Tried & True

My mom would make granola when I was growing up and I thought it was such a hard process - until I tried it the other day! Piece of cake. And, it turned out really well. Here's the recipe I used:

Ingredients:

• 8 cups rolled oats
• 1 1/2 cups wheat germ
• 1 1/2 cups oat bran
• 1 cup sunflower seeds
• 1 cup finely chopped almonds
• 1 cup finely chopped pecans
• 1 cup finely chopped walnuts
• 1 1/2 teaspoons salt
• 1/2 cup brown sugar
• 1/4 cup maple syrup
• 3/4 cup honey
• 1 cup vegetable oil
• 1 tablespoon ground cinnamon
• 1 tablespoon vanilla extract
• 2 cups raisins or sweetened dried cranberries

Directions:

1. Preheat the oven to 325 degrees F (165 degrees C). Line two large baking sheets with parchment or aluminum foil.
2. Combine the oats, wheat germ, oat bran, sunflower seeds, almonds, pecans, and walnuts in a large bowl. Stir together the salt, brown sugar, maple syrup, honey, oil, cinnamon, and vanilla in a saucepan. Bring to a boil over medium heat, then pour over the dry ingredients, and stir to coat. Spread the mixture out evenly on the baking sheets.
3. Bake in the preheated oven until crispy and toasted, about 20 minutes. Stir once halfway through. Cool, then stir in the raisins or cranberries before storing in an airtight container.

I didn't have oat bran, wheatgerm, sunflower seeds or walnuts on hand and I didn't want to go buy them. I also added a pinch of nutmeg. It makes a bunch, but it also goes really quickly as it is so good.

Pretzel Turtles - AWESOME!!

My RS president told me about these in a meeting and then brought some by when she made them - delish! We ate ours so quickly I had to make some more! So simple. These would make a great Christmas treat for your friends and neighbors or at any gathering.

Ingredients: pretzels, Rolos and pecan halves.

Directions: Line a cookie sheet with parchment. Lay out each pretzel with a rolo on top. Put in a 325 degree oven for 3 - 3.5 minutes, just enough for the chocolate to sweat. Pull them out and gently press a pecan half onto each pretzel. Voila!

Both recipes tried and true - you should try them too. 5 Stars!

Weekend Fun

Happy, happy birthday to the sweetest boy in the world!

This past Friday, Clay turned 6! We celebrated the boys birthdays on the day in between their birthdays as they were headed off camping (with Kaycee in tow) the afternoon of Clay's big day.

Here they are blowing out their candles. Here's to another great year gentlemen!

I ordered Ryan's gifts just a day shy of a full week before his birthday. I two-dayed the shipping to make sure it would be here on time as the website indicated orders made in that time frame would be shipped out the following Monday. Yeah, they didn't get here until the day after his bday...thanks for nothing! Oh well, he still really liked his Dwight and Michael bobble heads which now adorn his desk at work.

KC: "I have WALL*E eyes." Yes, yes you do.

And, cute, cute "O-E-Ah" (as Lucy says) talking with Grandpa H. She cooed for the first time!

Clay and KC in the back of the truck waiting to leave for their adventure. Everyone was invited, but these two were the only takers. I was so glad they didn't freeze. I was worried the whole night and slept as though I was camping as well! (Yeah, not a big camper... Ryan would add "yet" here!)

I was very happy to have the babe, Lucy and Rylee keep me company.

And, I was happy they were here to meet my cousin Maggie, who came by with her husband, and parents. It was so good to see you Maggie & Justin! We're so happy to have you in CO. Hopefully we'll get to see each other again before too long.

It was a fun weekend.

Oh My Word-y, Look Who's 30!!

Happy Birthday Dad!

We love you so much!
~ Rylee, Clay, Kaycee, Lucy, Olivia & Mom~

Join us in wishing our Dad, Ryan, the best 30th birthday ever!!

Husband Tag

My SIL Mindy tagged me and I didn't want to pass up the chance to let you all know how fabulous my Ryan is. (I tried to post pics, but it wouldn't let me...I'll keep trying.)

1. Where did you meet your husband? I met Ryan on a blind date. He was my sister Reecy's boyfriend's high school lacrosse coach who was also attending BYU. I was living at home and had no social life (whatsoever!) and told Eric (the boyfriend - now my BIL) to set me up. Ryan called me a couple days later.

2. How long did you date before you got married? We dated for 11 weeks (not months, weeks!) before we got married. We met the middle of May, got engaged July 1 and married July 29.

3. How long have you been married? 8 years this past July.

4.What does he do that surprises you? He can do anything and everything! I am always amazed at what he can do (except for buying a car without my permission - that surprised me. But, we won't mention that..) He's also good at bringing me treats.


5.What is your favorite feature? I love Ryan's chest. Really. He's got a nice chest. And, I love his hands too. They're always warm and soft (I didn't mean to copy your answer Mindy. It was a good one). Much softer than my own. And, I love his calves. He's got some sweet looking calves. Okay, so that was more than one feature.

6. What is your favorite quality? Ryan is very generous. He is so good to help anyone and everyone out.

7. Does he have a nickname for you? Hon, or dear (we sound like a 50 year couple).

8. What is his favorite food? Ryan is a mean griller. He loves meat - good meat, grilled to perfection.

9. What is his favorite sport? That depends, he's got a few. Lacrosse - watching or coaching, Wrestling - watching and he'd like to coach, and then college football - USC Trojans and BYU Cougars.

10. When and where was your first kiss? Our first kiss (and his first kiss) was a month after we met and knew we wanted to get married. It was on my parents couch in their living room. Ironically, he'd ready my dad's story The Sacred Kiss (in an EFY book) as a teenager and followed his advice - Ryan saved his kisses, just for me.

11. What is your favorite thing to do as a couple? We like to rent movies. So, after all the kids have gone to bed, we pull out the goodies and enjoy a good flick.

12. Do you have any children? I'm not sure how to answer that when people ask me now. I usually just say 5, because we have 5 at home, but really we have 6. I'm not sure how much people care to know about me and often times I don't like to share that experience casually with strangers or just in passing. So if you know me and our family, and you hear me say 5, we haven't forgotten, it just seems easier. Sorry, that was really long.

13. Does he have any hidden talents? Ryan is incredibly talented - it makes me sick! :) He's athletic, artistic, musical, culinary, mechanically (cars) talented and is so intelligent. In flipping this house, he has become a painter, a plumber, an electrician, a carpenter, a dry waller (is that a word?), a window replacement-er and the list goes on. He does it all. He can even sew!

14. How old is he? He'll be the big 3-0 on Wednesday!!

15. Who said "I love you" first? He did. It had only been about 2-3 weeks since we'd met and started dating. He was so cute!



16. What is his favorite music? He seems to enjoy every type of music, especially the kind I make him listen to. :)

17. What do you admire most about him? He is so stinkin' smart! (he married me, right?) :) If he doesn't know something, he learns it - then he teaches me. He's so ambitious. I can't wait until he can see his dreams become reality!

18. What is his favorite color? I don't think he's actually ever declared one. He does own a lot of blue though..

19. Will he read this? Yes, because I'll tell him, I mean, ask him to.

20. Who do you tag? Like Mindy said, whoever would like to pay a little tribute to their husband. (all of you, right?)

Deja Vu?

They were supposed to be downstairs cleaning the play room when Clay comes upstairs looking like this!

Even in his ears!!

AAHHHH!! I first thought this 'art work' was done with markers until I tried to wash it off. Yeah, no. Clay kept saying over and over "it's ink, it's ink." Well, yes, it's ink, but not markers? "It's ink that you stamp, mom." Ohhh. Luckily, after some serious scrubbing (and serious scolding), it came off their faces. Their legs and feet are not so lucky (nor the carpet either!)

Check out their legs and feet too. UGH!

What a day - a not so fun day! It reminds me of this post - what's the deal??

And, for my mom. Sorry mom, you can't see much of her face. I'll take a better one soon!

Getting Ready

Last night, for FHE, we carved one of our pumpkins. Thank goodness for Ryan's artistic abilities as it would have turned out much differently had I done it. The kids enjoyed scooping out the 'guts' but as soon as Ryan took the knife to it, Lucy freaked! "Don't hurt a pumpkin - stop, Daddy, stop!" While we appreciate her sensitive nature, we quickly reassured her the pumpkin was okay.

Lucy exclaiming "no"

As you can tell it turned out great! Again, though, once the lights were off and a little tea candle was put inside, Lucy freaked. "It's scawee, it's scawee." The lights were turned back on and the pumpkin - now jack-o-lantern was ready to go back on the porch. Apparenltly, in the process, Rylee, Clay or Kaycee, made a comment of hoping the house wouldn't burn down leaving the candle lit. So while the jack-o-lantern sat outside, Lucy was so concerned and kept exclaiming that the pumpkin was going to burn the house down. Poor Lucy. We'll see how the carving goes next week with our other pumpkin.

While Ryan sketches out the design, Lucy decides to take a couple licks...uh...

Loving her

There are so many things I seem to forget about a newborn baby until we have a new one in the house. These are just some of my favorite things (in no particular order):

1. When their pacifier seems to take up half their face.
2. When you pick them up and they arch their backs and stick their little bottoms out (love love love it!).
3. When they finish eating and have milk on their face.
4. When they're startled and their arms are 'frozen' upward.
5. When they're laid down and their little arms flail about honestly believing they're going to fall. (so sad)
6. When they get worked up so hard that their little voice starts to tremble and shake (so sad too)
7. Their sweet little smiles when they're dreaming.
8. When they're fast asleep yet they open their eyes and roll them around.
9. The sweet smell of their baby breath.
10. The smell of their little heads.
11. Little bug or crossed eyes with their mouths in a perfect little circle.
12. Their tiny little bums and the tiny little diapers that go over them.
13. And finally, how perfectly their little body fits on my chest with their teeny head nestled under my chin.

Whether they're your own or not, there's absolutely nothing like holding a brand new baby, fresh from Heaven!

What are some of your favorite things?

A baby girl

I have been the biggest slacker with our blog lately, and I'll update soon, but we wanted to give a shout out to Jason, Christina, Joshua and Delia and congratulate them on their newest addition.

Isn't she adorable?! Look at all that hair and those luscious lips!

We're anxious to hear all the details and find out what you name her .
Congratulations you guys, we love you!