Eric got Baptized!!

Our brother-in-law, Eric, got baptized this past Sunday!! He has been going to church with Karen & Hunter for a while but I think he has been reading and praying about it since Marty's dad passed away back in May. He and Karen are moving to NC for a new job and last Sunday they were talking to their Bishop about it and the Bishop says, "Well, I hope you're gonna get baptized in our ward before you leave!" And without any hesitation, Eric replies, "Well, actually I was thinking I could do that next Sunday!" My Sister-in-laws mouth dropped as, "What!? Well, you could have at least let me know" comes spilling out of her mouth! So she immediately starts the phone calls and planning when they got home. The hard part about it was that it wasn't really enough time for anyone to get across the country for it. [Who was going baptize him?] Karen and Eric pretty quickly decided that they wanted to ask my oldest brother, Blake! Since none of their family (Marty's siblings) could be there to do it, they felt that my family was the next best thing. Also, they have been in my brother's ward for years, which has given them the opportunity to get to know Blake's family pretty well. It was so awesome for us that Blake could do that with Eric, esp since we couldn't be there! We are so happy for them and what a blessing this will be for their family!! Eric is one of the nicest, most unselfish people we know!! He is loved by many people! As a matter-of-fact, they had to move to the chapel b/c so many ward members showed up to support him! We love you Eric and Congrats on your decision!!

My Daddies Little Princess

It's no secret that, from the moment I was born, I have been referred to as "Daddies little Princess"! From my three brothers points-of-view, this term has probably changed a little in meaning from time-to-time. I shall try to explain a little bit. In the very beginning, for my two older brothers, I'm sure they were the proud big brothers and were very proud and happy to refer to me as "Daddies Little Princess" (DLP)-without a thought of jealousy. I like to imagine them just as Brant and Jacob are with our little princess! Even as I got older, Blake & John acted as my own personal body guards! I remember them chasing a boy or two out of our yard or smacking them around because they didn't want them talking to me. If my brothers didn't like them, well, they didn't have a chance!
Now my little brother, well let's just say that when he was born (a year and a half after me)... he came out thinking the world revolved around HIM and no one else! He didn't even know that DLP existed until the day he realized that I was his competition for attention!
As we got older I think the term became a little bit of a bitter subject for them. I was older and had learned that, 'Hey! I'm Daddies Little Princess...and if I work this right I can get whatever I want' - so I played that card for a while and naturally, the boys didn't like that too much! Not too much longer and my older brothers were out of the house-gone to college & missions, leaving my younger brother and I home to fight for the title of the #1 favorite child and I tell ya-the fight was on!! I remained "Daddies Little Princess...who gets whatever she wants!" (...the boys by now had added that last little part: lovingly added it of coarse!) and Heath officially became known as "Mama's Little Spoiled Brat"! My mom just tried to never get involved with these family politics and my dad just happily admitted through all of it that, "Yep! She's my little princess!" Yes my friends, it has been a sweet place to be! Now that we are all adults...mature adults I might add :), my brothers and I laugh & joke about all of this. I am very close to each of them and love them so very much! (And just to let you know, even my younger brother was very protective of me...amongst the competition!)
In an attempt to bring this thought full circle, I would like to start off by mentioning that even today, I am still referred to in our family, as "Daddies Little Princess"! Every year when my parents come to visit or when I go home, dad and I always go on a 'daddy-daughter' date...so here's a picture from our date last week. The past couple of years we've hit McGraths for seafood....yyuuummm! Thanks for the date dad! I'm so thankful for you and love you so much! In closing this post let me just say, I AM "Daddies little princess..and proud of it!" .

Tiff's Baking...again, people!!!

Anyone who knows me well, knows that I love to bake (as well as eat what I bake)!! Usually, when I go on a 'baking spree' I will keep some for our family and then drop plates off to friends/neighbors b/c I've been trying to lose weight this past year. Well, SORRY FRIENDS! The closest these goodies got to the door was in a bunch of little boys bellies as they ran out to play!! I had a ton of fun baking these yummy treats! With my parents and nephews here visiting for three weeks, we've baked quite a few goodies! So anyway, here are a few of the treats we made:


Chocolate Reese's Cup Cake
Ok-so just go ahead and strap 20 lbs of LARD to my thighs and waist!! Holy Cow! This cake was to die for!! I don't think I'll make this one again for a while 'cuz it's gona take me a while to recover from all of the calories!!




Chocolate Cake Balls (aka doughnut balls)
TT drove everyone nuts with these "doughnut balls"!! First thing he asked about when he sprung out of bed in the morning and last thing he asked about at night was, "Can I have another Doughnut Ball?"..."If I eat three peas, can I have a doughnut ball?" It was a glorious day when these sinful balls were gone!!



Tiff's First...and Last Fondant Cake
Ok, so I can officially check 'make fondant cake' off my list now! The pre-made fondant was actually really easy to work with, and we really had a lot of fun making it together...my biggest problem with it was how incredibly delicious it was (NOT!). Let's just say it tastes about as good as---uummm---wall paper paste! If you like wall paper paste, then you should run right down to Michael's with your 40% off coupon and grab yourself a big 'ol box of it!! I must be honest with you all and just say that it didn't help that I didn't add flavoring to it, but who cares, my verdict stands that it still tasted like wall paper paste! The cake and frosting (butter cream of coarse!) underneath were yummy delicious...but that fondant...ugh! I have to say that I did NOT want a corner piece of that cake! Despite the fact that it taste nasty ( and Jacob was hanging over the toilet bowl all night..connection to the wall paper paste?) , the cake, WE Believe, turned out pretty darn good. This really was a fun project to do with the kids!

Here's your basic, box mix, frosted cake!



Stretching the fondant...



coloring & kneading the fondant...



be sure to sprinkle the counter w/powdered sugar...



rolling the fondant out...



Meema and her crafty little self, made the fabulous bow for the cake!



cutting out our shapes...



hhmmm...Do ya think that kid in the corner likes to be the center-of-attention?



...maybe I should call Food Network to see about getting him his own show...



I wonder if Chef Duff has any openings at Charm City Cakes!



What a great team we make!!



Ta-da! The masterpiece is complete...




...and ready to eat!!

Meema's got a "New Do"

I just LOVE my mom's new haircut!!! Jessica always does such a great job and I tell ya, people! This cut couldn't be more perfect for my mom!! We always get our hair done together when she comes out and this year was no exception! She & I spent the day out of the house with no kids and no husbands. We went to the early showing of 'Mamma Mia', ran and grabbed a sandwich and then made it just in time for our hair appointment! What fun it's been having mom here! I always appreciate and treasure my time with my parents. (and by the way...Mama Mia was FANTASTIC!! I have been singing the songs non stop and cannot wait to go see it again...in the near future! I swear, between wanting to see this movie again, waiting for Breaking Dawn and waiting for Twilight Movie...I'M GOING NUTS!! I'm really starting to feel a little OCD about these things!)

Thanks Aunt Kim & Uncle Heath!!!

Aunt Kim & Uncle Heath sent Marissa this cutesie dress!! Kim's sister (and a good friend of mine) made it! Neesie, you did a beautiful job on this dress!!! Rissa had tons of compliments on Sunday and everyone wanted to know who made it!! Thanks so much ya'll!! I can't wait to switch it inside out for her next Sunday dress!!





Speaking of Rissa...here's a picture of her walking! I have a couple of videos but I can't get it downloaded using this laptop, so a picture will have to do for now.

WE Love Our Cousins!!

Emer is sporting a new look! Our sweet little southern gentleman has turned hard core!! Sorry Kim & Heath, but he found this awesome, fuzzy GREEN hat at the $1 store and has been sporting it all around town!! Ok--don't worry...not ALL around town, just here and there. He also bought the "BLING BLING" there as well. I'll be sure he's wearing all of it for you when he walks off the plane to greet you!!









Tanner LOVES Max!! His most commonly asked question has been "Aunt Tiff, WHERE IS MAX?". I think Max loves him too!

Animals in the Wild

Holy Crap!!! We found this Saturday... well, it found us!! Emer nearly got a hole taken out of his leg!! AAAhhhhhhhhhhhh!! Ok--well, we actually found it on a trip to Cabela's...but it's still scary right!? We were all bored and trying to find something to do the other day and so we decided to go look at the animals (real but stuffed...really stuffed!) at Cabela's. Then the kids started getting all creative on me and came up with the idea that each of them would pick an animal and then recreate it--draw, color, oil paint...however they wanted. A couple of the kids were a tab bit bummed when they asked if I had 'fur' and much to my dismay, I had to tell them that, "No guys, I don't have any fur" but other than that, they happily used everything I put out on the table for them! I was so excited that they were so excited about doing all of this b/c it gave them something to do when we got home as well...other than playing the Wii! So here are a few other pictures from our field trip :) .
Emer decided he wanted to 'be' the Rattlesnake.



TT said that the Lion is the king of the jungle, so it has to be his animal!



Jacob's final animal was the glorious Elephant...b/c he has a big nose and big feet...and big ears too! ---Jacob, my love, Mr Elephant has big everything...(hey, hey now! Minds out of the gutter girls--I did not mean what you're thinking! That is a factual, innocent comment my friends, that's all! Factual and innocent...elephant's are big!)



Brant took his time deciding on the animal right for him that day...in the end he chose the Arctic Fox. It sounds good to me esp with how stinkin hot it is here all the time!



Here are the finished projects!! These boys are very creative!! We've done several art projects and the boys never cease to amaze me!! ...Kim clear a wall and pull out the frames b/c your boys are bringin them all home to show ya!!

Celebrating a Birthday & Anniversary

Happy Birthday Amie!!
Sat morning a few of us got together at the Cracker Barrel for breakfast to celebrate Amie's birthday!! I Loved eating all that Southern food!! Mom & I (& Rissa) shared pancakes, grits & eggs, ham & bacon!! Yumm!! It was a lot of fun! Amie is my Vt companion, but before that, she's a good friend! Happy birthday girl!! Some of the others went to see MAMA MIA! -but mom & I didn't go b/c neither of us wanted to end up in the foyer with the sweet little princess-Rissa's not really into musicals yet...not unless puppets are involved!! Amie, I hope you had a great day!




I'll phrase the following two pictures in two languages: western & southern.
Western: Amie, Kath, Allyson, Julie & Nancy..sitting on the east side of the table.
Southern: If you look down the table, go straight past four glasses of water and to the left you'll find Amie and Kath. Then look to the right, in and out of the salt & pepper and you'll see Allyson and then look around the ol menu and there we have Julie and Nancy.


Western: This is the west side of the table. On the right is Meema (my mom), Me, a beautiful flower (which is attached to Marissa's head by way of a band), Shelley & Natalie.
Southern: Douse-doe around the ketchup and then swing around the tall glass thing and you'll see Meemaw...then side shuffle up the table to see me, that flower baby and a blond named Shelley. Do a loopty-loop and bring it on back with Natalie sitting to on the side.



So I tried to be inconspicuous at lunch one day with Amie. I wasn't sure if she was a JACOB fan or an (let us all breath a dreamy sigh...aaaahhhhh) EDWARD fan. I forgot to ask her, but I think I got away with finding out who's side she's on without being too suspicious..how'd I do A? Anyway-I made an Edward shirt for myself and decided to make her one for her gift. I think I need to get a book on 'How to Iron-on for Dummies' b/c when I put my shirt on, my 'E' fell off. I was later sitting on the couch with Brant and he looks at my shirt and, with a weird look on his face, says, "Mom, who's dward?" Yes, my friends, 20 mins b/f leaving for the breakfast, a very important piece of Edward fell off!! I did, however, find the missing piece and iron it back on...and much to my surprise, it did stay attached the remainder of the day!



My Iron-on skillz really do suck!! Amie put her shirt on and plop! There goes a piece of the heart!! Luckily my mom was there to save the day!! It just so happens that she keeps super glue on hand for such emergencies!! (You just never know when your iron-on rhinestone is going fall off!!)



Me, Kathee & Natalie--it was so fun meeting Natalie! She's new in our ward and I'm super excited to get to know her better! Kathee's looking pretty hot in that scoop neck shirt!! Ooo-la-la!!




I am so stoked about the new book coming out in two weeks!! I already have the book pre-ordered and it'll be shipped to me that day, but I'm totally gonna be at the big event with everybody, wearing my Edward shirt!...that is, if the iron-on's don't fall off!! Maybe I should order a professionally made shirt b/c I'm not too sure mine will survive a washing!!

Our 12th Anniversary!!
We decided to take advantage, once again, of my parents being in town and 'let' them keep the kids for us to go out. :) We went with the Christensens, to see the movie, Get Smart and then to dinner at Jimmy Buffet's Margarita ville. The movie was hilarious (and yes, there was a trailer for Twilight at the beginning!!) and the food was good. The company was alright...J/K!! We had a great time with Allyson & Peter!Oh-and one thing I would like to mention about Marty & I is that neither one of us EVER remember our anniversary! A couple of years ago Marty's sister, Janell, called to wish us a Happy Anniversary and apologized for being a day late!...Yeah. like, we TOTALLY skipped the entire day without even realizing it! I'm so thankful that Janell loves us enough to let us know when our special days are! It's been that way our whole marriage, so by now, it's always a competition to see 'who remembers first'! Last year Marty remembered on his way home from work and called and yelled it out as fast as he could b/f I realized it...anyway...this year I WON! I got home from volleyball around 11:00pm, I stayed up until midnight and at 12:03 am I gave him a kiss, told him happy anniversary and went to bed!! So here are some pict's from our date night.


Marty & I...fuzzy! What the heck did I push to make all...most of my pictures turn out fuzzy?





Westgate-waiting for our buzzer to go off. The guys went to some sport store while Allyson & I took this time to mess with my camera to figure out what 'got pushed' to make all of my pictures turn out so fuzzy!!



So after taking random pictures of people (and getting nasty looks from them), we took a few pictures of ourselves to test our photography skills!



I think I finally ordered a better meal than Marty! His food ALWAYS looks and tastes better than what I order...but not this time!! I ordered the steak / shrimp plate and I swear that was the best steak EVER!! I did Share it though...I'm not that mean!

Happy Anniversary Honey!!!

Today is our 12th wedding anniversary!!! 12 years ago today we were sealed in the Orlando, Fl Temple by Marty's uncle, who served as the Temple Pres at the time. I wanted to post a picture or two from this glorious event, but our computer TOTALLY crashed two days ago!! (AAAahhhh!) My zip-drive filled up about a month ago and I just never went and got a new one so all of my pictures since then are lost forever!! I'm very sad b/c I did have several pictures of Marty and I that we'd taken recently that I'd been saving for such a time as this!! When we get our new tower up & running, I'll scan some pictures of our early years as well as take some more recent ones to post, but for now, I just wanted to let everyone know how grateful I am for my husband! He is my best friend and soul mate. I am appreciative to him for his love and support. I don't have to change for him-he loves me for who I am. He knows when to get out of my way and when to run to my rescue!! He let's me, with patience, read about Edward! I'm grateful for the wonderful father that he is. Marty, reguardless of all those 'guys' that I dated & kissed (sorry, inside joke) I love you with all my heart and will throughout eternity!!!

...what we've been up to lately...

We've been busy doing a lot lately, but here are two things I'll hightlight for now. There will be more to come soon.


Prayer Rocks
This is the rock that I use to prop our pool gate open with when needed. I wanted to cheer it up a little, so I bought some outdoor paint and mom and I painted it together (I know, Ahhhh mother /daughter bonding.. .how sweet!). Well, I knew before hand that my kids, along with their cousins, Emerson & Tanner, would totally want to paint something so this is what I came up with:
I piled them and my dad in the car and drove us all up to the White Tanks. I pulled over at the Waterfall Trail playground and explained to them that we were going to pick out "Prayer Rocks". My kids had one a while back so they helped me explain what they are. Emer & TT were so excited!! We all had fun picking out rocks and the boys had fun chasing a couple of critters they found wandering around. It was also fun for them to see the true desert ya know, w/o all of the concrete and with all the cacti! So here are a few pictures from this grand adventure!!


"Emer, You're seven pricklies tall this year...Jacob, You're eight!!"



...just a cactus shadow...with a little critter running around in the background!

Peepa helping Jacob find "the perfect" rock!! This was quite a feat, seeing that Mr Jacob had a very detailed description of what 'his rock' looked like! So I will speak words of wisdom from my good friend, Jill: "For the love of children!!!" ...or..."sweet mother of pearl, just pick a rock!!". (Jill, sometimes in life, I find that you're phrases just come right out!! I appreciate that b/c it keeps a 'bad word' from flying out of my mouth!!)



Each of the kids finally found 'their special rock'!...so can we go get a sonic slushy and get out of the blazing sun now!!



...and here's the finished product, I found them all to be very creative!! Great job boys!!




Swimming, swimming, swimming!!


Here's Tanner getting ready for his rock climb up the waterfall. Real men don't use the steps!!

TT making a big slpash!! He could not wait for me to take pictures of him jumping off the waterfall!! He then, in detail, explained that I was to take my camera, hook it up to the computer and put the picture wherever it goes so that his mama & daddy could see it!!...and I was to do it TODAY!!


Emer flashing all of his muscles to the world...watch out everyone!!!




Emer diving off of the waterfall...from THE TOP, to be exact!! Great 'form' E!




Look at that Hunk!! Flex baby-Woohoo!! I love my man!!


Splish! Splash! Rissa loves the water!! I've been trying to teach her to blow bubbles. She loves putting her face in the water but instead of blowing bubbles, she blows and then the second her lips hit the water, she sucks!! Not too good for the lungs!! She then, usually, smiles her chubby little cheeks off while she coughs it out!