Sunday, May 1, 2011

The Bean Experiment

On 4/14/11 I invited my sisters and their families over for dinner. It was such a fun night although Collin was sick and dying the whole time. I am so glad they came over. We are moving to Panaca in just a few weeks so I won't be able to see them as often and I will surely miss them.
Everyone brought their own meat and we grilled. I made dessert and wanted to try out a new recipe to see how it would go over.
The ingredients. Yes, that is a can of black beans.
The dessert was black bean brownies.
Sounds gross, I know, but they actually weren't bad at all. I think I'll stick to good ol' fashioned brownies but these were a fun experiment.
They were moist and tasty with only the occassional black bean surprise.
Everyone of them was eaten so I guess I can chalk this experiment up to a success.

Going for a ride

On 4/12/11 I asked Kirk to bring Heidi downstairs and put her on the floor in the kitchen while I made dinner. His methods weren't exactly what I was thinking but it worked and she loved it.
Cutest baby in the world!

Our green thumb (well, mostly Kirk's)

So these pics are a little old but here we go. 4/6/11
When we got home from Utah we were surprised to find this...

And here are a few of the spoils...
The flavor of these carrots is amazing.
It is so great to have our own garden.

Wednesday, April 20, 2011

Happy Easter! Early.

Our hometeacher shared this quote with us the other day and I LOVED it.
It is an amazing quote about our Savior and the Atonement.
This time of year is such a great time to remember our Savior. He gave us so many blessings and without Him we would be lost. I am so grateful for my Savior and love Him so much.
The quote is by Chieko Okazaki. She was in the General Relief Society Presidency.
Here's the quote:
"We talk in great generalities about the sins of all humankind, about the suffering of the entire human family. But we don’t experience pain in generalities. We experience it individually.

That means he knows what it felt like when your mother died of cancer- how it was for your mother, how it still is for you. He knows what it felt like to lose the student body election. He knows that moment when the brakes locked and the car started to skid. He experienced the slave ship sailing from Ghana toward Virginia. He experienced the gas chambers at Dachau. He experienced napalm in Vietnam. He knows about drug addiction and alcoholism. Let me go further. There is nothing you have experienced as a woman that he does not know and recognize. On a profound level, he understands the hunger to hold your baby that sustains you through pregnancy. He understands both the physical pain of giving birth and the immense joy. He knows about PMS and cramps and menopause. He understands about rape and infertility and abortion. He understands your mother-pain when your five-year-old leaves for kindergarten, when a bully picks on your fifth-grader, when your daughter calls to say that the new baby has Down’s Syndrome. He knows your mother-rage when a trusted babysitter sexually abuses your two-year-old, when someone gives your thirteen-year-old drugs, when someone seduces your seventeen-year-old. He knows the pain you live with when you come home to a quiet apartment where the only visitors are children, when you hear that your former husband and his new wife were sealed in the temple last week, when your fiftieth wedding anniversary rolls around and your husband has been dead for two years.

He knows all that.

He’s been there.

He’s been lower than all that.

He’s not waiting for us to be perfect. Perfect people don’t need a Savior. He came to save his people in their imperfections. He is the Lord of the living, and the living make mistakes. He’s not embarrassed by us, angry at us , or shocked. He wants us in our brokenness, in our unhappiness, in our guilt and our grief.You know that people who live above a certain latitude experience very long winter nights and can become depressed and even suicidal, because something in our bodies requires whole spectrum light for a certain number of hours a day.Our spiritual requirement for light is just as desperate and as deep as our physical need for light. Jesus is the light of the world. We know that this world is a dark place sometimes, but we need not walk in darkness. The people who sit in darkness have seen a great light, and the people who walk in darkness can have a bright companion. We need him, and He is ready to come to us, if we’ll open the door and let him."

Remember the Savior and all He did for us.
And here's a picture of my Heidi girl in her Easter dress.

Cutest!

Friday, April 1, 2011

Happy Birthday Kirk!

 Tuesday, March 29, 2011 was Kirk's 27th birthday.
I asked him what he wanted for his birthday dinner and to my disgust his answer was lobster tail.
What?! Gross!
But it was his birthday so he gets what he wants. Luckily Smith's was having a special on lobster tails so at least they were a little cheaper.
I had no idea how to make lobster tail but apparently broiling them is the way to go. I made my mother-in-law move the tails onto the baking pan and cut the shells because that is just plain nasty. I seasoned them with butter, paprika, salt and pepper. Everyone said they liked them so I guess they were a success. I also made a Greek salad that we love so much. That's what I ate.
We also had an ice cream cake from Coldstone. Mmm...good.



 This is what Heidi did during the party. =)
Happy birthday Kirky!

2 YEARS!!!!!

Yup.
We made it.
On March 27, 2011, Kirk and I hit our 2 year anniversary.
I asked Kirk if he was surprised we made it. He said no. Good answer. =)
The big day fell on a Sunday this year so we celebrated on Saturday. We decided to go to the temple and since we are in Cleveland, Utah the closest one is Manti. It takes about an hour and a half to get there so I had to prepare and get enough milk pumped for the child. I was nervous the whole time we were gone but it worked out fine. We left Heidi with Grandma Kim and headed out. On the way we saw a big herd of elk. That was very cool. The sessions at the Manti temples are live which was very awesome. We were gone for a total of 6 hours but Heidi did great. She only ate once so I had pumped plenty of milk. That night we decided to hit up the best steak house in Price, UT. Ok, really it's the only steak house. My meal was great. I had the prime rib. Kirk was disappointed in his. He ordered the crab leg. And that's exactly what he got. 1 crab leg on an otherwise bare plate. Apparently they don't include sides in their meals and everything has to be ordered al a carte. Dumb. Luckily I had enough to share.
It was a great day and I am so happy to have my Kirky forever.
Thanks for two great years Kirk and here's to an eternity more.

Wednesday, March 23, 2011

4 months!!

Our sweet Heidi girl is 4 months old today. I can't believe it!
She's is the sweetest thing ever.
She had her well check a couple weeks ago and she weighed 14 lbs. 8 oz. She's getting so big.
Here are a few things about our sweet little girl:
She still hadn't slept through the night but usually only wakes up every 3 hours or so to eat. Some nights I get too tired and just keep her in the bed with me.
She likes taking baths.
She loved swimming although I think she may have been a little cold.
She goos and gagas a lot.
She giggles at the most random things. (Last night she was laughing so hard while I was singing her to sleep.)
She loves to suck on her hands.
She still sticks her tongue out all the time.
She's getting really good at grabbing things and is fascinated with her hands.
She's not a big fan of tummy time.
She has learned that rolling over gets her out of tummy time.
She has a sort of whiney fake cry sometimes. (She's all girl. Quite the drama queen.)
She would rather stand than sit anyday.
She wiggles constantly.
Mommy hasn't broken her from taking naps in the swing but Mommy thinks that's probably ok. =)
She still eats like a champ.
She loves to see herself and anyone else in the mirror. (Again, all girl.)
She LOVES the jogging stroller. (To her mother's utter joy.)
She LOVES to be outside.
She LOVES to hang upside down. Best way to calm her down!
She still loves to dance with either someone moving her arms or dancing with her.
She loves when Daddy pokes her nose with her toes.
She is still in 3 month clothes but can wear 3-6 months.
She can't lay still while asleep in her crib. She gets that from Daddy.
She wakes up super happy in the morning.
We just love this sweet girl. She's awesome and we're so happy we get to be her parents.