a clean pantry...

Our pantry here at Wymount is really really big... we got really lucky, considering we just picked our apartment at random three years ago from a long list of addresses online. We're on the end of our building, which contributes to the size of our pantry, because we don't have a fire walkway going between our balcony and the next - which lets our pantry extend another couple of feet outward. Anyway, the size of our pantry often means that things just get tossed in there, since space is always available. I took the time the other day to neatly organize every shelf and get everything off the floor. Now, everything in there has a place, and any new groceries I buy (if we ever get our loan and grant money in *crossing fingers*) will fit right into the categories. Woohoo! Now if only my kitchen were as clean and ordered as my pantry... or the rest of my house, for that matter...

Birthday Boy

Last Thursday was Owen's first birthday! We had a party on Wednesday night with our siblings, and then on Thursday night, Matt, Owen, and I went for a picnic. Owen got so many presents, and he loves them all. Thanks to all his grandmas, great-grandmas, aunts, and everyone else who sent him gifts. Here are some pictures from our festivities:

Owen very proud of himself for ripping the wrapping paper (and checking to make sure it was okay)

He was distracted and wanted to play with everything he opened. This is the jar of jungle animals that Matt got him.

He LOVED the balloon that Michelle tied on top of her present.

Owen with all his presents.

He was one happy kid.

Cake time! This was Owen's personal cake. I got tired of cake-making after the big birthday cake I made, so this one I just poured the hot frosting over it... it kind of looks like an alien blob, but oh well. Owen didn't care. :)

Not sure about the singing and the candle.

Me and Matt trying to get him to blow out the candle. He knows how to blow (he blows bubbles in his bath water), but he was too scared of the candle to do it.

Finally he gets to eat it!

Matt shows Owen how it's done.

This is the other birthday cake I made for all the big people. For those of you who wanted to know how to make it, I've given you a few pictures. This took one white cake mix.

Mix batter according to directions on box. Divide it into six bowls (or you could do 4... or however many you want). I put more batter in the purple and red, less in the orange and blue, and the least in the green and yellow. I think it ended up being a little over 3/4 c, 1/2 c, and 1/4 c respectively. I just used regular food coloring, though if you have those gel food colors for cake/icing, those would work without having to use as much color.

Pour the batter in concentric circles in two round cake pans. (Remember, the purple and red circles have the most batter, followed by the orange and blue, etc.). Bake like normal, and assemble like a normal layer cake!

Here are some pictures of my sweet boy on his birthday.

Yes, he's wearing different shoes on each foot. I couldn't find both of either pair.

How/when did he get so old?!

I love this picture. Owen always does this weird thing with his mouth where he moves his bottom jaw to one side and sticks out his bottom teeth. I'm glad we finally caught a head-on picture of it. Crazy boy.

This was taken at our picnic on Owen's birthday. It was chilly, so we didn't stay too long, but it was fun, and we got to watch the sun set!

These plastic gray boulders came in Owen's jungle animal bucket. He carries them around the house in his mouth, the nutcase.

Love this little cheeser!

My big one-year-old!

Pass it on...

This past week, I received a scrumptious chocolate pie from a friend I hadn't seen in a while - one of my London roommates, Katie. It was a "pay it forward" gift that I won on her blog, and it was the best chocolate pie I have ever had - there were even chocolate shavings in the crust. Yum! Anyway, now it's my turn to 'pay it forward'... the first three people to comment on this blog post will get a gift made by me especially for them. Here are the rules:

1. Whatever I make will be just for you.
2. It could be anything... a craft, some yummy baked goods, a recipe... anything. You have no idea what it will be.
3. It will come sometime this year.

What's the catch? The catch is that you have to pay it forward yourself... re-post this on your blog and make something for the first three people to comment, or, if you don't have a blog (I know some of you reading this don't), then you get to pay it forward to a few random people you know. And, if you do have a blog, be sure to post a picture of whatever I send to you whenever you get it. Ready? Set? Comment away, and I'll get working on some fabulous gifts!

(oh, and ps - Katie, I need your apartment number so I can return your pie pan! :)

Walking video

Here's a better walking video of Owen. This was several weeks ago, and he's way better now than he was in this video, but our camera is dead, and when Matt has the computer all day every day, I can't charge it... so this is when you get. :) Owen's pretty stable now, and prefers to walk instead of crawl. He still has trouble on our kitchen floor, though, if he's in anything other than bare feet. He loves walking, and is already starting to run... or at least try to. He's just unstoppable... wants to be able to do everything all at once.

Cheesy camera faces...

So, with Matt's new job and all his responsibilities with school, church, his Honor's thesis, etc., my computer time is very limited. So enjoy these pictures, because there may not be a whole lot in the next few months. Anyway. These are pictures from the last few weeks. I love these first couple of Matt and Owen... this boy loves his daddy so much.

Like father like son...

Daddy teaching Owen to drive his remote control car.

Owen thinks that climbing UP slides is much more fun than going down.

We went to Utah Lake at sunset for a picnic and so I could practice shooting at sunset. It made me wish I had a wide-angle lens.... and lots of mosquito repellent.

Love Owen's fingers, toes, and ears in this one.

Owen's first BYU football game! Clapping for the Cougars.

You know how every kid develops that cheesy smile that you really wish they wouldn't use when you whip out the camera? Well, apparently I take too many pictures of Owen, cause he's already got one, and that's pretty much all I can get out of him recently.

Matt in his sweet t-shirt at the BYUMA opening social. He's the director of online marketing.

Grandma Farrell came to play!

Owen LOVES this tunnel. He sits in here forever, and I have to coax him to come out.

At the CSU/BYU game... it was so hot that we made Owen sit behind daddy the whole time so he'd be in the shade.

More cheese... and check out those teeth! He has a total of 7 now.

Owen loves to wear his shoes around the house. This is the face he makes whenever he wants something... always with his head cocked to the side.

Enjoying the cool weather from our balcony.

Got these pajamas at Costco. These next two pics are mainly for my dad and grandpa Auman, who are big race fans. These pajamas look just like the jumpsuits that race car drivers wear. Cool, huh?

Owen and dad at the first cold football game we've had.

Owen is getting better and better at walking. I have some videos to post, but they'll have to wait until later.