Travelogue, Day Four (Wednesday)

Wednesday was a downtown kind of day. It was pretty chilly down by the lake, but we had a great time and packed in a lot of action. Our first stop was a premier picture spot. This is Lake Michigan behind us and the Chicago skyline.

Our next stop was a rally for the Chicago's MLS team, the Fire. Here's the kids with their mascot Sparky. We all got to try our hands (or our feet!) at kicking a soccer ball into this huge net to win a prize. We all know how athletic and how coordinated I am, but the fam talked me into giving it a try anyway. I stepped up, took a kick, and ....won myself a Chicago Fire t-shirt on the first try! Yeah me! I was so shocked, but Hunter thought I was pretty cool at that moment. It was fun.

Next we walked down to Millenium Park to see "The Bean". This thing is so cool! It's shaped so that you can walk all the way around it and see the Chicago skyline reflected in its entirety. It's really quite fascinating.

After Millenium Park we went to Al's Roast Beef for lunch, a Chicago specialty. If you haven't had Al's Italian Beef, you are missing out!

Our last stop on our downtown tour was Lincoln Park Zoo to visit some furry friends. Here's the kids riding a hippo.

I know Hunter feels misunderstood sometimes!

Of course, we had to visit my favorite friends, the giraffes.

Needless to say, we were pretty tired out on the way home, but everybody had a great time!

Travelogue, Day Three (Tuesday)

IKEA. Need I say more? Tuesday was a day for me. I had my very first visit to IKEA. Now I guess I know what all the fuss is about.

I could've wandered through that enormous store all day long. Especially since Hunter and Lily were in the play area being supervised FOR FREE! We even had lunch at the IKEA Cafe - thanks Nana! Yummm....swedish meatballs. Shopping, lunch, babysitting, all in one place! What a store!

Travelogue, Day Two (Monday)

Monday was a day for new friends. Aunt Tonya is a nanny for four young kids, and they got to spend the day playing together. I love the way that kids make new friends, it comes so easy to them. They had so much fun. They started out in the backyard on the trampoline, another one of the fun things at Nana and Papa's.

Then we went for a walk to the park down the street, where we slid on the slides...

swung on the swings...

climbed the rock walls...

and generally played and had a great time.

One of the highlights of the day was visiting Colonial Cafe for FHE dessert. Aunt Tonya treated us to a "kitchen sink"!

Monday ended with a relaxing dip in Nana and Papa's hot tub. We could get used to this!

Travelogue, Day One (Sunday)

Sunday dawned bright and cold. Even though it was snowing outside, the girls donned their Easter dresses a couple of weeks early, and we headed off to church with Nana and Papa. The kids also discovered a wonderful new thing at Nana and Papa Monson's house: the player piano.

Sophie tried her hardest just to reach the pedals to turn the drum to play the music. Even with her short little legs, she insisted on doing it herself. It turns out that Lily is surprisingly adept at playing the (player) piano! She would sit on that bench and work those pedals all day long. I think we heard "Climb Every Mountain" at least ten times today, but hey, she was happy! This piano used to belong to Tyler's grandma and they used to love to play it when they visited her in Colorado. I love that the piano that Ty grew up loving at his grandma's house is now something that my kids are learning to love at their grandma's house. What a wonderful family tradition.

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!

Must Read!

In the absence of the cord that connects the camera to the computer and continued virus problems on the laptop, my posts so far this year have been few and far betweem. However, Ty emailed me this link today for an article at ESPN.com by Rick Reilly. I know you don't all love sports, especially football, as much as I do, but read it anyway. He expresses the way I feel about professional athletes being role models, whether they like it or not. And it doesn't hurt that the article is about our very own #7, Denver Bronco hero and legend, and my personal favorite, JOHN ELWAY! It only takes a minute or two, and it's totally worth it. Oh, and grab a tissue.
http://sports.espn.go.com/espnmag/story?id=3930609

Recipe of the month

One of my new year's "resolutions" (for lack of a better word) this year is to be better at getting a good dinnner on the table for my family each night. I am becoming a really great recipe collector, and love recipes that are practical, feed my whole family, and don't use a lot of exotic ingredients that are not found in my pantry. Since I have collected some great recipes lately, and to help you all get dinner on the table too, I have decided to post at least one dinner recipe each month. I won't post them unless we've tried them and my family actually eats them. And of course, I will give credit where credit is due! I'd love to get your feedback if you try them! So, without further ado, here is a great January recipe to keep you warm. Kudos go to my mother-in-law Jackie for this awesome recipe.

Comforting Chicken Soup

2 quarts chicken broth

1 can cream of chicken soup

1 can cream of mushroom soup

1 cup sour cream

4-6 cups dry noodles (country pasta)

2 cups cut up chicken or turkey

sliced carrots

sliced celery

small onion, diced

parsley flakes

Boil 4-6 cups dry noodles with 2 quarts chicken broth together with carrots, celery, and parsley flakes and cook until tender. DO NOT DRAIN. Add chicken. Cream together the cream of chicken and mushroom soups and the sour cream, and add to the soup. Mix into the noodles. Heat until warm but DO NOT BOIL!

I use the "Country Pasta" from Sam's, it comes in a big bag and the noodles are very good. My MIL says they are only available in the winter, so go get some! Add some warm rolls and you have a happy family! My SIL tells me that leftover turkey is great in this soup, we've only had it with chicken. Happy eating!

Seriously?!?!

He's eight. My little man, that is. And it's January in Colorado. And it was like seventy degrees outside today. Playing outside is a given, right? His aunt called to invite him to the park, and I had to say no. He's EIGHT YEARS OLD, and he has been doing his homework since we got home at three. And he's still doing it. And he's not close to finished. And he is a quick study. I feel like the worst mom in the world, denying him of this beautiful afternoon. And I am really starting to wonder about this CSAP crap. You see, he's a third grader, so this will be his first year taking the test. The overabundance of homework is attributed to the test. I would like to strangle the test! My little boy, (who I am admittedly trying to keep young as long as possible), doesn't get to be a kid today because he's got way to much freakin' homework. AAHHH!! I guess I am a little more bitter about it than I realized. And don't even get me started on my tirade about how the district has decided he no longer qualifies for services with the speech/language pathologist. The kid is working his tail off, heaven forbid they give him a little bit of help. Oh, and by the way, he hasn't uttered one word of complaint about not getting to play outside. What a kid.

P.S. Forty-five minutes later...he is finally done. He came racing down the stairs to ask permission to go out back. He's been looking forward to it quietly all afternoon. I just told his sister no, and when I told him this he just sat down on the stairs and started to cry. So I said, "Hurry up, put on your jacket, and go shoot some hoops. And oh ya, I'm proud of you."

Leave of Absence

Well, that's what I am calling it anyway. That sounds better than "unintentionally failing to pay any attention to my blog whatsoever for almost two months". I am not exactly sure what happened, but December FLEW right by, and here we are. You may have wondered, but we are all still present and accounted for. Our holidays were wonderful, although they sped by much too quickly. My computer is having some serious issues, so I hope there will be Christmas pictures sometime soon, just not today! Meanwhile, life goes on as usual. So, a belated happy new year to all of you, and here's to catching up! I'll put blogging on that list of resolutions I am so great at keeping...