A Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood

Martin Luther King Day was gorgeous- everyone had off of school, so we headed to The Botanical Gardens ( FREE DAY) with grandma and the girl's cousins..
It was just so pretty outside, even though all the plants were dead:)

Inside, was very cool, especially the Tropical Room...

Amazing Cream of Broccoli Soup Recipe

Here it is (sorry for the delay)

 My dad's Cream of Broccoli Soup:

It really is amazing. Mark does NOT like broccoli and was skeptical about the soup,

but after trying it (with grilled cheese and ham- he dips it in the soup) He LOVES it!

The KEY to this recipe is to NOT let the milk burn

(the first time I made it, it tasted HORRIBLE because I wasnt stirring constantly and it burned)

Ingredients:

1/2 lb butter

1 head of broccoli (or more if desired)

1/2 cup onions

16 oz frozen broccoli

1 cup flour

1/2 gallon of milk

3 chicken bouillon cubes

6 slices of White American Cheese

Put the first 3 ingredients in a soup pot and cook onions and broccoli over medium heat till tender (about 5-6 minutes)

Add the frozen broccoli to the mixture and cook till tender.

Add the cup of flour and mix thoroughly to form a rue of sorts

Next add the milk and bouillon cubes.

Cook until thickened- this is the most important step- you need to continually stir this mixture or the milk will burn. Keep the heat in the middle and stir for about a minute and then let it sit for about a minute- back and forth till it thickens up- I think it takes about 5-8 minutes-

Once it is thickened, add cheese and stir again. Add salt and pepper to taste and serve!

Happy Birthday Great Grandma!

Emy organized a SURPRISE birthday party for grandma this past Sunday and it was a huge success! She asked me to make the cake and I happily agreed! I LOVE making cakes and especially need the practice creating new things! It had a few errors but overall I like the finished product!

Emy put on quite the spread of fondue foods:)

All grandmas friends gathered around to surprise her and she was!!

I really am so thankful for the family God has allowed us to live close to here in Denver!

Happy Birthday Great Grandma and heres to many more birthdays to come!

One BUSY weekend!

What a VERY busy but amazing weekend! My sweet friends surprised me by taking me downtown to get away for the night. I am SO blessed  to have friends who would think of that for me and a husband who didnt blink an eye when they asked him if I could go!

Our first stop was The Rocky Mountain Diner- a place visited by Rachel Ray on her tv show of places to eat in different cities. She had the Roast Duck Enchilada, so I ordered that too- We all ordered something different and shared- it was SO good!

Our next stop was PF Changs where we attended a goodbye party for a sweet friend, Karie who was moving away quite suddenly. I put together a scrapbook for her and we ate MORE- lettuce wraps and  fried bananas and coconut  ice cream- amazing...

We then went to our hotel- a Hampden Inn on 19th and Stout- we went right to the hot tub and relaxed and talked. The we rented a movie and relaxed some more!

And the best thing ever- I SLEPT IN!

The next morning (Sat) we ate a HUGE breakfast in the hotel and then walked the 16th Street Mall and found some good deals at Bath and Body and Gap!

Then it was time to go home and prepare for Ella's 3rd Birthday Party! Sarah stayed to help me set up and bake! We amazingly got it together in 2 hours! The party was a success!

It was a cupcake/candy/tea party! I found these adorable tea sets for $1, so they were perfect party favors!

Ella was SO excited about her store bought cupcakes:) (I was feeling quite guilty for not making her a cake but she was just SO excited about the cupcakes so it made me feel better)

Don't I have some CUTE kiddos! I just LOVE them so!

We had 12 little ones running around...

We played Pass the Cupcake and Pin The Cherry on the Cupcake

                                           

Thanks to everyone who came and helped Ella feel so special!

Catching up

I feel so behind in my blogging and life in general!
Here are a few snapshots from our night out for our 8th Anniversary on January 4th!

We went out to eat for an AMAZING fancy dinner at The Broker in downtown Denver.
My sweet friend, Megan, babysat for us and we ate till we could eat no more!
The French Onion soup was amazing and has won many awards!
We also had all you can eat shrimp cocktail, salmon,
steak, salad, and raspberry cheesecake from New York!

If you have never eaten at a fancy resturaunt- I reccommend it at least once!
I think the first time in our marriage that we splurged like that and it was SO worth it-
they even had Valet parking! I felt so special!

Celebrating 3 Years With My Ella Bella

We celebrated Ella's 3rd Birthday this morning with a breakfast party! I stayed up and decorated the dining room (amazing what $5 from the Dollar Tree can do) and when she woke up and came downstairs she was in awe:) Daddy made her our traditional birthday pancakes and we sang and she blew out her 3 pink candles.

We played Pin the Nose on Elmo and she opened her 3 presents!

Tonight we are going to take her on a special trip to Chuckie Cheese

while the twins are at AWANA and maybe to Village Inn for some pie.

On Saturday she will have her friend birthday party (cupcakes and tea)

I am so blessed to have Ella Bella in my life these past 3 years.

She is spunky, sweet, not cuddly, funny, has adorable mannerisms and beautiful eyes.

Happy Birthday, sweet girl!

The Best Is Yet To Come....

 

2004- We started out our marriage without a digital camera (and I have still yet to scan our "old"  first anniversary pictures), so here we are above on our second anniversary finding out we were pregnant and in July of that year, we had twin baby girls!

 

2005- Our third anniversary, we were SURVIVING, trying to raise twin baby girls , so as you can imagine, we dont have many pictures of just us two! (I couldnt find one honestly-!)

Life was full of babies!

 

 

2006- Our fourth anniversary we had adjusted to life with kids and in the middle of the year,
I was pregnant with baby number 3! 

 

2007- Our fifth anniversary, we welcomed Ella into the world

(2 days after our anniversary to be exact) 

We also moved to Colorado- life was full of changes that year! 

 

2008- Our sixth anniversary, I was pregnant again with our BOY, Elijah! Life with him was very different but FUN and 4 kiddos at home took some adjusting to as well!

 

 

 2009- Our 7th anniversary was very "normal" - no new babies-

Mark started a new job and  we were just enjoying watching our family grow!

So, here we are to 2010 ( I'll take a picture of us tonight on our date)

When I look back on all these pictures,

I am overwhelmed how God has blessed our lives together-

He has given us 4 beautiful children.

He has strengthened our mariage and the love I feel for Mark has only grown stronger.

We have had our rough times for sure, but I wouldn't trade my life for anything or anyone else!

I Love you, Mark and am forever yours....

Happy 8th Anniversary!

New Year's Eve Celebrations!

We took the kiddos to a nearby rec center to swim. Since we live in this district, I got an ID card (for cheaper rates,etc) and they gave me a bunch of coupons to use for different amenities. Well, there was one for swimming and the girl said it could cover our whole family- so we went swimming for FREE! (you know I LOVED that deal!)

The twins were in heaven, swimming like little fishes. They were even dunking under and begging to go in the deep parts!

Elijah on the other hand, was petrified for most of the hour and a half we were there. He clung to us with a death grip, as if he was going to sink under the warm water and dissappear forever. We gladly held him.

Ella cracked me up with this fishy slide! She was SO excited about it but EVERY time she went up she would beg me to catch her and despite our promises that we would , we would eventually have to grab her foot and pull her down. She would splash and sputter but never cry or whine:) Eventually Mark gave up trying to coax her down and as soon as she sat down, he would sneak up behind her and push her- it was SO funny!

And the even funnier thing was she didnt care!

After swimming, we went home and played board games.

We got Don't Break the Ice (Ellas fav) for Christmas and it's a BIG hit!

Then, it was on to Princessopoly! The twins got this from Grandma and Grandpa and they beg to play it all the time! It is just like Monopoly but much easier and really teaches them to count and add- its full of pretty princesses and girly things but Mark happily plays along. We've never finished it yet and amazingly we have had no tears or fights while playing!

In due time, we sent all the munchkins off to bed and settled down to watch a movie and eat all these yummy treats that I made for us! We even played some poker and blackjack! We were supposed to have a party with friends, but no-one could make it and I am quite glad it turned out that way- it was WONDERFUL to spend some quality time with the man I love!

Happy New Year- here's to a GREAT new decade filled

with love, laughter and God's amazing grace!