yard work

Since we closed on the house, we have been making small changes. While my mom was visiting, we started to clean out the 3 flower beds in front of house. It was hard work! The weeds and crabgrass had taken over. I wish we had a tiller, but we did it all with shovels, and spades. I had a few mornings after, where getting out of bed was quite difficult!

Once the weeds were gone(for the most part) and the earth turned over, we went shopping for plants. We were lucky enough to find an end of season sale at a local nursery. We only spent about 20$ for all the plants we put in the beds. The bags of mulch we used to finish it off cost more thatn that!
It's really nice to look at, and feel a sense of accomplishment. Derek was a huge help, especially with the clay dirt we have here in Utah.
Now onto the backyard!

bridal veil falls

taking off the shoes to get in the cool water

the water was cool, but the rocks were sharp on the bare feet

this was a VIPs cabin-I will give you a hint...his initials are T.S.M.

My happy girl enjoying the outdoors!

Where has the time gone? I cant believe my oldest child will be turning 12, and going into Young Women's! One of her last Primary Activity/Activity Day Girls outing, was this bike ride from Bridal Veil, to Vivian Park.
It was a daddy/daughter bike-ride, but her Daddy was working on this particular Saturday. Uncle Damon stepped in, and I think they both really enjoyed it. We borrowed Aunt Sheral's Diamondback bike (way nice) and it fit Lydia perfectly.
My little girl is growing up...

mess o' greens

My brother in law put in several square foot gardening beds this year. Since we helped with the project, he promised us some fruits of our labors. One day, Derek came home with this huge bag of collard greens. Being the Southern girl that I am, I immediately found a Paula Deen recipe for the greens.It was a little time consuming, but the results were well worth it.

First, I cleaned and "stripped " the greens form the stalks. Then I rolled up the leaves, and cut them into 1/2 slices. I then took some smoked ham hocks (you can leave these out if your Vegan) water, and some spices, and boiled them for 1 hour. Yes, I know this sounds weird, but it is what gives your collards that Southern taste. After an hour, you add the greens, butter, and cook them for another 45 minutes. The result was as good as any greens I have had in a Soul Food restaurant. Yum!

All tuckered out

Jacob is a really busy boy. He dosent take naps anymore, which makes it hard on everyone. About 5pm-ish, he turns into a whole other person, and trust me, it's one you dont want to be around.
Some days he just gives it up naturally, wherever he may be. On this day, he had been in his room playing. It was became really quiet, so I decided to check on him. Here is what I found...
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Taking a snooze under his Thomas bouncy ball. I so wish I could do this!

Surprise! Derek's 40!

surprise!
the cake

ha.. ha.. we got you!

Jacob eyeing the cake...

blowing out the candles...

Okay, Im a little behind...I spent so much time planning and prepping his surprise party that when the time came, I forgot to take my camera! Luckily my brother Steve, and Derek's brother Damon, captured the moment for us.

He was so surprised that all his family was there. We had a white trash birthday cake(perfect for a 40th birthday) and Karoke. His family really got into the karaoke, and found our that there is some singing talent among the cousins!

He was so surprised to see almost his whole family, he got a little teary-eyed. Derek you are an awesome husband, and Dad, and see, turning 40 wasn't that bad!

faux hawk?

There seems to be growing trend in Utah...maybe, I just didn't pay attention in Arkansas, but it seems to be a popular hair-do for little boys here.
After baths last night, we asked Jake if he wanted one. Here are the results.

He looks like the Martin Short character-Mr. Brimley...lol..don't think we will be wearing this to church anytime soon!

Donuts, Donuts, Donuts!

For years, I have tried to make gluten-free donuts. They were either rock hard, or tasted like sawdust, with sugar on top. Well, today I finally did it!
At Walmart, they sell a gluten-free Scone Mix, by Blue Chip Group. I've had great success with making bread, and rolls with this product, but was skeptical about trying donuts.
They were delish! Notice I said "were". They are all gone now. I'm sure they went straight to my thighs, but they were oh... so...good! ( btw the kids ate a bunch too!)
First, I started by mixing up the dough, rolling it out, and cutting out the donuts with a biscuit cutter. I made the hole in the middle using a metal cake decorating tip(the non-decorative end). I them put them in the oven to proof for about 10 minutes.



Next I fried them for about 3 minutes each side, then dipped them in the glaze.



Dont they look wonderful?



The finished product...



Kate enjoying the finished product.

She's Crafty

I don't know if any of you are familiar with the Canadian craft show, She's Crafty. The girl who hosts it, Wendy, is just a hoot! It often features her and a guest crafter as they make decorative items for the home. Sometimes she is way over the top( see the pasties episode) or the time she had the he/she embroidery artist. I swear one look at the artists hands, and you could totally tell it was a guy!

I really love the show, and one night she featured this slide lampshade. I knew I had to do it. I began by hunting for an old lampshade at DI, and while cleaning out my brothers basement, found a bunch of discarded slides. Another trip to Joann's for the jump rings, and I was set. I started out by using my crop-a-dile to punch the holes in the slides. Ladies, if you don't have one of these, you must get one! They can punch a hole in anything paper, plastic, metal. It's one handy tool.

First- I used the jump rings to join vertical rows of slides.
Second- Dis-assemble the DI lampshade, and strip it down to the frame, and paint the frame black to match the existing lamp.
Third- I used more jump rings, to attach my vertical rows of slides to frame, and even more rings to attach these rows to each other.

I am so pleased with my finished product. The most expensive thing I used was the jump rings @1.99 a pkg. Cant wait to put it in the new house :)

Mother's Day

When I was younger I hated Mother's Day. Not that I hated my Mother, but I hated the idea of only one day a year to honor her. I remember being a teen, and sitting in Sacrament, dreading the talks on Motherhood. I think I have heard everything from personal testimony of Mothers, to examples Mothers of the scriptures.

Little did I understand, at the time, how important Motherhood is, and how essential a Mother is in one's life. Some of us had had our dear Mothers taken away from us, much too soon. Other Mother's may have estranged children, that will have nothing to do with them. Some Mothers, may have issues, and just simply aren't there for their children. Motherhood does not come with an manual at childbirth. We all learn through trial, and error. Case in point.

Sunday (Mother's Day) started out pretty rough. Having 9am church does not help, especially if your children got to bed an hour later than usual. Kate woke up on the wrong side of the bed, and cried, as I bathed her, and when I combed out her hair.
We sent her to get dressed , then finished her hair in a nice bun, to which we added these really cute chopsticks( she usually loves these!) We walked to church and as we sat in the pew, she started crying again. I asked her "why are you crying?" the answer was a pitiful " I don't know.." After about 30 minutes into the the meeting, she was still crying, and I had had enough. We went out in the hall, and the guilt card was played. "Kate, do you know what day it is?" "No." "Well it's Mother's Day, and you are ruining it. I said it very quietly, and she immediately stopped crying.
Now some of you are saying, Wow, Amy, you really handled that wrong! Well,it was that, or a full-on yell fest, because I was at the end of my rope.
Guess what happened? She stopped crying! She finished out the rest of the day without tears, and even helped clean the house, and made dinner once we got home.
I didn't have to lift a finger. I even got to lay in bed, and read a book, undisturbed. Derek and the kids bought me a CD of music, a DVD to watch, and fixed me a nice steak dinner.
I wonder if I will ever get the hang of this Motherhood thing....

keeping the kids busy

One thing I like about Utah is it is family oriented. There is more than one swing set in a City Park, you can take your kids to get an ice cream cone that cost 33 cents, and they even have grocery carts that will seat 4 children.

With Derek working every other week, I find myself trying to keep my children busy with activities. This last Saturday we started doing the Home Depot classes again.
I have to say the Thuesons are not builders. If there is a way to bend a nail, we can do it. I spent more time nursing sore thumbs, and pulling crooked nails from the projects! I think next time we will just get the kit, and take it home.

On sunday the kids were bored so I let them paint their projects. What a mess...

gluten free tag-a-longs

This time of year kills me, literally. It seems every grocery store I go to, has the girls in green pushing their cookies. Of course, they don't have to push too hard, those are some great tasting cookies! Being a Celiac, I usually pass, but over the past few years my family has pressed, and we usually end up with a box or two of Thin Mints.

That got me wondering, if I could make a gluten-free version of these cookies. All of my attempts at Thins Mints have failed, but finally, last night I made a delicious batch of Tag-a-longs. You know the cookie, chocolate, peanut butter, and a shortbread. My official taste-testers said it tasted just like the original, so I thought I would post my results. They don't look exactly like them, but they did taste yummy! I think I'll go hide them in the nether-regions of my freezer!

Pho-tastic!

Tonight I made homemade Pho for the first time! I was introduced to this noodle-meat-veggie-broth-concoction several years ago by my friend Tanya. It is traditionally a Vietnamese dish topped with mint and basil. It is so delicious...and you don't feel like you've eaten a brick for dinner...lol.. I didn't have all the ingredients needed for it, so I made a scaled down version.

I basically put leftover shredded meat, noodles and veggies in bowls and ladled hot broth over it. As Rachel ray says Yum-o. If you like the sound of this, there are several recipes out there, or make it easy on yourself, and find your local Vietnamese restaurant and try it!

Life goes on

Been pretty tame here, not much to report- except running kids to school 3X a day(will be so glad for next year, only 2X a day) helping my brother with his yard sale, and keeping up with church stuff. I got a new calling at church, Enrichment Leader. I'm not sure why the asked me. I'm sure there are much more talented people who could do this, especially in the Valley. Anyhow have any good suggestions? lol..I'm in the process of getting my Committee together, and have 2 sisters called so far. I'm finally a visiting teacher, and my partner and I are heading out tomorrow morning to meet our sisters.

Still out house hunting, we did make an offer and it was accepted. Supposed to close next month. We will see how it all works out.

This week is the big DCWV sale(that's scrapbook speak) in Provo. Derek found this warehouse sale last year when he was out here for his Mission reunion.He came home with a ton of paper for me(he had to check and extra bag!) Derek's sister, Dara and I are planning on hitting it this week. I must keep myself in check! I haven't scrapped since Ferncliff(Nov 09) Wait! I did make a gift for someone involving my supplies. She might read this blog, so I can't say what!

Derek is working this week, so we wont see much of him. That's okay, I have a tendency to let the housework slide when he is home. It's so much more fun to go and "play" on his weeks off.
till next time....

Albion, Idaho

Last weekend we went to Idaho for a MTC reunion of sorts. These Elders all trained in the MTC, and served in the Okiyama Japan Mission 1989-91'. 5 Elders and thier families made it, and we had such a blast. Not only did we stay up too late talking, playing games, and looking at old mission photos, and cracking up, but even our children were kept busy.

There was so much to do. I was a little skeptical as we drove up, because Albion is in the middle of NOWHERE! The closest big town, is Burley, and it was 25 minutes away. We settled in our very nice room, complete with our own bathroom. The renovated building(Miller Hall) is just gorgeous. All the exposed brick and original hardwood floors, it was just beautiful . The Mortensens did a great job restoring it.

The Hall had a great room, with an updated kitchen, a nice laundry room, with front loading washers and dryers, and up on the third floor- the huge game room, complete with monster sacs, a ping-pong table, large screen TV, and Foosball.

Outside, the kids were kept busy riding the banana bikes(these were way fun, even I rode them quite a bit the 3rd day, playing outside among the many animals roaming free, Emu's, chickens, turkeys, guineas, and peacocks. We also went up to the Mortensens' house, and saw other animals, goats, another emu,(Jake even sat on the back of it) pigeons, and such. The kids gathered the eggs from the turkeys and chickens, and we made omelets out of them on Saturday morning. Those turkey eggs are tough to crack!

We also toured the rest of the campus, which contained 4 other buildings that will be renovated in the future. The former gym, will become a reception center, complete with Bride and Groom areas and a large gymnasium that will become the reception area. This building will also have a commercial kitchen that will cater also. During October, the 3 other vacant buildings become Haunted Houses. For 15$ you get to go though 3 houses. We were able to go through one that was still set up from last Halloween. Derek's former mission companion, Troy, even turned the lights and music on for us so we could get the full effect.He had fun hiding and jumping out and scaring us....lol..that is where I go the Renesmee' picture I posted on Facebook.

Our last evening we all piled into the car and drove about 25 minutes near Rock Springs, where there were hot springs. Wow, was that water hot! It was weird to be outside looking at snow covered mountains, and not be cold.

Sunday morning we got up and went to church. We did not bring clothes with us, so we had to borrow clothing and try to make do with what we had. Derek found a DI and bought a complete outfit, shoes even, for 20$. Some of our activities:
me on the little 110 dirt bike

playing horseshoes

Our accommodations:

the hallway to our room

the nice kitchen and part of the great room(I was standing in the middle of the great room)

This was the girls dormitory, when this was a college.

This is Miller Hall where we stayed.

This is the Auditorium. It was really cool inside. Great big stage, with an orchestra pit, balcony, and even the old chairs will still inside. Most of my pictures didn't turn out in this building because of low light.

Some of the architecture on the buildings were really cool. This was on one of the buildings they use as a Haunted House.

It was a great weekend. Made some new friends, and next year is already in the planning stages. Awesome!

spring nonsense

Here a few pics from today, April 6th, 2010.

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