Mama's Helping Hands!

David loves to help mama in the kitchen. I have a step stool that he gets up on to reach everything. Yesterday we were making French Toast for the first time with David. He insisted that he help stir. He did pretty well. No big spills this time.

"I helpin!"
"Mom, open it!" David said as he tries to open the cinnamon! We put cinnamon and sugar in our French Toast! It's yummy! We may have added a bit too much sugar this time because David got a little sugar happy with the tablespoon!

We have been trying to teach David that we only drum (or bang) on the drum! He has been a little confused ever since he saw daddy "hammernin" at work. As he beats on the walls, cupboards, and tables he says " I drumin!" He is doing much better these days! David is our little drummer boy!

Thanks Aunt Deanna for the drum! It's a lifesaver for our poor walls, tables, and cupboards that take a good beating sometimes.

Happy 4th of July 2009!

Happy Fourth of July from Southern Idaho! This year we spent the holiday in Blackfoot, Idaho with Andrew's family. Andrew worked most of the day, but took time off in the evening to enjoy the holiday with us.

Every year we get matching shirts. Last year we were in red...this year...white!

Grandpa Hansen dug out their swimming pool so David could swim while everyone worked! HE LOVED IT! David goes "unner" the water without fear! Daddy filled it with HOT water...then a little cold. It was JUST like bath water. David was in Heaven! Everyone else on the other hand, had to take cold showers even at the end of the day because daddy used up all the hot water!

David does real well at kicking and swimming in the water. He has NO FEAR of the water.

Then the storms moved in: a little bit of wind, rain, thunder, lightning, a couple beautiful rainbows, and some DARK clouds.

When it all cleared up, Grandma Lela and Aunt Sheryl brought out the "bikes" for David and cousin Melody. They had so much fun riding down the hill at Grandma Lela's.

When David got to the bottom of the hill, he would holler for someone to come get him and carry him ON his bike back up the hill. Specifically, Denim and Daddy!

David would lift his legs off the ground and off the pedals to go faster!
Often times going too fast!!!! (sorry it's blurry.)

Thanks Grandma Lela and Grandpa Ben for a fun evening, good meal, awesome fireworks, and most of all...the memories we made this Fourth of July! We love you!

Up on the roof top...

Whew! Andrew just about has the roof completed. There are a few things left to hand frame, a few areas still needing to be sheeted, and then they call in a crew to shingle the roof!

David hangs from the rafters doing pull ups just like all the boys were doing! He has to be ONE of the GUYS!
A look down the new addition on the inside...a view of the trusses!

After a short swim, David gets RIGHT back to work!

Andrew, Ty, Todd, and Denim all work quick to cover the unfinished area before the storm rolls in. The plastic does a fine job keeping the water OUT!

This is my favorite view...you can see just how much they are adding on to the house. It will just about double in size when they are all finished! The project is sure coming along. Everyone will be so happy when it's completed!

Count them one by one!

We were just about finished with lunch when I noticed David was playing with his food. The funny thing is...he was counting his tomatoes!

He took each cherry tomato off of his plate, turned it upside down, and lined them up in three rows - side by side almost!

"David say cheese!"

David wanted to help mommy make rice krispy treats for dessert tonight, or so he thought. He has his own little stool so he thinks he always need to be "taller". Except, he didn't know what to do once his hands were sticky. Then he didn't want to help anymore...he just wanted to "was a hans" (wash hands). He wouldn't even try them. haha! It is so funny how TEXTURE just turns a toddler OFF!

Happy Birthday "An-dan-a" !!!

Today was my little sister's birthday. She turned the BIG 20 today. "An-dan-a" (as David calls her) let us through her a birthday party. Growing up, my parents always let us choose what we wanted for our birthday dinner. I figured, in the absence of my parents, I'd still carry on tradition and let her choose what was for dinner. Of all the things to pick, she picked "MOM'S ENCHILADAS!" I hadn't made those alone and I hadn't made them since I got married nearly 4 years ago. The idea of making "something new" for a group of "ridge kids" didn't sound appealing. However, I will DO anything for my baby sister! hahahah! I just needed to make a phone call to mom for the recipe and a little motivation! My parents always make me feel like I can conquer the world. Before I dished up the enchiladas for everyone, I warned them NOT to compare them to anyone else's, because this was the FIRST time I had ever made them. I guess they were ok, because everyone ate them and there's only 4 left over for Deanna to take home.

On the menu: Mom's Chicken Enchiladas, Green Salad and all the works, Grape Salad, Strawberries, Veggie Tray, and French Bread. They all washed it down with either milk or ice cold water! The basket full of candy was suppose to have a balloon bouquet tied to it, but...I forgot to get the balloons yesterday at the store!

I must have been craving cake, ice cream, and Dairy Queen all at the same time...because I decided a DQ ice cream cake was going to be Deanna's birthday cake!

Make a wish Deanna: "I wish...I had more time to babysit my nephew for my sister!"

Of course, David had to be the center of attention. He ran around the entire night playing with all of Deanna's friends. I didn't even try to get him to sit down and eat. I figured it'd be just the same and easier to do after the party was over and he could sit in his own booster seat and at his own dinner table.

Layered: Chocolate ice-cream, cake/cookie crumbs, fudge, and Vanilla ice-cream. IT WAS YUMMY!

These are Deanna's friends that all came to the party. It was so nice of them to come. I guess this is her family home evening group too.

To say the least: SUCCESS! We had a great time. The food was ready when everyone arrived, they didn't leave us with a TON of leftovers, and the clean-up wasn't bad at all. We were just so happy to be able to spend "An-dan-a's" birthday with her this year!

Ward Campout

Friday night our ward had their annual camp out. We don't camp out - we just go out for the evening activities and then come home. Andrew had to be in Blackfoot early Saturday morning to begin setting trusses on the new addition to his parents house. We had lots of fun out at the camp out. We roasted yummy sausages and filled up with lots of salads and desserts. Some even made delicious cakes! David enjoyed running around...as usual. I can hardly keep up anymore. Andrew and I took turns chasing David!!! We were only a bit nervous because we were right on the river. The snake river is really dangerous these days. A BYU-Idaho student drowned while trying to play in the river on Tuesday this last week. Everyone is on high alert when it comes to the river around here. Even ME!

Andrew follows David out to a rock he wanted to play on.
You can't see the stick in his hand because it is moving a million miles per hour!

"Say cheese David!" ....and this is what we get every time!

Daddy had to carry his stick for him. He couldn't run and carry such a large stick at the same time I guess! It began getting chilly as the sun set. David didn't mind wearing his hood either.


And he had to touch every tree, grass, and plant. I hope they were all ok for him to touch! No rashes today...so I guess it was fine!

This was the best photo I could get of the 3 of them. hahah! Not a very good one. David wanted down...saying "My done....My done..."! That means he wanted down because he was DONE on dad's lap! Emma is Jason and Erin's little girl. She is a funny little girl. David loves emma. He took real good care of her too...feeding her LOTS of salt and vinegar chips and chocolate chip cookies. I am sure her parents REALLY appreciated it. Hopefully she slept ok last night!

Then just for the fun of it - have you seen any other two year old put pencils behind their ears. David sees Andrew do this often with his construction pencils so he thinks all pencils need to go behind his ears too. Except, he doesn't just put one pencil, he has to have two pencils behind his ears.

David is so entertaining these days. He has learned to say " I no like it", "ewww", and "is gross."

Just for the record, David was running around in his swim suit the other day after Aunt Deanna brought him home from the spray park. Andrew picked him up to give him a "zerbert" on his tummy. David said " No Dad! No Dad." Andrew asked him "Why David?" and David said, "is gross!" We both laughed so hard. He is beginning to surprise us with his little sentences! He is sure growing awfully fast!

And it's a GIRL!

For those of you who haven't heard, Andrew and I found out yesterday (June 24th) that we'll be having a GIRL! We were completely shocked because we BOTH figured our chances of having a girl were slim to none since we both come from families of all boys. OH HOW LITTLE DO WE KNOW!!!! We are really excited to welcome a little girl into the family around November 7th!