Sub-Zero Ice Cream

SM's older brother and his wife celebrated their anniversary last weekend.  SM and I were able to tag along.  We had a great dinner, then went to the movie 'Source Code' and finished the evening at an ice cream shop called Sub-Zero.  At this shop, you, as the customer are able to chose the level of fat in your milk-cream mixture, then the flavor and a "topping."  The topping is fruit, or candy, or candy bar.  And to all that mixture, liquid nitrogen is added and the employee begins mixing and then pounding as the mixture freezes.  And after the liquid nitrogen evaporates out of the ice cream, they put it in your cup and you get to eat very cold ice cream.

We ate peach flavored ice cream.

Logan, Utah

Last Friday, SM and I traveled to Logan to visit with some of SM's former professors and classmates.  I took my camera and got a photo or two while we were driving in the valley.  Isn't that view beautiful?  No wonder SM calls this place home.  By the way, we had a great day visiting friends and SM's youngest brother who is going to school there in Logan.  Someday, SM would like to return to Logan and live there.

Ethiopian Flatbread

This last week my mom decided she wanted to try something new.  She has a cookbook with lots of healthy recipes.  She found a simple recipe for Ethiopian flatbread made with millet.  And so we made some...

The dough is made with millet flour, a small amount of whole wheat flour, salt, baking powder and water.  It is then fried in a pan and we used coconut oil to fry up the bread.

The recipe recommended sauteing garbanzo beans and seasoning them with some garam masala and salt.  We found that a little garlic powder added more depth to the garbanzo beans along with the garam masala and salt.

And this was lunch.  In the blue cup we had our yummy green smoothies.  A complete meals with protein and fresh veggies and fruit.  Oh, we made up a tomato, cucumber and green onion salad flavored with a little olive oil and salt.

Easter Egg Coloring

Last Saturday my Mother-in-law had some of her grandkids over to color eggs.  And it was so much fun!

My nieces and nephews are very creative and I enjoyed listening to them talk about their eggs and what they could do and wanted to do.



Even the youngest kiddos enjoyed coloring eggs.



Look at those cute eggs!  My  nephew loved watching the plastic shrink around the eggs when he placed them in boiling water.



We had lots of adults around to help out where we could...and it was great.

Look at those cute monster eggs!



Daddy-daughter moment



After all the eggs were colored...these two had to check out what they looked like.

I had to throw in a picture of myself to prove that I was there.   I love taking photos but wish to be in photos also.

King Size Quilt



Here is another quilt top that I sewed last fall and finished tying it this spring.  This time I had to have a quilting frame to tie this quilt and my mom helped me tie it.  We got it done in two afternoons.



SM really likes this quilt.   In fact, he likes it much more than our bed spread and wants to use this as the bed spread.  He even asked if I could make some throw pillow coverings to go over our decorative pillows.

I haven't yet decided how I want to finish the edge to the quilt.  It may take me a few more months to get it finished (hopefully not) but I feel good about how much I've gotten done so far.

SM grew a goatie!

My husband's brothers have all had "goatees" at one time or another.  Currently his oldest and youngest brothers are sporting one.  At one time or another, SM has been teased that he can't grow a goatee and because we had General Conference and Stake Conference back to back, SM decided to try to grow a goatee.

There were a couple things we learned about a goatee when SM grew his goatee.  First he can easily grow a goatee and second, he has a lot of grey/white in his goatee and it makes him look older...and in my own opinion, like a pirate.  I also didn't enjoy kissing a hairy man and luckily for me, SM wasn't too fond of it and kept it long enough to show his older and younger brothers and then shaved it off.  He is back to being a clean-shaven individual and is receiving more kisses from me.

Winter Projects

Last fall I sewed the blanket tops to these two blankets with scraps that I had collected over the years from all the baby blankets, receiving blankets and burp clothes that I make.

This Spring I got some low-loft batting and flannel for the backing and put these two quilts together.  For this top quilt I chose a light purple gingham (checkered) and for the bottom quilt I chose a dark blue that is the same blue as in the quilt.

And I tied both of these quilts with my crocheting thread.  Neither of these quilts are very large but they aren't small either.  Currently I use them  when watching movies on the couch and I get a little cold or on my side of the bed at night to add a little more warmth.  Someday I might use them as quilts on top of my children's beds...unless I've worn them out before then.

I love looking at both of these quilts and remembering the material what I used the material for...the baby blanket, receiving blankets and burp clothes, and if possible, to whom I gave the blankets.  Lots of happy memories!  (p.s. I'm glad I got these projects done before the weather started warming up...it was very warm under those quilts while I was tying them).

Homemade Whole Wheat Pitas

I went to my parents house yesterday and my Mom and I made homemade whole wheat pitas.  Notice the pita on the left has already risen and the one on the right has just started.

This is what they looked like when I flipped them over for another minute or two of baking in the oven.

Here Mom is dampening some paper towels.

And wrapping the hot pitas in damp paper towels.

Pitas all wrapped up.  Supposedly this makes them pliable and not hard and crispy.

And the end product...yummy whole wheat pitas.  Thanks goes to my mom for teaching me how to make pitas.  We just found a recipe on the Internet and made them.  Yummy!

Springtime Snow

A couple of Sundays ago, we woke to some snow.  It is April but the ground was covered in this cold, white stuff.

The roads actually cleared up nicely but the snow stayed for a couple days and then it snowed again.  Now the worry is flooding since the mountains are getting so much snow and Utah weather is known to go from cold to hot very quickly. 

Just wanted to show that everyone was helping with the snow removal, including my mother-in-law.

Babysitting

My brother-in-law and his wife went on a trip to Disneyland and left the kids home with me and his mother.  The above picture shows the five year old and almost two year old girls.  I got to spend a lot of time with these two cuties.  Their two older brothers were in school during the day and then grandma came and took over in the afternoon so I didn't get a picture of them.

Anyway, back to my story.  I got to spend seven days with these two cute girls.  I loved helping them get their hair combed and done every day.  I loved putting together peanut butter sandwiches for them at lunchtime.  I love sitting and reading books with them right before nap/quiet time.  And I loved nap/quiet time.  It wasn't all magical because there were times of tears and tantrums (but I usually did that in my room) but I had a great time watching these cute girls.

Isn't this a fun shot?

Running



As some of you know, I started running last May (2010) for the first time since junior high.  I hated running in junior high and didn't understand why they called our mile run the "Fun Run" because there was nothing fun about it.  I struggled to breath and had that bloody/metallic taste in the back of my throat.  My knees and ankles would knock each other and I'd end up with the weirdest bruises from those "fun runs."   As a stubborn thirteen year old, I vowed that I would never run again.  Well, the vow was broken several times, mostly because I had to take other physical education classes in high school and college and both required running.

 Last May I approached my husband and asked if he would run with me and help me run.  I had no idea what I was doing but my regular exercising wasn't helping me lose the extra pound here and there that I was gaining. And so the first time I ran he took me for a three mile run and we did it in less than 40 minutes.  Yep, he almost killed me the first time we ran.  He also figured out that I didn't know how to breath while running.  He taught me to regulate my breathing, breath in for three steps, breath out for three steps.  And that was the beginning of a new accomplishment for me.  Running is not easy for me, but it makes me feel so good that I get up and run.  And, I've been able to lose those pesky pounds that I was putting on and not able to get off.

So, running has taught me a couple things.  First, I can do hard things (and that is an awesome lesson).  Second, I am in control of myself and can make myself feel better or worse by the choices I make.  And finally, I like running and the feeling of accomplishment when I've completed my run.  (The above picture is one I took while running on the Jordan River Parkway Path.)

My Grandma and her sister

This is my Aunt Noreen (on the left) and my Grandma (on the right).  Aunt Noreen is the baby of the family and my grandmother is the second to the youngest.  You will notice that they don't really look alike.  My grandmother had one other sister who also didn't look like either sister.  My grandmother has three brothers and they look a little more alike but now I know why my sibllings don't really look like each other.  My sister and I both have brown hair and brown eyes and we've heard that we look alike because of those few characteristics...but still, I don't think we look alike.

Here I am with Aunt Noreen!  A couple cool things about Aunt Noreen are that she loves to dance and continues to go to dances on the weekend.  She also does a lot of geneological work in preparation to do temple work for her ancestors.  I think she's done the work for close to 30,000 relations.



Here's a terrible picture of myself and my sister.  So, do we look alike or just have similar smiles or eyes or foreheads?