Farms and Carnivals

Reader Beware: There are a lot of pictures in this post!

We have had a fun couple of days! On Friday we met up with 2 of my friends who have kids exactly the same ages as mine. We went to Wheeler Farm and Adam had a blast being outside, seeing the animals, and running around.

Cute Lexie reached over and grabbed Adam's hand as they were walking. Prior to leaving that morning, when I told Adam we were going to see Lexie he said, "She's a nice girl". Yep....she sure is!

Signing "horse".....kind of.
This is how Abby saw the farm. Lucky for me, she was the happiest of the babies.

Adam and Dallin looking at the gigantic rabbits
Adam liked Dallin's short haircut and decided he wanted to feel it.
Dallin was not too happy about that.

On Saturday we went to the little traveling carnival that was set up at the mall by our house. I was a little worried that Adam wouldn't wan to go on any rides by himself, but I was pleasantly surprised. He loved every minute of it!

He even loved the Ferris Wheel!

We spent an obscene amount of money to play a couple games...but it was worth it.

Adam was thrilled that he won a stuffed animal and a ball!

Yum.....cotton candy!

It is so much fun having a child old enough to enjoy and be thrilled with little outings and adventures!

Honey-Lime Chicken Enchiladas

I've made it a goal to try at least one new recipe each week. This week I tried a recipe that I found on My Kitchen Cafe. It was really yummy and a nice change from the traditional red sauce meat or cheese enchiladas and sour cream/white sauce chicken enchiladas. The sweet and spicy combo is perfect!

Honey-Lime Chicken Enchiladas

6 Tb honey
5 Tb lime juice
1 Tb chili powder
1/2 tsp garlic powder
3-4 small chicken breasts, cooked and shredded
8-10 flour tortillas
8 oz. monterey jack cheese, shredded
16 oz. green enchilada sauce
1 c. sour cream (fat free worked just fine)

Mix the first 4 ingredients together in a ziploc bag with the cooked and shredded chicken. Let it marinate for at least 30 minutes (I made it in the morning and let it sit in the fridge all day).

Pour 1/2 cup of enchilada sauce in the bottom of a 9x13 baking dish. Fill tortillas with chicken and some shredded cheese (reserving about 1 cup of cheese for the top). Mix the remaining enchilada sauce with the sour cream and any leftover marinade. Pour sauce over the enchiladas and top with cheese. Bake at 350 degrees for about 30 minutes or until top is golden brown and bubbly.

**Note--my pitiful limes gave very little juice so I ended up zesting them and then using mostly bottled lemon juice in place of the lime juice. It still turned out yummy. Also, the original recipe calls for 1 lb. of cheese and 1 cup of heavy cream, but I lightened it up with only 8 oz. of cheese, and fat free sour cream. I bet these would be delicious with more cheese though!

My OLD Husband!

Nat turned the big 3-0 on May 20th! To celebrate we had a yummy ice cream cake from Cold Stone, complete with 30 candles!

Holy Smoke!
To surprise Nat and make his 30th birthday special, I invited his old mission friends and their wives (which are all my friends too...that made it sound like they were just his friends) out to dinner. We went to Nat's favorite restaurant, Ruby River Steakhouse, and he was so surprised to see his friends there! We always have such a great time with them and the guys always love to reminisce about "the mission". We ate and chatted for 2 hours and it was a blast!

Nat's giant foam cowboy hat.
It was a requirement to wear while eating the free birthday dessert.

The gang (left to right)

Kirk & Carin Chugg, Marni & Darren Downs, Tina & Robert Hoxsie, me & the Birthday Boy

Happy Birthday honey. I love you!

Playtime at the Gardner House

For the most part, Adam adores his baby sister. He loves to play with her and thinks her smiles and coos are hilarious! Here are a few of our favorite things to play together.

Modified Tummy Time

Miss Abby hates tummy time but will tolerate a few minutes if she's laying on the Boppy pillow.

Having Fun in the Crib
Adam loves to get in the crib with Abby and while she watches her mobile he either plays with her toys, reads to her, or just lays next to her and laughs hysterically. I frequently have to remind him not to bounce or kick his legs too hard. But honestly, she doesn't even seem to mind!

Activity Mat
This poor child never gets to play by herself because her big brother is constantly wanting to be right next to her, frequently right up in her face. Adam loves to lay under Abby's mat and bat the toys around, tickle her, hold her hand, laugh at her, etc.


Fun Smiles!
This is just a cute picture of my smiley girl


I hope that as they grow, they will always love playing together!

Abigail's Blessing Day

Abigail Elizabeth was blessed by her Daddy on Sunday, April 25th. It was a beautiful day and she was surrounded by her family who all love her so much! She was a little fussy right before the blessing so I took her out and bounced and swayed until she fell asleep. She slept through being handed off to Nat but my Dad said that as soon as Nat started speaking, she opened her eyes and gazed up at him during the entire blessing. She adores her Daddy already!

I was able to find a dress that I absolutely love and she looked so pretty in it. I just wish she could wear it more than once! I guess that's how it is with all the special white dresses in a girl's life. :)

Our happy family of four

Beautiful Abby
The Shurtleffs
(Ambra's side)
The Gardner/Cheneys
(Nat's side)
The Thompsons
(Nat's Uncle David and his family)
Grandma & Grandpa Great
(Ambra's Grandparents)

Our adorable first-born.
What a cutie!

Be Still My Heart!

Our talented friends took these pictures of Abby (and Adam) when she was 10 days old. It took me FOREVER to decide which ones to order, what treatments I liked, and how many. So I ended up with a ton of prints but we love them so much! My heart just melts every time I look at them!

Rob & Julie Snow at www.rjsnowphotography.com are awesome and we are excited for them to take some fun family portraits of us this summer!

Here are my favorite of my favorites (which is most of them because I couldn't decide which to leave out!)