Spring Break/Easter highlights.....

HAPPY EASTER!!!!!

Every year we take a family vacation to St. George for Spring break and Easter. This year was no different. We stayed at Las Palmas in Green Valley. I think half our neighborhood had the same idea. We had such a great time. Here are a few of our weekend highlights!

Decorating Easter eggs with the Mecham's

It's quite the production to decorate eggs with 8 excited kiddos

waiting for their eggs....

The Easter bunny always finds us.... even in St. George

The little girls were extremely giddy

The big girls had a lot of fun too

We boiled 8-18 packs of eggs...... you do the math!

mmmm..... can't wait to eat them

Cas and Marie

Poor, poor James! 

He tore his Achilles tendon playing basketball with the boys on the first day. Joe was bummed not to have his biking buddy. He was totally laid up and went in for surgery this morning. 

We are wishing him well and a speedy recovery!

You know it's a good day when your 14 year old boy is happy with the 

Easter Bunny

Kris and I had a great time helping the Easter Bunny this year.

 He had quite the floppy tail and ears. 

Hazel and Em are all smiles.... and so easy to please!

Everyone is happy and content. 

I think it's pool time....

I was laughing so hard because every time I'd get comfortable, I had a little appendage stuck to my back.

 I guess I was a good cushion....

Poor Joe lost his hang-out buddy. 

Now he's all alone...... What to do?

Here she is again, stuck to my back....

Jas and Spence had sooooooo much fun. 

They caught 3 lizards one day and the perma-grins lasted all day!

Hazel fell asleep, at the pool, with that darn Binky in her mouth. 

It's a good thing it was left in St. George. 

The Pia's don't need any more bad habits.

This is the best vacation for teenage boys. They had a great time swimming, playing basketball and practicing their lacrosse skills in the grass. 

My parents came down and spent time, back and forth, with us and with Pappap in Mesquite! 

Poor, poor Wesley had the flu the first 3 days of our trip. He started getting pretty skinny by day 3. Michelle and Dave spent a lot of time locked up in their condo. Luckily, they got to stay a few extra days. Hopefully they're enjoying themselves as we speak. 

Hazel falling asleep standing up. She was so tired....

Hazel and Amelea..... hanging out

Little Chan and Spence had a sleepover the last night. They had such a great time.

Cas and Marie have been friends for so many years. They are 4 years apart, but such great buddies. Everyone thinks they are sisters.

 Do you see the resemblance?

Daddy and Hazel having fun in the water

Kris and appendage #1 -Em

Me and appendage #2 -Hazel

These 3 girls were hooked at the hip the entire time.

 They are such good friends and had an absolute blast!

Well, another successful year has come and gone. We have such fond memories of our Spring Breaks spent in beautiful St. George.

 It's time to book our condo for next year. 

Can't wait!

hippity-hop-hop-hop

I realize Easter is still a week away, but we really wanted to celebrate with Joe's family because we'll be in Sunny St. George next week.

 We enjoyed quite the feast today.

 Here are a few of the pictures and recipes from our pre-Easter

get-together. 

I laughed so hard at this little girl today. She thinks she's pretty hilarious..... and she is!

baby LeRoy is getting so stinkin' cute and CHUBBY!

Our California cousins came to town for a visit. My kids were so happy and excited to hang with them

Joseph, Anne and baby LeRoy

Frank and Spence

I love taking pictures of Hazel because she loves to pose.....

Marie and Daisy Valentine...... isn't she a little cutie?

I'm sure you've eaten Italian Chicken, but incase you haven't, here is the recipe. This is a main staple at the Pia house. I serve this dish over rice at least twice a month. 

Creamy Italian Crock-pot Chicken

4-6 boneless, skinless chicken breasts

1 (10 3/4oz.) can cream of chicken soup

1 (8 oz.) package cream cheese, softened

1 packet Good Seasonings Italian dressing mix

Combine soup, cream cheese and dressing mix. Pour over chicken in crock pot and cook all day on low-heat. Serve over noodles or rice.

This was the perfect dessert to make for a pre-Easter Sunday dinner. It was so lemony and delicious. I had such a great time putting it all together for our special day. I still have a few slices left if anyone wants to come taste test.....

Perfect Lemon Cake

1 package lemon cake mix

1 cup sour cream

3/4 cup water

3/4 cup oil

4 eggs

1 small package lemon instant pudding

Mix dry ingredients. Add wet ingredients. Mix with electric mixer on medium speed for about two minutes. Pour into a greased 9x11 pan or two round pans. Bake at 350 degrees for 25-30 minutes. Don't overbake or the cake will be too dry!

You can also make cupcakes and bake them at 350 degrees for 20 minutes. The cupcakes will fall after they come out of the oven, but this is normal. Just fill up the indentation with more frosting. 

Frosting:

1 cup (2 sticks) butter, very soft

6-8 cups powdered sugar

1/2 cup fresh lemon juice

1 teaspoon grated lemon zest

Place the butter in a large mixing bowl. Add 4 cups of sugar, then the juice and the zest. Beat until smooth and creamy. Gradually add the remaining sugar, 1 cup at a time, until icing is thick enough to be of good spreading consistency (I added about 6 cups total). Use and store at room temperature. (Don't refrigerate and it will last in a covered container for about three days.)

Garnish with berries, if desired.

I actually took some of this mousse and filled the lemon cake layers with it. 

I'm telling you.....

It was so good!

Citrus Mousse Dessert

3/4 C. fresh lemon juice

1/4 C. orange juice

Zest of 1 orange

3 - 8oz. pkgs. cream cheese

2 1/2 C. powdered sugar

3 t. lemon extract

2 C. whipping cream

1 C. strawberries or raspberries ( I used blackberries today)

Grate zest from orange. Juice orange and lemon. Beat the cream cheese until smooth. Add sugar, lemon extract, lemon and orange juice, and zest. Beat whipping cream until stiff. Fold into cream cheese mixture. Garnish with sliced fruit.

Calling all cooks....

Today was another great day for Marie. With much anticipation....we were finally able to celebrate her "friend" birthday party. Marie chose to go to 

"THE FINISHING SCHOOL" 

and do a cooking class for her party. Can I just say.......what a fantastic, fun place to celebrate your 10th birthday! The staff was absolutely amazing. They were pros at keeping the girls entertained and the party flowing ever so smoothly for a good 2 hours.

I am so impressed with their professionalism and excitement..... I could tell they LOVE their job! They helped make Marie feel like a million bucks. We took way too many pictures, but the girls were so darling, I just couldn't help myself. 

This is Paige and Kimberly. They were the women in charge of the party.

 Loved em'

The girls got to decorate their very own chef hats to wear and take home.

The gift table. Marie has the nicest, most generous friends. 

The gifts were lovely!

This was the dining room table (Marie got to pick her favorite colors)set for 12 girls.

The first game we played was a food matching game

decorating chef hats

Marie and her daddy

Marie and her mommy

The girls pose right before they get down & dirty with pizza dough

learning about pizza dough, yeast and how it works. They each got a piece of dough 

to work with and make their pizza crust.

This was such a fun game. It had something to do with cotton balls and blind-folds

Hannah won and got a cute cooking prize!

Time to dress their pizza's with toppings.....hmm...

While the pizza's were baking, we played hide the thimble 

Time to chow down.... the girl's were served their individual pizza's along with carrots and ranch dip, cut strawberries with sprinkled sugar and lemonade. 

Hannah, Hannah and Abi

Lu and Marie

Allie and Kate

Rachael and Kallie

Alivia and Kelly

Time for my favorite part....... Dessert!

Marie specifically asked if I would make her Chocolate cupcakes with a fudge middle and Chocolate frosting! She doesn't look excited does she? I'm posting the recipe for the cupcakes at the bottom of this post, just in case you want to re-create these Chocolaty, calorie busters!

Lastly, Marie and I sewed the girls their own aprons to take home as their party gift. They looked so darn cute I had to take yet another picture. 

I hope the girls had a wonderful, unforgettable day. I know I did!

Dreamy cream filled chocolate fudge cupcakes

1 (18.25 ounce) package Betty Crocker® SuperMoist® devil's food cake mix 1 1/3 cups water 1/2 cup vegetable oil

3 eggs 1 1/2 (12 ounce) containers Betty Crocker® chocolate, fudge frosting

1.	Heat oven to 350 degrees F (325 degrees F for dark or nonstick pans). Make and bake cake mix as directed on box for 24 cupcakes, using water, oil and eggs. Cool 10 minutes; remove from pan to cooling racks. Cool completely, about 30 minutes.
2.	Spoon frosting into a plastic decorator bag. Use a fairly large frosting tip. Gently push tip into center of cupcake. Squeeze about 2 teaspoons frosting into center of each cupcake for filling, being careful not to split cupcake. Frost tops of cupcakes with remaining frosting.

Chocolate Buttercream Frosting 

1 stick salted butter - room temperature

1 stick unsalted butter - room temperature

1 cup shortening

1 tablespoon Vanilla extract

2 pounds confectioner's sugar (powdered sugar, 10x)

4-6 tablespoons very cold milk

2 Tablespoons cocoa powder

Directions

Cream the butter and shortening in the bowl of an electric or stand mixer. Add the clear vanilla extract and combine well. Begin adding in the sugar and mixing thoroughly after each addition. Add Cocoa powder and mix thoroughly. After all of the sugar and Cocoa has been added and mixed thoroughly, begin adding the very cold milk... one tablespoon at a time, combining very well after each addition (mixer on medium-high to high speed) until you reach the desired consistency.