Happy Birthday Linus!

It's been a while since we have blogged. I've been out of commission with a case of Mono so we haven't been doing much of anything. We ventured out last night to celebrate the birthday of one of our favorite little guys, Linus! He turned 3 last night and we had a great time celebrating with him and his family. Linus got A LOT of cool trucks and cars that kept him AND the big boys (Aaron and Matt) busy during the party.



Aaron and I had fun playing with little Hazel...

...and she had a good time snatching up Linus's gifts and playing with them before they got snatched back ;-)

Carrie always amazes me with the yummy things she bakes up. Linus had such a yummy chocolate birthday cake that was completely dairy free!




It was nice to get out and have some fun. Hopefully I will be able to get over this Mono sooner than later. It is probably the most frustrating illness I've ever had.

I can't wait for Halloween and all the fun that goes along with it!

Birthday Party at the Van G's

We had such a good time at little Miss Hazels 1st birthday party that I thought we should post some pics of the festivities:-)

Hazel had a great time opening presents with a little help from mom, dad, and big brother.


Lots of cupcake fun...


What is a birthday party without rides? This was the favorite:-)

Once the kids went to bed we brought out the Woof 'ems. Now, I know a lot of you are probably asking "Woof 'em? What's that?" The are the alternative to Smores and I have to admitt that they are now my FAVORITE campfire treat. Aaron and I are making some Woof 'em sticks of our own and I will post about them with more details once they are done.

For all of you that have requested this.

I don't think anything needs to be said:-)




Sorry Darrel:-)

What have we been up to?

Had a fun double date at Downtown Disney...

...with this great couple.

Went to the annual John Williams concert...


(So funny when every one pulls out their light saber when they play the Star Wars music.)


...with these great people.

(Big group this year thanks to Aaron's brother Darrel:-)

Made a quick date to Downtown Disney to pick up some of their kettle corn

and took some silly pictures while we were there.

I swear we have so much fun together it doesn't seem fair:-)

My first batch of cookies ever.

Recently I baked my first batch of chocolate chip cookies ever. I know it sounds strange that this is the first time I have baked cookies. I love to cook but I just didn't grow up eating baked goods or seeing them baked in my home. For a primary activity I decided to volunteer to bake some cookies. They went over really well so I thought I would share the recipe.



Ingredients

• 1 cup (2 sticks) butter, softened
• 1/2 cup vegetable shortening
• 3/4 cup sugar
• 1 3/4 cups firmly packed brown sugar
• 3 large eggs
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 3 3/4 cups all-purpose flour
• 2 teaspoons baking soda
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1 (12-ounce) package semisweet chocolate morsels
• 1 cup milk chocolate morsels
• 3 (1-ounce) squares bittersweet chocolate, chopped
• 1 cup toffee crumbles

Directions

Preheat oven to 375 degrees F. Lightly grease baking sheets.

With an electric mixer, beat butter and shortening at medium speed until creamy; gradually add sugars, beating until fluffy. Add eggs and vanilla, beating well.

In a small bowl, combine flour, baking soda and salt; gradually add to butter mixture, beating until blended. Stir in chocolate morsels and toffee crumbles. Drop cookies by 1/4 cupfuls about 3-inches apart onto prepared baking sheets. Bake for 11 to 12 minutes, or until lightly browned. Let cool for 2 minutes on baking sheets. Remove to wire racks to cool.

Enjoy!

Busy weekend!

Aaron and I had a busy but fun weekend. Actually it started on Thursday when I got a long needed hair cut. I went to see my friend Layla who does a great job cutting, coloring, and styling hair. This is the before picture....

This is after. I guess it is hard to see a big difference because she curled it after the cut but she took about 3-4 inches off and added layers and side sweeping bangs.

Friday Aaron had his last regular season game as a Won Hit Oneder. They Won 25-10! They made it into the finals and we are looking forward to seeing some great post season games.

They have already put together the team for next season and it is looking very promising! They will have a new team name.

Next season they will be the Bunt Pirates. Tee shirts are designed and ready to be ordered!

Saturday we were really lucky to be able to head down to Seal Beach and do the set up work for our good friend's proposal.

Keith proposed to Jodie and she said Yes! We are so excited for them to be joining the married club. They make an adorable couple.

We didn't get to get a picture while the sun was up :-(

So, I decided to take a ballet class this summer and had a great time! There was a little end of summer performance at the studio. Aaron and I went and got to see the little girls do their ballet dance and they were so cute.
My class actually did a short dance as well. It has been so long since I have performed! This was Aaron's first time seeing a dance show like this (and seeing me dance) and he had a good time.
Well, that's it for now!

Happy 1st Birthday to our Niece Brighton!

Happy Birthday to you,

Happy Birthday to you,

Happy Birthday dear Brighton, Happy Birthday to you!

On Saturday the whole fam. got together (except for Aaron because he had to work) to celebrate Braden and Brighton's birthdays. It was a nice party in the park and everyone had a great time!