Baking with Kenya.

So after getting signed up with Pinterest I have begun to do more with crafts and baking with Kenya. It also has been a lot cooler so turning on the oven doesn't make me want to melt. So, now at least once a week Kenya and I are going to make something or do a craft and try something new. I want my kids to enjoy trying new things and also making things. I think this will be a good habit to be in when winter comes because we would be able to be outside much. It gets SO cold here, just like Rexburg did. So here are our projects over the last couple of weeks.

These were baked donuts that we made just the other day.



At the end of the process Kenya and her friend Hannah over to help with the frosting and sprinkles. Man, did they have a lot of fun. If the amount of fun you have is measured by the mess I don't think these girls have had more fun in a long time.
The first thing we tried off of Pinterest was a technique for getting rainbow frosting out of a piping bag. Kenya saw it on my computer while I was looking through in boards and asked to try it. It was fun and turned out great! We loved it and will do it again. I also tried a yummy butter cream recipe and filled the cupcakes with a pudding/whipping cream filling. YUMMY!!



This is the one Kenya made all by herself. These last cupcakes were done a week after our first ones and Kenya wanted to try a different ways to make flowers and frost the cupcakes. These are what we ended up with. Again I tried a recipe for frosting, this time it was cream cheese frosting on carrot cupcakes.
We are having lots of fun in the kitchen! I am excited to see what we come up with all the holidays coming!

End of Summer fun.

Here is some fun that we have been up to.
The girls and I went to the zoo and Jasmin had her first ride in the stroller without her car seat. She actually did really well while Kenya and I went in and pet the goats for about 10 minutes, but then when I got back to try and take a picture she was done and wanted out. The zoo is closing tomorrow for the season (except for Halloween) and so we went 3 times in the last week or so. One of those times ended because Kenya throw the biggest fit of her life and we had to leave. That is an entire other story. But this was the first time we went and we all had a great time!This is International Talk Like a Pirate Day.
Coldstone had their annual World's Largest Ice Cream Social Day on Tuesday and we went our neighbors. Here are Carson and Kenya enjoying their free ice cream. Can you guess what Jasmin the entire time we were there... Sleep, you guess it.

The first video is of Kenya sing to the Miller last Saturday who we had over for lunch. She sat there and it this for quite some time. Then she asked Krysta to sing with her. It was so cute and entertaining.


Kenya has taken a love to frisbees over this summer. I got some towards the end of summer (when they came on sale for $.50). Robert and I spent about 10 minutes one day teaching her how to throw them properly and this is what she was doing after about trying it for a minutes outside each day for less than a week. She really picked up on it.

Spud Day in Shelley Idaho

If I ever forget that I live in a farming community every September I will be reminded. Shelley, Idaho celebrates "Spud Day." It is a celebration of the spud harvest about to begin. They have a big parade and free baked potatoes at lunch and vendors set up at the park with activities going on all day. It was fun and kind of the last big weekend of outdoor fun before it gets too cold.
Our day began with a community pancake breakfast at the senior center. Then on to the parade.
Here are some pictures of the day.
Our cute little family at the parade and then with our friend Camille who came to hang out with us that day. Jasmin slept through most of it.

Potato inspired floats.
Kenya dancing to some of the floats music. She did this a lot as the floats went by. There was TONS of candy!!! Enough that some of the elementary age kids had plastic grocery bags and were getting them about 1 or 2 inches filled.



After the parade we we walked over to the park for some activities and lunch.

Someone had brought their pet goat and of course Kenya was excited about that. She wanted to pet it and treated it just like she does people dogs.
We had our friends the Hunts come up from Rexburg to have fun with us too!
This activity was called potato picking and it was a race to see who could put all the potatoes in the basket the fastest. Kenya had fun doing it and won a quarter.
After lunch we headed home for a much needed nap or Kenya and then on to more activities for the day. This is Camille enjoying some Jasmin time.
So for the rest of the day we went to a Harvest Fest, which was in Idaho Falls. By the time we got there most of the games for kids were being put away. Kenya did get to go through a hay bail maze and ride on a little train. We had fun there.
We then went straight from the Harvest Fest to Rexburg for a bacon birthday party. Yes, a bacon birthday party. Needless to say Robert was jealous that he had not had one of those in his life. This was the cake.
After the party we went to BYU-Idaho to watch to BYU vs Utah game. We were going to spend the night at the Hunts house but Kenya would not go to sleep and so we ended up driving home at like 11:00pm. We were all tired the next day. What a day!! It was fun and well worth the great company we had all day!

What we have been up to.

These are just random pictures of things we have done in the last month that I did not want to leave out. Enjoy!

This picture of Kenya and Jasmin was just last week. I just wanted to give an updated picture.

This next picture is of Kenya helping with the corn. We shucked, cooked, and cut off 5 dozen corn cobs and put it in the freezer. (It was to separate days that we did it.)
These are the apples for my mom's apple tree. Again this took 2 days of work, but we canned 56 pints, 4 quarts, 1 half pint of applesauce. We still had some that we ate with meals for a few days. It was oh so yummy!
(She is not pooping, just trying hard to turn the handle.)
Just a cute picture of Jasmin within the last week or so.
This was at the end of August. Jasmin can lift her chest up off the floor.


This is Kenya and Baby Doll getting a horsey ride. Something that Kenya missed out on the last 2 months before Jasmin was born.

Okay these next videos are just too cute! We were trying to catch Jasmin smiling and talking, but we were not so successful.


Next is Kenya reading to Jasmin. Kenya did this all by herself. Jasmin was sitting in the chair just chillin' while I was busy doing something and then Kenya went to her room and grabbed a book. She started to read it. I could not choose which video to post so, I posted them all. What a wonderful big sister she is. AND what a wonderful little sister Jasmin is because she puts up with Kenya ALWAYS wanting to be with her and touching her.

Labor Day Weekend 2011

So another Labor Day spent in Libby was fun but way too fast. We got in late Friday night and left for Kalispell on Labor Day. My (Robert's family) was able to come up for a visit. All but one sibling was there and she was doing some responsible thing like working or something. (We missed having you there, Michelle!)


Aunt Christine and Kenya are having some fun with the camera!



Grandma Carla finally got the baby to sleep.
Uncle James gettin' some baby time!

Cousin Tia gettin some face time with the girls!


The Draper gang doin' they thang!
We finally got to camp out while we were there. The two previous nights it got so cold that there was frost left the next morning! Thankfully it was a lot warmer for us. This was Jasmin's 3rd camping experience and she did really well.


The next pix are of the grandpas getting some Jasmin time. Grandpa Draper is first. He says he had a pic like this with Kenya close to when she was born.
Great Grandpa Stevens is enjoying the baby girl! Prior to our visit he had been asking about Kenya! We were so glad we all got to see him.
The day we were to return home we stopped to see some friends in Kalispell.
This was Kenya's first time playing dress up with a friend! She had a blast!

Jasmin got made a friend too!

Jasmin's friend liked her so much that she was inspired to crawl! We were told that she had been trying to crawl but to no avail. Watch this video.