Presenting....

My Mother-in-law, Claudia. Is she rockin' it or what? She tap danced for 7 years in her youth, and she's still got it! Just had to share.

We are having a...

(drum roll please........)

GIRL!!!!!!

Sour Cream Banana Bread

Ok, this is the best recipe I have used for banana bread. It makes a ton, so be prepared. Instead of my standard bread pans, I use my mini loaf pans, and large muffin pans so it is easy for everyone to grab one (it makes about 28-30 individual portions :). I also freeze them and then the kids grab them in the morning, zap them for 30 seconds and it is perfect. Hope you enjoy.

Banana Bread

cinnamon sugar (already mixed)

3/4 cup butter

3 cup white sugar

3 eggs

5-6 ripe bananas, mashed

16 oz sour cream

2 tsp vanilla

2 tsp cinnamon

1/2 tsp salt

3 tsp baking soda

4 1/2 cup flour

Preheat oven to 300 degrees. Grease four loaf pans and dust with cinnamon sugar.

In a large bowl, cream butter and sugar. Mix in eggs, bananas, sour cream, vanilla and cinnamon. Mix in salt, baking soda and flour. Divide into prepared pans

Bake one hour or until toothpick comes out clean.

(also really yummy with nuts or mini chocolate chips :)

Yummy...Spencer is ready to grab one. I hope you guys try this....I promise you will love it!

Bridgete - Our Little Ballerina

On Monday, Bridgete had an open house in her Ballet/Tap class. They performed all that they had been working on for the past 6 weeks. She was so cute. We weren't allowed in to watch them during class time, so it was fun to see that they actually learned something (I had my doubts :)

On a side note:

When Bridgete is nervous or feeling shy she always does weird things with her lips. It drives me crazy. She will stick them out, bite them, curl them...it makes for some interesting pictures. I know one day she will grow out of it and then I will miss it.

Here is Bridgete doing ballet.

Look at those lips!

Here she is rocking her tap shoes. Here she is tapping away!

Jenny's Homecoming

Last night, Jenny went to Homecoming. She went with her boyfriend Justin, and about 12 other people. She was definitely the cutest one in the group....I'm not prejudiced or anything :)

Her she is, Miss America. She looked just beautiful.

Jenny and Justin.

Bridgete thought Jenny looked, "So beautiful, oh my gosh." She couldn't believe how fancy she looked.

And last but most definitely not least, Jenny with her dad. This is my personal favorite. Dave is still figuring out when she grew up. There is nothing like daddy with his daughter.

Sadly, I didn't get to help with any of the getting ready process:( Jenny and Evan were with their mom this weekend. I would have been stepping on some major toes if I tried to help in anything pertaining to Homecoming....that is just one of the stinky things about being a stepmom. But, I know it all comes down to Jenny having a great time. So we saw her off and told her how proud of her we are and what a beautiful young woman she has become. That is all that matters :)

Happy Anniversary to us!

Today is our 8th Anniversary. Eight years ago, Filippo and I flew up to see Dave. I remember we were in Bel Air that evening, and we looked at eachother and knew we had to get married:) So we bought some flowers and went home to hunt down a chapel in Lake Tahoe that would be open late. Then we ran over to Mervyn's and found Dave a ring. I put on the only white shirt I had and off we went. Sure we knew eachother for six weeks...that is long enough when you know it is right.

Here we are the new Mr. and Mrs.

After the ceremony with my lovely flowers.

This is a picture with the woman who married us. She was so sweet and so short :) She actually is LDS...small world.

And this was Filippo during the whole ceremony. There is no waking that kid, that is for sure. Like the couch?

I cannot fathom my life without Dave. He is a dream come true. The Lord has truly blessed our family. One year after we were married, we were sealed for time and all eternity. I could not imagine forever with anyone else.

Grammy and Grampy Came to Visit!

Grammy and Grampy (Mom and Dad) decided to go on a road trip up to Oregon. Well, we are on the way to Oregon so we got to see them for a few days. It was so nice to see them and just hang out. Our last night we ordered pizzas and salads, had ice cream (no visit from Grammy isn't complete without black cherry ice cream :) and watched the movie "Iron Man." Dad was awake till 11:00 PM - impressive, huh? I didn't take pictures until the last night. I am bad about that. Jenny isn't in any because she had more exciting plans :)

Bridgete and Grammy The boys watching a little football. Spencer Grampy, a big fluffy bunny and Bridgete. Shocker.....Tucker and Grammy. Tucker likes to act like he is starving and deprived of any attention when my mom visits. She falls for it EVERY time.

Dave with Mom.

Harvest Festival

Last weekend we decided to go to the Harvest Festival at Elk Grove Park. All the soccer games got canceled so we had a free Saturday. We all had a great time.

Here are some pics.

Bridgete and Spencer petting a goat. They actually liked petting the chicken the best. Filippo really loved taking this picture. Filippo, Spencer and Bridgete enjoying some kettle corn standing by the giant pumpkins. Look at those babies! There was a scarecrow contest and they were everywhere. Spencer and Bridgete decided to pose with this group.

A little bit of this and that

Another day, another lost tooth! Spencer had a tooth that was just hanging there. Gross! So, Dave said, "Hey Spencer let me just check on that tooth and feel how loose it is, Ok?" And he pulled it out! I had to leave the room when I suspected his intentions. I would have never made it as a dental assistant. Dave does all the teeth pulling because it creeps me out big time! I clean up the blood afterwards, I am fine with that, just do not ask me to pull out a tooth.

Evan on the sidelines....he is number 80. Doesn't he looked cute in those gold pants? Ok, I realize an action photo would be better, but my camera is not equipped to do that. Plus, this is from the stands. Hey, it is better than nothing, right?

Every year at Feickert Elementary they have an Ice Cream Social. All the kids dress up 50's style. They all look so cute. So this is how Filippo, Spencer and Bridgete looked this year: