Here is our ten day forecast right now!

I am LOVING this!

TueJul 1
Partly Cloudy
93°F


WedJul 2
Sunny
95°F


ThuJul 3
Sunny
98°F

FriJul 4
Mostly Sunny
95°F


SatJul 5
Mostly Sunny
90°F


SunJul 6
Sunny
90° F

MonJul 7
Sunny
93°F


TueJul 8
Sunny
93°F


WedJul 9
Sunny
94°F


I went golfing this morning with my mom and sister, and like a crazy person, I wore pants. I was SO hot! Tonight, Cody and I went on a walk... its my new excersize plan. (I cant get myself to the gym often enough and I don't enjoy running.) So I strap on my 25 lb "weight belt" and off we go.

Soon to be the new owner of....I sold my old phone on ebay for $270 today so I get to go buy the one I want!!!!

Cuanto anos tiene??

That is pretty close to the extent of my spanish after 2.5 years in the Spanish Branch, 1 semester in college and 2 years in high school.

And for those that don't know, that means "How old are you?"

Well, Thanks for asking. I turned 23 on Wednesday and I had a great Birthday. Wednesday morning, I had a meeting at nine so Chris Cody and I all had a bowl of cereal together :) But my boys let me pick where we were going for lunch... knowing that I would say Olive Garden.

Let me just say... that was the best meal I have ever had at Olive Garden and not just because of the company I was with. I love their Chicken Scampi, and I asked the server to have them put extra roasted garlic, and there was enough for ever bite! I had the worst tummy ache later but it was completely worth it!

If anyone knows a good recipe to make their Chicken Scampi, I am interested!!!

Then, Wednesday night, because Chris is Young Mens President and I am in Youn Womens, we both had mutual but we went to Lake Lowell to swim and eat! Always a good combination.

My girls have girls camp in a month and I had to teach them how to cook using a Dutch Oven and make a hobo dinner. I ended up doing almost all the work but it was so fun... and the food was a hit. Not one bit of left overs. So my actual birthday was great. Relaxing, fun and relatively stress-free.

Thursday, I went to lunch with my friends, Sherri and Kimbra Roche at Wingers. I hadn't been to the new one close to us so it was fun to go... and buy some of their amazing sauce!!! Thanks for lunch and laughs girls!

and Thursday night we went to Mona Lisa for cheese and chocolate with my family. Needless to say, I ate out more in the last 48 hours than I should have.

My In-Laws have been in California all week... but my mother-in-law got me a great book. Called Sisters in Zion... I am about half way done already. I highly recommend it for any moms, sisters, or wives. :)

I thought that my kitchen aid mixer and the clothes that I got in Portland were my birthday presents from Chris, but he surprised me on Thursday with a great knife set to match my kitchen aid and a bacon tray.... we make a lot of bacon. :)

And to top it all off, when I was putting Cody in bed, I gave him a kiss when he was almost asleep and without opening his eyes whispered, "I love you" , talk about precious!!!

Thanks to all for making my birthday so fun!

Summer Fling

I have never watched a whole season of The Bachelor or The Bachelorette. (Love my DVR receiver.)

And now I don't know if I can watch any more! This picture doesn't do him justice but I think he was smokin'. I can understand why she eliminated him though, if I had 3 guys pouring their hearts out to me every time they were with me and one that didn't talk at all... I would be concerned too.

Now, I just don't want Jeremy to win. He has seemed fake the WHOLE time.

I can't imagine being the guy she chooses after watching the last episode when she eliminated Graham and said "I just eliminated the one guy I thought I was falling in love with" OUCH!!

summer time

Our friends from Utah came up to visit this weekend.... and to sum it up, we were all exhausted on Sunday. It is Chris's boss from when we were still in college and his family that we came to know and love very much while we were down in Utah. They have 4 kids, Landon 14, Sabrina 11, Brennan 8 and McKade 6. We have been so excited for them to come see us, Cody adores them and their kids adore Cody. Normally when I hear a "thud" in my house it concerns me, however I have never heard so many "thuds" in one weekend... in other words, they had a blast! Lance and Aurelie love to cook, and eat.... so we had a blast really breaking in my kitcen. I normally cook for 3-5 people so it was a blast.

And, in case you hadn't noticed this is the time to buy artichokes!!!! They are incredible! This is exactly what they looked like... oh it makes my mouth water.

now I am going to share with you how I make them :

you have to cut the tips off... all of them! They hurt when they are pockey.... and it helps open it up so it can steam better. cut the stem off too. spread it as much as you can and sprinkler house seasoning into it (1/4 cup pepper, 1/4 cup garlic powder, 1 cup kosher salt). Bring a pot of about an inch of water and 1 cup white wine to a boil, place artichokes top down so the it steams all the way up into the artichoke... seriously you will love it!!!! (about 30 min)

Ok back to my weekend, the Sage family got her at 6 p.m. in Friday night, we hung out had dinner (the chicken taquitos I shared recently) and watched Indiana Jones. Chris had a Young Mens campout so he didn't get back until 1 on Saturday. We all got up on Saturday had pancakes, bacon, eggs and fruit. We walked down to the playground with Cody to get some fresh air while we were waiting for Chris to get home. As soon as Chris got home we loaded up and went swimming at my in-laws subdivisions swimming pool. I love being tan(ish). We had beef strogonaff, delicious carne asade cooked with a secret recipe, swiss rosemary smashed potatoes and chocolate covered strawberries for dessert. Sunday we went to their nephews farewell and lunch after before they headed back to Utah. We were so sad that they had to leave. Here are a few pics of our weekend

Mom, come on

3 months ago I posted this . I had no idea that less than 3 months later I would be changing my mind. I still love when he wakes up from his nap and he says "mommy" in his sleepy voice, but he is ALWAYS saying it now. He knows exactly when it will bug me... so, here's to many more years of "MOM!!!! come on!"

This morning at the checkout register at Walmart, Cody turned to the lady behind the register and said " good morning" it sounded more like "ga morinin" but she understood him! I was so shocked, I think someone said that to him one time and he remembered.
So, I have decided to document some of my favorite phrases/sentences he says now. I posted a while ago with the words he says but this is way better :)

"Mommy, come on!"
"Daddy, (where) are you? "
"Daddy, c'mere" (come here)
"Mommy's car, Daddy's car"
"watch Diego"
"watch Stuart Little"
"Watch gascar" (madagascar)
"I go nigh-nigh"
"outside play bike"
"I need gum!" (or whatever it is he thinks he needs at the time!)
"nice tummy" or face, or head or back or arms (meaning he wants me to rub/tickle that area)
"go fwimming"
"frog get you!"
"dark in there" (means he is scared cause it is dark wherever I am asking him to go)
"I love you mommy"
"best mom" (your the best mom)
"I sorry mommy"
"make chocolate milk"
"Daddy coming!"
"frog scare me"

Mommy: "What does a pig say?"
Cody: "Oink, Oink"

Mommy: "What does a cow say?"
Cody: "Moooooo"

Mommy: "What does a kitty say?"
Cody: "meow, meow" (in a really high pitched voice)

Mommy: "What does a motorcycle say?"
Cody: "VaVroom"

Mommy: "What does Mommy say?"
Cody: "No no no" while shaking his head

Weekend in Portland

We left Friday morning at 7 a.m. for Portland OR to go to my cousin Stephanie's wedding. I was so excited because it has been over 10 years since I have been in Portland. We used to have Hayes Family Reunions every year at the Oregon coast but they stopped when I was in 5th grade. I have a lot of girl cousins on my dads side of the family that I loved getting to see every year. I only have one girl cousin on my moms side of the family that is around here so I loved the Hayes Family Reunions!

First of all the ride there was long, we were trying to make it for the brunch at 11:30 in Portland but we didn't so we stopped at Char Burger Cafe along the way... I don't think I would have eaten all my food on a regular day but because I was STARVING, it was the best food I had ever eaten.

We stopped at my Unlce Dan's house (my dads brother) so we could follow them to the hotel where the wedding was and coincidentally where we were staying. They have the most amazing view from their house... miles of trees. Next, was the rehearsal for the wedding and then to the swimming pool!!! Cody could play in the pool for hours if we let him. Since we promised him the whole way there that he could go swimming we threw him in the pool for a few minutes before we had to head to dinner at Hayes' house again. The dinner was delicious and gorgeous and Cody had a blast playing in their small waterfall pond out back looking for frogs and drinking soda. It was great being able to catch up with all my family that I haven't talked to in years!

At about 7:30 I heard a rumor that there was a Nordstrom Rack down the road.... my sweet husband was so nice to be so willing to take me. I got a great dress and shirt and he got some super hot lucky jeans.

Back to the hotel for hot tub time for mommy and bedtime for Cody and Daddy.

The next morning we had breakfast at the hotel's free breakfast room and it was amazing. After, we all got ready and walked down to the Portland Market. I remember the last time I was there at the market, I was probably 10 and I looked like a homeless kid. My dad, Melissa, Chris, Cody and I all walked down and looked at all the vendors stuff and had some fun food and walked out by the cool bridges. Side note: It was also the weekend of Portland Pride! (gay pride) haha as if Portland didn't already have enough interesting people.

The wedding was at 1 p.m. and it was incredible. This was the only picture I took, and then I decided to put the camera away. There were enough photographers there already. Steph looked amazing and the wedding was perfect.

The reception was beautiful as well and the food was delicious.

That night I learned that there was ANOTHER Nordstrom Rack just 2 blocks from our hotel and yes we went to that one too. This time Chris bought me my first pair of "Seven" jeans and a pair of flip flops for my dad. (He brought two left foot flip flops from different pairs with him).

Then we people watched! One of our favorite past times :) and what a great weekend for it! (yes this is a picture of 2 girls.)

That night we hit the pool again, watched a movie and crashed.

Sunday morning we had breakfast at Sweet Tomatoes, a buffet style place and Cody got to sit on my dad's Aunt and Uncle's Harley Davidsons. He loved it until they started the bike while he was sitting on it. He even has the bad boy look!

Overall we had a blast! I was glad we went and were able to catch up with family!

Funny Story

Have I mentioned that I love my son? Because I do! He is constantly making me laugh and recently he has been really good at making me feel like a good mom too. Now that he can talk we get to know what he is REALLY thinking. During his nap today, I was making myself some shrimp-stir fry in the kitchen and I heard a loud thud... I knew exactly what it was so I hustled into Cody's roomed to find him still dazed and laying flat on his back on the floor. He was kind of crying but more of a mumbling cry. Anyway I hurried and picked him up and put him back on his bed and he kept saying, "I fall off, I fall off" "hurt you" . It took everything I had to not laugh at him. He wouldn't lay back down, he wanted to be held so I offered to take him in on my bed which I knew he wouldn't turn down. As I was carrying him into my room he was mumbling things and as I placed him on the bed he said "best mom" (I have been teaching him to say you're the best mom, and thats how it comes out) It completely melted my heart. After that he said, "mom sing you", so I sang to him until he fell asleep! These are the days that make the bad ones worth it!

Ugh.

I can't figure out why my camera wont work lately so I don't have any recent pictures AND I can't take pictures on my phone and send them to my email because that would require my phone to connect to the internet and I had that cancelled yesterday because it was too expensive to try to keep it any longer. So... until I get a new, less complicated phone I can't send or recieve pictures on my phone. UGH!

However, we have been keeping busy. Chris wants to go watch the new Indian Jones movie but unfortunately I have never seen the first 3... I have only been on the ride at Disneyland :) So I have been trying to watch the first 3 movies so I can take Chris to watch the most recent one for Fathers Day. They are not my kind of movies so it has been a task.

How sexy is this picture:

And how not sexy is this one!!!!:

Ok now that I have a few minutes, I am going to elaborate on my recent posts.

First, my new kitchen aid mixer!!!! I can't tell you how excited I am about it. I was going to get one for Christmas this year for myself from Chris. I hear they are super cheap at 4 a.m. the day after Thanksgiving. :) BUT!!!! Chris informed me last week that we had enough credit card points for me to get my mixer. Down side- they only had white. Plus side - they had bed bath and beyond gift cards so I got $300 worth of gift cards to BBandB instead! THEN!!! as if this situation could get any better, I got one of those "20% off any single item in our store" coupons fom BBandB! I will do the math for you... that is $60 in savings!!!! My gift cards were in my mail box 3 days later and I had my mixer on my counter that same day!! So thanks to my amazing husband who always thinks of me first. Last time we cashed in our rewards points I got Macy's gift cards. :)


Second, about all the recipe posts... I have been blog stalking to different cooking blogs! I love it because the majority of them are moms who have great recipes for kids. So I will post the ones we try and like and leave out the ones we dont.


Third, you guessed it another recipe. Actually two of them. The Hawaiian Chicken I made for dinner tonight and it was so yummy. The cheesecake bites were delicious! I love girl scout cookies and cheesecake and putting them together was heaven.

Hawaiian Chicken
4 chicken breasts
1 tbs flour
1/2 tsp salt
2 cans pinneapple
1 tbs teriyaki sauce
1 tbs honey
1/2 tsp pepper

cook rice and set to the side. mix flour and salt and thinly coat chicken with flour mixture. brown chicken in frying pan until cooked throughout. put chicken in oven on warm. pour pinneapple juice from canned pinneapple, teriyaki sauce, honey and pepper into same pan used for cooking chicken. bring to a boil and add pinneapple. Serve over the chicken and rice.

From http://www.pickypalate.blogspot.com/
Girl Scout Thin Mint Cookie Cheesecake Cups
13 Thin Mint Cookies, ground in food processor or blender (you can also use the mint Oreos)
2 Tablespoons melted butter
8 oz softened cream cheese
1/2 Cup sugar
1 egg
2 1/2 Tablespoons buttermilk
5 Thin mint cookies coarsely crumbled

1/4 Cup chocolate chips
2-3 Tablespoons heavy cream
3-5 Thin mint cookies, crumbled (for top of cups)

1. Preheat oven to 300 degrees F. Combine ground cookies and butter in a medium bowl. Drop about 1 Tablespoon of cookie mixture into 24 mini cupcake tins that has been sprayed with cooking spray. (If you have mini cupcake paper wrappers I'd use them, it was difficult to remove my cheesecake cups from the tin itself). Press crust into cups with back of a spoon.
2. In an electric or stand mixer cream the cream cheese and sugar until well combined. Add egg and buttermilk until well combined as well. Stir in crumbled cookies. Pour cheesecake mixture into cupcake tins filled almost to the very top. Bake for 25-28 minutes or until cooked through. Remove and cool for 15 minutes.
Melt chocolate chips in microwave until melted and smooth. Stir in heavy cream until smooth and shiny. Spoon about 1 Tablespoon over each cheesecake cup and sprinkle with additional crumbled cookies. 24 mini cheesecake cups

Taquitos

I made these today. The chicken mixture was incredible!!!!! it was a great twist on the old chicken taco

Shredded Chicken Taquitos

2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
1/2 cup finely chopped onion
1/4 cup finely chopped red pepper
1 tablespoon finely chopped jalapeno pepper
2 cups cooked, then shredded chicken breast
3 tablespoons finely chopped cilantro leaves
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon cumin
1/4 teaspoon black pepper
1 (14 1/2 oz.) can diced tomatoes with green chilies3 Tablespoons vegetable oilburrito size flour tortillas
1. In 10-inch non stick skillet, heat olive oil over medium heat. Add onion, bell pepper and jalapeno pepper; cook 3 to 5 minutes or until vegetables are tender, stirring frequently. Stir in chicken, 3 tablespoons cilantro, salt, cumin, pepper and tomatoes with green chilies; cook 5 minutes.

2. Place oil into large skillet over medium heat. Place about 2 large Tablespoons of chicken mixture into each tortilla. Tightly roll, securing ends with toothpicks. In batches, place taquitos into hot pan. Pan fry until nice and golden brown on each side. Remove, transfer to a paper towel lined plate to dry. Serve and enjoy!

Recipe came from http://pickypalate.blogspot.com/

I know the picture isn't great, but she is all mine!!!!!

QUIET!

When Chris got home from work yesterday Cody was watching Diego. Chris was talking on his cell phone while sitting on the chair in the same room as Cody was watching Diego. All the sudden Cody pointed at Chris and said "Quiet!....Quiet!" Chris was shocked, I was laughing so hard!

Then today as I was putting Cody down for his nap, I was singing to him and he looked over at me and said "Quiet, shhh. Bed" meaning be quiet mom and go to bed. too cute.

Roast Chicken with Grapes

I made this chicken tonight and it was INCREDIBLE! So I thought I would share:



Roast Chicken with Grapes Recipe

Ingredients
1 roasting chicken, about 4 to 5 pounds1 lemon, slicedsalt and pepper to taste1 onion, cut into eight wedges1 large bunch of seedless grapesA few sprigs of fresh rosemary, thyme, sage, and or tarragon1 cup of white wineOlive oil
Method
1 Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
2 Rub inside of chicken with olive oil. Sprinkle insides with salt and pepper. Remove about a cup's worth of grapes from their vines and cut in half. Insert grapes into cavity. Add a few onion wedges into the cavity, along with a few sprigs of fresh herbs. You do not need to remove the rosemary from the stalk. Add a half of the lemon slices to the cavity. If you still have more space in the cavity, add more grapes.
3 Rub olive oil over the outside of the chicken. Line the bottom of a roasting casserole dish with onion slices and lemon slices. Place the chicken in the roasting pan, on top of the lemon wedges and onion, breast side down. (Or you could use a roasting rack. Using a roasting rack will ensure that the entire chicken is roasted. If you place the chicken directly in the pan, the breast meat may braise in the juices, which is also quite good, but different from roasting.)
Sprinkle outside of chicken with salt and pepper. Place sprigs of herbs and slices of lemon between the wings and the body of the chicken. Arrange any remaining grapes, lemon slices, and herbs around the sides of the chicken.
4 Roast at 350 degrees F in the oven for about 20 minutes per pound. Baste with the juices from the chicken and the white wine several times during the cooking. The chicken is done when the juices run clear (not pink) when a knife tip is inserted into both the chicken breast and thigh, about 165-170°F for the breast and 180-185°F for the thigh.





I got the recipe from http://www.elise.com/recipes/ I found it off a link on http://www.internecipes.blogspot.com/ anyway I really liked the way it turned out... I didn't use all the wine it calls for... I rotated chicken stock and white wine when it was time to baste the chicken. The grapes were delicious after they were cooked. I served it with mashed potatoes and corn. :)

Melt my heart

Yesterday we turned Cody's bed from a crib to a day bed... basically just took the front off and lowered the mattress so he can get in and out as he pleases. However, because of his previously mentioned fear of frogs we have had a hard time getting him into the bed. After 24 hrs of constantly telling him that the frog is nice and it wont get him, he took a nap in the bed today... and is asleep right now in his bed! HOORAY .
Then only problem is he has been SO spoiled that every day I lay down with him when he takes his nap and every night he falls asleep either on the couch watching a movie with Daddy or in bed with us and then he gets put in his bed... so when I put him to bed now I still have to "lay down" with him. Just my head and shoulders can be on the bed because I am too big for it... it is not the most comfortable position!
He went through a violent stage with animals so we had to keep telling him to "be nice" and then we would show him how to pet the small animals so now when I tell him to be nice he pets whatever it is even if it is Mommy. Sounds funny but it is my favorite thing in the world. I say
"be nice to mommy" and he pets my face, gives me a kiss and says "night night mom" . But before I can go to "sleep", I have to "be nice" to his tummy! IT cracks me up, but he loves having his tummy rubbed.

I recently figured out my video camera so I attached a really old video for your viewing pleasure. It is short but I couldn't stop laughing... he was one month old going on his first airplane.

The end of the world as I knew it....

Our computer has not been working this whole last week! Wow, I didn't realize how addicted I was. After I got over the fact that I couldn't blog or blog stalk for that matter... I did something incredible.... I cleaned my house and did the laundry!! Woo hoo for clean clothes!

Not one of our better days.... Cody ruined my chile plant!!!




Chris switched to an office in Meridian, same company just a different city 20 miles away instead of 12.

Pros- a slightly better commission split, new laptop (phew!), he gets to work with some of his good friends again, he only goes to work if he has too so Cody and I get to see him more!

Cons- GAS PRICES! the 16 extra miles a day have driven us to considering a crotch-rocket!



Some friends of ours that live in Utah baptized their 8 year old boy Brennan on Saturday, we were so bummed that we didn't get to go down for it but we were able to send a little baptism gift... a tie tack and a great "Tiny Talks" book to help with talks in church. While I was shopping for these items in Book Nook, Cody found some CANDY!!! cinnamon gummy bears, my favorite so I couldn't be too upset, I just couldn't believe that A. he got them open and B. he liked them!



Cody has started counting on his own, more than just 1 2 3... he counts 1-10 in English AND Spanish! we have to get him started if we want him to say it in Spanish but he does it all on his own after we say uno...



We have discovered a fear of Frogs!! of all things. He has a frog in his fish tank in his room but it doesn't scare him, just the ones he can hear outside in the ponds in our subdivision. He hides in the corner and says "FROG GET YOU!!"



Thursday there was a wedding and 2 baptisms in our Spanish branch... right after the baptism while standing in the middle of the aisle, Cody pulled his pants down and yelled, "I Fwimming Dad!!" Chris had to take him out because he was so mad that he couldn't go "fwimming".

I bought a mini muffin pan at Target last week and gave it a go... Cody loved them!



We play a little game when I say "I love you Cody" he says "I love you too mom" and then he quickly comes back with "No, Dad!" he thinks he is SO funny!!!(who am I kidding, I am the one that thinks he is funny)



Friday night I didn't have to work and Chris took the Young Men camping so Cody and I went to another wedding reception for a couple in the spanish branch... I wish I were of some sort of Mexican or Latin descent because they love to party!! The reception was from 5-11 p.m. Cody was dancing with all the other little kids and having a blast!



And how could I forget... Cody got his first fat lip. He tripped playing on my dads trailer. The pictures make it look mild.