The Twin's 1st Birthday party

My twin Niece and Nephew - James & Thea- just turned ONE! I can't believe it!

Their momma Brittany threw the cutest little nautical themed Birthday party that I just had to share.

These ADORABLE cakes were made by the talented Annie & Sharon at Bee Cakes

Oooohhh heaven help me.

 These are too cute not to share!

 My dear friend Sam hooked me up with some pictures from Camera Shy studio in Utah.

For those of you who personally know my little one, you know that she isn't too fond of taking pictures... okay, that was putting it lightly. So... whenever you see adorable pictures of Ellie, know that 95% of the time, I am behind the camera with a handful of jelly beans as bribes.

Oh, the things we do to get our kids to cooperate for pictures. ;)

Anywho, I think these are adorable and wanted to share them with you!...

oh, and one more thing-- when did my baby grow up?!?!?

Feature: Style Lately

Ladies- 

 Have you heard of Style Lately yet?? 

 Cutest clothes, jewelry, shoes, iPhone cases, funky leggings, and more! (and the prices are awesome!)

 I got this ring for under $10!!

Check out Style Lately here !

Yet another birthday at Acumen Learning. . . .

With my sexy husband at the end..... BAHAHAH too good.

 

Video made by Annie Pugmire

Mother's Day weekend in pictures

Our Mother's Day weekend started out by me going to "Moms and Muffins" at Ellie's daycare. She chose the face we made for our picture. ;) yyeeahhh we're mean muggin it.

Love this girl!

Later that night, daddy took us to go geocaching. 

Ever heard of it?

I hadn't either. But apparently there is buried treasure ALL over our neighborhoods, all over the world. Seriously! Check out this site and go on a real life treasure hunt!

I swear that now our daily activites are planned around geocaches. ;)

 

My two cuties ready to go exploring

 

Saturday morning, we woke up early and had whole wheat flap jacks at our friends house, then headed up to Rock Canyon to do some climbing. This canyon is SO close to where we live, and we never take advantage of it! So it was fun to check it out-

 We found a good climbing spot too!

Ells Bells went with us! We gave her a sweet setup. Didn't last too long.. she got pretty ancy to go exploring. I don't blame her!

My guy, Ry-Guy

Met some furry friends

Sunday morning, I woke up to the sounds of pots and pans clinking downstairs in the kitchen, and mixing spoons mixing, and I couldn't help but feel so grateful for my amazing husband and sweet daughter... They made me french toast, and fresh-squeezed orange juice. I was so spoiled this Mother's Day! I came downstairs to big bear hugs from my two loves, and a bigger bouquet of flowers than Miss Universe gets.  I cried. and I cried. 

I am so so blessed! 

Morning snuggles with my girl is all I wanted!

Ellie surprised me with this home-made card...

 Seriously nothing beats home-made cards from toddlers!!

Ryan Interviewed Ellie.... haha I LOVE her answers. Toddlers are so funny!

She also made me this bracelet... Heart melted.

My sweetheart surprised me with this book that I have been wanting to read!

 Has anyone read it??

I forgot to mention...that while we were in Mexico, Ryan and I booked a trip to Europe for this summer! WOOOOO!! I am SO BEYOND excited... We are leaving Ellie here at home which will be hard, but it will be fun to get some alone time with my boo and travel! We are going to Portugal, Spain, Morocco, and France! I can't WAIT!

 

The reason why I am bringing this up is for the next picture after this..

 

 

Ryan made this coupon for me for Mother's Day..and gave me some Euros.

You have to read the coupon--

Hahah he is SO funny!

 I just LOVE him!!!

(as you can tell, shopping isn't really his thing... so this is kind of a big deal ;)

Later that day, Ryan's brother Conner called from his LDS Mission in Nicaragua! It was so good to Skype with him. What a blessing missionaries are!

Then my dad, Ry, Ellie, and I took a nice walk up to the cemetary to visit my mom's grave. Mother's Day always stings a little bit, but I am so overwhelmed with love from my family and friends, that I felt ok- Instead of pain and sadness, I was filled with joy, gratitude, and memories of my mother.

 I am so lucky to have such an amazing father to keep me going, and an amazing and caring husband to comfort me when I am down.

Miss and love you, Mom!

I am so thankful that I am able to be the mother of this cutie! Every day is a learning experience for me, and I still fail at a lot... but she keeps me on my toes, and makes me laugh to loosen me up :)

I love you, Ellie Mae Schwen!

Peach + Mango Shrimp tacos ---recipe!

My mother-in-law made these one night for dinner and I fell in love! Since then, they have been a favorite go-to dinner. These are SO SO easy to make and are delicious!

 Let me emphasise that I DO NOT cook. I like to cook, but I am horrible at it. If I can make these, then you can! It took like fifteen minutes tops, to throw together too. 

Enjoy!

What you need:

-mixed greens

-bag of cooked small shrimp (from any grocery store or Costco, just make sure they have the tail off, are peeled, and cooked)

-mayo

-Montreal Steak Seasoning

-corn tortillas

-Mango Peach salsa (my favorite is the Costco brand in the 2nd picture)

Heat a teaspoon of oil in a non-stick pan, add shrimp, and sprinkle with Montreal Steak seasoning.

 (I put this stuff on everything..mmm..) 

Heat shrimp on medium/high heat for about 10 minutes or so, stirring occasionally. Remember, the shrimp is already cooked when bought, so it just needs to heat up and get the seasoning cooked into it. 

Put a little bit of mayo on each tortilla

Add Mango Peach salsa

Then add some shrimp

Top with mixed greens

---and my favorite is adding some cilantro and fresh lime juice, 

(some avocado would be good too)

but I didn't have any pictured- 

Easy Peasy, right??   Enjoy! 

Caution: You won't be able to eat just one

Cabo, Mexico 2013

We had a blast in Cabo the last couple of weeks! I haven't had time to put together a video like I normally do, so here is a photo dump for your viewing pleasure :)

Bella & Noelle  (Ryan's sisters)

Laying out all day, every day...ahhhh...

The beautiful Villa

Twins James & Thea loved the water!

Asi & Asado  Tacos--  YUM!

Indian feather girl

Can you believe they are GRANDPARENTS?? of THREE?? hot dang.

Oh, Mama's.... I can't get enough of you and your amazing breakfast  (their sign doesn't lie)

Ryan found a friend

MerMAN!!!  hahaha Ryan put on his little sister's mermaid tail as a joke. 

I have never laughed so hard......

cuties

Love that lil' beach bum!

Mi Familia

Going to the beach every night to watch the sunset is always a highlight

Love this picture of Ells Bells

Ellie fell in love with the twins on this trip...

she was always wanting to help feed them and play with them. so cute

She fought just about every nap on this trip, resulting in falling asleep random places at random times haha

CUDDLE SESH!

a couple of the nights we decided to bring the mattress outside and sleep under the stars.... we slept like kings! This is a picture of the sunrise.... doesn't get much better than this!

Diaper-changing pit stops... How many people does it take to change a diaper? hahaha I love this shot.

We took a day trip to a different beach near Todos Santos to go surfing!

Ry & Ellie doing the "surf stance"

We went crab hunting... using a chicken nugget wrapped in bacon-soaked paper... tied to a string. hahah we got one little baby crab and that was it. It sure was an adventure though ;)

Mimi & Ells watching the snails turn themselves over

Beautiful!

Ry & Thea at dinner at La Hacienda

This place was awesome! SUCH good food...and the place was beautiful.

Stone Bowl

Ellie decided to put her feet in the pool near the restaurant at the resort, annd she slipped and fell in and got drenched! She loved it though, as you can tell by the next couple of pics 

This place was unreal... there were these pretty lanterns hung everywhere, and I fell in love!

Even their bathroom was gorgeous! ........I am a weirdo for thinking a bathroom is beautiful, I know ;)

Family picture day happened to be the windiest day EVER! 

But it was still fun, and we got some good ones 

Ellie & Papa hangin out

Mama's round TWO!

sigh..... Take me back

We built a sand castle. . And by "we" I mean Ryan and a little help from Papa. Ryan gets in these modes where he can't not finish a sand castle after Ellie gets bored and leaves, and he has to make it this amazing masterpiece. hahah That's why I love him!

....

The twins turned ONE while we were in Mexico! They are so darn cute, I could squeeze them. For their birthday, their cute momma dressed them up and had a little beach photo shoot.

This is the best shot.... all of us looking like complete idiots, trying to make Thea smile. Oh the things we do to get our kids to take pictures! haha I love it.

My beach lover

we are weird.

but oh so in love

This is how we felt about coming home......

until next year!