spring break

Anniston had her first piano recital!  She was the first one to play (out of about 25 kids).  She got up there and did great!!  She said that she was really nervous, but you couldn’t tell.  There were about 75 people (or more) there.

We went up to Utah for part of spring break and Easter.  Tyler, my sister and I did a duathlon along Legacy Parkway.  It was super fun!  It was a run, bike, run.  It was fun to see family that we hadn’t seen in a while, and the kids had a great time going on Easter egg hunts!

got limes?

I don’t know why but I’ve been making this a lot lately…ok…I do know why, because it is so stinkin good!  Key Lime Pie is just such a great dessert because it is light, cool and refreshing.  We love the key lime pie at Joe’s Stone Crab and guess what, they have the recipe on their website, wonderful!  I altered it just a little bit, here it is.

GRAHAM CRACKER CRUST

1 wax paper-wrapped package graham crackers

5 T melted butter

1/3 C sugar

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.  Butter a 9-inch pie pan. Break up the graham crackers; place in a food processor and process to crumbs.  Add the melted butter and sugar and pulse or stir until combined.  Press the mixture into the bottom and sides of the pie pan, forming a neat border around the edge.  Bake the crust until set and golden, 8 minutes.  Set aside on a wire rack; leave the oven on.

 

FILLING

3 Egg Yolks

1 1/2 tsp Grated zest of 2 limes

1 14-oz can sweetened condensed milk

1/3 C freshly squeezed lime juice

1/3 C bottled key lime juice

In an electric mixer with the wire whisk attachment, beat the egg yolks and lime zest at high speed until very fluffy, about 5 minutes.  Gradually add the condensed milk and continue to beat until thick, 3-4 minutes longer.  Lower the mixer speed and slowly add the lime juice, mixing just until combined, no longer.  Pour the mixture into the crust.  Bake for 10 minutes or until the filling has just set.  Cool on a wire rack, then refrigerate.  Freeze for 20-30 minutes before serving.  You want it REALLY cold.

 

TOPPING

1 C Heavy Whipping Cream

1-2 T Confectioners Sugar

Whip the cream and the confectioners’ sugar until nearly stiff.  Cut the pie in wedges and serve very cold, topping each wedge with a large dollop of whipped cream.  Garnish with a lime slice.

 

whipperberry + chocolate cake

Okay, if you haven’t been to whipperberry.com you are missing out!  A handful of my friends have put their creative talents together into the most wonderful blog.  They have recipes, features, DIY tutorials, giveaways, all sorts of neat stuff.  And today they have featured my chocolate cake!  So go check it out and you can get the recipe 🙂

 

{march}

Anniston turned 7 this month!  Oh, that sounds so old.  I can’t believe it.  She invited a few friends to go see Tangled at the movie theater.  For her birthday dinner she wanted to get Chipotle (girl after my own heart) and take it to the park and eat it.  It was a lot of fun.

Last weekend Tyler did his second Triathlon!  This one was longer than the last one, it was an Olympic one.  They ended up cancelling the swim because Lake Mead was too cold, it has to be at least 54 degrees (brrrrrrr).  It was a REALLY TOUGH course with crazy hills, especially at the end of the bike there was a steep hill (about 6 miles).  Macy and I were there cheering him on as he finished.  I’m so proud of him, he did a great job!

February

February was fabulous.  I was able to go with Annie on her first field trip!  She wanted me to go so bad, I’m glad I was able too.  They went to the Dolphin Habitat at the Mirage.  It was really cool and fun to see her with all her classmates.

We took a little family get away to St. George.  The kids loved swimming at the hotel, eating pizza, and visiting the temple.

January

January was just a take it easy month.  My parents came down for a few days while Tyler went to Florida for his national sales meeting.  Decker is so into Legos, it’s crazy.  He can follow the directions to build the different things or he will invent his own creations.  He has quite the imagination.

long December

Okay, okay, we are still alive.  Sorry I haven’t blogged in forever.  So today is catch-up day.  I was about to start on my spring cleaning list today, but realized if I didn’t hurry and update the blog it wouldn’t get done.  So here we go, month to month.

December was crazy, as I’m sure it is for everyone.  It started with tear-duct surgery for me (everything went well).  Then Decker turned 5!!  He had some friends over for a party.  I’ve never seen a group of little boys be so quiet as when we started painting wooden racecars, it was incredible.

Then our little Troy turned 3!!  He wanted a Toy Story Birthday party.  He was so excited that it was his special day.

Then Christmas!  Papa Tom and Uncle Parker came down, the kids were super excited to see them.   We had our big dinner on Christmas Eve, read some Christmas stories, decorated cookies for Santa.  It is so much fun getting ready for Christmas with little kiddos.  At the beginning of December we made one of those countdown paper chains, like we do every year.  But it was kind of bothering me that the kids were so focused on what they wanted for Christmas.  So to kind of put that focus elsewhere we made another countdown chain, but this one had a “secret service” that they had to do each day and they were so excited about it.  I think we’re going to have to continue that tradition!

soccer

Decker just finished the fall soccer season.  He looks SO grown-up to me in this picture!  He loved it – he loves everything.  His coaches did a great job-but they were super intense (along with some of the parents) for 4 year olds.

{mini bundts}

So many of you know how amazing Nothing Bundt Cakes is.  Well Tyler’s been out of town all week so we’ve had some time to kill.  I decided to make some mini bundt cakes.  So fun!  The kiddos had a blast with them, I’m excited to try out different cakes/recipes.

Macy Pie

I can’t believe our little Macy is growing up so fast.  She can already sit in the bumbo!  She is such a joy and a great baby… that is sleeping through the night (love!)