FAMILY PHOTO SHOOT

Yesterday we had our family pictures taken up Mueller Canyon in Bountiful.  As you can tell it was a little bit chilly without our coats but we all cowboyed up and managed to get a few shots  without our coats on.

IT'S LOOKING ALOT LIKE CHRISTMAS........

I finally got my house all decorated and it's feeling like Christmas!!! I had my annual cookie exchange today so that is why the table is all set.

I absolutely love this nativity set. Mark and the kids gave it to me for my birthday one year.

It's amazing what you can with a few greens, a few roses and some fresh cranberries.

Every year I try to do something a little different with my tablescape. I used terra cotta pots and spray

painted them white and added fresh greeniers with a big round Christmas ornament in the middle.

I absolutely love Better Homes and Garden's web site. I got this floral arrangement idea along with the one above from their site.  It it so pretty when you light the candles in the middle.  They are kind of hard to see in the photo. 

If you decide to push fresh greenery around your mirrors, you need to spray it daily with water to keep it fresh through Christmas.

QUOTE OF THE WEEK

Knowing what's right doesn't mean much unless you do what's right.

IT'S BEGINNING TO LOOK LIKE CHRISTMAS.............

I absolutely love decorating for Christmas. I listen to all of my favorite Christmas music and it's amazing the wonderful mood it puts me in. I still have a few things to decorate but I wait until about 10 days before Christmas because I use fresh flowers and greenery in a few arrangements.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY DIANE

HAPPY BIRTHDAY DIANE!!!!!!

Hope you have a great day and it is everything you want it to be.


Your sister knows you almost as well as you know yourself. When you forget who you are, count on her to remind you. **************************************
Sisters by chance, Friends because Mom said so! **************************************
Sisters by chance, Friends by choice**************************************
Sisters remember things you would rather forget, in graphic detail..With proof. **************************************

FLOWERS ARE SUCH DAY BRIGHTNERS!!!

These are the beautiful flowers that my sisters gave me for my birthday and I just had to share them with everybody!! You are the best sisters that I could ask for. I love you.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY JUDY!!!

To a Special Sister

A sister is one of the nicest things that can happen to anyone.She is someone to laugh with and share with,to work with and join in the fun with.She is someone who helps in the rough times,and knows when you need a warm smile.She is someone who will quietly listen,when you just want to talk for a while. A sister is dear to you always,for she is someone who is always a part of all the favorite memories that you keep very close to your heart.

RECIPE OF THE WEEK

This recipe is from Market Street Grill.  I haven't made it for several years but since I had it for dessert the other night I decided to share the recipe with everyone.  It is one of my very favorite desserts.

Sabayon

2 cups egg yolks

2 cups Chablis

2 cups Triple Sec

2 cups powered sugar

Combine all ingredients in a large mixing bowl, over a double boiler. Stir occasionally until thickened.  Refrigerate.  Serve over vanilla ice cream (preferably Haagen Dazs) and top with fresh berries.  Enjoy.

THE PERFECT DAY

On Friday it was my birthday and I had the PERFECT day.  It all started out with convincing Mark we had to be out of bed by 5:00 a.m. to get the best deals of the day.  Remember-great deals=great day! After 2 hours of shopping and several great deals Jed and Ashlee treated us to breakfast.  We then only went to a couple more stores and ended up leaving Kohl's and going home because the checkout line at Kohl's I swear  was 2 hours.  When I got home I had this beautiful flower arrangement from my sisters.  I then opened my presents from my kids and Mark.  I got darling polka dotted towels, hand soap and lotion, gift certificate from Rod Works (one of my very favorite stores), black scarf and mittens, and a digital picture frame. Mark and I then went to work.....we put up 3 inch bead board in one of our guest bedrooms. We still need to paint it and put the base boards on.  When it is all finished I will be posting pictures but I LOVE it. We then went to Market Street for dinner and for dessert I had sabayon, which is absolutely delicious! (I decided that is going to be my recipe for the week.) Then to top the day off  when we got home Mark gave me a massage which is one of my favorite things!  What a perfect day!!

QUOTE OF THE WEEK

I have four things to learn in life; To think clearly without hurry or confusion; To love everybody sincerely; To act in everything with the highest motives; To trust in God unhesitatingly.

                                                                                          -Albert Schweitzer

FLORAL ARRANGEMENT IN DINING ROOM

When we were in Omaha Michaels had this great sale on all fall florals so I filled a suitcase with $20.00 worth of picks and this is what I came up with.  It adds alot of color to the dining room.  I change the arrangement several times a year and at Christmas time I use fresh greenery and a few floral picks which ends up being my favorite arrangement.  I will post it when I change it.

JACK IS BACK

"24" is back in action tonight at 7p.m. on KSTU! I have been waiting almost 2 years for this. If you are a 24 fan this will get you pumped up for the series that starts in January. The show has always been one of my favorite shows on television.

QUOTE OF THE WEEK

The haves and the have-nots can often be traced back to the dids and the did-nots.

-D.O. Flynn

WEEKEND IN OMAHA

We flew into Omaha on Thursday and when we arrived at Kurtis and Sarah's house we sat down to a delicious home cooked meal.  We were then introduced to guitar hero and  Mark and I looked like we were mentally challenged compared to Sarah and Kurtis.  We may just have to add that to our Christmas list and practice up before we play with them again.  We did a little shopping on Friday and had Sushi for dinner.  On Saturday we went and saw Eagle Eye and we all liked it.  Sarah and I decided to tackle her curtain project on her new sewing machine.  We got as far as we could with the materials we had but then I brought them back to Utah with me so I can finish them after I find more of the ribbon that she needs. We flew out early on Sunday morning because it looked like that was the only way we were going to make it home on our buddy passes.  Thanks to Mitch we had a great weekend!

RECIPE OF THE WEEK

Nutty Peanut Butter Caramel Bars

8 tablespoons butter, softened

1/2 cup sugar

1/2 cup packed brown sugar

1/2 cup peanut butter

1 egg

1 1/4 cups all-purpose flour

1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder

1/4 teaspoon salt

2 1/2 cups pecan halves

14 ounces unwrapped caramels

2 tablespoons milk

1 teaspoon vanilla

5 ounces milk chocolate chips

5 ounces bittersweet chocolate chips

Preheat oven to 375In a large bowl, cream together butter, sugar, brown sugar, and peanut butter. Beat in egg until well combined.In a medium bowl, whisk together flour, baking powder and salt. Pour into sugar mixture and beat until dough forms.Scoop out dough into a 15x10" baking pan and press it out to fill the pan. Scatter pecans evenly over dough. Bake for 10 to 20 minutes or until lightly browned around edges. Set on a wire rack.In a heavy small saucepan, add caramels and milk. Cook over medium heat, stirring constantly, until smooth. Remove from heat and stir in vanilla.Drizzle caramel mixture over pecans. Sprinkle with chocolate chips. cool completley and cut into bars.

QUOTE OF THE WEEK

If you realized how powerful your thoughts are, you would never think a negative thought.
-- Peace Pilgrim

FUN WII-ING!!

We probably should never have bought this Wii because I am afraid I'll become a little obsessed with it. So between my computer and my Wii I will probably not get anything else done. The one good thing about the Wii is I did do 65 minutes of exercising and yoga today with the Wii fit program. Mark and I also played a few games of bowling and then he did a little boxing. (He kicked everybody's butt in boxing!)

QUOTE OF THE WEEK

Why pay money to have your family tree traced; go into politics and your opponents will do it for you.  ~Author Unknown

DINING ROOM

 For those of you who remember I started redoing my dining room in August and tore down the wallpaper and painted the walls. Well today the furniture arrived and I just love it.  It looks like a completely different room. Now I just need to have a dinner party!

CHRISTMAS IN NOVEMBER

We decided to break down and buy a new television today.  Our children thought our old TV was from the dark ages!! ( it was only about 12 years old ) We got such a good deal on our TV we decided to buy a Wii too!!  Mark set it all up and we played a few games of bowling and then Jed and Ashlee came and Jed got the high of 238 so I guess that is the score to beat. 

THE SQUIRRELS WERE AT IT AGAIN!!!!

I know this is going to be hard to believe but some of the same squirrels that were eating my mother's birdseed decided they needed to have a storage for winter so they stored them in her air filter in her car.  Yes-in her car.  When she got her oil changed a week ago the mechanic picked this bag of seeds out of her air filter. I think if  I was one of them I would be hiding from my mother!! (See post below)

RECIPE OF THE WEEK

This is one of my favorite soups at the Olive Garden and a friend of my gave me this recipe  and it tastes just like the Olive Gardens. I do use half and half though instead of heavy cream. 

ZUPPA TOSCANA SOUP

INGREDIENTS

• 1 lb ground Italian sausage
• 1½ tsp crushed red peppers
• 1 large diced white onion
• 4 Tbsp bacon pieces
• 2 tsp garlic puree
• 10 cups water
• 5 cubes of chicken bouillon
• 1 cup heavy cream
• 1 lb sliced Russet potatoes, or about 3 large potatoes
• ¼ of a bunch of kale

1. Sautee Italian sausage and crushed red pepper in pot. Drain excess fat, refrigerate while you prepare other ingredients.In the same pan, sautee bacon, onions and garlic for approxiamtly 15 mins. or until the onions are soft. Mix together the chicken bouillon and water, then add it to the onions, bacon and garlic. Cook until boiling. Add potatoes and cook until soft, about half an hour. Add heavy cream and cook until thoughouly heated. Stir in the sausage. Add kale just before serving. Delicious!

QUOTE OF THE WEEK

I decided after just going to my nephew's wedding this was an appropriate quote for this week

ANN LANDERS

If you have love in your life it can make up for a great many things you lack. If you don't have it, no matter what else there is, it's not enough.

SHARP SHOOTING GRANDMA

I don't think Sarah Palin has anything up on my mother when it comes to her shooting skills.  My 85 year old mother loves to feed the birds and watch them from her picture window but the squirrels would keep eating the bird seed so she decided to take some action.  She got a BB gun and after a little practicing she perfected her shot and 12 squirrels over the course of the summer  met their demise. They now see her coming and they hightail it.  You go girl!!!

KYLE & ASHLEY'S WEDDING

My nephew,Kyle, got married this weekend in Minnesota so Mark and I flew out on Wednesday and stayed at my mom's in Hoffman. Sarah and Kurtis drove up from Omaha and also stayed at mom's so we had a wonderful time. It is always great to see everyone!!

WHAT I DON'T MISS ABOUT MINNESOTA!!!

We left mom's Sunday morning to drive back to Fargo to catch our flight back to SLC and here are a few pictures of the driving conditions. I wanted to stop and ask the police officer if he was driving too fast for conditions!! We were driving a small rental care with not the best tires and it was very windy on top of everything so it wasn't much fun except for the picture taking!!

QUOTE OF THE WEEK

For all of you who really know me you know this is the perfect quote for me!!!

A cup of coffee shared with a friend is happiness tasted and time well spent.

RECIPE OF THE WEEK

 

There are certain recipes you make at certain times of the year and this is one of those you make in the fall. There is nothing better than the smell of pumpkin and cinnamon as you walk in the house. Make a batch and share them with your neighbors.  They will love you for it!!

Pumpkin and Cream Cheese Muffins

   8 ounce(s) cream cheese
   3 eggs
   2 1/2 cup(s) sugar
   2 1/2 cup(s) flour
   1/4 cup(s) pecans, roughly chopped
   3 tablespoon(s) butter, melted
   2 1/2 teaspoon(s) cinnamon
   1 tsp nutmeg
   1/2 teaspoon(s) salt
   2 teaspoon(s) baking powder
   1/4 teaspoon(s) baking soda
   1 1/4 cup(s) solid-packed pumpkin
   1/3 cup(s) vegetable oil
   1/2 teaspoon(s) vanilla extract

________________________________

 Directions
  1. Heat oven to 375 degrees F. Lightly coat two 12-cup standard muffin tins with oil and set aside.
   2. Mix the cream cheese, 1 egg, and 3 tablespoons sugar in a small bowl and set aside. Toss 5 tablespoons sugar, 1/2 cup flour, pecans, butter, and 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon together in a medium bowl and set aside. Combine the remaining sugar, flour, salt, baking powder, baking soda, and remaining cinnamon in a large bowl. Lightly beat the remaining eggs, pumpkin, oil, and vanilla together in a medium bowl. Make a well in the center of the flour mixture, pour the pumpkin mixture into the well, and mix with a fork just until moistened. Evenly divide half of the batter among the muffin cups. Place two teaspoonfuls of cream cheese filling in the center of each cup and fill with the remaining batter. Sprinkle some of the pecan mixture over the top of each muffin and bake until golden and a tester, inserted into the muffin center, comes out clean -- 20 to 25 minutes. Cool on wire racks.

BMW-BULL MARKET WOMAN

Quite a few years ago a bunch of my friends decided to start an investment group when it was  the thing to be doing.  We decided to call ourselves BMW hoping that it was going to bring us good karma but needless to say it hasn't always been a bull market.  Even though we have not made tons of money we have had a lot of fun.  Every year in September we have out meeting at Lori's  house and members bring their children and ride horses.  Lori and Rick are such good sports about it.  Thanks guys!!!  In October we have our meeting at the Mandarin which we all look  forward to all year and then we take off November and December.

QUOTE OF THE WEEK

The difference between ordinary and extraordinary is that little extra.  ~Jimmy Johnson

WINTER WONDERLAND IN OCTOBER!!!

We had our first snowstorm last night and woke up to everything covered in snow.  It was beautiful but please........it's only October.  All of my flowers are looking a little frost bitten.  I'm afraid they won't survive but I am ready to pull up the ones in the flower beds and empty the flower pots anyway.