Tuacahn

I took me a little vacation over Father's Day weekend with the girlz in my family. This trip has been planned for several months so to finally be off having some fun in the sun was super great! My sister Amanda ended up not going so her daughter took her place. It was me, my mom, my sister Amber, and my sisters-in-law Xannie and Sam. Amber has a time share so we were able to chill in St. George at the condo which has this awesome pool that is only two feet away from our door:

We spent an afternoon there after arriving and checking into the condo. Then it was time to get ready so we could grab some grub and head to our first show - The Little Mermaid!!

Tuacahn has some beautiful scenery - I really loved that we were surrounded by these ginormous red cliffs. The weather was hot but it wasn't horrible and there was a breeze so it was so nice there:

Bronsynn is super excited, can you tell?

The Little Mermaid has some super fantastic special effects. That's what made it cool for me because other than that, it had a tendency to be off-the-radar corny and mushy...two things I don't do well with. But we had great seats...fifth row up which ended up being perfect because you could see things on the side stage like this picture here...I was only three seats away from them:

This is one of those awesome special effects, where the water comes down and it looks like they are in the ocean. Here Ariel is going to rescue Eric after he was thrown off the ship!:

Under the Sea was my favorite part - super fun song, fun costumes, fun all around:

And Ursula was pretty cool -as you can tell:

Overall it was pretty good! The ending is totally different and I didn't like it but other people did so it's just personal taste, I guess.

Saturday we had a nice lazy morning followed by a looooong time at the pool :) I loved it! We made lunch and then went out shopping to the outlets to see what we could find...one of which happened to be these totally awesome visors that I know you are all jealous of:

And you just can't go wrong with a look like this:

We found some good stuff and I picked up some goodies from Osh Kosh for Baby to wear and we gorged ourselves on Apple Pie Apples from Rocky Mtn Chocolate Factory and I was super excited to find a place that did Bubble Tea!!! Yummmmmmmm. It was quite an exhausting shopping experience, though, given the heat. I did not appreciate the fact that this was the first time I noticed my feet starting to swell. Boo hoo. But they went down! I just had to get unhot.

We went back to get ready for dinner, which we had up at Tuacahn. It was themed after the diner in Grease. We did some browsing and then got seated. This was what the stage looked like for Grease from up top:

I liked Grease a lot cuz of the fun songs and it was truer to the actual movie/play.

We sat on the second row from the stage and while it was a great view, you had to twist around to see things on the side stages, so that's why I liked seating a bit farther up.

If you like musicals, these two are pretty fun. My favorite is still Wicked, though...which I hear is coming to Utah next year?? Anybody else hear that? Fun vacation to take with the girls - we had a lot of fun and it was nice to get out of the city and enjoy something new.

I Come Prepared

That's a song title by the way. Probably didn't know that, did ya? It's by Keenan. Love him.

Anyhooslebees, speaking of prepared, I finally got my 72 hour kits! Well, I got them about two months ago...and I'm finally blogging about it. ha ha ha. I decided that instead of piecing my kits together little by little, I went to Emergency Essentials and bought the Trekker II, on sale.

I took important things like toilet paper and matches and put them in sealed plastic baggies to water proof them:

And I have one of these for each of us:

I next need to add to it some clothes, money and some other odds and ends that I think are important. But I'm quite happy I got it done. I am also going to get the 72 Hour MRE food supply but they were out when I was there.

Sew Fun!!

Me and my tiny inner crafty person are getting in touch again...I've been working on something so fun and it's turning out stinkin' CUTE!! It's almost done - Stay Tuned.........

Hawaiian Luau

Paul has a high school friend in the military (who flies helicopters and teaches how to fly hellies) and he's home in Utah for a two-week leave. His family threw a big luau party for him and I thought I'd share some fun pics.

This tiki bar was homemade! We got the whole story on the warrior posts and all that but I won't bore you with it:


This little warrior guards the alcohol. It's my favorite:


They have some polynesian neighbors that roasted them a pig with real yams and everything!:


As you can see, Paul and I each got leid ;)

Candy Centerpieces

So my college friend, Debbie is getting married at the end of this month - Yay for weddings!! My other friend, Amber, threw her a cute little shower at this super yummy place called La Caile Noodle House. Check it out for realz. Anyway - I helped by bringing some decoration to make it a little more shower-esqe and I decided to make these candy centerpieces. Cute and Edible!

Just some cleaned up canning jars tied with ribbon. I got most the candy at Sweet Afton's in Gardner Village. I had long-stemmed suckers, laffy taffy rope, bubble gum and licorice ropes (instead of licorice I wanted pixie sticks...but could I find any pixie sticks??? Noooooo) and in the bottom some grapefuit gummies!

Check out these super cute cookies Amber made for Debbie! She is oodles and oodles smart with the baking and makes super awesome cakes. In fact, she'll be making Debbie's cake for the reception. You can see her stuff here:

And these were our little take home favors, made by Amber:

Super duper cute!!!

"And I-iii Would Walk 500 Miles...."

How awesome is this song??

So awesome that I didn't understand why I didn't think to add it to my music selection forever ago. I remember listening to this when I was in grade school - outside of my school while we were doing outdoor water sports for some water Olympian thing that our school did. I couldn't get enough of this song. And, Benny & June is such a super cute movie! Haven't seen it since, well, the 90's so I might have to put it on my Netflix.

If A Song Could Get Me You

I have been waiting for this song to become available on iTunes for FOREVER!! I heard it several years ago and watched a video she'd made for it (which was super cute but I can't find it now).

The artist is Marit Larsen and she's a Norwegian singer, which may explain why it took so darn long for her song to get on iTunes. In fact, I'd forgotten all about it until I was cleaning out some stuff and came across a list of songs I wanted to get and there it was. I decided to try it out again and, WALLA!! Super cute song! This video is also super cute:

Gerrr!!!

I've been trying to post for a couple days. I could do everything and click on anything and it would work - except for Publish Post. Kind of a precidament, yeah? At first I thought Blogger was having issues and I would just keep checking back. But it turned out, after some web surfing, that it's actually due to the fact that I upgraded to Internet Explorer 9, finally! Apparently IE9, and I think 8, have compatability issues with some websites. Blogger was obviously one of them. So I relied on the brains of other smart people on the web to tell me how to fix it and just in case anyone has the same issue and/or plans to upgrade, click here and scroll down to Method 1: Enable Compatibility View for specific websites in Internet Explorer. Worked just like that. Except now I that I am trying to link websites and bold words, I've noticed the toolbar doesn't work unless it's OUT of compatability mode. Freaking. Perfect. "I love technology......."

My Kind of Night!

With the weather being so cooperative on Saturday, I just had to get out and fire up the pit! After watching two of Paul's games early that afternoon, I stopped by the grocery store to grab some essentials and I picked up some gourmet chicken dogs, which turned turned out to be absolutely delish! Espcially the Spicy Mango w/ Jalapeno! Yum!

We got cozy 'round this blazing fire - and it was perfect temps for a fire AND no wind!:

He-Man grilled up our game:

And we had a splendid li'l picnic out on the patio! We were able to spend more time together and goof off and just veg. So pleasant!

Our little pup either whined for food (sorry, mister!) or dropped his ball on our feet the entire time so Paul finally tossed him a few - I love that mutt:

Can't wait for more great weather to have more fun outside! Oh, Spring - how I have missed you!!

'Because I'm Going to be a Mommy'

I have the most amazing husband.

I've rarely seen him this past month, except on Sundays, because his work explodes during this time of year and the poor man is running on fumes. The past two weeks have been especially awful as he has had to work 16, 17, 20+ hours a day. Then he had to take a trip to Phoenix last weekend (more work), flew home on Monday, went straight to work, worked all day every day and ended on Friday afternoon after working nearly 45 hours straight.

I joked with him that he owed me a date - but I was also very serious since we needed some husband/wife time! So, Friday we went out to an early dinner and grubbed down at a pizza joint. Since it was so early, we were the only ones there! About half way through dinner, Paul grabbed his keys and said he'd be right back. He ran to his truck and back and when he sat down I asked him why he had to go to his truck. He said he forgot his wallet. I said "No you didn't". He told me, 'Yes, I did!' And I again I said, 'No, you didn't! He is so cute when he's been caught :) He pulled out a little wrapped box and put it on the table. I was so confused as to why he had gotten me a present. He surprises me randomly quite often so it's not NOT normal, but again I was confused and he told me: 'Because you're going to be a mommy.'

Okay.

I almost cried. In fact, they came..but I held it in! I did not lose it at a pizza factory! I love my man. Seriously.

As I opened it he explained that 'it' is meaningful and I can tell my own story with it.

It's a Trollbead bracelet. I had never heard of it before. You can pick your own beads and charms and so over the years, I can create my own bracelet for my most cherished memories. See? I told you this man is perfect!

Paul picked out this flower clasp to symbolize our marriage - the beginning of our family - because we went to Maui on our honeymoon:

And my first charm symbolizes our baby in the making - Asher - because of his name and because I am doing his room in dragons. This is the Lucky Dragon charm:

He told me all about it and how he'd come across it and later showed me the book with all the other beads and charms that I can add. I seriously love my bracelet. I can't help but smile every time I see it, which is all day, cuz I can't stop playing with it. I love how thoughtful and loving my husband is and I just love love love my life with him!

Yay for Moms!!

Sunday was such a fun day, starting with the cute kids in Primary who were so much fun and so cute as they made their Mother's Day cards and a 'flower' for their moms. I love it for sure :)

We visited Paul's mom after church for as long as we could (scheduling conflicts) before heading to my mom's house for dinner with the family...well, most of them anyway. My dad was home for a week to be there during the time my mom had surgery and take care of a bunch of stuff, but he had to head back that morning. My older sister was feeling well so she and her two tag-a-longs didn't make it either. And what was with the weather?? Boooo!! It puts such a dark and depressing feel to your day when the house is so dark. I wanted BBQ weather!! In fact...we had planned a BBQ! It wasn't too fun for the person going in and out of the house with an umbrella to check on the meat!

We showered my mom with some nice things: gift certificates for a massage, clothes, plants and as well as new gardening pads, gloves and veggie buckets! The boys gave Grandma a jumbo card from Hoops & YoYo and got a kick out of the song:

Oh and some new painting supplies. My mom used to paint watercolors quite a bit when we were younger so Morgan and Sam thought it'd be nice to give her something to fun to do for herself:

Morgan and Sam cuddly-wuddling:

Gav & Xan:

Yes, folks, I am married to this face right here:

Love it!!!

Simple Salad

Mmmm! Easy peasy!!

Good As New...Almost!

Yesterday my mom went to surgery to have a hole in her heart repaired. I can't remember what the procedure was called but it went smoothly and so far my mom isn't in any pain and goes home this morning! Yay! It wasn't anything major like open-heart surgery, which a lot of doctors use to fix this, I guess. They went up through her femoral artery using a catheter and plugged the hole in her heart using an umbrella shaped device. The heart will now grow over the device and close like it should have. Did you know that it's very common for people to have holes in their hearts? That at birth, sometimes that hole just doesn't close up. And it's genetic, this thing of my mom's. Yay for us.

My mom would have been able to watch the entire procedue and see the inside of her own heart! Why didn't she? She fell asleep!! She was so mad, ha ha. The doctor, Dr. Sorensen at the Heart and Lung Center at Murray IHC, does these ALL THE TIME. In fact, he's the most sought after doctor for this procedure (so if you know anyone....he's really really good). In surgery, they are better able to see the hole and they had to go bigger in the 'plug' to close up the hole, which was a little bigger than a 50 cent piece. Wow!! He said he hadn't seen a hole that big in a really long time. The device only goes up to 35 mm and my mom's was a 30!

My mom is really excited to be on the mend now. The way this hole had affected her for nearly 28 years (yes folks, that's how old I am and yes, it started after she had me) has something to do about the lack of oxygen to her brain and the way the blood was pumped. She apparently had migraines she didn't know of AND, most scary, it caused her several mini-strokes. She always thought that she was just sick and that it took her extra long to get back to normal (clear head, balance, equilibrium, etc), but I guess those really bad times were mini strokes and this last one was her biggest of all...which is what prompted her to see an Ears, Nose, Throat specialist, who in turn were able to determine that it was one of four things and by seeing other specialists, this was discovered and now she is looking forward to having her head & health back. As we all are :)

My New Hardware :)

Yesterday I took my niece to her first 4-H meeting, which was at the Riverton Arena right across the street from my good high school friend, Rachelle. I called that girl up to say 'Surprise! Guess where I am?' and she stopped by the arena on her way to dinner to give me a surprise of her own!:

She just started up her own business in stamped jewelry. Click here to access her Facebook page for Cherry Blvd. Look at how stinkin' cute this is!! It says 'Mommie's Little Angel' & 'Asher'. I la - la - laaaaaave it!!!

Make Your Own Almond Milk!

I love Almond Milk.

Besides the fact that Almond Milk is silky and nummy, I very strongly believe the cow's milk, especially the processed homogenized, pasteurized, hormone-filled milk that fills America's refrigerators, is incredibly dentrimental and hazardous to our health. I have witnessed it several times and done my research and there is nothing 'healthy' about store-bought milk contrary to what the Milk ads constantly throw in your face. That's all propaganda, folks, intent on one thing: sales.

But I digress. Let's move on to the recipe. One of the benefits of making your own almond milk is that it's really very simple, you know exactly what's going in it, and as the words organic and 100% natural become more of a trend, you need to be aware of companies who falsely label their products (yes, it happens) to bring you these items filled with things that are anything but organic and natural so that they can make a quick buck.

Almond Milk

4-5 cups spring or filtered water

1 cup almonds, soaked overnight

1 tsp vanilla extract (for flavor)

a few dates or 1/4 cup Agave, for sweetness

*you don't have to add the dates or the agave. Also, there have been times when I have just sprinkled in a small amount of Stevia and Cinnamon and shook it up into the milk later. Makes it super sweet ;)

** you will also need a fine strainer or sieve, a large-ish bowl, and a glass container to store your milk.

This recipe is actually very quick and simple once your almonds have had a good soak. Takes me about ten mintues is all :)

This is what soaked almonds look like. See how plump they are?

Look at the difference between soaked almonds and regular almonds (right):

I always throw a few extra nuts into the soak because I can't resist nibbling on them when I open the refrigerator. Soaked almonds are actually very good for you!

Take your cup of soaked almonds and throw them in a blender or food processor along with all the other ingredients. Blend until smooth. I don't have a stellar blender and so I use my food processor. However, my food processor will leak a lot of liquids so I usually start out with all the ingredients and only 1 cup of water until everything is chopped to fine bits and then I gradually add a cup at time and then 'pulse' for a few seconds to blend it all together.

It should look like this when your done:

Doesn't that frothy goodness make you want to go make some right now?


Then you need to take a fine sieve or strainer and a large bowl to strain the milk:

Pour your milk into the strainer over your bowl:

And then you will end up with 'almond meal'. I like to press down on the meal to extract as much water as possible and then I save the almond meal to go on top of salads or yogurt.

Then pour your the milk from the bowl into a glass container that you can store your milk in. It will keep for about 5 to 6 days and is delicious over oatmeal, buckwheat cereal and the likes:

See? Easy-peasy! Now go make some of your own and be proud of how 'natural' you can be :)

Bacardi's Sleep-Over

Bacardi had a 'sleep-over' this weekend. My friend from college was going on a weekend get-away. She and her fiance bought a house up the street from us and it was a pefect solution to have Toby stay here. My obnoxious dog drove poor Toby crazy. It took Bacardi a day and a half to figure out that he didn't have to follow Toby everywhere and act crazy 24/7. While having Toby over proved that I never want more than one dog, it was also nice that Bacardi had a playmate and someone to keep him preoccupied. It was a rainy day Sunday so they wrestled inside for hours on end, then stopped to sleep, then picked right back up again:

Happy 40th

Doesn't my hubby looks so sexy in my huge gold GIRLIE glasses?? :)

Kenny turned 40 last week and we all celebrated at the Padre's house.

Kenny is a comedian in our family, we love him tonz!!

I'm sure Bronsynn loves this pic...ha ha ha ha!!!:

Gaven has a new puppy - Jimmer is an Old English Bulldog and he's six weeks old here. He is SO STINKIN' CUTE. At first, he didn't know what to do when the big dog came around. But Bacardi is good with little dogs and Jimmer soon found that it was pretty fun when they played. But he's a little too small for Bacardi so he easily loses interest in playing with Jimmer and Jimmer doesn't like that:

And then we sang!!! In this video I used the word conjugating to tell everyone we were ready to sing. My sister thought I was using the word consumating and I was really thinking of the word congregating. I told her to learn her dictionary - and then I remembered the word I was trying to say...seems like I am the one who needs to learn her dictionary!

Where She Went

Eeeeeek!!! The sequel to If I Stay!! It was released on Wednesday - FINALLY!! I re-read If I Stay on Tuesday, bought the new release on Wednesday and read it that day. I loved it!! Reading from Adam's perspective was quite a ride, since he is heart-broken and bitter and all that. What a rocker-stud though. :) Great book!