Our 4th of July Weekend: Part 2

On Saturday morning we slept in a little bit then headed up to PC to spend the day with Jaden's side of the fam. It was only about 68 degrees when we got there, which was a nice change. We met at Uncle Kevin and Aunt Cheryl's condo and walked over to the parade, making it to see about half of the parade.

Haylie had a great time, clapping and dancing whenever she heard music. Annie and Grandpa Judd snuggled on the curb watching the little "floats" drive on by. It was a pretty small parade and we were disappointed that no candy was thrown at us. :) But I did like how nearly every float had something to do with winter and skiing/snowboarding, even in the heat of summer!! It was pretty funny to me.

This snowflake dude was funny slash creepy-ish. And patriotic, I guess. He said, "I'll be seeing you soon." Kind of creepy, even though he meant the winter was coming in a few months.... which I don't even want to begin to think about.

Here's one of Annie and her mommy. We love each other. :)

After the parade was over, we headed to the park where there were booths and games and music and bouncy houses and all sorts of shenanigans. It was PACKED and starting to get hot with the sun coming out from behind the clouds. Makes for harsh lit photos, that's for sure. Oh well! Aunt Cheryl spoiled the kids and bought them tickets for treats and games. The kids devoured their snow cones (and also ended up wearing them after a few minutes!) and had fun playing some of the games to earn tiny plastic toys that I love to fill my home with.

Meanwhile Jordan, Amy and The Big X (aka Hendrix) were relaxing under a shady tree somewhere. Why did I not get any pictures of those cute people??? Why???

Haylie decided she'd had enough of being pushed around in her shaded stroller and wanted to snuggle with her daddy. So I got into the stroller and Jaden pushed ME around. Oh, I wish. :)

Here's Haylie prancing around in all her cute patrioticness.

Here's one of our little family, melting in the bright summer sun.

And I had to take a snap of this blinged-out leopard print "DIVA" plated motorcycle. Sweet!

It was really pretty up in the mountains with all the rain we've had all of June. It was fun to show the kids what the ski trails look like without all the snow covering them. This was really interesting to Brandon because this past winter he learned how to ski! I need to post the video of that--it's on my list of things to do. :)

After the parade came a delicious BBQ lunch at the condo, and then swimming at the pool. Haylie and I stayed back to catch a little nap.

Thanks, Kevin and Cheryl! You are so generous and amazing! We had a blast!

We made it home just in time to hit our neighborhood BBQ that night, which was also a lot of fun--good food, friends, kids running around everywhere, another bouncy house. The kids were in heaven once again. It was great to relax and visit and hang out with our neighbors and friends.

Lots of fun friends to play with!

Then came the fireworks! People brought out some good ones. I'm only posting one firework photo though. That's all I'm in the mood to do. :)

Brandon did a bunch of sparklers again and after watching some of the big fireworks, he and Joshua went inside and played a little bit of Lego Star Wars. :)

Annie and Sam watching the big show, mouths stained with watermelon and Cheetos. :)

It was a fabulous weekend!! Happy Birthday, America!!!

Our 4th of July Weekend: Part 1

I always love the 4th of July weekend. Dressing all in red, white and blue, talking with the kids about why we celebrate Independence Day and our freedoms, parades, family, fireworks, and of course, good food. We had a great time this year, starting off with a BBQ at my parents' place on Friday night.

Grandpa Russ is the grillmaster. His marinated flank steak=crazy delicious.

Annie was a big helper getting the table all ready.

A few little details here and there...

Annie was actually giving me some good smiles that night! I love this picture of her!

We all loved dinner. Ty and Lisa fresh from their Maui honeymoon. Awwww, how cute!

My mom (aka Grandma Wendy) and my grandma (aka Grandma Yoo-Hoo) being super cute:

And my dad (aka "Crampa" Russ) and his crazy face. :)

After dinner came the swimming! It was a toasty day. A nice change from all the rainy days of June.

Haylie got too cold so she decided she'd rather snuggle with Daddy and observe the craziness.

Even Uncle Ty got on in the fun and they all had a blast! What an awesome uncle. :)

Haylie warmed up a little bit in her own little pool, still watching the craziness of her big brother and sister, and Uncle Ty too!

After drying off, out came dessert....remember this beaut?? We wanted to make an exciting presentation, so we decided to add sparklers to the cake!

Woo hoo! Still dreaming of how yummy that cake was.....

Of course, Annie thought the cake was scrumptious too.

Haylie was being patient, waiting for her first taste...

and Brandon was entertained by the bubble machine! :) Many times he'd rather play than eat.

Once it got darker, we played with sparklers and sidewalk chalk. The pics might be blurry but I like them anyway! :)

I finally whipped out my external flash once it got way too dark....and I LOVE this pic of Brandon! He was the master sparkler man.

Our grand finale!!

Whew! Such a fun night. And a late night, as you can probably tell by the glazed look in Annie and Haylie's eyes. :) Time for bed! Happy 4th of July!!!!

4th of July Weekend Part 2 coming soon: Park City and neighborhood BBQ/fireworks!

My Patriotic Flag Cake :)

Just looking at this picture makes my mouth begin to water!

I'm prepping my patriotic pics to share soon (we had a great 4th of July weekend!) but thought I'd give you a little taste (hee hee ha ha) to tide you over. :)

I decided that I really wanted to make one of those 4th of July cakes that I've seen various places online. But I wanted it to be pretty easy and not too time consuming. So I just kind of mixed and matched a little something together. Here's how I made this gloriously delicious cake.

1 box cake mix (I used Betty Crocker's French Vanilla)

I made the 9x13 inch version according to Ms. Betty's directions. Annie helped me with the cake baking. She's my little kitchen helper. :) You could make your own homemade cake but like I said, I wanted fast and easy. Thank you, Betty C.

I let it cool completely.

In the meantime, I was on the search for the creamy frosting-like part of the cake. The white colony stripes, if you will. I knew I wanted to make homemade whipped cream but also wanted cream cheese with it. HEALTHY, I know. :) So after extensive Googling and a little bit of frustration I finally found this recipe and trust me, IT DID NOT DISAPPOINT. It was like we were meant to be together.

Cream Cheese Whipped Frosting

1 8oz. package cream cheese, softened
1 cup white sugar
1 tsp. vanilla
1 1/2 cups heavy cream

Beat the cream cheese, sugar and vanilla together until smooth.

In another bowl, whip the heavy cream until stiff peaks form.

Fold the whipped cream into the cream cheese mixture.

Ummmmm.

If I didn't just happily celebrate my 9th wedding anniversary, I would consider marrying this frosting. It's SO good.

So I took some of the whipped cream and covered the top of the cooled cake with it. Then I added a whole bunch of blueberries in the shape of a square. Then I had sliced strawberries which I lined up in rows with a space in between the rows. Beginning to resemble a flag that we all know and love.

Finally I took the rest of the delectable cream cheese whipping cream frosting and put it into a big ziplock bag and snipped a hole in the corner (because I'm fancy like that) and basically piped the frosting in between the rows of strawberries. And the big sloppy blobby "star" wanna-be thingies (or "feenies" as Annie would say) on top of the blueberries. Ta da!

Oh my. It was really good. So go right now and try it! It was a big hit with the fam. I think they'll keep me now. :)

Oh and yes, I realize that this edible flag conconction is not anatomically correct. The strawberries were too chubby to allow room for all 13 stripes. All the colonies weren't THAT important, were they? I kid, I kid!! Oh, and the stars were too blobby and I was w-whhh--aaa--yyyyy too lazy to do 50 of them. All 50 states aren't really that important. Joking, once again. I like the 50 states as well as the 13 original colonies. They are ALL special.

But seriously, make this cake. Or at least make that frosting and eat it all by itself. And then go jogging for probably 5 days straight.

I'll post about our festivities shortly!

PS: THANKS for all the sweet anniversary comments and loveliness as well as the niceness about the engagement pictures of my brother!! I just love you all. :)

Brooke+Jaden = 9 Years of Wedded Bliss

Today is a special day. Nine years ago on the 30th day of June, in the year 2000, I married my love and my best friend, Jaden! Best decision we ever made. :)

Who knew that a mere 12 or so years after these photos were taken of little Jaden and little Brooke, that we would meet each other in junior high and the rest is history!! Our family history, hee hee!! :)

We met in junior high at the ripe old age of about 14 years old. We dated in high school, went to a bunch of dances together (we laugh at how young we look!) and were the best of friends too. Pardon the shabby scanning job on these photos. :) These were the pre-digital days!!!

After gradation from high school, Jaden went on a mission and I headed down to "The BYU." :)

Parting is such sweet sorrow......

After Jaden returned from his mission to Chile, we resumed our datinghood and had a blast being cute as well as totally nerdy together!

One weekend in February Jaden flew me up to Seattle (I had always wanted to go there) and proposed!! We were thrilled and excited about our big day.


Here's the front of our invitation. I loved it.

And the photo inside. It's funny because my brother Tyler took this photo and then 9 years later I took HIS engagement photos!

On the day of June 30, 2000, it was rainy. Our family definitely has a history with it raining whenever we make outdoor plans!! But we truly lucked out and as we came out of the temple the sun came out and it was a beautifully sunny afternoon.

It was the happiest day of our lives up to that point! Honestly, a dream come true.

Sigh. It really was a perfect day. And luckily we had our reception INSIDE--because that night the rain definitely came down!! But we didn't mind. :)

I was the only girl on both sides....

We had a delightful reception, it was such a great party. People stayed for a long time, even after we left (which was like 11:30 pm!!). We loved being with our families and friends.

It was the best day. Such lovely memories.

We spent our honeymoon in Kauai, and almost felt like we were little kids who had run away from their parents--we could barely rent a car ourselves. :) So young and innocent!!!

Newlywed life was grand!

Our family, 2000.

It's hard to imagine that 9 years has gone by in a such a flash. I can hardly imagine what life was like before we got married, it's crazy!! So much has happened since our beautiful wedding day, our favorite moments being the births of our 3 children. :) We've been through thick and thin together, we have so much fun together, and I'm so grateful to have our forever family. We know each other's strengths and weaknesses (and still love each other in spite of them!), sometimes we can communicate just with a look and we often can finish each other's sentences. I know I am a better person because of my amazing husband, and I treasure the memories we have made and look toward the future with joy.

Our family, June 2009

Here we are now--a little older, a little more wrinkly, hopefully a little wiser, and more in love than ever. :) Happy anniversary, Jaden!! I love you! I'm so thankful you are mine. :)

Wedding Post #1: Engagement Session

Last weekend my little brother Tyler was married to his adorable Lisa! They are such a wonderful couple and we are so happy for them! This is most of the reason why I've been MIA here at the blog, because weddings are a lot of work. :) I'll post more about the big day later but for today I wanted to share their fun engagements. I was so thrilled to do their engagement photo session and we had a total BLAST together. Ty and Lisa are so photogenic, so it's tough to take a bad picture of them. :)

Of course, it was a rainy evening this particular night in early May (and it rained their whole wedding day too--I'm sensing a theme here!) but we made the best of it I think. Ugh, though I'm not super happy with how the color/clarity/saturation of the images look here on the blog for some reason--but they look great on my calibrated monitor and really printed up beautifully. We enlarged all of these favorites and mounted them on foamcore with a wide 3 inch border and hung them all around the reception.

Aren't they a beautiful pair?? I love them! :) They are perfect for each other. I'll post their wedding announcement and official engagement photo next, along with some pictures from their wedding day.

But for today, we will be enjoying the lovely weather! After 3 weeks of rain, it sure was nice for the kids to play in the water most of the day yesterday and for a fun family bike ride last night. Is it finally going to feel like summer?? Hooray!!