Father's Day!!

I am so thankful for Father's Day, a whole day that we can spend celebrating the wonderful Fathers in our lives.

First off, I have to say that my daughter has THE most incredible father any little girl could ask for. It amazes me every time he plays with her, holds her, helps feed her, changes her lovely diapers, anything, how great he is with her! I have to admit, she sure is a daddy's girl!! It almost makes me emotional to watch when Evey sees daddy walk in the door from work, how much her face brights up with a HUGE gummy smile! Oh it melts my heart every time. She just ADORES him! I knew that Mike would be a good dad to our children, but it just makes me feel so blessed to watch him with Evelette. It sure makes me love my hunk of a husband even more! :)

She LOVES to sit up now! She finally learned that it's ok to bend those stiff legs haha

I also want to say how grateful I am for my Dad! He has literally always been there for me through good and bad times. He was such a good dad growing up, dealing so well with all the crap that comes along with his first daughter being a teenager, dating, moving to college, getting married, etc. He was always such an amazing example of how to be a good parent and spouse, very knowledgeable of the gospel, hard worker, incredibly smart with endless skills, can fix just about anything, and has such a great sense of humour! I am very blessed to have him as my dad! Love you dad!

My dad and I on my wedding day :)

EVELETTE DIANE MEINZER
Oh what a character she is! This little girl is full of life and has such a bubbly personality already! As many people keep telling me, she is definitely a MEINZER! haha which I am beginning to figure out sooner than I expected, at 6 months old!

• Her favorite activity is going on walks in her big girl stroller. I love watching her on our walks, she just stares at everything, probably thinking its all sooo cool! More fun to look at than the sides of her crib haha
• She constantly has to be chewing, biting, or sucking on something, even if it is my hair or arm haha.
• Her eyes are hazel/brown
• She is FINALLY starting to grow some more hair on that bald head of hers. Its coming in really, really light blondish/redish :)
• Pretty sure her favorit time of day is when she sees daddy come through that front door!
• She is such a good sleeper, only wakes up once to eat then goes right back to sleep. She even sleeps in her crib in her own room, like a big girl.
• During church she HAS to be standing and holding onto either the bench in front of us or the one we're on. I think she's afraid she's gonna miss out on anything going on around her. And when we sing out of the hymn book she is ALL HANDS, doing anything in her power to grab that book! It is very funny and very distracting!
• She loves feet! When in her bumbo, she is always trying to grab her feet. We were at my friends house this morning and Evey was grabbing my friends boy's feet and trying to eat them. She was grunting and trying SO hard and getting so frustrated when he would move his feet out of her grip haha oh she is a funny one.
• She can finally sit up on her own! Yay!!
• Evey can now crawl!... backwards that is. I will set her on the ground and 30 seconds later she is on the other side of the room! I am wondering when she will start moving forward?

I could go on all day blogging about this adorable sweetheart of mine but I need to get started on dinner while she's still snoozin!!



Blackwell Family Reunion 2011

Last weekend was a great weekend spent with the Blackwell family!

The family reunion was held up at two INCREDIBLY beautiful Timberlake Cabins up Heber canyon in Utah. There are always countless memories and laughs that come along with the Blackwell Herd, me included! haha. Mike, Evelette, and I had a very relaxing and enjoyable time, it's always nice to see how my cute and nerdy husband fits in with the group.

There were 4 grandbabies born within 6 months of each other, it was fun finally seeing them all together. And of course, my child was by far the smallest, which is hilarious because she is the oldest!! haha but they were all so cute together.

Evelette-6 months, Ryder- 5 months, Liam- almost 5 months, and Mia- 4 months

There were lots of fun activities each day for everyone to do. The second day we had a BBQ, played volleyball, played on the swings and playground, played tether ball, and then had a really fun fire with campsongs and stories! :)

Evey holding on tight on the teeter totter.

Brianna dominating at volleyball!

Daddy and Evey sittin around the big campfire!



Grandma Blackwell and Evey singing campfire songs with everyone!

 The third day most of the crew went to Soldier Hollow and ran a 5k, (I won't lie, I walked the whole thing haha). It was so beautiful and the weather was perfect! The whole family got to see how out of shape I am haha but I had fun pushing sleeping Evelette in the stroller the whole time.

Everyone that ran/walked the 5k!

Grandpa Blackwell and Evey at the finish line! She wasn't too happy about being woken up by all the cheering! haha

What a fun weekend we had and what a blessing it is to have such a wonderful family to share all these great memories with! Can't wait until the next Blackwell Reunion!

Other recent events in the Meinzer family!

Evelette's 6 month well-check!

I love my baby girl.

Friday June 3rd Evey had her 6 month well check. I was very shocked to find out she only weighs 12 lbs. 14 oz. and is STILL 23 inches long. She is in the 4% for weight and 0.45% for her height. She has been 23 inches long for 3 1/2 months now! The doctor said the fact she had bronchitis and a cold all in 3 weeks time could have a lot to do with her not growing a lot. But I am happy to say she is doing well and is finally back to her normal, smiley, talkative, happy little self!

Evey's cousin Xander's 1st birthday party!

What a cutie! He didn't know what to think about his OWN birthday cake!

Leslie and Dave had a cute little family birthday party for their 1 year old son, last Saturday at Mel's house. It is so hard to believe he is already a year old!! He is such a cute little boy. We are so happy Evey has a cousin only 6 months older than her, I am sure they will be great friends!

Dave grilled up some yummy Carne Asada and we ate some tasty red velvet cupcakes made by Leslie :)

After the party we went over to Mel's community pool to swim! We had a lot of fun on that busy Saturday! Wish we lived closer so we could do that all the time.

Later that night we went to Texas Roadhouse with the Meinzer crew in Bountiful to celebrate my MIL Melanie's birthday, which is today! :) Always great food there! When they came to sing happy birthday to Mel, Evey started SCREAMING, boy did she not like all that noise!

Xander didn't seem to mind all the noise!

Reese's Baby Blessing Day

The next day, Sunday June 5th, we were in Utah County for my neice Reese Lynn Blackwell's baby blessing. My brother Brandon did a beautiful job giving Reese her blessing. We were so glad we were able to come out for it, we feel like we miss so much lately living out of state. It was a lot of fun spending a day with the Blackwell's!

Reese was beautiful in her blessing dress

Blackwell Family plus Grandma Hunsaker

Evelette's first time meeting Grandpa Blackwell! :)

Sorry for all the pictures! I am a better photographer than a writer. :) What a great weekend!!

SALSA!!

Really Tasty and Addicting Salsa:



Ingredients:

2 cans diced tomatoes
2 Tbs apple cider vinegar
1/2 tsp cumin (add more if you like it spicy)
1/2 tsp salt
1/4 tsp pepper
3 cloves garlic, minced
1/2 onion
small handful of cilantro
2 green onions, tops only

Directions: Place all ingredients and pulse blend to desired texture. Chill several hours or overnight for flavors to blend well.

Hanksville Trip!

Memorial Day Weekend Trip!

For Memorial Day weekend we took advantage of Mike's long weekend off of work and went down to Hanksville, Utah! Boy did we have a blast camping, and yes I had fun camping in a tent with a 6 month old haha, minus the first two nights that Evey had a fever of 101.5. It scared the crap out of me, she has never been that sick. THANK GOODNESS we were able to bring it down with tylonel because we were about 2 hours away from the nearest hospital!

Us girls had a lot of fun chillin together!



My sister Brielle and brother Brent Jr. came along with my FIL Lynn, and Spencer and Jordan. Mike's co-worker Jason met us there as well, and I'm sure by the end of the trip he thought we were one crazy bunch! haha but that's how we roll! The boys went dirtbiking everyday all day, except Sunday we went to Goblin Valley to explore. Brielle and I were able to go on some four-wheeler rides and some hikes which was great fun. We got lots of sun and ate lots of smore's and roasted starbursts! (If you haven't tried roasting starbursts on the campfire yet you are missin out!!)

Evey was lovin' the dirt on her toesies!

Little Miss Slobber Butt!

Favorite picture of the whole trip! haha she wanted Uncle Jordan's coke sooo bad!



She is 100% daddy's girl. She loves anything that her daddy does, well at least so far.. haha

All in all it was a great weekend! Thank goodness my little sweetie started to feel better. She was such a good little sport about camping in the dirt for 5 days. 



I LOVE yummy recipes!!!

My favorite two meals! I love, love, love crock pots! Sorry I don't have any pictures!

Teryaki Shredded Pork:
1 1/2 cups soy sauce
4 cups water
2 cups sugar
1 Tbsp. cornstarch
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 Tbsp. ginger
5 lbs. pork loin/roast

Bring soy sauce, water, sugar, cornstarch, garlic, and ginger to boil. Take 1/2 of sauce and put with pork in crock pot for 4-5 hours on low heat. Set other 1/2 of sauce aside for later. Cook pork until tender with fork. Drain sauce from crock pot and take any excess fat off pork. Shred. Add remaining sauce back into crock pot until ready to serve. Serve over jasmine rice with stir fry veggies.

Creamy Crock Pot Chicken Tacos:
5 Chicken breasts, skinless and boneless
1 1/2 cups salsa
2 cans cream of chicken soup
2 1/2 Tbsp. taco seasoning
1 Tbsp. brown sugar
1 tsp. fresh lime juice
1 Tbsp. butter
1/2 cup sour cream

Spray inside of crock pot or use crock pot liner, place thawed chicken in.
In a small bowl, stir together everything but the butter and sour cream.
Pour sauce over chicken. Cover and cook high for 4 hours, or low for 6 hours.
Take chicken our of crock pot and put onto plate. Shred with fork and put back in.
Add the butter and sour cream, stir until incorporated.
Serve on tortillas with lettuce, cheese, and cilantro. YUMMY!

Evelette has been very busy lately discovering her hands and the fact that she can hold things all by herself. It's been really fun to watch her, she gets SO excited when you put something in her hands. She is to the stage where no matter what I am eating or holding she HAS to be holding it too. She is silly, she has to mark her territory by slobbering on anything she can get her cute little hands on, and when I say slobber I mean SLOBBER! haha. I just love how curious she is about all her surroundings, watching my EVERY move!

I feel so thankful that I am able to be a stay at home mom so that I get to experience all these little things! Mother's day was such a great day. There is truely nothing better than being a mom and having a wonderful husband who appreciates all I do. I am very blessed to have my wonderful little family!



Mother's day :)

  Evelette is one lucky little gal, she has the best dad!! He is so loving and takes her around the house with him everywhere. He loves to play with her and tickle her. He sure knows how to make her giggle!

Far too long..

As all of you know, I am TERRIBLE at updating my blog. My baby girl may just be my excuse haha.
Life has been amazing lately, nothing much to complain about! :) We have visited family in Utah quite a bit over the last few months and even went on a big camping/dirtbiking trip to Winnemucca with the Meinzer's and Wooden's. It was a LOT of fun, well until the massive hail and wind storm came that like demolished our tent and campsite. Everything was covered in sand and mud haha it was lovely! Thank goodness for my father-in-law's motorhome for a safe haven from the crazy storm! Luckily it was our last day there so it wasn't too bad to deal with. Evelette was SOO happy on that trip, loving being outside in the sunshine for pretty much the first time in her life, except walks, thanks to this unpredictable weather lately!

Don't you just love her cute sunhats?! Thanks to Grandma Blackwell her cute little head didn't get sunburnt :)

Mike had the time of his life riding hours on end at the sand dunes. There were a lot of fun ppl there to ride with him, my brother Brent Jr, Mike's dad Lynn, and brother's Jordan and Spencer, Cousin Terry Thompson who is always a crack up, and all of the wonderful Woodens!! Camping is always just that much more fun when you are surrounded with great people! :)



Michael, Brent, Terry, Lynn, Jordan



Mike and his brand new bike. What a cutie.

Brent's first big riding trip on his new bike!

I love this picture of Brent and Evey. Evey looks SO much like her uncle Brent!