Family Fun

Grandpa Baxter was kind enough to invite us to a BYU Basketball game over the weekend. Mai inherited the unsavory piece of clothing you see in the picture (if it was red, minus the "BY" it would be stunning!) from her cousin. She wasn't interested in the game as much as the hallways outside of the arena. I would have guessed she'd like the game atmosphere more, as she regularly chants "B-Y-U-B-Y-U-B-Y-U" at the breakfast table, a tradition started by her mother on the BYU vs. U game day last year.

Ethan loved it, and was riveted to the game for the first half, but slowly lost interest in the 2nd half. This is when we turned to taking pictures of his strange faces you see in the "picture of the week" on the side. His mother likes the "stretch face" the most . . . .

It was a fun day!

Sopa de Tortilla

Sorry for the delay...Here is the recipe for the Tortilla Soup the Baxters ate on Christmas Eve.

Sopa de Tortilla (Tortilla Soup w/ Chicken)
2 chicken breasts cooked and shredded
½ cup onion, finely chopped
1 clove garlic, finely chopped
2 Tbsp. vegetable oil
4 c. chicken broth
1 or 2 dried red chile, ground (This all depends on how daring you are...and how many kids will be refusing to eat it after burning off a few taste buds.)
¾ tsp. basil leaves (dried)
½ tsp. salt
¼ tsp. pepper
1 (15 oz.) can tomato puree
2 limes sliced
Queso Ranchero (fresh mexican cheese sold in a circle shape by the mexican dairy products)
Avocado
Bag of corn tortilla chips

Boil the two chicken breasts in 5 cups of water (about 1 cup will be lost to evaporation), season with salt and garlic to make a nice chicken broth. Shred chicken after cooked completely, strain and save broth. In large sauce pan cook and stir onions and garlic in 2 tablespoons oil until onion is tender. Stir in broth, ground red chilies, basil, salt, pepper, and tomato puree. Heat to boiling; reduce heat. Simmer, uncovered, for 30 minutes. Divide broken tortilla chips and shredded chicken among 6 bowls; add a few cubes of cheese and avocado; pour broth over mixture...and a little lime makes everything sublime! ¡Buen Provecho!

Ethan for President!

Ethan for President....or at least Governor! Yes, before your very eyes you see Governor Ethan, his lovely assistant Maille and Most Trusted Advisor...Grandpa. They are sitting at Governor Huntsman's desk and loving every minute of it. We had a lovely day with Grandpa and Grandma Baxter on Wednesday. We took a field trip to the Capitol building in Salt Lake City and enjoyed an afternoon of on the "Hill". Wow we're the only words uttered as we entered the rotunda of the newly renovated Capitol Building. The acoustics are magnificent and everything looked bright at breathtaking. Mary and I could not stop our "photo" trigger fingers for one second. I thought of how fun it would be to work in this magnificent building everyday. Mary and I picked the Gold Room as our own. If you've ever felt like becoming queen for a day...We've got gold leafed crown molding, ornate crystal, velvet chairs, dreamy drapes, and tea time with the Governor all in store and you don't even need to fly to Buckingham Palace. We actually did get to talk with the Governor for a moment as he gave his little girl a tour of the Capitol. And to top our journey off, we ran into the Public Lounge, which was filled with salad, stroganoff, beverage and a deliciously divine devils food cake! We did feel like Kings...after all, our tax dollars need to be put to some good use. Hee hee. We highly recommend a stroll through one of Utah's finest!

Ethan's Blog

Ethan and dad were stuck at home all sunday. He was sick with strep throat. Ethan wanted to post his own blog. Here it is:

1. g jhkgjhgkkggkjxf jjjgkhj

- Translation: "I love mom and dad

and Maille and me. We are a happy family."

2. bfhhghjbhgjhjhguuhughgfyrttuht

urhutrhuhu6hrjthjrhtrtht8thrhttngj

gnjfhjhthyhjtjhtyhjtjyhjjghghjghkjht

gjhjhgjgjknj jjgjhjgjhjhhjgkhgjgkj nh

- Translation: "I won't get sick so I can be

better so little bugs can't get in my throat."

My Wife's Children

As a father, sometimes it is fun to stick out my chest as if I were a pigeon strutting around a city sidewalk when talking about my children - "Ethan knows the whole alphabet." or "You should have seen the picture Maille drew the other day, it was amazing!". However, there are also sometimes I wonder from whence these children came. For example, when Mai lets a stinker in the bathtub and laughs about it, saying "my bummy . . ", or when Ethan is seen absentmindedly picking his nose while watching a movie.

I have had two such experiences this week. The first is Ethan who decided to take a box we had out when packing up our Chirstmas decorations. It has a slit just the right level to fit to his eyes when carefully fit over his head. Where he got this idea . . . I have no idea. To make matters worse, he decided to sneak around corners to scare his sister, father, and mother. It seems he has a knack of doing this, as evidence of Mai scampering around the corner with a wild look it her eye towards my leg, and the deathgrip she had on my thigh after she reached it. Ethan loved the attention as well. Whenever he had a successful scare, he would laugh wildly as the sound echoed around his cardboard helmet.

Then there's Mai, who has an unusual streak of what I call "Cahoon-ness" that creeps out every once in a while. (I call it Cahooness in homage to my lovely wife, whose maiden name is Cahoon. Anything somewhat strange or eyebrow raising that my children do must have come from her genetic line . . . right?). For example, Mai, who is learning to swim, decided to take a dip in her cereal one morning my crawling up onto the table and splash milk and bits of frosted mini-wheats everywhere. When confronted by her father, not only was she completely unabashed, but relished the moment by giving a big "Cheese" for the camera. Another example comes from the day of this post, where she was instructed by her father to eat her eggs. She responded by nodding her head emphatically and saying "K dad . . . k dad . . kdad. . .kdadkdad . . kdad", and stuffing a large amount of fried egg into her mouth. She finished off the show with a large toothy/eggy smile.

Where do these children get this? I shudder to think.

Christmas

Christmas was a lot of fun for our family. We all went to the festival of trees with grandma and grandpa. At one point, Mai and grandma were sitting down watching a clogging group. Mai loved the clogging and the music, so she decided to try a bit of her own. She would bounce up and down on grandma's knees, then lean way over to the right, then way over to the left, all the while saying "whoaaaaa . . . whoaaaaaa", as if she were on a rollercoaster. Ethan, as detail oriented as he his, would stop and admire the tree's . . . all of them. It took nearly three times the amount of time it probablly should have to get through them, but it was fun anyway.

Snowman

Ethan has been outside with dad whenever possible. He espeically loves to build large mounds of snow and jump on them, in them, around them . . you get the idea. Our most recent project has been this snowman, which only lasted a short while before some punk teenagers knocked it down. At least we have a picture to remember him.

Ethan is holding a picture of his great feat of creating a snowball. The one that ended up splattered all around daddy's neck and melting into his underwear . .

Maille likes the snow as well, but for some reason looked surprised to see it on this occasion.

Snowy Fun

Ethan and Mai love the snow. Mai loves to pull these nutty faces for the camera, which you can see. She has a lot of spunk, and fit right in to the holiday party atmosphere.