Sunday Best

Just a couple of pictures of the kids on Sunday looking so cute for church.

Twice Baked Potatoes

I made these last night from "Deceptively Delicious" and they were awesome! When we got home last night Corbin finished the rest of them up and all the kids ate them. Easton even ate two. Make them tonight!

Deceptively Delicious

By now I am sure you have all heard of Jesscia Seinfeld's new cookbook. I have tried several of the recipes and just wanted to jot down my thoughts. First of all don't try to prepare the purees with your kids around. You really should set some time aside in the evening to plan out your meals and then cook your vegetables. If you are doing it for the first time you will probably need about 2 hours. I just used my Magic Bullet to make the purees, but I would really recommend a food processor. My blender didn't work that great either. I love the idea of adding these purees to your recipes not only for my kids, but for me and Corbin too. We always feel better when we are eating healthy.

1. Chicken Nuggets-I used the broccoli puree for this one, but I think I may try it with the spinach puree next time. It says to cook the nuggets in olive oil, but I found this very messy and the chicken was burning before it was fully cooked. Next time I'm going to leave the chicken as tenders instead of cutting them into nuggets and I'm going to bake them in the oven.



2. Macaroni & Cheese 1-This was by far my kids favorite! Corbin and I loved it too and I was so excited to finally use my macaroni shells from my food storage. I will definitely make this again. It was so yummy!



3. Grilled cheese sandwiches-Okay, Ella loved this one, but Elise took one bite and said, "Mom these grilled cheeses taste funny". I would maybe consider not adding as much puree of squash to this one and I'm sure it would taste better. I thought it was very good.



4. Sloppy Joes-I have to say that I was very proud of my family on this one. I used ground Turkey, which is something that we have never tried and my kids really like it. I think serving it in a whole wheat hot dog bun helped. Next time I'm going to make it with ground beef, but I was happy that they ate it.



5. Chocolate Chip Cookies-I took my friend Jennie's advice and substituted for 1/2 cup of whole wheat flour and these turned out really good. Elise kept asking if she could have one and I would say, "Yes, have as many as you want." These are made with chick peas and you would never know it. They really taste like a protein bar. They are very good!



6. Banana Bread-This I loved. I hate bananas, but love banana bread.

President Hinckley

I love this man and I will miss him so much! I joined the church right before President Hinckley was called as the Prophet. So many of us feel like he was OUR Prophet. What an amazing life and legacy he has left. Can you just imagine the reunion that is taking place right now. I love our church and know that it is true!

Random Cuteness

Just some random cute things the kiddos have been up to lately. We have been turning Easton's highchair to face the window lately so he can watch the workers build the park across the street. He just sits there and points and babbles. I came downstairs yesterday to put Ella down for a nap and I found a sleeping Snow White. My mom bought the kids this horse and Elise put Easton on it the other day and he just couldn't resist giving it a hug. I caught Elise and Ella snuggling under a blanket tonight watching Hannah Montana together. I have been thinking lately about how fast it seems like these times are flying by. I think one of the biggest challenges in life is to enjoy whatever "season" you are in in your life. I really don't want this part to end. I love my kids these ages. They teach me so much about what is really important in life and I have been enjoying them so much lately. I really think that this move has helped me to slow down. The pace of life is just more easy going here. I just don't want to wake up one day and feel like I missed something. I am so grateful to be a stay at home Mom. It's the best job in the world. I love you Elise, Ella, and Easton!!!

Happy Birthday Ella Bella!

Our little Phoebs turned 3 on Saturday. We had a little get together with our friends Danny and Amber and their 3 kids, Jadan, Cooper, and Shea and Uncle Alan, Lindsay, and Logan. She wanted a princess themed party and by theme I mean an Ariel cake and plates. She loved all her presents. I'm not sure if her favorite was the puppets, Ariel undies (Yes, we are FINALLY potty trained), her shopping cart, or her Princess cool bake oven. We thought she was going to be our little tomboy, but she has turned into quite the little princess and mommy. She loves anything barbie and she loves to pretend that she is taking her babies to the doctor. She is such a crack up and we just laugh at her all day long. Tonight she was telling Corbin that if he needs to go potty to come down stairs and wake her up and she would take him. Too funny. We love you Phoebe Eleanor!!!

Oh Easton!

Easton has been learning some new tricks lately. Mainly he climbs on EVERYTHING! His favorite thing to climb on is the kitchen table. No matter how many times I pull him off and tell him "No", or how many times he falls off, (the last count I had was 5), he runs right to it. We now have to stack our chairs on top of the table so that he can't climb up on it. People driving by must think I love to clean my kitchen floors. I'm sure taking a picture of him in the act didn't help, but he's still so cute. I also found him in the bathtub one day talking on his cell phone. Already the multitasker!

Another Wedding!!!

We celebrated another wedding in our family recently with the marriage of Corbin's cousin Landin to Jazmin. They were actually married in the Spain Madrid Temple on December 29th. It was so great to not have to travel very far to the reception, it was 10 min from our new home in CO. I love seeing family from UT that we don't get to see very often. Elise was so excited that she was asked to be the gift receiver. We got so many nice compliments about her. She also LOVED the chocolate fountain. Okay we ALL loved the chocolate fountain. Ella loved dancing. That girl would have danced all night if she could.

We've Moved!!!

Nothing beats starting the new year in a new state! We left for Colorado on Dec. 29th and what we thought was going to be just one night at my Mom's in Grand Junction turned into three. I-70 was closed and we were the lucky ones. The snow storm left over 2,000 people stranded, sleeping in shelters and in their cars. Luckily we were nice and warm at my Mom's with home cooking. January 1st 2008 was spent driving very slowly through the Rocky Mountains to our new home in Castle Rock. Sorry to my dear friends in Las Vegas, but we LOVE it here. Our community is all about family and it's such a change of pace from Las Vegas. We still have a few boxes, but the house is pretty much put together, which I thought would never happen. Corbin's parents came just a few days later to visit for a wedding, so it was great having them be our first guests in our new house. We are still getting adjusted to the cold. Our first night was pretty rough, but we have learned a few things about living in snow. First, don't laugh at your neighbors when they are out in the snow shoveling their drive way, because when you leave snow in your drive way it turns to ice and makes it hard to get your car in the garage. Second, do buy your kids snow boots and snow pants if they are going to be out sledding everyday, unless you want to constantly be changing wet pants and putting them in the dryer. And last, do wear warm socks and thermal pajama bottoms and a long sleeve shirt to bed because it's COLD here. Here are a few pictures of our house and the neighborhood. Just let us know when you will be stopping by and we will turn the heat up for you!!!