A jaunt down south

It's not very often that the university where my husband works and the school district where my son attends have Spring Break vacations that match up.

It happened this year!

And so we took the opportunity to head south for the week to spend some time with my sister Megan in Utah, and then go further south to Las Vegas to spend the majority of the week with Bill's family. 

 (And yes, I thought of you and waved, Loni, as we drove through St. George.  We even ate at the In n' Out, and sat at the outside tables without jackets....Wow, St. George is beautiful this time of year!!)

While in Utah visiting my sister and her family, we walked around the Mt. Timpanogas temple with my nephew Ryker.  Evelyn, from that time forward, insisted on touching every temple we drove by or visited.

A picture of Mt. Timp temple that Bill took.  It was a beautiful day.  It's always a beautiful day when you have pot roast with potatoes and gravy for Sunday dinner....thanks Meg!

While in Las Vegas, we spent most of our time visiting family, which was wonderful.  But we did try to venture out once a day to enjoy an activity with the kids:

Ethel M's chocolate factory and cactus gardens.

Evelyn was whining for the better part of this excursion, as she tried to make friends with a cactus and decided to shake it's hand....lots of little cactus spines in little fingers.

We love the Shark Reef at Mandalay Bay.  We really don't like going to the strip much at all, but when we do, we visit Shark Reef.  Oh, and M & M world.

The highlight of Porter's trip was coming home with two brand new saxophones.  An alto and a tenor.  He has played the alto all year (one that we had been renting) and has begged us to let him play the tenor as well.  We are making him earn the tenor sax.  Right now it is sitting in our bedroom and it is killing him.  He is extremely talented and is leaps and bounds ahead of his band class with his ability.  He can melt any grown woman's heart with his rendition of Edelweiss and make you want to tap your toe to The Pink Panther.  We are starting him in private lessons at the university on Thursday.  He is super excited about it. 

Since being home, we have been battling illness, trying to unpack and do laundry, and just get back into the swing of things.  We have some home renovations that are in the process, and the kitchen countertops to be put in this week or next.  

Pictures soon to come.

Evelyn hand update:  She's healing well.  She's got some pretty good scar tissue that we apply some concentrated cream to a couple times a day.  But overall, we could not ask for a better outcome with the accident.  Time will tell if more needs to be done in the future. 

Lucky number 13

I married Bill thirteen years ago today.

That choice, by far, has been the most important decision of my life.

Oh, how I love that man.

This year, we gave each other two gifts.  

The first one, a picture:

We've had our eye on this painting for several months now, and knew that we wanted it in our home.

It's by Julius Von Klever, an artist of the late 1800's.

We've really struggled finding a picture of Christ that we really love.  

We don't necessarily love a lot of the more recent artists' renditions of Christ.

But we both LOVE this painting.

The colors.  The symbolism.  The fact that it is a classic, older piece.

It moves me.  

Every single time I look at it.

~~~~~

The second gift, was the mutual accomplishment of a goal:

And boy, does it ever feel good!!

This past week we were able to finish Dave Ramsey's

BABY STEP 3!!!!!

We've done baby step 1 ($1000 emergency fund), and baby step 2 (no debt except mortgage)

And a few days ago, in time for our anniversary, we finally finished Baby Step 3 which is our 6 months emergency fund.  This fund would pay our mortgage, utilities, groceries, and gas for the car.  Essentially providing all necessities of life, for 6 months, in case Bill lost his job or other such emergency.

I am glad we were able to set this goal and work hard on it together.

It's a wonderful gift to give to a spouse on their 13th anniversary.

Or any anniversary for that matter.

I've 'bean' thinking...

In recent months, I have put forth an effort to cut back on the amount of groceries I buy, and have been  brainstorming some alternative after school snack ideas for my son who has, in recent months, entered the phase "eating me out of house and home."

Lets face it.  Dried beans are cheap.  Really cheap.  And they have super longevity on a shelf.  But probably most important, are the health benefits, as they are packed with tons of protein, low in fat, and very high in dietary fiber.

My mom has taught me how beans cook wonderfully in a slow cooker.  They really do.  And so I recently made a whole crock pot full of pinto beans and made them into refried beans without all the fat.  In fact I didn't add any kind of fat, lard, or bacon grease usually found in refried beans (hence the name), but instead, concentrated on seasoning them well with spices and some bottled salsa and then using my immersion blender to get them nice and smooth with just the right consistency.  (You could just as easily use a blender).

I froze some of the beans in ziploc bags (because beans freeze GREAT!!!), but used most of them to do this:

Homemade bean burritos with a little sharp cheddar on top.

But the really fun thing about it is that I made a bunch of these little burritos, froze them on a cookie sheet, then threw them into a big ziploc once they were frozen, so they can be taken out individually for a snack or meal:

Next time I will use whole wheat or whole grain tortillas to make them even healthier, but I had a couple packages of white tortillas in my freezer that needed to be used.  

A little chicken or beef could be added inside as well, and then a meal could be made by baking them in a pan covered with enchilada sauce with a little more cheese to melt on top.

Porter wholeheartedly approves of his new after school snack.  And it makes me happy that he is getting something more on the healthy side.

But I'm thinking that some Beano might be on my next grocery list.

The blessing of...

Time.  

Wonderful doctors and nurses.  

Lots and lots of physical therapy. 

 Prayer.  

Priesthood.

These were Evelyn's little fingers at the 2 week mark  after her accident, with most everything trimmed away and cleaned up:

And now, we have this: 

This picture was taken this morning, exactly 4 weeks since the accident.


She's been our little miracle.

In more ways than one :).

**We now have permission to do her physical therapy treatments at home 3 days a week (which is really good because it was getting expensive!) It's gone surprisingly well!  I've learned a lot through the process and I'm now a pro at cleaning and bandaging her wounds.  When we saw the plastic surgeon last week, he was in awe of the incredible healing that has taken place.  He doesn't even want to see us for two more weeks.  The outcome of this accident is becoming more than we could have ever asked for.  We are so grateful!

A weekend to remember

Valentine's day crept up on me this year.

Yes, I saw the plethora of Valentines stuff in every store, and even had multiple people ask me what our plans were for Valentines day.  But I still didn't really put two and two together.

I've been distracted....with Evelyn's injury and appointments, Bill's busy work schedule, and some nice visits from family and long lost friends.  I think having the holiday on a Sunday really threw me off too.


In past years, I have always given Bill and the kids some sort of chocolaty gift/surprise.  Not this year.  I spaced it.  Thank goodness for my parents dropping off some valentines and chocolate for us, and also an unexpected package that arrived from my cousin, that was filled to the brim with some candy and a stuffed animal for Evelyn, and chocolate and candy for the rest of us.  So, even though my mind was elsewhere, we were sufficiently 'valentined'.


Our Valentines day was actually very nice.  Bill started out Sunday morning with a meeting at the
Stake Center with Elder Perry, an apostle.  There was only about 30 people at this meeting, so it was really special for Bill to be able to be there.

Later on, we went to church, where we listened to Porter speak in sacrament meeting.  What a great kid and what a great talk!

After church, I made some enchiladas using some really tender pork from a roast I had made earlier in the week.

That night, we invited some friends over.  We had a wonderful visit while eating some Valentine's cake and ice cream.  (Yes, believe it or not, I did make a cake.  I scrambled Saturday night to at least make a Valentine's cake to give my family).

After our company left, and the kids were in bed, Bill made the two of us some Mexican hot chocolate in the blender.  It was his gift to me, and it was delicious.  Darker than regular hot chocolate, with a hint of cinnamon.  Mmmmm.  I loved it.  There's nothing like a mug of hot chocolate to end a nice, relaxing day with the one you love.

This morning, we woke up, got ready for our day, and had the elders over for a breakfast of french toast on Bill's day off.

Despite my absentmindedness, our weekend was great.  It just goes to show that you don't have to buy expensive gifts or eat at restaurants or put up lots of decorations to enjoy a holiday with your family, huh?

Plus we have enough enchiladas for tonight's dinner, so I have the night off of cooking!

An update on Evelyn's hand:  We had to do a home treatment on her hand yesterday because physical therapy was closed for President's day.  Ron sent me home with all of the stuff that I would need to be able to do it.  I was a bit nervous, but Bill and Porter helped me.  We did it!.... and her fingers are looking amazing.  I mean really amazing.  This little girl has been so blessed.  We go see Ron tomorrow and then to the plastic surgeon on Wednesday where we will learn more.