Flashback Friday! Old Friends

So I have seen this on a few of my friends and I thought it was a fun idea so here goes! I was going through my pictures and I found these that made me smile and I remembered how fun it had been when our friends Jacob and Shelley came to Vegas. They grew up here and were home for a visit and we were able to get together. Jacob and I went to school together and he introduced me to his then girlfriend Shelley before his mission and when he came home she and I got the chance to become friends! They moved to Maryland so Jacob could go to Dental school so we had not seen each other in some time and when we met up we both had two children. And now here it is two years since that visit and I can't believe how fast time goes. Thanks Jacob and Shelley for the fun visit and memory, we hope to see you guys again your next trip to Vegas!

 

Our Trip to Arizona

 

Well on Wednesday, March 19 the kids and I and my Mom headed to Arizona. My sister Janna lives in Laveen (Suburb of Phoenix), and there is an Easter Play that they put on at the Mesa Temple the two weeks before Easter. My Mom chose to stay with my sister, strangely :) she decided that staying with me and three little kids in a hotel may not be very quiet hee hee. The hotel was very nice though and there was a huge bed for James and I to share and the girls had a pull out bed in a little living room. Once we got to Janna's house on Wed. we hung out for a few min and then headed to the Cracker Barrel for dinner. Thursday was a busy day, I made plans to meet up with my good friend Mesa who lives in Tucson and the play was that evening. Mesa and I did a little shopping at Target and then got a late lunch. Even though we only got to see each other for a little bit I was glad that she made the drive from Tucson to see me. That night was the play and I wish I could say that it was really good but I unfortunately didn't get to see much of it between feeding James and then Grace "Wanting to go home" I ended up walking the temple grounds with the two little ones until it was over. What I did see though was really well done. On Friday we went to see Horton Hears a Who, which was really good! Then we went to the water park that was located just outside the theaters, the kids had so much fun getting soaked! We also did a mini-egg hunt with cousin Ethan at the hotel which the girls throughly enjoyed. We left Saturday morning and drove the 6 hours back to Vegas. Thanks Janna and Dave for showing us a good time it was fun to see you guys!

 

 

HAPPY EASTER 2008

Well since the kids and I didn't get back from Arizona until Saturday we just spent the evening giving baths and such for the next day. After church on Sunday we went up to my parents house for an egg hunt and a great dinner. (THANKS MOM!) The girls also dyed eggs with Grandma and then we all watched Enchanted! It was a fun evening and I feel so blessed to live close to some family, it makes the holidays fun. Thanks to Grandma Bonnie for the girls dresses, they love them.






















Our Grace was awoken from her nap and then for the rest of the afternoon she was a little on the difficult side. Lucky for her we got it all on video and I got plenty of pictures so that when she is going to Prom we can pull them out and show it to her date, or better yet maybe at her wedding reception we will play the video for all to see :)





























My Sweet James






Getting ready to hunt for eggs!!



My awesome little sister getting pictures of Grace throwing a fit!



She really is just a joy :)

A little Too Tired!

So we got back from Arizona today and I have pics and few stories to tell but I am a bit tired from the drive and the whole taking care of three kids without my husband for 3 days thing. So I will be back tomorrow or someday soon. Here is a little teaser!

Paying It Forward!

I have always been one to share and since I had a friend (Thanks Tiffany) share this with me I decided I would pay it forward and share it with all of you! It wouldn't be right for me to keep it to myself! These are my new favorite treats! They are very quick and easy to make and I am sure they are diet :) !
You need; a cookie sheet, square shaped pretzels, Hershey's Hugs and plain M&M's.


1.Heat oven to 100 degrees or the lowest it will go.
2.Put a layer of pretzels on the cookie sheet
3.Place a hug on each pretzel













4.Put in oven and allow them just enough time to melt the hug onto the pretzel (depending on oven, 3-5 min)
5.Remove from oven and then place two M&M's on each pretzel
6. Then place them in the fridge for 5-10 min allowing them to set (your cookie sheet should not be too hot to place the entire thing in the fridge)
7 THEN EAT AND ENJOY!!!








Alexis, Grace & our friend Gabby, my little helpers!!

NO TURNING BACK NOW!

So as of last night I am the proud owner of a Mini-van! For those of you that I have told this too, I said for a really long time that I didn't want to drive a mini-van cause it screamed "HELLO I HAVE MANY CHILDREN!" but after James was born the reality of needing more space was undeniable!! With children saying things like "She's touching me!" "She won't move her legs so I can get out!" "She is leaning on me!"
I started loosing my mind, so as I began looking into what third row vehicles were out there the mini-van was both affordable and spacious. I started to see why so many people drive them, they are easy for kids to get into and they also do pretty good on gas. So after test driving one a few weeks ago the search began for the best deal! Our search took us to a dealership in St. George, UT that my parents have worked with for years. We got a Nissan Quest, it has power doors that make my life so much easier! The girls have plenty of room and they can get in and out so easily. Why did I fight it for so long? We even have room to grow, not that it will be anytime soon but if and when we do, there is room!! YAY for surrendering to the call of the mini-van!

BEFORE


AFTER

I think it is time for a Shower!

So I could be the only Mom out there that has done this but somehow I doubt it. After a weekend with family in town I decided Monday morning that I would get some laundry and cleaning done around the house and before I new it it was 4pm and time to start dinner so I got James fed and asleep so I could get everything cooked before he would be hungry again. I made dinner and fed it to the family and it was shortly after this that I realized I had not yet taken a shower! Now I tend not to let that happen very often because I don't want my husband to come home to a smelly wife but yesterday was a weak point in that practice! Anyway so this morning I got Lexi to school and then came home to first give Grace a bath and then James. I got James smelling all nice and dressed and was holding him and he seemed a bit uncomfortable so I thought he might still be hungry so I started to feed him, but after just a few seconds he pulled away, so I put him over my shoulder to see if he was needing to burp and well my thought was answered (James is not a big spitter upper normally) and here is the result!!









So needless to say it was at this point that I decided to take a much needed shower!! And as for James well he managed somehow not to get anything on himself and was feeling much better afterward!

James was Blessed

Well today we blessed James. It was a really special day, we had family and friends that came from far away just for this. It was great to have them here! Jimmy did a great job blessing his son and we were so grateful to have so many great men in the circle. Thanks to all that made it! After the blessing we headed to my parents for lunch! It was a very nice afternoon and I had lots of help in making some of our families favorite foods! Some of them asked for recipes so I thought I would post them here!


Asparagus Wrapped in Prosciutto
1 Tbs. Olive Oil
16 spears asparagus (or how ever many you want to eat)
16 slices Prosciutto (equal to asparagus)

1.Preheat oven to 450, line baking sheet w/ foil and coat with Olive Oil.

2. Wrap one slice around each spear (I start at bottom and spiral up)

3. Place on baking sheet and Bake 5 min. turn them over and bake 5 more min. or until asparagus is tender & prosciutto is crisp.


This is very easy to make! My brother-in-law helped with these ones.


Crisp Tortellini Bites
1/2 cup plain bread crumbs
2 tsp. chicken boullon granuels
1/4 cup grated Parmesan cheese
1/2 cup sour cream
2 Tbs. milk
1 package refrigerated cheese totellinis
Warm pizza sauce or Marinara for dipping

1. Heat oven to 400

2. In medium bowl combine dry ingredients

3. In another bowl combne sour cream and milk and stir till creamy

4 Dip tortellini in sour cream and then dry mixture; coat evenly and place on baking sheet

5. Bake 10-12 min turning once

Serve with warm dipping sauce and enjoy!



Cheesy Potato Soup
4 cups potatos 1/2 cup butter
1 cup celery 1/2 cup flour
1 cup carrots 2 cups milk
1 cup broccoli 16oz. cheeze wiz
1/4 cup onion
2 tsp. salt
4 cups water

Combine all but flour, butter, milk and cheeze wiz in a large pot cook until potatos and veggies are tender then add butter, flour, milk let thicken then add cheeze.

I forgot to take a picture.

This is just a fun way to hold your veggies on a serving tray. You just cut the top off of bell peppers and hollow them out then fill with carrots, celery, cucumbers or anything that you want.

About Us!!

So several of my friends have told their sweet stories of how they met their husbands and such so I thought I would do the same thing!


1.Where did you meet your spouse? We met when
we were 9 at Lewis E. Rowe Elementary School. We were also in the same ward and his Dad was our home teacher. They moved back to Colorado when we were 12 and he ended up in my cousins ward in Littleton, this is how we were able to keep in touch off and on over the years!








2.What was the first thing you said to your spouse? I have no idea cause it was 20 years ago, but something like "Hi" sounds right :) We mostly liked to stare at each other! I remember when our family's would sit somewhat close during sacrament meeting we would catch one another looking and then quickly look away. We did talk on the phone though, it was much less intimidating.


3.Where was your first date? Our first official date was the night he proposed, we went to his work party at Applebees and then to a park.

4.Where was your first kiss? It was in his parent's basement when we were 24, he was sitting on the couch and I was gonna go upstairs or something and I leaned over to kiss him before I left. He still hasn't forgiven me for not kissing him when we were 12 at a Youth activity but hey I wasn't going to in front of all the kids in our ward :)

His Parents House

5.Who said “I love you” first? I can't remember, we would write it in the notes we wrote in grade school but he probably said it first when we were older.

A love letter Jimmy wrote to me in the 5th grade


6.Did you have a long or short courtship/engagement? Well if you start from 9 it was 15 years of courtship, if you start from when we were actually old enough to get married it was short. From the day he called me (after not talking for 3 years) to the day we got married was exactly 5 months.


7.Where did you get engaged? We got engaged in Parker, Colorado in a park on a bench that Jimmy and his friend Conrad made for Conrad's Eagle Scout Project.


8.Where were you married? We were married in Las Vegas in my parents back yard and then two years later we were sealed with our girls in the Las Vegas temple.







9.How did your reception go? Our reception was fine, but the photographer took our pics the entire time so that was unfortunate for us because we didn't get to talk to anyone or eat anything :(



10.Where was the Honeymoon? We spent the first two nights in the Alexis Park Hotel in Vegas and then we went on a road trip to Colorado. We took a week to get there (there was a second reception there) we stayed in some great hotels along the way, our favorite was in Moab, Utah it was at the Sorrel River Ranch. It was beautiful!




11.If you could have changed anything about your day what would it have been? I wish we could have spent time talking to our friends and family instead of taking pics. Oh and I would have the cake that I had wanted, instead of the one that was made, it was fine but it wasn't the one I had ordered.


We have been married 5 years now and have known each other for almost 21 years and I love him more than ever! He is soo good to me and I am grateful for everyday that I get to be married to him.