Gabe is 7! ! !

Well, Gabe was definitely feeling better after starting the week with strep! We had a great time for his birthday celebrations. The day of his birthday was kind of quiet, but we did have the missionaries for dinner, so they got to share his first birthday cake. But Gabe was ok with that. He knew the big celebration would be on Saturday.

The toy that he got for his birthday was called a balloon rocket. It is simply a bunch of long balloons with a pump. You blow them up and let them go. On Friday, we gave a set to Gabe's friend, Mattias (whose birthday was 3/5) and then went over to the parking lot at the park to set them off. They really had fun with them.
The girl in the middle is Mattias' sister: Mattea.

Here' how it works.

On Saturday before we left for the party, Gabe created this special look: it is his Halloween cowboy hat along with the birthday crown he got from school topped off with his sunglasses. What a picture!

What a goofball!

Ok, so these didn't go quite in the order I had intended, but you get the idea. We really had a lot of fun at Sara's -- Thank you so much!

As usual, when family gets together, there is always food! Gabe got to choose what we had for dinner that night: hot dogs, hamburgers, celery with cheese, carrots, and 3 kinds of chips. He even at a little potato salad! I was shocked!

When we went to the store to look at cakes, Gabe was set on having a Star Wars or other kind of fancy cake. I just wasn't too excited about all that. I finally asked, "Gabe, isn't there a cake Mom can make for you?" He said, "Ok. I want a banana cake." And that was that. No fuss, no complaints, just "ok." So. . . . Here is the banana cake. I actually made 2 cakes, thinking there wouldn't be enough, but we ended up taking one whole cake home. Which was ok, because that way we had left-over cake for a few days. And that cake does really well in the refrigerator!

I thought this was a cute picture of Whitnew and Hannah.

The cake with all 7 candles. . .

Legos!!!!

On Sunday, he sat at the kitchen table and put together the Lego helicopter. It took him almost an hour, but just look at what he did!

Gabe had a program the other night. The 1st Graders put on skits and songs and had a great time. It was the first time I've had to stay in Tooele for something other than my choir programs! Gabe and I made very good use of our time, though. Gabe had a simple cavity filled at the dentist, and we spent an hour at McDonald's letting him play on the playground and playing basketball. There were a few other children there, so he wasn't playing alone. He enjoyed his time.

This was Gabe's costume for his part of the program. He was a sheep. Look for him in the group pictures.

If I've got these videos right, this one should be part of the National Anthem. If I didn't, there's 3 songs: National Anthem, Song in My Heart, and I Love You.

This is the "famous" Alorah. Isn't she cute? There's quite a triangle going on here: Gabe likes Alorah, Alorah likes Thomas and Abby likes Gabe. We don't know who Thomas likes yet, but it would complete the circle if he liked Abby. Ah, first grade romances. . . Gabe has loved Alorah for 2 years now.

Can you see Gabe?










And with that, we'll sign off for this time. Skitterink a dink a dink, skitterink a do... We love you!

From Christmas to Now------

I know -- I know -- It takes me a long time to get around to writing! We love reading everyone else's blogs, and I really need to keep a little more on top of things. However, the theme of our blog "Just tryin' to keep up with the times" is soooo applicable to me! I'm taking the time today because I'm home with a sick little boy who came down with strep over the weekend. We spent Relief Society and Sunday School time at the InstaCare yesterday. Last night, his temp. was 101 degrees -- after ibuprofen and tylenol!

So, there's lots of pictures here, and a lot of time to cover, so be patient and go with us. Also, Morgan, I am including the recipe for that Mexican Salad we had at the Olympic Party towards the end, so keep reading. . . .

Gabe and I spent an evening making our own ornaments for the Christmas tree. They didn't turn out too bad. I still have some of the salt dough, and I'm not quite sure what to do with it.


This is one of Gabe's friends from the ward. We were at the Ward Christmas Party with lots of good food and fun times. The only problem for Gabe was that Santa Claus did not make an appearance.

But, you know how Mom and Dads are -- they sometimes have the right connections, and a few days later, we had a special visitor at our house!!! Gabe was downstairs when our he arrived. When Gabe heard the sleighbells and the laugh, he practically flew up those stairs! It was so fun to watch. . .

Even Madi got to sit on Santa's lap. . .

That same evening we made our yearly trip to the Moffat's house to see their trains. This is truly quite the experience!

This is Gabe's friend Henri. His family also went to enjoy the trains.

This is the Christmas tree before we opened everything.

Before Gabe even went to look at the tree, he looked out the window in the bedroom. Out in the back yard were these trails in the snow. Gabe came running out, "Mom! Dad! Santa's been here! You can see the reindeer and sleigh tracks in the backyard!" I had to take a picture of that, for sure!

It was a quiet Christmas for us. Everyone else was in Castle Dale and the Lodge. But, we had a great time. Christmas Eve was spent at my brother's house, and all their family was there. Family get-togethers in the Piep house are just as big and riotous as the Jorgensens!

This whiteboard/chalkboard easel was given to Gabe by my nephew Michael. Gabe has really enjoyed that. It is one of those gifts that Gabe still uses.

Here's some of the great gifts we received: We can't wait to try out the sno-cone machine! And we have already used the pottery pitcher. Thanks, Sara. The little griddles and mini cast iron "Skookies". They are quite fun to use.

Christmas dinner was wonderful. We had lettuce wedge salads, prime rib, mashed potatoes, green bean casserole and cauliflower. It really tasted good! I don't get a lot of chances to use my china, so it was nice to have such a pretty table-setting, too.
A few days after Christmas was Leslie's farewell. Here are some parting pictures of Les before we went home.

At the end of January, Gabe's new cousin Alex had a birthday. This is Alex's little sister, Elizabeth eating one of the very colorful birthday cupcakes! The kids all had black or red mouths.

That's Alex in the blue shirt. The party was at the Living Planet Aquarium.

Gabe got to pet a giant sting ray. He said it felt slimy.

Now on to February: This is my attempt at being creative with a Valentine's heart cake.

Back-track: This was New Year's Eve and all the streamers that came from the fireworks. Gabe wanted to take it all home and keep it! Luckily, we talked him out of that. . .

Before Sara went down to Castle Dale, she brought us this beautiful amarilys. The blooms on it were beautiful. We actually got two sets of blooms on it.

Every year, on the weekend of Martin Luther King, Jr. holiday, the car show comes to town. Here are some of the cars Gabe really liked:

Unfortunately, the camera on my phone doesn't always focus. But, you get the idea.

This is a real Transformers car -- Bumblebee, of course. It has the name on the black part of the hood, and the logo on the side.
You can see that Gabe isn't the only little boy who likes the Bumblebee car.

We're nearing the end -- are you still with me? So, here's the salad we made for the Olympic Opening Ceremony party. Morgan suggested I put the recipe on the blog, so, here it is:

Mexican Chopped Salad
Romaine or red leaf lettuce

canned corn

black beans (we used red kidney)

jicama

jalapeno peppers (seed well, or it will get HOT!)'

tomato, fresh

fresh lime juice

olive oil

garlic pepper

Combine the first 6 ingredients listed above in the quantity that you desire. Squeeze the joice from a fresh lime, the olive oil, and the pepper over the salad. Toss and serve.

To this recipe, we also add some cumin, chili powder, and salt to taste.

We're glad everyone seemed to enjoy this.

Gabe's favorite tree at the park, even in a snowless winter.

Honor Choir Weekend: 380 junior high students on stage at once!

Well, that's 3 months worth of catching up. Hopefully, it won't be that long before the next one. Especially since Gabe is having a birthday this week! We hope to see you at his party on Saturday at Sara's (around 5:30 p.m. -- eating around 6:00)