hoppy easter!

Posted on April 15, 2012 by tara

The Easter Bunny came to our house just a couple days late, which means that he either got lost or was waiting for all the candy to go on sale! Better late than never, though.

Reese’s peanut butter eggs are definitely Michael’s favorite. Don’t be deceived, the Bunny may have only put four in his basket, but he left the whole rest of the bag in our kitchen!

He was so surprised, so when I asked to take his picture he of course made a goofy shocked face.

I made him do a “normal” smile… since my mom always says he never does. Here you go, Mom!

independence day

Posted on July 5, 2011 by tara

We didn't do very much this 4th of July- mostly because Michael went to work, and I had to work the midnight shift, so when I returned home I slept until about noon. I had planned to try out my cake-decorating tools, go to a barbecue, and even the fireworks. So much for productivity!

Lucky for us, we discovered we could watch the fireworks from our porch. Credit for the photos goes to Michael =)

Nothing like standing out on the porch barefoot, swallowed up by the pitch black sky, next to your best friend. I'm thankful for little moments like that.

luck o’ the… cupcakes?

Posted on March 18, 2011 by tara

Yesterday was Saint Patrick's Day, so it's a bit late for me to wish you a good one. But hey, I hope it was great! Out of the many nationalities that make up my heritage, Irish is one of them, so it is a great time to reflect on where some of my ancestors came from. Almost two years ago, I was lucky enough to actually visit!

This was one of my favorite spots- the breathtaking Aran Islands!

Well, you can't go to Ireland every year, so you'll just have to look at some breathtaking holiday cupcakes instead! The night before we planned on making cupcakes, I found this great idea and made some homemade cake sprinkles for us to use.

Lelia and I made the softest, most decadent chocolate cupcakes ever. Then we covered them in buttercream icing and decorated away.

happy piggentine day!

Posted on February 14, 2011 by tara

I mean… Valentine's day. Oops. Since this is the "day of love", here are some pictures of the little girls who have absolutely unconditional love for me everyday!

4th of July!!!

Posted on July 7, 2010 by tara

For the holiday weekend, we went to Michael's Grandma's house to meet up with the rest of the family… and our recently-returned missionary brother, Kevin!! He just arrived home last Tuesday, so I hadn't actually met him yet.

But he was so much fun!

Like any good brother should, he ate half of my food.

Their grandma has about a zillion pets… so I was in heaven! I was also given the honor of meeting the world's fattest cat.

Meet Max.

We also met Coffee… but we decided he looked more like a Bruce!

He was obsessed with fireworks.

And Michael and Kevin had quite the party with their sparklers…

Turkey day weekend!!

Posted on November 30, 2009 by tara

This Thanksgiving was awesome because we were lucky enough to visit Michael's family from Wednesday evening until Sunday! Michael's hand was glued to a Wii remote… go figure. We did have a few "battles" against each other, but sadly I was not victorious in anything =(

Thanksgiving dinner was yummy! Mmmm mmm. I was exposed to what is probably the best dessert ever: chocolate mint freeze. I love it, and so does the rest of the family- an entire pyrex dish of it was gone in less than 24 hours.

I also got to help Michael's Mom make some candy!! It was a great learning opportunity for me, since I've never done anything like that before. We made peppermint bark and peanut clusters.

And, for the first time ever, in my entire life, I went out on Black Friday! It was definitely crowded and some stores were messy… but hey, I had fun. It's one of those things you should do at least once just to experience it and say you did it. Plus it was just fun spending time with Michael and his mom =) We had to take the ferry over there, so I got to feed the seagulls who fly at the back of the boat. Basically, they were CRAZY!?!

We also went to visit some horses- I met such a handsome dressage horse named Walter… and he loves licking people's hands! It was so fun. I love horses.

Horsey!

Maggie and Juni did really well on the trip. They met a lot of different people on their trip: Michael's mom, grandma, and great-grandma, plus a family that came over for a barbecue. Maggie did really well with everyone but Juni's just as shy as ever! They started bickering on the way home today, so I was glad to get them back into their regular cage (which is about 4 times bigger than the travel one).

I am very very grateful for family and making great memories all together =)

Fourth of July!

Posted on July 5, 2009 by tara

Yesterday we celebrated our wonderful nation's birthday in a rather relaxed manner. We mostly just spent the day together at home, but we went to thet town fireworks show over at the the high school once night came. The show was amazing! A true representation of our dazzling nation. How fortunate we truly are to live in a place where we can outwardly express our opinions and enjoy the freedoms that so many people have fought for for each of us. How grateful each of us should be!

Michael accidentally represented the wrong country… whoops. Check out the Gallery for firework photos!