Sister Sneak 2008

See ya later kiddos, Mom's going away for the night! To go stay in Victor, ID at the Fox Creek Inn Bed & Breakfast with the sisters.

We arrived right at dinner time, stuck a pizza in the oven and reveled in the silence of dinner without kids to feed or chaos going on in the background. It was golden.

My favorite part of the weekend was the gift bag exchange. We each brought something to share 9 times (one for each of us) and we came away with such fun goody bags. This was better than Christmas I tell ya. SUCH fun and a tradition we've vowed to do every year.

So what all did everyone give?

Amber- Colored toilet paper (We laugh every time we go to her house and see her pretty yellow, pink, and green 1960's t.p. She inherited loads of this from her Grandma's house.), raisins (Amber is NEVER without her raisins.), and CUTE bracelets

Anna- Witches Brew Scented Candles and Flips pretzels

Becky- Crossword puzzle books WITH pencils. (We even had a crossword puzzle challenge and of course Becky won.)

Elena- I gave Bath-n-Body Works Pumpkin Pie home fragrance spray

Emily- Paul Mitchell firm style hair spray (Great gift from the hair dresser in the family.)

Katie- Fabreze Lavender Vanilla

Kaylin- Homemade craft blocks

Missy- Scented sachet powders to pour into our vacuums

Natalie- Biore pore strips, face masks, and crest white strips for our teeth

It's not a sister sneak without Biore strips and face masks.

"Oooooo! How many blackheads did you get?" Yeah, we're gross like that.

Of course picture taking was a must.


As was lounging and reading.

Time for a nice soak.

The Bed & Breakfast was so nice and the beds were COMFY!! You'd think that we would have gone to sleep and gotten some rest, but instead we stayed up laughing and talking until 2:30 am, but we did get to sleep in until 10 the next morning so that was wonderful. David and Julie (the owner) made us a beautiful breakfast and kept us entertained. What a hoot these two were. Seriously, don't they just look like fun? Who wouldn't enjoy them making you a breakfast fit for a king? Thank you to them for making our weekend completely enjoyable.

Julie's bird ,"Girl Bird", entertained us with her dances and talking.

After breakfast we took off and headed to Jackson Hole, WY a short 20-30 minutes away. We enjoyed window shopping and eating a few tasty treats.
Yee-Haw ladies! Becky and Natalie having some fun shopping in Jackson. Don't they make cute cowgirls?

And of course, you can't go to Jackson without getting your picture taken in front of the famous antler arch. Back: Amber, Kaylin, Emily, Becky. Front: Missy (holding Izzie), Me, Anna, Natalie, Katie

Our get away ended with dinner at Johnny Carinos and some uplifting messages from the women leaders of our church at the General Relief Society Broadcast. Now we all sit and wait for another year to do it all over again!

The Birthday Recap

My kids have been so excited about giving Daddy their presents. It's been so cute to watch them prepare and keep their secrets. This is the first year that they've really been "into" having their own gift ideas.

Carter came up with the "perfect idea" to give Daddy his very own lightsaber so they could play together. How does a mom say no to that? So adorable. (And just look how excited Daddy was to receive it. That made a little boy's day.)

The girls have been fervently working on the most precious teddy bear ever. 100% hand crafted and sewn by Alyssa and Halle. Is that not a treasure forever?

And here is a picture of that delicious Red Velvet Cake with the artery clogging frosting that melts in your mouth. (I'll add this to my T-I-T post.)

Honey, when did we get so old? But you still got it.

Happy Birthday Jarom! (a day late)

I've loved Jarom since the first minute I saw him. It's really true. I saw him standing over by his friend's locker when I was in 7th grade and he INSTANTLY caught my eye. Here are a few reasons why I love this man.

1. He always kisses me good morning.

2. He holds my hand to fall asleep.

3. He makes me feel beautiful.

4. He is never afraid to speak his mind.

5. He works double time and then some to provide for our family.

6. He laughs at my goofiness and finds it endearing.

7. He rocks at Guitar Hero. :)

8. He laughs at his own jokes.

9. He is an amazing teacher.

10. He keeps me organized.

11. He rubs my head and back when I have a headache.

12. He's a pretty good nurse when I'm sick.

13. He can fix any computer problem I have.

14. He plays with our children.

15. He comforts, loves, and kisses our children.

16. He is trustworthy with everyone he comes in contact with.

17. He is responsible.

18. He sings silly made up songs.

19. He is an optimist.

20. He is my best friend.

Happy Birthday Jarom! I love you!

My Busy Life

Whew! This week is a busy one. Why does it seem like you go and go and never have anything and then all at once you're drowning in things? It's the same way with the phone. It doesn't ring all day until the moment you decide to sit down and call a friend. Then the other line starts beeping like crazy.

It was my sister in law Deidra's birthday on the 21st. I never had time to get a post up for her. So HAPPY LATE BIRTHDAY Deidra. Sorry I didn't get your pretty picture up on your actual day.

It's actually my hubby's birthday today, but I'm waiting to do a post for him tomorrow. We decided we were too busy to celebrate until Thursday. Besides, how awesome is it to eat birthday cake and watch the Office premier for a birthday party? It works right?

So why are we so busy? Well lets see. Alyssa had an appointment Monday to have an upper GI done to see if we could figure out what's up with all her heart burn issues. She did great drinking the nasty barium and came away with an awesome x-ray of her insides to share with her class.


Yesterday an appraiser came to see if we can refinance our mortgage for a better interest rate. Funny story. The guy came to the door, I let him in and we shook hands and said, "Nice to meet you." I was about to walk off and let him do his thing when I asked him his name. Wouldn't you know it? He was my best friend in high school's ex-boyfriend. We used to spend A LOT of time hanging out together. Has it been so long and have we all changed so much that we don't recognize each other anymore? So sad. It was fun to chit chat with him after we figured out who each other was.

Today is Jarom's turn at the gastroenterologist to see what's up with his heartburn. Plus it's cheerleading for Halle, and book club for me.

Tomorrow Halle will finally have the tooth that has been giving us all fits for the past 9 months pulled. We've tried everything to save it and it just keeps abscessing. It's time to come out. Plus I have to go to the dentist for my yearly cleaning. Then it's party time for Jarom and the Office premier.

And then Friday I am going on a "sister sneak" with my sisters-in-law for a fun get away. Can't wait!

So that's what's happening here in a some what nutshell.

Now to leave this on a funny note...Who needs a teddy bear when you've got your trusty lightsaber? Lately Carter has been SO into Star Wars. When you ask him what he wants to be for Halloween he says, "A Lightsaber!!" He really means either Darth Vadar, Luke Sky Walker, or a Storm Trooper, but "lightsaber" is all encompassing.

Try-It-Tuesday

Okay, I am so behind this week. I have lots to blog about, but no time. And for the record, my brother was able to get the DVD out of the player, but, alas, the player is still broken. But at least the movie is turned in to the mean old library who insisted on charging me an overdue fee and refused to renew my movie. I even took Kate in to bat her eyes. They must not know a cute girl when they see one.

Anyway, as promised this week's recipe is Red Velvet Cake. My husband's favorite. It dirties practically every bowl in the kitchen so I only make it once a year, but that just makes it all the more enjoyable. Something to look forward to right? Like Christmas.


Most Red Velvet Cake recipes I've seen, have a cream cheese frosting; this one does not. It's more like a twinkie filling or something. (It's DELISH and I could eat the whole bowl by myself.) The cake is SO dense and the frosting is ultra light and it really makes for a yummy combo. I was hoping to have a picture for you, but we're not celebrating his birthday until Thurs., so sorry.

Red Velvet Cake (I like to one and half this and make a triple layer cake.)
Ingredients:
1/2 cup shortening
1 1/2 cup sugar
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 tablespoon vinegar
2 eggs
2 tablespoons cocoa
2 ounces red food coloring
1 teaspoon salt
2 1/2 cups cake flour
1 cup buttermilk
1 teaspoon vanilla
Instructions:
Cream shortening and sugar. Add eggs one at a time, cream. Mix into a paste; red coloring, cocoa and salt. Sift out flour. Mix vanilla with buttermilk. Dissolve one-teaspoon baking soda into vinegar. Fold buttermilk into soda and vinegar. Add red coloring mixture. Add flour and buttermilk alternately. Bake at 350 degrees 25 to 30 minutes.

Frosting: (I like extra frosting, so I make 1 recipe of this per layer. There will probably be a little bit left over, but it's better to have too much, than not enough.)
5 tablespoons flour
½ cup milk
Paste milk and flour. Cook on low heat, just before boiling. (Gets sort of gummy.)
1 cup powdered sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 cup butter
Dash of salt

Mix sugar, butter, salt and vanilla. Beat well. Add to flour mixture. Beat until light and fluffy. Add additional powdered sugar as needed. Cake will keep better in refrigerator.

There's a Problem Over Here

Problem #1 A disc is stuck in the DVD player in my truck.

Problem #2 The disc is a library movie.

Problem #3 The movie was due yesterday.


Sigh....

Randomness of all Randomness

WOW! What a day yesterday was! So much fun. Thank you to everyone who took time to leave a comment and make me feel like a celebrity for a day. I've tried to wade my way through and thank you on your own blogs and I think I've gotten almost everyone. (I now have tendinitis.)



Yesterday, while I couldn't pull myself away from the computer (because every time I would hit refresh a new comment would pop up) my husband decided to pull a prank on me. He came home for lunch (I had no idea) and heard the bath tub water running. A few minutes earlier I had told Kate to go turn it on so we could shower for the day (yes it was 1 pm) and get ready.



So Jarom, knowing I haven't done much besides sit in the office chair, hides in the closet and calls me from his cell.



Jarom- "Where are you?!"



Me- "In the office."



Jarom- "The neighbors have been trying to get a hold of you. They say there is water coming out the bathroom window. What's going on?"



Me- "What?! Water?! Where?! Hang on, I'll call you back!" And then I mad dashed it down the hall and heard the water in the tub running. My heart about hit my throat and I was sick, thinking that I had let time get away from me and had now flooded my entire bathroom bad enough that water was seeping out the window.



I looked in the tub and there was only a few inches of water. And no water that I could see flowing through the window. I was so confused, I thought maybe we had a busted pipe or something. While I'm thinking of all the $$ that this is going to be, Jarom JUMPS out of the closet and proceeds to laugh his head off. I could have killed him. But oh he thought he was funny.



Also, did you know I was a crack dealer? I didn't, but hey, if anyone needs some give me a call.

Be sure to run on over to Jennifer P.'s blogiversary party and wish her a good day.



I knew the Dish Network guy would be coming today to fix my DVR. What I didn't know was that he would show up at 7:55 AM while I was still wearing my pink chinese silk robe. While my house still smelled like morning breath and dirty dishes from lasts nights' dinner. While I was shouting at my kids to get them out the door to school on time. While the guinea pig cage still hasn't been cleaned because I keep forgetting to go the pet store and buy bedding. While Carter and Kate are still wearing the dirty clothes they slept in and wore yesterday. While my house has basically been neglected from all my comment love from yesterday. Ahhh....the poor dish man, he got an EYE FULL this morning.


And one last thing, your tip of the day. Never just pull the drain of the full tub your child has just puked in and then go back to bed. Because if you do, you'll wake to a dried ring around the tub of NASTY!

Welcome to Beautiful Idaho!

Today is a special day for me. I get to be part of Debbie's Blog Around the World travel itinerary. I absolutely love this blog. Monday through Thursday new blogs from all over the world are featured. It's like going on a vacation right from my office, each and every day. And the fun things I've learned... oh, it's just so great. (I don't know how Debbie keeps up with it, I have a hard enough time remembering to get my Try-It-Tuesday posts up on time.) So today, I get to say WELCOME to IDAHO!!

Some people think Idaho is a native American word, but nope, somebody, somewhere, sometime ago just made it up. "I da ho? Whatever, YOU da ho!" (yep, it's an on going jr high joke.) Story has it, that when Idaho was being considered for a new territory, a man George M. Willing suggested the name "Idaho" which he claimed was derived from a Shoshone language term meaning "the sun comes from the mountains" or "gem of the mountains." He later claimed that he had made the whole thing up. But for some reason "Idaho" stuck.

I was born and raised in Idaho and have never lived anywhere else. I've lived in Eastern Idaho, and Western Idaho, but never Northern Idaho. You NEVER hear the term Southern Idaho. (Southeast, yes, but not Southern.) It's really like three states in one. Western, Eastern and Northern Idaho.

You might be surprised to learn that Western Idaho has beautiful springs (I LOVE the flowers), very hot summers (triple digits) and fairly mild winters (Oh how I miss those dry roads!). (My husband and I on our son's blessing day, March of '04)

Eastern Idaho's winters, on the other hand, seem to last 9 months of the year, and are very cold (I've personally seen it get to -30F and even colder with wind chill) with a lot of snow. (Frosty comes to life in my backyard.)

But the other 3 months of the year are absolutely worth waiting out the deep freeze. Summers in Eastern Idaho are the most gorgeous around (if I do say so myself). The majority of the time we have highs in the low 90's/high 80's and by 7 pm, it cools off to a perfect 72 degrees. It is windy here, but I enjoy that fresh breeze that constantly blows. (Enjoying snow cones in front of the falls of Idaho Falls.)


There is a lot of farming done in Idaho. Everything from wheat and barley in Eastern to mint and onions in Western. But the thing we are most famous for is the Idaho potato. And you wouldn't believe the things you can do with a potato. Baked potatoes, fried potatoes, mashed potatoes, boiled potatoes, potato pancakes, potato donuts, even potato ice cream.

Now, if potatoes don't interest you, maybe television might. Did you know that the first t.v. was invented right here in little 'ol Idaho? That's right, in a small town not 20 minutes away, Philo T. Farnsworth invented the first completely electronic television. Now what would we all do without that?

I am blessed to live in an area where Jackson Hole, WY is 2 hours one direction, Sun Valley, ID is 2 hours another direction, and Yellowstone National Park is 2 hours the other. The famous Grand Teton Mountains can be seen on your way to Jackson or Yellowstone. And they are absolutely breath taking on a clear day. (Did you know they've found evidence of coral reefs near the top of the 13,000 feet high peaks?) (I'd better say I just stole this picture off the internet, but I do have some of my own beautiful pictures of the Tetons.)

We don't have an accent in Idaho (None of us ever think we have the accent, it's always the other guy right?) but we do have a few words that are unique/common to the Idaho/Utah area. These are the few I can think of right off: "awright", "you guys", "fer", "heck".

Ah what the heck, I'll close now by saying that I hope this post was awright fer you guys. Come back to Idaho some time for a visit and be sure to drop me a line when you do.

Try-It-Tuesday

In just a little over a week it will be my husband's birthday. He always requests the same meal for his birthday dinner. Barbecued Spare Ribs and Red Velvet cake. So I thought I'd share the ribs today and maybe the cake next week. (Both I got from my MIL. Jarom always says that the best thing a wife can do is learn to make her husband's most favorite meal his mother cooked.) He almost didn't want me to share this rib recipe because he loves it so much. But my philosophy is that we should always share our best recipes. What fun is it if no one else can enjoy it? So I am begging you, please treat this recipe with respect and share it with your most treasured loved ones. Because they deserve something this good.

Barbecued Spare Ribs (I always double this recipe)

4 good size boneless country style ribs (pork are the best)
1 can tomato soup
1/2 teaspoon chili powder
1/2 cup brown sugar
1 clove garlic (minced)
1 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce
1 teaspoon paprika
1 teaspoon dry mustard
1/4 cup vinegar
Brown floured country style ribs in bacon drippings or Crisco oil in a frying pan. Remove ribs and put them in a roasting pan. Mix the remaining ingredients in a bowl and then pour over the browned ribs. Bake covered at 300 for 3 hours. Remove lid and bake an additional 30 minutes.

This a sweet, delicious bbq and works well on chicken too. I like to shred up the left overs and have a rib sandwich for lunch the next day.

****If you have a tried and true recipe you'd be willing to share, leave a comment with the recipe title and post the recipe on your blog so we can all come and check it out. Thanks for playing; the more the merrier! ****

Happy Birthday Emily!

Happy Birthday to my baby sister. We call her Mimi. Our little neighbor started calling her that years ago and it has just stuck. Works out well since we also have an Emily on my husband's side. Anyway, Happy Birthday Mimi! Hope it's a great one.

BYU Party Time

With fall comes football. In particular BYU football. So of course, we had a BYU football party at our house on Saturday. We had a houseful, which always makes it more fun. AND BYU creamed UCLA, (59 - 0) which always makes for more pleasant husbands.
The party was going great, BYU was winning, food was being enjoyed, kids were playing contentedly, and the company was pleasant. Then all at the same time my nephew started throwing up, Kate got stung by a bee, one baby got a stinky diaper, and the neighbor boy (not so used to the rough playing of the rat pack (aka Carter, Ogden, and Owen) ) got whomped on the head and ran home bawling. Whew.....it made for quite the chaos for a few minutes.

Other than those incidents we had a fun time. (Sorry you had to leave early Becky and Kevin.)

Go BYU!
I just couldn't resist this cute little picture of my nephew Truman sitting so happy and content in the bean bag. What a little cutie!

Some more tags.

Jewelle tagged me a little while ago to give a few quirky things about myself. And before that Julie tagged me to do a similar thing. Then I saw Kat's 7 things list which I thought was kind of fun. So I've decided to sort of combine my quirks into a 7 things list. Hope you don't mind me tweaking a bit Jewelle and Julie.

7 things I can't do

• draw or paint or color or anything artistic; not even stick people
• the splits; never have been able to
• remember song lyrics; crud I don't even HEAR the song lyrics
• decorate; I just don't have an eye for what would go well together
• remember historical facts; even after I've visited a historically rich place such as Boston
• watch sad animal movies; Born Free is seriously the worst movie I've EVER seen, next in line is Fox and the Hound
• keep my bedroom clean, or my laundry room; I just shut the door to those rooms

7 things I do well

• keep my blog updated
• find the good in people
• laugh
• procrastinate
• cook
• irritate my husband (but he still loves me)
• remember phone numbers

7 things I have never done

• eaten caviar
• been skydiving
• been hospitalized for an illness, knock on wood
• held or touched a tarantula or any kind of spider
• been scuba diving
• cooked a turkey or whole chicken
• run a 5K, 20k, or any type of K

7 things I want to do

• go to Australia
• lose weight
• sing with a talented choir again
• see a show on Broadway
• learn photography
• get organized
• live a long healthy life with my hubby by my side

The House Plan Tag

A little while ago Elise did such a fun tag and shared a picture of her dream home. I am a LOVER of house plans. (It's a disease I inherited from my mother. She had several drawers full of house plan books, grid lined papers sketched with her own versions, rulers, pencils, and protractors, and my dad even made a couple of miniature scale models of their dream homes.) I probably own half a dozen books with house plans in them. I have even created several of my own plans. Sneaking in to half constructed homes or peaking in to uninhabited houses is a favorite past time of mine.

I'm being honest when I say that I feel like I live in my dream home. It has everything we wanted and then some. But I'd be lying if I said it put my house plan fetish to sleep by living here. And of course after living in a place, I can always think of something I would do differently next time around.

This is the current house plan of choice. I've printed it off and it sits affectionately in the top drawer of my night stand. I can't really say that I'm "dreaming" of the day I get to live in it, because I honestly don't have that desire. But if I ever do build a house, I hope to get to build this plan. (Today anyway, it could change tomorrow.)


plan #17-2133 from houseplans.com

I would love to see all of your dream home plans. So tag you're all it! (Especially Lee Ann, I would LOVE to see the home you'll be building. If you have a plan yet.)

September 11th

This morning Halle said, "I heard a guy on the radio say that we're celebrating September 11th. What are we celebrating?" She was only a baby when the actual 9/11 events went down. I reminded her that September 11th was the day the airplanes flew into the buildings and many people were killed. And it's also what started the war we're still fighting. (I didn't explain that we're now fighting for other reasons too.) So then she said, "Oh, I remember this day in school last year. It was fun." Me- "It isn't supposed to be a "fun" day, just a day to remember and respect the lives that were lost." Halle- "I know, it's the remembering that makes it so fun."

As I pondered over her little thought process, I came to my own conclusion that maybe she's not so far from the truth of the matter. Of course, it isn't "fun" to see the images of the towers falling down, the thousands of people mourning over lost loved ones, or pictures of our troops fighting overseas for us. Those things are NOT fun. But it is "fun" (to use Halle's words) to remember the great sense of pride I felt those few weeks after the attacks. I LOVED seeing all the flags on display on almost every house. I loved hearing the stories of how many people, perfect strangers, helped each other. For a small time, everyone in our nation seemed united and loved each other. And God was remembered again.

So today, I am choosing to focus on and remember all the good that came from 9/11 rather than dwelling on all the sadness that surrounds it. It's more healing to my heart anyway. Not that I'll ever forget the past, but remembering the good and looking forward to more good is the way I want to celebrate September 11th.

Apples for the Class

Halle had to provide snacks for her class.


Grandma's tree was OVERFLOWING with apples.


Provide a few good pickers...



And treats will be had by all. (We taste tested them first. These apples are the perfect combo of sweet and tart. Mmmmm.... Fall is in the air.)

Try-It-Tuesday

Because I've gotten a few new readers and participants since I started T-I-T, I thought I ought to explain the meaning behind the name. Yes, I know T-I-T (read letter by letter, not said as a word) probably isn't the most appropriate name for my recipe exchange. But it all started with this post and the title was SO not going to stay "Try-It-Tuesday". However, it became kind of a running joke with a few of my friends and readers and then I just decided to leave it. So please don't be offended by my title of choice, and go ahead and change it if you so desire. What I really care about is that you give me YUMMY recipes to try! :) So there you have it, now on to the real topic......food!

This week I am trying to "carb deplete" my body (read Crack the Fat Loss Code to learn more) and cut out sugars and carbs. (I did this (well my own version) about a month ago and lost 7 pounds, so here I go again, hoping for 7 more!) And since I'm not supposed to be eating those things, what does my body naturally crave? Of course, sugar and more sugar. So today, I'm sharing a yummy dessert that works GREAT for an after school snack. It's one my mom used to make ALL of the time when I was kid.

Peanut Butter Cups (in bar form)

1 cube butter or margarine

1/2 c. + 2 Tbl. peanut butter

2 c. powder sugar

3/4 c. finely crushed graham crackers (this is about 5 or 6 crackers)

Mix above ingredients well, place in a buttered 8X8 pan. Press down firmly. Top with 3-4 oz. melted chocolate. (About 3 regular size Hershey choc. bars.) I like these room temperature, but NOT warm.

****If you have a tried and true recipe you'd be willing to share, leave a comment with the recipe title and post the recipe on your blog so we can all come and check it out. Thanks for playing; the more the merrier! ****

The Perfect Place

Kate's perfect place to create her master pieces.

It's Time

***Warning: Parental Discretion Advised***

Yesterday Halle came in and asked me about pregnancy. She asked how the baby got inside the mommy. Now, I've always been fairly open with my kids about this subject so that when the time came to explain it "all" it wouldn't be such a big deal. So I told her it takes a mom and a dad and reminded her that the dad has sperm, the mom has the egg and then when they get together it fertilizes the egg and the egg grows into a baby. Up until yesterday this has been plenty of info. My kids never question anything beyond that and I've been comfortable with them knowing the facts without really KNOWING the facts.

After I reminded her about the stuff she already knew, she said, "I know. But HOW does the sperm get the egg? Cause you lay the egg inside your body. (I guess she thinks women are somewhat like chickens.) How can the sperm get inside?" OH DEAR!!! I started sweating. I always thought I would be the calm collected parent and not have any problem just talking about the facts of life. But my heavens, she's 7!!! (And I have a feeling Alyssa and Bailey somewhat dared her to come ask because they hid in the basement and as soon as the conversation was over, Halle high-tailed it downstairs.)

Anyway, I tried to just be cool and went ahead and told her the facts. Nothing more, nothing less. After which she looked me straight in the eye and said, "Oh. That's gross!" And then walked out.

It took everything in me not to laugh. It was so funny! But now my sweet baby knows a little more about life. I hate that they have to grow up, but such is life.

Scariest Moment of My Life

Stevie did a fun question (Well maybe fun isn't the best word. How about interesting?) of the week on her blog. She asked her readers what the scariest moment of their life was. I am curious to hear your scariest moment(s), so I am posing the question to all of my loyal commentors.

What is the scariest moment of your life?

I had to sit and think about this one. I've had many scary moments, but none that really jumped out and said, "This is SO scary you'll never live it down." So I guess I'm going to list a few scary things.

* Carter falling in the deep end at the hotel pool. (Gave me nightmares for days.)

* Halle choking on a nickel. (Had to give her the hiemlich.)

* Almost being hit by lightening on a hike when I was 15. (It hit on the hill right above us. There was a very loud CRACKING sound and then rocks (BIG ones, about 1-2 feet in diameter) came tumbling down the hill and almost hit us on the head. The guy with us took a rock to the leg and was really banged up, but thankfully no one was seriously hurt.)

* A car accident when I was 5. (A train almost hit our suburban, but my dad hurried and turned the wheel and tipped us upside down in a canal instead. Water came rushing in and the front windshield shattered because a mile marker pole came through and pinned my dad to the seat (right at his chest). It ripped his shirt but didn't puncture his skin. My baby brother (Kade) got glass all over in his diaper. (This was the day and age you could hold your babies rather than have them in car seats, and my mom had been holding him in the front seat. And we all hung upside down from our seat belts. This was pretty scary as a kid, but it's even more scary now as a parent.

* Hemorrhaging (is that how it's spelled?) with my miscarriage and thinking I was going to die. But the scariest part of that is that I wasn't scared to die at all. I guess that's probably really a good thing, but when I think about it, it scares me to death. (This just made no sense at all.)

So now share some of you scariest moments. You can either leave them as comments or do your own post if you feel so inclined.

Happy Birthday Natalie!

Today is my sister-in-law Natalie's birthday. (Natalie, my brother Quin's wife. Not Natalie my husbands sister. So confusing I know.) We got to have a fun little surprise party for Natalie while we were in Yellowstone, but I wanted to make sure to wish her Happy Birthday on her actual day. And Natalie, I'm sorry to tell you this, but your b-day present is going to be late. :( Hope you have a good one today! Glad we got to see you last weekend and hope to see you again soon.

Are you kidding me?

I got an award! Me! Little 'ol me! Okay, really my blog got the award, but still, it's all the same.

Queenie, well really Queen but I call her Queenie, over at Shiners House of Fun nominated me for the "I love your blog" award. THANK YOU!! My blog is SOOOOO not award worthy. It's just a record of my family and life, but I appreciate all the readers I have. You make me feel happy each and every day. I've not only reconnected with old friends, but made many new friends as well. I just love blogging.

Now I get to nominate 7 other blogs that I love, to pass the award on to. Honestly all of you deserve this award, (and quite frankly I'm pretty sure it will find it's way to you) and some of you already have it.

The rules of this award are:
1. The winner can put the logo on his/her blog.
2. Link the person you received your award from.
3. Nominate at least 7 other blogs.
4. Put links of those blogs on yours.
5. Leave a message on the blogs of the people you’ve nominated

So , in no particular order except alphabetical, here are the blogs I choose:

Angela-Since she is the entire reason I started blogging. I LOVED to keep up with her darling family and she talked me into doing my own blog.

Becky- She was my first family member to jump on the blog band wagon and she does a bang up job of staying updated.

Debbie - Debbie was my first "outsider" commenter and I absolutely love her Blog Around the World she's started. It's so much fun to go on a "trip" everyday and learn about people and ways from all over.

Elise- She was the person that encouraged me to really "blog hop" and post things other than pictures of my kids. I love her motto of being sure to have a picture of yourself up every so often. "We all think your kids are cute, but what we really want to see is you," that's what Elise says. Plus she got me addicted to monthly blog headers.

Julie W.- She's gone private so you won't get to read all about her, but she has fun topics on her blog and I love to see her cute family.

Lee Ann- She CRACKS me up! Blogging has been such a fun way to get to know Lee Ann better. Plus she has adorable little girls. I like to think that my Kate and Lee Ann's Anna look like sisters.

Miki- Yet another private blogger, but such a great friend. I am SOOOO glad I FINALLY talked her into starting a blog. Plus her husband has a new profile picture EVERY time he comments. So hilarious!

Thanks again to Queenie. This was fun! And I guess keeping a faithful record of your family does deserve some type of recognition doesn't it?!

Labor Day Holiday

I am sure you are all just dying to know what I did over Labor Day weekend. No? Well, I'm telling you anyway. We (my entire family) went to Yellowstone National Park. This is something we do every year at least once. Yellowstone is only 2 hours away; it's practically in my backyard. I absolutely love it there. It's an amazing place that I wish everyone could visit at least once. This year, I didn't take as many "scenic" photos as I usually do. I just got a few shots of everyone doing the "Yellowstone thing". Other than Carter burning his poor little hand (two nasty blisters on his fingers) on a steaming bowl of cobbler (He was trying to smash a bug and landed his hand in hot cobbler instead.), we had a safe and enjoyable trip.

All of us at the campsite.

Mimi and Kate waiting to hike. We had perfect weather the first day. The second day got a little chilly, rainy, and windy. And the third day was down right cold with a little flurry of snow during the night. Summer has definitely come and gone in Yellowstone.

This year was extra special because my dorky brother Quin and his wife Natalie came. They live in far away So. Cal. I think there is a picture just like this from every vacation I've ever been on with Quin.

Walking the "Mud Volcano" trail. There are a lot of boiling pots of mud and water on this short hike.

But the cool sights come with a price. A certain "Yellostoney" smell. Sulfur. Kate was kind enough to help everyone plug their noses.

While we were in Mammoth (a little town in Yellowstone), we had a bit of excitement when a woman tried to get out of a car and the driver didn't know she was getting out. She fell and hit her head really hard and then the driver (her son-in-law) ran over her foot. This happened directly behind where my vehicle was parked so we got a bird's eye view of the action. (I hope she's okay.)

Cute little Brancyn hanging out in his hat. He's about 2 months old and my favorite age for babies. He smiles and coos and it's just the cutest thing.

Carter looking for the Otter at Trout Lake. This is my most favorite hike in Yellowstone. A short but fairly strenuous jaunt up a hill brings you to a secluded lake filled with HUGE trout. There is also a family of Otters that live here, but we didn't see them this year.

Mom, Natalie, Deidra, Dad, and Emily getting ready to walk around Trout Lake.

The bridge at Trout Lake.


We'll see you next year Yellowstone!

Try-It-Tuesday

Last week I tried this recipe from Pioneer Woman. (And for some reason, I'm not being able to link to her today, just go check her to see a lovely picture of the dish.) I loved it, and it was even better the second day. Jarom wasn't huge on the cucumbers in the relish, but I really liked them. They cooled down the spice of the soup. (Although, the soup ISN'T that spicy.) I checked in on Pioneer Woman today, and low and behold, this recipe was the winner of her dairy contest. It deserves it; it really is yummy to the tummy. Of course, I altered it just a wee-bit, so my altercations are in the parenthesis.

Black Bean Chowder with Yogurt-Cilantro Relish
1 32-ounce package dried black beans (or 4 15oz. cans)
1 medium onion, chopped
3 cloves garlic, pressed (4 tsp.)
Olive oil
1 small ham hock (just pretend to be a big kid and DON'T think about what you're putting in the pot)
1 4-oz can diced green chilies (1/2 can)
6 cups chicken stock (1 box, about 4 c.)
6 cups milk (4 c.)
2 tablespoons butter
3 cups shredded mild cheddar cheese
4 tablespoons flour
1 teaspoon Liquid Smoke
2 tablespoons chili powder (1Tb.)
1 teaspoon cumin
1 teaspoon mild curry powder
1/2 teaspoon cayenne pepper (can leave out if you don’t want it too spicy)
salt and pepper to taste

Relish
1 cup plain yogurt
2 cups chopped cucumber (peeled and seeded)
1 cup chopped cilantro
1/2 teaspoon salt

Place beans in a colander and rinse the beans well. Place in an 8-quart Dutch oven and cover with water (about an inch over the top of the beans) and soak overnight.(Or skip this and use canned beans.)
The next morning, prepare the relish by mixing all the ingredients together, then place in an airtight container in the refrigerator until ready to serve. Then drain the beans and rinse them well.

Gently sauté the onion and garlic in the stock pot with 2 -3 TBSP of olive oil, then add diced green chiles. Place beans back in the Dutch oven and add chicken stock, ham hock, chili powder, cumin, curry powder, cayenne and salt and pepper. Stir well and bring to a boil. Boil for one minute, then reduce heat to medium and simmer for one hour, stirring occasionally. After one hour is up, add the milk and 2 TBSP butter and simmer another 30 minutes. While the chowder is simmering, place the shredded cheese in a large bowl and add the flour, toss to coat the cheese with the flour. Bring the chowder to a boil and stir in the cheese. Boil while stirring constantly until the chowder thickens to your desired consistency. Ladle chowder into bowls and top with one or two TBSP of yogurt-cilantro relish placed in the center. Serve with warm tortillas. (Or cornbread)

****If you have a tried and true recipe you'd be willing to share, leave a comment with the recipe title and post the recipe on your blog so we can all come and check it out. Thanks for playing; the more the merrier! ****