Can't get enough

It feels like every day Kelsey gets cuter and cuter. As she slowly destroys our house, she learns new tricks that are just so cute. I just thought that these pictures were too good to pass up

She has learned that she can see things out the window. She loves to watch our neighbor mow the lawn and gets so excited when she sees Ethan come home.

 These are not our space heaters (longer story that I don't want to explain), but Kelsey LOVES them. I find her like this multiple times a day and recently she has learned...

 that if she reaches far enough she can touch her other toys. This was fun for one afternoon, but I have recently moved it because she tried to stand up which led to falling which led to tears which led to an unhappy baby. I mean we all see that coming, but I really wanted the picture

 Just a cute pic of Ethan and Kels on our picnic

 Nothing new here except that I love this dress Ainsley is letting us borrow and it finally fits!

Washington

Because I am from Washington I felt that I could personally cook Washington very accurately. As I was thinking of a meal I had several things come to mind:
1. Zips- but because there are no Zips or shake of the week around town that got bagged
2. Apples- now this should have been the go to, but we eat apples all the time and that felt really boring for my home town
3. Starbucks- This also should have been a go to, but we really can't enjoy too many things at Starbucks
4. Salmon/seafood- Alaska was higher on the salmon totem pole and so we did not do salmon.

So that left me with only one option for Washington

CHEAP CHICKEN AND PASTA SALAD!!!!!

 For those who many not understand, many years growing up my family would go take a picnic by the river and eat fried chicken from Albertsons. Some where in those years it became a tradition and we started calling it cheap chicken. We would take our chicken and fruit and pasta and whatever, set up a plate for the bees so they would leave our food alone (because FYI bees love meat) and then enjoy our picnic followed by a walk on the river.

And pasta salad. Past salad has been my favorite meal like forever. It has noodles, brocoli, pepperoni, olives, and tomatoes covered with cheese and italin dressing. The ideal way to have it is with nothing more and nothing less. I loved this so much I would take it to school, I would take it on camping trips when I needed a meal, and I would take it to any ward function or party when I needed a salad. I love this stuff so  very much.

So there you have it, to me there is nothing that says Washington like cheap chicken and pasta salad.
8 down 42 to go!

Oh Happy Day

Some moments in life can be hard, but its pictures like this that remind me that they are just moments and not lasting. I have such a wonderful family that I need to be grateful for every moment of every day.

April 24th day

One night last year, while we were brushing our teeth Ethan said "I wonder what I looked like exactly one year ago from this moment," and from that has come April 24th day. We picked a random date and took a picture right before dinner. This year we did it again. We are hoping that it turns into something that we always do every April 24th and who knows, it may turn into one of those wacky family traditions that everyone talks about at funerals but know one has a good reason as to why it is a tradition. Anyway, I have been thinking that as the kids get older if this day becomes a big deal in our house, but I haven't thought of reason to make it special. I think if that happens it will come as more kids come. As for right now we take a picture right before dinner on April 24th creating our own special holiday.

Massachusetts and Arizona

On Sunday I made a roast and so I was all set and ready for Monday to become Arizona night which is chimichangas. Unlike some states, there was absolutely no disagreeing that Arizona's meal was chimichangas. I only fried two of them because they don't sit well fried in the fridge, but the baked ones were alright too.

On Tuesday, we had Massachusetts which again was a state with a unanimous vote of New England Clam Chowder. I quickly made this one because hopefully we are getting into our spring weather and we don't eat soup when its hot. Technically soup season ended a few weeks ago, but I made an excepting for Massachusetts. The calm chowder was very runny which confused me because I followed the recipe exactly, but none the less it was still delicious.I don't think I'd make it again, but it was a good meal.

Life in twos

 

Today marked the two year anniversary of Ethan working for Overstock. We are very proud of this milestone because neither of us have ever worked somewhere for 2 consecutive years. We have always had school in the way, missions, or moving. This is the first time that we have been at the same job with no hiccup to mess up the timing. We celebrated by eating omelets (Ethan's favorite meal) and having chocolate ice cream with raspberries (Ethan's favorite dessert). Kelsey also made Ethan a really cute sign. We are just so proud of Ethan. He as learned so much and has worked so hard to provide for our family.

After celebrating we got to talking about Ethan's life the last two years and were realizing that he has been living his life by two years for the past 10 years. I will break it down:
Mission 2005-2007
Single School 2007-2009
Married schooling life 2009-2011
O.co 2011-2013
MBA 2013-2015

and after that who knows. Hopefully a house, hopefully another job, hopefully more kids. All we know is that the married life will continue for many two years increments to follow.

On top of work, Ethan is so dutiful to his callings and has a very service oriented mind. I don't think I have ever heard Ethan say no to anything. He is willing to help anyone at any time under any circumstance. Ethan is the most selfless person I know. He only wants to make sure that Kelsey and I are happy, that we as a family strive to be more like the Savior, and that we have fun as we improve our lives and the those around us daily. I love Ethan very much and am so grateful that he asked me to marry him. He is like a ray of sunshine that I can always count on.

Interior Design

We have reached the stage in life where all my decorating goes out the window and Kelsey takes things into her own hands. Luckily I had many pep talks before this stage so I was "ready." I baby proofed everything only to learn that I had actually baby proofed nothing. I wish I could have captured every moment because she has done some hilarious things, but here are a few to remember.

Playing under the sink...

Pulling off the books as fast as she can. I love this because when she hears me coming she just goes even faster....

 

This is actually just cute, but she hits the piano until we open it and then plays and plays and plays...

 

Rearranging our other book case... Seriously I turn my back for two seconds and this is what I find

 

Dumping over any box she can get a hold of...

  

And pulling clothes out of bins and drawers just to sit in the bins and drawers. Whenever I can't find her, she is in someones room or closet pulling clothes out of the bin/drawer and trying to climb inside. 

 

I have finally accepted that my house will always look like this as long as I have kids

If you notice the chair in front of the book case, the toy box in front of the stereo area, and the card table covering the cords.

 but its totally worth it! I mean look at that smile

Missouri

Kelsey LOVED Missouri! It was fried ravioli, but because the south has a lot of fried foods (okay ALL the suggestions for the South are fried) I decided to give our systems a break and bake the ravioli instead. Kelsey loved it and so did we. Good new for me, on every website that I looked at the only consistent food for Missouri was an ice cream cone! I LOVE ice cream cones and so naturally after dinner we got to have ice cream cones. Missouri all around just was fantastic.

 In other news Kelsey loves eggs....

 And my phone....

 And her cute Nike kicks!

Pennsylvania

No explanation necessary. Philly cheese steaks

Two thumbs up

Kelsey with her tricorner Philly hat. Ethan made this for him.. but we followed a kids pattern and he has a head that is not kid size

Idaho and Alaska

Idaho and Alaska were our favorites so far, but how can you go wrong with chicken strips and potatoes and salmon.

 Baked salmon- Two thumbs way up. We have salmon all the time and "Alaskan" salmon did not disappoint

I was a little surprised to learn that the meal of suggestion for Idaho was not potatoes but was chicken fingers and that was from multiple sources. I made some chicken fingers, but it did not feel right to eat Idaho without a form of potatoes as a side, so in addition to our fingers, we had mashed potatoes.

Our little Plumber

While I got ready in the morning Kelsey used to scream and pound at the bathroom door, however I recently showed her that 1. She can open our cupboards and 2. that there are fun things inside. I thought that this was a good idea mainly because I now can shower without all the tears. She is much too busy with the toothbrushes and toilet paper.
Yesterday I took out the box from under the sink and went to go get ready. When I turned around Kelsey was gone. I know that she is fast, but she is not THAT fast and is definitely not that quiet.  Upon further investigation this is what I found :

I mean seriously, does it get any cuter than this!

Eating around the Nation

One week, I was really bored with the food that I was making and so I decided to make 5 new recipes from a brand new cook book. It was really fun and the food was deliciously refreshing. This little stunt sparked an idea. I decided that it would be fun to try a recipe from all 50 states. I have looked on blogs for recipes and for the states that I can not find I look to find what their national fruit or veggies are and make something from that. For example Georgia doesn't have a state "dish" but they are found of peaches and so I am going to make a peach dish.

I am not making the food in order because some ingredients are cheaper at certain times. As of now I have made Michigan, Arkansa, and Colorado. My rule is that I can't change the recipe like I normally do so that we can get the real taste of the state.

 Michigan~Michigan Pasty's- I made this on my dad's birthday. I thought that that was rather fitting. We each gave this one thumb up. If I make this again, I will add more flavoring

 Arkansas~ Fried catfish and Walmart green beans- We each gave this one thumb down. Not gross, but not good. Very flavorless

Colorado~ Chili Verde and avocados~ Two thumbs up from both of us. I will make this again. It is delicious!


So there they are, the first 3 states. Only 47 more to go!

New Tricks

Kelsey is growing like crazy and it is scaring us so much. We love every minute of it, but it is scary because we are losing our little baby. She can do so much now and it is adorable. I could go on and on about it but I think the pictures are much cuter to show all her new tricks.