Vegas and Utah Trip

Haws and I headed out to Vegas and Utah for a quick little trip. We started off in Vegas. Hit up the strip, the casinos, the New York New York Roller coaster (which was a lot more thrill seeking than I remember) and went to my favorite restaurant The Grand Lux Cafe. I usually like to go there for a midnight meal or brunch, but we went there for lunch and it was delicious!

After a long day of walking, we met up with our friends the Richins at Mon Ami Gabi for dinner (Haws' favorite). It was so good to see Sara and Stanford. They were expecting there first baby when we saw them and they had there little girl last night. Maggie Lynn was 9lbs 7oz and 20.5 inches and has red hair. I will post a pic soon. Poor Sara was pretty uncomfortable... but now it is all over!

I know Sara is going to hate this picture, but I had to post it.

What is that on Stanford??? Did he.... nooooo!?!

Yes! It looks like he had so much fun at dinner he peed his pants! I thought the prego women were the ones with bladder problems!!! JUST KIDDING! He did not pee his pants, but as we were getting ready to leave dinner, he spilled his water right on his pants! I was laughing so hard when we left the restaurant that I almost had an accident! Thank you Stanford for being such a good sport and letting me take a picture of it!

Haws and I then headed off to see LOVE. It was amazing!!! We had seats right next to the stage and a little boy from the show gave me a rose at the end. I felt pretty special :)

I have always loved The Beatles and although Haws doesn't appreciate the music quite like I do, he liked the show as well. I think everyone should see this one.
We stayed with Dana and Chase in Utah. It was so much fun hanging out with them and their apartment is so cute! I miss having my sister close by. We had a chance to visit with a lot of people when, but unfortunately didn't take any pictures!!! We went to Cafe Rio with Sarah, Jared an Thor, "Nate Dog" and his wife Breanne, Dana and Chase and Chase's brother McKay and with Lo. We went to a BYU Hockey game and my friend Justin met us there. Too bad BYU got a whooping so bad we left after the 2nd period. They needed Haws back in there as goalie.
Sunday we got to see my Aunt LaRee and her grandkids and then my Aunt Nancy was kind enough to have us and my cousins over for dinner. I still have to get the recipes from her, it was so good! I love seeing all the family that are in Utah... I wish they were closer.

This is the only picture I took that Dana will let me post. Those are her new couches. Aren't they nice? Haws was a little under the weather the whole trip, but he was a trooper and hung in there for all the running around. I love this man

Rainy Days and Mondays....

...never get ME down!
Today was a wonderful rainy Monday. Since it was Presidents Day, Haws had most of the day off of work and I worked, but had a large enough break in the afternoon to watch a movie with my hubby. I can't remember the last time I sat at home, watching a movie in the middle of the day. At least when I am healthy, that never really happens. I had rented Mr. Mom over the weekend and we never got a chance to watch it, so today was perfect for it. I love this movie!!!! It brings back so many fond childhood memories. I think I use to watch it every week! If you haven't seen it, you have to rent it. It was interesting to me how much the things that were going on in the 80's our going on now in 2009. Here is a little sneak peek at some of my favorite scenes. Enjoy and Happy Presidents Day :)

make your own

In case you want to make your own mosaic...

tep 1: go to flickr.com
setp 2: in another window open http://bighugelabs.com/flickr/mosaic.php
step 3: choose 4 columns, 3 rows
step 4: answer the following questions in the search bar of flicker. pick your favorite one on the first page and paste it into your mosaic

1. What is your first name?
2. What is your favorite food?
3. What school did you go to?
4. What is your favorite color?
5. Who is your celebrity crush?
6. Favorite drink?
7. Dream vacation?
8. Favorite dessert?
9. What you want to be when you grow up?
10. What do you love most in life?
11. One word to describe you.
12. Your nickname.

My Mosaic

Thanks Jenny and Koko for this idea. Some of the pictures they come up with are pretty weird.

Blueberry Crisp - gluten free goodness!

For Super Bowl Sunday, Haws and I went over to our friends the Nelsons home. Since I accidental bought another thing of blueberries from Costco not realizing I had one in the fridge, I decided to make something with blueberries to take over. I turned to my trusted Gluten Free Goddess for a recipe idea. This turned out so yummy! Everyone loved it and it disappeared so fast I never got a picture of what it looked like coming out of the oven. It was so easy to make too! You gotta try this one.

The Topping

Just sprinkle on the berries and let it mix in a bit.

Scraped Clean!

This is the picture and recipe from her website since I didn't get a shot.

Karina's blueberry crisp works with fresh or frozen berries

Blueberry Crisp

(I doubled this and put it in a 9x13" pan)

Crisps and crumbles are simple desserts that translate beautifully to gluten free. I like to use Pamela's Ultimate Baking & Pancake Mix for my "all-purpose" self-rising flour mix. I find it works well in so many recipes; and I love not having to stop and mix up a gluten free flour blend. Perfect for those of us who bake spontaneously, when the mood strikes us.

12 oz. frozen blueberries, thawed, or 1 pint fresh, rinsed, drained

1 cup Pamela’s Ultimate Gluten-Free Baking & Pancake Mix, or any self-rising GF flour mix

3/4 cup light brown sugar, packed

1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon

1/4 cup organic canola oil, or butter/GF margarine such as Smart Balance

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Generously smear an 8-inch pie plate or 8 x 8-inch baking dish with butter or GF margarine (we use Smart Balance). Pour the blueberries into the bottom of the dish.In a mixing bowl, combine the GF flour mix with the brown sugar and cinnamon. Add in the oil or butter by hand, and rub the mixture between your fingers until it resembles sugary coarse crumbs. Layer the crumbs over the blueberries. Bake in a preheated oven until bubbly – about 30 minutes.Serve warm, with a scoop of vanilla ice cream, if desired. Makes four servings.

Cook's Note:For those not baking gluten-free, simply use the recipe substituting your favorite self-rising flour.

Wild Night with the Mans Family

I couldn't add these pics in for some reason with my last post, so I am putting them here. We went over to spend the evening with the Mans Family. We made pizzas, played memory and put Max and Haws to bed. Yes... once again, Haws fell asleep while we were over at someones house. To his credit, he didn't get much sleep the night before because he was on a over night camp out with the boy scouts. Little Max is not quite so little anymore. He was moving around so much I only got one picture of him that didn't turn out blurry. Thanks for having us over Cin and Tom. We always have fun with you guys... even while we are sleeping :)

Haws in his usual position.

Little Max chewing on his favorite giraffe toy. Word on the street is these things are awesome!