9 Years Ago.........

9 Years Later

Lance and I were married in the Salt Lake Temple. Luckily the weather was a lot nicer 9 years ago on this day! I don't think back then I could have imagined all of the things we would accomplish and the places we have been able to visit!! The time has gone by so fast, sometimes I can't believe it has been as many years as it's been! We have had many fun moments over the years and some not so fun moments. In the end though we have accomplished what we have together and hopefully we will have many more years like the past nine:) Back then people did not have digital cameras so unfortunately all of my pictures are just prints. Thank goodness that is something that has changed over the years!!:)

Homemade Bread!!

If you have never made homemade bread before you have to try this easy recipe! I have never made bread before and this was so easy and it actually turned out!:) I found the recipe on a recipe blog that I love to get recipes from because they show pictures of everything they make and everything they make looks so good!! It is under my favorite links on the sidebar http://www.favfamilyrecipes.blogspot.com/ .

Honey Whole Wheat Bread

3 C. really warm water

1 1/2 T. yeast (or 2 yeast packets)

Dissolve and wait until yeast froths then add:

1/4 C. shortening

1/4 C. honey

1 T. salt

about 6 C. wheat flour

Add flour 1 C. at a time until you have soft dough. Knead and put into bowl. Cover with cloth and let raise about 1 hour or until it has about doubled in size (it raises much better if you put in front of warm window with sun shining). Knead again and place bread into baking tins and raise again for another hour. Bake at 350 degrees for 30 minutes until brown on top. Butter top of bread while still in oven and let bake another 2 minutes. Remove and let cool about 10 minutes in pans and then turn out and cool 10 minutes before slicing. Makes 3 regular loaves or 2 large loaves.

I like the way the bigger loaf turned out so when I make it again I am going to make 2 large loaves instead of 3. I found a recipe for honey butter (just make sure you use real butter)! I only had the stuff that says it bakes like real butter and it didn't turn out the way it's supposed to be. It still tastes good but isn't as thick:)

Honey Butter

1/2 C. butter

1/2 C. honey

Mix butter with hand mixer until smooth and creamy and then slowly add honey while continuing to mix.

Picturetaking.........

Carlie thinks it is so funny to get the camera and take pictures of herself making funny faces!! These are just some of the best ones!! I never know what I am going to find on the camera when I download the pictures but they are pretty funny to look at:)

The Scary Crab Leg!!

Carlie was determined she was going to wear her shorts and flip flops no matter how cold it was (we were in St. George after all, that is usually what we wear)!

Carlie loves the Old Navy dog and always has to have her picture with it (I think she is trying to send us hints, so far it isn't working)!!!

Cayden is pointing at one of the scary pieces of crab leg that Carlie kept putting by his plate (he was not going to touch that thing no matter what you said), I didn't get his first reaction which was the best one!! You would have thought the crab leg was alive the way he reacted!!!

Cayden was terriefied and started crying histarically when he saw the "scary" crab leg on Lance's plate!

We went to St. George for the weekend. I was having this fantasy that we were going to go and sit outside by the pool and enjoy the warm sun in our summer clothes and flip flops!! That dream ended quickly when we got down there and it wasn't any warmer than home! I think the indoor pool was colder than if we would have swam outside which didn't make the kids very happy! We still had fun shopping even though Lance was wishing the whole time he was mountain biking instead of shopping!!! Friday night we decided to go to Mesquite to one of the buffets because it was Seafood night. Buffets never turn out good even though we try to convince ourselves that they are going to be amazing and it would be impossible to not find something that our kids will like! First of all I don't think when you are paying that much money that you should have to crack your own crab and peel your own shrimp!!! Maybe some people like that but I just think it is too much work and too messy!!! Then because you paid way too much to begin with, you eat way more than you should so then you just feel like crap afterwards!! You would think at a buffet that there would be something your kids would like! Not my kids, there was not one thing they would eat (once again, all I am thinking is how I paid way too much money for them to not like anything)!! I guess we paid for some really expensive ice cream! I am sure everyone was looking at us like we were crazy (and horrible parents) for bringing our kids to a place like this in the beginning! I think we were practically the only ones with little kids (I think everyone was at least 20 to 50 years older than us, maybe that was the problem)!!:) The hilarious part of the night was when Lance came back to the table with his plate of food and Cayden was terrified of the crab legs!!! He would cry if he even thought you were going to get close to him with one of those things!! I do agree, they are pretty ugly (but I guess I am not much of a seafood person)!! At least we had some fun entertainment for the evening! Carlie thought it was really fun to tease Cayden with the crab legs!! Even though it wasn't as warm as we would have hoped we still had a fun weekend:) There's always next time for the warm weather!! We do love St. George:)

Need a Handyman??

Cayden realized the little spindle had fallen off that turns on the music so he went straight for his tools so he could fix it! It was so cute watching him be so precise and serious about the whole thing! He watches Lance use his magnetic screwdriver so he couldn't figure out why his screwdriver would not stick to the spindle!! He thinks he can fix anything with his little tools:)

Great Deal!!

I just heard about a great website where you can get notices for lots of free activities to do with your kids. Go to www.utahkidsclub.com and you can register for FREE emails that will let you know of things going on in Utah. You can also pay a small amount of money and get more benefits and better deals monthly (sounds like you have to pay monthly for the membership, all the info is on the website). I just entered my email address though and thought I would see what info I get that way.

Need I say more.........

You know........

You have been to the doctor too much lately when your driving down the street and your 2 year old looks out the window and says matter of factly "there's my doctor"! I couldn't help but laugh, poor kid!! We are just hoping Spring comes really really fast for all of us!!!

Super Bowl Fun!

I can't decide after all these years of going to the family Super Bowl party if it is really about football or eating as much junk food as possible in one night!!:) Whatever the reason, everyone has a great time!

Thomas.......

Today Cayden and I went to Storytime at Barnes & Noble. Cayden loves trains right now especially Thomas the Train! He has 2 Thomas DVD's because we were so tired of watching Polar Express after about the 30th time!!:) He eats and sleeps with those movies! So when I found out it was Thomas the Train for storytime I had to take him:) He has been so excited and couldn't wait to just go with Mommy and see Thomas!

Back to Reality!!

We just got back from a 5 night cruise to the Western Caribbean! It was a fun, warm and sunny (most of the time) vacation! We started off the vacation a little rough but once we got on the ship we had a great time. We sat on the runway in Chicago for 1 1/2 hours while they de-iced the planes!! It wasn't even snowing (I wouldn't want to be there if it was)!! While sitting there we missed our connection. We luckily got on the last flight to Miami but it was delayed! So instead of arriving in Florida at 10:30 P.M. on Saturday night we arrived at 4:00 A.M. Sunday morning!! Not so much fun but note to self, never fly anywhere near Chicago in January!!:) I was a little worried starting off what was supposed to be a fun relaxing vacation in such a way but luckily things weren't like this the whole time!

We went to Grand Caymen on Tuesday. You have to ride a ferry from the boat to land because they can't port there because of the low water levels. They drive on the opposite side of the car and the opposite side of the road so it was a little interesting being driven around!! We enjoyed the 7 Mile Beach that day! It started out warm but eventually got cloudy and rained a little bit! We sure know how to pick the warm cruises!!:) I do have to say though that it was warmer the whole trip than here, it just doesn't take much for me to be cold!! We had wanted to go shopping after (I guess I should say I wanted to go shopping):) the beach but the water had been so rough that morning when we ported that we had to port in Sportsbay instead of Georgetown (where all of the shops are located) so we didn't have time to do any shopping after because of the distance we would have had to travel but it sounded like there was some amazing deals there if you ever get the chance to go!:)

The next day we went to Cozumel where we went on the Mayan Ruins tour at Tulum Mexico. It was interesting to see the ruins there. I think we would have thought twice about doing that excursion if we would have known what it would take to get there!! They don't tell you that you have a 30 minute ferry ride from the port of Cozumel to the mainland of Mexico. You then have a 10 minute walk through the city to get to the tour bus where

you then go for a 1 1/2 hour bus ride to the ruins!! Then we had two hours there and had to start all over on the trip back to the ship!! Maybe that is why it was all elderly people on the excursion!!!:) Who knew, well I guess we should have known since we were definately outnumbered on the ship!:) At least we got to see something that we wouldn't normally see!!

When we weren't having fun in the ports we were enjoying relaxing on the ship. They had really good entertainment every night and good food! It is a good thing neither one of us get sick on cruises! The water was really rough much of the trip. One night we had 12 foot waves all night which is high!! Most of the cruise we just had moderate waves (which are 4 1/2 to 7 ft. waves)! You can definately feel the difference. We chose not to have a window in our room this time and I don't recommend it!! You have no idea what time it is so you could easily sleep in until noon and miss everything that is going on (especially with a 2 hour time difference):)

Lance is now getting International cell phone service because we ended up with no cell phone service the entire trip ( I at least have to call once a day and make sure my kids are okay, I know, you all think I am crazy)!!:) We hadn't ever gone anywhere that was a problem. The positive side was Lance wasn't reading his work emails 24 hours a day!! We had a great time and lots of fun memories! It is always fun to go on vacation but I am always ready to come home!! I just am not sure I was ready to come back to the real cold weather and the wonderful air we have here!!:) It doesn't take much to get a reality check!! I guess we will just have to keep looking at our pictures of us on the beach...........(sigh)!!!:)

Girls Night Out!!

Tonight Carlie and I had a much needed girls night out and went to a Mommy and Me Sugar Cookie Making Class. We learned how to make perfect sugar cookies and paint them. It was lots of fun and we learned some new things we didn't know already so that we can make perfect looking cookies just in time for Valentines Day!!:)