This time of year brings back some funny/nostalgic memories..

Christmas is full of memories for me. My Great Grandma, mom and I would make chocolates every year and that was a lot of fun. Now my Great Grandma is gone and I am carrying on the tradition. Today I dipped chocolate covered cherries and almond joys. Just one batch of each to see how much I had. Well... I need to make a couple more batches of each. I love standing in the kitchen reminiscing about my childhood when I was just learning how to make chocolates. When I was little... like 8 I think. I was in charge of whittling the chocolate. Nonnie would always order a 50 pound block of chocolate from Ghirardelli Chocolate. I remember the big eagle in the center of the block. It seemed like it took forever to whittle away that block (and it did). Then I would sit and listen to Nonnie tell stories about her childhood. Her and mom would be busy mixing up different batches of chocolate on the stove, shaping the cooled fondants, and then dipping them.

My favorite part was when they would make fondant. It's the creamy centred candy. Nonnie would whip out her 2 marble slabs and put them on the table with a couple dollops of butter in the center of each. Mom would pour the hot mixture on the marbles and then with wooden paddles they would work the mixture until it went from glossy to smooth. Then came the flavoring and food coloring. I would sit there mesmerized watching them work. This continued every year through my junior year of high school. Of course as a teenager I was using the paddles to work the fondant.

I am grateful for the time that I had with my Great Grandma (Nonnie). I learned a lot of life's lessons from her. During this time of year I really miss her. I wish Jacob had known her. And Emma and Linnea. I like to think that she played with Emma and Linnea before they came to Earth to be with us.

A funny story I remember that happened the very last time Nonnie and I made chocolates together was while I was stirring the fondant in the pan trying to get it up to temperature... for a little background, Nonnie LOVED maple nut flavored fondant. No one else liked it. So as I'm stirring Nonnie says "Why don't we make this batch a maple nut batch?" I pretended like I didn't hear her, hoping that she would forget. After a couple minutes of silence I thought maybe it had worked. Boy was I wrong! All of a sudden she's next to the pot pouring chopped nuts into the fondant on the stove. I was so mad! How could anyone like that flavor!? Sick! But this year I'm making fondant (if I can get a marble slab that is) and I am going to make maple nut flavored fondant. Even though I don't like it I will take a couple pieces of my own and I will eat them in remberance of Nonnie. And when Emma and Linnea are older and ask me why in the heck I make that nasty flavor I will smile and tell them the story.

Cafe Rio Pork

I have my friend Lauren to thank for this recipe. She had it posted on her recipe blog. It is so good! We love Cafe Rio but only get to eat it when we visit Utah. Jacob made it for dinner last night. We let the pork marinate over night. And then we cooked up rice and black beans and made our own burritos with everything. A-MAZING! We bought a large can of sauce and a large can of chillies and it was way too much sauce. So your probably good buying a small can of each.

SWEET PORK

2 pounds pork
3 cans Coke (NOT diet)
1/4 c. brown sugar
dash garlic salt
1/4 c. water
1 can sliced green chilies
3/4 can enchilada sauce (I used Old El Paso brand, medium spiciness)
1 c. brown sugar

Put the pork in a heavy duty Ziploc bag to marinade. Add about a can and a half of coke and about 1/4 c. of brown sugar. Marinade for a few hours or overnight.

Drain marinade and put pork, 1/2 can of coke, water, and garlic salt in crock pot on high for about 3-4 hours (or until it shreds easily, but don't let it get TOO dry). Remove pork from crock pot and drain any liquid left in the pot. Shred pork.

In a food processor or blender, blend 1/2 can Coke, chilies, enchilada sauce and remaining brown sugar (about a cup, you can add a little more or less to taste..). If it looks too thick, add more Coke little by little.

Put shredded pork and sauce in crock pot and cook on low for 2 hours. That's it!

Happy Birthday Emma!

Tomorrow is Emma's birthday. I can't believe she's turning 3. Time has gone by way too fast. We had her friends over for a little party this afternoon which I think confused Emma about which day is her birthday. But the kids all had fun and that's all that matters right?

I am so thankful for Emma. She has been such a blessing in mine and Jacob's life. She has taught us patience and how to love. We love her personality and how silly, yet serious she can be. She's very soft spoken and we have to keep telling her to speak up but I'm so glad she is so sweet and quiet (not 100% of the time though, she does know how to be loud and have fun).

Emma, your mommy and daddy want you to know how much we love you! You bring a smile to our faces. Thank you for being such an easy little girl to raise. You are a wonderful friend full of concern and love for those whom you come in contact with. You will do great things in this life and we are excited to help guide you through this rough, crazy and oh so rewarding experience called life. Your Heavenly Father loves you more than you can imagine and I know he smiles down at you every day. We love you bug!

Halloween and such

The girls had fun this weekend with all the Halloween action. We went to our ward's Chili/Cornbread/Pie bake off and Carnival and Trunk or Treat on Friday and then trick or Treating on Saturday. I made dinner in a pumpkin for Halloween dinner. My mom made it growing up and I decided this year would be a good year to start traditions for the different holidays/celebrations so that's going to be our new tradition. I'm excited that Emma is old enough to begin to remember things and have fun during the holidays. Here are some Halloween pictures. Sorry they are turned the wrong way. If I turn them the right way on my camera while it's plugged in then it make an error on my camera.

Emma was a lady bug fairy

And Linnea was a cow

My big girls!

And this picture is Sunday night when I told Emma to get her pull up on and her PJ's. Such a goofy kid.

Jacob and the girls watching TV together on Halloween morning. Such concentration! We also rented Marly and Me and watched it after we got back from trick or treating. Such a good movie.
This is Emma gutting the pumpkin so I could make dinner in it. I love her facial expression.
I realized that I don't have many pictures of just Linnea and there aren't any of just her and me. She's such a little cutie. I love that she's happy all the time.

Happy Halloween from our family to yours!

I put a funny little video up. Couldn't figure out how to put it into a post. Anyway, it made me laugh. Happy Halloween!

A couple recipes that saved me this week

I was such a slacker with my menu planning that I totally spaced dinner a couple nights this week. My new found website is campbells.com . They have some awesome recipes with few ingredients that are really tasty. Here are two recipes I discovered from their website this week:

Beef Taco Skillet

From: Campbell's Kitchen

Prep: 5 minutes
Cook: 20 minutes

Serves: 4

Ingredients:

1 pound ground beef
1 can (10 3/4 ounces) Campbell's® Condensed Tomato Soup (Regular or Healthy Request®)
1/2 cup salsa
1/2 cup water
6 flour tortillas (6-inch), cut into 1-inch pieces

1/2 cup shredded Cheddar cheese

Directions:

Cook the beef in a 10-inch skillet over medium-

high heat until well browned, stirring often to separate meat. Pour off any fat.

Stir the soup, salsa, water and tortillas in the skillet and heat to a boil. Reduce the heat to low. Cook for 5 minutes. Stir the beef mixture. Top

with the cheese.

Creamy Mexican Fiesta: Stir in 1/2 cup sour cream with the soup.

Ranchero Style: Use corn tortillas instead of flour tortillas and shredded Mexican cheese blend instead of Cheddar.

Serving Suggestion: Serve with a mixed gre

en salad with Italian salad dressing and corn-on-the cob. For dessert serve with a store bought flan.

Nutrition Information

Using Campbell's® Condensed Tom

ato Soup : Calories 398, Total Fat 17g, Saturated Fat 0g, Cholesterol 0mg, Sodium 838mg, Total Carbohydrate 32g, Dietary Fiber 3g, Protein 28g, Vitamin A 0%DV, Vitamin C 0%DV, Calcium 0%DV, Iron 0%DV

I used ground turkey for this recipe. I'm trying to alter my diet to involve more vegetables and more lower fat meats to see if I will lose weight without having to join weight watchers. This one is my favorite out of the two.

Here is the second recipe:

Hearty Chicken & Noodle Casserole

From: Campbell's Kitchen

Prep: 15 minutes
Bake: 25 minutes

Serves: 4

Ingredients:

1 can (10 3/4 ounces) Campbell's® Condensed Cream of Mushroom Soup (Regular or 98% Fat Free)
1/2 cup milk
1 cup frozen mixed vegetables
2 cups cubed cooked chicken
2 cups medium egg noodles, cooked and drained
1/4 cup grated Parmesan cheese
1/4 teaspoon ground black pepper
1/2 cup shredded Cheddar cheese

Directions:

Heat the oven to 400°F. Stir the soup, milk, vegetables, chicken, noodles, Parmesan cheese and black pepper in a 1 1/2-quart casserole.

Bake for 25 minutes or until the chicken mixture is hot and bubbling. Stir the chicken mixture. Top with the cheese. Let stand until the cheese is melted.

Serving Suggestion: Serve with a steamed vegetable blend: broccoli, cauliflower and carrots, and a Caesar salad. For dessert serve fresh strawberries topped with whipped topping.

Tip: Easy casseroles like this one are a simple way to transform leftovers. Cooked chicken, turkey or ham will all work in this recipe.

For Golden Onion Chicken & Noodle Casserole, substitute 1/2 cup crushed French fried onions for the Cheddar cheese.

For Hearty Chicken Casserole with a Twist, substitute 2 cups cooked corkscrew-shaped pasta for the egg noodles.

Cost per recipe: $5.46

Cost per recipe serving: $1.36

Total cost of meal (including serving suggestion): $14.25

Cost calculations based on July 2008 national average prices

Nutrition Information

Using Campbell's® Condensed Cream of Mushroom Soup : Calories 385, Total Fat 17g, Saturated Fat 0g, Cholesterol 0mg, Sodium 808mg, Total Carbohydrate 25g, Dietary Fiber 3g, Protein 31g, Vitamin A 0%DV, Vitamin C 0%DV, Calcium 0%DV, Iron 0%DV

Using Campbell's® Condensed 98% Fat Free Cream of Mushroom Soup : Calories 367, Total Fat 15g, Saturated Fat 0g, Cholesterol 0mg, Sodium 660mg, Total Carbohydrate 25g, Dietary Fiber 2g, Protein 32g, Vitamin A 0%DV, Vitamin C 0%DV, Calcium 0%DV, Iron 0%DV

I knew I'd forgotten something. Thanks Stacey!

I painted the kitchen a new red color...

Before:

After:

I love it!

Updates! Recipes!

So here they are... newest to oldest updates.


Linnea started rolling over! It happens non stop now. And she loves that little goofy toy. At her 4 month appointment she weighed 12 pounds 13 ounces (17th percentile) and was 25 inches (62nd percentile). She is such a happy baby! So easy to take care of and so loving to everybody.

We took a very quick trip to our old college stomping grounds and visited with some friends. This is one of my old roommates daughters Allison. She's 8 months younger than Emma. For those of you we missed... we will catch you the next time we are up. There are WAY too many people to fit in one day.

This is Emma and Braron who is the son of our friends Scott and Brittanie. Such a cutie!

I threw a baby shower for my friend Erin. She's having a girl on Saturday. So much fun planning it and yet so stressful! I could never be a party planner. It was a pink and brown themed shower. Way cute!

These are the cupcakes I decorated for the shower. I even did chocolate and strawberry flavored cupcakes for the pink and brown look. (I know, I scare myself too)

My parents came over and my dad took out 6 trees in our front and back yard. I have an awesome dad!

He had a really messy face when he was finished.

Up in one of the trees.

Our friends Stacey and Tyson came back and visited for a couple weeks. This is us at Tyson's parents house. It was so good to see them. They live on the East Coast so we never get to see them.

And Emma got her first bloody nose. It was a nightmare. She wouldn't sit still and let us plug her nose up. Glad that's over and it's not an everyday occurrence.

And now for a couple recipes. I like this first one because it's a great twist on regular mac and cheese (which I usually don't like).

Ranch Mac ‘n’ Cheese

(Taste of Home)

1 c milk

¼ c butter

2 envelopes ranch salad dressing mix

1 tsp lemon pepper seasoning

1 tsp garlic pepper

1 tsp garlic salt

1 c cubed Colby cheese

1 c cubed Monterey Jack Cheese

1 c sour cream

½ c crushed saltines

1 pound macaroni, cooked and drained

Grated Parmesan cheese

In a dutch oven (or pot), combine everything but the sour cream, saltines, macaroni and parmesan cheese. Cook and stir over medium heat until cheese has melted and mixture begins to thicken.

Fold in sour cream. Add crackers and macaroni. Cook until heated through, stirring frequently. Spoon into a serving dish; sprinkle with Parmesan cheese. Yield: 6-8 servings

I think this would taste really good with this recipe from one of my previous posts.

Here is a good side dish recipe. We really enjoy these.

Crispy Potato Cubes

(Taste of Home)

1/3 c flour

¾ tsp salt

½ tsp dried thyme

½ tsp dried marjoram

1/8 tsp pepper

5 medium potatoes, peeled and cut into 1” cubes

¼ c butter, melted

1 garlic clove, minced

1 bay leaf

In a large re-sealable plastic bag, combine flour, salt, thyme, marjoram and pepper. Add potatoes; seal bag and shake to coat. Pour butter into a 9x13 in baking dish; stir in garlic. Add potatoes and bay leaf. Cover and bake at 450˚ for 20 minutes. Uncover and stir; bake 15-20 minutes longer or until potatoes are lightly browned and tender. Discard bay leaf. Yield: 4 servings

And I am making this recipe for dinner tonight.

I hope everything is going well for all of you.

A really cool website...

Jacob listens to this financial guy on the radio sometimes on his commute home and really likes what he has to say. So last night he went on his website where he has a budgeting form that you can fill out. You just enter in how much money you make and then he calculates how much money should be spent in each category. He even automatically deducts 10% for charities or church stuff. So we entered in the minimal amount that we could make in a month (Jacob's hours vary a lot) and it spit out numbers that were pretty much right on with our bills that we already have.

What I really like is that his principles are the same that my parents taught me. He puts 10% toward tithing or charities and then has you saving 10% of your money as well. Anyway, we have been having a hard time figuring out our budget and now we have an exact idea and will end up saving a lot more money than we have been.

The guys name is Dave Ramsey and the budget form is called the Gazell Budget Lite. I would recommend everyone type in their numbers and see how close they are to his plan. It's free too.

Here are the percentages that he goes by:
Charity- 10%
Saving- 10%
Housing- 25-35%
Utilities- 5%-10%
Food- 5-10%
Transportation- 10-15%
Clothing- 2-7%
Medical/Health- 5-10%
Personal- 5-10%
Recreation- 5-10%

You can also go in an alter things. For example, we have student loans so we added those in under debts. And the number he gave for utilities was a little low so we adjusted that as well.

Another form he has is called the Monthly Cash Flow Plan. This one breaks down every category imaginable. You can print this one off and fill it out on your own, or pay and have him do it for you (we just printed it off). And in this form he puts Astrixs on some categories that you could use an envelope filing system. We have been thinking about using envelopes and putting money in each one for groceries, date nights and such.

I just thought I'd put this out there for you guys. I really liked it.

Have I created a monster?

I am a very detail oriented person. I like things to be organized, neat and tidy (that doesn't always happen though). Emma is also a very detail oriented, neat and tidy little 2 year old. As I was going about my morning workout and really starting to feel the benefits of it Emma came in and said..
Very matter of fact voice..."Mommy, I picked up the poop and flushed it".

I abruptly stopped my workout. "Where did you poop?"

"In my panties."

Deep sigh. "Where are you panties?"

Up Beat voice "In the bathroom!"

Fearing the worst I slowly walk towards the bathroom and find water all over the floor
"What's with all the water?"

Matter of fact voice "I washed out my panties!"

Thinking to myself... (Please not in the toilet) "Where?"

"In the bathtub!"

Thinking to myself... (Okay, at least I can scour that and she hasn't been playing in the potty).
"Good job sweetie, now go get some new panties"

"OKAY MOMMY!"

So a couple thoughts come to my head... Number 1: What 2 year old washes out their own poopy pants? Number 2: Why did she have to do it during my workout!? I wasn't done!

Seriously though, this whole thing put a big smile on my face. My life would be so dull without my little Emma. Isn't being a mom the best? Now I've got to go scrub the bathroom!

"Who Do You Love?"...

I recieved this book as a baby shower gift for Emma and she loved the book (as you can tell by the picture). Then she got too old for it and I put it up for the next kid. Now that we have Linnea I took it out and started reading it to Linnea. I really like it because it has little fur patches that Linnea can touch. I think it helps her and helped Emma understand that books are for enjoying.

Anyway... Emma gets to choose 2 stories before she goes down for her nap and for bed at night and yesterday she chose this book as one of them to read. The book goes through and asks the question "Who do you love?" on every page and on every page there is a different member of the family on it. When we got to the brother page Emma turned to me and said "Mommy! I don't have a brother." So I asked her if she would like one and she replied "No Mommy. Not right now." I laughed and told her not to worry and that it would be a very long time until she got a brother or another sister.

I think I've made a decision...

So a couple days after I posted the previous post I got to thinking about the different themes. The thought of doing a pretty princess party seriously made me want to hurl! So that one is out. Emma really loves the whole dress up thing, but the thought of all the pink frilly decorations and the princess games and yaddah yaddah yaddah... I truly believe I would've thrown up if I hadn't changed the subject in my mind. So I've chosen to do Finding Nemo. It's so not girly (which I LOVE) and there are so many cool things I can do with it. So if I'm a bad mom for not wanting to do the whole princess thing, then so be it, but I'm not going there!

Now if you'd like me to decorate a cake for your little princesse's (or prince's) party, I'd actually be more than willing to do it. I decorated a couple birthday cakes while I was living in Colorado for some friends and really enjoyed doing that for them. Seriously hit me up if you want that! I need all the practice I can get!

Birthday Party/Cake Ideas

Okay so Emma's birthday isn't until November but the way time is flying by lately I thought I'd get your opinions on some ideas. Every time Emma sees a cartoon, or a movie that she likes she tells me she wants that as a birthday party. She has been talking about her next birthday party since last years ended. She still talks about her Sesame Street birthday cake. Anywho... I've narrowed it down to 3 choices and I have a couple cakes from each theme that I could potentially take inspiration from. So here they are:

"Pretty Princess"I don't really love either of these, but I thought they had a good starting point. If I did the top one I would put some Disney Princesses on the castle. If I did the bottom one, I would make a multi-level cake and put Princesses on it.


Finding Nemo:

I LOVE this one. I don't think I'd change it. Which by the way this site has some great cake ideas!

I like this one but think it would need a little more detail. Possibly some seaweed... not sure



Curious George:

I'm not in love with this one, but think I would come up with something a little better.

LOVE this one, but it has a TON of detailing that I haven't yet learned how to do... maybe it will stretch me if I do this one.

So what do you think? Emma changes her mind every five seconds so I told her we would do one of these three. It's just going to be a party this year with no presents. The economic situation for most isn't a good one so I figured we would just have a good ole fashioned party with food and games for the little ones. I LOVE Birthday parties!

I get really excited when I think about the Princess ones and the Nemo ones. Maybe I could find a better cake to inspire me if we did pick Curious George though.

The girls first football game and the daily life of Emma and Linnea

We went to one of the local high school football games last Friday. It was a lot of fun. Jacob has a few scouts that are on the football team and another scout who is the drum major for the band. He thought it would be nice to go see his boys in action. The girls LOVED the game. It was pretty much a ward party at the game. Almost all the youth are involved in some program. It was great to see. Certainly nothing like what I grew up with!

The girls got their faces painted

Linnea crashed

And Emma didn't want to leave until the game was all done. (We tried to leave when there was 2 minutes left but she wouldn't have it). Please excuse my retarded smile!


Emma is just a goof ball! The things she comes up with to entertain herself amaze me. She loves to play dress up!

Linnea is ALWAYS happy!

Linnea is blessed with a big sis who can't get enough of her. I often find her like this...

Gotta love big sisters! It makes me laugh. I hope that they will continue to grow together and play well with each other. The other day Emma went to give Linnea a nose rub and Linnea had snot on her nose. So when Emma pulled away she got it on her nose. Emma started laughing at how silly/gross it was. Linnea then started laughing too and they were both in a belly laugh for about 5 minutes. Where's the video camera when you need it!?

My Personal Struggle

I can't believe I am about to divulge this to who knows how many people, but here goes. For the last 6 years I have had a huge struggle with my weight. Growing up I was always active. I played basketball, volleyball, softball, and swam. I also would ride my bike and go running. I was in great shape and looked fantastic. As as result of me being so active I never learned good eating habits. I could eat whatever I wanted and it didn't matter because I would burn off all the calories and then some. I graduated from high school weighing in at 130 pounds.

I went away to college and that's when the problem started becoming more clear to me. I gained 30 pounds while I was away so I was now 160. I was frustrated and so mad at myself for gaining that weight, but yet I still continued to eat those things I had always eaten. After I got married I gained another 27 pounds and then got pregnant with Emma. While I was pregnant I quit eating sweets, meat and any other fatty or unhealthy food. I dropped weight like crazy! I looked fantastic after having Emma. Then I decided to try a dessert a couple weeks after I had her. I was at 150 pounds after having Emma and I jumped up to 191. I couldn't stop after having one dessert. It was horrible.

I decided when Emma was 10 months old to join Weight Watchers. I did so good! I lost 20 pounds and then Jacob got a job in Washington and we moved back. It was a very stressful time and we were having some marriage problems and I turned to food to make me feel better. I gained 15 pounds and then got pregnant with Linnea. I didn't eat well with Linnea and gained 25 pounds with her. (I only gained 12 with Emma). I lost all the baby weight with Linnea but still have 13 pounds to go until I get back to 171.

So if you are following that puts me at 184 pounds. I'm so angry at myself for weighing that much. I hate that I let myself get this big. It's gross. But my goal is to lose 45 pounds over the next year, or however long it takes. I plan on joining Weight Watchers here next month again when we have a little more money and I'm going to do it.

What brought on this confession? Well today I went to the doctor for my follow up appointment for my gall bladder surgery. I went down stairs to find the lab and asked a hospital worker where the lab was. She told me where it was and said "oh and you are pregnant" so... I stopped her and told her that I wasn't pregnant and just kind of turned and walked away. I knew I looked pregnant, but I never thought someone would actually mention it.

Ever since I had the C-Section with Emma the weight I have gained collects in my stomach. And because they cut through the muscle the fat sits up higher on my belly. I really do look pregnant and it sucks. But that will soon change! I will change and become a better person. Wish me luck!

My Trip to the Hospital

So while I was pregnant with Linnea I had really bad acid reflux. I didn't think anything of it. It was during my last trimester so I thought that my stomach was just pushed up into my throat. Then after I had Linnea I started having really bad chest, back and stomach pain. It would come and go so I again didn't think anything of it. Then on Tuesday of this last week I was knocked out on my back from the chest pain. It was the most pain that I have ever experienced (even more than labor contractions after your water breaks).

I decided to call the doctor and make an appointment for the next day. So I went in first thing and they did an EKG on me. My heart looked perfect. Then the doctor started pushing on different spots on my stomach. When she got up by my rib cage I started feeling a little pain. So the doctor told me she thought it was my gall bladder and she wanted me to go to the lab and run some tests and gave me the paper work. She also asked if it would be alright to do an ultra sound. I consented to it and she gave me a referral. I was going to go home and not do the lab work because I was tired and still in some pain, but I went and got it done.

Then I went on about my day. I dropped Emma off at her friend Olivia's house so they could play and took Linnea to get her 3 month pictures taken. I called to make an appointment for an ultra sound and they scheduled me for Friday morning first thing. While the pictures were being taken I started having really bad chest pains again. So on my way back to pick up Emma I called my friend Lora to see if she could take the girls while I went home and got some rest. Being the excellent friend that she is, she took them. I went home and layed on the couch with my heating pad. Then a couple hours later I went to pick the girls up.

As I was leaving Lora's house my phone rang. I answered it and it was my doctor. She asked if I had had the ultra sound done yet and I told her no that I was scheduled to have it on Friday. She told me that wasn't soon enough (this was Wednesday, that she thought I had a blockage in my gall bladder and that she would call and she if she could get me in today. I hung up and called Jacob to tell him what was going on. Luckily he was on his way in from work (3 hours early). So I went home and as I was pulling into the driveway the pain started increasing and my phone rang again. So I picked it up and it was my doctor. She told me I needed to go to the hospital right away and get my ultrasound done. I asked her if I could wait until Jacob got home and she told me I needed to be there in 30 minutes because that was the time they could fit me in. I was a little irritated at her urgency so I called my neighbor and asked him if he could sit with the girls until Jacob came home. He came over and I called Jacob to tell him what was going on and then drove myself to the hospital.

After I had the ultra sound done I was referred to a Dr. Kincaid to go over my results. I went up to meet with him and he told me I wasn't going anywhere and admitted me to the hospital. I was told that I would be getting my gall bladder taken out the next morning because I had a stone blocking my pancreas and one blocking my liver duct. My gall bladder was also very inflamed. This came as a shock to me. So I called Jacob and told him the news and then called my mom to have her come over from Port Orchard. My mom had been up since 6am canning pears and peaches and she was in the middle of canning. So she finished up canning and drove over to our house and got there around midnight Thursday morning.

Jacob and our friend Ian (Lora's husband) gave me a blessing in my hospital room Wednesday night and I felt much better after it happened. When I heard the words "everything will be taken care of" that was all I needed to hear. When Jacob and the girls left that night I was so sad to see them go. I kept holding on to Jacob's arm.

Jacob came back first thing Thursday morning and stayed with me all day. I went in for surgery just after noon and the surgery lasted 40 minutes. They gave me general anesthesia so I was out for it. I loved my anesthesiologist(I think that's right). He was a crack up. So were the other doctors and nurses. They kept me laughing from the time they got me from my room until they were putting me under. They did it laparoscopicly so I have 3 or 4 little incisions.

Now I am recovering and it's going really well. I'm stiff and a little sore but I did just have surgery. They filled me up with gas so get to my gall bladder so I look like I'm pregnant again but hopefully that won't last long. I'm sitting here waiting for my mom to get back from church to help me take a shower for the first time since surgery. I thought I was done having her bathe me but I guess I was wrong!

I am so thankful for my husband and the priesthood that he holds. I am also thankful for my beautiful daughters and the joy that they give me. And for a wonderful mom who is willing to do anything for me. I'm truly blessed!

Our latest trip and a recipe!

The reason for our trip to My Parents House ^

This is just a cute picture of Linnea that I took at our house. Has absolutely nothing to do with our trip.

This last weekend our whole little family went to my parents and visited my family and picked blackberries. It was a short and quick trip, but productive none the less. We also went to the County Fair and Stampede. That was pretty good too. I forgot my camera at my parents when we went to the fair. Luckily my friend Chelsea brought her's. I've known Chelsea since kindergarten and it was really nice to see her. I was also able to see Serena as well. She was up for a family visit from Utah with her little boy Lincoln. Serena and I have been friends since 3rd grade. I love that I have life long friends!

My grandpa came over for dinner as well. It was so nice to see him! I love my grandpa! I finally go some pictures of him and Linnea. We've been up 3 times since she was born and I finally got a picture!

On our way back home we stopped by our old college stomping grounds and said hi to our old branch president's wife. Our old branch president wasn't there but we still had a blast talking to his wife Karen. We are headed back up that way this coming weekend for the Rodeo.

When we got back yesterday I looked at our garden and it had exploded since we left. I picked green beans this morning with Emma off the bushes and noticed a lot of tomatoes that have finally started to grow. I'm so excited. We are having fresh green beans, jello and fresh BBQ tuna for dinner tonight. My dad gave us some fresh tuna while we were over at the house. I think he caught it. Either that or one of his friends did.

Here is a blackberry recipe in honor of blackberry season! (And man is it a good crop this year!) I believe I got this from Taste of Home but I can't remember. Enjoy!

Blackberry Soup

• 4 cups frozen blackberries, thawed

• 1 cup pear juice

• 1/2 cup honey

• 1/4 cup water

• 1 lime or lemon wedge

• 1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon

• 1/4 teaspoon vanilla extract

• Dash ground nutmeg

• 1 carton (8 ounces) fat-free vanilla yogurt

In a heavy saucepan, combine the first eight ingredients. Cook, uncovered, over low heat for 20 minutes or until berries are softened. Remove and discard lime wedge. Strain berry mixture, reserving juice. Press blackberry mixture through a fine meshed sieve; discard seeds. Add pulp to juice. Cover and chill.
Set aside 2 tablespoons yogurt for garnish. Combine blackberry mixture and remaining yogurt in a food processor or blender; cover and process until smooth. Ladle into soup bowls. Dollop with reserved yogurt. Yield: 4 servings.