Happy Easter!!

We had a very nice Easter at our house. The kids woke up to find their baskets. (psst not from the Easter bunny, he doesn't come to our house, if you ask the kids it confuses them) Brandon always does a very clever scavanger hunt for the kids, they like it very much. That afternoon we had a nice dinner at our house. (Wish you were there Steph and Mike, Whit and Austin). I enjoy cooking and decorating for the fam. And of course everyone brought something yummy to share. We ended the evening with a fun egg hunt. Brayden found the jelly beans to be delicious. Good times!

Try out these AWESOME Mint chocolate brownies!

Ingredients
Bottom layer:
1 cup all-purpose flour (about 4 1/2 ounces)
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 cup granulated sugar
1/2 cup egg substitute
1/4 cup butter, melted
2 tablespoons water
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 large eggs, beaten
1 (16-ounce) can chocolate syrup
Cooking spray

Mint layer:
2 cups powdered sugar
1/4 cup butter, melted
2 tablespoons fat-free milk
1/2 teaspoon peppermint extract
2 drops green food coloring

Glaze:
3/4 cup semisweet chocolate chips
3 tablespoons butter


Preparation
1.Preheat oven to 350°.
2.To prepare bottom layer, lightly spoon flour into a dry measuring cup; level with a knife. Combine flour and salt; stir with a whisk. Combine granulated sugar, egg substitute, 1/4 cup melted butter, 2 tablespoons water, vanilla, eggs, and chocolate syrup in a medium bowl; stir until smooth. Add flour mixture to chocolate mixture, stirring until blended. Pour batter into a 13 x 9–inch baking pan coated with cooking spray. Bake at 350° for 23 minutes or until a wooden pick inserted in center comes out almost clean. Cool completely in pan on a wire rack.

3.To prepare mint layer, combine powdered sugar, 1/4 cup melted butter, and next 3 ingredients (through food coloring) in a medium bowl; beat with a mixer until smooth. Spread mint mixture over cooled cake.

4.To prepare the glaze, combine the chocolate chips and 3 tablespoons butter in a medium microwave-safe bowl. Microwave at HIGH 1 minute or until melted, stirring after 30 seconds. Let stand 2 minutes. Spread chocolate mixture evenly over top. Cover and refrigerate until ready to serve. Cut into 20 pieces.

My birthday!

I just celebrated my 29th birthday and had a great time. This has to be one of my favorite birthdays. My sweet little family did a great job. We went sledding in the morning and then Brandon took me out to dinner and to a movie. I loved being with my family and doing some fun things. Here are some pictures of one of my favorite days. Picture of all of us in the snow. The kids had fun sledding. Our final run was with all four of us, to make a long story short, it was our fastest run of the day and Ellie ended up crying. We were pretty much done after that. Isn't that a cute snowman.

Parker had a blast. His first run he biffed it and has a nice scratch on his cheek to prove it.
This was Ellie's favorite place to be, although we did convince her to sled a time or two.

Brandon took me to Benihana's for dinner. We had a great time watching our chef and eating the great food. Afterwards we went and saw u23d. That was so cool! I highly recommend it.