the flies and moths in his cage and eating them. I do like frogs. I don't know how long he will last though, so I'm trying not to get too attached!

So anyway- I don't think I've mentioned our latest pet- Lizzie. Lizzie is a lizard that Charity caught hanging around our air conditioner. She's getting really good at catching things- it's kind of fun. But she caught Lizzie on Thursday and she is still alive as well. The kids are really busy all the time finding bugs and such for the lizard and frog. It's been quite the job for everyone and it's been really fun for us to have a couple of pets around. Like I said though- I'm trying not to get too attached- hopefully they will be okay for a while, and stick around at least until the kids lose interest:)

(so in case this isn't enough wild life info for ya- we also had a snake on one of our window well covers the other day as well!! I opted not to pick him up. I'm not real sure what kind of snake it was. With all the talk of Rattlers in the area- I think it's best not to teach the kids to just pick up any old snake they see lying around. Frogs and lizards are okay, but the snakes.....that's a different story ;) But I did get a picture of the snake. If anyone knows what kind it is- feel free to fill me in!)

So apparently this is quite the location for wild life :) who knew!

Sherry's visit from Kelly's point of view

So Kelly got a turn with the camera. It really cracks me up what she takes pictures of, but here were a few that turned out pretty good in my opinion. This is what goes on when Mommy and Sherry are talking on the porch :)



Charity rollerblading and Hank pushing the scooter backwards


millions of potato bugs- have I mentioned their obsession with bugs lately?! When will it end?


playing as close to the road as possible without getting in trouble....boys

a nice close up of Kelly's cute face


My cute little bradley

Sherry came!!!!!

We were so excited to have Sherry and her cute kids come to visit on Thursday. Sherry is one of my good friends from the old T-ville ward. We got to have some much-needed adult conversation, and our kids got to run around like crazy kids doing pretty much anything they wanted :) Great fun for all :) Here's a shot of Noah and Hank :) (and Sherry :) ) So cute!


I think Noah was totally into Sherry- well until he soiled himself all over her leg.


AWWW!!! Neva loved Noah.


Love it!

Just so sweet!

I just had to put this on here because I want to make sure I journal it. The kids were all outside looking for bugs (they're latest form of entertainment) and I was inside doing the dishes when Charity came running in with the happiest look on her face. I asked her what she was doing and she said, "Luke is just SO SWEET! He just gave me a flower! Isn't that the cutest thing ever!" Then she proceeded to fill up this little cup with water to put the "flower" in so that it "could stay alive because it was so special to her"! I just about cried! She was so thrilled with it and felt so much love from Luke. And the cutest thing about it (I think) is that Luke learned how to pick "flowers" and give them to people from his big sisters :) It's just SO SWEET!! Another one of those I-love-being-a-mom moments.

Kelly's new thing

Ever since Charity was able to cross the monkey bars Kelly has been trying, so this was quite the momentous occasion when she finally mastered it! She did it on Friday I think, for the first official time, but Monday was the soonest we were able to take Daddy down there to see it and get pictures. It was pretty neat for Kelly- she feels really special and proud of herself. I love that she gets so excited about her accomplishments. Anyway- here's the video of it and some pictures in case the video isn't enough for you :) Way to go Kelly!








patiently waiting her turn :)


and there's Charity- the old-timer

I forgot I threw these on here too :) There's lukey going down the slide :)


And Brad :) we love the park

Luke is so nutty :)

Luke kept putting this net on his head- I thought it was funny :)