Ultrasound is over...

and its a ...... BOY!

Ya'll were all right! Now to figure out a name. Ruthanne wants Charlie. She keeps pestering me already. We are going to have to decide soon before she drives me crazy!

Vote in my Poll - to the right!

Anyone have ideas about what the baby is? Take the poll. We find out the real answer Thursday morning, so stay tuned!

New Blog!

http://recipesforsharing.blogspot.com/

I know, crazy me! This may not be very active until my Christmas crafting is done, but its out there in cyber world now! I hope to add recipes I like and tried and also add in recipes from my grandmother and Luke's grandmother. I may open this up to other family members or maybe we'll start another blog or two for that? So, post if you'd be interested in sharing a recipe blog!

Macaroni & Cheese

I finally found a good baked macaroni and cheese that is still very creamy. You know how some baked macaroni recipes get all clumpy and weird, this is not like that! I'm sure it is not good for you to eat very often due to the amount of cheese, but for an occasional thing, I think its ok!

Homemade Macaroni and Cheese

8 Tbsp butter
6 slices bread (crust off and torn into 1/4" pieces)
5 1/2 cups milk
1/2 cup flour
2 tsp salt
1/4 tsp ground pepper
1/4 tsp ground nutmet
1/4 tsp cayenne pepper
1 lb elbow macaroni
1 lb grated sharp/medium cheddar
1/2 lb grated Gouda

Preheat oven to 375. Spray a 13x9 pan with cooking spray. Place bread in a medium bowl and put 2 tbsp melted butter in and toss (you could also replace this step with breadcrumbs). Set bread aside. Heat milk in a saucepan. Melt 6 tbsp butter in another saucepan over medium heat. When butter bubbles, add flour and whisk for 1 minute. Slowly add heated milk whisking with each addition until all added and thickened. Remove from heat and add in salt, nutmeg, pepper, cayenne (I didn't measure nutmeg, pepper, or cayenne and probably put less than the recommended amount and it wasn't spicey at all), 3/4 of cheddar cheese and gouda, reserving the rest. Stir until all cheese is melted. Cook macaroni for 2-3 minutes less than called for, drain well and stir into cheese mixture. Then place into casserole dish and cover with remaining cheese and breadcrumbs. Bake about 30 minutes until brown on top.

Another blog?

I know, I can't even seen to keep up with the one I have! I want a place to keep recipes and perhaps I will open this up to other family member also to share recipes, we'll see. That may be complicated with the two sides of the family that may want to be involved. I also want to go through my grandmother's recipes and Luke's grandmother's recipes and put them out there on the web so we can all have them all. We will see how that goes!

Cool Pop-up Cards!

I found a great site with cards you can print and make your own pop up cards. There are some cute ones for Christmas, a turkey for Thanksgiving, Darth Vader (for John!), etc.
Have fun making cards! That is what we have spent our morning doing! Editing to add the link! That would be nice huh? http://www.robertsabuda.com/popmake/index.asp

Which would you get?

So, I've been wanting a coffee table/kids table/storage area for the living room. I originally fell in love with this one from Land of Nod (i.e. a little pricey, not terrible):


But, I saw that Target has something similar in their weekly ad this week for about $300 less (after shipping for the other one):The problem, the target one only comes in white, so I would want to do something to it, paint it? And, I know it is not a quality piece of furniture. I have a thing for nice wood furniture (thanks Mom and Dad). I think the Land of Nod one would stay in our living room forever. So, which would you get?

Oh, and how cool is it that you can just plug in any images location on the web and put it in your blog! I had no idea! No wonder Sister Griffis always uses lots of pictures, its easy!

Wilson Family

Get your own Family Sticker Maker & MySpace Layouts.

Surprise! I am finally telling everyone after the second doctors visit. Baby is due May 12, 2009. When I get over this massive cold, I will update the blog with some new pictures.

Looking for Pumpkin Bread...

as good as Barbara Jean's! Anyone got anything for me? I made a Martha Stewart pumpkin cake recipe today but really it was just like a pumpkin bread, really dense (its pretty good though especially with a thin layer of cheesecake flavored cream cheese). I'm wanting something nice and light and fluffy. And, how does Barbara Jean get that nice thin brown crust on top?

Check out My Kids!

Monday we went up to Atlanta for the day to have Kara take pictures of John and Ruthanne. We also got to hang out with our other cousins in the area. It was a fun day. Kara took some awesome pictures of the kids! I didn't think she got any good pictures from my viewpoint. But maybe she has magical powers and her camera snaps pictures super fast! Here some of them are on her Honeysuckledew blog! Magical powers I tell you!

I've been tagged!

Kara tagged me to:

1.) Go to your Pictures folder on your computer

2.) Go to your 4th folder

3.) Get your 4th picture

4.) Tag four people

Here's my photo:


This picture just shows the progress on the swingset this winter at my inlaw's house.

I tag Sister Griffis (Gigi), Amanda, Shauna (you still out there?), and Tara (Hale but I will always think of as Griffis!)!

Pumpkin Painting

Well, the kids painted their pumpkins, Monday night actually. I just got the pictures uploaded. They really had fun. John was intent on covering as much of the pumpkins surface as possible. Ruthanne wanted me to draw her a girly pumpkin face that she then painted, with green and yellow freckles even! Here are the pictures.

I think they could have looked a little more excited about painting pumpkins, don't you?
Ruthanne dips into the paint!John takes a look at his work!Must cover all the orange pumpkin!The finished product. Well, almost, she added silver eyelashes after the picture was taken.John is very proud of his creation!

Spiderman Theme Song

John, of course, wants to listen to a Spiderman song. Well, all we had come up with was itsy bitsy spider, but that just wasn't cutting it. Grandma had sung a little bit of a Spiderman song so we tried to find it tonight. I found it, it was the theme song from the old Spiderman cartoons. John loved it, we listened to it twice before bed tonight and I see it becoming a ritual. Thus, I'm going to put it here on the blog so I can find it easily!

Pumpkin Patch, Hayride, and Animal Farm

We went to a farm today that had a pumpkin patch, hayride, and animals. It was pretty fun for the kids, and I was thinking cool, I'll get some good fall pictures. Yeah, not so much. Kara, you seriously have your work cut out for you next week!

I thought this chicken was funny and I call it the poodle chicken.


This was a somewhat nice shot of some of the horses they had there.


Here is a picture of the kids on the hayride. Unfortunately John wasn't looking during this one.

And then, this one, Ruthanne is wiping her eyes. The sun and I think the hay were making her eyes squint and water a bunch. She could not look in the sun.


This dog was HUGE. He/she was so tame and did not jump (good thing because he was already as tall as John). John just loved him, a dog that doesn't jump/lick is right up his alley!


Ruthanne picked out her pumpkin.


Ruthanne and John both with their pumpkins. I tried really hard to get a good picture here, but Ruthanne's eyes were seriously bothering her. I think she needs prescription sunglasses, and the ability to keep glasses on her nose!


In other news, tonight Luke changed into his BYU shirt that says COUGARS on it. John was looking at his shirt and said my hat has that letter on it and pointed to the G. The hat he was talking about is a white one with a red G for Glynn Academy (NOT UGA!). I thought that was pretty impressive. He did not know the letter name but to recognize it as being the same was pretty smart. He also likes his clothing to match now, especially if he has on his orange shorts.

Ruthanne is still reading away and today she wrote a story about a princess. She is excited about painting her pumpkin and wants to enter the pumpkin contest at the library. I need to go buy a craft pumpkin for that. Maybe there will be some pumpkin decorating pictures soon!

Poor Ruthanne

I'm not sure if you can tell but her left cheek is swollen. She had been complaining of her mouth hurting for a little while and we kind of ignored it, thinking it was just her molars or something. Well, today she woke up with this swollen cheek so we decided it was time to take her back to the dentist. She had just had some fillings done in the past couple of weeks and we thought maybe it was related. Yep, she has an abscessed tooth. The decay had gone down to the nerve and they didn't notice it when doing the filling. So, now she has to take antibiotics and then have a pulpotomy (or something) to clean out the nerves and then put a filling on top of that. Ugh. That happens in a couple of weeks. Luckily she should be feeling better within a day or two of the antibiotics. The unlucky thing is I had them call it in to Walmart and it was not ready even two hours later, so I will be picking it up in the morning. Grrr Walmart pharmacy!

On other news John just keeps on talking up a storm. Lately he is all about the baseball. Luke and John have been watching some playoff games and John really likes it. He started asking when we could buy him a baseball bat. Luke told him sometime. Well, after that every time John woke up he would ask me if I had bought him a baseball bat. Luke decided to take the kids out to buy a baseball bat while I was at church Tuesday night. Before they left John wanted to make sure that Dad had money so that he could buy it. I guess he thinks Mom is the only one who knows how to spend money! They bought a (you will never guess!) Spiderman bat and ball. He loves it! Of course now he just asks me when I will buy him football pants and football shoes. Give it up already boy!

What did the Tooth Fairy Bring?

Well, I was going out to Wal-mart the night the tooth came out. Luke was getting the kids ready for bed as I was leaving. Ruthanne asked me if I was going to get her something for losing her tooth. I said, no, the tooth fairy brings something. Ruthanne said, well, thats just money. So, I decided I had a couple of little princess dress up toys stowed away in the closet I had gotten for cheap (like this, but smaller, and WAY cheaper!).

The tooth fairy also left a note saying that this was a special gift for the first tooth and that all other teeth would get money. And how much money will the tooth fairy be giving out per tooth? Probably a dollar. Ruthanne was very happy about the toy and has been playing with it constantly. Too bad new toys lose their charm after a few days around here! Anyhow, yesterday Ruthanne reminds me that we have a Belle toy just like this. Shoot (I had bribed her with one of these princess toys when she got her 5 year old shots, more than 6 months ago)! I told her that yeah, we'll just have to give that one to someone else! Maybe I'll pretend I sent it to Lilian! I never thought she'd remember I had those toys!

One Tooth Gone!

In quite dramatic fashion, per Ruthanne's usual!

We sat down to dinner (corndogs, I know, real fancy). The prayer had been said and then Ruthanne takes her first bite and starts freaking out! She's saying her tooth is on her tongue. I guess it was kind of laying there? It was also bleeding a little. She was not happy, just wouldn't swallow, drink. I was telling Luke to just pull it out (it was really just hanging by a thread and by the time they get to that point, you might as well just pull it!). Well, she didn't want anyone to pull it either and was afraid that it would hurt. So eventually amid all the drama, Luke is looking at it and decides that it isn't attached anymore and just fishes it out of her mouth. I immediately shout Yay the tooth fairy gets to come! That gets her a little calmer, but we still have to calm her down and make her drink some water.

I then had to cut up her corndog for her to eat, I guess she thought it would be too weird to eat missing a tooth. When going to bed, she was so excited for the tooth fairy to come I had to tell her that the tooth fairy would only come if she is asleep. Gosh, it feels like Christmas! Here is a picture of her new smile.

Yummy Apple Pancakes!

One last post for today. I'm on a roll I tell ya!

Ruthanne wanted pancakes for dinner, and I get bored flipping pancake after pancake on the stove, so I decided to try dutch babies (aka german pancakes). We had an apple in the fridge so we added that to be fancy! Here is what it looked like right out of the oven.

Its nice and puffy right out of the oven and then deflates in a couple of minutes.

Here are my modified directions, from this allrecipes.com recipe.

Put 2 tbsp of butter in a glass pie plate in a 400 degree oven.

Then slice up an apple (fairly thinly) with or without skin, your preference.

Wisk together 2 eggs, then add in 1/2 cup milk, and 1/2 cup all purpose flour. I add in a little vanilla too. Oh, and the salt (forgot that last night!).

When the butter is sizzling slightly in the oven, pull it out and place the apples in the pan. Sprinkle with a little cinnamon. Pour in the egg mixture gently (to not disturb the apples) and put it back in the oven until nice and brown (between 20 and 30 minutes). You can sprinkle with powdered sugar, then slice and drizzle with syrup! Yummy!

Ruthanne's Flower Painting

Yesterday Ruthanne asked to do watercolors, so I gave her four pieces of paper to do. One of them was this very good flower. I was pretty impressed and I thought ya'll might like to see too!

Sick Day!

We're having a sick day here. Well, John is anyways. He just lays around and has been running around a 101 degree fever so far. No other symptoms, but I'm still waiting so I can figure out what we are all going to get! Here are the kids vegging out on the couch watching the Incredibles, John's choice.

John started feeling better, or maybe just got inspired by the movie, and decided he needed to put on his new Spiderman costume I bought him for Halloween. Spiderman is his new thing. Bye bye Elmo, hello superheroes! Ruthanne joined in with her Cinderella costume.

Another Good Recipe

My friend Amanda mentioned wanting a recipe that we made one night. It is amazing that this recipe got made more than the first time my Mom made it. When she first made it, it did not turn out the best. My dad and brother were apparently a little disappointed, to put it mildly (I was away at Mercer). She went on a cooking strike and told them that they needed to help decide what was for dinner. I think the cooking strike lasted about 2 weeks. Anyhow, with some minor tweaks, making sure the tortilla pieces were all well coated with sauce, solved the problem, and my family still enjoys this meal today.

Mexican Lasagna (this is what my family calls it, the original name is Soft Tortilla Bake or something)

8 soft taco size flour tortillas, cut into 1-1.5" squares
1 can tomato soup
1/2 cup milk
1 cup salsa
1.5 cups grated cheese
1 lb ground beef, browned with onion & bell pepper, if desired

Combine cooked ground beef, salsa, milk, tomato soup, and about half the cheese. Heat and stir until combined. Add in tortilla squares and stir to coat. Pour into baking dish and bake for 30 minutes at 350, covered. Take out of the oven and top with additional cheese then put back in the oven for another 5-10 minutes.

Dinner the whole family ate!

It seems like there are few meals that everyone will eat willingly. I made Mexican Tortilla Casserole the other day and the kids both ate it up. Ruthanne wasn't a big fan of the ground beef on top, but she scraped her leftover meat onto John's plate and he ate it! He thought it was sloppy joes. Here's the recipe:

Mexican Tortilla Casserole

1 lb of ground beef or turkey
some chopped onion of you want
16 oz of tomato sauce
8 oz of cream cheese (light is fine)
12 tortillas
1.5 cups of grated cheese
2 tsp taco seasoning (to taste)

Cook ground beef with onion until brown. Drain beef. Add in tomato sauce and taco seasoning.
Meanwhile, spread a thin layer of cream cheese over each tortilla and then roll very tightly and put into a 9x13 casserole. Put the ground beef mixture on top and then top with grated cheese. Bake in a 375 oven for about 25 minutes, or until bubbling and cheese is nice and melty!

Vowels are important letters...

there's a vowel in each word!

If you are not into pop children's music, this is from the They Might Be Giants, Here Come the ABCs album. We were listening (and I was singing) to this catchy little tune in the car on our way to Publix. Ruthanne realized what I said and was really surprised that there was a vowel in every word. Before we even got out of the car she was saying, school doesn't have a vowel. I said, well what makes the oo sound. She would realize it was a vowel and try to think up another word that doesn't have a vowel. Then we got to Publix and our whole trip was spent with her looking at all the words around us trying to find a word without a vowel. She was not successful, by the way! You know, sometimes y!

Save Midnight Sun (Twilight from Edward's Point of View)

This is for those addicted to the Twilight Series. As most of you probably know, Midnight Sun was due to be out soon. Stephenie Meyer had put a chapter up on her website, but then the first half of the book was leaked onto the internet. Stephenie was really upset and has put completing the book on hold indefinitely. She has also gone ahead and put the piece that was leaked onto her website (www.stepheniemeyer.com).

My sister in law, Jaime, and her husband Matt have created a website to save Midnight Sun by showing Stephenie how many would love to have her finish the book. So, if you are a fan, please go visit http://www.savemidnightsun.com/. Thanks!

The Beach

We also went to the beach while we were in town. Everytime I go to the beach on St. Simons Island I wonder why people vacation there! I mean the atmosphere is nice but the sand and the water is crummy! Go find some nice blue water and white sandy beaches!

It was stormy almost all week, but we just decided we had to brave it and go. It was a little cool too that day. The kids had fun anyways getting all wet and sandy. John would run out to the water and then run back out repeatedly. Ruthanne had lots of fun building dribble sand castles. At the end we were 5 minutes too late getting to the car and got drenched a bit. We'll have to go again on a nice sunny day and maybe I will have better thoughts about the beach!

Sea Turtle Center

I wanted to do something somewhat educational while we were in town, so we went to see the new Sea Turtle Center on Jekyll Island. It is pretty small and I am glad that there weren't any more people around, thank goodness school had started already. They give you a sea turtle journal after you pay and then you can go around this little room and put stamps (embossing) in your journal that eventually makes up a story about your turtle (you don't get to pick you story, its random). And, you can go see the sea turtles that they currently have there and hear about their medical problems and how they came to the center. All in all it was pretty fun, but probably only about an hours worth of fun for my 5 and 2 year olds!

Here they are before we went in.

This is in the hospital area where the keep the sea turtles.


Here they are looking at a little turtle, Cohen, that will have to live the rest of its life at the center being an example of his species (or so his information book said). He had been in a car accident and couldn't move his back legs very well.

Catch Up

I know, I promised pictures! But, we have had a super crazy week. John came down with croup Sunday night and then Ruthanne got it. They were up at night most of the week and we were doing steamy showers to help them breath better. So, Mom wasn't sleeping well, I had Activity Days at church Tuesday night that I was in charge of, a primary lesson and sharing time for today, and we've been writing a Roadshow for a primary activity in September. Whew!

So, first, here are all the miscellaneous pictures.

This is before church on Sunday.



Posing with Mamom. I must have 15 shots of this pose. Its hard to get a picture that looks good of 3 of them at the same time!


My birthday cake! It was from Brusters and was really good! If you order a couple days or more ahead of time, you can pick your ice cream flavor. Its a cute cake too! Below the kids are eating cake.


If I remember correctly, Ruthanne was siting on Mimi's lap because John didn't want to love on Mimi; but, of course once Ruthanne was getting some attention John wanted in on it!


I don't like getting behind! I'm going to aim for a post a day until I get all up to date!

Trip to Brunswick

We drove down to Brunswick almost a couple of weeks ago to buy our new car and play and visit with family. This is some of our car ride there.

I'll be going through our pictures from our trip and blogging about our fun times, the Sea Turtle Center, the beach, my birthday, etc. I have some old things I need to post about too, Krista's wedding, Georgia Aquarium, Hannah's Birthday party. So, stay tuned!

Look its Hootie - in Country!

I kept thinking this song had a familiar voice to it, but I couldn't place it! Well, its Hootie (from Hootie and the Blowfish) going solo as Darius Rucker and he will soon have out a country album. If its anything like his first single, I will like it!

Anyhow, check out his first country single, if you haven't already been listening to it on the radio.

Twilight-Saga-Itis

I've been absent as I've been catching back up with the Twilight Saga.

I read the first three books about a year ago and loved them. Fast forward to now, the fourth and final book has been released and I needed to re-read the first three so I could be back up to speed! So, since I didn't have access to the first 3, my mother-in-law bought them for me (well, plus the final 4th one - she even went out at midnight!) for an early birthday present. I've had them all in my possession since Saturday and I have made it through the first two and halfway through the third. I'm almost sad that I'm about to start the 4th one for the first time, then it will all be over! I don't want it to end! Maybe once I'm all done, I will blog a bit more frequently!

You never know

I've been teaching primary at church since we moved back to Georgia, specifically the CTR 8 class, boys and girls. It was tough keeping their attention and teaching to a broad range of knowledge and abilities. I had a girl (lets call her Jane) who was difficult to get interested in the lesson, preferring to lay on the chairs than sit up and participate. Really it took some time and she gradually became more used to me and participated more in class, with some special assignments for her to do in class.

But, just when it was getting easier for me, the Primary Presidency decided that I should take over the Valiant 9 and 10 class and help with Activity Days (mid-week activities for the girls). I had one last lesson with my CTR 8 class (which went exceptionally well) and I was able to explain to them that I was going to be teaching a different class. The girls would get to be in my new class next year anyways and if they were 8 already, they participate in the Activity Days. I figured no big deal, they wouldn't miss me, I'm not that exceptional of a teacher.

But, two Sundays after my last lesson with them, Jane comes up to me as I am preparing to start my lesson with the new Primary class and asks why I can't be her teacher any more. I never would have thought that this girl would miss me and how often did I ponder not trying to reach out to her in some way during the lesson because it was too much work. Well, it is worth it, and even if we don't know if we have had an impact or helped in any way, Heavenly Father knows. We may never know in what ways we may touch those who cross our path, but I hope that I will strive harder to have a good influence and put forth the effort in whatever Heavenly Father has asked of me.

Etsy

My favorite place to shop (browse really) lately is etsy. There are so many creative people out there making all kinds of unique items. I've put some of my favorites in the column to the right. If you click on carlapwilson underneath I believe you can go in and see all of my favorite shops. My friend Rosie just started an etsy shop and is doing lots of cute stamped jewelry (see the two items on the bottom). So, if you are out there wondering what to get me for my birthday, these are also good suggestions!

Rolls & Cake

I have finally found a roll recipe that I like and is easy! It tastes fairly similar to Shirley's Rolls (a great little bakery in Provo, UT). I got the recipe from a church cookbook (Bonneville 1st Ward). Anyhow, here it is:

Dinner Rolls
1 1/3 cups warm water
1/4 cup sugar
2 T instant yeast
1 tsp salt (although I think it could use more but I don't know what that would do to the recipe)
2 eggs
4+ cups of flour (all purpose or bread flour, or you can sub in some whole wheat flour to make it more healthy. Luke says it tastes too healthy with the wheat!)

Mix water, sugar, and yeast and let sit for about 5 minutes. Mix in salt, eggs, and 3 cups of flour. Continue adding flour until it is smooth and dough pulls away from the sides of the mixer (but still sticks just a little bit to the bottom). Remove mixer attachment and let rise in mixer bowl covered for 30 minutes. Knead with a little more flour and shape and let rise for 30 more minutes. Bake at 350 for 15 minutes.


I found this cake recipe in a little cookbook that Maga gave to Patricia who was going to donate it but I stole it! Its from the Junior League of Albuquerque, NM. It is a nice little moist cake with a german chocolate type frosting.

Patio Oatmeal Cake
1 1/2 cups boiling water
1 cup quick-cooking oats
1 stick margarine/butter
1 cup sugar
2 eggs
1 tsp vanille
1 1/3 cup flour
1 tsp baking soda
1/4 tsp salt
1 cup brown sugar
1 tsp cinnamon

Icing:
1 stick margarine/butter
3/4 cup brown sugar
1/4 cup evaporated milk
1 cup coconut, shredded
1 cup chopped nuts (I didn't have any and it turned out fine)
1 tsp vanilla

Preheat oven to 350. Pour boiling water over oats, margarine, and sugar. Let stand 20 minutes. Stir in eggs and vanilla. Then stir in flour, baking soda, salt, brown sugar, and cinnamon. Stir only to blend - do not beat. Pour into a greased 9x13 pan. Bake for 35 minutes (but check after 25-30 it may be done).

While the cake is baking, melt margarine in a small pot and add remaining icing ingredients and stir well. Spread icing over warm cake and put under broiler to brown (watch it closely!) for a few minutes.

Beverly Hills Chihuahua

So, at the Tuesday movie last week and this week they showed a preview for a new Disney movie which will probably be pretty lame, but the trailer is pretty silly and funny. Watch the clip and then continue reading below!



After our movie I take the kids to Walmart. They start acting pretty crazy and the next thing you know John is saying Chihuahua constantly (in the funny catchy way of the movie). I don't even know who started it, though I'm guessing Ruthanne. So, she just keeps egging him on to keep saying it. Well, today he starts saying that he is Chihuahua. So, now when you ask him what his name he says Chihuahua instead of Nohnny. And if you call him John he says, "No, Chihuahua." I wonder when this phase will end?

Funny John

Well, John can finally say his name (except it sounds kind of like Nohn). Ruthanne likes to call him Johnny. So, the other day I asked him what he likes to be called, John or Johnny. He told me Nohnny. So now whenever you ask him his name he says Nohnny.

Another funny from John. We made cookies Sunday and he had a couple. The next day I sent most of them off with Luke to work so we wouldn't eat them (well me mainly). The kids each had one at snack time. Well, last night before John was going to bed he was asking for a snack and he wanted a cookie. I said they were all gone. John said, "Mommy eat them all." I guess he saw me eating one when they had their snack and in his mind I was the one who ate all the cookies!

Tagged

If you have your own blog, post your answers there, if you don't and you want to participate (yeah, right!) then you can post your answers in the comments!

Two names you go by:
Mom
Mommy
(according to John my name is NOT mama, but the above two are frequently used!)

Two things you are wearing right now:
Watch
Shorts

Two things you want very badly at the moment:
To lose 10 more pounds
To go to Disney World sometime soon

Two people who will fill this out:
Frances?
Amanda

Two things you did last night:
Made cookies
Watched a movie

Two things you ate yesterday:
Cookies
Pizza

The Last Two people you talked to:
Missionaries
Luke

Two things you are doing today (or did):
Ride bikes (the kids not me, I push John)
Read books (the kids like the Magic Treehouse series)

Two longest car rides:
Warner Robins, Georgia to Utah (Christmas 2000)
Brunswick, GA to Vanderbuilt in TN

Two favorite beverages:
Cherry Coke
Dr. Pepper
(I hardly drink either one though)

Pioneer Day Celebration

So, we celebrated Pioneer Day Saturday at the church with a parade, pioneer games, and a chili cook-off! We ate chili outside in 90 degree heat! I guess the pioneers probably ate lots of soups and stews so I guess it was somewhat authentic! Here are the kids on the handcart getting ready for the parade.


The parking lot parade with some homemade wagons.


Here is the line-up before the three-legged race. Luckily Ruthanne was not injured during the race, nor did she injure her partner! Ruthanne wore the bonnet and apron I made when I went on a pioneer trek for youth conference while we lived in Utah.


They also had a stick pull and Ruthanne wanted so badly to participate. Here she is against a 9 year old girl!


Here is the pioneer/farmer/cowboy! We just borrowed a cowboy hat and bandana from Grandma and Grandpa and you have an instant pioneer outfit!


For the chili cook-off everyone wins a certificate for "The ______ Chili". I won the award for The Most Modern Chili (the awards were created by the local missionaries). I made Rachel Ray's Pumpkin Black Bean Soup (I called it chili, hey it had beans and some tomatoes in it, that makes up chili right?). It is really good, despite what you all may be thinking. I back off the cayenne and up the curry powder and cumin and add what seems like a lot of salt. Try it sometime, but maybe you should wait until it gets a little cooler out!