Christmas

We had JB and Shawn with us for Christmas (Bryan's younger brothers)...Grandma Rula, too!...
We made Gingerbread houses on Christmas Eve. Bryson was really good about eating all the candy.
Jill & Fred during the Gingerbread house merrymaking...
Christmas morning... Bowen and Bryson got a new Thomas picture and sound book...
Here's Bowen leading Percy around his new train track...
Bowen and Bryson enjoying their Christmas surprise...

The car track.... another HUGE HIT! We found it at the Utah state fair... one of those toys that aren't sold in stores probably because of their small parts and other unapproved properties...
Endless hours of entertainment!...


Check out how accommodating Bowen has become in sharing the trains... Such a good big brother.


Bryson also got an ABC Elmo doll that freaked him out so we took that back and got Henry the train. And then Bowen got a little computer that he already had so we took that back today and got Gordon the train.
Now Bowen and Bryson have Thomas, Percy, Rosie, Gordon, & Henry. It's a disease, I tell ya. I can't wait to collect them all. ( :

This is what I found under the tree on Christmas morning...YAYYYYYYYYY!!!!!!!
As well as a few other things.... some having to do with vampires, some having to do with really nice pictures of Temples from Costco, and some having to do with Rachael Ray.

And we've been playing THIS game non-stop. Can't stop. Love it. Thanks, Riki!!!

The Big One

BEFORE

AFTER

Coffee Table: $8 (DI)
Train Track: $50 (Costco)
Seeing the kids faces on Christmas morning: PRICELESS!!!

Hot Spiced Cider

I can't wait to whip this up tomorrow...

2 quarts Apple Cider
2 T Apple pie spice
1 T vanilla
1 peel of an orange

Simmer on low all day. (Saw on Sandra Lee's Semi-Homemade)

I'm doing it in a big pot WITHOUT a lid so that it can aromatize my home. That is the point... but it is also edible, of course.

Confetti Cakes

Discovered these at B&N. Why am I at B&N so often? Because they have a full Thomas train set for the kids to play with AND it's 30 seconds from my house.

Discovered the Confetti Cakes for Kids in none other than the kids section again. Amazing things lie hidden in the kids section. I prefer the kids one over Confetti Cakes just because the designs are a little more fun.

Definitely must buys. They pretty much decorate every cake with fondant or some kind of gum sugar... which is EXACTLY what I'm talking about.

I look forward to that day, in the future, when all my cookies will be fondant blessed... all my cakes be gum sugared... and I will own every size and shape of cookie cutter known to man... especially the mini ones.

A Christmas Miracle

My friend, Heidi, has started a food blog! DO YOU KNOW WHAT THIS MEANS???

Some of the best recipes I've ever received have been Heidi referrals...

To name a few...

Best Ever Tomato Soup
Cinnamon Chips & Fruit Salsa
Southwestern Cobb SaladChicken Pot Pie (actually from Amber)
Sausage Stars

Heidi has style. Her recipes are not only delicious but always pleasant to behold. She's all about presentation as well as taste... AND THAT IS WHAT I'M TALKING ABOUT! I LOVE IT.
I'm so excited, Heidi. Can't wait to try more of your recipes.

(P.S. I tried to link those recipes to your foodblog but couldn't figure out how to link to just one specific recipe. Weird! So they're just linked to mine.)

Toilet Surgery

My Daddy and my Aunti are sure HANDY to have around.
What do you do when you flush a 'not-flushable' clorox toilet wand down the toilet? My extensive knowledge of plumbing and apparent lack of common sense told me to plunge... plunge to my hearts content.
Luckily Daddy and Aunti came into town the very next day amidst our still unsolved situation and informed us that 'plunging' is most likely, absolutely, not at all the correct thing to do in that instance. Being seasoned home-owners and all around smart individuals they managed to perform some very complicated toilet surgery...
We had to put the toilet to sleep (turn water off), rip it from its very comfortable grouted position, remove some innards including the foriegn obstruction that (due to my effectual plunging) was threatening to enter the underground plumbing cavity... return it to it's afformentioned position, and wake it up (turn water on and give it a good slap).
Amazing!
A good $200 incident had I called my good friends at Colf's Plumbing.

Thanks Aunt Lisa and thanks Dad... especially for also performing toilet surgery on the toilet in the basement where we eventually found the obstruction not in the toilet.... but in the garbage right next to it.... HAHAHAHAHAHA!
Fun adventures!
But really, there are few things greater than celebrating together with a round of Cafe Rio entree's, fabulously wonderful company (Jake, Fran, Cody, Auntie Lisa, Dad, Addi, Meg), watching BYU Hitler on Youtube and quoting 'Hitch' and Hallmark movies. Few things!

THANKS MUCHY!!!

Obsessed with Tiny

I'm infatuated with all things mini. I found this book in the kids section at B&N the other day and I was lost in its pages for over 20 minutes. See the little cake on the front cover? It's just two cookies put together, frosted, stored in the fridge over night (which makes the cookies soft) making it, therefore, taste like a cake.... a mini cake. SO CUTE! I LOVE it! I also love the little box of 'donuts' on the cover (which are really just frosted cheerios) haha!
I want this book.

My Favorite Google Quotes this week...

I've been trying for some time to develop a lifestyle that doesn't require my presence.
- Garry Trudeau

It is by the goodness of God that in our country we have those three unspeakably precious things: freedom of speech, freedom of conscience, and the prudence never to practice either of them.
-Mark Twain (1835 - 1910), Following the Equator (1897)

I hate mankind, for I think myself one of the best of them, and I know how bad I am.
-Joseph Baretti, quoted in Boswell's Life of Samuel Johnson

It has been my experience that folks who have no vices have very few virtues.

-Abraham Lincoln (1809 - 1865)

There are no wise few. Every aristocracy that has ever existed has behaved, in all essential points, exactly like a small mob.
- G. K. Chesterton

No one can earn a million dollars honestly.

-William Jennings Bryan (1860 - 1925)

Kayotic Discovery

I made a new discovery... the Kayotic Kitchen. She's from the Netherlands. Check out the tuna salad wraps above. So cute that she put them in glasses. SO CUTE!

Steele Cut Oats

I LOVE steele cut oats... They are described perfectly on this website...

"Where oatmeal is mushy, steel cut oats are chewy and substantial. Where oatmeal is bland, steel cut oats are nutty and satisfying. In other words, steel cut oats are by far the most grown-up, the most sophisticated, the most superlative hot porridge."

That's what I'm looking for in my porridge... grown up, sophisticated, and superlative. ( :

In case you have a minute and want to read on about exactly what a steele cut oat is... here is a simple explanation from that very same website...

"Oats are generally processed as hulled whole grains, or as they are called among grain-scholars and food dorks, groats. (Note: evidently whole grains are healthy). Depending on the type of oatmeal, groats are processed in different ways. Rolled oats are pressed between rollers to different thicknesses depending on the desired cooking time: thick cut, regular, instant, etc. Steel cut oats are simply whole groats cut in halves or fourths."

I eat mine with, obviously, a lot of flavor bursting frozen blueberries, cinnamon and sugar, and crushed walnuts. FAB!!!

Random Pics

Bryson is such a good helper. Thanks, Bryson, for attempting to get some cookie dough out with the measuring cup. Wanted to get precisely half a cup in his mouth, I suppose...Fun at the park...........
Still more fun at the park....
Endless fun at the park............
And here is the best shot yet that I have been able to get of Bowen and Bryson praying. This is about as close as we get to 'kneeling' these days. Bryson kneeled for about the first 3 times and then he decided it just wasn't for him. Bowen is all about non-compliance so having him sit and clasp his hands together is pretty good. I sure wish I had my camera on hand back when Bryson was saying his little prayers. Maybe he'll pick it up again sometime.
Beautiful 'through the breezy leaves' pic at Zions Nat'l Park..........
Bo has decided he loves to pose for pictures. He specifically wanted one with Ronald McDonald today.........
This is Bowen's favorite activity to do with his daddy. Notice the finger up in celebration when he makes a touchdown.........



Bowen and Bryson are currently OBSESSED with Thomas the train.
How is it that Thomas is so compelling to them?
How is it that Bowen and Bryson will spend hours driving trains around our crappy wooden track downstairs?
How is it that they can charge $12 for a stinkin' Thomas Train at Walmart and know that we'll still pay for it?
How is it that I know Bowen would cry tears of joy to find a brand new Thomas train set and table on Christmas morning?
How is it that those things are like $200-$400 and that all he'll probably get his a new Thomas train in his stocking?
How is it that he's young enough to not understand that even getting his own Thomas train is minutely possible and so he'll be just as pleased to get just one little Thomas train in his stocking...
How is it that I'll probably break down and buy one of those portable Thomas tracks just because I know they'll be tickled to death about it?
How is it that this post all the suddenly got way too long?

And here is Bryson the HAM!!!!!!............

The Crunchy Roll

So wanting...
Known as "The Crunchy Roll".
We used to get these every day in Gainesville, FL. Well, maybe not EVERY day but they were so good we could not help ourselves. We meaning my friends and I. Bryan, in his separate life, had no part in this obsession.

I MUST FIND THESE in St. George.

I MUST ALSO remember the name of that restaurant so I can call and demand their exact recipe. I MUST HAVE IT!!!

Aren't you jealous that while we were eating these crunchy rolls IN the restaurant we could see alligators swimming in the lake right outside the window??? Made 'em taste even better.

A New Woman

So the flu totally kicked me out of my first trimester. In other words...
I feel better than I have in weeks!!!
I actually washed my hair...
put on day clothes...
cleaned something.

Bryan says "welcome back" and "Hallelujah".

It is good to be back on earth again. The simple pleasures have returned...

... such as... my mini obsession with Dolman-sleeve tops...

For sale in the Mossimo Black section at Target.

Target is.... FABULOUS! Their maternity clothes are on my radar.

Pregnancy Post

Aren't you all excited to hear for the next 6 1/2 months about how being pregnant affects my life? I knew it.
I'll start with the flu. Being pregnant and having the flu is hell. (not a swearword when used in that context) (why does that sound like something Dwight would say?)
Pregnant=eat
Flu=don't eat
I'm so confused. What do I do? I throw-up. I shake from the trauma. I take baths all day. I sit on the couch and can't get up. If it weren't for Bryan I think I'd be dead.
What's even better than having being pregnant and having the flu.... having your sewer pump break so your whole house smells like POO. Awesome. That really helped the situation.
It does get better... the furnace in the basement also broke so it is an astoundingly comfortable 62 degrees down there. We have no space heaters - my very first order of business tomorrow. After calling the plumber.
I'm not proud of this very sarcastic whiny post. I do have many many blessings. I just don't feel like expressing them right now. ( :

Happy Exciting News

We're going to have a baby!!!
Due end of June '09.
It's going to be a girl and we're going to name her Cindyloohoo. (JK, both of those still yet unknowns)

I've accomplished all I set out to accomplish while the kids were at Grandma's and now all I can do is wander aimlessly about the house. I've contracted a nasty cold and found myself at the store in much need of healing sustenance. This is what I came up with...That is probably the coolest grocery trip I have ever made.
I feel very satisfied.
Now I'm going to continue my mindless wandering until on the morrow when I get to see my little nibble chins again.

Cheese

I have a thing for cheese. I love it. It makes me happy. I don't mean the edible stuff. I mean everything ridiculous and utterly absurd like this scene from "The Court Jester" with Danny Kaye...

HAHAHA! He is so .... cheesy!

There's just an innocent type of humor about it. It's so ridiculous. I love it! Like this scene from "What's Up Doc"...

Engelbert Humperdinck is also none other than one of my favorite ever CHEESES. He sings classics like "Am I That Easy To Forget", "Spanish Eyes", "Please Release Me", "THe Last Waltz", "Quando, Quando, Quando" and "There Goes My Everything". I love it during this song when he says... "slow-wo-ly walking". HAHA!


I made a Pandora station after Engelbert. Other artists that came up?... Neil Diamond (YES!), The Carpenters (YES!), Tom Jones (HAHAHA!). Love it.

AND THIS CHEESE TOPS IT ALL!!!!!!!!!!

Why does Carlton remind me of Brett? HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!

OH MAN!!! CHECK OUT THIS CLASSIC VIDEO THAT I FOUND with MJ...


This is what happens when your kids leave and you spend hours on youtube.

I Have Kids?

Bowen and Bryson have been at Grandma Jill's since last Friday. You would think at this point I would be heartbroken for their kisses and loves but really.... it feels like I just dropped them off yesterday. No really, I do miss Bowen saying "my house is #33" everytime we drive home and I do miss Bryson saying "no-yes" after every guestion I ask him. But really.... LOOK WHAT I HAVE ACCOMPLISHED IN THEIR ABSENCE...
I now consider the master bath the only fully decorated room in the house.
Ahhh, the satisfaction.

Favorite Christmas Decoration

2 years ago Bryan took me to Crate & Barrel in Orlando and let me pick anything I wanted for my Birthday. SMART MAN!!!!! I picked this ornament holder that has been AND CONTINUES TO BE my absolute favorite Christmas decoration. I switched the original ornaments out for these silver ones from Target.... which is WHY it is so perfect... because you can switch out the colors and shapes according to your mood and whim. This year, obviously, I'm all about the twinkly silver. I think it has to do with the fact that my house is decorated in white, beige, black and silvery blues. I get so much delight staying with the color scheme... even during Christmas. I tried to put a red table runner on my table and ... it just didn't work.

Funny

I cannot resist the good Google quotes...

If the automobile had followed the same development cycle as the computer, a Rolls-Royce would today cost $100, get a million miles per gallon, and explode once a year, killing everyone inside.
- Robert X. Cringely

O Holy Night

There is no greater version of this song than this one by Michael Crawford. I break out in chills at 2:40 and am in tears by 3:13.
Nobody else has been able to do that for me...Groban, Buble, Crosby...

Although, Cody Nielson really nailed it about 4-ish years ago for his HS concert in SLC during our Annual Marriot Stay. I was moved to an utter sob. Jake, you too. I saw. ( :

It is hard to avoid specifically at that 3:13 mark. ( :

Waiting for Edward

The 5 of us... and 5 Edwards. One for each of us...(me, Alyssa, Dacia, Kari, Cyndi)

The big crew...

Inscribed Twilight roses from Edward himself... (or so they told us. I chose to believe them)...
Why wait for hours on end in a line you already tickets for? (besides getting to gab on end with your friends)... to get THIS! That's right... MIDDLE MIDDLE, LIP LEVEL seats. Perfect!Thanks, Dacia, for letting me borrow YOUR special pink blanket. I repeat, thank YOU for letting me borrow YOUR special blanket. Kept me warm and cozy.

Oh ya, and I saw it again yesterday! STILL LOVE IT!

The Twilight Movie

If I was to pick one word to describe how I felt about the movie last night it would be an expletive that starts with the letter D.

I thought it was PERFECT!

LOVED IT!!!

...but... I think if you haven't read the books or somehow don't 'get the vision' of them you might be confused, maybe even a little bored.

They nailed the characters... Charlie, Billy, Alice, Carlyle, Jasper, Esme, Emmet was perfect, ... Bella... surprisingly nailed it, and Edward was TDF.

Edward was TDF.

Who does that? Movies never do that. They usually massacre and utterly disappoint their 'die hard' fans. But, obviously, 'we' were their target audience. And I assure you... if they had massacred it, I would passionately voice my disappointment. Will they make enough money for New Moon? Don't know. Please do... but DON'T stop there. Eclipse is one of my favorite for reasons that start with E.

The special effects were NOT GREAT... cheesy. Give 'em some money and a blue screen and I'm sure they'll remedy it. Oh, and I was a little 'eeeeeed' when Edward sucked Bella's venom.

LOVED IT!!!

Tomorrow

What are YOU doing tomorrow night? I know what I'M doing and if you don't what THAT is then you could probably care less. It will be a night to remember... won't it, girls!!!!!!!!!

BeautiControl

For the last three years this product and I have been inseparable. Our relationship has weathered the toughest of storms such as... pregnancy when anything vanilla was banished from my immediate presence.

Dear Therapeutic Bath Minerals by BeautiControl,

You are like a soothing rain after a thunderous torrent.
Your scent is like a raging waterfall in the Garden of Eden.
I cannot resist your lure.
You make a steaming hot bath a symphony of clarity and peace on earth.
You've always been my number one, even when B&BW's Eucalyptus Spearmint threatened to take your place.
Please, never leave me. Especially during this time of treacherous weather where the thermostat threatens to dip below 70.
Please, I need you everyday... sometimes twice.

Sincerely,
Your most loyal fan.

My very most

My very most absolutely favorite ever thing to do these days is to sit on the couch in the living room... in the evening... with the Christmas lights a twinkling... and Christmas music lightly playing in the background... reading a perfectly romantic Christmas love story. Ah, dream come true. The only thing I'm missing is a cute little fireplace to warm my toes. I mean, seriously, it's like 50 degrees here. Burrrrr. ($399 Costco.com)Which has bought me to my next conclusion...

The living room upstairs absolutely CANNOT be the TV room. I have had it with TV. I have become quite disillusioned as of late. Even 'The Office' makes me want to puke after having wasted a whole 1/2 hour on it (I don't know what's gotten into me). I just feel it doesn't compare to the ambiance and magic of being lost in a book where the world is pretty much what you create (aside from the basic story). All the little details are to your minute specifications - however your mind wants to see them. It's a wonderful little escape from this MISERABLE MISERABLE world (that's from a Joseph Smith quote that I can't stop repeating. I think that makes me cool that it's pretty much MY OWN inside joke.)

And this has become my plan of action... a secret priority of mine, if you will. To make the downstairs nice enough (add curtains, a nice comfy couch... ya know, put a little twinkle in the atmosphere) so that it will be a place you'd want to hang out. THEN I'd move this BIG HUNKER of a TV down there and any and all football, PS3, 'the Office', etc. will be watched down there and the upstairs will become a sanctuary of domesticality, peace, and harmony. In other words, I will usurp it as my own. The only activities allowed will be culinary arts, reading, humming, intelligent conversation, and harmonious peace and love. It will be the 'Ladies retreat' and downstairs can be 'The ManCave'.

Pssssst! BTW, I just read 'Kissing Cousins'. An e-book by Marcia Lynn McClure and I was absolutely TICKLED PINK the entire time. It's a short 127 page romance... clean... and perfect. Only available online for $8.95 here.

A little paint goes a long way...

BEFORE...AFTER...
I love how the room is a mess in the first one and all cleaned up in the second one. It's like frowning in the first one and smiling and all tan in the second one. haha
Quite happy with how it turned out.

BTW, my potato soup did NOT turn out best ever... totally disappointed. Not creamy enough, too oily... just didn't have it.

And these best ever rolls are so soft that I've decided to refer to them from now on as baby's bum buns. hehe!

Sometimes

I have been blog-AWOL. As Forest Gump would say, 'It happens'. Or rather... nevermind.
And all will be explained in time.
As for now I must let you know...
I have all my Christmas up and I'm tickled to DEATH about it. I am living in a winter wonderland with Christmas music blaring out of my totally awesome cheap Ebay speakers that I especially placed above my kitchen cabinets so it sounds like an in house speaker system. I know, I am SO tricky.
I put up my 5 foot Christmas tree which somehow doesn't look right under the condescension of a vaulted ceiling. I may take Aunt Lisa's advice and place it on a few cardboard boxes so it can been seen from the window.
I have to tell you... I made the best ever rolls tonight and they turned out... BEST EVER!!! I only put 7 cups of flour in them.... THAT IS THE TRICK!
I'm making Best Ever Potato Soup tomorrow. I'll let you know how it goes. I just cannot get enough of the best evers. Seriously, why dabble in anything less.
Why do I think it's so cute that Bowen's head only reaches the bottom drawer of the fridge when he opens it. Ah, the little joys.
Have you heard of Pandora? The greatest thing EVER!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
It is DEFINITELY time to change my blog background... to something more..... festive. I am more than willing to spend the time.... sometime.
Ah, it's good to visit again, Ms. Blog. I'll try not to be so fickle.

Halloween

What can I say to that!

The boys are last years skeletons. Luckily the bones still fit. I'm obviously the silly face fairy. Leave it up to Alyssa to get a picture of me with my face like that. ( :The Elk!!! Sweet.