Our Colorado Adventure

Well in September, we headed to Colorado for a couple of days. We had a great time. These are just a few pictures that highlight our adventure. Also my sister in law has some great pictures on her blog. We also celebrated josh's 29th bithday. We are becoming old farts. Also, we went to the Aquarium and my Sister in law's dad volunteers down there. So we got to see him dive. He is great about interacting with the people and kids that see him. We had such a great time, and we look forward to seeing my brothers family this thanksgiving.

The Link

If you click on the link, it will take you to the site to see the gown that she is giving away. She is a very, very talented lady. She makes these amazing outfits and gives them away. It is neat to see each week what she has been making. All i can say is wow. She really is gifted.

Grosgrain: Marie-Thérèse Gown GIVEAWAY!!!!

The most beautiful gown I have ever seen. Grosgrain: Marie-Thérèse Gown GIVEAWAY!!!! My little girl Hailey, was picking out every detail to it and why she loved it. It was really cute to see her eyes light up when she saw this dress. She is such a girly girl.

five things

Five things you may or may not know about me

1. One of my favorite singers is Jewel. I just love her voice and her music. I could listen to her all day long everyday. Maybe one day I will see her in concert.

2. I love Christmas movies. I watch them all year round.

3. I love shopping. It doesn't matter what its for, I just love shopping. If only I had the money. Hi my name is MaryBeth and I'm a shopaholic.

4. I love going to the park with my kids. When nobody is looking, i like to play like a kid, especially swinging, its great.

5. I have this odd passion for getting stains out of clothes.

I tag anyone that wants to do this.

Catching up on our Adventures.

I'm going to try to catch up on what we have been up to these past two months. We had a lovely time in Sept. with my parents first coming and visiting us. They were only here a couple of days, its never long enough. We love having them come and the kids look forward to spending time with them. I think we did way to much in the short time period we had, we should of had some more down time.

We went to the zoo and to Thanksgiving point. Josh, grandpa and the kids went fishing; well my mom and i went christmas shopping..That is always fun.

I'm so grateful to my parents for all they do for my family and my brothers and sister. I'm glad they make the effort to come out and visit us. One day, when my basement is finished they can actually stay in our home.

After my parents stay, we up and left with my parents to Colorado. To visit my brothers family. Stay tuned in for updates on our Colorado adventure

Yummy, good for you cinnamon rolls

Last Sunday, I made some wonderful 100% whole wheat cinnamon rolls. They turned out
wonderfully. I have always heard that whole wheat anything does not rise well. But they did great. I did undercook them a bit, I don't like a burnt roll. So next time I will cook them a little longer. But i love that they are half the calories than normal rolls. And it has fiber. My kids loved them. I'm definitely going to do more of this. Anyways, i want to share the recipe.

Whole Wheat Orange Cinnamon Rolls

Ingredients:

1 1/4 cups warm water (110° - 115°F)

2 packages active dry yeast

1/2 cup nonfat dry milk powder

6 tablespoons butter, melted

6 tablespoons honey

1 egg, beaten

1 teaspoon salt

3 tablespoons

wheat gluten

4 to 4 1/2 cups whole wheat flour

FILLING1/4 cup butter, softened

1/3 cup honey

1/2 tablespoon orange peel, grated

2 teaspoons ground cinnamon

2 teaspoons flour

Directions: Preheat oven to 350°F.In large mixing bowl, combine yeast and warm water until dissolved. Blend in dry milk, butter, honey, egg and salt. Add 2 cups whole wheat flour plus wheat gluten to mixture. Beat with mixer on low speed until smooth.

Gradually add enough of the remaining flour to make sticky dough. Knead 10 to 12 minutes with dough hook or by hand until smooth and elastic. (Avoid adding to much extra flour, the dough should be slightly sticky for a moist roll.)

Place in a warm greased bowl, turning to coat top. Cover loosely with plastic wrap and towel; let rise in a warm (80°F) place until double in size. Punch down dough; cover and let rest for 10 minutes.

FILLING: Beat butter, honey, orange peel, cinnamon and flour until creamy. Roll dough into 18 x 15-inch rectangle. Spread the butter mixture to within ½ -inch of edges. Starting at the 18-inch side, roll dough tightly, jelly-roll fashion. Seal edge by pinching with fingertips. Slice into 1½ -inch pieces to make 15 rolls. Place in greased 13 x 9 –inch pan. Cover and let rise until double in size.

Bake in oven for 20 to 25 minutes or until done; cool 10 minutes. If desired, mix together ½ cup confectioner’s sugar and 2 to 3 teaspoons orange juice; drizzle over rolls and serve.

Servings: Provides 15 rolls/servings
Calories/Serving: 260 calories/serving

Here is where i got the recipe. It has a lot of other great recipes.

The joy that can come from blogging...you too can be a part of it

This past Tuesday, I had a unique opportunity to share what i have learned about blogging. My sister in law Danika reminded me of the talk from Elder Ballard gave at my brothers graduation. He talked about how we can use our Internet communications for the spreading of the gospel. Here is his talk. It is a pretty long talk but it has a lot of great insight. Take some time to read through it. It help me put into perspective what I'm doing with my blog. I'm not only doing a family journal, but I'm and should do more, of the spreading of the gospel through my blog. Its a great way to uplift someone. I'm very grateful for the technology we have today.

"Wordless Wednesday"

Safety First!!

So we have been busy. My parents came to visit. Gosh, I love it when they come. We did a lot of fun things. And on a whim we decided to head to Colorado with my parents to visit my brother. That was also enjoyable, except we got a cold right before we left. Also, our newer computer crashed, so its in the process of being revamped. So before i can share pictures of our adventures i have to find the camera cord to hook up to the old computer. I think we have to many wires in our house. So i guess this isn't really wordless Wednesday because i keep typing. The nice thing about the old computer we have a lot of cute older pictures. This is Wyatt, I think he is about 2 here. He was a born biker.

Picture perfect

On tuesday we had Wyatts game in the rain. It was really cold and rainy. It took the kids a little warming up to play well, they were all freezing. But i got this way cute picture of Hailey. I love it!!

A lot of FIRSTs this week

This past week we have had a lot of firsts! I straightened Hailey's hair for the first time. Crazy, she dosen't even look like Hailey with straight hair. Clayton got his first hair cut, thanks to Aunt Camille for teaching me how to do it. He did pretty good. Maybe one day, when the kids are older i will go to Cosmetology school. I would really love to do that one day.
Horray for Wyatt and his first day at preschool. It was sad, but happy too! He was so excited to go. He will make some great friends! He is growing up so fast. He is very creative, strong, sensitive, and a friend to everyone. And he LOVES catching grasshoppers. I don't know what he will do when winter comes around.
Hailey had her first Clogging lesson. I think it is a Utah thing, because i never heard of it til I moved here. She loves it so far. Its so cute seeing these little girls trying to dance. Its very cute!
The dance class and all the little girls, she is going to cut the class in half because its so big.

September 6, 6 years of marriage

Hi everyone, This is Josh. Today is our 6th year of marriage on september 6. So its a very special day!
I wanted to tell MaryBeth how much I appreciate everything that she does as a mother and my wife! She does an exelent job! I dont think that words can express all that i feel for my dear wife, she is a great example to all the lives she touches (which are many)From yw to cub scouts to relief society to our children I dont know if she will ever really realize the full impact of what she does. She gives 110%
Thank you MaryBeth for all that you do!!!!! Iwould do it all over again, I wouldn't change anything! You are so special to me. You are an inspiration to me, and you are a great mom. thanks hon, I love you so much happy anniversery, love your hubby, Josh

M&M's a fruit or a veggie?

Food for thought.....We were at Walmart standing in the never ending line, with all tempting items a kid could dream of, Wyatt ask for M&Ms. I said no candy today, and he replied "Mom, M&Ms aren't candy, their M&Ms" Well, if thats the case, I guess we could get them.

Also, just a note, we do not dip our crackers in the standing water at the park. Just in case nobody knew that one.

Soccer time!!

I can't believe I have a kid in soccer. He is doing great, i even think he is coming out of his shell by doing it. He loves playing it. He is number 9, He assited on a goal. He had fun!!
Wyatts kicking the ball in.
Soccer pratice.
Hailey the cheerleader....she is so cute!!

Happy Birthday Clay, Clay!!!

On Sept 1st Clayton turned 1. He has grown up so fast. I just think he wants to keep up with his brother and sister. We did a party at Grandma and Grandpa house on Monday We also attended a parade on his birthday. That's pretty special to have a parade on your birthday. This picture is out of order.

Clayton got a lot of great gifts from his aunts, uncles, and cousins. He really does love them all, and i even think he knows that these are actually his and not his big brother or sister. Thanks to everyone for the wonderful gifts.

Yummy cake for the first time. A little apprehensive at first but ended up loving it.
OK, here are the pictures from the parade. It was cold, 50's. And we had this rain cloud just moving closer and closer. And yes it poured and hailed. So we didn't stay. but we had some fun just waiting for the parade to start.

This is Hailey in her new hat....I just love it.
Wyatt wanted me to take this picture and post it. He love his Indian Jones toy.

Mary, Mary.....How does your garden grow?

We did a family garden this year and its turning out great. Thanks to dad for a little advice here and there. I have already made a ton of salsa already. Its been fun and the kids love just eating the tomatos right off the vine.