Joy is very infectious; therefore, be always full of joy.

~ Mother Teresa

Friday, October 28, 2011

Dinner Success

I really wasn't going to post this on all my other blogs, but it turned out fantastic, so I am sharing sharing sharing! LOL
Dinner at our house has become difficult lately.
Jes, who usually will eat anything, is starting to get picky in his old age (dang it!) and the kids are just... well... kids! They are suppose to be picky right?
So to find a recipe that EVERYONE likes... needs celebrated!! :)
I found this recipe in an old recipe-swap email and since all the the ingredients were on hand I gave it a whirl! SOO glad I did! YUM!
CHEEZIT CHICKEN
BLSL Chicken breasts
Sour Cream
Cheezit Crackers, crushed
1/4 c. melted butter
garlic powder
(yep...really...5 ingredients!)
"Frost" chicken with sour cream. Roll in crackers. Put in a 9x13 baking dishes that has been lightly sprayed with oil. Drizzle with melted butter. Sprinkle with garlic powder.
Bake at 350 for about 50-60 min. or until juice runs clear.
Moist, tender, flavorful... everyone loved it here! :D 
Served with steamed broccoli and mashed potatoes... this mommy is reveling in the joy of a dinner appreciated by all... *grin*

Wednesday, October 26, 2011

Trick-or-Treat Planning

In the car the other day I overheard my kiddos planning for Halloween. Since Jes wants to do scones for the neighbors and family again this year, Emma has offered to take Caleb out Trick or Treating. She and Caleb have been noticing the awesome Halloween decorations throughout the neighborhood and always mention they want to "for sure go to THAT house" when they see them. Cam asked Caleb why he wants to visit the decorated ones...?

Caleb replied: Cause da ones that decorate like Halloween love Halloween, so they will have lots of good candy.

Cam replied: I am going to go to the ones that HAVEN'T deocrated because THAT is where the good candy is! They haven't blown all their money on stupid decorations so they have more to spend on candy!

Bwahahahaha!!

Ok! There you have it... so how do YOU decided whether or not to Trick-or-Treat certain houses?

(and btw - stop on by if you live close for a hot scone... we live just one street to the west now ;) and a few houses south)

Tuesday, October 25, 2011

Donuts

So... here is a confession.
Raised donuts are a favorite.
And I have never been brave enough to try to make them!
This week that all changed!

Thanks to this recipe here I braved it! 
Even some donut holes!
My kids were thrilled!! The perfect Family Home Evening Treat for a cool October evening..
YUM!

Note to self:
Allow glaze to melt on stove long enough for the powdered sugar to melt - otherwise the glaze is "crispy" and also a little less vanilla is required than called for.
Otherwise... these compete with Krispie Kreme!!
Delish!

Monday, October 17, 2011

A little tired...?

I came in the other day and found Jes sitting like this in the computer chair! 
He was SOUND asleep! LOL 
Even his littlest baby girl could jump up on him and pose for a photo and it didn't wake him!
My cute hubby needs somemore ZZZ's!

Thursday, October 13, 2011

Kisses??

All my boys got "kissed" by a girl!!!!

Good thing it was their Aunt Jenny!! LOL

IT'S BACON!!!

My homeschool support group sent out information about a company that does bulk food orders similar to the Bountiful Baskets that I love so much.

is the name of it... and they are nation wide!
I ordered 15 lbs of bacon a couple weeks ago and picked up my box at the designated drop off yesterday. It was AWESOME! 
It was $2.47/lb
Nice thick slices of nice fresh deli bacon!!
I pulled out my freezer wrap and broke it into stacks with enough for everyone in our family to have 3 slices! YUM!
Now we have 12 beautiful packages of bacon in our freezer/food storage!!
YEA!!!
I ordered me some boneless skinless chicken breasts and will be able to pick up my 40 lbs in a week or so!
It was $ 1.49/lb!!
Sa-Weet!!

Monday, October 10, 2011

Trip to Roosevelt...

I'nt he so cute???

It was my cousin Nikki's baby Kayden's Blessing today!

We drove out and attended the meeting with them and had a wonderful luncheon with my family.
I can't believe how much I miss them all!
We just don't get together often enough!
Nikki made these divine homemade pizza rolls!
And this slush drink that I cannot stop craving... I drank 3 glasses of it! LOL

What a huge blessing for Jes to have a job so that we can afford to attend special events like this! I was so very happy!! :) We really have come a long way....

Thanks for a wonderful afternoon Nikki and family!!
WE LOVE YOU GUYS!!!

Friday, October 7, 2011

'80's Day

'80's Day - Spirit Week

Emma was the only one that dressed up for this day... mostly because we had nothing we could think of to use for the boys! :P Oh well... she looked cute anyway!
Although... looking back we should have pulled the tounges out of her shoes!
Bwahahaha

Thursday, October 6, 2011

Rock N Roll Day

Spirit Day - Rock & Roll Day

DUDE!!!

Wednesday, October 5, 2011

Duct Tape Day

Spirit Day - Duct Tape Day!!
The kids had a BLAST making duct tape decor on their clothing!
Caleb decorated his jeans and wore a duct tape bracelet 
Cam made his own T-shirt designs of duct tape 
Cody didn't want to ruin any of his clothing, so he made jewlery! 
Emma made decor pants, a bracelet and a headband 
Purple pockets, "Peace" on one leg, "Emma" on the other! 
She is so creative! :D

It made for a very sticky and full of fun Family Home Evening!

Tuesday, October 4, 2011

Conference Weekend Fall 2011

This last weekend we had a wonderful time!

We had our first house guests since we "officially" moved in.

We had had our good friends Edison and Gwenna stay the night with us a week or two after we moved in, but they had to tip toe over boxes and since they had moved out of this house only weeks before, well, it didn't quite feel like house guests! LOL

The Sorensen Family came to stay with us.
We just love sharing good times, great food and our children's childhoods with each other!

They arrived on Thursday night, which was actually Friday morning! LOL Lots of hugs, some PJ's and un-loading the car later, everyone was tucked into bed, looking forward to the weekend ahead of us.

Friday Jes had to work half a day. Emma and Cody couldn't miss school, but Caleb and Cameron were in full play mode and we let them play Hooky! It was lovely outside and our "new" fully fenced backyard, complete with grass to play on, was a huge hit!! Amy and I went to SLC this day. Their friends from Ely were here for a mission reunion (same reason as Amy & Austin's visit) and wanted to attend the temple, but couldn't with no where to leave their kids. We met up with them and took their 3 darling children and wandered through IKEA while they went to the temple. It was fun to dream about all the fun things one can do their home, and eat some meatballs for lunch!! LOL

We made it home that evening just in time for Amy & Austin to leave for her mission reunion in Provo (whew! with I-15 construction traffic we were cutting it close!) Jes and I ordered pizza for us and all the kids and put in "The Santa Clause 2" to watch. It was a lot of fun! The kids were super good... all 9 of them in this little house! LOL What is it about a Christmas movie that holds *everyone's* attention, regardless of age, the entire time? Priceless.

Saturday morning Amy and I got up early and picked up our Bountiful Baskets at 7 am. We then went to a few yard sales and were pleased with our finds! Mine included the exact sheet set, pillow shams, etc. I have been secretely eyeing at IKEA for over 3 years! They were on clearance the day before, and deep down inside I was sad I had not started buying a piece at a time to get them! But they were $19 a sham and I could not ever justify it! The lady at the yard sale sold me the sheets, with the pillow cases, plus 4 shams for $15 total!!!!! SCORE! While we were at IKEA I saw the exact comforter that I want to pair them up with... and now I can hint at it for Jes for Christmas... LOL It will complete my set! *grin* It was awesome! I also found the CD copy of Harry Potter 7, in mint condition for $10 for Jes! He can now know how it ends without taking a year to read it! (he only reads a few pages a night as he falls asleep so quickly!) He was happy.

We also hit the farmers market here in town. We loaded up on green beans, cucumbers, peaches, apples, and other misc goodies for the weekend. We met the NICEST old farmer there! When he found out we were wanting to try bottling pickles for the first time he was FULL of fantastic advice! He told us to go get this:

No fail way to make pickles for your first time! LOL We ran with it! It was SUPER easy!

There was a bread and butter pickle variety and dill variety. We got both! (yum!) We also got brave and did some "Dilly Beans"... super excited to try them out! But we have to wait until Thanksgiving to open our bottles! LOL
We were so busy with all our projects I only snapped a photo or two and then couldn't find my camera again, so this is all I have! :( I even missed some cute photo op's with the kids - dern! 
Here is a pic of our labors. Dill Pickles, Dilly Beans and Bread and Butter Pickles.

We also dried all the apples and pears from Jes' trees we left at our old house. They were awesome fruit! (dang it) It is sad to think of what next year's crop would have been for us! *pout*

We canned and labored while listening to General Conference. The kids continued to play and play, while dear Austin spent the afternoon in the garage with Jes building shelves
(whew! so grateful he had a helper!)

That evening Jes, along with Austin, took our Cody to his first Priesthood Session. It was a tender moment for this mommy! My boy is growing up SO fast! :') A rite of passage...

That night I made chili and scones and it really felt like the first kiss of fall this year...
SOOO excited for fall!!!!!!
It's my favorite! :D

Sunday was a very quiet morning. We listened to the Sunday sessions all together in the living room, the kids floating in and out from the bedroom full of toys. When the Prophet spoke, we all gathered. And each time he spoke we did not regret it!

The most exciting moment for us was the announcement of the Temple they will be building out of the burned down Provo Tabernacle!! Jes' grandparents were missionaries at the Tabernacle at the time of the tragedy, and we have all held our breath waiting to hear what they planned to do with the shell that remains.
SOOO EXCITING!!!
Won't it just be beautiful???

We were sad to have our weekend come to an end following the last session of Conference, and a quick early supper... but we are so glad they came to share this weekend with us!! It was perfect!

And I don't know what it is about having house guests...
but this little house finally feels a little more like home!
:)