savory + sweet

the other day i was reading the newspaper and delicious looking pictures of crepes caught my eyes.

if you know me, you know that i love crepes.  not only do i love them, but many fond memories were made during our weekly crepe parties at jenny's house during high school.  we would invite over a bunch of friends and eat until we couldn't fit in one more bite.  those were the days :)

anyways, those pictures happened to be showcasing a new eatery in town--savory and sweet.

(and when i say "in town", unfortunately i mean orem not the small town in which we live!)

the reviews were great so we decided to try it out...and we loved it.  the food was great (especially the dessert crepe!) and the service was excellent.  we had a lovely time:

 

we couldn't feed ave fast enough.  she wanted to crawl onto the table...

...and into this:

max's many mannerisms (say that three times fast!)

it's impossible to describe how much we love this little guy.

he is full of energy.

he is so sweet.

he is silly.

he is getting better and better at communicating.

he loves his baby sister with all his heart.

he is such a boy.

he loves his fruits + veggies (such a good eater!)

he still calls milk "nope" and it's the cutest thing ever.

he can throw some nasty tantrums.

he loves to be outside.

he is so curious.

he loves stories.

he could play with trucks all day long.

he's got quite the soccer kick (daddy's proud)

he loves to help out around the house.

he loves to play with daddy.

+ this is a common occurrence in our household.  

danny taking max for a ride, max giggling his little heart out:

+ last thursday, max and i had craft time while avery was taking her nap.  it was so much fun!! i need to do this more often.  i was surprised at how long max sat still coloring, cutting, and taping.  he is such a cutie.  we made martha stewart's, wax paper crayon hearts...and while they didn't turn out as beautiful as hers, they are still pretty darn cute and max loves them.  every morning he can't wait to open the curtains to see his hearts hanging in the window:

+ he's got some crazy dance moves!  

not sure where he learned them... (ahemm...danny...)

+ he won't go anywhere without his "blue hat" and even insists on wearing it before getting dressed in the morning:

+ he loves his choo choo train!! my parents gave him this little track for christmas and he has such a fun time putting the tracks together in different arrangements.  on this particular morning, i was in the kitchen cleaning up when he ran in excitedly and pulled me into the dining room.  he had done this all by himself!  i told him i wanted to get a picture and he posed right away :)  he then went on to make two more different tracks, and each time he posed a different way, without me saying anything.  it was hilarious.

+ his vocab really is improving so much.  some of his most commonly repeated phrases include:

"self!!" (he has become quite the independent two year old)

"white shoes on" (he wears those white shoes everywhere!  except to church, and then he cries...)

"choo choo train"

"too tight" (he complains of his diaper being too tight...silly boy)

"kurt's house" (he loves our neighbors!)

"blue hat"

"where daddy/mama/ave go?"

"what's daddy/mama/ave doing?"

"nigh nigh moon" (he just said this tonight as we were walking home from kurt's house.  he looked up in the sky, saw the moon, and said, "nigh nigh moon, mama!"  my heart melted.)

and this video captures some more of his favorite words on camera.  

danny promised his classes he would bring in a video of max praying...and here it is!  

he gets distracted a few times, but he did a great job:

we love you maxwell scott.

don't ever forget that.

xoxo.

it was fun while it lasted...

the iphone didn't last long :(

but it sure was fun to play with while i had it!!

instagram was my absolute fav.

maybe one day...

oh, and if you think i staged the above picture of max...i promise i didn't.

that kid is silly and wears those glasses everywhere.  i love him :)

provo beach resort

what would we do without good friends??

a few weeks ago, my close girlfriends and i got together to say goodbye to dayna.

(she and her little family moved to chile!!)

we were quite the crowd with all of our little munchkins,

but it was so so much fun.

(except for the part when krugh got lost...that was not fun at all!)

kim made yummy cupcakes and kate brought cake bites from the sweet tooth fairy.

it was wonderful.

love you all!

freezer meals

one of the best things is not knowing what to throw together for dinner...

and then remembering that you have freezer meals in the freezer!

a few months ago, my friends kim and jessica got together for the first of (hopefully) many freezer meal exchanges!  we started out simple the first time--we each made three of the same meals, and then swapped (so we came home with three different meals.)  the next time we each made two meals to trade + a dessert.  and the last time we did it, we each made two meals + a side.  

we've come away with some awesome meals:

chicken taquitoes from our best bites

soup + rolls

pizza dough + sauce

cookie dough

ice cream

mini cheesecakes

calzones

breakfast burritos (we personally love these!!)

hamburger buns + patties

for our last swap, i made:

sweet and sour chicken

shepherd's pie

granola bars

the granola bars were a hit.

among the girls, and among my little family.  i couldn't feed them to avery fast enough!

they are super yummy (the chocolate chip ones tasted like cookie bars!) and they are very healthy.

enjoy!

p.s. i even snuck some quinoa into the shepherd's pies!

cook the quinoa, mix it into the hamburger...and the meat stretches 3x as far!!

plus, when it's mixed in with hamburger, you can't even tell.  the textures are identical.

do you have any yummy freezer meals you'd like to pass along?

happy things

our weekend was lovely.

just a few things that have been going on in our lives:

+ danny and i attended a jazz game! (this was a first for me)  jazz won by ten and right at the end the entire arena was filled with multi-colored confetti.  it was almost my favorite part of the entire game :)

+ i had a freezer meal swap with my good friends kim and jessica.  (this is our third exchange, and it just keeps getting better and better!  watch for a post to come soon with some delish freezer recipes!)

+ we celebrated aaron and missy's graduation...and danny's dad's birthday!

+ we got excited to watch this show 

(we still haven't watched the most recent episode...so don't spill any details!  

anyone else in love with this show??)

+ went to gap and scored some amazing deals for the entire fam!

(we got everything seen below for $40!!!)

for him:

for her:

for the little him:

 for the little her:

my personal favorite finds:

+ oh, and i got my diploma from BYU!!!!!!!!

what a wonderful package to receive in the mail!

what have you been up to??

little goose

oh, miss. avery mae.

where do i begin??

you are growing up so extremely fast.  nine months already??  i refuse to believe it!

you are energetic.

you love your brother.

you have two pearly whites on the bottom.  they are adorable but sharp!

you can crawl so quickly (you've got to keep up with max!)

you have the most beautiful skin.

you just started sleeping through the night!!!!

(this has been an answer to many prayers)

you aren't super attached to your binky, but you like it when you go to sleep.

you have some favorite foods: pulled pork being at the top of the list

(we couldn't give it to you fast enough!)

you want to be able to walk so badly.

you can pull yourself up to the couch.

you love paper and always try to eat it.  (you've been successful a few times!)

you have had a runny nose for the last month (at least!)

you love to read (and try and eat) stories.

you take two naps a day.

you love it when i sing to you (almost as much as i love it.)

you weigh 17 pounds. (max weighs 25!)

you love bath time.

(tonight you were fascinated with the faucet)

you like to be around max and take his toys.

you love to play with your daddy.

you hardly snuggle with us anymore.

you make some of the cutest, and silliest faces.

you love to eat and get very impatient when you run out of food on your tray.

you smile at yourself in the mirror.

you have the cutest little laugh.

...

and, you have brought so much joy into our lives!

wondering what this picture has to do with sweet innocent little avery mae??

let me tell you:

the other night, after putting ave to bed, she instantly popped up and started crawling all over the place. (not typical for her)  i expected her to calm down but when i came back to check on her she was still just as wired.  i kept watching her and decided to go grab danny so he could see our crazy daughter.  we thought it best to put pillows around her just in case she toppled out of her bassinet.  we kissed her goodnight and went out into the kitchen to watch a show.  a few minutes later, i went to grab a drink...and what do you know???  avery has the most triumphant look on her face as she is CRAWLING INTO THE KITCHEN!!!  it freaked me out!  i was so shocked, but i also couldn't stop laughing.  it was craziness.  good thing we put pillows down!!  both of our pack-n-plays were at my parents, so we had to make a late night trip to our friends to borrow one (thanks again linzy!)  luckily, she hasn't figured out how to get herself out of that one...yet :)

we love you little goose!