Crawdadin' with my Dad!!

Last Friday little Hema accompanied his dad to Strawberry Reservior for some crawdad action. Between the two of them they caught approximately 200 "crawdaddy's"...as little Hema likes to call them. Dad showed Hema how to catch the little critters using chicken legs tied to kite string. He also had to learn how to hold them correctly so they wouldn't pinch him. Dad didn't have any time to do any real fishing but managed to catch something else...a snake.

Grandma Katoa laid claim to the catch but Hema woke up this morning asking when we were going to eat our "crawdaddy's". Looks like we'll be heading back to the reservior soon!

Our summer ends in St. George

Last weekend we made a trip south to attend our cousin's mission homecoming. We went a couple days early so we could enjoy the last bit of summer. It was a bit warm but the hotel swimming pool took the edge off the heat. We watched "The Sound of Music" at Tuachan and it was great! The kids loved watching all the children singing and dancing around the stage. On Saturday the family had a luau and polynesian show to celebrate our nephews return. Many family members came and it was great to see everyone. The summers over but it has been a great one!

Baby Showers!

The three youngest Hawkins siblings are all expecting their first babies this year. Rindi and Joe are due with a baby boy (Joseph Beckam) in just under a week, Jessica and Sterling are due with a baby boy (Sterling Henry) in October and Josh and Laura are due in December. Josh has been working in California for the past 10 weeks so they will find out what they are having when he is home next week. It is such a blessing for our family to have so many babies coming. In our family, we know that having babies is not just a given, so we love to celebrate each one!

We had a shower for Jessica while she was out here visiting from Virginia. It was great to get the Fillmore and Hawkins families together. She got lots of great stuff and is so excited to be a soon to be mommy. Hema had my camera that day, so I borrowed these pictures from Jessica's blog.

There were Hawkins, Fillmores and some family friends there.

It's always fun to visit and catch up on what is going on with everyone.

Jessica got lots of great gift, but was especially excited about the books!

A party just isn't a party without yummy food!

We also had a shower for Rindi this week. She was such a trooper even though she is very pregnant and ready to have her sweet baby. She also got lots of fun stuff and her mom and sisters were able to join us too!

Here are Rindi and Joe and little Beckam. Isn't Rindi an adorable soon to be momma!
Tyra with Abby and Leah. Marilee with cousins Christine and Sarah. Mom Hawkins, Mom Lisa Redford, Madi and Kiri (Rindi's sisters), Rindi, Laura and Leah. Mindy and Ginn trying to sneak out before I took their pictures! I'm not sure how I missed getting a picture of Brandi and her girls. Here is a blurry picture of some of the tasty grub!

Here is Laura posing in front of the drinks, she doesn't even look pregnant yet! We can't wait to have a party for you Laura!

First Harvest!

We are so happy to have a garden this year after not having one for the past few years. When I got home from St George, there were some little goodies waiting to be harvested.

It only took us about 12 seconds to eat these, but there is nothing better than a home grown tomato!

The pictures doesn't do that tomato justice, it was yum-o-rama!!!

Peek a Boo Pictures

Here are a few of the pictures of the kids from their last Peek a Book shoot that Katie did. I copied them from Katie's blog. Thanks Katie, you always do such a great job, even when Vela is teething and crying! I can't wait to see them all.

This is really about how cooperative Vela was! She just wasn't her normal happy self. Her second tooth had just started to break through that morning.

But we still got some cute ones! I can't believe how different Vela looks with her hair covered up!

Sweet Vela again. Daddy was trying the airplane to get her to smile!

I love this picture. Vela wasn't sitting up the best at 9 months, this picture really captures her at this age!

Here is my handsome Hema. I can't believe he is 3. He was super cooperative at the shoot, even though there were 3 boys and a dog playing in the water right by us.

Such a great shot of Hema!

THE BIG 3 !!!

Three years ago our sweet little Hemaloto came into this world. How blessed our lives have been since his arrival. We are eternally grateful for the choices and sacrifices made to bring him into our family. We love you Katie!

To celebrate his birthday Hema wanted to go to the "dinosaurs" with his cousins. So...we invited his cousins to join us at the Museum of Ancient Life at Thanksgiving point. It happened to be $2 Tuesday so half of Utah, plus some of Wyoming was there too. It was crowded but the kids didn't seem to mind.

Afterwards we had pizza and cupcakes!

Hema has been asking for a scooter for several months now. He saw a spiderman scooter at target one day and that was it...he wanted a spiderman scooter.

Happy birthday Hema!! We love you!

One Seriously Excited Little Ninja!!

Here are a couple of videos of Hema's 2nd karate class. We were trying to decide if we wanted to have Hema continue to do these classes. Then he got to do this...

Have you ever seen a little kid so excited?? And then to seal the deal, he got this...(Don't worry about Vela's freaky breathing during this next clip, she is just figuring out all the new noises she can make!)

Needless to say, Hema is now taking karate! His teacher JD, is so good with kids. I especially like how he focused on the positive focus Hema had when getting the belt. (Not the crazy victory dance after.) By the way, a few people have asked where this is, it is Bobby Lawrence Karate in Saratoga Springs. It is just south of the Smiths.

What next???

Okay, I finished Breaking Dawn last night and loved it. I would have read it sooner, but I had my sister Marilee's 4 kids for the weekend and didn't really start reading it until Sunday night. I thought my sweet hubby wouldn't appreciate taking care of 6 kids on his own all weekend while I locked myself away reading. I must say that although I really did enjoy this book, I think New Moon was my favorite of the 4 - yes, I am a Jacob Black fan. What can I say, I like my men tall, dark and alive!!! Now that the series is over, I find myself wondering what's next? (Yeah, I know I have heard that she may do another series with a character from this one - I won't speculate on who it would be about, in case you haven't finished the book. But let's face it,the release of that series is a LONG time away.) I know that the movie is coming out December 12th and Midnight Sun is the next project she is trying to finish. I need something else good in my reading life - right now! Should I start in on The Host? I've heard it is really great, but sooooo slow to get in to. Should I read the These Is My Words series again? (Love those books!) What other books would you suggest? I am seriously ready for another good read!

Fun videos of the kids!

Ever since Little Hema saw Kung Fu Panda he has wanted to take karate. My friend Mariah referred us over to this teacher. This was Hema's first lesson. He was a little shy and nervous, but loved it. He will be in the Little Ninjas class.

They were out of karate outfits in his size, but he still looks so cute!!

Here he is doing some kicks!

Vela learned to clap today! It made her so happy and she clapped and laughed all day! She and little Hema have so much fun together.

We are loving our swing set! These two would swing all day if we let them!

Some changes around here!

Vela's changing soooo fast!

Well to start off, Vela cut her 3rd tooth on Thursday! She was a bit fussy - but not too bad. It is one of the top ones. She loves it and is either rubbing her tongue on it or feeling it with her finger and smiling about it every single second of the day. Very cute! Then I set her in her crib yesterday and when I walked back by she was standing up! Here she is doing her newest trick!

We are trying to eat more super foods!

I have been reading up quite a bit on some small things that I can do to feed my family healthier. Here are a few changes we have made that make me happy:

Blueberries - I am always hearing how good blueberries are for you. So about 5 weeks ago I started buying one container of blueberries a week. (Sometimes a small one, sometimes the big one at Costco - depending on the price.) Every morning I feed myself, Vela and both Hema's some blueberries. It is so easy! Then I feel like I have done something good for them. That way when little Hema finds the left over chocolate chip cookies from the baby shower that are roughly 5 inches across and eats 2 while I am blow drying my hair at 9:45 in the morning, I can just smile and say "Well, he did eat blueberries this morning."

Broccoli - We love broccoli! I try to make to serve it often over here. Little Hema loves broccoli. Sometimes he begs for it and if we don't have any, he cries! That has to be a sign that I am a good mother, right??Black Beans - We love black beans and eat them regularly with rice. Yummy! They are cheap, good for you and my kids love them!

Lentils - I am still trying to do better on this one. I love lentils and they are so good for you and fast to make, you don't have to soak them overnight like you do beans. But I still fail to make them as often as I would like to.

Flax Seed - I have been reading a ton about flax seed. I guess the golden seed is a really good one. It comes from the Dakotas. You have to grind the seed to get all the benefits form eating it. Apparently if you eat the seeds whole the only benefit is FIBER. But these things are packed with Omega 3 Oils and all sorts of goodness that are supposed to help lower cholesterol, fight many types of cancer and just make you a healthier person! Well, yesterday was the first day of the farmers market at Thanksgiving Point this year and we headed on over. I found a gallon of beautiful flax seed there for a decent price $37. I also got the cute little coffee grinder for it for $20. Of course it sells for $10 everywhere else, I knew that would be the case, but bought it anyway for the convenience of having it right then. Besides, gas would have been a few dollars just to drive over to Walmart! (**Here is a little tip, NEVER grind your flax in your wheat grinder! It is way to oily and will destroy it very fast!) We woke up this morning and ground a little flax seed and ate it in our yogurt! Ahhh, one more good thing I am doing for our family.

I am trying lots of new recipes!

I often get bored and want to try something new. I love being able to go online and try new recipes! Here are some that we have tried and a quick review of them (By the way, you will soon see why this couldn't go under the eating healthier section!):

The Best Chocolate Sheet Cake. Ever.

This was a good one! My Hema's both LOVE chocolate (I'm not the biggest fan) but we all enjoyed this cake! It is pretty easy and done in like 25 minutes including cooking time. It makes a lot and was super tasty! It was not super good for you though, the recipe takes almost an entire pound of butter!!!

Bacon-Wrapped Jalapeno Thingies. Major, Major Yum.

This one looks and sounds so good. I actually tried it twice and ended up throwing 99% of them away. I am not sure if I was doing something wrong, but mine were seriously so dang hot I almost died! I offered one to my visiting teacher before I tried them and she cried! She had to drink a cup of milk and eat about half a pack of Ritz crackers before her eyes stopped watering. I swear I am not wimpy when it comes to hot, but these babies were not so good! I tried them a second time in case I somehow got the wrong peppers the first time, nope same as the first, and yes I did remove the seeds and membrane!

Marlboro Man’s Favorite Sandwich

Hema really did love this sandwich! It was easy to make and made a ton! It also stored well and was just as good the second and third time around! Once again, not super healthy! But don't judge me, we are eating flax and blueberries here every morning!!

Parmesan Crusted Chicken with Cream Sauce

This was sooooo good. Super fast and easy and I had all of the ingredients except the cream cheese on hand. It is even good with any other sauce or gravy on it. We've had it 3 times in the last 4 weeks and everyone from daddy Hema down to Vela has enjoyed it! It's a keeper!

Garlic Chicken Farfalle

This was pretty tasty too! I liked that it wasn't too saucy. However, it made a lot and the leftovers were pretty dry. I added a bit of milk and reheated, but it was definitely the best the first time around!

Some things will never change!

We have spent a lot of time at the dinosaur museum. We watched the new 3D movie on the Mammoth Screen.

We love that museum and go at least once every week. Buying a pass there was one of the best things we have done! If you don't have a pass, go on a Tuesday on August - it is only $2 per person per venue! That is a great deal! Oh, and I almost forgot - we found 2 more gnomes!