Talmage turns Five!!!!

Talmage has been counting down to his birthday since well before Halloween. It was so hard to wait through all of the holidays and then we counted down every day in February until his birthday on the 12th. At breakfast he ripped into his presents from us: Legos from mom and dad, candy and a paper fire engine from Abi. He has become a real Lego maniac since Christmas.
That evening we had a family birthday party with our Nana's, Papa, aunts, uncles and cousins. Tal had requested a Transformer cake; mom did her best. It took 2 tries but the starwberry chocolate chip cake was a hit.
On Saturday Tal got to have a friend party. It of course was also Transformers. We decorated party bags, played some games and whacked the obligatory pinata. (You have to have a pinata at a Meek birthday.) Tal recieved some really nice presents from his friends: Levi, Nathan, Tanner and Riley. Thanks to Kris the chaos was well controlled.
After pizza and soda we had Transformer cupcakes which Tal had helped me bake and decorate the day before. You can tell I really outdid myself this year :) Thanks for the dollar store.

Snow Caves

Building snow furniture. This one is a chair.

Two weeks ago we had a break from the cold and the day warmed up to the mid 30's. We thought we were having a heat wave. Kris and the kids took advantage of the nice weather to build snow caves in the piles of snow and shovel off the driveway. Mom's not great at bending right now so I couldn't help much. They completed this tunnel and another cave in the big snow banks off of our driveway.

Baby Bjorn Vs. Ergo

Baby Bjorn Vs.
Ergo Baby Carrier

I'm starting to think about what I need for the Littlest Meek. My last two were so colicky that I carried them constantly from 0-4and 0-6 months each. I had a sling which was nice for short periods but then my back would begin to ache. Mostly I just packed them around with one arm under their butt and one across their middle until my wrists would ache and my hands would go to sleep. I also tried the Snuggli but had the same aching back problem. This time I am ready to make the investment to save my back and my sanity. Has anyone ever tried either one of these carriers? Please let me know your opinions.

Happy Chinese New Year

For the past few years Kris and I have hosted a "Chinese New Year Party." It helps us break out of the doldrums of winter and is a good excuse to stuff ourselves with delicious food and enjoy the company of our friends. This year we celebrated on Saturday February 2nd with several couples from our ward. Kris and I prepare several dishes and then ask our guests to also bring their favorite Asian dish ( we don't worry about authenticity, just the FUN.) Kids are welcome and we provide a babysitter to help keep the craziness under control. This year as always was a lot of fun and we enjoyed some scrumptious new dishes. Our menu included:

Crab Rangoon

PF Chang's Chicken Lettuce Wraps ( a new one for me)

Sesame Chicken

Beef with Snowpeas and other Vegetables

Citrus Punch