HAPPY BIRTHDAY TAYLOR!!!

Taylor turned 4 years old yesterday. He is such a sweet boy, and loves to play games, watch Diego and Backyardigans, loves to help mom and dad with whatever we are doing. He looks out for Jenna all the time to make sure she is safe or not getting into trouble :). He has brought so much joy to our lives and we love him so much!

We went and picked up his old buddy Lance Olsen who moved to Provo :( And we went to Cornbelly's...brrrr. It was a cold day for it, but luckily with all of the running around the kids were doing, they kept warm and laughed and had a wonderful time. Thanks so much Tara for letting Lance come! They had a blast! Here are some pics from Cornbellys...

The Birthday Cake!!! Taylor wanted a Lightning McQueen Cake, and I hate the taste of the Albertson's or Grocery Store Cakes, so I decided to buy a plain chocolate one at Costco and design it myself...hehehe. I've never done it before, but thanks to Amelia and Krysta donating some much needed items and icing recipe (yummy)!!! I think it turned out pretty darn cute!

New Member of the Family

I went to Good Earth a couple of weeks ago with the kids at night, and there was a cat outside the door meowing as we went in. It came up and rubbed against the kids and was so cute. I went about my shopping and we came out it was still there going underneath patrons cars right across Main St. So I scooped her up and brought her home. We had been thinking about getting a puppy or kitten, she's not a kitten, but not full grown yet either, and the great thing is she is super tame, tolerates the kids and is very playful. I'm too much of a softy, hate seeing animals left outside or dropped off especially with winter coming. So I guess she's staying!

A visit to the Unique Boutique...

There was a little boutique at the Clubhouse last night, so I thought I'd stop by and look at bows...Too much $$ later, I came out with bows, hats for Jenna and myself...sorry Taylor - nothing you would like there (nothing dad would let me put on you!) But the salesperson did a fabulous job in selling me by dressing Jenna up in the cutest flowers and headbands and hats...Here are the pics, she was very patient and does not enjoy posing as you can see by the cute little pouty face. I showed James and he looked at the first picture and said "who is that?" and he was serious! It just goes to show that I don't dress her up very often :) But now I have a new excuse! She's my angel!


Too Cute!

I love this hat!

K, now smile crinkle nose :)

Pumpkin Waffles with Raspberry Syrup...Yummy!!!

Perfect October Breakfast!!!

So I have never posted a recipe before, because I've never made anything worth writing about :) BUT, these waffles are not only healthy but if you like pumpkin cookies, you will love these, they are delicious! I picked up the recipe at the Sunflower Farmer's Market last night, and had to make them this morning. Mmmmm, perfect October Breakfast! The recipe called for cranberry syrup, I'm not a fan of cranberries, so I used Raspberries, Delicious so I had to share!

Prep Time: 15 minutes Cook Time: 30 minutes Serves: 6

Waffles:

1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour

1 1/4 cups whole-wheat flour

1/4 cup sugar

2 tsp baking powder

1 tsp baking soda

1 tsp allspice

1/2 tsp ground ginger

1 1/2 cups lowfat buttermilk

1 tsp orange peel

1/2 cup orange juice

1 cup cooked pumpkin puree (I used Libbys)

1/2 cup honey

3 eggs lightly beaten

1 Tbsp Canola oil

1 tsp vanilla extract

Raspberry Syrup:

1/2 cup Cran-Raspberry Juice

1/4 cup Orange Juice

1 cup Raspberry Pie filling

1/4 cup Brown Sugar

1 tsp ground cinnamon

1. In large bowl whisk together flours, sugar, baking powder, baking soda, allspice and ginger.

2. In medium bowl combine buttermilk, orange peel, juice, pumpkin, honey, eggs, oil and vanilla.

3. Add buttermilk mixture to flour mixture; whisk until smooth. Let waffle batter stand 5 min.

4. Cook waffle batter in waffle iron according to manufacturer's directions. Keep waffles warm on baking sheet in oven (250 F)

5. For Raspberry Syrup: In small saucepan combine all ingredients, cook over medium heat until sugar dissolves. Serve warm syrup over waffles!

Listening to the Promptings of the Spirit

We have a Family Home Evening once a month with my extended family, grandma, aunts, uncles, cousins, and we went this Sunday after Conference to share thoughts on the Conference talks this weekend.

We got into a great discussion about heeding the promptings of the Spirit. One of the speakers talked about how if we don't hear and listen to the quiet voice and promptings of the spirit, it will withdraw and we will need to humble ourselves and ask forgiveness to prepare ourselves to be ready to hear the Lord's will again.

My mother shared an experience she had the other night which overwhelmed me with the Spirit. She was laying awake one night just pondering the things that are happening in the world and was overwhelmed with sadness of the trials ahead for her children and grandchildren what is going to happen to them, and just really started to miss her father and his counsel (my grandpa who died 10+ years ago). So she couldn't sleep and got up, and heard her cat meowing outside. The cat was out of food, so she went downstairs to get some more food in her food storage room (she had just cleaned spotless the week before - nothing was out of place or on the floor), and yet as she walked in the room, there on the floor was my grandpa's obituary of all things lying all by itself in the middle of the floor. She picked it up and said to herself, "Pop, I'm not going to read your obituary, I don't like remembering that you died, I want to remember you alive" and she felt pressed to read it anyway, so she looked down and read the first sentence which stated that he had died on October 3rd. And it just dawned on my mom that today was October 3rd. And she then knew that my grandpa was trying to remind her that even though he died, he is still alive.
Chills ran up my spine when she told us this and I was overcome with tears and I think why I love testimonies and when people share experiences such as this is that everyone needs a strengthening of faith and knowledge that life does not stop once our bodies die on this earth. That our spirits do live on and we will be reunited with our loved ones in the next life.