Pictures!!!

We have high speed now, so now I can post pictures! This is just a test post to see how it works. This picture is of my handsome boys Braxton, Calvin, and Anden.

Oh, and one cute story before I forget. The phone guy was coming over to put in our internet and do some other work. I warned Andy ahead of time not to get in his way or talk to him. Anden LOVES to talk, and I know it can get annyoing sometimes. Well, the guy comes over and the next thing I hear is Anden asking him, "you were in the back yard before. Why did you come to the front yard?" "I found 3 salamanders today. Want to know what color they are?" "I'll show you where I put them too." "Maybe we can catch them again." So, I went out to save the man. I called Andy inside and told him not to talk to the man because he needed to work. Anden said, "but I wasn't talking to him when he was working, I was talking to him while he was walking." I have no idea where he gets his talkativeness from. Definately not from me or Chris. I used to hide from my teachers when I saw them at the store because I was too scared to talk to them.

Chili Recipe

So this recipe is kinda cheating since I use a seasoning packet, but it's so easy to make and tastes really good on a lot of different things. I use this chili for my taco salad, Navajo tacos, and a yummy and easy Mexican casserole. I'll post that recipe maybe next week.

Sarah's Vegetarian Easy Chili
1 chili seasoning packet (doesn't matter which brand, I use the cheapest)
2- 8oz. cans tomato sauce
2- 14.5 oz. cans tomatoes (I use stewed or diced...if you don't like tomato chunks you can blend the tomatoes in the blender before adding)
2- 15 oz. cans beans (I like to mix it up and use a combo of black, red, white, or garbanzo)
1 onion
any other veggies you like...most veggies are good in it...it's also good without any

Cook chopped onion in a little (1 T.) oil in a big pot. Add any veggies you want, or none at all, the choice is yours. Cook until veggies are crisp-tender. Add the rest of the ingredients and simmer for 10-15 minutes. That IT!!!

Taco Salad & Navajo Tacos

Taco salad is an easy, healthy thing to make, especially if you are crunched for time. Last night I whipped it up really fast. This really isn't even a recipe. First I made my homemade vegetarian chili...it's really easy...I'll post the recipe after this. Then you just need to assemble the ingredients: corn chips, chili, cheese, lettuce (please don't use iceberg...instead use red leaf, green leaf, or romaine), tomato, olives, salsa (or taco sauce), dressing (we use homemade low fat ranch).

First, crunch up a few corn chips at the bottom of a bowl (start with just a little of each ingredient or your salad will be huge in the end). Add the chili, cheese, then, for health, add a lot of lettuce, then whatever else you like.

I like to make a big pot of chili and use it for taco salad, then later in the week I make Navajo tacos. They both use a lot of the same ingredients. For the Navajo taco dough, I just use a bread recipe...it's not traditional Navajo, but I like its taste better. I fry up the family's dough, just like you normally would in lots of oil (I use canola), then when I am finished I dump out the leftover oil. The pan will be coated just enough to fry up my bread without it sticking. It'll be lower in fat and calories because it's not sitting in oil. I hope this makes sense. I'll post the chilli recipe later.

Good News & Braxton

Well, the good news is that Chris gave me permission to get high speed. Just kidding, he really didn't give me permission, but we both agreed it would be a good idea. It'll be so much nicer.

I want to write a little about my Braxton. HOLY COW, that kid is growing so fast. I love watching him grow. I love how we can have conversations together. I love how he gets my jokes, will dance with me in the kitchen, and really wants to help out when he sees that I am stressed. But I want him to stop! He'll be getting the priesthood soon, passing the sacrament, asking girls out, KISSING girls, back talking, driving, going on a mission, getting married....stop growing Braxton!!! He is such an amazing person. He's responsible and genuinely cares about people. It's so fun to watch him coach Calvin on the sidelines of his games. He feels that since he is 2 whole years older, he knows the game much better than his younger counterpart. He entertains our baby and can clean and vacuum a room really well. The thing I love most about Braxton is that he is still so loving. He'll hold my hand even at school. He doesn't care what the other kids say. He insists on a good night kiss and song...and the whole time I'm singing the song, he lies there with his eyes closed and a content smile on his face. He tells me he loves me all the time. In fact he loves saying, "Mom, your a good mom, mom." To which I reply, "son, your a good son, son." Then he tells me I sound like I'm oriental.

Random Musings

I had to post twice because I have so much to say. I don't know if I'll post a recipe this week...I don't know if I've cooked even once! But guess what I did do? I made my very own all natural, no preservative, everything in it is good for you LOTION! The best part about it is that it was so much easier than I thought it would be. I ordered everything I needed online. This stuff is so good for your skin. In fact you could eat it, it's that good! I am seriously wanting to brag about this, so if you want to try it, email me, and if I like you enough, I'll send you some! Oh, I also made my own lip balm too. I'll send you some of that too just for reading my blog...does anyone even read this?

Oh, I have a cute story. Andy helped me bake my b-day cake. We had mixed the batter and poured it into the pans. He had already licked off the beaters and the bowl. I had the scraper covered with cake batter I was excited to start licking. Anyway, I said, "Andy, who do you think should get the scraper....the birthday girl, or the chocolate covered little boy." He promptly answered, "the boy." Okay, so I'm the one that asked...I gave it to him.

So Braxton played tackle football last year and vowed he wouldn't play this year, but Calvin signed up for flag football this year. Calvin is pretty darn good! He's an agile kid and pretty fast too. I know it's only flag football, and he's only 7, but it was fun to watch him play and do really good. His team made 2 touchdowns and both of them were run by Calvin.

Since we still only have dial-up, blogger won't download any of my photos, but I can download them on my facebook account, so that's where the pictures will be. I posted a couple of Calvin playing football.

I have so many more things I wanted to write, but I'm thinking they are too deep for now....next time: the economy and pride...random...I know.....just like me.

The Best Birthday EVER

Yesterday was the best birthday ever. Nothing big happened, but so many small things to make it an amazing day for me. First of all, the day before my birthday some of my friends took me out to lunch in Bluff to one of those really earthy type restaurants with plenty of vegetarian choices and all kinds of granola type people hanging out. I love those types of places.

The next day I woke up to 4 crazy boys. Andy had Chris take him to the store the day before to get my present. He loves to save his quarters because he loves to buy gumballs with them whenever we go to the grocery store. Well, in the days following up to my b-day he had been saying to me, "mom, I'm not telling what I got you for your birthday. It's round like a gumball, but I'm not telling what it is. And it tastes like a gumball and looks like a gumball, but I'm not telling." Then I'd beg him to tell me and he'd zip his lip and not say a thing. This is my favorite age! Anyway, back to my birthday. The first present I opened was from Andy....not one, not two, but THREE whole gumballs! Now, that was a sacrifice for that kid to give up 3 gumballs! Then the kids did heavy heavy hangover with the rest of the presents....it was all kinds of swimming stuff...i won't bore you with the details.

Chris sent the older kids off to school and found a babysitter for the youngest. He took me out to my favorite place in town....Peace Tree Juice Cafe. I ate the best wrap and drank the best smoothie ever. Then when I got home a friend brought me flowers and another brought me my very own container of ice cream! I got a call from my madre' singing happy birthday with 25 fifth graders....it was awesome! Then I logged on to my facebook account and lots of people had wished me happy birthday. One of my good friends made me stuffed portabello mushrooms and fruit on the side. Did I tell you I am the luckiest girl on the planet? I got candy from another friend. A call from one of the girls in my Young Women class. And my kids decorated me a cake complete with a number 3 plus 2 regular candles. Tons of other things made it special, but those were the ones that came to my mind.

Thank you for the wonderful people you are! You make my life so much better.

Adventure

We made a quick trip to St. George this weekend to see my mom get sealed to her wonderful husband, Clarence. On Saturday we were going to drive up to her house in Glendale then go home the next day, but the three of us (Chris, Riley, and I) decided to just brave the Reservation and drive home that night. It's pretty dangerous driving home on a weekend and at night on the Reservation. First of all, if anything did happen, emergency vehicles are very far away. Second, drunk driving is extremely rampant. And, third, it's an open range so farm animals are everywhere.

Well, apparently we forgot all this when we made the decision to come home. The ride was fine up until about an hour after we passed Page, AZ. Then the almost non existent traffic became heavy and slow. It finally came to a complete stop. We thought it might be a police checkpoint, but after sitting there for a few minutes we noticed there weren't any cars coming in the other direction. We got out of the car and started talking to other motorists. Apparently there was a really bad car accident. Someone died. Life Flight had already come, now they were waiting to clean up the accident. Well, since it is truly in the middle of nowhere, it took forever for the tow truck to get there. In total we waited for 2 hours. I stayed with the car, but Chris walked up toward the accident and had a blast talking to all the tourists.

Finally we were on our way. The traffic was very slow though. After we passed Kayenta we almost hit 3 horses, 3 donkeys, yes DONKEYS, in the middle of the stinkin highway!, and one motor home filled with tourists doing a U turn in the middle of the road.

We were so glad to get home and climb in bed. I don't think we'll be making that drive at night for a long time!

It's Autumn Time.....Well, Almost

I love Fall. I was in denial about it until last year. I used to think I didn't like Autumn because it meant it was going to get cold soon....and everyone knows I don't like to be cold. Well, last year I finally realized how much I love the changing leaves and the cool nights. The kids are in school, you don't have to water your yard as much, and did I mention the yummy garden harvest? And the weather outside is wonderful for hiking and biking.

We have a beautiful young maple tree in our front yard courtesy of the previous owners of our house. It is so incredible to watch it change. The younger leaves turn a deep yellow while the bigger leaves change to a rich red. If I could freeze time, I would.

I am so thankful to my Heavely Father for creating such a beautiful earth. We have so many wonderful things to look at!

Yumminess

So a good friend of mine brought me a case of peaches from an orchard up in Utah county. She brings them to me every year and they are so yummy. One of my favorite things to do with them is make cobbler. I have a really easy recipe that I have adapted to make it have less calories than normal cobbler. You HAVE to try it. Here it is:

Peach Cobbler
3-4 cups sliced fresh peaches
2/3 cup sugar
1/4 cup butter
1 1/2 cups sugar
2 cups flour
2 tablespoons baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
2 cups milk

Preheat oven to 350. Mix together peaches and 2/3 cup sugar; set aside. Combine 1 1/2 cups sugar, flour, baking powder, salt, and milk. Melt butter in 9X13 baking dish in preheating oven. Pour batter over melted butter, then add peaches on top. Bake at 350 for 50 minutes.

We have a convection oven, so with a regular oven it may take longer. Just keep a close eye on it and take it out when the top is golden. This recipe ususally takes 2 cubes of butter, but I have reduced it significantly with awesome results. Serve it with ice cream or whip topping. It's so easy and so incredible!

I'm going to try to post a recipe once a week on my blog of something I have made that week. Most of the times the recipes with be healthy since I am a health freak. I'm not saying this peach cobbler is healthy....it's just healthIER.

Oh, and if anyone wants to come visit me, I'll make you all the cobbler you want!

Sunday Surprises

On Sunday I substitute taught the 11-12 year old primary girls. The first song was "I love to see the temple". As the whole primary started singing, there was one child in particular who was belting the song out. He sounded pretty young and I thought, "holy cow, that kid sings LOUD...and he knows all the words too!" After a few minutes I thought, "that sure sounds an awful lot like my little Andy (4 years), but he doesn't know the words to that song." This kid knew every single word! I craned my neck around several girls to check it out, and yup, it was Andy, belting out the song as loud as he could. I was so touched, I thought my heart was going to burst out of my chest!

It is so amazing what these little spirits learn. They are little sponges that just soak up information. I am so glad he knows Heavenly Father loves him. I feel like I don't measure up often, but when I see little moments like this it makes me realize I am trying my hardest to give my sweet boys the best shot at life.

Several weeks ago our family gave talks in Sacrament Meeting. Andy wanted to sing instead of talk, so he sang "Jesus wants me for a Sunbeam" acapela. You could feel the spirit so strong when this innocent little boy bore his simple testimony by singing.

He is just like his grandma Nancy. He is not afraid of anyone, and loves to talk and talk and talk. Sometimes it really gives me a headache!

One more cute thing. The other day the boys had left one of their skateboards by the garbage can outside. The garbage man came and apparently thought this little beat up skateboard was garbage. He picked it up and threw it in with the rest of the garbage. Oh, Anden wasn't having any of that! He opened the window and let the garbage man know exactly what he thought of him. I was laughing so hard!