snow day

we've been lucky enough to have great weather so far here in vegas. so good that we've been able to consistently go to the park a few times a week. but, with all that good weather we were also lucky enough to get to play in the snow for a day (the perfect amount of time)! it was really "puttin' her down" out there when we woke up this particular morning. nash came running into my bedroom and woke me up yelling that it was snowing. the kids were insanely excited since we had planned to have some fun in the snow while in utah for the holidays and it didn't work out (the snow {in}conveniently melted during our short trip). i could have used a little more snow in order to make a snowman, but i'm not about to complain. wearing a t-shirt to the park in january can't be beat.

aargh: nash's 4th birthday party

ahoy!  nash's fourth birthday party (in november...better late than never, right?) was a pirate party (because i'm the boss and i wanted a pirate party. next year nash can have his dream "sewing machine party.").


cap'n nash:


some of the swashbucklers. their moms did a fantastic job dressing them for the occasion.


we took a few photos with the birthday boy (these will eventually be sent with thank-you cards),



played pin the treasure on the map, pass the parrot, and walk the plank,


ate fish & chips, orange slices (no scurvy here!), cupcakes & ice cream cups,


and opened presents (clearly it was very exciting).


nash had a blast and i survived my first real kid party!


{and haven looked pretty cute, too.}

thanks to all you four-year old scalliwags for making nash's fourth birthday such a great event! and to all you moms for being such good sports with the attire + funding such fun gifts!

*please excuse the wacky white-balance in these photos. it's the reason i waited so long to post them. i have been trying and trying to fix it, but i cannot get them right.  i quit. and i've learned never to take photos in my "yard" again.

chocolate coconut truffles

emmy brought these to us at christmas and i've been dreaming about them ever since. i didn't have enough agave on hand until yesterday's costco trip. the kids and i didn't waste any time and whipped up a batch this morning. they are heaven. (if you aren't a coconut fan you can roll them in cocoa instead of coconut and you won't even notice the coconut in the rest of the truffle.) these are reeeally easy, so so good!

chocolate coconut truffles

1/2 c. coconut oil/butter, warmed to soften

3/4 c. agave nectar

2 t. vanilla

1/4 t. sea salt

blend above in food processor and then add:

1 c. coconut (add 1/2 c. at a time)

process until blended. transfer to a bowl and add:

2 c. dark, sifted cocoa powder

stir until well blended. refrigerate about 10 minutes or until slightly set. roll into balls and then roll in cocoa or coconut. store in airtight container in refrigerator. 

shiloh visits

this weekend the petersons came down out of the cold mountains for a visit. we hadn't seen them for quite a while (and i'd never even met hazel-now four months old). the kids were super excited to see shiloh. she's one of those friends who calms my kids, rather than get them riled up and feisty. she's just plain sweet. hazel spent most of the trip napping in her sling or stroller, but i managed to get a shot of her (and her bright blue eyes) on our last adventure.

the weather has been amazing, upper-sixties to mid-seventies, so it was the perfect weekend for some fun. we went to springs preserve (if you live in vegas/visit vegas and haven't been-go. it felt like a little slice of heaven.) nash thought the flash flood simulation was "amazing," there were lots of fun things for the kids to do (like seeing how far they could jump-a video might follow this post if i can find my video camera), and the botanical gardens had me reminiscing and missing my glory days at NTBG. oh, and the architecture? don't even get me started...

of course no vegas trip is complete without a visit to the bellagio conservatory, a stroll down the strip (where nash & shiloh may have stolen a kiss or two in front of the "eiffel tower"...they were so sly i couldn't even capture it!), and town square for H&M + yogurtland.

my kids had so much fun it was hard to say goodbye. lisa overheard nash tell shiloh that he would "miss her soooo much" while they hugged. haven has been asking if we can go to utah to see shiloh non-stop. in her words "that was so fun, mom, with shiloh."

and it was.

thanks for the visit, you guys. come again soon!

new year, new trick

one of my new year's resolutions was to create a gif animation. check.

not really, my three actual resolutions are slightly more complicated. they involve three words: accept, laugh, and exercise.

accept that i have ms and that i'm going to have it forever (unless i get really lucky, which i need to accept is very unlikely). i know most of you think i've got it all under control in this area of my life. i put on a good front. and i'm not saying that i don't handle it pretty well overall. but it still eats at me constantly, even when i'm not physically feeling the disease. it has changed me for ever. mostly for the good, but sometimes for the not-so-good and it's those areas that i'm trying to throw out the back door. if i can better accept my situation for what it is, maybe i won't react so poorly so often. because in all honesty this disease will not get the best of me. i refuse to let it.

laugh at myself. make others laugh, too. i think i used to be pretty funny. (my family will disagree here, they've always made a big to-do when i make a joke they actually find funny. "ooh, liz made a funny joke!" or "wow, liz, that was actually kind of funny." they are critics. and they are definitely funnier than i am.) but to the outside world with an average sense of humor, i was funny. i've become way too serious and way too grumpy. i'm going to let things go and laugh. and when steve grabs my bum i will try my hardest not to get mad ;) goal three comes in to play here...because if i have a firm bum i won't mind his grabbing it, right?

exercise. do i need to elaborate? i had a gym pass right after we got married. it was a two-year contract. i never went. not even once. (in my lame defense i had just been diagnosed with ms and was told i shouldn't exercise or let my body temperature rise. boo.) just like the rest of the world i go through phases where i'm great at getting in a workout (usually spring/summer) then the couch becomes my best friend. no more. i got another gym pass. and before you cringe, just know that i've already kicked my last gym pass's butt (not that it was hard). and i'm loving every second of it.

p.s. i was very strongly influence by this when setting my goals. although i chose three words, i'm mainly focusing on one: accept. it can/will have such an impact on my life and how i choose to handle it from here on out.

p.p.s. today i accepted that i have been living a pretty darn good life for THIRTY years. happy birthday to me!

new year's eve

new year's eve was low-key. just us (it's my favorite way). in bed on time (i'm no good at late nights). we started the evening off with chinese take-out (martin family tradition) at five (a little early, if you ask me. but a certain husband/dad gets a little antsy when he has an entire day off work and doesn't know what to do with himself)! then we moved on to the celebration of all (toddler) celebrations. there were party hats, horns, beads, candy, sparklers, pop-its, confetti, and a smash "cake". the kids had a blast, and although it was all over before the ball dropped on the east coast (oops), it was nice to have the kids in bed at a normal hour so steve and i could watch a movie and ring in the new year alone with our bottle of martinelli's (actually it was archer farms brand and it was "ooh," as the kids say).








happy new year!!!

old times

i just found these on my computer.
and i'm rolling.
like, it hurts.
we used to spend hours using photobooth.
we make reeeeeaaaalllly ugly faces.
leave it to nash to look uber handsome while the rest of us make fools of ourselves.

(don't kill me em...i didn't think they'd be this big...oops)