Vacation no more!

Sorry to my faithful readers that my blog has remained the same for so long! In reference to my last post (the recipe contest) the winner will be announced next week! I know you can't wait!

So, the kids and I flew (yes, I flew ALONE with the kids) on the 13th of February to Utah to celebrate my Grandma Lucy's 80th birthday! and have a family reunion. Kelly did come, but because he overlapped this trip with a business trip, he was on a flight a day later. The flight went surprisingly well! and the next day Kelly arrived just in time to celebrate Valentines Day. My sister Becca and I made some traditional Moma May Cookies, and that night we left the kids with Emily and enjoyed a nice Valentine's Day dinner.

One of Laynie's favorite people is her Nana. I can't believe how fast Laynie is growing up. Just before our trip she used the potty for the first time!! (of course, it hasn't happened since...) She talks non-stop and is extremely silly!!

Nana took Laynie with her to visit her cousin Val and see all of his animals on the wall (he's a hunter) Here is Laynie giving the bear a kiss!!

Kelly was thrilled to finally be able to snowboard on some REAL mountains! He has gone a few times to the "mountain" closest to us...it is called 'RoundTop' and, hence the name, it is only 800 vertical feet, and not very challenging. Kelly got to snowboard 2 days in Utah and loved every minute of it!

Kelly wasn't the only one who hit the slpoes! No, not the pregnant mama, (although I did run along side of Addison on the bunny hill shouting directions), Addison tried skiing for the first time ever! Thanks to years of hand-me-downs in the Hickman family (my mom's side), Addison was totally outfitted with boots, skis, goggles, etc. for free! And Thnks Nana for the great lessons!

Thankfully the rope tow alongside of a nice little bunny hill was also free, so after 5 or 6 runs when Addison declared he was done, that was just fine!

This was the first time in almost 3 years that the whole Pickett family was together! We have added three since our last 'complete' family picture: Laynie, Ella, and Rochelle (Bill's Wife).

You'll notice the classy cabin motif behind us...in order to accomodate everyone, the whole family stayed at the Timpanogos Lodge. It is an ideal place if you have crazy children who like to run around and potentially brake things...there was NOTHING to brake (except themselves, which Clay almost did!) However, considering that up to 80 people sleep in the three large rooms upstairs, it is NOT ideal for a good night's rest. But, no complaining from me-- where else could we have hosted 89 people for my Grandma's birthday party?!

And here is almost all of the Hickman family clan, growing all the time...both my cousin Kera and I are pregnant and that will make 17 grandchildren and 10 great-grandchildren for Papa Bob and Grandma Lucy!

My Turn!

Months ago I "won" a 'pay it forward' from my friend Amanda....a lovely little package full of some of her favorite things. The only stipulation was that I 'pay it forward' also; so here goes. When I contemplated choosing a 'winner' based on comments made to this post, I thought the comments should be something productive and helpful to me (does that sound totally selfish?...) Anyway, then I needed to ponder what my readers could contribute that would be most helpful to me...in exchange for an outrageous prize of course. So, I decided that what would benefit me the most is-- Recipes.

So, here's the 'contest.' Write your favorite/easiest/tastiest recipe as your comment or email me (annieditto@gmail.com); I will try them all and pick my favorite by the 1st of March. The winner will get a package in the mail of some of my favorite things AND the glory of winning! I promise to make the package GREAT, but even if that is not an incentive to you, PLEASE post your fav recipe anyway to benefit a poor pregnant lady suffering from pregnancy brain. (It's twice as hard to come up with a dinner plan lately!) I can't wait to try them all! Thank you!!!