down by the banks of the ...Provo river...

Yesterday marked our 5th wedding anniversary (yay!) and since AJ has school on Thursday nights, we celebrated early and had a mid-week date down in Provo- a place were we share many dating and newly married memories. One of which being paper boat races on the Provo river.



We had several rounds with varying paper boat designs and launching styles, but in the end we each had a win with a tie breaker being a dud when they both got caught in the brush- whaw whaw whaw!


After we went to our little hole-in-the-wall place that we love so much for some yummy Italian food. The garlic bread was the same as I remember, but the calzone... not so much (sad day I know!), but even so, we had fun reminiscing over dinner and enjoying each other's company. Even though we decided not to do gifts this year, AJ busted out a little blue box at dinner. It was a Tiffany's necklace I've been hinting at since Christmas, and it was a such a sweet surprise!


I absolutely love it, - that picture doesn't even do it justice!

A week full of birthdays!

By the end of March, we're all borderline diabetic from the back to back birthday cakes we enjoy at our house. First on the calender is AJ's. I had a week full surprises and favors building up to awesome dates I had planned for the weekend. We had a blast on our group date, taking down little kids in laser tag and facing each other off in the arcade games.



and then out to dinner (with some table soccer while we were waiting...) and the Hunger Games movie on Saturday

After renovating Ellie's awkward corner into a reading nook/closet, I wanted to give Treson a room makeover for his birthday.


... and the big reveal:
http://www.facebook.com/video/video.php?v=10100396456025919¬if_t=video_processed

and then for Treson's cake: there's a reason why there aren't any close up shots... but I think it was pretty good considering that this was the first time I've tried to carve a cake or made fondant...

Treson thanked me for his "taxi cake" hahahahaha I even put spoilers on the back to make it look cool....oh well...

oh wow!

I absolutely love PANCAKES! and I love making breakfast special... AJ however hates breakfast, no matter how good it is, he'll give me two courtesy bites and he's off... Well this past Valentines day, I made pancakes from a gourmet box mix, and they were nothing short of incredible- even AJ polished off his plate! Down side: I had polished off the mix as well. But when I woke up this morning, something was crying out for Pancakes(it was literally Treson)so I looked up online(specifically The Chew) and found Daphne Oz's recipe for Blueberry Buttermilk pancakes. I looked over the ingredient list KNOWING I didn't have any Main Wild Blueberries.... or Buttermilk..... *sigh* but then it hit me: "isn't there a way to make your own buttermilk?... something about milk and a lemon...." but I didn't have a lemon either! SO with another web search I found the solution- 1 cup of milk(-1TBS) +1TBS of white vinegar and sit for 5 minutes. Perfect! And to address the lack of blueberries, I just upped the ante on the sugar to 1 1/2 Tbs of sugar instead of the measly 1 tsp(Come on Daph!!). Topped with buttered syrup(equal parts of melted butter and real maple syrup) and into our mouths! Seriously the BEST PANCAKES I HAVE EVER MADE! I wish I took a picture so show you all, but they were literally gone in minutes! Trust me, it won't be long 'till I'll make them again and next time I might do a little self pinning to spread the joy!

Play group Inflateable pool party!

yeah... I know... it's February... it's taken me 6 months to FINALLY import these photos off my camera..... believe me I've been looking EVERYWHERE for the USB camera cable! (didn't actually find it, but AJ got a spiffy new camera that came with!*Yay*) Looking at these pictures make me pine for summer.....

yay for 2011!

2011 here’s looking back,
Lots has happened as we try to keep track.
Ellie lights up the room with her laugh and bright smile,
She’s loves attention, singing & dancing all the while.
Treson has started an obsession with space,
Cooking and baking; he’s all over the place.
Mandy’s been busy raising this crew,
Improving our home and her Etsy store too.
AJ’s back to school for his Masters Degree,
His work’s sent him to China and he trains employees.

Stay tune for next year
Same dog-time
Same dog-channel.
The Cliffords will be back,
sporting our flannel.

backyard camp out and first tutorial: Fail

Our poor ward camp out- I don't think more than a handful of people were able to make it- including us. We were all set and revved to go, but things didn't work out in the end....My sweet husband didn't want to disappoint our son, so we set up camp in our backyard and had a wonderful night under the stars with the comforts of home close by!






I found a cute little dress on pintrest and thought it would be fun to do a tutorial on how to make it for you all- I took a lot of pictures and tried to be meticulous to avoid reader's confusion... but I messed up quite a but and did some sly make-shift cover ups, but the dress turned out cute none-the-less:

Fourth of July!

This was probably one of the best we've had- no pressure to go any where or to impress anyone but ourselves. We set off to buy fire works (yay for aerials!)and then to the parade. We caught a few pieces of candy, took a couple handouts and waved to a couple of beauty queens. Had lunch, a quick nap, and then moseyed over to the park for their 4th of July festival. We played some games, Treson got to ride some rides, and we came back home in time for dinner. THE BEST RIBS I'VE EVER MADE! along with corn on the cob, rolls, chips and grapes! perfect picnic food(if only it wasn't raining- I'm sure we would have had a blast on our lawn!) We watched a movie and then joined our neighbors outside to light fireworks in the street. I think my favorite was a "tropical fish" fountain from Black Cats. it was pretty awesome how we so many people were lighting aerial fireworks- I hope these stay legal!