Thursday, April 16, 2009

Wedding Cake










I know. It's shocking that I am posting anything. Life has kind of gotten away from me. And really, I'm posting this because Arlene wanted to see pictures of the wedding cake that I helped bake for a girl in my ward. So Lene, here it is. I can't take credit for the decorating, just the baking.

Also, here are a few more pictures from when we went to Reno for Katie's baptism. Enjoy! And who knows, I may just decide to be a more dedicated blogger.....

Monday, September 29, 2008

Friends




I ran across a couple of discs that brought back some memories from my deployment to Kuwait. As I looked through them I couldn't help thinking how much has changed since then. It did bring back some good memories of friends and experiences sweltering in the 130 degree heat of the desert. I'm grateful for the friends I have. I've told Jen before that I have the best friends anyone could ever wish for. As I look at these photos I think of the friends that have been there for me since. My life has taken some amazing twists and turns, but my friends have been a constant source of inspiration and joy-Thank you

Thursday, September 11, 2008

King's Peak summit






This is my first attempt at a post, so nobody better laugh. You see, Jen has completely dropped the ball when it comes to keeping the blog going. Like many things I've had to step in and right the ship! All kidding aside, I don't know how she keeps her sanity with all she does, not to mention the schedule with the kids etc. She is coaching Mady and Mimi's soccer team, which has been awesome to watch those girls play their hearts out. More on that later.
The Young Men's high adventure activity this year was to summit Kings Peak. It was a 32 mile round trip hike that quite literally "kicked my trash". The first day was an 8 mile hike into our base camp, where we fished and made ready for the next day. On a side note the leader (Steph), now this guy has climbed mountains like Rainer and McKinley, had to escort one of the young men out to meet his parents on the first day. He hiked into the base camp, all 8 miles, in the dark. Talk about gutsy. The next morning he comes strolling into camp at 6 am, he had slept the previous night about 100 yards away from where we were camped! We gear up and start for the summit. About 2 miles out some kid approaches us and informs us he is lost. Steph once again leads this kid all the way back to his campsite. The route we took to the summit was over Gunsite Pass and in order to catch up to us Steph had to ascend up what is called "the chute" a brutal pass that should be called "elevator shaft" to better describe its angle. When we finally make it to the base of the peak, I am done, physically, literally, figuratively, whatever you want to call it. The rest of the crew takes off for the summit. I force myself to eat a bagel, some trail mix and jerky. After about 20 minutes I feel much better and decide to push on to the summit. Now this mountain is nothing but rock. I mean jagged rock. I managed to catch up to the group just before reaching the top. We snap some pictures, and due to possible incoming thunder storms, start our descent. After reaching the base, we decide to go down the chute in order to shorten what has already been a long day. Now going down the chute was the most stressful part of the whole journey. It took us each about an hour to get to the bottom. In the mean time we had to scream at people below us to watch out for rocks, more like boulders, we had kicked loose and sent them crashing down the mountain. One boulder I kicked loose took off and was headed straight for two people below. I managed to get the attention of one guy, but the other looked up just as the rock hit him squarely on his forearm. Luckily he had just lifted his arm off the ground, otherwise I'm quite certain it would have broken his arm. He ended up with the biggest "monkey bump" (his words) on his arm. We finally made it down together, and in one piece. The rest of the hike back to camp was about 4-6 miles. After we returned to camp we ate, and literally fell into our sleeping bags. The 8 mile hike out seemed just as hard as the 16 mile summit due to sore, blistered, tired feet. We hit Wendy's in Evanston like a freight train! All in all it was an awesome 3 day adventure. We are already talking about our next adventure in the summer of 09.

Friday, May 30, 2008

The Three Hundred Dollar Braclet


Last Friday, my washing machine stopped draining. We've all been through it, so what can you do? Luckily, I was caught up on my laundry for a brief moment, so I wasn't too stressed about waiting until Tuesday to call a repair man b/c of the holiday weekend. Again, what can you do?

The repair man came on Tuesday and took apart the washer. He said it was the pump and we had him fix it. We paid him the $300 and I was back in laundry mode. (Which was just in the nick of time since my laundry was piling up by this time at an alarming rate...)

You know, up until that point I was accepting of the fact that things break and you have to fix them. I was peace, love, and light.

And then we found the bracelet.

Wednesday morning Matt came upstairs and went into the laundry room. The old pump was lying on top of the washer so he picked it up to look at it. And then he walked into the kitchen and said, "Hey dad, I think a bracelet is stuck in that pump." Seriously. THAT BRACELET WAS STUCK IN THE PUMP! What are the odds? And why didn't anyone (a.k.a. the repair man) think to look in the pump to see why it wasn't working. And more importantly, WHY ARE MY CHILDREN NOT EMPTYING OUT THEIR POCKETS WHEN I TELL THEM TO? WHY? WHY? I think they must sincerely believe that I am talking to myself when I give them such directions.

Anyway, the bracelet made an excellent object lesson for my children that morning. Yet again I can say to them, "Do not doubt that your mother knows it."

Now that school is out I am hoping that this is not a foreshadowing of things to come. And I want my money back!!!!

Sunday, May 25, 2008

This One's for Kirst

Ok, so I'm a really bad friend and it takes me a long time to post on this blog. But, I have my garden to blame for that. (A post on that later...)

Nonetheless, I promised Kirst this recipe, so I thought I would share it with everyone.

Beef and Chicken Fajitas with Peppers and Onions
(Cooking Light, June 2001)

marinade:
1/4 cup olive oil
1 tsp grated lime rind
2 1/2 tbl fresh lime juice
2 tbl Worcestershire sauce
1 1/2 tsp ground cumin
1 tsp salt
1/2 tsp dried oregano
1/2 tsp ground black pepper
2 garlic cloves, minced
1 (14.25 oz. can) beef broth

Fajitas:
2 pounds flank steak, boneless chicken breast, or a mix of both
2 red bell peppers, sliced(or cut in larger wedges if you would like to grill them)
2 green bell peppers, sliced or cut in wedges
1 large onion, sliced or cut in wedges
tortillas
salsa
sour cream
cilantro

Combine the marinade in a bowl. Pour 1 1/2 cups of the marinade into a ziplock bag and add your beef or chicken. Pour the remaining marinade in a separate ziplock bag with the vegetables. Let marinate in the refrigerator for 4 hours.

Grill meat to desired doneness. Grill your vegetables or saute them in a hot skillet until caramelized. When the meat is done, place it on a platter and cover with foil for about ten minutes. Cut the meat diagonally across the grain into thin slices.

Serve with tortillas, salsa, sour cream and cilantro.

There you go! Easy as pie....


Monday, March 24, 2008

This is more the Norm




After a little nap Daniel was clearly ready to go again.

Sitting Still



He just crawled up on the couch, laid his head on Liza and fell asleep.