Weekly Quote 2/28/11

"Christmas is carnage!" is from Babe. The girls watched it the other day and quite liked it. New quote up!

Weekly Quote 2/21/11

"Are you sensitive? Do you sense things?" is from The Watcher in the Woods, and old Disney movie. It's actually pretty scary. My sisters and I used to love watching this back in the day.

New quote up!

Christmas, anyone?

I figured that tonight would be a good night to blog about Christmas because 1) Tyler is working late again and 2) There is snow on the ground again. I tend to babble a lot when I blog, so I'll try and let the pictures speak most of the words.

Ada had a preschool Christmas program. It was adorable. Have I mentioned that she loves preschool?






Tyler's grandpa had a party and the girls had fun hitting pinatas, playing Bingo, and sitting on Santa's lap (okay, only Ada had fun doing that)







On Christmas Eve we had the traditional candlelight dinner at the Squires' house and played kid and adult versions of the dice game

Kate, at one point, walked across the prizes to attack Ada because Ada picked the prize that she wanted





Christmas morning was funny. Kate woke up way early and was not happy. We had to wait quite a while for Ada to wake up. Kate finally perked up once she saw all her presents

This about how she felt all morning


We have a tradition of reading the Christmas story together before we go see presents. Kate still isn't too happy


Finally, a smile!





The girls love their "Sleeping Beauty house" that Santa brought




Tyler really likes this present




We made yummy waffles for breakfast, relaxed a bit, and then went back to the Squires' to open presents



We ended the day at my parents', where we had our traditional Honey-Baked Ham dinner and opened presents. The little girls all had fun dancing together and singing

Weekly Quote 2/14/11

"Time will heal your wound."

"My wound?"

This is indeed from Emma. The anonymous commenter got it right. New quote up!

Random thoughts

-Jerry Sloan resigned yesterday. I knew he wouldn't be around forever, but I didn't quite expect it to happen in this manner. I'm not gonna lie; I shed a few tears as I watched the press conference and clips about Jerry. I'm a pretty passionate person, especially about sports and the Jazz. I have so many great memories about the Jazz. I remember my dad making me go to bed before games were over and my brother sneaking in my room to give me updates. I remember going to a handful of games, including a playoff game against the Spurs where I got to sit in the lower bowl. I remember when "John Stockton sends the Utah Jazz to the NBA finals" and running around the block with my friend because we were so excited. I remember those two years of the finals, when even my non-sporty older sister got into the Jazz: her ordering a Jazz cake for the family; going to the airport with her to greet the Jazz after they swept the Lakers; her disdain for all things Bulls (even now that she's a Chicago resident). I remember my younger sister crying after the Jazz lost to the Bulls and saying that she didn't think she could ever be happy again. The Jazz were a big part of my childhood and I will miss Jerry greatly.

Here's a picture of Tyler and me with Jerry and Phil Johnson. My bro-in-law somehow scored some tickets to a season ticket holders-only dinner and he graciously game them to us. It was fun to meet Jerry and Phil and get their autographs.


-January is usually a very bleak month, but somehow I kept so busy that it flew right by. The highlight of the month was a visit from my sister's family. We watched BYU games, went to dinner, and had a tea party with the girls.

-Thank goodness for book club. It is a lifesaver for me. Last night was just what I needed; I haven't laughed that hard in a very long time. I love all those ladies!

-Tyler works a lot. Sometimes I want to sell my girls. Thank goodness I have BYU basketball to keep my hopes up. I can't wait to go to the New Mexico game on March 2nd and the MWC tournament the week after that. Then there's the Big Dance. Good times are ahead!

Coconut Cupcakes

Here's the cupcake recipe we made for Abby's shower:

Ingredients

• 3/4 pound (3 sticks) unsalted butter, room temperature
• 2 cups sugar
• 5 extra-large eggs at room temperature
• 1 1/2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
• 1 1/2 teaspoons pure almond extract
• 3 cups flour
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
• 1 cup buttermilk
• 14 ounces sweetened, shredded coconut

For the frosting:

• 1 pound cream cheese at room temperature
• 3/4 pound (3 sticks) unsalted butter, room temperature
• 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
• 1/2 teaspoon pure almond extract
• 1 1/2 pounds confectioners' sugar, sifted

Directions

Preheat the oven to 325 degrees F.

In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, cream the butter and sugar on high speed until light and fluffy, about 5 minutes. With the mixer on low speed, add the eggs, 1 at a time, scraping down the bowl after each addition. Add the vanilla and almond extracts and mix well.

In a separate bowl, sift together the flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. In 3 parts, alternately add the dry ingredients and the buttermilk to the batter, beginning and ending with the dry. Mix until just combined. Fold in 7 ounces of coconut.

Line a muffin pan with paper liners. Fill each liner to the top with batter. Bake for 25 to 35 minutes, until the tops are brown and a toothpick comes out clean. Allow to cool in the pan for 15 minutes. Remove to a baking rack and cool completely.

Meanwhile, make the frosting. In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, on low speed, cream together the cream cheese, butter, and vanilla and almond extracts. Add the confectioners' sugar and mix until smooth.

Frost the cupcakes and sprinkle with the remaining coconut.

This makes a ton of frosting, so I halved it and still had plenty for the 36 cupcakes which I got (don't fill the paper liners as much as it says). We also baked these for 22 minutes and it was just right.

I made these again a few weeks after the shower. I wanted them a little more moist, so instead of the three sticks of butter, I put one stick of butter, 1/2 c canola oil, and 1/2 c sour cream. It worked perfectly.

Ballet

Ada had a little ballet performance in December at the studio. This was the only performance until the big one in May, so we rushed home from Disneyland so she could participate. It was so fun to watch her! She knew all the moves and I was surprised at how flexible she is.











She was so adorable. We go with her cute friend Ellie, who is pictured with Ada above. Ada does such a good job, but lately it has been a joke trying to get her to go. She always says that she likes preschool better than ballet and that she doesn't like ballet. I think she does once she gets there, but I don't know what to do to avoid a serious struggle every week. We've bribed her with a surprise after her concert and she knows that she gets no TV or computer time for a week if she misses. We'll see how it continues, but I am not loving her tantrums every Tuesday afternoon!

Weekly Quote 2/7/11

"I just want to be alone for a little while." is from Return of the Jedi. Leia says it to Han after she finds out that Luke is her brother. I love me some old-school Star Wars.

New quote up!

Shower food

When Angie was in town over Christmas break, we threw a baby shower for Abby (who, btw, had her baby this morning. Alice Ann, at 41 weeks, is only 5 lb 7 oz). We invited all the girls from the extended family. We didn't get a great turnout but it still turned out well. Angie is a pro at throwing showers, so we had a fun and easy time putting everything together.

This was the spread:
Angie made cute covers to go over the Izze soda



Korrin brought fruit and we made these yummy kabobs. They were so simple--take a small skewer and arrange grape tomatoes, fresh basil, and mozzarella balls



The yummy coconut cupcakes. I'll post that recipe next week



I don't know what these are called, but they're so easy and so good. Get fillo shells from the freezer section, spoon a little bit of jam in the bottom (my dad's raspberry freezer jam was excellent), place a small square of brie on the jam, and top with a pecan half. Bake in the oven for 8 minutes and voila! (We baked them at 425 but I think the temp could be lowered)





The guests:


Abby, Mom, and Korrin


Kim and Sadie


My cute grandmas


Me and Ang



The loot:

Diseased

Tyler has a great job. He loves it and says he can't imagine doing anything else he would love more. Probably not too many people can say that I bet. However, he often has to work long hours, which it no fun for me. I'll spare everyone the details and refrain from ranting, but I would like to document an experience from way back in November.

Tyler rarely (if ever) works only 40 hours a week, but one week in November was especially crazy. He got up super early and came home super late. He took on one break--on Thursday he met me and his family members at Jordan Commons to see the new Harry Potter movie (thanks to Rachelle, we got to see it a day before it came out). After the show, he went right on back to work and stayed until 5:00 PM THE NEXT DAY. He put in close to 80 hours that week. Boo.

The point of the post is, Kate was sick that week. Really sick. Her gums got really bloody and sore and swelled down over her teeth. She was feverish and didn't feel well at all. I took her to the doctor and after one look in her mouth he said, "That looks horrible!" He informed me that she had stomatitis. It is a virus, so the only thing he could tell me to do was to mix children's Benadryl with Maalox and swab it on her gums to ease the pain (and she HATED it). He also said to keep her hydrated because she wouldn't want to eat or drink anything. The poor girl was not a happy camper. She wanted to lay on the couch or in my arms all week. She ate only ice cream and popsicles. Luckily she did take the occasional drink, but I learned the hard way not to give her orange juice. Ouch! I couldn't brush her teeth because it hurt her too badly. I hope I never have to relive that week.

This was how Kate spent most of her days


This is a picture of her mouth after it had started healing. It looked WAY worse before


The worst part of the week was when Kate fell off her stool and landed right on her face. She was left with a bloody mouth and a fat lip. When Ada saw the pool of blood on the floor she started to panic. Not a good day.