von Niederhausern Family

January and February are filled with birthday celebrations for us. William turned one on January 18th, Lauren turned four on February 10th, and Ava turned six on February 21st. Here are a few highlights from the parties:

* William had a dinosaur party with family and friends in attendance. He loved his cupcake and ate it so slowly and calmly, which showed his personality perfectly. He is crawling all over the place, can sign “more” and “please”, and says “dadadada” whenever he is happy and “mamamama” whenever he is in need of comfort or help.

*Lauren chose a princess theme in her usual girly fashion. We had a wonderful time at her party dancing and having a hunt for the “poison apple.” Lauren is a spunky four-year-old going on 40! Lauren is learning how to read and loves “babysitting” William.

*Ava chose a sports-themed party which also shows her true personality. She loves to play T-Ball and soccer and it anything that has to do with a ball. We had a big party with family and friends at the gym in our church. We had relay races and a pinata and lots of basketball and soccer  for everyone to enjoy. She invited some friends from school including Audrey Bailey, Ethan Zabriskie, and Ellie Watkins. Her favorite present was the Webkinz Dog she named Kate from her Aunt Emily.

I guess moving and the holidays really threw me for a loop. I have not had much desire to post anything until just recently. I know I have also suffered from the “Januaries.” My friend perfectly labeled this disease which is the awful grey inversion that suffocated Cache Valley for at least two months or more. The symptoms it caused: lack of motivation to do anything but make soup and take naps. Our computer also went on the blitz right before Christmas and couldn’t be used for awhile, so there are the excuses for my long hiatus.

But, I am taking extra Vitamin D and the sun is shining more frequently now and I feel new energy since we are “somewhat” settled into our home now. Here are some pictures of the home we bought. You can see the before and after photos of the upstairs and all I can say is remodeling is quite a project! And you can see that I need to start hanging things on the wall and do more decorating, but at least it’s a start. We love it here and know that God led us to this place. (Sorry the before photos are blurry, I begged our realtor to send them for three months and then he sent these, so I’ll take what I can get!”) If you have any decorating ideas, PLEASE share!

Annual 4th of July bash at Fred and Norma’s house…we ate yummy food, watched the fireworks, watched “Kung Fu Panda” outside…this is my favorite party of the year

Trip to “The Place” in Driggs, Idaho with Steve’s family…the biggest windstorm I have ever experienced one night…many tents were ruined but it was fun watch Mother Nature unleash her fury…we got to see the old schoolhouse where Grandma Norma went to school as a young girl…Ava and Lauren drew pictures of their favorite parts of the trip…Ava said her favorite thing was seeing the hot pots in Yellowstone…Lauren said her favorite thing was having a bonfire at the cabin

24th of July reunion at the farm in Pocotello Valley…all of the Whitney siblings were in attendance…we slept-over at our farmhouse and had great fun shooting fireworks, eating, watching Forever Strong…in great Whitney style my dad got an “event grill” that I think could cook 70 hamburgers at once…below are pictures from both events

Cache County Fair…there’s nothing like the fair to take us back to our farming roots!…my brother Jacob and his lamb, Richard, won first place in their class for Showmanship and second place in another category I can’t remember right now…Ava, Lauren, Lily, and Meg all got to walk Richard and Dolly around the ring in the Pee Wee Show and received a blue ribbon and $3 for doing it!

Ava and Rachel’s  first violin recital…Emly Harvey is our teacher…the recital had a western theme and I was so worried about finding Ava cowgirl clothes to wear…it turns out only about four kids wore western gear and the rest wore skirts, there was even one child in capris and flip-flops…and that pretty much sums up my life…I usually worry WAY to much about things that DON’T matter!…Ava did two numbers with another little boy named Tyler, they plucked the “Ant” song and used their bows to show Up Like a Rocket, Down Like the Rain, then Ava played “Here We Go”…Aunt Emily gave Ava the violin pin she is wearing in the photo…Rachel played “May Song” and was by far the oldest student…

With my garden in full bloom I love finding new recipes to use up my produce. This zucchini bread recipe from Gayle Buxton is my new favorite thing to do with zucchini! Do you have a favorite summertime recipe? I would love to get it!

Zucchini Bread from Gayle Buxton

1 cup brown sugar

1 cup white sugar (I usually cut this down to 1/4 cup)

3 eggs, beaten

1 cup oil (I use ½ cup oil, and ½ cup applesauce)

3 cups flour (I use 2 cups wheat flour and 1 cup white flour)

1 tsp salt

1 tsp baking soda

1 tsp baking powder

1 tsp cinnamon

1 tsp nutmeg

1 tsp vanilla

2 cups grated zucchini

½ cup nuts, optional

½ bag chocolate chips, optional

Mix sugars, eggs, and oil in bowl. Add dry ingredients. Stir in zucchini, nuts, and chocolate chips. Put in 2 medium-sized greased bread pans. Bake at 350 degrees for about 45 minutes.

I have been wanting to try making my own yogurt for awhile, and last night I finally did it. It was very easy, but did take a lot of time to heat the milk slowly, let it stay at 180 degrees for 20 minutes, and then cool it slowly before adding the cultures to it. All-in-all it was about a two hour process. Following is the recipe if anyone else wants to give it a try. I added about 1/2 tsp. vanilla extract to this batch and can’t wait to experiment with other things like fruit, etc. Does anyone have tips or secrets for making yogurt? Thanks for this recipe Brooke!

Yogurt
Ingredients: milk (about 1/2 gallon) and 1 cup plain yogurt from store (to get bacteria culture).
Tools: big pot, a couple towels, and a food thermometer.

Step 1.) Heat milk to 180 degrees; make sure to stir a lot and heat slowly enough that it doesn’t burn.
Step 2.) Keep at that temp for 20-30 min. Don’t forget to stir. (The length of time might be optional here.  I’ve heard others say that they don’t do it nearly this long.)
Step 3.) Cool to 113-115 degrees. Add yogurt and stir to mix.
Step 4.) Wrap in towels and place in oven (heat slightly, then turned off) or other warm spot and let sit for 5-8 hours or until firm.
Step 5.) Refrigerate.

Directions are from Harold McGee’s book, On Food and Cooking.  The basic idea is to heat the milk sufficiently to make it safe and so that the proteins in the milk unwind and stretch out (helps it form a solid later).  Then you cool the milk before you add the bacteria so that the bacteria don’t get killed in the hot milk.  Lastly, the bacteria are most active in temps between 95-110 degrees, so wrapping the pot and placing somewhere that retains heat will help preserve the conditions that help the bacteria thrive.  Then you just have to wait. That’s all.  It’s not hard, but it takes a little time.  About 2 hours total.

Here are the things I have been meaning to write about but haven’t yet:

Easter…not during the summer but that’s how behind I am!…we had the annual easter egg hunt at my Grandma Morris’ house…the little kids also painted flower pots and planted flower seeds to remind them of the resurrection

Trip to New Mexico in May…Aunt Emily and Aunt Sarah went with us…Grey’s first birthday…trip to the children’s museum in Farmington…Cinco De Mayo Party with tacos and flower pinata…haircuts by Aunt Ruthie (we are sooooo lucky she does our hair!)

Photo shoot with the kids…captured some of their personality on camera, which is always fun

Visit from some one of our favorite people, Rachel and Charlie Johnson with their little boy Evan…we met them in the USU 12th ward…yoga and oatmeal with blueberries…cleaning swaps…Charlie’s ti-quan-do tournament…these are some of our favorite memories…they live in Washington now…too far away

T-Ball games…Ava played T-Ball for the first time this summer and had a blast!…she played for the Giants and was one out of two girls on the team…she loves sports and still loves wearing the ball cap they gave her

Morris Family Reunion in Caldwell Idaho…it was great to see some cousins on my mom’s side, like Jared and Tracy, that I haven’t seen for 15 years or more

Weekend in Sun Valley with Teresa…Sun Valley is heaven on earth and Teresa is so lucky to live there!…while we were there we went swimming at Zenergy, the spa where Teresa works, ate sushi, and went to an ice show

This year I talked Catherine and Steve into doing the CVSST triathlon with me at the Logan Aquatic Center. It was such a blast to have company and to have Catherine as my swim coach in the months leading up to the event. And the best part is Steve’s training program…go on two runs, swim laps once, put on your gear in front of the mirror, and then pretend you are swimming laps in the shower. And of course he came in at 1 hr. 32 minutes, and my time was 1 hr. 34 minutes. Oh the irony! But I am proud to say I met my goal of not being the last one out of the swimming pool. I increased my swim time from 21 minutes to 14 minutes!

Will has a long lifetime of all things girly ahead of him. Here is his first debut with a sticker “crown” Lauren made for him. You can see how happy she is to have such a helpless playmate at her beck and call! Will is such a happy baby he doesn’t really mind her antics!

William’s blessing day was wonderful, despite that fact we woke up to a blizzard outside. Our family was so nice to travel in the bad weather. We all went to church and then had lunch at Grandma Morris’ house. My dad even provided the liver patte (which he and I love!). I want to list everyone who was there so Will can remember how much he is loved. Here goes: Grandma Norma and Grandpa Fred, Dave, Laura, Josh, Sarah, Jacob, Tina, Grandpa and Grandma Whitney, Jake, Sarah, Catherine, Emily, Grandma Morris, Aunt Leslie, Dan, Angie, Andrea, Tim, Ellie, Tanna, Sydney, Evan, Keagan, and Austin. From the day Will was born and everyone came to visit him in the hospital, I have felt this strong sense of him being surrounded by love. So many people love him and want him to succeed. It was a great day and we are so happy to have our little Will here. He is such a strong yet gentle spirit.

The blessing outfit Will wore has been passed through Nate, Dave, Steve, and all of their male children. It was made by a german woman who worked for Fred when Nate was born.

The last two and a half months have flown by to say the least. We moved two weeks after William was born (more on that later), celebrated both Ava and Lauren’s birthdays in February, Rachel had a root canal, and we had William’s blessing yesterday. I have not had two minutes to post anything on this blog, but I promise I will try to do better! With a newborn and two other children, any moments to myself that last longer than 20 minutes are a rarity! I am loving having a new baby though and finding the nourishment that comes from motherhood. What a great journey!

The other day Ava wanted to get out the camera and have a photoshoot. Here are the results.

Lauren’s birthday. Of course she requested a princess party. She is our little princess.

One more from the photoshoot. Ava took this photo and I love it because I look like a horse.