Thursday, December 22, 2011
Monday, December 19, 2011
Christmas Letter 2011
2011 has been a wonderful year for us.
Rich is down to the last few months of medical school and is interviewing all over the country for residency spots. He is going into radiation oncology, and we will find out March 15, 2012 where we will be spending the next five years, so stay tuned. He is the Sunday School president of our ward, and is the best husband and father you can find.
Lynnae is anxiously anticipating the birth of our 4th child, due March 20th. Being pregnant, the wife of a medical student, and looking after our other three children pretty much takes up all of her time. But, she continues to enjoy blogging about, photographing, and scrapbooking all of the activities we do each year.
Aiden is now 7 and is in first grade. He excels in reading and math, and is taking piano lessons. He enjoys any sport that requires aiming (shooting, archery, golf, etc). He is bright, enthusiastic, and as sweet as can be. He is also a very patient and helpful older brother to his younger siblings.
Mackenzie is 4 and is so much fun to be around. She is enthusiastic about everything around her. She is doing Waterford’s on-line preschool program and is busy getting ready for kindergarten in the fall.
Connor is almost 2. He is very curious about the world around him and enjoys exploring whenever he gets the chance. His adorable smile wins him lots of attention.
We are so grateful for the wonderful blessings in our lives and hope the holiday season finds you well and happy. Stay tuned for the 2011 scrapbook featuring the highlights of the last year.
Monday, November 14, 2011
Sunday, November 13, 2011
Freezer Meals
As I get further along in this pregnancy, the less energy I have. Taking care of a household really starts to get hard. So, I've been trying to find ways to simplify, or to at least make life easier in the near future.
I've also been enjoying pintrest.com, which my SIL Katie introduced me to. (If you haven't discovered it yet, you really need to take a peak at it). One of the things I've found there is freezer meals, but I haven't been all that excited about the recipes, just about the idea of it. I decided to make some out of my own recipes, anticipating needing some in the weeks ahead.
On Monday, I made lasagna for dinner, so I just made enough sauce to put together a couple extra ones and put them aluminum pans in the freezer. And, as long as I had the fresh hamburger out, I fried up and seasoned some taco meat, which I sealed with the Food Saver and then froze some hamburger into patties and sealed them with the Food Saver too. It was a little extra work, but not a lot, and I had at least 7 dinners in the freezer ready to go.
Tuesday was Aiden's birthday (more about that soon), and he wanted homemade Mac'n'cheese. So, instead of making the half batch that I normally do, I made a full batch and froze two meal size portions. Cost me next to nothing in extra time, but I had two more freezer meals.
Wednesday was a bigger day. I made chicken cordon bleu (about 16 of them--I used the recipe from Our Best Bites Cookbook; I don't have an electronic copy, but I'll try to add one soon) and sealed them in the food saver bags. I also made up some teriyaki sauce and sliced up a few more chicken breasts into thin slices. I put the small slices into the food saver bags along with the sauce, so it is marinating. Then I froze those too. You can just boil the chicken right in the bag and it comes out juicy and tender.
Thursday, Rich and I ate out, so I picked up two Papa Murphy's pizzas instead of one for the kids and froze the extra one.
Friday, I made a gallon of Aunt Kel's Enchilada sauce and shredded and froze the chicken for chicken tacos. I haven't gotten around to making the enchiladas yet, but I think I'll get a couple of pans out of it to freeze.
So, by the end of the week, I had about 15 meals in the freezer ready to go. Not bad for a little extra work each day. They should come in very handy in the months ahead. I can't wait to start reaping the benefits of my labors. Now if I just had a little bit more freezer space...
I've also been enjoying pintrest.com, which my SIL Katie introduced me to. (If you haven't discovered it yet, you really need to take a peak at it). One of the things I've found there is freezer meals, but I haven't been all that excited about the recipes, just about the idea of it. I decided to make some out of my own recipes, anticipating needing some in the weeks ahead.
On Monday, I made lasagna for dinner, so I just made enough sauce to put together a couple extra ones and put them aluminum pans in the freezer. And, as long as I had the fresh hamburger out, I fried up and seasoned some taco meat, which I sealed with the Food Saver and then froze some hamburger into patties and sealed them with the Food Saver too. It was a little extra work, but not a lot, and I had at least 7 dinners in the freezer ready to go.
Tuesday was Aiden's birthday (more about that soon), and he wanted homemade Mac'n'cheese. So, instead of making the half batch that I normally do, I made a full batch and froze two meal size portions. Cost me next to nothing in extra time, but I had two more freezer meals.
Wednesday was a bigger day. I made chicken cordon bleu (about 16 of them--I used the recipe from Our Best Bites Cookbook; I don't have an electronic copy, but I'll try to add one soon) and sealed them in the food saver bags. I also made up some teriyaki sauce and sliced up a few more chicken breasts into thin slices. I put the small slices into the food saver bags along with the sauce, so it is marinating. Then I froze those too. You can just boil the chicken right in the bag and it comes out juicy and tender.
Thursday, Rich and I ate out, so I picked up two Papa Murphy's pizzas instead of one for the kids and froze the extra one.
Friday, I made a gallon of Aunt Kel's Enchilada sauce and shredded and froze the chicken for chicken tacos. I haven't gotten around to making the enchiladas yet, but I think I'll get a couple of pans out of it to freeze.
So, by the end of the week, I had about 15 meals in the freezer ready to go. Not bad for a little extra work each day. They should come in very handy in the months ahead. I can't wait to start reaping the benefits of my labors. Now if I just had a little bit more freezer space...
Friday, October 28, 2011
Beach Day
On our Disneyland vacation, we also got to go to the beach one day. I forgot my camera (I'm still crying), but my SIL Katie came to my rescue. Here are some of the cute pics she took of our day at the beach.
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| I LOVE this picture of Kenzie |
Cafe Trio
Rich's sweet Aunt Sue took our kids for a few hours yesterday afternoon. She made some adorable Halloween crafts with them, and then took them to McDonalds for dinner. It was so nice of her and the kids had lots of fun!
Rich and I went to dinner at Cafe Trio, an Italian restaurant nearby. We'd gotten dessert there before, which was wonderful, and decided to try it again. This is my kind of restaurant. We ordered the grilled artichokes, flat Parmesan bread, a BLT sandwich (served on grilled panini bread), and the chocolate torte with orange marscapone for dessert. We just split it all, so it was reasonably affordable and plenty of food. My tummy was very happy at the end of dinner.
Rich and I went to dinner at Cafe Trio, an Italian restaurant nearby. We'd gotten dessert there before, which was wonderful, and decided to try it again. This is my kind of restaurant. We ordered the grilled artichokes, flat Parmesan bread, a BLT sandwich (served on grilled panini bread), and the chocolate torte with orange marscapone for dessert. We just split it all, so it was reasonably affordable and plenty of food. My tummy was very happy at the end of dinner.
Thursday, October 27, 2011
Disneyland
The Lowlights:
Other Pictures:
- Rich getting gastroenteritis and missing the last two days at the park
- Lynnae and Connor catching a cold
- Dinner at Rainforest Cafe (way too expensive, not so tasty)
- Losing my phone
- UTTER EXHAUSTION (6 day park hoppers and 11 day on the go vacations are just too much)
- Not being able to go on any roller coasters :(
- Star Tours (Mackenzie's favorite ride)
- California Screaming (Aiden's favorite ride)
- $6 corn dog (best deal in the park)
- ElecTRONica (who knew I had a little bit of a techno dance diva in me?)
- Aunt Kelly
- Grandma Hymas
- Clark, Katie, Aspen, and Bryson
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| Mackenzie called Aspen her sister all week |
- Beighnets from in the park and at Ralph Brennan's Jazz Kitchen in Downtown Disney
- Caramel apples from Marceline's Confectionery in Downtown Disney
- Finding my phone
- Running into the Kluges
- Aiden and Mackenzie both being in the Jedi Training Academy
- Soarin' Over California
- Meeting Mickey
Other Pictures:
 |
| The End |
Tuesday, October 25, 2011
The Wedding that Wasn't and Then Was
A couple of weeks ago, Rich's Aunt Sue called and asked me if I'd be willing to be the photographer for her son Matt's wedding in Idaho Falls. It's been a while since I've done a photo shoot, especially a wedding, but I agreed to take the pictures.
We arranged to stay with some good friends of ours in Idaho, packed up on Friday, and headed out. The wedding wasn't until Saturday, but we thought it would be fun to spend some time with our friends. We'd been on the road for about an hour when I got a call from Aunt Sue telling me the wedding was off. After much debate, we decided to make the trip anyway because it would be fun to see our friends, and we are already 1/3 of the way there.
We had a great time with our friends. I just visited with Brook all day while Connor and Kenzie played with the other kids and Aiden and Rich went apple picking and potato gleaning with Nathan.
I got a phone call on Saturday from Aunt Sue about 3:00 saying the wedding was back on and asked if I could come take pictures at 5:00. So, we packed up all of our stuff, said goodbye to our friends, went to the park where the wedding was, and took pictures. Then we hit the road and headed home.
It was a nice, but short weekend. Here are some of the pictures from the wedding.
We arranged to stay with some good friends of ours in Idaho, packed up on Friday, and headed out. The wedding wasn't until Saturday, but we thought it would be fun to spend some time with our friends. We'd been on the road for about an hour when I got a call from Aunt Sue telling me the wedding was off. After much debate, we decided to make the trip anyway because it would be fun to see our friends, and we are already 1/3 of the way there.
We had a great time with our friends. I just visited with Brook all day while Connor and Kenzie played with the other kids and Aiden and Rich went apple picking and potato gleaning with Nathan.
I got a phone call on Saturday from Aunt Sue about 3:00 saying the wedding was back on and asked if I could come take pictures at 5:00. So, we packed up all of our stuff, said goodbye to our friends, went to the park where the wedding was, and took pictures. Then we hit the road and headed home.
It was a nice, but short weekend. Here are some of the pictures from the wedding.
Sunday, September 18, 2011
Cute Stuff
Rich got me a Nook for my birthday this year, and I love it! One of the things I've been enjoying are the magazines. I hate cluttering up my house with stacks of magazines, but I love magazines. Primarily, I enjoy the home and cooking ones--Martha Stewart, Country Living, etc. Sometimes I find such cute stuff and ideas in them, but it's easy to loose track of the stuff I've found.
I've decided to document them here. I'm labeling it as my wishlist, and maybe it'll help me to keep track of the stuff I like a little better. Here is one product I found in a magazine that I just love. It's cute and functional. It's a cookbook holder, available here (in case you want one too). I've wanted one for a long time, and I've even tried using an easel picture frame holder, but it just didn't work.
I've decided to document them here. I'm labeling it as my wishlist, and maybe it'll help me to keep track of the stuff I like a little better. Here is one product I found in a magazine that I just love. It's cute and functional. It's a cookbook holder, available here (in case you want one too). I've wanted one for a long time, and I've even tried using an easel picture frame holder, but it just didn't work.
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