NEWS

Well, if you hadn't heard already, there is another little baby Prince in the works! He (because we all know it will be a he) will make his debut somewhere around May 10, 2010. I hope he comes on his due date like Henry, because that would be a cool birthday.

Now you know. :)

Pancakes

These are DELICOUS. I had them at Ihop and loved them and my SIL was smart enough to look up the recipe online. Why didn't I think of that?? :)

IHOP Healthy Nut Pancakes

Ingredients

• 3/4 cup Quaker Oats
• 3/4 cup whole wheat flour
• 2 teaspoons baking soda
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1 1/2 cups buttermilk (or 1 1/2 Tablespoon white vinegar or lemon juice and enough milk to total 1 1/2 c.)
• 1/4 cup vegetable oil
• 1 egg
• 1/4 cup sugar
• 3 tablespoons finely chopped almonds
• 3 tablespoons chopped walnuts
• (I added 1/4 c. ground flaxseed)
  

Directions

Lightly oil a skillet or griddle, and preheat it to medium heat. Combine ground oats, whole wheat flour, baking soda, baking powder and salt in a medium bowl. In another bowl combine buttermilk, oil, egg and sugar with an electric mixer until smooth.Combine dry ingredients with wet ingredients, add nuts and mix well with mixer. Ladle 1/3 cup of the batter onto the hot skillet and cook the pancakes for 2 to 4 minutes per side or until brown.

Ode to Ben

how could you not love such a cutie... this little gremlin melts my heart...


here's ben at goblin valley.... completely covered in dirt from climbing all over the formations..




i meant to post this last friday on ben's birthday, but i am a little late...

ben is such a hilarious little guy. he wears his heart on his sleeve, thinks he's invincible, and really really loves monkeys. he's adventurous, and stubborn, helpful, and huggable. he's just a beautiful child. happy birthday to ben!!

Ode to Henry

The birthday boy in his BYU shirt!
Mr. Henry ready to drive home on our road trip!!




One year ago today, my little Henry made his debut and we've loved every minute of him since. I've never met a sweeter child. He's so good-natured and loveable and snuggly. I'm getting all misty eyed just thinking about him. I'm so thankful to have him and to get to be his mommy. It's no wonder why "you are my sunshine" gets stuck in my head all the time. I just love this kid.

best trip ever #5

we had a superwonderful trip. we got to visit awesome people, including: dan's grandparents, Joe and Brittany, Dallan, Paula, my friend Michelle, and John and Melissa et al. we had so much fun with all of them. we also got to see a ton of fun places:

meteor crater, arizona
lake powell, arizona
a lovely drive through zion national park
bryce canyon national park
mt. nebo scenic loop
provo, utah
ogden dinosaur park
we had some deeeelicious bbq at texas pride bbq in huntsville, utah
a train ride in heber city, utah
the beauty of snow on fall colors in provo canyon
a delightful day at goblin valley state park in utah
I-70 through the colorado mountains
a fun hike in boulder

true to form, we took over 300 pictures, but i posted a bunch of them here.

to me there is almost nothing better than a road trip. soooo much fun. but as always, we're really glad to be home.

Soup!

well we came home from our trip and had the typical there's-no-food-in-the-house problem... so for once in my life, i actually made up a recipe!!! don't be too shocked. but i was so proud of it i thought i would post it. it would be an excellent food storage recipe, since it was all things that were shelf stable.

yet another taco soup-

1 onion (you could use dehydrated minced onion)
1 box chicken broth
1 can black beans - drained
1 can kidney beans - drained
1 cup whole wheat macaroni
1 chicken breast (or can of chicken)
2/3 cup salsa
1 packet taco seasoning (or recipe for taco seasoning that i gave in one of my other recipe posts, which is what i used last night)

cook macaroni according to package directions. saute onions in olive oil. add the rest of the ingredients and simmer until ready to serve.

serve with sour cream, cheese, and baked tostitos!


and, one of the best tricks i ever learned was from my friend cori: you can take a completely frozen chicken breast and microwave it for around 10 minutes in a covered, vented, container with a little bit of water and you can shred it with a fork when it's done. i love that trick. it's saved me several times. including last night!!

could it possibly be true??

first, we will go back in time a bit....

we decided to redo not only our kitchen, but our guest bath, too.. i had to remove the old mirror, and i found this jewel behind it....


lovely. nothing a little joint compound and paint couldn't fix!! this is the only "before" picture i have of the bathroom...

and here is a "before" of the kitchen with its white vinyl countertops and backsplash, and florescent box light.

now, drumroll, please......










it's finally, finally done!!!