Zach's First Talk

Zach gave his first talk in Primary today. He did such a good job! Have a listen (it's really not a video). His talk was about the Holy Ghost.

Transcript:

When I turn 8 and get baptized, I will receive the gift of the Holy Ghost.

The Holy Gh ost can tell me what's right and wrong.

The Holy Ghost also testifies of the truth of all things.

The Holy Ghost testifies that Jesus Christ is my Savior and that he loves me.

The Holy Ghost testifies that the Book of Mormon holds important truths that can get me closer to God.

The Holy Ghost testifies that Joseph Smith restored the true church on the earth.

The Holy Ghost testifies that Thomas S. Monson is a living prophet who leads and guides us today.

The Holy Ghost testifies that following God's commandments makes me happy.

I know that if I listen to the Holy Ghost, I will be happy.

what was I thinking?

This is what happens when the kids water the garden...

Go get a glass of ice water.

No really... go get one... trust me it will be worth it.

Add a couple more ice cubes to your glass. In fact, fill the entire glass with ice cubes and then fill the remaining space with water. Wait 10 minutes. Stick your finger in and keep it in.

Now, imagine immersing your entire body in that glass of ice water. Are you imagining?

That my friends was the temperature of Bear Lake this past weekend. I screamed like a 10-year-old little girl when I jumped in, Brandon couldn't even form a coherent sentence, and my sister just held open her mouth and hyperventilated. Good times.

We were the only people stupid enough to boat when the lake was so cold, so we got in some good wakeboarding/skiing on glassy water.

Bear Lake is a magical place to me. Some of my favorite family memories have happened at Bear Lake. I love being able to share that with my kids. They love Bear Lake as much as I do.

Two more weeks, Bear Lake, and we'll be coming back. You better be ready (and a lot warmer)!

just a little update

It seems like we've been busy, but mostly it's just playing outside, enjoying the warm weather. My kids play so hard that Zach asks to sleep and Halle falls asleep in the car on a 5-minute jaunt to the store.

Zach continues to love letters and is working on writing. Below is his name... duh. He works so hard on writing and our driveway is often covered with his chalk letters.

He can read 3-letter words and loves to draw. He doesn't like coloring books. He instead likes blank pieces of paper to draw creatures on. To create a creature, he draws a blob, adds legs, and a huge smiley face. This one he told me was a dinosaur:

Halle has been teething and I've been weaning her from finger-sucking. This has led to a grouchy little girl, but Brandon doesn't believe me. This is what he comes home to:

Of course, this is after she's fed herself a Frosty. After that, who wouldn't be happy?!? Halle has a fascination with bathrooms... ugh. She loves to climb up Zach's stool and turn the lights/fan on and off. Also, when I can't find her, I peek into my bathroom and she will give me the most guilty face. What is she doing? Cleaning the toilet with the toilet bowl brush. While I don't like it now, I'm hoping in a couple years she will still enjoy cleaning the toilets - I will then put her to work!

dinner ideas

Every week, before I go grocery shopping, I sit stumped at what I'm going to make for the week. I really dread it. I never know what to cook. So in a selfish effort to get some more dinner ideas, I thought I'd post some of our recent family favorites and in return, you could do the same (via your own blog or in my comments).

A Brandon Favorite:
Barbecue Country Style Ribs
For the recipe, go here . I think it needs a little zing, but it was still yummy (and I am not a pork fan).


A Trisha Favorite:
Alda's Fried Chicken by Grandma Allan
2 lbs chicken (chicken pieces with skin and bones work best)
Flour
Salt
Sage
Pepper
Garlic Salt
1 pkg onion soup mix

Mix flour, salt, sage, pepper, and garlic salt in a plastic bag. Shake chicken pieces in bag. Brown in margatine on both sides. Pour a package of dried onion soup mix over it. Add 1/2 inch of water. Cover and steam for one hour.

Fall-off-the-bone good. We serve this with rice. There is a nice sauce that is formed after all the cooking is done.


A Zach Favorite (Zach's real favorite is PB&J, but he did eat this without complaint):
BBQ Beef Sandwiches by Corinne Green
Put a roast in the crockpot with 1/2 inch water. Cook on low for 10-12 hours. After 10-12 hours, drain the water from the crockpot and set it aside. Shred the roast and add your favorite BBQ sauce. Add back in the flavored water in the ratio you like. Serve on buns.


A Halle Favorite (Halle begs for this):
White Chili by Cheryl Edwards
1 lb chicken
1 can Northern Beans
2 tbsp olive oil
6 c chicken broth
1/2 c onion, chopped
1 can white corn
1 small can green chilis
1 tsp cilantro
1 tsp cumin
1/2 tsp oregano
1/2 tsp garlic powder
1/2 tsp crushed red pepper

Cut up chicken into cubes and brown in frying pan with olive oil. In saucepan, combine chicken broth, onions, cilantro, cumin, oregano, garlic powder, and red pepper. Simmer 20 minutes. Add chicken, green chilis, corn, and beans to the broth mixture. Simmer for 10 minutes.

Mix in cheese and crushed up tortilla chips.


Enjoy!!!

Day Out with Thomas

This past weekend we headed to Heber City to do Day Out with Thomas. During our trip, we learned some things:

1. Zach gets car sick. Poor kid. We will be getting our car detailed shortly.
   
2. Zach can jump from one bed to the other in a hotel. I would have never thought two beds in a room would be endless fun for the kids. Jumping on the beds was probably one of the funnest things they did - they were giggling endlessly.


3. Zach and Halle are fish. We swam in the hotel's pool and the kids loved it. Zach swam from edge to edge with his floaties and didn't want a soul to touch him. Halle kept purposely dunking her head in the water and laughing.


4. Seeing Thomas was exciting. Zach a bit perplexed though on why Thomas didn't pull the passenger cars very fast. I guess since Zach gets motion sick, we are lucky Thomas was a bit on the slow side.
5. Zach was afraid of Sir Topham Hatt (and so was Brandon).



6. More family vacations please! This was our first real family vacation and it was fun. The kids were content and happy. We couldn't have asked for more (well... except to have a non-smelly car, but that will be coming shortly).
   
   

wordless wednesday