Recipe Exchange anyone?

I have been really getting tired of the same old recipes and htought it might be fun to do a recipe exchange on here. If you have a recipe that your fmaily likes please post it for the rest of us to try. Here is a recipe we like for Mac and Cheese, it is not the healthiest recipe in the world, but hey the best ones rarely are. Here it is:


Spicy Jack Mac & Cheese with Broccoli
Ingredients:

• 2 cups (8 oz) dry elbow macaroni
• 2 cups chopped frozen or fresh broccoli
• 2 cups (8 oz) shredded sharp cheddar
• 2 cups (8 oz) shredded pepper jack
• 1 can (12 fl oz) evaporated milk
• ½ cup grated parmesan, divided
• ½ tsp ground black pepper
• 2 tbsp bread crumbs


Directions:
1. Preheat oven to 350°. Lightly butter 2 ½ quart casserole dish.
2. Cook macaroni in large saucepan according to package directions, adding broccoli to boiling pasta water for last three minutes of cooking time; drain.
3. Combine cooked pasta, broccoli, cheddar cheese, pepper jack cheese, evaporated milk, ¼ cup parmesan cheese, and black pepper in large bowl. Pour into prepares casserole dish. Combine remaining parmesan cheese and bread crumbs; sprinkle over macaroni mixture. Cover tightly with aluminum foil.
4. Bake covered for 20 min. Remove foil; bake for additional 10 minutes until lightly browned.
Makes 4-6 Servings

So I haven't posted in forever...You all know how summer is. Ours was great. The highlight of our summer was our week long camping trip to Zion National Park. It was hot, over 100 every day, but wonderful. THe kids did great and had a ball. Mom also came and visited for about a week. It was great to see her. Ayana still talks about Grandma, and asks when she will come again. Ayana's 3rd birthday was celebrated while we were camping and then again while Mom was here. Hard to believe she is 3 already. She started Preschool up at the University this year, and loves it so far. Asher finally decided to make his grand debut as a walker while Grandma was here to witness it, and is now working on the running. He is an amazing little boy with a smile that will melt your heart. That is lucky for him, because he is quite a trouble maker and sometimes he can really set his Mom's blood to boiling, but then he gives me that smile and I remember why I love him so much. We are attempting to potty train our daughter and not having much success. We have been at it for 3+ months now and I really don't feel like we are any closer than when we started. Any ideas/tips/tricks for me? I am still working overnights hwich keeps me busy trying to squeeze in sleep any spare minute, but hoping to cut back to 3 days a week in about a month, so that will help. I have started couponing and am really enjoying it and saving a fair bit of money at it too. I am no Sharolyn, but it is nice to see the savings adding up. I am currently working on a witch costume for Ayana for Halloween. Hopefully it turns out well, we shall see. I will post pictures as long as it is not a major flop. Trever is back in school after an enjoyable break. His semester is very busy (he only has 14 credits, but in class/lab time is 28 hours a week) but he seems to be enjoying it. As his classes get harder they also get more interesting as they get more hands on experience in designing and building things. He did great again last semester and has maintained his 4.0 GPA, he is truly amazing to me that he is able to do that. He puts in long days at school and then his evenings are full with the kids since I am sleeping, then he stays up late finishing all that homework. I really believe both of us are getting a little extra help from our Heavenly Father to make this crazy schedule we keep work as well as it does. In October he will start a GRE prep course. Keep your fingers crossed for us that when the time comes to actually take the test he will do well. The plan is still to go straight to Graduate school from here (though we don't know where, any thoughts?) So we are hoping he will do well enought that between that nad his GPA we can get some scholarship offers to help out with the cost. He wants to do a degree in either Mechanical Engineering or something related to alternative/renewable energy.

On other notes, am I right that Christmas this year we are all back to one person younger than us, Megan has me, I have Cassie, Cassie has Scott, etc. Anyone know for sure on that one?

Anyway, love you all, Amber

Well, we are finally getting summer in Alaska and really enjoying. The past week has been sunny and bright and relatively warm (high 50's) Yesterday Dad and I and Rosculp's took our kayaks and went from Cottonwood Lake to Mud Lake and then across Wasilla Lake. It took a couple hours and with perfect weather it was really enjoyable.
Dad is still working on cabinets but I think the end may be in site. A couple weeks ago MEA went through and chopped up all the woods between our yard and ranch road. They really made a mess so whenever Dad has been home we have been hauling the bigger stuff away, burning and raking.
We are now at the point where it will wait until spring and we will have to rent a bulldozer to get rid of all the stumps and then get a bunch of top soil and eventually have a lawn all the way down to the road. I definitely preferred the trees but I guess they could have become a problem for the power lines.
I think you all know that Cassie and Nate are moving back here so I have also been busy clearing out as much as possible downstairs. They should be able to be pretty settled down there and have everything they need except for a kitchen . It will make it easier for us to come and go without finding a housesitter, etc.
We are anxiously awaiting our next trip. We are flying into Chicago then meeting Nate and Sharolyn in St Louis for a few days. We will then drive up to Grandma's and spend a few days before driving back to Chicago to fly home. It will be somewhat rushed but we will get to see everyone and that means alot.
Shannon, I love your idea of getting together with everyone on Skype. We will definitely have to try to work that out.
Well, I am going to get busy on some family history.
Love You All!
Mom

Never Ending

It just seems like the projects around the house are Neverending!!!But, I know, that is no excuse for not being more faithful on keeping in touch. Here are a couple pictures of the demolition process... What a stud! Thoroughly enjoying operating his "mini" Jack Hammer! Not really!, but he was glad to be able to accomplish that dream of playing with one. He felt it for a couple days later though, so that part wasn't so fun.



It's still a work in progress. Hopefully won't be too much longer. We figured we might as well knock out both downstairs bathrooms at the same time. Now, not so sure that was the wisest,...considering all of us have to use the upstairs bathroom since there are no accessible toilets or showers on the main floor. As you can see, the toilets are IN the showers.
Makeila, being the one home during the day has been an extra big helper. She is the assistant tool helper and tile handler. Although a lot of the work now has been after all the kids are in bed, and Nathan has left for work,..so after 10pm.

A fun Idea!

I came across this article -LDS Living Magazine- and thought it would be fun for us to do once in a while...not necessarily Family Home Evening, but choose a time like every third Sunday afternoon that we can all meet on Skype or something and actually talk and see each other. I know we are all busy, but it is important to stay connected....Thoughts?

Happy birthday, Toby!

It’s been one year since our newest family member joined the team and we can’t imagine life without him. We feel like Toby makes our family complete. Our little Toby is growing every day and his personality is really starting to show. We always thought he was the sweetest, most laid back baby. Well, that sweet little baby has grown into a very vocal and determined toddler. That’s right. Our little Toby now bullies his big brother and has an iron grip when it comes to grabbing a toy or piece of food that he wants. It’s so fun to watch him learn new things, or new techniques to get his way. He is a determined guy, that’s for sure. We had a birthday party for him the last Saturday and he had a wonderful time. He got to play with his cousins and a couple close friends and then eat his first piece of cake. Toby went to bed happy that night, and I think for the first time in a couple weeks, he actually slept through the night, all night, in his own bed.

As for his big brother, Xavier started preschool about two weeks ago. He LOVES it. Let me just say, on his first day of school, he was so brave and ready to go. Bottom line, I cried, he didn’t. He didn’t stay still long enough for me to take a good first day of school picture, but I do have one from the open house. Xavier’s teachers are really nice and, since it’s a co-op, I go in to volunteer about twice a semester. It’s really nice to be involved, but still be able to let him go and see what school is like without mom around. Toby apparently loves preschool too. During open house, I couldn’t keep him from playing with all the big kid stuff and when I went to drop Xavier off on the first day, Toby managed to tackled one of Xavier’s classmates and swipe his toy. I think Xavier may be our little thinker, while Toby is just a bully already!

Scott and I are doing well. We’ve just been incredibly busy! During August, Scott’s segment was going through an audit and several people from headquarters were up to go over everything. There were several trips to the slope and a lot of business meetings and dinners. Now that it’s over, it’s nice to have Scott back to his normal schedule. As for me, filled in a bit for the Morning and Newshour editions, which was fun, but made me realize, no matter how much I think I miss work at times, I would so rather be with my boys. It makes me remember how lucky I am to be able to stay home with my boys and just fill in, get a taste of what it’s like to work in the newsroom again, and then get out before getting burned out. Scott is content with the current situation at work, so it looks like we will be in Alaska for at least the winter, but transferring is still an option in the future.

We’ve been plenty busy since I last wrote. We’ve been on playdates, hikes, berry picking, to the state fair and I took Xavier to a special show called, “Walking with Dinosaurs.” Xavier loved it. It was a little spendy and we didn’t think Toby would sit through it or really care about is, so Xavier and I had a mommy and me date. The dinosaurs were amazing! Basically a “paleontologist” describes what the world was like when dinosaurs roamed the earth and they were all life sized. Of course, some of them were baby dinosaurs so they would fit in the arena, but it was still incredibly impressive. I was blown away! Xavier couldn’t stop talking the whole time. He kept saying, “mom, mom, mom! There’s a dinosaur! Mom! Hey, hey mom! Do you see that dinosaur..” He was shouting and oowing and awing the whole way though. It was fun to watch. When Scott came to pick us up and he asked Xavier if he liked the show, Xavier said, “no dad, I didn’t like it. I LOVED it!” That was pretty funny.

We’ve had a lot of fun this summer. Between soccer, playdates, family visiting and the start of school, we’ve been booked. I can’t believe that I am saying this, but I just may be ready for winter to set in. Just so we can have a set schedule and I can have the routine down again.

We love you guys and we will be sure to check in and write more in the weeks to come!Yvonne, Scott, Xavier and Toby!