Month to Month

So, this is one of the reasons why I have been determined to take pictures of Lynlee each month:

just a few hours

one month

two months

three months

four months

five months

six months

seven months

eight months

nine months

ten months

eleven months

twelve months

To see how she has grown!

Happy Birthday Lynlee!

I know I have not been the best at putting pictures up lately, so here is what you have all been waiting for.  Lots of pictures.
(I even forgot to put up an 11 month post for Lynlee, so that will be included here too.)

So the biggest news as far as what Lynlee has been learning so far, is that she is now a walker. Actually, she is starting to be a runner. :)  She took her first steps at 10 1/2 months and was walking all over pretty much by 11 months. 

She has started saying a few words here and there:  hi, bye, yeah, mama, dada, daddy, and ah-dah (all done).

She is starting to really like reading books with mom and dad and loves anything that she can take in/out of containers. 

11 months old

Enjoying one of her favorite foods

We had a little birthday celebration for her yesterday.  I knew the whole day was off to a great start when Lynlee slept in and we got to go wake her up with a birthday song:

The day was pretty normal, but Lynlee did get to open a few presents thanks to grandma!  and mom and dad! (We gave her the quiet book that I finished a little while ago, and she love it!)

Then we ended it with the classic go-to-town-on-a-piece-of-cake-in-your-highchair.  She was a little tentative at first, mostly I think because we have never put a piece of food that big on her tray before.  But after a little bit discovered the frosting.  And that was about it, to be honest.  I was expecting her to have it everywhere by the time we were done, but she must not have seen the same vision we had.

I still am amazed how quickly this last year has gone by.  We are so happy to have Lynlee in our lives and look forward to the next years!

crock pot veggie lasagna

It has been a long time since I have put a recipe up here, and actually I think I am a contributing author on a few recipe blogs with friends and family, but this is just too good not to share with everyone that I know.  Also, this is something that not only I, but my family loves, so I need to remember it for the future.

It's a recipe that I pretty much made up, but again, it's a lasagna, so there's not a whole lot of room for creativity.

Also, for those of you who do not want to make it in a crock pot, I am sure you can and it would be great.  You just need to prepare your noodles before hand and maybe cook the veggies a little longer.  I was very intrigued by the idea of skipping that step and letting it all happen at once.  And I feel like this lasagna holds up really well because the noodles get all of their moisture from the sauce.  It is really dense and filling.  Exactly what I was looking for in a vegetarian dinner. 

So, this is what Dane and I made for dinner the other night--sorry we gobbled it up before we remembered to take a picture :).

Crock-pot Veggie Lasagna

Ingredients
2 T butter
1/2 onion, chopped
1/2 green pepper, chopped
1 C mushrooms, chopped
1/2 C carrots, chopped in small pieces
1/2 acorn squash, peeled and shredded
(1 C spinach--I didn't add it, but just though of it now.  Also, zucchini would prob be good too, but I really don't like it.)
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 tsp basil
1 tsp Italian seasoning
salt and pepper

dry lasagna noodles (about 1/2 a box?)
about 4 C pasta sauce
2-3 C shredded mozzarella
1C ricotta cheese


Directions
In a large pan, melt butter and saute all of the veggies until the onion start to get translucent.  This will only take about 10 min.  Don't worry that they are not cooked all the way through, that will happen in the crock pot. Add basil and Italian seasoning.

Now, start layering your lasagna.  In the bottom of a large crock pot spread about 1 C of sauce and layer with dry noodles.  Next, spread veggi mixture and about 1 C of the shredded mozzarella. Next, 1 C sauce, noodles and then the ricotta. Again, sauce, noodles, sauce and the remaining mozzarella.

Let cook for 2-3 hours on high, or until the noodles are cooked all the way through.

Hawaii!

Almost every day, Dane and Trent dug a hole.  Sometimes big, sometimes small, but always a hole. 

Don't they look so happy?!

What trip to the beach would be complete without a sand mermaid/merman?  I'm not sure how this turned into an obese one, but it was fun.

This is a pano that Dane took of our beach where our hotel was.  Yeah.  It was awesome!

At the Dole plantation.

Dole whip!  Highly recommend it.

We love cut-outs!

This little guy needs to grow on a plant for 2 years before it will be ready to harvest.  Holy cow!

At Haliewa Eats.  A Thai curry restaurant.  All I can say is yum!

The best curry that we have ever eaten in our lives!

Arizona Memorial at Pearl Harbor.  Awesome.

Here's Stephanie and Trent, our awesome friends who went with us to Hawaii.  She did a term at BYU Hawaii and so she had lots of great "local" knowledge about the stuff to do on Oahu. 

Can you see that little white line going up the middle of the mountain?  That's the "Stairway to Heaven" hike.  We got up at 5 am to hike it one morning, but didn't make it up...

So sad that we couldn't go on the hike.  We got turned away by a security guard at the base.

Hiking up to Laie Falls.  It was quite a view.

Swimming at Laie Falls.  It was freezing!

Our last night, we went to the Polynesian Culture Center and had the classic Luau/show night. 

Laie Temple.  We wanted to do a session but it was closed for cleaning, so we just stopped by the visitor's center.

Hanauma Bay.  Spent the day here snorkeling!

Catching some zzzz's at Hanauma Bay after snorkeling.

Looking over Hanauma Bay.  Oh, and no.  We didn't see the Obamas while we were there. :)

Saying goodbye from the airplane.  We had such a great time!