chocolate does equal happiness

i love watching katelyn eat those fun little treats that make her so happy. the kind where she can make a huge mess and no one cares. the kind that really isn't that good for her. the kind that brings that smile to her face.

we were having a particularly good morning so i was feeling extra generous. when i opened up the food cupboard to find something for her to eat it was like the pudding was calling my name. it was the perfect treat for a good little girl. and once she saw me pull out there was no going back. she was too excited.

so i got her mostly undressed, stuck her bib on and let her have at it.

i think in the beginning she forgot i was there. she was completely enthralled in her chocolate. like mother like daughter.

if it wasn't so unhealthy i would probably give it to her everday just for that smile.

when she was through, she even made some funny faces for me. she is never willing to do this for me! that's why i say chocolate = happiness and we all know when we are happy we are more willing to do things for others, right?

i PICK you valentine

have a happy valentine's day!

another test week under our belts

we love life after test week. don't get me wrong, we still have a great time during those two weeks because we stay busy with our friends. but it really is such a wonderful thing to have tyler back and available again. he is such a great husband and dad, we can't help but miss him when he is gone! plus, it means that we get out and do some fun things together as a family again.

we started off our test week with a delicious brunch. the kiddos played while the women chatted. but isn't it this way everytime? gotta love it. we also had an ice cream gathering one evening and a couple of different play dates throughout the week.

the kids found a prime spot to play. under the kitchen table. it was a perfect hide out. they were all together and none of the moms could see what they were doing.

byrdie was so nice to have everyone over for ice cream. aren't we lucky to have all of these wonderful women around? i'm not sure what i would do during test week without them. these are many, but not all of the of the lds first year wives.

once test week had come and gone we all celebrated the night away at a cinderella birthday party. the company was fun and the food was delicious and the birthday girl was as cute as ever.

the birthday girl, eliza.

this picture doesn't really show much except that she was there at the party.

the next day a bunch of us headed out to tour the sprecher brewery. this is a locally owned brewery that makes both beer and soda. as we were checking in they saw our utah driver's license and made the comment that we wouldn't be charged as much for the tour because we wouldn't be drinking the beer afterwards. i guess they've had some other lds people visit before.

it was a fun little tour and just the right amount of time for katelyn.

if the above picture wasn't big enough, well then here you go.

after the tour you get to drink as much sprecher soda as you want. we even let katelyn have her fair share, which was definitely a mistake. she was on such a sugar high after that!

don't let this little smile deceive you. yes, she was happy while playing in this fun sprecher car, but as soon as we took her out, she threw a HUGE tantrum.

love this little girl

first of all, sorry this is sideways. i guess i was holding the camera like that and didn't realize it. whoops.

second of all, i don't think i'll ever get sick of this reaction. ever. i love that katelyn will scream every single time tyler hides and runs into the room to chase her.

third of all, i love watching tyler play with katelyn when he gets home from school. she gets so happy when he's there. she just says, "it's daddy, it's daddy," over and over again.

fourth of all, i think katelyn is getting sick of me. we've spent way too much time inside lately. so i get so happy when tyler gets home too to take over for a bit too.

fifth of all, okay, there is no fifth of all. i guess i was on a role. i'll stop now. please enjoy.