Sunday Pancakes

Just a quick blog to say we're still alive :)  I haven't blogged since the end of July, but we have been really busy since then.  We packed up the apartment, moved from the apartment to my parents' house for two weeks, finished our house, moved out of my parents' house into our new house, I've had a ton of photo sessions, etc, etc.  Anyways, long story short...I've got lots of pictures archived for "make-up" blogs.  But, to get back into the swing, here's a couple pictures from today of Hallie helping make after church pancakes.  We used this mix and it was DELICIOUS! More blogs to come soon :)

peppa pig helped too

adding the mix

Lilly stalking the pancake maker

fluffy perfection!

 

Benson Days Parade

Hallie attended her first parade of the summer this weekend!  She went to a few last summer, but was still too young to get the concept of collecting candy...and definitely didn't have the speed to beat the older kids to the punch.  Yesterday was a big improvement.  She enjoyed the sights and sounds and was able to snatch a piece of candy here and there...which she promptly sat down and ate.  And then on to the next one.

Taking in the action

Giant bubble float

Next to her friend, Isabella

Waving to the train conductor

I got some candy, Momma!

Checking candy bag levels

Enjoying the spoils

A little glimpse of Hallie's 2 year photos...

...sorry to disappoint, but this is what usually happens when professional photographers attempt to photograph their own children...

But sometimes you get lucky...

FATHER'S DAY 2014

Let's celebrate this dude (and his bushy seaweed mustache) for being the amazing "Papa" that he is.  From the moment Hallie was born, Cory has been involved, protective, nurturing, loving, fun, and playful.  He is an all around amazing dad.  Hallie is so blessed.  For Father's Day we spent the day at the Fremont Lakes and Cory got a rare chance to relax.  We both commented that it felt like a mini vacation.  We're pretty easy to please :)  You can tell from the pictures that Hal and Papa had a great day together...

 

SPLISH SPLASH...HAL LOVES TAKING A BATH!

Fill up tub, add 1,000 toys, add one adorable red headed toddler = instant fun.  Hallie loves taking a bath at night and sometimes asks for it before we've even finished dinner.  We fill up the tub pretty full with water and let her play for a while.  Then we brush teeth, wash hair (Hal likes to dump the water on her hair to get it wet), scrub the booty, and then Hal "swims" around while the water drains and waves "bye bye" to the water ;)  After the bath we grease her up good with coconut oil - I like this one - put on snuggly pjs, brush her hair and then it's time for sweet dreams...zzzzzz :)

PLAYGROUND FUN!

One benefit of living an apartment while we finish our remodel is the fact that there is an AWESOME playground 50 yards from our front door.  Hal calls it "my slides" and she is pretty much obsessed.  Now that we are safely into spring, we spend time there almost every day (sometimes twice), which is still not enough for Hal's liking.  We have been doing this for about a month now and it is so cool to see Hal's playground abilities evolving.  She went from avoiding the rock wall to quickly climbing to the top like a pro.  And the swings...well she likes to do those all by herself now instead of sitting on Mommy or Daddy's lap.  Running to the top of the tower and flying down the slides continues to be her favorite.  I love you, my adventurous little daughter :)

Let's talk about chicks, man

We're at it again...Coop de Jensen part deux!  Since selling our house in November, we have been without our backyard chickens {and our backyard eggs}.  Now that we are nearing completion of our new house we are ready to have both back again!  We decided to raise the hens from chicks this time instead of buying already laying adult hens.  This way they will be well acclimated to us and more like pets than livestock.  I researched different types of laying hens and picked out five different breeds that would give a nice variety of egg colors:

1.  White Wyandotte
2.  Speckled Sussex
3.  Rhode Island Red
4.  Silkie
5.  Easter Egger
6.  Easter Egger

The whole family is already in love and working on picking out names.  Hal calls them "my chickens."  Next on the to-do list is for Cory to build them a coop, and then we can expect eggs in about 3 months!

 

EASTER 2014

Easter weekend brought us gorgeous weather and lots of time with family and friends.  Enjoy the photo recap...

Saturday morning egg hunt and crafts at St. Andrews church

Saturday afternoon birthday celebration with second cousins on the Jensen side.  Hallie loved the bounce house, the hammock and, of course, CAKE!

 

Smooches for Grandma Jensen...

Sunday morning we gave Hal her Easter basket (yes, lots of Cars 2 stuff) and then went to Easter service at Grandma Jensen's church.  After church we went downtown with Grandma and Grandpa Jensen and had brunch at the Upstream.  It was so nice outside that we were able to sit out on the roof balcony.

 

After naptime, we went over to my brother and sister-in-law's house and grilled out (and had an egg hunt for Hal and her cousins Landon and Liam).