Spring Has...

Stalled...

I'm from Texas. The best place on the earth. But I (somewhat) recently relocated to Utah. Utah is a very nice place to live. I love the mountains, the views, the lack of bugs and humidity. There is a lot to love about Utah.

I do, however, take issue with the fact that it cannot decide if it is spring or not. We had some beautiful, warm-ish days and then about 4 inches of snow.

Dang it, by this time in Texas I have started my garden, we can play outside almost every day, it's generally around 70 degrees. But nnnnnnnnnnnnnoooooooooooooooo...Utah can't decide if it wants to be warm or cold.

My point is: I'm ready for spring. I'm itching to get my garden in full swing. I want to kids to play outside all day long instead of bouncing off the walls.

At least today is proving to be springy. The apricot trees are in bloom and look very pretty when its sunny outside.Here is the beginning of my garden. Spinach is the only thing that is up right now because it still is cold. I have also planted peas and garlic but they are still hiding underground.These are my Walla Walla onions that I started from seeds indoors. They aren't allowed to play outside until the last frost date which isn't until May! So they are hanging out with me inside until it warms up. Aren't they cute? They just came up yesterday.
That concludes my rant. I'm ready for warm weather.

Lunch...Yum!!

What's better than a Cafe Rio steak salad with extra meat and a diet Dr Pepper?


Getting it for free.


Yay lunch!

Looking for the Good

Talked about this in Sunday School. I thought it was a good reminder.

"Have you ever noticed that people can usually find whatever they are looking for? Look hard enough, and you can discover both good and bad in almost anyone and anything. People have done the same with The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints since its beginning. Those who look for the good will find a kind and compassionate people—a people who love the Lord and desire to serve Him and bless the lives of their fellowman. But it is also true that those who look for the bad will certainly find things that are not so ideal.

There is no end to the creativity, ingenuity, and tenacity of those who look for reasons to criticize. They cannot seem to release their grip on grudges. They gossip and find fault with others. They nurse wounds for decades, taking every opportunity to tear down and demean others. This is not pleasing to the Lord, “for where envying and strife is, there is confusion and every evil work” (James 3:16)

The word of God admonishes the followers of Christ to be “pure, … peaceable, gentle, and easy to be intreated, full of mercy and good fruits, without partiality, and without hypocrisy.” For those who make peace, “the fruit of righteousness is sown in peace” (James 3:17, 18).

We have a choice. We can seek for the bad in others. Or we can make peace and work to extend to others the understanding, fairness, and forgiveness we so desperately desire for ourselves. It is our choice; for whatever we seek, that we will certainly find."

President Dieter F. Uchtdorf, "Looking for the Good", Liahona, March 2011, 4-6

The Rest of Sledding

These are pictures taken on New Year's Day.

This was the aftermath of Dad's hair. Sorta. If you know my Dad, you get this.
Dad going down the hill.

Steven and Torin stopping just short of the fence.

Torin riding on Steven's back.

JJ making sure the turn is perfect.

Steven and Torin.

Wipeout!

Let's go!

The men making sure that the run was ready to go. I think they spent an hour perfecting it.

More Sledding

Here is a bunch more pictures of the family playing in the snow.

Dad and Lucy. Lucy loved to chase everyone down the hill.

JJ and Torin. Got a little close to the snow.

Lucy stealing Dad's hat.

JJ and Torin going down the hill.

Oh hey!

Down down down...

Up up up...

What's going on here?

Gavin is still not a big fan of being in the snow.

The boys playing with the sled at the bottom of the run.

I think the first video is of Torin going down the hill on his own. The second video is of Dad trying to make a jump at the bottom of the run.



Ok...almost done with the sledding pictures. Maybe just one more post of playing in the snow.

Green Smoothies and Dinner

I have a friend (more my sister's friend) whose blog I read from time to time. She just had a little baby boy two weeks ago. During her pregnancy she raved about how great these green smoothies were and how great they made her feel and gave her extra energy.
I have been struggling with exhaustion during this pregnancy more than my other two. I hate to admit it but for weeks I would get the kids out of bed, give them a piece of toast or a bagel for breakfast and put them in front of the TV for hours while I crashed on the couch. I am slowly starting to get my energy back. I have been trying to go back to the gym for the last 6 weeks. My best week, I made it 3 times that week. I used to workout 6 days a week.
Anywho...I thought that since my friend had such a positive experience with these smoothies, I would also give it a try. I just want to feel normal again. So, today I had my first smoothie. It was not good. I put in an orange, 2 bananas, a cup of baby spinach and peach yogurt. I think it was the yogurt that grossed me out. Next time I'm going to go with plain yogurt. I had half of the batch for breakfast and then the other half right before church. My energy felt good and I thought that I was in a better mood than normal. Honestly, it kept me full (more like not hungry-content) till about 3 pm (Christine-we will see if that is the case on the days that I actually workout). Then I got hungry! Really hungry!

Which brings me to dinner...

JJ is a picky eater. Pickier than I am used to. So every now and then I try a new recipe for variety and I get nervous that he won't like it. A lot of the things that I like he doesn't so it's been an experience to say the least.
I tried this recipe "Dirty P's Garlic-Ginger Chicken Thighs". Amazingly, it was a hit. I served it with green beans, brussel sprouts, rice pilaf and dinner rolls. JJ really enjoyed this so it's a keeper. Yay!
Here is the recipe:

Ingredients

• 2 pounds skin-on, boneless chicken thighs
• 1 cup thinly sliced red onion
• 2 tablespoons minced garlic
• 2 tablespoons minced peeled ginger
• 1/4 cup soy sauce
• 1/4 cup fresh tangerine or orange juice
• Freshly ground pepper
• Vegetable oil, for the grill

Directions

Combine the chicken, onion, garlic, ginger, soy sauce, juice and 1 teaspoon pepper in a large resealable plastic bag. Seal and shake to coat the chicken with the marinade. Refrigerate 1 hour or overnight.

Preheat a grill to medium high and oil the grate. Grill the chicken skin-side down until marked, 5 to 6 minutes. Flip and continue to grill until cooked through, about 5 more minutes. Let rest 5 minutes before serving.

I let it marinate overnight. It took me longer to cook than it said in the recipe. I also cooked it in the oven under the broiler because I don't have a grill. Next time I will probably set aside some of the marinade to use as a sauce to cook some pineapple and snow peas and carrots and then serve over white rice.

Try it!

BTW-I ate a ton for dinner!

I hope this was interesting for you to read. It is just what was on my mind. If you just prefer pictures and only a couple sentences (like most of my other posts), I'll keep my thoughts to myself :)

What is That White Stuff?

So, these pictures are actually from November when we had our first real good snow that stayed. Sorry it took so long to post.

JJ tasting the snow before he built an igloo for the kids.
Torin absolutely loved playing in the snow! He probably would have stayed outside all day if we had let him. He was so dang cute!

Gavin was not as excited about being outside. He pretty much did not move. He didn't like walking through the snow or anything. He did enjoy throwing snowballs though.

Gotta have a taste!

Inside the igloo. They just loved to hide in it!

More snow to come...