My Life is My Playground

Opal's Shepherd's Pie

2009-11-14T23:17:00.002-07:00

Opal's Shepherd's Pie (Opal Madison)

1 lb. ground beef
1-2 cans tomato sauce
1 can green beans
1 onion, chopped
1 tsp. salt
dash of pepper
1 1/2 c. grated cheese
6 medium potatoes or 3 cups instant mashed potatoes

Peel and boil potatoes. Mash and set aside. Brown ground beef with onion, salt, and pepper. Drain off the fat. Add tomato sauce and green beans. Place ground beef mixture in a baking dish. Whip potatoes and spoon on top of ground beef mixture. Top with grated cheese. Bake at 375* for 25 minutes.

Chicken Mushroom Crepes

2009-11-14T23:00:00.003-07:00

Make crepes ahead of time. (If you want that recipe, let me know.) When I make mine I make sure to make enough that we'll have some left for dessert, in which I put melted butter and powdered sugar before rolling them up. YUM!

Chicken Filling With Mushroom Sauce

1 can cream of chicken soup
1/2 cup sour cream
2 1/2 c. cooked chicken

Combine all ingredients.

Mushroom Sauce:

2 tbsp. melted butter
1 small onion; chopped
diced bell pepper to taste
1 can cream of chicken soup
1/2 cup sour cream
1 cube chicken bouillon
2 tbsp. water
1 cup sliced mushrooms
1/2 c. cheddar cheese

Combine all ingredients. Make sure bouillon cube is dissolved. Set aside some of the cheese or grate extra for the top.

Line crepes with filling. Roll up and place in a pan like enchiladas. Pour sauce over top. Cover and bake for 15 minutes at 350*. Sprinkle top with grated cheddar cheese and return to oven for 10 minutes.

Stacey's Stir Fry

2009-11-14T22:47:00.004-07:00

Stacey's Stir Fry ala Stacey Hartley

1 1/2 lbs. steak
2 tbs vegetable oil
1 tbs fine chopped ginger root
2 garlic cloves minced
3 carrots sliced
1/4 cup rice wine vinegar
1/4 cup soy sauce
1 medium onion
1 1/2 cup broccoli, chopped

Heat oil. Add steak, ginger root and garlic, heat for 2-3 minutes, then remove steak. Add carrots and cook for 2-3 minutes, then add vinegar, soy sauce, onion and broccoli. Cook for 2 minutes. Return the steak to the veggies and heat for 2 minutes and then serve over rice or noodles.

Marissa's Marinade

2009-11-14T22:40:00.002-07:00

Marissa's Marinade

1/4 cup honey
1/4 cup vegetable oil
1/4 cup vinegar
1/4 cup cooking wine
3 large cloves garlic
3 tsp. fresh ground ginger root
2 tbsp. soy sauce
1 tbsp. shredded parsley
1 tsp. salt

Mix it all together and add your meat.

I actually put 6 chicken breasts in it and froze it. I'll just take them out as we need them. This is seriously my favorite marinade!!!

Flower needs a post.

2009-11-09T01:06:00.006-07:00

Here are a few things that make me laugh every time she says them:
:::rockamole(guacamole)
:::You scared me outta the crap!
:::It's taking too much long
:::itsazaster(it's a disaster)

...Flower loves volkswagen bugs and buses(yay!). She talks often about someday having a pink bug. One day in the car she started telling us that she wanted a tiny pink bug to drive on a tiny road with tiny cars in a tiny world. It was pretty cute.

...She loves to play Yoville on Facebook with KG.

...She was given an older mac computer by Walter, our friend and painter of the apartments. It only has one game on it, a dinosaur game. She loves to play it. It's really entertaining to watch her and the excitement she get for all the moves and things she can make the dinosaur do. :)

...She is learning how to spell. I love it. All of a sudden one day we pulled up to a stop sign and she says "s-t-o-p stop! I spelled stop". It was so cute. Then she figured out 'go'. Then she told me later she can spell karate. I was pretty impressed. Now she can spell lots of words.

...She is learning to read. Because of the spelling thing KG wrote out some words and started teaching her how to sound them out and read. She can read words like ant, bat, cat, dog, frog, lamp, jet, hat, hit. You get the idea. She will sound them and then also spell them.

...She refers to KG's parents as buffalo grandpa and grandma. It started because KG's dad always has his business shirts on. The logo of his company is a buffalo and is on each shirt. It just made sense to her I guess. So now we say, "grandpa is coming over" or "we are going to grandma's" and she asks which one and we just have to say buffalo. That eventually led to what she calls my parents. They are always in their BSU gear so they are BSU grandma and grandpa. We can simply say "we are going to buffalo" or "bsu is coming over" and she gets excited. I really love it.

...I really like how she associates things with people. She's done it since we've known her. I have two friends named Kris/Chris which she met at the age of 2. It was confusing for her as to which one I was talking about and one day when I mentioned one of them she said, "m&m's Kris or ice cream Chris?" I busted up laughing! At two and a half for her to figure that out just cracked me up. Every time she went to Kris' house she got M&M's and now two and half years later Flower still refers to her as M&M's Kris. Chris lived above Cold Stone Creamery and we enjoyed some ice cream with him one day and he will forever be known as ice cream Chris in her book. These kinds of things go on and on. I'll have to write them down because right now they are escaping me. It's just so endearing.

...KG shared this story with me tonight of when they went to the cabin with Buffalo last Saturday. "Each time we drive to the cabin Flower will ask if we are going to the forest or the jungle. This past weekend I decided to ask Flower if she has ever been to the jungle. She promptly responded that she has in fact been to the jungle. When I probed for details she recounted an elaborate story about her adventure driving through the jungle with her BSU grandparents. She said they got lost while driving through the jungle and saw "giraffes, gorillas, lions, elephants, monsters, tigers....". Her story concluded with their party eventually finding the road and driving away. What an imagination!

We really love this girl!

They Might Be Giants::Family Show

2009-11-08T23:00:00.015-07:00

Tonight we took the girls to see They Might Be Giants::Family Show.
It was at the Egyptian Theater which I love.

We met Shannon and the girls there as well.

The girls were so excited and ready to rock!

River running away is a familiar scene these days.

The stage was very cool.

The girls waiting with anticipation.

Our obligatory self photo...extreme close-up.

Our little concert going fam.
Flower looked high...hmmm. :)

And then the show began! We danced and sang to the music!

River jammed right along with us. That girl loves to dance!

At one point during the show, a confetti machine went off at the wrong time and caused a fire on stage. The music stopped and John was stomping it out. And as quick as it started, it ended and he started singing again right where he left off. It was great.

They sang all our favorite songs. We loved every minute of it! Although this photo doesn't portray it very well, none of us stopped moving. We pretty much danced and jived and sang the entire time!

It was really a great show.
It was so fun having my kids there and I danced a little harder and acted a little crazier because of it which make it that much more fun.
I can hardly wait for them to come to town again.

After the concert we went over to Shannon's for dinner. We contributed a salad to accompany her yummy stuff shells and garlic bread. We had a good visit that was brought to an end with a delicious dessert pizza. Flower had a ball playing with the girls. A very fun evening!

KG's Chicken Enchiladas

2009-11-04T23:43:00.003-07:00

Chicken Enchiladas
ala KG

4 chicken breast
1 onion, chopped
1 1/2 c. Monterrey jack cheese, shredded
(reserve 1/2 c. for the top)
1 1/2 c. cheddar cheese, shredded
(reserve 1/2 c. for the top)
1 can cream of chicken soup
1 1/2 c. sour cream
1 4 oz. can green chilies, diced
1 c. red or green enchilada sauce
1/2 c. franks red sauce
12-14 tortillas

Brown chicken and onion. Drain. mix in enchilada sauce, franks red sauce and 2 c. of cheese. Fill each tortilla with mixture, roll and place, seam side down, in 9x13 pan or two small pans to freeze. Mix together sour cream, soup, and chilis; pour over top of tortillas. Bake uncovered at 375* for 20-30 minutes. Remove and top with remaining cheese and cook an additional 5 minutes.

Meat Loaf

2009-11-04T23:36:00.001-07:00

Meat Loaf

Courtesy of Katie Joel

Ingredients:

Serves 8-10

1 tablespoon olive oil
1/2 medium yellow onion , diced (about 3/4 cup)
1 clove garlic , minced
1 medium red pepper , finely diced (about 1 cup)
1 bay leaf
2 tablespoons chopped fresh flat-leaf parsley
2 teaspoons chopped fresh thyme
2 pounds lean ground beef
2 large eggs , lightly beaten
3/4 cup dry breadcrumbs
1 cup ketchup
1 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce
2 teaspoons kosher salt
1 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

Preheat the oven to 350°. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper. Spray lightly with oil.

Heat the olive oil in a medium skillet over medium heat. Sauté the onions, garlic and bay leaf until the onions are tender, about 3 minutes. Add the red pepper and cook until the red pepper is tender, about 5 minutes. Stir in the parsley and thyme and cook for another 2 minutes. Remove pan from the heat and let the onion mixture cool. Discard the bay leaf.

In a large bowl, combine the beef, eggs, bread crumbs, 1/2 cup of ketchup, the Worcestershire sauce, salt, pepper and the cooled vegetables. Use your hands to mix everything together.

Transfer the mixture to the center of the baking sheet and form into a loaf. Coat the meat loaf with the remaining 1/2 cup ketchup.

Bake for 1 to 1 1/2 hours (depending on the shape of your loaf), until the meat loaf is firm. Let set for about 5 minutes before slicing.

Cream of Potato Cheddar Cheese Soup

2009-11-04T23:25:00.003-07:00

Cream of Cheddar Cheese Soup
(callie madison)

4 c. finely sliced and diced potatoes(peeled)
4 tbs butter
1/2 c. finely diced yellow onion
1/2 c. finely diced celery
2 cans chicken broth(14.5 oz)
1/4 c. water
4 chicken bouillon cubes(I actually only use 2)
8 oz. shredded sharp cheddar cheese
2 1/4 c. half and half (a little more in needed)
1/2 tsp. sugar
1/4 tsp. white pepper
1/4 tsp. salt
shredded colby/jack cheese(garnish)

On medium low heat in 3 quart saucepan saute celery and onion with butter. cook onion until clear; add celery, take care not to let onions brown. Add chicken broth, potatoes, and water. Place on medium low heat and cook until potatoes are very soft and tender. When potatoes are done add chicken bouillon cubes and cook until cubes have been dissolved. Mash the potatoes slightly but leaving most of them in chunks. reduce heat and add half and half, stir in mixture. add shredded sharp cheddar cheese and stir until cheese is completely melted and dissolved into mixture. sprinkle sugar, pepper, and salt into soup; stir. Let soup simmer very slowly for 20-30 minutes taking care not to let it scorch. When ready to serve, garnish with shredded cold/jack and maybe a little parsley.

I should have doubled this one for sure but I hadn't made it prior so we weren't sure we'd like it. We love it!!!

Zesty Vegetable Chicken Soup

2009-11-04T22:42:00.004-07:00

Side note: I had written about Lemon chicken Mushroom...it's actually Chicken Scallopine and I have already done a blog on that. Click here. It's definitely a favorite!!!

Zesty Vegetable Chicken Soup

Broth
2 quarts water
3 lbs chicken on bone or 2 pounds chicken breasts(my preference)
1 large onion quartered
2 medium carrots, quartered
2 celery ribs, quartered
8 whole allspice
2 bay
1 TBS salt
1/2 tsp pepper

Soup
1 quart V-8 juice
3 celery ribs, sliced
2 medium potatoes, peeled and cubed
2 medium carrots, sliced
1 medium onion, diced
2 tsp. Worcestershire sauce
1/3 tsp. hot pepper sauce
1/2 tsp. dried oregano
1/2 tsp. dried basil
1/4 tsp. chili powder
1 c. uncooked egg noodles

In a crock pot or soup kettle, bring broth ingredients to a boil. Reduce heat; cover and simmer for 2 hours or until meat is tender. Remove chicken; allow to cool. Skim fat and strain broth; discard vegetables and seasonings. If needed, remove meat from bones and shred or cut into bite size pieces; return to broth. Add the first 10 soup ingredients; bring to a boil. Reduce heat; cover and simmer for 1 hour or until vegetables are tender. Stir in noodles. Return to a boil; cook, uncovered, for 15 minutes or until noodles are tender.

Baked Lemon Pasta

2009-11-04T22:38:00.003-07:00

I'll give credit when I can but I cannot remember where I got this one and some I adapt from several recipes and make it my own. This is seriously a favorite! We already ate all the servings this week!

Baked Lemon Pasta

1 pound thin spaghetti
1/2 stick (4 tablespoons) butter
2 tablespoons olive oil
2 cloves garlic, minced
Juice of 1 lemon
Zest of 1 lemon
2 cups sour cream
1/2 teaspoon kosher salt, more to taste if desired
Plenty of Parmesan cheese(I like canned or powder to mix it in and then shredded fresh for the top)
Flat leaf parsley, chopped
Extra lemon juice

Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Cook spaghetti until al dente.
In a skillet, melt butter with olive oil over LOW HEAT.
When butter is melted, add minced garlic.
Squeeze lemon juice into the pan. Turn off heat.
Add sour cream and stir mixture together. Add lemon zest and salt. Taste, then add more salt if necessary.
Pour mixture over drained spaghetti and stir together, then pour spaghetti into an oven safe dish.
Bake, covered, for 15 minutes. Then remove foil and bake for an additional 7 to 10 minutes. (Don’t bake too long or the pasta will dry out.)
When you remove it from the oven, squeeze a little more lemon juice over the top.
Top generously with Parmesan cheese, then chopped parsley.
Give it a final squeeze of lemon juice at the end.

Serve with crusty French bread and a simple green salad.

Broccoli Cheese Soup

2009-11-04T22:36:00.001-07:00

The first one will be easy because Stephanie already had it nicely typed up and it comes with a photo! :) I doubled this one.

Broccoli Cheese Soup

From Melanie

1 can chicken broth

1 small onion, diced

1/3 c. flour

1/4 c. butter

Pepper to taste

2 c. milk (I used 1%)

1 1/2 c. shredded sharp or extra sharp cheddar cheese

1/2 c. shredded swiss cheese

steamed chopped broccoli (I used about 3 cups of broccoli florets, we love broccoli though)

Simmer chicken broth and chopped onion for 15-20 minutes in a covered small saucepan, until onions are soft. Heat milk in microwave for 1-2 minutes. In a separate medium-sized stockpot, melt butter then add flour and pepper. Cook together for a couple of minutes, then whisk in warmed milk. Stir and heat together on medium-high heat until soup starts to thicken. Next add chicken broth and continue to stir until well blended. Add cheeses and steamed broccoli. Serve immediately.

Makes approximately 3 adult size servings in bread bowls.

Ok fine you twisted my arm.

2009-11-04T22:29:00.002-07:00

I'll post the recipes over the next week or so.

Cooking up a storm

2009-11-03T15:44:00.006-07:00

Last week, with KG having the week off, I took time to cook, and cook, and cook! We are trying to save money so I went to the store, spent about $175 on the ingredients to make enough food for the month plus some. I planned to make everything and freeze it, thereby saving a ton of time, mess and giving us no excuse to eat out. :) I was successful and there is enough food for all 4 of us to eat 35+ meals(that's a total of 140 meals!)!!! All for $175. Awesome!
Here's what is on our menu for the next month or more.
(just for fun I'll put the name of the person from which I got the recipe)
...Zesty Veggie Soup...enough to feed each of us 6 times.
...Chicken Broccoli Casserole(bekah dunkley)...enough to feed us each 2 times.
...Cream of Potato Cheddar Cheese Soup(callie madison)...enough to feed us each 2 times.
...Broccoli Cheese Soup(stephanie johnson)...enough to feed us each 4 times.
...meat loaf...enough to feed us each 4 times.

...chicken enchiladas(kg)...enough to feed us each 4 times.
...chicken mushroom crepes(just filling and topping-I'll have to make the crepes)enough to feed each of us 1 time.

...Shepherds Pie(mom)...enough to feed each of us 2 times.
...6 chicken breasts in marinade(marissa hewett)...enough to feed each of us 2 times.
...Ground hamburger to add to two meals like spaghetti...enough to feed each of us 2 times.
...Steak Stir-Fry(stacey oldroyd)...enough to feed each of us 2 times.
...Chicken Scallopine...enough to feed each of us 2 times.
...Lemon Parmesan Pasta...enough to feed each of us 2 times.
...Chili...enough to feed each of us 8 times...kindly given to us by Lynnette and Tex!
We already had enough milk for the month and that above money also bought cheese, potatoes to use, bread to freeze, spaghetti noodles, etc(all the basics), that it's our goal not to have to buy any groceries this month and darn near close to all of December. Maybe that will help us get a few things paid down and have a bit for Christmas. Here's hopin'!

We had a bug-ish Halloween :)

2009-10-31T23:13:00.001-06:00

Our festivities started Thursday evening. We went to the church to decorate for the ward party the following evening.

This photo brought big laughs!The tables at the church were all being decorated by different people.
They all looked great and was a fun idea.
Here are some of my favorites, which looked better in person than these photos.

KG decorated his hallway and rooms but needed to come back Friday morning because three hours just wasn't enough time! Oy.

Flower got to wear her costume to preschool on Friday morning! Wow I love this photo! Well done KG...since I was home snuggled in bed. He's so nice to me.
She's so puuurty!

Friday night we went to our ward Halloween party.
The girls participated in a children costume parade.

Flower's little friend Tiana as Little Mermaid!

I took some photos throughout the night of my favorite costumes.

Cutest little bee ever!
(Sorry Megan :) Ok fine B and River tie for cutest little bees!)

Some sort of something or other on the stage. ;)

I somehow failed to take photos of the best part of the night...the Thriller dance performed by several members of the ward. Wow. So funny! Loved it!

KG decorated his hallway and two rooms. By far the best of the evening. He's good at what he does! I can't believe I forgot to get photos of the rooms!

We all dressed as bugs this year. Flower wanted to be a pretty little butterfly so we decided to oblige. KG was the prettiest little Lady bug I've ever seen! ;) River and I were bees. I was supposed to be a spider but 30 minutes before we were set to leave, I had some costume malfunctions which caused a 'slight' emotional breakdown and that lead me to leave the house without the costume that KG had worked hard on. :( We decided to skip out on my sister's work thing and go buy me a costume. Found the only bug costume in the shop...crisis averted! Whew.

KG once again won best male costume. :)

Saturday we started the night by going to Kris' neighborhood, which we've made a tradition since adding children to our mix. I've adopted this neighborhood since we don't have one.

Posing for the beginnings of their Trick-or-Treating!

Kris joined us for this portion of our evening.
One house down many more to go! River had it all figured out and was reaching right in the candy bowls for her share. She kept wanting to go in each house too. :)

After about 45 minutes we were ready to hit Harrison Boulevard. I have wanted to Trick-or-Treat here for years and nothing was getting in the way this year!

We went several blocks until we came to the yard that was playing the Thriller movie on a big screen throughout the night.

Can you see Micheal eating his popcorn on the screen?

Every time the zombies came out to dance in the movie, a national dance team danced on a stage in front of the screen. Very cool. The boy by the screen is one of the dancers.

It was hard to see with such a crowd. We couldn't get any closer than the island in the middle of the road. Lynnette ended up going later and was able to get up close so I stole this photo from her so you could see how amazing their make-up and costumes were done.

After the movie and dance show we then walked on the other side of the road the several blocks back to our car, trick-or-treating along the way.
Flower was completely mesmerized by these fire jugglers. She would have stood there all night if we didn't have other things to do. Very, very cool!

We loved all the decorations we came across.

At 8:00 we went out to Meridian to my parents house. It has been our tradition for years to end at their house. They always have doughnuts, mom's sugar cookies, Ritz with squirt cheese, chili cheese dip and corn chips , and Apple Cider. Yum! We also go trick-or-treating around their neighborhood with all the cousins. The big cousins ran ahead this year leaving KG and I to enjoy River and Lorelai with Ryan and Amanda. And when we got back we found out the two little ones lasted longer than the big kids! Yay! My aunt Carolyn and Grandma have joined us for the last couple of years as well. We like that.

Lorelai with Great Grandma.

Lorelai's biggest ROAR!

That's my dad in back. :) He loves to try and scare the kids.

All the cousins, plus two friends(the two cute kids in glasses) at the party.

As you can see, River was done by this time. :)

Finally we finished out the night by going to KG's parents. More candy and fun for the girls! We left there at 11:00. The girls had a long day and were out for the count before their heads hit the pillows.

Flower and I couldn't wait to get home from church and dump all the candy from the girls bag on the floor and check out the loot. Prior to that we hadn't eaten any candy yet! That's just wrong! Between both the girls there was about 10 pounds of candy! Awesome.
We each got a small black Halloween bowl and picked out our favorites that no one else could touch. I was surprised at what Flower's favorites were this year. She took out all the plain Hershery bars and the tootsies rolls! Perfect for me because those are among my least favorite. I took the Reese's Sticks, Skittles and Crunch Bars. KG got the Whoppers, Junior Mints, and Peanut M&M's. The rest went into a big bowl as a free for all. And all Snickers went into the freezer. :)

Her personal stash.

I think this was my favorite Halloween so far. We kept it simple by just doing what our little family wanted to do. It was very low key and no stress! We got to do everything we wanted and the girls were total troopers. And the weather was perfect. Not too cold, no rain, just nice and pleasant the whole night. Can hardly wait till next year. We already have our costumes planned! :)

Humanitarian Award.

2009-10-25T23:37:00.072-06:00

Thursday morning we left bright and early, 8:30 to be exact, bound for Provo, Utah. We were going in support of Amanda (from China) receiving a humanitarian service award from BYU for her efforts in China. We are so proud of her and so happy she's finally being recognized. She is such an incredible example for Flower.
We made a couple of stops along the way but made pretty good time. We landed in time for lunch. We went to the much talked about Cafe Rio. I didn't like it. I'm not sure what the big deal is but it was not good. Worst beans I've ever had and the chicken tasted funky. Anyway, I made KG go through the Skippers drive-thru so I could eat something in the car. I miss having Skippers in Boise. :( Anyway, we went all the way to Utah without any idea of where we'd stay. After lunch we drove around to find a place. We checked Priceline, put in an amount and bam, awesome price for a new hotel in the perfect location! Score.
We fell in love with the room.

Pretty bed made in crisp white, accented with shades of mint green and turquoise.

A fabulous modern window seat that covered the unsightly air conditioner.
Obviously the girls thought it was neat.

First place they hung out.

And jumped off.

They had these super cool reading lights attached to the beds!

A neat little desk by the sofa but could be seen from the bed by opening the handy little window.

Flower was quick to test the bounciness of the beds.

We give it two thumbs up.

They had a docking station for iPhones/iPods. How cool is that?
Very cool since I forgot my charger. Super score!

Cool lighting.

Totally rad sofa and pillows.

Have I ever mentioned how much I love River's neck? Cause I do. She has a very thin, defined neck for a baby and I think it's so pretty. The following photo, as well as one I note later, are examples of what I mean.

Blow drying a bald head is hard work!

River made herself right at home.

Really liked this mirror. The light was behind that ring. Sweet!

The doors all had this sort of frosted glass. Pretty darn creepy when River put her hands on it. Looks a little alien-esce.

In no time at all it was time to leave. That provided some good running of the hallways.

We attempted to find Noodles and Company. We thought we could walk.

We were way off track and very confused. But my people looked cute in the cross walk!

Beautiful mountain outside our hotel room.

We finally drove to our destination and enjoyed time with Amanda while meeting people that have volunteered at Starfish.

The girl in the photo volunteered at Starfish shortly after we picked up Flower.
Her brother is the one on the right and he was volunteering while we were there getting Flower. We went out to eat with him and went to church. It was really neat to see him again.She volunteered at Starfish with the girl above.This couple came to meet Amanda for the first time. Their daughter is in China and is going to volunteer at Starfish. So cool.

There were several people that have followed Flower from the very beginnings of Starfish and it was so good to meet them in person, rather than just comments on our blog.

It was nice visiting but this was our queue to leave. :) We were all pretty warn out. We made a quick stop at Coney's Custard for some cold treats on our way back to the hotel. It was yummy.
Friday morning we slept until 8:30 and then went to the hotel's free breakfast. This wasn't just a continental breakfast but a full fledged breakfast that was actually good.
After returning back to our room KG and River went back to sleep, Flower laid in the dark, and I got to enjoy a nice bath while reading a People magazine.
At noon we checked out and headed on over to BYU. The event was held at the Hinckley Center. Very handsome building and great views. The meal we were served was not so great. But the reason for being there was well worth the drive.

This lady, Caiping Sun, volunteered at Starfish when Flower was there.

She was so happy to see the little girl Flower has become.

Here they are now...

...and in 2005.

It was very special for us to see Amanda being awarded for her efforts. She graciously excepted her award, with Flower by her side, and then gave a lovely speech that even made us emotional. We are just so grateful for her!

River was sound asleep through most of it which was a big relief.

Here are some photos of the program.

After the awards ceremony people flocked around Amanda to get as much info as they could. It was very cool to see so many people interested and wanting to meet her.

We finally pulled her away for some photos of those that came to support her.

I adore this photo. It shows Flower's sass and River's admiration for her!
(please note River's neck again :))

While Amanda was being interviewed, and we were waiting to be interviewed(yes you read that right, I had to be interviewed.on camera.with a microphone pinned to my shirt. not fun. But if it will benefit Amanda and the babies, it's worth it.) we went outside to enjoy the sunny weather and the views.

The girls immediately went to the grass and started hugging without any prompting from us!
I loved it.
These might be two of my favorite photos of them together.

They ran around and played. It was really nice.

Then Flower had to use the bathroom so River just wandered and wandered without a care in the world.

She'd wave as she passed by.

I'm so in love with their tights. Flower wore both pair last winter and I'm so happy to get them out for the cold weather again.

After the interviews and good-byes, we hit the road. On our way out of Provo we stopped at this cupcake shop. I've heard from several folks about the goodness of this place. Not bad.Not bad. My favorite was the strawberry shortcake and cookies and cream.
Flower and River were given BYU bags which held a t-shirt and pom-poms. River was tormented by her sister with the pom-poms on the way home.

We stopped off at Maddox for supper.

This is how the girls were when we finally rolled into Boise at 11:30 pm. Poor things.

It was a quick trip but so worth it. And it somehow felt like we were gone forever. It was also awesome to still come home and have the weekend to enjoy. :) And a busy weekend it was.

Carving at Jean and Jack's!

2009-10-24T23:48:00.001-06:00

Saturday afternoon we went to Jean and Jack's for the annual pumpkin carving and chili feed. We were so happy to be invited back for our third year. It felt really good when 'Jean and company' started cheering upon our arrival as we got out of the car. It's nice to know we're not overstaying our welcome as the 'none neighbors' of a neighborhood event. ;) I really enjoy all of their company.
This event is really what starts the season off for me and gets me so excited for Halloween! We have so been looking forward to it, even cutting our Utah trip short to be there.
Great food, great company, and a showcase of some most excellent pumpkin carving skillz! Enjoy.

::Jean::

River wandered about and did her own thing, as usual, and every photo of her makes me laugh. She was all over the place!

mmm...guts.

My very favorite pumpkin!
Flower's ideas...KG's carving skillz.
I totally dig it.
This is my Second Favorite Pumpkin.
Flower drew it and carved it and I LOVE it!
She's very proud. :)

My Third Favorite Pumpkin.
Carved by Jerry.

We ate salad...

and the best cake...

and other sweets...

and chili...and it was good.

This is not nearly as vivid as it was in person but I loved the green gourd with the bright orange guts!

Good times.

River is 11 months!

2009-10-20T23:30:00.019-06:00

...She's a wild one! She is so full of energy and spunk.
...She loves to jump and can already get both feet off the floor.
...She loves to dance and she's got rhythm. If music is playing her booty is shaking!
...She has been a bit fussy the past two weeks. We didn't know why until a couple of nights ago when KG discovered she had pushed through two top molars, one on each side. No wonder she's drooling in these photos. That makes 10 teeth in that little mouth.
...She's very curious and picks things up every where she goes. We've had to baby proof. Not sure it's working. While in Washington at Megan's house we saw them using some 'seat belt' type locks that we liked. Right after we put them up she busted one! She pulled it right off the cupboard. Then the next day she pulled one hard enough to snap the plastic. I still can't believe her strength. Yikes.
...She has quite the little temper. She is working on perfecting the art of the tantrum. She has already thrown herself to the ground a couple of times and does a pathetic cry while rolling all over the floor like her life is over. Geez. It seems to soon for that.
...She likes to back herself up to pillows, our feet, her diaper bag, or anything on the floor and sit down like it's a chair.
...Now that she's so mobile she has battle wounds to prove it. My office is the worst because it's too big a space to baby proof. On any given day she has cuts and bruises, smashed fingers and stubbed toes. But that doesn't slow her down one bit.
...She yells a short, 'AH' to get what she wants. She also has little conversations with us like that. She says 'ah' and we say it back and she'll go back and forth for several minutes. She will open her mouth wider or say it louder or softer. Each time it's different. Lots of times she opens it in such a way that it pops or snaps her jaw back shut and she thinks that is pretty funny.
...She is constantly on the move as you can see from some of the blurry photos. She's mastered walking and now likes to see how fast she can run.
...She loathes getting her diaper changed and makes it very difficult for us. Same with putting clothes on. It's not that she minds being dressed, it's just the process since she's required to sit still for two seconds. The way she screams you'd think we were torturing her.
...She eats anything she can get her hands on and loves it all! She will eat any fruit or veggie we put in front of her including peppers, onions and tomatoes. She loves lemons. So far both our girls will eat anything which we love!
...As of today she can climb onto the sofa. The sofa table behind it was our last spot out of her reach. Anything we didn't want her to get to we'd throw back there. Not any more! Ugh.
...She loves to play chase. We tell her we are going to get her and she runs so fast and turns around to make sure you're still coming. Then we tackle her. Then she'll turn around and chase you and when you hunker down she'll tackle you.
...She loves baths and playing with the running water.
...She now will not leave her crib without her blanket and carries it around. If it somehow gets left in there, you can find her trying to pull it through the bars. She is also starting that trend with her binky. :( Don't love that.
...She says mamma and dadda, uh-oh, ah, and screams.
...She loves to take things from mom and give them to dad or vise versa. We will say, 'take this to daddy' and she takes delight in doing just that. Then she'll come back for something else.
...If you tell her to go get something, like binky, blanket or shoe, she knows what you're talking about and goes to retrieve it.
...She also knows the meaning of the words out, like if we go to her crib and say 'out' she reaches her arms up for us. She will head toward her high chair if we say 'food'. She knows food comes from the kitchen and she will follow us in there. If we leave without giving her something she does the scream.
...She will point and things she wants too. Especially if we are holding her, she points in the direction she want us to go.
...Although I'm not for sure on her stats, she is wearing size 18-24 month clothing and wears a size 6 shoe.
She is beautiful and perfect in every way!

An Eternal Weekend.

2009-10-20T00:08:00.024-06:00

Saturday was a very a special day for us. We went to the temple to have River sealed to us. In the grand scheme of things, the state approval doesn't mean much to me, rather this special time in the temple means everything. If we live righteously, and keep the commandments, we will be an eternal family. It's so powerful.
It's hard for me to put in to words how I felt that day. It was amazing. The beauty I saw in my babies sweet faces as they were brought to us was like no beauty I have seen in them before. They looked like angels in their pretty white dresses and they were both so calm. It was very apparent that the spirit was with them. I was struck with emotion. They are so perfect. So lovely. So pure. I hardly feel worthy to be their mom and I don't know how to begin to show my gratitude to my Heaven Father for sending them to me.
*a huge thanks to Sherie for taking so many great photos for us that day!!!
As you can see by the photos, it was an absolutely perfect fall day!

A hug from my sweet friend Sheri Thueson. She has always been so supportive of me. I met her when I was six. There is only a handful of gals that mean as much to me as she does. Sheri, Kristen, Linda, Joanie and Kris...life wouldn't be the same without them! They have absolutely played a role in where I am today. I look to each of them as woman to emulate and learn from. They are all to be admired. Each of the relationships have come in different seasons of my life and each have different meaning and different roles. Sheri=life saver, Kristen=best friend, Linda=compassionate guide, Joanie=northend mom and Kris=soul sister. Lucky me!

We are so grateful for the amount of people we have in our lives that love us and love our little girls. This is only a portion of those that came to support us on such a special day. We love each one of them so much.

My parents.
KG's parents.
Our girls are so lucky because their grandparents love them so much and are great examples to them.

And how lucky are we??? Amanda came all the way from China to share this special event with us. We have been blessed to see her twice in one year! She is one special lady and we have loved every minute of our time with her.

After the temple we invited everyone to join us at Cracker Barrel for brunch. We were so happy with how that went! They exceeded our expectations with their ability to seat us all, around 45, in the same section and they were very to quick to get us all taken care of. We were very happy when we left.

Sunday was also a special day. During our church meeting River received a special blessing from her dad. He said some very sweet things and I'm grateful for his worthiness to hold the priesthood. It was a lovely blessing. Unfortunately River struggled halfway through but how can you blame her with so many heavy hands on her head. :) Again, we are grateful for all those that came to support us and that took part.
After sacrament meeting Kris was kind enough to hold a brunch at her home for our family and out of town friends. She made the most delicious egg dish and the cutest pumpkin shaped chocolate cake, I made blueberry lemon muffins, my mom and KG's mom brought fresh fruit and my sister brought juice. It was really wonderful and the perfect ending to a truly magical weekend.

I am really thankful that everything went so well. I felt the spirit so strong the entire weekend and was enveloped with love.

I want to give a huge thank-you to 4 very special ladies in our lives that made this weekend so much more meaningful.

We took the girls out today to get some photos of just the two of them in their beautiful dresses. Kris and Julie Sturgill made their dresses. They were a bit of a renessance style and I'm thrilled with how they turned out. It really meant a lot to me that they were willing to take their time and make something unique for them to wear.

You may have noticed in the temple photos that we are wearing white necklaces. Brenda Thueson made necklaces for me and the girls and a tie tack for KG, all in matching white blown glass. They were so pretty. It was fun that we all had something matching and they are going to look gorgeous in a frame as a reminder of this day.

Unfortunately you probably couldn't see the adorable matching white bracelets my sister Amanda made for me and the girls. They are so sweet.
These little details made the day. We are so lucky to benefit from all of their talent. Thanks ladies. We love you all very much.

My heart is so full.

Dear October.

2009-10-06T13:27:00.015-06:00

Dear October,
Other than the cold, I'm fairly happy to see you.
-The arrival of you means all the holidays I so enjoy are right around the corner!
-I get to start wearing my favorite item of clothing...hoodies!
-New seasons of all my favorite shows are well underway! Yeehaw!
-Kas spent the night. She and Flower had a ball. Then the next day she went to the gym with us and then to work with me. Then they took Flower to PlanetKid which she loved!
-I've been baking alot.
-The weather is making me want my meat loaf. I'll be making it this week.
-Church Conference was last weekend. There's nothing like enjoying church while laying in bed with the whole family, the girls eventually falling asleep snuggled into us.
-It's chili and soup season! I have always loved soup and chili. As soon as the temperature dips I'm ready for my mom's amazing Autumn Stew. Giant bowls for breakfast, lunch and dinner. Unfortunately for me, KG doesn't agree. Soup for him is the precursor to the main course. However, last year we went to a chili feed and Tex's chili won him over. So much so that HE makes it now! It's really the best chili I've ever had! And last night was the first batch!

Here are the beginnings of what goes in the pot!

Pretty is it not?

-It's time to prepare for Halloween! We've been going through our stuff and trying things on.

Spencer took this one...he's 10. I adore it.

This brought some serious laughs!

I'm not going to give up our costumes for this year just yet. You'll have to tune in to the Halloween edition of the blog.
-River seems more cuddly with the cold days which means cuddly naps.
-Preschool is in full swing which means 'take homes'. I think the things she creates and brings home with pride are my favorite part of school!

This is our house.
She's drawn herself in the lower left corner with three pretty flowers.
And this is adorable. They made paper cookies that you feed the girl!

Some of the things we've enjoyed so far this month:
-We've really been kicking butt in the gym. I'm really proud of us.
-Friday night we celebrated Chinese Moon Festival. We invited Kristen and Cameron to join us at the restaurant and then they came over to our place. That, of course, meant lots of laughs. I can't even explain it. She makes me laugh like no one can. Everything is funny when we're together. I cherish her for that. And I especially needed it that night in light of some health news I'd received earlier that day.
-Saturday I spent a lovely day with Sherie and Kris quilting. They are very uplifting and helped me sort through some recent drama. Denny was also there and waited on us hand and foot. He provided us with dark chocolate snickers, water, pizza and excellent conversation.
-Saturday after quilting I followed Kris home to check out some paint and concur that the yellow just isn't right. Here's hoping the new colors fit the bill. Then Kris, Jer and I met KG and the girls at Donnie Mac's Trailer Park Cuisine for dinner. I think they are my favorite dining companions.
-Monday we met with the Hot tub/student ward dinner group to celebrate Lindy and Cindy's birthdays. Unfortunately Lindy had to bow out due to work. We missed her. Cindy just had a second child. It was our first meeting. We were standing outside waiting for her pull up. This van pulls onto the street and into the parking lot. Alan makes a comment about how funny it would if Cindy decided to get a new 15 passenger van to accommodate her two children. The van parked on the side of the building away from where we usually park so we continued to wait. And then who steps out of the van? Cindy! The first words out of her mouth were, "why the hell are you all standing outside?!" She was attempting to hide from us because she's embarrassed about said vehicle that her husband insisted on buying. We laughed until our stomachs hurts.
Something I didn't enjoy:
-Friday I had my 3 month check up appointment with my endocrinologist. Nothing has changed which mean still no answers. AND a new diagnosis, not related, that we weren't expecting. One in which 3 months ago wasn't even on the radar. I'm not ready to talk about it yet and pretty sad about it. The new meds are no party either, unless you consider a lot of time in the bathroom a party. TMI? Deal with it. :) Thankfully that side affect should only last a few weeks.
So, October, that about does it so far. I'm looking forward to so many fun things ahead this month. Please, if you could be so kind, and don't get too much colder because many of these events are outside and I'll enjoy them much more if I'm warm.
Thanks so much.

Happy 54th Anniversary!

2009-09-30T15:45:00.000-06:00

On Sunday evening we celebrated KG's grandparents 54th wedding anniversary. That is just amazing these days. They are such a great example to me, KG and our entire family. We gathered at their home for dessert.
Aunt Lynnette drove in from Colorado as a surprise.
Boy was grandma surprised!

Lynnette meeting River for the first time.

These kids love to rough house. this time they were dog piling Austin.

Flower was having fun making flowers out of these toys.

This is pretty normal for Flower. When there is rough housing, she stands on the side lines and watches, completely confused about why it's fun!

Carol and Gordon with all their kids.

Laura, Lynnette, Steven and Brenda.

The great grandchildren in attendance.

Their kids, some of their grandkids and some of their great grandkids that were able to come.

We had a good time and are so proud of them and their example to us.

River laughing!

2009-09-29T14:29:00.002-06:00

FINALLY! We got River to laugh on camera. She still will only laugh for Flower, and most easily when Flower is banging her head against something. Sadistic? Should I be worried? Hey whatever it takes cause gosh dang we love it when she laughs.

Girls first midnight trip to Merritt's for Scones!

2009-09-28T14:39:00.007-06:00

After leaving our visit with the Morley's and the new babies we decided to hit up Merritt's. I have spent many a midnight at Merritt's for scones since I was a teen. This was the girl's first time...never too early to start a tradition. I really need to take photos of the juke box, which Flower thought was pretty cool, and the huge yummy scones. Next time. I prefer the powder sugar variety while KG leans towards the cinnamon sugar.

Flower took this one.

Flower colored this picture to enter into the monthly contest ;)

Upon our exit as we were getting the kids in the car, KG set our leftovers, which were intended to be after church goodies, on top of the car. Yep. We drove off and he didn't discover that he'd left them up there until we were almost home. He's apparently competing with me for dumb move of the day.
I forgot to mention what some of my dumb moves are.
I backed into a pole that I've been parking next to for over a year. I don't know why it decided to move. Pretty rude. And costly.
The next thing I did was put a 5 pound bag of flour down the drain. Yep. I kept telling myself it was not going to be a good idea but for whatever reason I did it anyway. The only explanation I have is that my brain fell out somewhere. As soon as I did it I immediately started taking it back out. It was not an easy project. I scratched up my hands digging it out of the disposal. But too much had gone down so the disposal wouldn't work. Thankfully KG took it all apart and saved my booty.
There are other dumb moves but we'll leave it at that.

Meeting babies Teajen and Tieran.

2009-09-28T12:56:00.014-06:00

Saturday night, after 9:00 pm, we went to Middleton. With the late hour and my mood, I really didn't want to go but knew I'd regret it if I didn't. Marco and Steph were in town with their new baby girl Tieran and Stephen and Chelsea were there with their 2 month old guy Teajen.

Chelsea and Teajen

2 week old Tieran...I can't believe how much hair she has!

Sandee and Kas met us there as well.

Tieran and Kas

Raab is Stephen and Chelsea's 2 year old boy.

Raab and River

River and Lucia(Marco and Stephen's mom)

Howard(Marco and Stephen's dad)

It was a nice visit and fun to see the gang. I always hoped but wasn't sure I'd see the day that Marco would be a daddy. My heart is so full of love for their new little family.

Bath time is always good for a smile.

2009-09-27T22:04:00.021-06:00

The last few days I've just felt really blah. Antisocial. Leading me to skip out on some things I had previously looked forward to. Down. Super tired leading me to long naps. Dizzy. Nauseas. Light headed. Down. Feeling as though my brain had escaped out of my head somehow and therefore doing some really dumb things. You get the idea.
Anyway, there were a few blips on the radar scale that made me smile.
Feeling really overwhelmed by my motherly responsibilities such as cleaning up after their breakfast mess, changing the nasty poopy night time diaper and so on, I decided to bathe River early Saturday morning instead of the other things knowing that always produces a smile. It worked.

She kept trying to drink the water. She was successful a few times.

Although she looks mad, she was actually screaming with delight and clapping. She did this repeatedly and sounded like a howler monkey. She was having fun.

Flower eventually came in to enjoy the fun.

See, she does have hair.

Flower finally got in and didn't like River splashing.

After the bath she brushed her teeth and we 'combed' her hair.

It grows in a natural mohawk.

Bath time is always good for a smile.