Let it snow, let it snow, let it snow!

SO excited for the snow to fall this year. Last year I missed out on snowboarding while Spencer and Ryan went almost every weekend. Well, this year I'm back and ready to hit the slopes! We are hoping to get Dillan up atleast once this year toward the end of the season. So far I don't think she knows what to think of all this white stuff.

AWESOME

There is this older couple in our ward that sits behind us in church. They play with the baby and we happen to run into them quite often on the golf course. Well a couple weeks ago, they stopped me on the way out and started chatting to me about Spencer. We ended up talking about football and sports and how Spencer was just getting into football. They have a connections to the NFL through one of their daughter's neighbors. This is what they brought over tonight.

Thanks so much to the Todd's!!!

Dillan turns 1!!!

I can't believe my baby turned 1! Man, the year has flown by. I've enjoyed every second of it. Here are the highlights from the little party we had.

The cake: Yes ladies and gents, I made the cake. All by myself. I am so proud of myself on this one. I figured I would try making a cake with fondant and it turned out SUPER for my first time. Not too hard, not super time consuming. I really enjoyed it and I felt very domestic in my efforts.
The first baby doll - HUGE hitMy first Mtn. Dew from Uncle Michael. Sooooo good. Just kidding

Won Tons recipe

Won Tons
1 regular Jimmy Dean sausage
1pkg won ton skins (at grocery store in produce section, could not find them at Walmart, fyi)
1 can water chestnuts, chopped fine
6-8 green onions, chopped fine
Fry meat, drain. Add rest of ingredients and mix well. Fill and seal, dab water around edges to stick. Fry until golden brown.

Sauce
2/3 cup sugar
2/3 cup pinapple juice
1/4 cup vinegar
1 Tbs soy sauce
1 Tbs ketchup
2 Tbs cornstarch
Mix ingredients except cornstarch and bring to boil. Dissolve cornstarch separately in water and add to sauce to thicken.

The recipe for the wontons makes TONS. I made up half of the pkg of the skins, used half of the made ones for dinner; froze the other half that were made up; froze the other half of the skins and the rest of the mix. I doubled the sauce and froze half.

We also had eggrolls and I made orange chicken with this meal. It was our 'chinese food' night.

Look What We've Been Up To ....

Make an on-line slide show at www.OneTrueMedia.com

And those are our new squeeky shoes she is wearing. SOOOO cute!

First Day of School

I cannot belive Spencer is in 5th grade. Am I really that old?!?

I am super excited for this year and the teacher we have. We met with the teacher and resource team a couple days before school started. The teacher seems really on top of things and wants to push Spencer to his full potential this year. I feel that is awesome in preparation for middle school. Some other things the teacher has said to me get me a little upset with the resource team and makes me wonder if I haven't pushed them enough to get the job done.

First couple of days went really well, despite the fact that Spencer has been sick. He came home on Tuesday from playing and was running a slight fever. Threw up a couple times and was in bed all day Wednesday with a fever. Thursday morning he still felt sick, but good enough to go to school, so I let him go. He came home with hives from head to toe; no joke. He said they didn't itch at all. Gave him some IBpurfin and some benedryl. Fever came down, hives did nothing. Hives were down a bit on Friday morning, so I let him go to school. Came home just like Thursday afternoon. Called the doc, he told me to use the benedryl for a full 24 hours then see where he is. Absolutly nothing. So I called the on call doc on Saturday and he said since the benedryl wasn't doing anything, it was most likely part of the fever, viral infection he had. So here we are almost a full week later and he still has the hives. Came home from school yesterday with a cough and congestion. UGH!!!

Asian Beef and Vegetables

This is another recipe I found for summer squash and snow peas. DANG GOOD. I doubled the sauce, (Ryan likes a lot of sauce) and to have enough for some rice.

2 Tbsp Soy sauce
2 Tbsp dry sherry (I left this out, only because I don't keep it on hand)
2 Tbsp honey
2 tsp corstarch
2 tsp minced fresh ginger, divided
1 lb beef flank or skirt steak, cut into thin strips
4 cloves garlic, minced
1 medium yellow summer squach, cut into 1 inch chunks
1 small red bell pepper, cut into thin strips = about 1 cup
4 oz snow peas, trimmed = 1/2 cup
1/4 tsp crushed red pepper flakes

1. Mix soy sauce, sherry, honey, cornstarch and 1tsp ginger in medium bowl until well blended. Add steak; mix well and set aside.
2. Spray large skillet with cooking spray. Add onions, garlic and remaining 1tsp ginger; cook and stir over medium-high heat 1 minute. Add squash, bell peppers and snow peas. Cook 3-4 minutes or until veggies are crisp-tender, stirring frequently. Remove veggies from skillet and set aside.
3. Add steak mixture to same skillet; cook and stir 3 minutes or until steak strips are no longer pink in ceter. Return veggies to skillet; cook until heated through, stirring occasionally. Sprink with crushed red pepper.

ENJOY!

Friends

I am so grateful for the many friends I have known and had in my lifetime. Through social networking I have been able to reconnect with people I haven't seen in over 20 years. I've never been really great at keeping in touch with everyone I have wanted to, but with blogs and such I have been able see just how much people have grown up, married and started families of their own. It makes me feel... proud.

Each and every one of my friends has brought a smile to my face at some time or another, and though it might have been years and years and years ago, I have that connection with that person and I will never forget it. Old friends, new friends, friends I fought with all the time, friends I never fought with, friends I could call in the middle of the night, friends I've cried with, friends I've peed my pants with, friends I can call today and pick up where we left off 10 years ago, friends I talk to every 6 months, friends I talk to everyday; to each of you I thank you for being my friend. Something you have inspires me and wants me to be like you. I feel knowing each and every friend makes me who I am today, good or bad. I love you all and thank you for letting me call you friend.

Dillan and Dana

I took this pic and developed it the other day. When I saw it, I thought it looked just like my baby pics. Take a look:

Garden Chicken Saute

So since EVERYONE grows zucchini yet there are so few recipes that you can use it in, I'm posting this recipe because it uses zucchini and it's super good. Really easy and my whole family will eat it; that's key for me.

2 tsps olive oil or oil
1 bonelss skinless chicken breast, cut into 1 inch cubes
2 garlic cloves, minced
2 cups water
2 pkg chicken flavored ramen noodle soup mix
2 tsps dried Italian seasoning
1 cup baby carrots
2 cups sliced zucchini

Heat oil in large nonstick skillet over medium-high heat until hot. Add chicken and garlic; cook and stir 4-5 min until chicken is browned. Stir in water and season packets from soup mixex, Italian seasoning and carrots. Bring to a boil. Reduce heat; cover and cook 6-7 min or until carrots are crisp-tender.

Gently break each block of noodles in half; add noodles and zucchini to skillet. Bring to a boil. Boil, uncovered, 5-6 min or until zucchini is tender and noodles are cooked.

ENJOY!!!

Ryan and I decided to take a little getaway. We wanted something fairly inexpensive and close. So we decided to go to Ogden and do some things. We left Thursday and went to Snowbasin. When we got there, we found out the lift was not open during the week. A minor detail you would think they would post on their website. So we didn't get to do the mountain biking we wanted to but there were a couple small trails at the base we were able to hit.

After that, we went to the hotel, got ready then went to dinner and a movie. We went to Red Lobster for dinner. Awe man, I LOVE seafood, so when we go there, I am in heaven! I'm pretty sure I consumed a pound of butter in the one meal, but it was dang good.

Friday, we went to Eagle Mountain and did some golfing. Ryan is a good golfer and it was nice to be out. I'm trying to get the basics down. I know one day I won't be able to run and am going to need something to do! I had a few good drives, not so many good puts, but it was fun.

After that, we met up with some friends to go boating. I had the camera, but forgot to take pics. We did some wakeboarding and tried some wake surfing and wake skating. Surfing is when you surf right in the wake behind the boat. You are on a spongy surf board but no boots. Your ski rope is only about 10 feet long to start with. You pull up, then pull yourself towards the boat. When you are comfortable and settled, you toss the line in and free surf. It took me a few tries, but it was so much fun once I got the hang of it. Ryan wasn't so great at getting up, so he inches his way on the board off the platform on the boat. Wake skating is when you are have 2 snow shoe looking things on your feet. It's obviously similar to skiing, but the shoes are only about 2 feet long and 6-8 inches wide. They give you the flexability of wakeboarding to do tricks and stuff. Really easy to get a handle on.

The couple of days was super fun, but it took everything out of us. I still don't think I have recovered!! Thanks Ryan, I loved every second of it!

My Garden!!!

I am so super excited that my little garden is starting to produce!! In our old house, I tried a garden 1 year, but it was only slightly successful. Last year I gave it a go again, but completely unsuccessful. This year, now that I am not working, I have the opportunity to give the attention a garden needs. I am actually becoming a bit of an addict to yard work!

Left to Right:

squash, peas, beans, potatoes and tomatoes

peas

squash

beans

We also have strawberries and raspberries that are new starts, so hopefully we will see some yummy fruit next year!

Yummy Trifle

I love summer and the wonderful fruits and veggies that comes with the season. This was the dessert I made last week. SO good. Angel food cake, custardy pudding with blueberries and strawberries. Mmmmmm.

One more thing

I also want to add a big to ORLANDO!!

Mr. D Howard, I'm starting to think I overrated your skills.

Spencer and Dillan

Here is what Spencer's job is when we are trying to get something done in the yard.
Dillan loves it. Will ride with him for hours!

Bike Ride

Yesterday we decided to take a bike trip to Hyrum Dam. I clocked the mileage and it's only 5.2ish miles from our house to the dam. It was an easy ride, we only went as fast as Spencer's chair could go. It ended up taking 2 hours to get there! We rode down the the library and got a couple books and decided to go out to Ryan's sister's house since we were so close, which took another half hour. Once we got there, the thunder head clouds rolled on in, so we had to go get the car and drive back. I was pretty proud of our little trek. I would definitly do it again, weather permitting of course!

Hill Airforce Air Show

We went to the Airshow at Hill AirForce base last weekend. We had a great time and saw some awesome stunts. The Thunderbirds were hands down the best. Totally worth the wait. Even the 2.5 hour wait to get off the base!!

the Latest

It's been a couple months since my last entry. Man, time flies! At the end of April, I stopped working and am able to stay home with the kids! I am absolutly loving it. Now Spencer is out of school and is driving me a little nuts to be honest, :) but that is because we've had crummy weather the past week and so he hasn't been able to go outside and play. I'm keeping up with the housework and laundry, although that's not something huge for those who know me well. I'm taking care of the lawn, weeding flower beds and keeping up with the garden. I try and get all these things done around naptimes. It's been nice having everything done so that on Saturdays, we can play as a family.

Happy Birthday Spencer!!!

I cannot believe this kiddo is 10! For his birthday this year, Spencer wanted to go bowling. We made the arrangements to go bowling with the family at the Fun Park. But the day before, Spencer was getting out of his wheelchair and came right down on the post that connects the footplate to his wheelchair. Smacked right on his tail bone. Well, the next day he was supposed to go to his grandma's while mom did some birthday shopping. The poor kid, just a few miles down the road, he was in tears in the car because the pain in his tailbone was so bad. There was no way he was going to be able to sit in his wheelchair and actually bowl, so we cancelled the bowling and came back to our house.

Mirelle's Birthday

This is Spencer with his cousins Mirelle, Sawyer and Keaton. Spencer and Mirelle have birthdays just 2 weeks apart. So we try to get together to celebrate one of the two. This year, Mirelle chose to go to Build-A-Bear workshop. The kids had a great time and were so patient to wait in line. Spencer chose an elephant with a lions roar.

Poor Dillan needed a nap so bad, but there was way too much action to sleep at this party!

Pierced Ears

Love them!

The last day of skiing for the season.

so true ...

A bet's a bet....

So a month ago, we had some friends over to play games. We played Battle of the Sexes (terrible game, by the way). Girls vs Boys and the girls won, of course. The bet was the winner got shop for the losers clothes for the next time we went out. So the girls went shopping. Where you ask? Only the best place in town to find the nastiest clothes, the DI!!! We kept it pretty tame. But here the guys are in all their glory!

After the guys got all dressed up, we went to Village Inn for pie and invited other couples to have a good laugh, too. The guys were good sports, but are ready to redeem themselves. It's on!

I LOVE YOU, RYAN!

I am so proud to call this man my husband.

Little D

The little pickle (my new nickname for Dillan, thus dill i.e. dill pickle) all bundled up to go outside while mom snowblows the driveway. And of course, Spencer had to get his bunny ears in there.