Decisions, decisions...

So here are my favorite family pictures from our photo shoot with our friend from our ward. Does this mean we are getting out a Christmas card this year? Why, yes it does! Which is why I need your help pronto! Which do you like best?

 

 

A New Calling...

Well, I was released from Cub Scouts on Sunday after serving there for over three years here in San Diego. Can you guess where I'm serving now? It has to do with these lovely colors, white, blue, red, green, orange, yellow, purple and gold.

 

Aaron's Watercolor Portfolio

Aubrey started a Rhythmic Gymnastics class on Mondays and I found out that the center also has teaches art classes so I signed up Aaron. He's been coming home with some really great art work.

 

 

 

 

November Card Swap

Jen's Sumi Salad

Mike and I recently discovered a tasty Japanese grill close by our house. I loved the sumi salad. It reminded me of a cabbage salad that my mom used to make except hers had ramen noodles in it. I decided to experiment with my own version. So here it is!

I'm not sure why the picture turned out tiny but it is definitely big on flavor. badabing! Okay, so here's what you want to do. First, start out by going on down to Trader Joe's and picking up a bag of shredded cabbage, a bag of chopped kale, and a bag of the broccoli slaw. You'll thank me later.

Ingredients for Jen's Freakin' Awesome Sumi Salad:

1 bag shredded cabbage (about 2-3 cups)
2 cups of chopped kale (rinse, remove big stems, and chop into smaller size)
1/2 bag of broccoli slaw (about 1 1/2 - 2 cups)
4 stalks of celery, chopped
2 cups of rinsed, chopped cilantro
5-7 green onions, chopped
1 red bell pepper, chopped
1 orange bell pepper, chopped
1/3 cup sesame seeds, toasted
1/2 cup sliced almonds, toasted

Dressing:

2-3 T. sesame oil
3-4 T. rice vinegar
2 tsp agave, OR a couple packets of Stevia (that's what I used)
1 tsp kosher salt
Lots of fresh ground pepper

Toast the sesame seeds and almonds on the stove top in a dry nonstick pan or in the oven at 400 for a few minutes and then set aside to cool. Combine all your veggies in a big bowl. Whisk your dressing and add to veggies. Stir to coat evenly. It won't look like you have enough dressing but trust me, it will be fine. You can add choose to add the sesame seeds and almonds now or before serving. I just added mine. Chill salad for a few hours. Tastes great for days and is a tasty way to get in your veggies!!!

You can add or subtract any veggies you want. I tried chopped parsley in my first batch and wasn't too impressed but you know how healthy parsley is so maybe I'll just add less next time. I usually buy my peppers in the 3 pack from TJ's and you could opt to add the yellow pepper too.

Extraordinary Stake Relief Society Activity

Our Stake Relief Society performed a vignette entitled "Extraordinary Calling" for the 170th birthday of the Relief Society last month. A friend from my ward, wrote the vignette about the founding sisters and asked me to get involved after a cast member fell ill. I was a little nervous and apprehensive but after the first rehearsal, I knew this would be an amazing production to be a part of. So, I accepted the invitation to play Martha Knight. I even got to work with the wardrobe designer to figure out my costume. I ended up making a dickie with collar and sleeves to coordinate with the apron and skirt.

Janet Hogstrom, myself, Tina Jacobson

Ruth Taylor and myself

Here's most of the cast after the play. We had some really neat bonnets and costumes. My friend Jeanette, in the brown dress with white shawl, played Emma Smith. She did a great job.

The stage appeared as an old school house with old fashioned chairs and furniture. I was able to lend my old fashioned chair that went to my roll top desk that I used as a teenager.

One of the miracles that occured the day of the performance was Mike's unexpected early arrival home from a business trip. He had been scheduled to be in India until Friday and I had booked my babysitter weeks ahead of time. Well, my babysitter contacted me Thursday morning and had to cancel because she was running a fever and quite sick. I was scrambling all afternoon to figure out what I was going to do with the kids. And then Mike walked through the door at 2:00 in the afternoon! It was a huge relief!

Easter 2012

We enjoyed a beautiful Easter Sunday! You know what was so nice? Having church at 9 a.m.! That's right. We didn't bother with easter baskets and all the commercial distraction surrounding Easter. We came home from church and enjoyed lunch, then we talked about the gift of the resurrection. The easter bunny doesn't deliver the easter goods, mom and dad do!  After our talk, the kids went in their rooms one by one to find their baskets. They each got a book, movie/game, and a few knick-knacks. We did have an egg hunt but that was only after I searched for some coins from my wallet, and Mike's too and I even borrowed some coins from Connor. I know, sad, huh. I didn't buy a single bag of candy this year. I guess I've just seen too many food documentaries lately so I just didn't bring it in the house. I had a few left over hershey's kisses that a friend gave me for my birthday so we had maybe two dozen eggs. Mike hid them in the backyard. The kids enjoyed the hunt despite the prize inside the eggs. They still had fun and I feel good about how we celebrated Easter this year!

Jen's Flourless Nut Lover's Chocolate Chip Cookies

I did it! I made a great tasting chocolate chip cookie without any flour! I was surprised at how great these cookies turned out! I have always tried to incorporate whole grains in my cookies. I love to sneak all kinds of goodness in them. Today, I substituted the flour in one of my favorite chocolate chip cookie recipe with some wholesome grains I had on hand. If you're looking to healthify any recipes, start by substituted the white flour with any of the following or combinations of: unbleached, unbrominated white flour (King Arthur's is a great choice), white whole wheat flour, whole wheat flour, oat flour, almond meal, ground flaxseed, quinoa flakes, etc... Substitute some of the sugar for organic sugars, or honey. Most cookies are far too sweet. You can usually cut back 1/4 of what the recipe calls for without noticing a difference.

Jen's Flourless Nut Lover's Chocolate Chip Cookies

1/2 c. unsalted butter, soft
1/2 c. organic brown sugar
1/4 c. organic sugar
1/4 c. honey
3/4 tsp. vanilla
1 egg, organic cage free

1/2 tsp. aluminum free baking soda
1/2 tsp. salt
2 c. old fashioned oats
1 c. slivered almonds
1/2 c. ground flaxseed
1 c. unsweetened coconut, finely grated
1/2 c. shredded coconut

Add-ins: Nuts of your choice! or dried fruits if you wish
1/2 c. unsalted roasted sunflower seeds
1/2 c. walnuts
1 c.70% cocoa chips, carob chips or chocolate chips

Preheat oven to 350.

In a blender or food processor, blend the oats and slivered almonds until you get a flour like consistency. Set aside.

Next, cream butter, sugars, honey, egg, and vanilla.

On stir speed, add baking soda, salt, oat/almond flour, ground flaxseed, and coconut. Mix until well combined. Stop and scrape the sides as necessary.

Coarsely chop up the sunflower seeds and walnuts. My husband doesn't like nuts in baked goods. Shhhh...don't tell him about the ground up slivered almonds...he didn't notice! So I made half the batch with the extra nut add-ins.

Finally, stir in the add-ins of your choice.

I used the medium cookie scoop and flattened each ball a tad on a silpat or parchment paper lined cookie sheet.

Bake for 9-10 minutes.

What about the R.O.U.S.s?

Yes, they do exist! Rodents of Unusual Size, a.k.a.Capybara can be found at Sea World. We had the unique opportunity to have a close encounter with these interesting animals. We were looking for the armadillo at Animal Connections when a zookeeper approached us and asked if we'd like to help her feed one of the animals. Of course! We learned that Capybaras are a little skiddish around new people so we had to be quiet, calm, and not make any sudden movements. The kids fed the Capybaras, Rust and Buttercup, romaine lettuce.

Happy St. Patrick's Day!

We were happy to celebrate Karam's 4th birthday up at the Children's Discovery Museum in Escondido today. I totally forgot about dressing in green! Karam is Aubrey's very special friend from preschool. Aubrey adores Karam. We made him a very special cd with all of Aubrey's favorite music on it. She illustrated the cd cover. We added "Happy Birthday Karam!" to the top of the picture.

End of basketball season for Connor

Connor participated in basketball this year. We were very fortunate to have a great coach and Connor enjoyed it. The coach pointed out that Connor was always eager to get on the court and never had a bad attitude. He tried his best and we're hoping that he'll want to play again next season. We're going to work on those ball skills over the summer!

February Winter Break

Mike had a few recruiting events at BYU over the kid's winter break so we tagged along with Mike to Utah. We stayed with his brother Steve and his family in Kaysville. Of course visiting with family and skiing were the highlights. Here's a picture of Aubrey learning about how to make pizzas and french fries when skiing.

Aubrey enjoying a snack break while the boys went up the chairlift with Mike.

Here's Connor coming down the mountain with Mike. Connor really got the hang of turning by the end of his lesson. We were totally impressed!

Aaron and Mike going up the mountain! Aaron went up twice with Mike. He also did a great job! Their teacher was a 75 year old man named Bill. He was excellent!

 Here comes Aaron!

Aubrey with her second cousins Kit and Matt. Kit and Aubrey met last year at my family's quilt retreat in Mendon, Utah and they've been pen pals ever since. My cousin Rose drove down on Friday so the girls could visit. It was so fun. Kit, Rose, and Aunt Beryl surprised Aubrey with a knitted mini baby bassinette that converts to a drawstring pouch. Rose made the outfit for mini baby Bluebelle. I'll have to take a picture of the outfit. So cute! Sleeper, bonnet, panties, and all. And Aunt Beryl made the little pillow, pillowcase, sheet and cushioning. Rose also made a mini quilt. Aubrey was thrilled!

 

Here's Aubrey with her cousin Autumn. They are eight months apart and two of the five girls born within nine months of each other on Mike's side of the family.

 Keira posing for her picture. Steve and Aimee's little two year old. Would you believe this little girl is amazing at Just Dance 3? She's exceptional at Video Killed the Radio Star.

I drove the kids up to the Research Park on the University of Utah campus. I used to work for Parametric Technology Corporaton when they had an office right there on Arapeen Drive. Wow, that brought back some memories! We drove up the canyon by Hogle Zoo and This is the Place park. Last time I was here was when I was pregnant with Aaron in July of 1999.

I'm quickly realizing how little I use my camera. I had a great visit with my brother Mark and sister Hillary. We also got to play some games with Mike's Uncle Alan, Aunt Maureena and cousin Jason. It's always fun to get together with family!