Evan and Family Pictures

On the same day of Evan's birthday party, our good friend Ruth took pictures of Evan for him turning 1 and some family pictures.  I think they turned out so cute!!  Ruth did an awesome job!  We're sure going to miss her (not just for her photography skills, of course!) I just can't believe how big my baby boy is getting.  Time sure does fly by!

Evan's Birthday Party

Evan's 1st Birthday is on Thursday, but we decided to have his party the weekend before, since Halloween is next weekend, we're going to New Orleans on the 29th, and our good friends the Lingards are leaving us to move to Louisiana on Friday.  We had a lot of people show up (lots of love for Evan!)  and he got a lot of cool stuff.  Then he promptly crashed after cupcakes.  It was fun... and with the party and the YW in Excellence night the evening before, I was extremely exhausted.  Okay, now on to the cute pictures!

Evan before his party started.  I can't believe he kept his birthday crown on long enough for me to take a picture.

The monster cupcakes I made and decorated. 

Evan on the swings at the park.  He loves swinging!

The Ketchum Family. 

The Lingard Family

Some of the future Hawaii Group.

Salina with Evan. 

What an awesome shot.  I had no idea that Evan was reaching for a cupcake until I saw this picture.

Blowing out the candle (actually he reached for it and Rick blew it out!)

Not interested in the orange cupcake... He ended up pulling a blue one toward him and eating it. 

Exhausted and passed out in mommy's arms!

It was completely worth it! 

Amigos!

Evan and I have a lot of fun with the mother's group that we go to (usually) about once a week.  Ruth is awesome to have us over, and Evan just loves playing with Addie, Amelia and Gavin.  Actually, he usually just follows the girls around.  I decided to take some cute pictures of Evan and the kids today, since they're so darn cute anyway.  

Gavin, Amelia, Addie and Evan.  Don't know what they're doing.

Making  a break for the open door!

Almost made it!  Then their moms stopped them. 

Gavin and Evan

I don't know what they're playing, but, I can't get them to both look at the same time!

Evan and Gavin standing. 

Evan really enjoys going over to Addie and Gavin's house.  He's starting to get upset when we actually leave now!  We'll definitely be missing the Lingards when they move at the end of this month.  Seriously, one of the major things that sucks about the military is how often people move in and out.  It seems like we've only just become good friends with a family, and they move or we'll move.  I guess you just get used to it though, because there isn't much else to do about it!

Evan Cuteness

Evan loves food.  We've basically moved him from eating baby food to completely eating big people food (with some exceptions like eggs and milk... not until he's 1 for those!).  He refuses to eat baby food, which kind of stinks because we have a ton of jars and cereal boxes left over.  I think I'll see when they expire and maybe keep them. 

Anyways, here are two pictures.  I forgot to take pictures of Evan eating spaghetti for the first time, so here he is, eating our Chicken Cacciatore over spiral pasta. This kid loves pasta.  He was annoyed because he was rubbing his eyes (because he was tired)  and he kept rubbing his eyes. 

Was sad, but still wanted to try a cheesy smile for the camera.  This was the compromise. 

"Look at how messy I am!   My eyes hurt!" 

Crazy Dreams

Last night I had a crazy scary dream.  I was driving my car with Evan in the back.  The scene in front of me was houses and buildings, and then all of a sudden across the horizon I saw a bunch of mushroom clouds pop up.  I wasn't concerned about the nuclear destruction going on, but instead my dream self person thought, "I don't have enough water or food for Evan and I".  And then I woke up. 

To me, this is a really freaky dream and when I woke up, I had a strong impression that I needed to write down my thoughts.  My first thought was "If ye are prepared ye shall not fear".  And then I started thinking about all the things I need to do to get ready for emergency preparedness, like storing food and water, diapers and clothes, flashlights and batteries, and tons of other things.  I basically made a list of everything we need to do.  Then I wrote my very last thought which was:  We need to get this done as soon as possible.

Rick thinks I'm paranoid, but I know that he also didn't have the same dream as me and he didn't have the same impressions and promptings.  We've been wanting to work on our food storage and emergency preparedness for a while, but we've been putting it off because we weren't settled, or we could barely afford to buy extra stuff as it is.  I now have a huge sense of urgency to do this.  I'm not saying that we're going to need it really soon, but our little family needs to be prepared in case it happens. 

And for anyone curious as to why Rick wasn't with me in the dream, it's because he would have to stay behind at our base if there was anything going on (like an attack or something).  That's one of the reasons why it was such a realistic dream to me.  I would like for Rick to go with me if we evacuate, but I also know that I have a responsibility of getting Evan to safety now too,  not just myself. 

I hope that this isn't too horribly depressing, because I have no idea if anything like this is going to happen or not, but this dream taught me that I need to be prepared.  

We love Food

One of the things that I love about the military is going shopping at the Commissary (the grocery store on base).  The prices are great, especially for meat and produce.  And when we move to Hawaii, we'll be doing almost all of our grocery shopping on base to save money. 

On Friday (payday) we went grocery shopping and I found a rack of ribs on sale as the manager's special.  So, I picked it up.  We got 4 1/2 lbs. of spare ribs for about $5.  Rick was really excited because he loves ribs, and since I've never really eaten ribs before, he decided to make them for us. 

Rick and his yummy ribs.  He had a lot of fun making them and waiting and waiting and waiting for them to cook.

My dinner:  Salad, glazed baby carrots and ribs.  With some cranberry-apple sparkling cider to drink. 

Tonight I made one of Rick's favorite meals:  Korean Barbecued Beef.  I just recently got this recipe and it is super-good and tasty.  You have to marinade the beef overnight in order to get the best taste.  I didn't do that today because I forgot to pull out the beef.  Oh well, next time! 


Korean Barbecued Beef (Beef Kalbi) with rice, chow mein noodles and romaine lettuce. 

If you want any of these recipes, let me know.  I guarantee that they are good!  :) 

What the heck? Thanks Makamae....

I was hoping that my good friend Makamae was referring to someone else when she tagged me, then I noticed that she didn't have any other blog friends (that I could see) named Rachel... I tag these people:  

1. Sarah

2. Ruth

3. Kristi

4. Carrie

5. Bethany

6. Megan

7. Bianca

8. Jen

1. What is your favorite memory and why?  A lot of memories with my family growing up... like Christmas mornings, sitting around and just hanging out... laughing with family.  If I had to pinpoint my FAVORITE memory, it would probably be when I was married to Rick in the temple.  That was pretty awesome. 

2. What is your ideal date?  Since we have Evan with us now, dates usually involve him.  We like home dates.  After Evan goes to bed, I usually snuggle up with Rick on the couch and we watch a movie.  

3. Where would you NOT like to live and why? Arizona and California right now, because Rick and I would like to get away from our families for a while (I don't mean to say it in a bad way...)  ALSO, not a big fan of Utah.  I loved my roommates when I lived in Utah and I loved the students I worked with, but I wasn't a fan of the ward I was in and the people in it. We are definitely looking forward to Hawaii. 

 
4. Who was the last person to see you? Rick... He's standing next to me right now. 

5. Can you balance a ball on your nose? No... not a seal or another animal.  

6. If you could eat anything right now, what would it be? Taquitos from Pepe's in Orange County... with their yummy guac... 

7. If there is one thing you could do, what would it be? Makamae said that this was a vague question and I completely agree with her.  I wish I could be a super mom.  I wish I could manage to bake,cook, sew, workout, read, play with baby, be crafty, fulfill my calling well, write in my journal, pray morning and night, enjoy time with my husband and read my scriptures everyday.  All of that, every day.  Unfortunately, I have to prioritize and tell myself that I have time for everything in the future... maybe.  

8. What is your favorite book/series/magazine and what caught your eye about it?  

One of my very favorite books that I love that is a stand alone book is Mrs. Frisby and the Rats of Nimh.  I also like Matlida. As for series, Lord of the Rings, Harry Potter, Hunger Games.  With Harry and LOTR, I love how I can relate to the characters.  They become my friends.  In Harry, I love that the three main kids fight with each other and have real relationships... not like other books, where the relationships are absolutely perfect with each other...(*Cough* Twilight)