Hangin' with our Homies

The Compton's rolled into town for the weekend and it was awesome!

Lots of swinging

We had awesome plans to go have a campfire in the mountians and then it rained. But we still did it with style on the BBQ and the kids loved it!

So did we...

Watched shows and played with puppies and toys...

Went out to eat and played games

Dan rocked the Mrs. Pacman

Had a street ice cream party with the coolest entertainment around

Took a dip in the pool

Had a cousin bath time

Dressed up like princesses

and things that aren't pictured include: GAMES for the parents every night and splash park fun. It was wonderful to have them here with us. The kids did so well together until the very last day. The first few days they were so excited to see each other and then I think they just got sick of each other :) But we were very impressed with how well everyone did! We are grateful they made the long trip to hang out with us and for the fun times we had. 

(I have gotten really bad at taking pictures and so I will try to step it up)

Preschool Graduation

Last Day of School

She came out with a pet rock. She's pretty proud of it.

Graduation Luau

The kids sang 5 songs and "The Little Red Hen." She had been talking about it for weeks and was so excited. She got into it and danced and sang her heart out! She was a narrator in the choral reading.

The 4 girls in class who became best of friends. There were 10 boys in class!

Mrs. Heather and Allie

Allie's friend Lincoln

Mom and Dad who are so proud of their little lady. Mrs. Heather did awards for all the kids. Allie received the "Little Teacher Award." She was always helping the other kids learn and sometimes even doing it for them! Haha. Proud momma moment! :)

I can't believe we face Kindergarten next year! 

The Weekend

My friend Val has an amazing blog. She is an everyday mom, takes fabulous pictures and is so creative. I love her posts and I typically copy most of her traditions in some way or another. Today, I copy her way of blogging :)

THE JIST

The Good:
Friday night we had a family date that consisted of walking/biking around our neighborhood and watching Ice Age from the library.
I went out on a girl date with my friend Krista to "The Great Gatsby" and still have mixed feelings about it.
Saturday morning we got ready nice and slow and then mosied our way over to the park for hiking and playing together. It was a perfect day for a hike.
I took a 2 hour nap.
Doug and I had a date to the Cheesecake Factory and tried something new (which I don't do very often). We shared the lettuce wraps and they were divine...best thing I have had there. :) Now I know I won't try anything else!
Then we had our Fuhriman friends over for games.
Enjoyed our Sunday morning being lazy since we don't start church until 1:30.
We ALL went to church together...first time in 3 weeks. That was nice.
Had Mattie's family over for dinner and games.
I caught up with some of my dearest friends on the phone.

The Bad:
It's been super windy around here lately...to which I feel like I'm back in Wyoming. That's the one thing I don't miss and now it has come to haunt me!!

The Ugly:
I lost track how many out of this world tantrums were thrown by the littlest green bean. They were earth shaking and my ear drums may still be recovering. Most of them were about turning a show off. Oh brother!

Chickpea Tacos

These are the best ever tacos...ever! I promise. Everytime I make them for people they think it looks weird and then they ALWAYS ask for the recipe. We never have beef tacos anymore. These are the bomb and they are SO healthy...BONUS! So, lucky you, I'm sharing them with you on Taco Tuesday.
Enjoy!

Chickpea Tacos

4 tsp. chili powder (I use 3 1/2 tsp. so it's not as spicy for my kids)

1/2 tsp. garlic powder

1/2 tsp. onion powder

1/2 tsp. oregano

3 tsp. cumin

2 tsp. salt

2 Tbsp. fresh lime juice

4 Tbsp. water

One 14 oz. can chickpeas (garbonzo beans), drained and rinsed

1/2 can of black beans, drained and rinsed

1 small zucchini, diced

Combine spices, lime juice and water. Add beans and zucchini. Marinate in the fridge for at least 30 minutes. 

Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Place bean mixture on a tin-foil lined (greased) cookie sheet. Bake for 20-30 minutes. Stir once after 10 minutes.

Sometimes we serve this with a cabbage slaw:

Cut up purple cabbage, red pepper, onion, and add some jarred salsa.

Always serve with:

Avocado

Red pepper

Cheese

Lettuce

Salsa

{this moment}

Raining blossoms!

This week panned out to be a VERY hard week. My patience was tested to the limit. I'm grateful for second chances and forgiveness. I hope I can be better next week!

{this moment}

Hiking

We took advantage of the perfect spring day last Friday and hiked Camel's Back hill with some friends: Serena and her kids Lincoln, Devry, and Brenna and my friend from GR who moved here Kerri and her kids Treyson, Porter, and Kreed.

We played at the park and had a picnic too. It was such a great morning!

{this moment}

Spring at the Temple

Spring is my favorite season and the temple always is beautiful with all the spring blossoms and flowers. It's my favorite. Sunday was a perfect day. We had stake conference so we had time to go and stroll around and enjoy it. Grateful we have the temple just 5 minutes from our house!

You'd think flowers would get old but these girls ran to every patch of flowers in utter delight!

Allie loves taking picutres of us, even if they are crooked!

{this moment}

It's been far too long since my Friday {this moment}. I miss looking back through our week and finding that one photo that stands out in some way. So welcome back!!

(Allie leading our own personal storytime)

Obedience FHE

After General Conference Doug had a great idea for a lesson.
President Thomas S. Monson's talk on Obedience was the focus.

We had the girls watch as he told the story about the fire. And then we discussed it and asked them questions about it. Then we thought about what would have happened if he had been obedient and asked his parents to help him.

Then Doug had prepared chocolate covered marshmallows and chocolate covered onions. He gave them each 3 marshmallows and 1 onion and told them, "If you eat these (mallows) you will really like them, but if you eat this one (onion) it will not be good."

We left them to make their choices. Allie ate the mallows and then sat and stared at the onion (not knowing what it was). She was so obedient but wanted to eat it really bad! Here she is in serious thought about to eat or not to eat.

Katelyn just went for it and ate it right away. Allie's face is so funny. She couldn't believe Katelyn was not following the rules!

She was not too happy about it. We asked her if it was good and she just shook her head and said, "This is really tasty" (which means it's really bad).

 We told Allie she could try it if she wanted to and after seeing what happened to Katelyn she was like, Heck no!