Family Night Fun

Mike has been working overtime the past few weeks and starting in October he won't be able to take any time off for the next 3 months, so he decided to use some of his paid vacation time and take this whole week off of work. YAY!!! Carson and I were so excited. So Monday night we had Family Night...which usually doesn't happen cause Mike works the closing shift that night. We kept it simple and just read an article from the Ensign and then delivered pumpkin-shaped sugar cookies to the neighbors that we had made and decorated earlier in the day. It was great to spend some quality spiritual time together as a family and we had fun getting to know some new people in our ward.

Chinese Night!

Okay, since I have lots of catching up to do, these next few posts are going to be kind of short. So I'm not sure why but the past few weeks I have really been enjoying cooking. I like to cook in general, but don't do it very often cause I'm usually the only one eating my creations. Don't get me wrong, I usually make dinner at night for Mike and I...but he is such a picky eater that the extent of our dinners is spaghetti or tacos, or hawaiin haystacks. Not exactly "cooking" in my book. So last Tuesday I got the craving to make some Chinese food and decided to make a night of it and invite over the neighbors and my sister to enjoy it with me. Dinner consisted of homemade fried rice, won tons, and fortune cookies. It ended up being a lot of fun to make and eat together! The only picture I got was of the fortune cookies...not bad for my first attempt! They even had real fortunes inside them. Here is the recipe if you want to try!


Chinese Fortune Cookies

1 egg
1/4 c. sugar
2 tbsp. oil
2 tbsp. water
1/4 c. corstarch
1 tbsp. vanilla


Print out fortunes on small paper strips. To make cookies, beat egg slightly. Gradually add sugar and beat until very thick. Fold in oil. Mix cornstarch with water and a little egg mixture. Beat into remaining egg mixture.

Heat griddle to 350 degrees. Drop batter by heaping tablespoons onto griddle, forming circles. Cook about 5 minutes(really does take that long) until set and golden on bottom. Remove from heat.

Lay a paper on each cookie. Working very quickly, fold in half, then fan bottom edges toward each other. (**NOTE-I found that once you fold them, lay them over the edge of a bowl to cool. This way it helps form the shape without having to hold them in your hands cause they are very hot!) Cool and keep in airtight container. Don't cook too many at once, or they'll harden before you can shape them. (Makes about 18)

"Just a Mom?"

Mike's mom forwarded me this email awhile ago and I thought I'd post it for all those people out there who are "just moms"!


A woman, renewing her driver's license at the County Clerk 's office, was asked by the woman recorder to state her occupation. She hesitated, uncertain how to classify herself.

'What I mean is, ' explained the recorder, 'do you have a job or are you just a ...?' '

Of course I have a job,' snapped the woman. 'I'm a Mom.' '

We don't list 'Mom' as an occupation, 'housewife' covers it,' Said the recorder emphatically.

I forgot all about her story until one day I found myself in the same situation, this time at our own Town Hall. The Clerk was obviously a career woman, poised, efficient, and possessed of a high sounding title like, 'Official Interrogator' or 'Town Registrar.'

'What is your occupation?' she probed.

What made me say it? I do not know. The words simply popped out. 'I'm a Research Associate in the field of Child Development and Human Relations.' The clerk paused, ball-point pen frozen in midair and looked up as though she had not heard right. I repeated the title slowly emphasizing the most significant words.. Then I stared with wonder as my pronouncement was written, in bold, black ink on the official questionnaire.

'Might I ask,' said the clerk with new interest,'just what you do in your field?'

Coolly, without any trace of fluster in my voice, I heard myself reply, 'I have a continuing program of research, (what mother doesn't) In the laboratory and in the field, (normally I would have said indoors and out). I'm working for my Masters, (first the Lord and then the whole family) and already have four credits (all daughters). Of course, the job is one of the most demanding in the humanities, (any mother care to disagree?) and I often work 14 hours a day, (24 is more like it). But the job is more challenging than most run-of-the-mill careers and the rewards are more of a satisfaction rather than just money.'

There was an increasing note of respect in the clerk's voice as she completed the form, stood up, and personally ushered me to the door. As I drove into our driveway, buoyed up by my glamorous new career, I was greeted by my lab assistants -- ages 13, 7, and 3. Upstairs I could hear our new experimental model, (a 6 month old baby) in the child development program, testing out a new vocal pattern. I felt I had scored a beat on bureaucracy! And I had gone on the official records as someone more distinguished and indispensable to mankind than 'just another Mom.' Motherhood! What a glorious career! Especially when there's a title on the door. Does this make grandmothers 'Senior Research associates in the field of Child Development and Human Relations' And great grandmothers 'Executive Senior Research Associates?' I think so!!! I also think it makes Aunts ' Associate Research Assistants.

Breathing easy once again

"ahhh..." (happy sigh), I am feeling much better now thanks to that wonderful (yet painful) shot of antibiotics that I got earlier this week, but "uhhhh...." (sad sigh) poor Carson is still sick. We took him to the doctor today and found out that he has a sinus infection. NO FUN! It hasn't slowed him down too much though. He still wakes up with that gorgeous bright smile and has fun playing all day long. But now we have some amoxicillin for him so he should be better soon! I'm a strong believer in Eastern Medicine and natural treatments for ailments, but it's times like these that I'm so grateful we have modern Western medicine too!

*cough, cough, hack, sneeze, ugh....*

So Carson has been sick with a cold for the past TWO weeks...poor baby. He does okay during the day, but at night he gets all stuffed up and has a hard time breathing..which means that he wakes up crying and I have to get up with him multiple times a night to help him breathe and soothe him back to sleep. It hasn't been bad till I caught his cold last Friday and it has now turned into strep throat. UUUGGGGHHHH......have I ever mentioned how much I HATE getting sick??!! I'm a pretty independent person and like to be on the go, and getting sick just totally gets in my way! Not to mention I feel like #@!* (are those the right symbols?) and can't even swallow my spit without wincing in pain. I've resorted to running to the bathroom sink every few minutes to spit instead of swallowing it. Mike took me to the doctor a few hours ago and after confirming it was strep, the nurse gave me a shot of anitbiotics. Never had the shot before, they have always just given me antibiotics in pill form. They said the shot works really fast though, so I should be feeling better by tomorrow...hopefully!

A little of this, A little of that.....

A few weeks ago I found myself walking around our house making a mental note of all the little unfinished projects we had EVERYWHERE. I'll admit, I'm one of those people who starts lots of projects but has a hard time finishing things...I usually run out of time, money, or patience or a combination of the three. So last week I made a list of all the things that needed to be finished and actually got quite a few knocked out. For example:

I finished adding Carson's name to this cute signature frame that I got from one of my baby showers AND I hung it on the wall in the bathroom.

I finished screwing in the last two knobs on the dresser we refinished for Carson's room.

I finished making these cute altered letters for Carson's room.

I started and finished cleaning up our backyard that was overgrown with weeds (thanks to a lot of help from my neighbor Rachel and her cute little girl Hailey!).

I started (not quite finished) hanging pictures on our family room walls. The rest are still to come as soon as we get our new family pictures back from the photographer.

Five projects down, only a few left to go!

The Equasion:

Mommy's eyes + Daddy's nose, lips, cheeks and chin = Beautiful Baby Carson!

Mike vs. Carson (round 1)

Sleeping peacefully

Mike vs. Carson (round 2)

All Smiles

They don't look exactly the same (and they're not in quite the same poses) but he's definately a daddy's boy if you ask me!

Blog Layouts

Thanks to "The Cutest Blog on the Block" and their awesome tutorials, I've been working on creating some blog layouts. I made this one this one this morning....still not the way I want it to be, but they're getting better! Leave me a comment if you have any tips on how to make your own layouts. Thanks!

Island Park-August Trip

After our very adventurous first trip to the cabin, we went back for round two a month later. This time it wasn't quite as strenuous...in fact, this is what we did pretty much the whole time:

(my computer-I was taking the pictures)

Jeff (my father-in-law) was making fun of all of us (me, debbie, jason, and mike) for all being on our separate laptops in the same room...and not out enjoying the beautiful nature that was surrounding us. Oh well :) We all had a great time relaxing in our own ways!

Also got these cute pics of Carson spending time with his daddy:

Island Park-July Trip

Here are pictures from our first trip up to the family Cabin in Island Park this summer. Mike wasn't able to go with us, but we sure had a fun! We were on the go the whole time. We went on a nature walk around a waterfall, headed to Eniss and did some shopping, and drove halfway to the Canadian border to see the Lewis and Clark caves (which were AMAZING and suprisingly treacherous). After carrying the babies around in the caves for about 3 hours, all of our arms and legs were sore and aching, but we're all super buff now! (okay...maybe not...) Here are some pictures of our fun.

At the Waterfall

My nieces Libbie and Kelly

Big Bad (dead) Bear

Holding the bottle all by himself!

Becky and I eating lunch at Eniss

Bryce, Jason and Carson

Carson with the stuffed skunk he picked out himself...passed on the cute bear, deer, and mountain lion we showed him but got so excited when he saw the skunk..go figure!

Hiking up the mountain to the caves

My cute nephew Jed who is 9 months older than Carson

In the caves that were wicked awesome!

Had to slide on our bums down part of the cave...a little nerve racking with a 5 1/2 month old on my lap, but still fun!