Wow I know you are shocked. This might take awhile but I thought family would appreciate some pictures they've been waiting for. I sure enjoy looking at my sibling blogs & seeing what their kids are up to. So first thing we're catching up on is Whitney's 17th bday.
Here's what she wanted for her bday. A docking station for her iPod that serves as an alarm clock & a calligraphy set. If you look close you see socks. Can you guess who those were from? Yes that's right, Great Gma Pen. I bet you all get the same thing from Gma Pen along with some other little gift. The kiddos will always remember the funny socks they got from Gma Pen.
Her bday dessert (actual bday with family) was fruit pizza with fresh fruit. So we added bananas and cherry pie filling (that's not fresh fruit) but as close as we could get. It was yummy.
Here's one of my favorites - Strawberry Bruschetta. This was the dessert she & her friends made at her party. Her girlfriends came & I had them make these. I think I've shared the recipe with you all. Strawberries are coming soon so maybe add these ingredients to your shopping list. I wish I could make them right now! Oh it was delicious!
Here is the soup I made for the girls. It's in the family cookbook. Olive Garden's Pasta E Fioli. We ate this for the party & then it made so much we ate it for the entire week. It literally made so much it must have been 30 servings. I enjoyed every bowl. I shared it with everyone I could during that next week. My coworker thought it was pretty funny that I made so much. It sure was delicious! I even made homemade bread bowls. Whitney's friends thought that was cool. I have to say that is one of my talents. If you are interested in this soup recipe let me know because I have some great recommendations that change the ingredients so it's not so costly to make.
Does anyone recognize what the girls are doing? Only the older cousins will recognize this. We still have (because we don't throw anything away) the colored rice, funnels, cookie cutters, etc. They entertained themselves for at least 30 minutes playing with the rice. The last time Whitney did this I believe she was about 5 years old. They had fun. The next time family comes to visit someone with younger children needs to take all this home. It really is fun & the rice that falls off the sheet is easy to vacuum. Whitney has such wonderful special friends! The bday gifts were unexpected but so very very special. Thank you Kailey, Carly & Laura. Whit is going to miss them all in a couple months. They are all Seniors & are leaving too soon for BYU & BYU-I. What's scary but also exciting is that she too will be leaving soon hopefully for BYU Provo. She is so ready & she's got a whole year left. Yikkes!
Whitney wanted to eat all these by herself but I convinced her to share.
I guess I put a candle in one of the bruschettas. In addition to that & the soup, we also had more fresh fruit and that yummy fruit dip that's made with cream cheese & marshmallow creme. As you can tell Whitney loves to eat but you'd never know it looking at her. So speaking of eating, Whitney was asked the other day to introduce herself (we were at a YW Camp meeting) and tell something quirky about herself. Her mouth was full of food when it was her turn so she stood up and said "I love to eat....ALL THE TIME". She's so funny! We love our Whitney.
Here's Alysa with my jogging friends. What a good sister she just fit right in like she's been doing it all along with us.
My friends & I. The gal in blue is Kathy Irving. She's new to our ward. She decided at the last minute to join us. She walks so fast that we can't keep up even when we are jogging. I don't know how people walk so fast.
So this next pic was a mistake but I really like it. I accidentally shot the ground but if you look close you'll see Alysa's shadow. Isn't it cool? 
this last pic is after we are finished with the 10K. I think we look dang good for having just completed the 10K. Alysa, you are so photogenic! You don't even look like you broke a sweat. Why am I twice your size & then some? Oh well my goal is to keep losing weight & be able to jog for over an hour just like you. I am so proud of you! Keep it up & we'll get there together, right? 
