Goodbye Blizzard, Hello Windy City!

Ah, spring break. This year for spring break, we actually decided to pack up the car and hit the road. We're usually the family that doesn't go anywhere, but not this year! We actually made it out of town the day after our "blizzard" and covered the 1,000 miles it takes to get to Chicago (Naperville) to visit Nana and Papa Monson. We had a surprisingly easy trip, considering the weather and the length of the drive. So here we are enjoying out spring break in the Chi-town. More exciting details to come!!

The Hundred Dollar Sticker

This might look like an ordinary sticker, but it's not! At our house, we call it the "hundred dollar sticker". One Sunday morning in February, Hunter and Sophie were horsing around on my bed while I got ready for church. Sophie tried to get off of the bed, and Hunter tried to keep her on the bed by pulling her up by the wrist. Next thing I know, Sophie is screaming in pain. I didn't take it lightly, because Soph is fairly indestructible. She continued to cry over a period of time and complain of pain in her arm, and I became concerned. She wouldn't let me move her arm at all. Tyler was being dilligent and wasn't answering his phone because he was already in meetings at church. So I called Nana, and dropped HK and Lil off with her while Papa rode with us to the emergency room. I could tell that Sophie was in pain, but she was a trooper. We arrived at the Children's Hospital urgent care and the triage nurse told us it sounded like something called "nuresmaid's elbow". I had never heard of that, but now I wish I had. Apparently, in children under six, the end of the bone in the lower arm is not completely formed, and if you pull a small child by the lower arm, this can cause the tendon to slip off the end of the bone and in to the joint space of the elbow. (Or something like that!) Anyway, we waited to see the doctor, but by the time he arrived Sophie was no longer complaining of pain, and somehow she had managed to slip that tendon back into place herself before the doctor even came in. Usually, the tendon has to be manipulated back into place by someone who knows what they are doing. Unbelievable! So, after all of that, all we had to show for our Sunday morning visit to the ER: a hundred dollar copay, and a sticker!

February in review

Let's fast forward just a little bit more to February. . . .

Lily's class celebrated the 1ooth day of school

Lily and friend at the Valentine's day party

HK at his Valentine's party, singing karaoke

For Hunter's class Valentines was also "crazy hair day". Luckily, aunt NeeNee had an Elvis wig in her costume closet! Here he is getting into character.

The Stock Show!

Every January Papa Whitmill takes all of the grandkids to the Stock Show. It's a little glimpse of farm life for our little city kids, and they love it!

We love being with the cousins!

Sophie even got up close to the animals this year

Aren't those just the greeatest hats?

Lily driving, a truly scary thought!

He looks a little too much at home behind the wheel for my liking!

Wild Lights!

We look forward every year to our holiday visit to the Zoo to enjoy Wild Lights. This year, we even rode the carousel.

Lil and I cheering for the COUGAR, of course!

December...in a nutshell

December brought us all of the things that we could have hoped for: Christmas, presents, parties, family, snow, and of course the Savior.

Lily's holiday party at school, complete with SUGAR!

Hunter's school party. I got to be the room mom this year, WOO HOO!

The Sunday before Christmas. I hate to admit it, but I do love dressing them up!

Christmas morning

My goobers in their new jammies!

HALLELUJAH!

I have finally gotten the pictures from the camera to the computer! (Thanks Jenn!) I am a lost blogger without my pictures! Technology is great, as long as it is working in your favor. Between computer virus problems and camera/computer issues, I haven't been able to get pictures on the blog in a while. I am not sure anyone even reads this blog anymore besides me, but if for no other reason than to document our comings and goings, I am going to summarize the last few months in a nutshell. Here we go!

The Luck of the Irish

This holiday holds a special place in my heart, and it certainly is a lucky day for me, (even though I'm not Irish!). Twelve years ago today, I became a fiance. It went like this...

Tyler and I went out on our first date on January 17, 1997. In February we drove from Provo to Denver for President's Day weekend, an excuse for Ty to meet my family. And then in March, we used his dad's birthday as an excuse to fly to Chicago together and meet his family. At the time, I don't think either of us saw this as crazy, it felt exactly right. I am sure everyone else thought we were crazy though! On March 17, 1997 Tyler took me to downtown Chicago, where they dye the river green for St. Patrick's Day.

We went to the Art Insitute together, and then he took me down to lake Michigan. We walked to the end of a pier, and he knelt down and read me a poem that he had written, and asked me if I would marry him. It had been two months to the day since our first date! Obviously I said yes! It was a picture perfect day.

Little did I know then what our future would look like, and much of it still remains to be seen. However, the last twelve years have brought us three beautiful children and many smiles. I feel extremely blessed to be married to such a wonderful man, a great father, a loving patriarch, and a man who honors his priesthood. I am so grateful that he asked, and that I was smart enough to say yes.

Happy St. Patrick's Day sweetheart!

Spreading Sunshine

Thanks Allie for passing this on......The first five people to respond to this post will get something made by me! Made with tons of love just for you! It might be a fun sewing project, a sweet letter to you from me, or some yummy goodies, you might be surprised what you get! Give it a try! The catch? You must re -post this on your blog and offer the same to the first 5 people who do the same on your blog. The first 5 people to do so and leave a comment telling me they did win a lovely little treat for themselves! Have Fun! Ready........Set............Go!

February's recipe...a few days late

This month's recipe was Hunter's choice. It's one of his new favorites, and easier than it might look!

Cheesy Sausage Stromboli
(From Taste of Home magazine)

SERVINGS: 16
CATEGORY: Main Dish
METHOD: Baked
TIME: Prep: 30 min. + rising Bake: 20 min.

Ingredients:
5 cups all-purpose flour
2 tablespoons sugar
2 teaspoons salt
2 packages (1/4 ounce each) active dry yeast
1-1/2 cups warm water (120° to 130°)
1/2 cup warm milk (120° to 130°)
2 tablespoons butter, melted
2 pounds bulk pork sausage
4 cups (16 ounces) shredded part-skim mozzarella cheese
3 eggs
1 teaspoon minced fresh basil or 1/4 teaspoon dried basil
2 tablespoons grated Parmesan cheese

Directions:
1. In a mixing bowl, combine flour, sugar, salt and yeast. Add water, milk and butter; beat on low until well combined. Turn onto a well-floured surface; knead until smooth and elastic, about 6-8 minutes. Place in a greased bowl, turning once to grease top. Cover and let rise in a warm place until doubled, about 1 hour.
2. Meanwhile, in a skillet, cook sausage until no longer pink; drain and cool. Stir in mozzarella, 2 eggs and basil; set aside.
3. Punch dough down; divide in half. Roll one portion into a 15-in. x 10-in. rectangle on a greased baking sheet. Spoon half of the sausage mixture lengthwise down one side of rectangle to within 1 in. of edges. Fold dough over filling; pinch edges to seal. Cut four diagonal slits on top of stromboli. Repeat with remaining dough and filling.
4. Beat remaining egg; brush over loaves. Sprinkle with Parmesan. Cover and let rise until doubled, about 45 minutes. Bake at 375° for 20-25 minutes or until golden brown. Slice; serve warm. Yield: 2 loaves.

Note that the recipe makes two loaves. One will feed my family dinner, and this works great when you are taking dinner to another family!