Mini Payne Family Reunion

When Tim and Tami came back to the states from Korea at the beginning of April, we Paynes definitely needed some family time. :) Cam and I called this week the Mini-Payne Family StayCation Reunion.

Our time together was PACKED full of activities:

First, there was the welcome party for the exhausted traveling Payne family.

Plenty of movie watching for the kids.

Some guitar Hero for the adults.

An Italian lunch for the girls.

Husking, stirring, and chopping for many meals.

Hair bow and jewelry making.

A trip to the Mesa Southwest Museum.

An afternoon in the sun watching Kaylee play basketball!

Family Pictures

Tim's birthday dinner at The Cheesecake Factory.

A lunch at Chino Bandito's.

A chicken coupe built.

A trip the the Temple and many lazy nights around the piano.

A few naps, some shopping and lots of hugs.

Here's Jake with Rance panning for gold.

Jake LOVED being one of the big kids this week.

All the kids in the learning center of the museum.

And, Jake with Auntie Tami discovering his love for the iPad. :)

Payne Family Pictures

Have you ever wondered what the production of photographing a family of 25 on a railroad track in downtown Gilbert might look like? Well, here you go:

In March while having our Payne Family Reunion StayCation welcoming Tim and Tami back to the states, we also did some family pictures.

The guys put on their "cool".

The ladies showed off their glamour.

And the kids showed their best sides.

Oh, and we all squoosed onto some active railroad tracks all in the name of style.

Photography by Jake

I always find funny pictures on my camera or phone that were obviously taken by someone about 3 feet tall and with a pesky pointer finger that just doesn't know how to stay out of the way. This particular set is from a day when I had a couple moms here and a few extra kids. I kind of love the pictures. They tell a lot about Jake.

He loves this movie - Cars. And, this is his favorite part.

Jessica helping Alaina with her shoes or something.

Jake's buddy, Zack.

And, the stairs.

This really made me think about how scary these things must be to a two year old.

What do ya think? Do you think there is a career in photography in his future? haha

Jake Flying a Kite Video

While we were out flying kites a few weeks ago, and I was laying in the grass taking in the day, Jake came and sat on my tummy and we had this conversation. He LOVES my cameras and thinks they are his to play with... haha.

Flying a Kite

This is the last of my old posts. Yay! One very windy day, while hanging out with Cam's sister, Karleen, we decided we should take advantage of the wind and fly a kite! Jake loved it, and the wind couldn't have been more perfect. It was easy to get kites up and even easier to keep them going.

Here's Cam in the perfect father/son kite flying experience picture.

Jake took this picture while lying next to me on the ground while I hung onto the kite.

And, this was as we were leaving. The wind was strong enough to get a kite flying even this low to the ground. :)

Stay tuned for some video!

Lasagna

The other night I made Rebecca Greer's famous Lasagna. The recipe was simple enough for me, but tasted fantastic.

I doubled the recipe and made (1) 11x7 pan and (2) 8x8 pans. I froze the 8x8s before baking them by covering them tightly with plastic wrap and then foil. And, because Rebecca is smart, I followed her advice to write on the package, "Remove Plastic Wrap." :) It's the little things, I tell ya. Anyway, here it is!:

Lasagna

2 c. cooked hamburger

1/2 c. onion

1/2 tsp. minced garlic

30 oz spaghetti sauce

2lb non-fat cottage cheese

2 c. shredded mozzarella cheese

2 c. shredded cheddar

1/2 c parmesan cheese

8 oz pkg of Lasagna noodles (dry)

Mix spaghetti sauce with hamburger, onion and garlic. Spread 1/2 of sauce mixture on bottom of 9x13 pan. Layer with dry noodles, break to fit. Spread 1/2 of the cottage cheese, followed by 1 c. mozzarella and 1 c. cheddar cheese. repeat process, starting with the sauce. Sprinkle with parmesan cheese. Bake and 400 degrees. 1 hr. uncovered for first 20 min and covered for last 40. Let stand 5-10 min.

Try it. You wont regret it.

Mormon Date Night

Cam and I went out last night for an actual date! *Gasp!* We've been out with friends and we have been "out" shopping without Jake. Heck, we have even called family dinner out,with Jake, a date recently. :)

Anyway, It was Ward Temple Night and so we thought that we should try and make it to the temple. We started the night off with dinner at Cafe Rio, no Jake along this time, and then headed off to the temple. After the temple we made a trip to Deseret Book where Cam picked out about 20 books and then had to painfully narrow it down to two! It was fun to walk around for a while and show each other the books and things that we were interested in. A good date activity, I think.

We finished the night with Bahama Bucks, and it was as we were driving home we discovered that we had just Mormon Date'd it.

Cafe Rio, Temple, Deseret Book and Bahama Bucks? Yeah. Totally Mormon, but totally fun.