Rhett is 2!

Happy birthday, Rhett! Let's take a walk down memory lane...

I'm not a big fan of belly shots when I'm pregnant (actually, not a fan at all), but for my posterity's sake here is one from about two weeks before you were born. Dada, Benjamin and I were spending a sunny afternoon on the campus of BYU soaking it all up before our move to Washington.


The following picture was taken almost exactly twelve hours before you were born. Your dad had just arrived in Bellingham with Benjamin, Aunt Alene, Uncle Kelv, and Aunt Ruth.

Just a few hours prior I took my final final exam at BYU while going into labor.



The next morning, out of the blue (considering the nearly 3 weeks till your due date) you were born! I was on the phone with Dada the whole time. Grandma and Grandpa Duersch arrived just minutes later to take this picture.


Aunt Heidi and Uncle Landon so kindly got Dada and Benjamin on a plane so they could come and meet you. You were definitely worth the trip.


A year later we celebrated your first birthday in Alaska with balloons.


You were just learning to take a few wobbly steps.


No need to explain what you thought about your birthday cake.


A happy baby, as always.


And look at you now.

So grown up, such a little man.


But still just my baby.


I love you, Rhett.

Kicking off the camping season

At the beginning of June we took a little camping trip with our friends the Katschkes up at Birch Bay State Park. It was a little spur-of-the-moment, but we wanted to have a bit of a trial run before we take the boys camping for several days this summer.


Overall it went really well, and I have decided that about 2 years old is the perfect age (for me) to start taking kids camping. I say "for me" because taking Benjamin camping as a baby was misery and we never tested it out with Rhett. However, this cute little 2-month-old did amazing! I'm so jealous.

I had to show a picture of Paul's awesome job packing the car. He's got skills, for sure.


Dinner: barbecued chicken legs. Yum!


The kids found a fun game to play: roll this huge log from one end of camp to the other. All of the pictures were blurry (busy kids for you), but this is the best one.


Hanging out at camp in the morning.


Payton and Benjamin helping to pack up


It was fun times for all, I think. We definitely plan on doing it again. We hadn't gone camping as a family in three years! Definitely too long, and I think this is the summer to make it right again.

Well done, Lovey!

Happy Father's Day

Paul is coming back home today. We're leaving soon to pick him up from the airport. He has been in Alaska for over a week on a business trip. He took Buzz Lightyear with him and sent the boys daily pictures of their adventures.

It will be a happy Father's Day indeed to have him back home with us. We love you, Dada!

"See?"

I was mixing some bread dough with Rhett's help tonight and he apparently thought the baby would like to watch, too.

"See?" he kept saying in his sweet, nearly-two-year-old voice.

Rhett's birthday is in two weeks!

Help Wanted

We like to play a game with the boys where we say "Who wants to ....?" in a really happy voice, and the boys (and some times Paul and I) excitedly reply, "MEEEE!" We'll be driving down the road or sitting at the dinner table and it will go like this:

"Who loves Dada?"
Meeeee!!!

"Who loves Mama?"
Meeee!!!

"Who loves Benjamin?"
Meeee!!!

"Who loves Rhett?"
Meeee!!!

"Who likes blueberries?"
Meeee!!!

"Who wants some ice cream?"
Meeee!!!

You get the idea.

Well it simply can't be helped. Sometimes we have to have a little extra fun with it.

"Who has stinky feet?"
Meeee!!!

And my favorite, "Who wants to do the dishes?"
"Meeee!!!

Well tonight Benjamin wasn't so gullible (he's getting smart about these things).

I said, "Who wants to clean up the kitchen?"
"I don't!!!"

I guess I'll have to come up with a different tactic.

As if the broccoli wasn't enough...

Not only does Rhett love broccoli, he loves to vacuum. No kidding! When I get the vacuum out, I have to try to do it really quickly before Rhett tries to take over, which is pretty difficult. He is right on top of it. He hears the word "vacuum" and goes straight for the closet where it's kept.


When these pictures were taken, Rhett went at it for about an hour. There was much kicking and screaming whenever I tried to take over. I suppose there are worse things in life than a 2-year-old with a knack for vacuuming.

Now, Benjamin knows his priorities. While Rhett vacuumed, Benjamin did this:


I guess Benjamin knows that in a few years he'll be doing chores anyway. No sense wasting time with vacuuming when you could be doing somersaults!

Playing catch-up: Paul's birthday

Paul's 27th birthday was May 1. He got this awesome, handy, pain-in-the-neck-to-put-together wheelbarrow. The boys had endless fun riding in it, despite their sober expressions. (Paul is fielding birthday phone calls.)



Paul requests carrot cake for his birthday every year. My latest go-to carrot cake recipe is this one from the Pioneer Woman. I make some changes to it, so here is my version.

Carrot Cake w/ Cream Cheese Frosting

2 cups sugar
1/2 cup canola oil
1/2 cup unsweetened applesauce
4 eggs
2 cups all-purpose flour
(I bet some whole wheat flour would work well in this)
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon cinnamon
2 cups finely grated carrots

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Grease and flour two 9-inch round pans. I like to cut circles of wax paper the same size as the pans and stick them in the bottom after I grease it. Then I grease the wax paper and flour the whole thing. Do this, and you'll never tear out the bottom of your cake again when you try to get it out of the pan.

In a large bowl, mix sugar, oil, applesauce and eggs. In another bowl, mix the flour, salt, baking soda, baking powder, and cinnamon. Add dry ingredients to wet ingredients and stir to combine. Stir in carrots. Pour into pans and bake for 25-30 minutes (possibly a little longer).

The original recipe didn't list a temperature or very specific cooking times, so I've tried to write down the times as I've made the recipe on different occasions. I think 25-30 minutes is pretty accurate for the 9-inch rounds, and 24 minutes worked well for cupcakes (this recipe makes about 2 dozen). If I remember right an 8-inch square pan (1/2 the batter) baked for 30 minutes or so, give or take. Hope that helps if you decide to try it!

This recipe turns out a light, moist, totally delicious cake, unlike some that are heavy with oil.

Cream Cheese Frosting

1/2 cup butter, softened
8 ounces cream cheese, softened
1 pound powdered sugar (4-4 1/2 cups)
2 teaspoons vanilla

Beat butter and cream cheese. Add vanilla, then beat in powdered sugar. Frost cake when it has cooled completely.

After trying this for the first time, Paul commented on how perfect the frosting was, hinting that this is how I should make it all the time in the future.

The Broccoli Bandit

I thought I posted about this last year, but I guess it got missed! Hopefully the fact that this behavior is recurring is evidence that Rhett will forever be a vegetable (or at least a broccoli) lover.

Last September in Juneau we caught Rhett on the kitchen table trying to steal Benjamin's food. Benjamin was finishing his slow-poke dinner and had a cookie waiting next to him for when he was all done eating his meal. Of course, Benjamin thought Rhett was after the cookie, but the title of this post has already given away his true aim:

Benjamin holds his cookie close for safe-keeping while Rhett goes for the real gold...

Broccoli!

These pictures are from April, but Rhett was quick to gobble up the broccoli at dinner last night too.

Notice how he has pushed his plate aside and pulled the serving bowl of broccoli right in front of him.

Can't argue with that!

Happy Five Years

Our fifth wedding anniversary came and went in a flurry of cleaning, organizing, and remodeling. Paul sent me an e-mail that day to the effect of, "Happy Anniversary! Just wanted you to know I didn't forget." To which I replied, "I didn't forget either. But I thought it was tomorrow." Way to look at the calendar, Vicky.

Hopefully ten years will be more momentous than five.

And for memory's sake, here we are on our wedding day, May 28, 2005, coming out of the Salt Lake temple:


And here's one of us from a recent trip to the Seattle temple:


We're not as thin and not as cute, but I think our kids make up for it. Happy Anniversary!