Mother and Daughter

I was heading to a church meeting Thursday night and the kids were bathed and dressed for bed. I had the camera out for some reason and told Craig to take a picture of Briana and me. I think it turned out pretty good so here it is.

Silly Girl

Briana is all about eating everything on her plate (most of the time) and taking forever to do it. Usually Craig, Brandon, and myself will be done eating while she is still in her highchair taking her time. One night we gave her a pudding cup and spoon and then busied ourselves with other things not paying much attention to her. Then we hear "I'm done" coming from her direction so we head over to get her and we see this. She loves her pudding so much that she scraps the sides with her spoon and then stick her face in the cup to get every last bit of pudding which leaves a mess on her face.

Hogle Zoo and Temple Square

We went to the Hogle Zoo again now that we have an annual membership so daddy could go with us one more time before he starts his new job. We could always go on Saturdays with daddy but we heard it is so crowded that I'll just take the kids by myself on the weekdays. We were only there a couple hours since I wanted to go to Temple Square and get some pictures of the kids with all the blooming tulips. This time at the zoo I got better pictures than last time so here are some of them.





Before heading to Temple Square, we ate lunch at Chuck-A-Rama so the kids would have a full tummy in hopes they would cooperate in sitting still for pictures. Once we get there, I got both kids together in front of a bed of tulips and flowers and snapped some pictures. Even though they never really looked at me, I figured to just get what I could and not expect too much. Then I took Briana over to another location for pictures and left Brandon in the care of daddy. Briana was really cute and would grab a tulip bulb and smell it and say, "pretty". She did really good for me sitting still and looking at all the flowers. I turn around to look for Craig and Brandon and I see Brandon leaning over a water fountain splashing away. I'm thinking, "okay, whatever keeps him entertained as long as he doesn't get too wet". The closer I get though I can tell that he is soaked. The front of his shirt looked like it just came out of the washer. Oh well, I guess we are done with pictures and that ended our Temple Square experience which lasted about 15 minutes total.

Computer Failure

Don't we all love technology but hate it when it fails us? Well, Craig's old work computer died, something to do with the motherboard and we were told that it isn't worth fixing from the nerd techs that we took the computer to. So we had to take our home computer in so they could download all the data from the dead computer hard drive to our home computer. A week later we finally have our computer back and Craig and I realized how much we use it. It really is sad how much we depend on this thing but it is so resourceful and really helps you feel connected to family and friends through blogging or email. Thank goodness for technology - just pray that it never fails us again!!

Craig's New Job and our TO DO list

After many months of Craig working on his own with his business, he has taken up a new job. Things with his business were really slow and it took Craig awhile to even apply for outside positions because he really wanted to continue his business but financially couldn't justify it. This whole process has happened so quickly and his first day on the job is today even though he accepted the job last week. He told them that he needed a couple days to wrap things up at home so we've been out playing with the kids to take advantage of his last free days with us. Craig will be the V.P. of Marketing for a company that deals with residential properties in 5 states and his office will be in downtown SLC. The great thing about this job is that he'll be able to continue his business on the side and search for potential clients. He'll also be doing some traveling a few days 1 or 2 times a month to places like Denver, Seattle, Phoenix, San Diego, and the Bay area. Hopefully in the future we can take advantage of his travel opportunities so that me and the kids can come along sometimes too.

Since the day Craig accepted this new job, we have been so busy getting out with the kids and checking stuff off our long TO DO LIST because we didn't want to spend the money. Now that we'll have a steady paycheck coming in , we figured there were some things on the list that we couldn't put off anymore.

NEW CAR WINDSHIELD:
Craig's car windshield had a crack from one end to the other for a year now and we finally got it fixed along with an oil change and maintenance check. We have to keep this car in good condition since he'll have to keep it for at least another 5 years!!

UTAH LISENCE PLATES:
While Craig's car was at the dealership, we had them do the safety and emissions test too so we can finally get Utah plates since our Indiana plate registration has been expired for almost a year now. The same day, I took my car to our local safety and emission testing place to do the same thing. Both our cars failed!! The cars are in great condition and that had nothing to do with it. They both failed because the tint on the driver and passenger windows were too dark!! Utah must have really strict laws regarding tint since my jeep has passed in both Texas and Indiana. They basicaly told us that we have to peel the tint off to pass our cars. Uhhh....excuse me?!?! So that afternoon, Craig is in the garage with a razor blade peeling off the tint cursing the state of Utah at the same time. What a mess!! My car was especially bad since the tint has been on there for 9 years and 5 of those years baking in the Texas heat. We had to buy this solution to get all the left over sticky crap off the window so that it wouldn't get stick in the door if we ever rolled them down. That is what the safety inspection people warned us about at least and whether it is true or not, who wants to take the chance, right? We took both cars back to get passed, get our Utah plates, and remove the last piece of evidence that claims we once lived in the state of Indiana.

TINT FOR WALL OF WINDOWS:
In our family room, we have 6 large windows above our fireplace that let in the afternoon sun everyday. Not only does it warm up the house which we don't want during the summer but you can't sit in two spots on our couch during 5-7pm because the sun shines right in your face!! The sun has already damaged some wall decorations with vinyl lettering because day in and day out they get baked for hours. I'm really worried about some family photos that get hit with the sun too and wonder if they are discolored at all.

CEMENT WORK:
We still don't have a backyard and it has been hard watching all of our neighbors putting in yards and landscaping. At least our front yard is done and looking great!! I told Craig that all I want to do in the backyard for now is to extend our back patio so the kids could go back there and ride their bikes around. We've been asking neighbors who they got for their cement work and it has been a headache trying to get these cement guys to call us back. I have a feeling that this is going to take some time but hopefully once we decide on a guy, it can go quickly from there.

Hogle Zoo

Okay...so now that we have some extra money coming in (see post below), I convinced Craig that we need to take the kids to the zoo. The last time we went to the zoo was a year ago in Indianapolis and I figure by now the kids would get more out of it since they are older. We got there right when they opened and it was great - no crowds!! Briana did awesome sitting in the stroller almost the whole time we were there. She also loves to wear her sunglasses and wanted to hold the zoo map for us. Brandon lasted about 10minutes in the stroller once we walked into the zoo and would take off on his own. I thought the "Terrible Twos" was going to skip Brandon since he hasn't been that bad temperment wise but it is just kicking in. He fights you if he doesn't get his way and is starting the screaming thing again. I swear it is the loudest scream you'll hear come out of a child. He hasn't learned yet that he needs to stay near us so we basically have to chase him down. Hmmm...maybe next time we'll pretend to lose him and see how he reacts if he can't find us. Anyway, the Hogle Zoo isn't the best zoo I've been too but it was good enough that Craig even bought us a family membership. Hooray!! I'm so excited that I have somewhere (other than just the park) to take the kids to now. The best thing about the zoo though is they have a good sized playground for all ages of kids. We spent almost the last hour there just at the playground and of course Brandon fought us when it was time to go. To finish off a great morning, we headed to Costa Vida for some mexican food with our 'buy one get one free' coupon. Thanks to our friend Amy for the heads up about this place - we love it!! Overall, it's been a great day to get outside, see some animals, and eat some good food.












I realized after adding the photos that the kids have three different shirts on. The morning started out cold so I had on them long sleeve shirts with a sweatshirt over it. Then as it got warmer, they lost the sweatshirt, then eventually lost the long sleeve shirt to a short sleeve shirt that I brought with us. Even Craig and I started with jackets, then long sleeve, then down to short sleeve because the temperture went from 45 to 68 within 3 hours.

My New Job

My neighbor across the street and who is also in the YW organization with me at church (I live in Utah okay - things like this are the norm around here) called me the other day to ask if I'd be interested in doing some babysitting for her. She knows that things with Craig's company isn't going too well (Craig is their home teacher too) and wondered if we could use some extra money. She and her husband both run companies out of their house and she is drowning in work. I don't know how they do it with 4 children but since his work takes priority, she ends up not getting half of what she needs done because of kid distractions. We worked out a schedule that I'll watch her two youngest (Dylan age 3 and Annalisa age 7 months) on Tuesday and Thursday mornings from 8:30-12:30 at my house. Her baby girl is the easiest baby EVER and Dylan can just play with my kids. I figure it is no sweat off my back and I'm getting paid to watch kids at home which is what I do everyday anyway!!

Family fun with dogs and horses

Craig's sister Kathy, her husband Tyler, and their 6 month old baby Brooke were in town from Colorado last week. They stayed with Tyler's family who live only 45 minutes north of us so they came down to visit for the day. Then the next day, we headed up there to hang out and let the kids play with their 3 dogs and 3 horses. This was a new experience for the kids since we don't have a dog and they've never been up close to horses before. I knew Brandon would probably be okay since he is curious about everything but it would take some time for Briana to warm up to the animals. Brandon loved to watch the dogs run around the yard but when they got close to him, he'd scream and curl up into a ball on the ground bringing his arms to his face for protection. Funny that we'd never taught him how to protect himself (he is only 2 years old)but I guess when your body suspects danger, it is a natural reaction to do that. Then he'd pop back up and get all excited again like nothing happened. Briana was clinging to life to whoever would hold her while the dogs ran around. She would rap her legs around your waist like a monkey and would get nervous when the dogs came close. She did better with the horses but as you can see from her face while on the horse with her cousin Brooke, she wasn't such what to think about it all. After awhile though, both kids relaxed some and had fun picking up hay and feeding the horses. Brandon even got used to the dogs and started chasing them around the yard by the end of the day.

The Flying Brandon

I love this picture my sister-in-law Kathy took. Just look at my son's face - he is loving it!! Craig tossed Brandon in the air so high that you can see the corner of the ceiling fan - and we have a 20 foot ceiling!! The picture is a little fuzzy but Kathy did a great job getting this picture of him while "in-flight". I know my mom is going to freak out when she sees this picture. When she visited us in October, she banned Craig from tossing the kids in the air because she couldn't handle it - it made her too nervous. Brandon can't get enough of if though and always asks for more when Craig tosses him into the air. I swear he'd be on the trampoline all day long if we had one. I'd love to have one too just so he could get out all his energy - he is such a busy boy!!

My Guatemalan Girl

While doing Briana's hair for church on Sunday, I decided to put this decorative clip into her hair. I think I got this hair clip from my sister-in-law but I got a bunch of these same miniature dolls from Guatemala. While Craig and I were there to adopt Briana, the maids at our hotel would leave one on our pillows when they turned down the beds. I probably should make more hair clips for her with them. Another thing to add to my TO DO list...Anyway, I got tons of compliments about how cute she looked and look at that beautiful skin - smooth as a baby's bottom and a perfect olive color. I would love to have skin like that!! She now understands to smile for the camera and loves to pose for me. The only bad thing is that when she flashes her big smile, you see her two front bottom yellow teeth. Poor thing. She was born with those teeth and they are so yellow and small compared to all the others. I can't wait for the day that they fall out and she gets a new crop of white sparkling teeth.

Last Night's Dinner

We made our weekly trip to Costco yesterday and on the way down, I told Briana that we were headed to Costco. Then she says, "Costco...pizza...dinner". The only time she gets pizza is while we are there so I guess it makes sense that she puts Costco and pizza together. Instead though we had pork chops with mashed potatoes, corn, and rolls. I wasn't sure if the kids would eat it but that was the first thing gone from their plates. I used a recipe that I hadn't tried before and it turned out so good that I had to share. I didn't have the lime for the lime peel and I used sliced tenderloins and it was awesome - Enjoy!!

Cilantro-Lime Pork Chops
6 tablespoons lime juice
1 tablespoon grated lime peel
1-1/2 teaspoons ground cumin
1-1/2 teaspoons chili powder
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
6 bone-in pork chops (1 inch thick)
2 tablespoons olive oil
1-1/2 teaspoons cornstarch
1 cup chicken broth
1/2 cup orange juice
2 tablespoons honey
1/4 cup minced fresh cilantro

In a small bowl, combine the first six ingredients. Pour 1/3 cup marinade into a large resealable plastic bag; add pork chops. Seal bag and turn to coat; refrigerate for 20 minutes. Cover and refrigerate remaining marinade. Drain and discard marinade from pork when you remove pork from bag. In a skillet, brown chops in oil for 4-5 minutes on each side. Remove and keep warm on a plate. In a small bowl, combine cornstarch and reserved marinade until smooth. Stir in the broth, orange juice and honey; add to skillet. Bring to a boil; cook and stir for 1-2 minutes or just until thickened. Stir in cilantro and then add in pork chops; heat through.

*if you make this, let me know what you thought about it.

General Conference

Craig and I were able to attend the 1st session of General Conference today. Neither of us had ever attended a session before and it was such a great spiritual experience especially since President Thomas S. Monson was sustained as the new prophet of the LDS church. Just being in the conference center, you can't help being touched by the Spirit with feelings of peace and comfort. The music from the Tabernacle Choir is amazing and it was hard to not be overcome with emotion. The best thing was being able to go with Craig and have this experience together and I'm so grateful that we took this opportunity to attend at this time while living here in Utah. We don't know how long we'll continue to live here (it all depends on the success of Craig's business) and I think we both needed some spiritual encouragement which we got today from the talks that were given. It turned out to be a long (but great!!) day, most of the time spent just getting there. We only live 20 minutes from downtown SLC but I guess with parking and standing in line outside to get into the conference center, we were told from people in our ward to leave our house no later than 8am to make sure we were in our seats by 9:30am. After conference, we wanted to go out to lunch using our $25 Chili's gift card and make it a date since we don't get many of those anymore. I happen to be the Mia Maid advisor in our ward so I know all the babysitting aged girls. We have a great babysitter Ashleigh who babysits for free for temple nights and other church events like this. She has given us 10 hours of service from babysitting so now she gets to pass off a personal progress project to get her Young Women medallion. She is a lifesaver with the babysitting money we've saved and is great with the kids too!! I'm so glad to be a member of this wonderful church and thankful to my grandparents who welcomed the missionaries into their home so many years ago. I'm grateful for prayer, to my Heavenly Father who loves me, love and support from family and friends, and a wonderful husband who works so hard to support our family.