Santa Baby

Tayson, 3 months old

A little happier, without the hat...

Visiting Santa

It's beginning to look a lot like...

Christmas!

Here's a few things we've done so far this season.

Decorated inside and out.

Decorated gingerbread houses

Started this Advent Calendar. I couldn't find one I liked so I just made this one. Each drawer has a little piece of candy for Kyler and Addie and has a scripture to read.

Tayson's Blessing Day

Tayson was blessed on December 5th. The Friday before we took him in to Dr. Papa because his cold got worse, he had a fever, and his right eye was swollen. He had an ear infection. By Sunday, his fever was gone and he was a little better, so we went ahead and blessed him. His eye was still very swollen,though. Poor guy, but he still looked cute!

Happy Halloween!

A family of heroes!

Shana is Spider Woman, Mike is Zorro...

Super Baby Tayson (6 weeks old!)

Addie as Super Girl



Kyler is Batman
We had a fun Halloween!

Brothers

They look a little alike, huh?

Welcome, Baby Tayson!

Our baby boy was born Thursday, September 16th. His name is Tayson Craig Mumford. He weighed 6 lbs 5 oz and measured 19 inches long. He's such a sweet little boy. Kyler and Addie are very excited to have a little brother. There's lots of love for Tayson. We are so happy he is here!

Four weeks left!

I have just four weeks left of my pregnancy. (Where has the summer gone?) I've had a good pregnancy. I'm grateful for that. Except... the last 3 days I've had 6 migraines! I'm thinking that's my body telling me to take it easy. Other than that, I'm doing great and the kids are so excited for their baby brother (who doesn't have a name, yet. We'll be working on that!).

Oh, yum...

I'm so glad I'm a big girl now and like tomatoes! I started liking them just a few years ago and I'm very excited to (soon, I hope) pick our very first tomato from of our very first garden. I made this Margherita Pizza yesterday with fresh tomatoes and fresh basil. It was sooo yummy! I just used the Pizza Margherita recipe from kraftfoods.com.

July Birthdays!

Happy Birthday Kyler and Addie! Addie turned 4 on July 19th and Kyler turned 7 on July 26th. July is a fun month. Not only do we celebrate my kids' bdays, but other family members as well! We had a fun time. Love you, kids!

We made Addie a ladybug cake....

And for Kyler, we made a Batman cake!

Kyler wanted Zhu Zhu Hamster Pets and accessories the very most!

Happy 10th Anniversary!

I have been married to my wonderful husband for 10 years today! I love him so much and I am thankful for him every day. I love how we can laugh together and enjoy spending time together. I love that he is my best friend and the best father. I love how he works so hard to provide for our family. Love, Love, Love you, Mike!

Lake Powell 2010

We had so much fun at Lake Powell this year. (Really, how can you NOT have fun at Powell?!)
The kids were more excited this year than they ever have been. We had swimming lessons the two weeks before. Kyler had improved so much and was so excited to swim without his life jacket. He's a good little swimmer and, of course, the rule was to only swim with an adult around. Addie had a blast, too. She loves the water and even tried kneeboarding for the first time. Both kids spent more time in the water than any year before. This year seemed a little cooler (still very hot), but the best part was there was always a breeze at night to keep us cool. I was especially grateful, being almost 7 month pregnant and all. Here's some picts!

Baby, there's a shark in the water.

Nice make-shift snorkel, Ky. That's a straw.

The kids made a playground for the lizard they caught!

It's a Boy!

We are expecting a baby! Baby Boy Mumford is due September 20th. We are very excited. Kyler wanted a boy and Addie really wanted a girl. Addie was disappointed just for a minute. Now she loves to tell everyone she will have a baby brother. The ultrasound looked good and I feel good.

Addie likes to come up with names for our baby. Here are a few:
*Addie (That's when she was SURE it was going to be a girl. We asked her if it would be confusing to have 2 Addies. She didn't think so.)
*Cookie
*Super baby

And here's one more...Here's how the conversation went:
Addie:(after just waking up) I know what we should name the baby!
Mike: What?
Addie: BOB!
Mike: Bob?....uh, ok. Thanks, Addie.

Kyler's school opera

Kyler's 1st grade class was part of an opera at school. Utah Festival Opera came and let his class come up with the characters, story, and plot entirely by themselves. Then the UFO puts it to music. The kids also paint the scenery. Parent volunteers make the costumes. I made these mummy costumes for Kyler and three of his classmates. The opera was called "The Stolen Museum." Only two teachers at North Park Elementary do this, Mrs. Ashcroft and Ms. Porter, and Kyler has had both! The operas are always so funny and clever! Last year I was able to play the piano for Kyler's performances. It's so much fun to be part of these operas. It's been a great experience!

Is this a joke?

This is what we woke up to on April 1st. And no, it wasn't an April Fool's joke. I measured 6 inches and snow was still coming. That's spring in Cache Valley for you! We went to an outdoor easter egg hunt and good thing the eggs were colored! We had a fun Easter weekend, even in the snow.

Welcome Home, Elder Brown!

My brother, Jordan (aka Uncle Jo), returned home from his mission! He served a great mission in Cleveland Ohio. The kids were so excited to have him home. Kyler wanted to play Bakugan with him and Addie wanted to play hide and seek. We are so happy to have you home, Jo! Also my sister, Melese, and her kids, Jace and Kaydence, are here from Canada! Oh, fun!

Happy St. Patrick's Day!

I'm "lucky" to have such great kids (who will wear funny hats so I can take a picture!).

Fun at Ward Ski Party

Ok, so I ranted and raved on my last post about winter. But as I said, there are good things about winter. One being skiing. Our family had a blast at the Ward Ski Party at Beaver Mountain. It was the kids' first time skiing. We're pretty sure Addie was the smallest person on the mountain. She loved the lift the most I think, and did alright skiing. She was tired and cold by the end, but it was Kyler who didn't want to leave! He did awesome for his first time. His aunt Leslie did a good job teaching him. He asked the next day when we could go again. Fun time!

Winter, be GONE!

I have Spring Fever bad. It's not that I don't like winter. There are fun things in winter like Christmas, Valentine's Day, skiing, sledding, and my birthday. And I think freshly fallen snow is beautiful. I'm usually very patient as I wait for spring. Cache Valley's winters are known for being a little longer than the rest of the state. And I'm ok with that...most of the time.

But this has been the longest winter of MY LIFE. There are probably two reasons for that. One: This will be our first spring in our new house and Mike and I are anxious to work in the yard. Two: Both kids have taken turns with the stomach flu, so we haven't been out much the last couple weeks. I have Cabin Fever. And I'm ready to go outside and play and walk to the park without freezing!

Old man winter...I'm done!

Primary Talent Show

Our ward had a Primary talent show a week ago. It was so much fun! We asked Kyler if he wanted to whistle because he is such a good whistler. He said "No. I want to do basketball!" So we set up some chairs on the stage and he dribbled around them and passed the ball to Mike, while I commentated. Go, Ky!

With Addie, everything is a song. So we practiced the chorus of Follow the Prophet with her. We rehearsed with a microphone at home and Mike took her to the talent show early so she would be comfortable with the stage. We weren't sure if she'd actually do it. But she surprised us. She grabbed the mic from Mike and started belting out her (very short) rendition of Follow the Prophet. It was so funny! I laughed so hard I was crying. The "attempt" at a somersault at the end just adds to the funniness. Here's the video. She surprised me and started so quickly I missed the first few seconds. Funny Addie!

Junior Jazz

Kyler started his first year of Junior Jazz in January. He plays at the Logan Rec Center and his team is the Hawks. He's having so much fun. He has a great coach and is learning a lot. It's fun to watch 1st and 2nd graders play. He only has two more games left, but then soccer starts in April. (His other favorite sport!) Go Jr. Jazz!

Dominoes

I came up with this after-school snack last school year when Kyler was in Kindergarten. We call it Dominoes. It's graham crackers, peanut butter, and chocolate chips. Kyler now helps me make them and he's very particular about the number of chocolate chips on each Domino. When he was in Kindergarten, we'd say, "Eat the one with the least number of chocolate chips..." I think he still eats it that way. Now, Kyler asks for them almost every day after school. Yum!

"Sweet" Food Storage

I decided to start using the dry milk that's in my food storage. I used it a little in the past for making bread, that's pretty much it. But a web site www.funwithfoodstorage.com inspired me to use in a lot more often. So recently we were making a dessert and it called for sweetened condensed milk and we didn't have any. You can make it from your dry milk! The dessert turned out great. I like the website. It also gives tips on planning and buying your food storage, but I mainly use the "eat it" section. I now use the dry milk in any (almost) recipe that calls for milk. I save the fresh milk for drinking. You can also make evaporated milk and condensed soups (haven't tried that yet). On the website she explains the difference between instant dry milk and non-instant dry milk like what the LDS church cannery has (that's what I use.) A while ago I was feeling ambitious and made my own yogurt from dry milk and an old heating pad as an incubator. Sounds weird, but it worked! I mainly used the yogurt in my smoothies. Here's the recipe for the sweetened condensed milk from non-instant dry milk.

Sweetened Condensed Milk (14 oz can)
1/2 c. hot water
1 c. dry powdered milk
1 c. sugar
1 T. Butter
Blend VERY WELL in blender.