The Little Mermaid-Tuacahn

Grandma Iris came down for a weekend in October. She stayed until Tuesday when Haley, Madeline, and I drove with her to St. George for a big girls getaway! We went to Tuacahn to watch "The Little Mermaid." We had been anticipating this trip for a long time. The weekend shows sold out quickly so we had to settle for a Tuesday. The girls weren't too sad about having to miss school.

Madeline helped Grandma load the cars. Then we were off to pick Haley up a little early from school.

We couldn't start our trip with out getting a 79 cent slurpee from Circle K.

When we made it to St. George we checked into our hotel to drop off our luggage and change our clothes and then headed to Tuacahn.

We ate dinner there and watched some fun pre show entertainment. The atmosphere was wonderful and being right up in the red rock was beautiful. The dinner wasn't fabulous, but the surroundings definitely made up for it.

The show was AMAZING! I cannot believe the scenery and special effects. It was a professional performance.

I think the girls favorite part was meeting all the actors after the show. Grandma bought them a souvenir cup which they got signed by Prince Eric and Ariel. The rest of the characters signed their programs.

Flounder was fun! I cannot believe how young he was. Haley loved seeing someone her age performing. She would love to be in a production like this.

This was one of Ariels sisters. It was so cool how they made the mermaids look like they were swimming. They had real water on the stage too. It was so cool!

Can't forget Scuttle! He had more parts and songs in the musical than he did in the movie.

One of my favorite parts was the scene in the kitchen with the Chef and Sebastian. They had food flying in the air. I cannot really describe it, just great effects!

King Triton!

Ursala was so good too. I loved her costume and how she moved around. Madeline was concerned that she was a mean person in real life. It was hard to explain acting to her. Grandma liked her a little too much. I think she related too her a little too much!

We had such a great night! We definitely want to make this a tradition. We were tired by the time we got to the hotel, so we went right to bed!

The next morning we painted each others toe nails and finger nails. A girls trip would not be complete without finger nail polish.

Once we were all prettied up and ready for the day we headed out to see some sights and do some shopping. We stopped by the Brigham Young home and waited forever for a tour. The house was neat, but frankly the tour was WAY TOO LONG! But it was fun for the girls to see once and they had lots of time to take pictures!

Then, we headed off to eat lunch. We ate at 25th and Main. It was very tasty!

Then we went to the park on Main hoping to ride the carousel, but we were too late. The girls still had fun playing in the water. It was such a beautiful day!

Just a side note: Madeline was having a hard time breathing so I gave her a puff of her inhaler, but I wasn't sure she got it all so I gave her another puff. That was a mistake. She was bouncing off the walls all day. The poor girl could not hold still. Too much albuterol is a shock on the system!

We took a few minutes and walked around the St. George Temple and visitors center. My kids never tire of visiting there. I love how white the temple is.

After the temple it was time to say goodbye to Grandma. She went back to Salt Lake and we went back to Las Vegas. It was sad to see her go. Oh how I wish we lived closer, but she is always so good about making the time and effort to come and visit us. It means a lot to me and my kids! We love you Grandma Iris!

It was truly a perfect 2 days! We will make this a tradition for sure!

Cooking Tip

Never put water in a glass pan that has been in a 400 degree oven....it WILL SHATTER!

I put this squash in to cook and realized about 10 minutes into it that I did not put any water in the pan. So, I got some water out of the sink, poured it in and KABOOM! A million pieces of glass to clean up!

Canning Apple Pie Filling

So...back in September I got these beautiful Granny Smith apples! We ate some but still had tons so I decided to make some pie filling. My cute friend Gina had made some and gave me this yummy recipe.

4 1/2 cups white sugar

1 cup cornstarch

2 tsp ground cinnamon

1/4 tsp ground nutmeg

2 tsp salt

10 cups water

3 T lemon juice

6 lbs apples

Here is a step by step.

First, In a large pot mix sugar, cornstarch, cinnamon, and nutmeg. Add salt and water and mix well. Bring to a boil and cook until thick and bubbly. Remove from heat and add lemon juice.

Then, wash your apples and sterilize canning jars, lids and rings.

Then you will need to peel them. I borrowed this nifty peeler, corer, and slicer from my friend Kristen. It is the coolest thing ever. I really NEED to get me one!

When they are peeled put them in a bowl of cold water with 4 teaspoons of Fruit Fresh. This keeps the apples from turning brown.

Pack apples into hot canning jars, leave 1/2 inch space at top. Fill jars with hot syrup. use knife or plastic spatula to remove air bubbles.

Boil lids. clean any syrup off the rim of the jars, place lid and ring on jars. Process in hot water bath for 20 minutes.

Makes 7 quarts of filling. I have not made a pie with it yet, but have used it as topping for ice cream! YUM! Also good over oatmeal.

James is 6 months old!

October 2011

I cannot believe this little man is 6 months old! Where has the time gone. My kids are growing up way too fast. Here are his milestones...

He can now sit up

He has been holding his own bottle for a while now, but he can guzzle down 12 ounces easy and sometimes want more! He does not bear weight on his feet. I will try and make him stand on the ground and he scrunches up his legs as in this photo and will not put them on the ground. Funny boy! Maybe he doesn't think those tiny feet and bear all the weight of his body, because he feels time a ton of bricks when you pick him up.

He has his two bottom teeth and is currently working on his two top teeth. His teeth must come two at a time! He is laying on the changing table on top of his dresser. This has been his favorite spot since birth. He will be crying and you lay him down there and he is instantly happy! I am not sure why. My best guess is that it is a hard surface, there is no pad just a blanket.

He sleeps through the night and has done for several months. He is a great napper too. He loves his bed. When he is tired you just lay him in his bed, on his tummy, he will look up at you with a huge smile and then lay his head down and go to sleep. A dream baby, REALLY!

He loves to be outside and he likes his play saucer. His parents were too cheap to buy a boy one, poor kid! I love this picture because you can see his little faux hawk. His hair has had a natural mohawk since he was a couple months old.

He is officially too big for the baby tub and now gets to take baths in the big tub. He loves to kick his legs and splash. He is still the most mild and happy little baby. We will be forever grateful that he is part of our family! We love you James!

Super Star at our house!

Haley has had the wonderful opportunity of joining Signature Productions and performing in their Christmas show. Anyone in Las Vegas knows that this is truly an honor. Signature Productions puts on many wonderful shows throughout the year and often features professional actors and actresses. They needed a child to sing a solo for one of the numbers in their Christmas show. Haley got to fill that role. Our Relief Society President, Shauna Oblad is one of the founding board members and is also in charge of the music for this show. After hearing Haley sing during our ward Primary Program she thought Haley might be a great fit for this part. She plays the little matchgirl (or Tiny Tim's sister) and sings "God Bless Us Everyone."

Tonight was her first performance! I know that I was more nervous that she was. She was calm and collected and I felt like my heart was going to jump out of my chest. She has been battling a cold, but you would not have known that tonight! She ROCKED the house! She has a gift for singing and performing, and most importantly she loves it. Hopefully she can have more opportunities like this in the future.

Here she is faithfully doing her homework as she waits in the Green Room for her turn on stage. This girl puts her heart and soul into everything that she does. If she is going to do something, she is going to do it well. That is what she did tonight!

Isn't she so cute! She was excited to have her own microphone!

If you are here in Las Vegas and would like to see her in "The Signature Christmas" go here and get tickets. The show runs Thursday, Friday, and Saturday of this week, starts at 7:30 and is playing at the Summerlin Library Theatre!

Look! Her name is big and bold on the cover of the program. Haley is kind of a BIG deal around our house these days! We are so PROUD of her!

Marianne turns 3!

Marianne turned three on September 19th! I cannot believe she is so BIG! She is quite a little girl, full of spunk, and definitely rules the house. We started the morning with our traditional breakfast in bed. She loves donuts and anything sweet for that matter. She will come into the kitchen, any time of day, and say, "I want dessert!" Gotta love this girl.

When Scott got home from work we headed to Cafe Rio for dinner and then to play at the park! Can you believe we went out with her looking like this? She insisted on wearing her dance outfit and her hair was a mess, but believe me it was NOT worth the fight. This picture pretty much sums up Marianne!

At the park Scott and I hadn't even gotten out of the car before Scotty fell off some bars and smacked his head on the concrete. He cried for a minute, but decided he was ok and we played for a little while. Then we headed home for cake and ice cream, after showers and jammies of course!

We had this fabulous chocolate cake a while back for Scotty's birthday and Marianne wanted the same one. Yes, our family consumed that ginormous cake in less than a week, without the help of outsiders! WOW!

Next...Presents!

Marianne loves the movie "Tangled" so she was happy about the Tangled and Flynn rider pollys she got and the Tangled pajamas from Grandma!

She also loves dress up and got a new Cinderella dress! We love you Marianne, even if your scream can break glass, your pinching draws blood, and your scratching leaves scars. Thank goodness you have a beautiful smile and a contageous laugh, and a fun sense of humor! We also love the sweet little helper and lover you can be when you want!

I think James is wondering why he is not getting any of the chocolate cake. Look at the size of those cheeks! I don't think he needs any!

Before all the presents were open Scotty laid down on the couch not feeling well. He had complained a little that he was seeing lines, but we were not overly concerned until he started throwing up. Mariannes festivities were cut short so Scott could take Scotty to the hospital and sure enough he had a concussion.