Have you seen or heard of the show "Cake Boss"? It's such a fun show. Here are my 5 favorite cakes from the show (it's been on for 3 seasons)
This one was made for FAO shartz (or however you spell it)
Rachel Ray (see, she's on the top of the cake)
I'm still here. It seems like I haven't really blogged for a while. I guess that's okay. I am quite busy this week. Next week life will calm down a bit. We're going up to Calgary for the day on Saturday to celebrate my Aunt's birthday. She'll be happy to see Tanner.
We set up the tent last week and it's still up. Tanner has really been enjoying it. Something funny he said (I hope I haven't shared this before), Matt was ignoring Tanner somewhat for one reason or another and trying not to be rude so Matt kept saying "What" and Tanner says "you need to get your ears checked because your tubes fell out". Matt asks Tanner that if Tanner doesn't respond to Matt when asking him a question. Matt has never had tubes in his ears, so it was funny.
He is really a sweet boy and life just wouldn't be the same without him.
He's helpful and kind and tries to be respectful.
He loves sleeping with all his stuffy's (about 20 of them) every night as sort of a semi blanket. I made him this awesome bed (it's the single mattress on top of the double mattress and box spring) and he said "thanks mom, that bed is so nice".
He has good manners (most of the time) and that makes me really happy.
He's not a group social kind of child. He's more one on one or two at the most. I think being an only child has something to do with that. He's very social but he needs his alone/quiet time. He gets overstimulated and ornery if there's too much going on.
He, I'm sure, was a fish in another life. He LOVES to swim and loves the water. We finally got him to go down the red slide when Emerson was here. Which was huge!
He is better than me at Super Mario Brothers...which isn't all that hard.
He loves movies and currently his favorites are Aladdin and Emperor's New Groove. He can quote a movie only after seeing it 1-2 times (sort of like my cousin Cindy)
He is an awesome reader and reads or is read to for at least 1 hour each day.
He is getting much better at printing and doesn't get as frustrated when printing certain letters (g, j, f, y, s).
Even though he hates to be pulled away from whatever it is he's doing at the time, he goes to bed like an angel. He's the best sleeper.
He likes riding his bike.
He tells us when it makes him sad when people ask "what's wrong with your head/face". We've had a few talks about this and I've shed a few tears over it. I'm sure I'll shed much more when school starts, but for now, I feel good that we are trying to teach and instill in him confidence about outward appearances and understanding that not everyone is the same. I just don't understand how kids can be so blatantly mean like that. I know it may be a struggle, but there are so many people who know him and love him and see past that physical appearance. Hopefully he'll feel that and allow that to carry him through any rough times regarding kids being mean about the way he looks.
He LOVES his cousin. He is so cute with Emerson and I hope they grow up to be good friends.
He knows a lot of the scripture stories. He has almost all of the Book of Mormon figures and he can act out the stories with his characters.
He has a voice in our family. He can suggest things and come to us with the idea.
He is just the cutest boy!
He is a really messy eater. He knows how to use utensils, but would rather eat with his fingers and hands. There are times when I just allow it (like at home, in private) but when we are out, we encourage him to be proper. Most of the time, he doesn't put up a fight but if he does...really in the eternal perspective does it really matter if he eats in a restaurant with his hands once in a while????
He is NOT afraid to get messy (see above). He likes dirt and mud and puddles and camping. He is NOT a well kept boy...not because I don't try, but he likes being only semi-clean most of the time. Even for church, he showers and dresses nice, but he NEVER keeps his shirt tucked in and lots of times his shoelace is untied. It really bugged me as a child/teenager when my Mom was constantly fixing me so I don't do it to Tanner. My thought is "just let him be". I think well kept kids are super cute and adorable, but it's a losing battle with my child. Maybe as he gets older, it will wear off a bit.
We just love Tanner and am so glad that we get to be his parents. 
This is a really quick, easy meal. We made it for dinner but it would make a good lunch too.
8 frozen breaded chicken strips
1/4 c mayo
1 TBS hot pepper sauce (I used 1/2 TBS)
Lettuce
4 large spinach tortillas
chopped tomato
tex mex cheese (or regular cheddar is good too)
Bake chicken as directed on package. Meanwhile, mix dressing and hot pepper sauce until well blended.
Place lettuce down center of tortillas; top with chicken, tomato's and cheese.
Drizzle with dressing mixture; roll up and enjoy!
I'm such a slacker! I apologize for not doing my 5 for Friday. It was a crazy weekend...fun but crazy. This weekend was my triathlon and my sister Megan and my nephew, Emerson, came down. So my time was much more wisely spent having fun with them.
This week I'm just going to give you a few of my life in photos.
My current job:
I love my job and hope to be there for a long time. I work as a receptionist at the Chiropractic office here in town. It's a huge learning experience and it's a great office to work at.
Favorite Meal:
We have this every Sunday. It's easy and cheap and we all love it. Matt won't eat it if it doesn't have meat in it but I like it without meat sometimes. It's a huge comfort food.
Instrument I play(ed):
In Jr.High I played the Trumpet. I HATED my teacher. She was what her name was.Even though I didn't like my teacher, I am glad that I learned to play. It's not an easy thing to play, though. 
In High School I played Clarinet. I LOVED playing the Clarinet and I had an amazing teacher. Most everyone loved him.
I also play the piano. I am not very good but I can play. It makes me super nervous to play in front of people and I very rarely will. I played for years as a kid but I rarely practiced so it took me much longer. Plus when my Dad died, I took a year off. As an adult I would like to take lessons again. We'll see.
So there's a little bit more of me.
Most of my recipes that I use come from 1 of 4 books. Mainly the KRAFT Canada magazine and then a low fat/diet cookbook ( I don't use the half calorie/salt stuff) and 2 Church cookbooks that are amazing!
The first recipe is from Kraft.
One bowl Brownies
Microwave 4 squares baker's unsweetened Chocolate and 3/4 cup butter in large microwaveable bowl on high for 2 minutes or until butter is melted. Stir until chocolate is completely melted.
Stir in 2 cups of sugar until well blended.
Add 3 eggs and 1 tsp Vanilla and mix well.
Stir in 1 cup flour.
1 cup chopped pecans (optional. I can't use nuts because of allergies)
Spread into greased 9-inch square baking pan.
Bake at 350 for 45-50 min.
During last 5 minutes of baking top with a handful of unwrapped Kraft Caramels.
These are super yummy and soft and really quite easy.
I could not stop laughing at this sign every time we passed it. Too funny!
This is the same painting that's in the Cardston Temple where wherever you move, it looks like the Saviors feet follow you. It's really neat at this huge aspect. 
The Temple is so small from way up on the top of the Church office building. It is the tallest building downtown. 
The top of the Conference Center. See how one side is "prairie" and the other side "mountain"? Kind of cool
Tanner sorting fruit in the "farm" exhibit at the Children's museum. This is very similar to the Science Center in Calgary but somehow more fun. 
This was just a cool wheel that I wanted to get a picture of.
Matt and Tanner in the front of the Children's Museum.
This was our splurge for our trip. We decided to do a carriage ride and it was so worth it. We did the Garden Tour one which takes you up into Memory Grove (another place to visit next time) and then back to temple square. It's about a 40-45 minute ride and the driver we had was really good at giving information on the things in Memory grove. It was worth it and if you can afford it, I would recommend it. This particular tour was $60. They have hour long ones for $80 and 30 minute ones for $40.
With Wesson our excellent horse. He has a brother named Smith (no lie, the driver told us this).
We also did lots of visiting and hanging out with my Aunt. We didn't shop too much. We got a little trinket at most of the places we went to. We also went to the Beehive house which I LOVE! It's really a neat place. Matt and Tanner didn't want their picture in front of it...they were hungry for The Lion House Pantry. But we did go there too.
I have to say that they have THE BEST Slurpee flavors there. They had pina colada. It was super yummy. The best Slurpee I've ever had, but they are really expensive. It cost us $4 for 3 Slurpee's (2 small and 1 med). A good deterrent for not buying Slurpee's every day while there.
We also attended a Pioneer day parade (not the main one) that was awesome! It was bigger and better than even the Raymond Parade. We got shirts, candy, free food passes, Frisbees, and bags of peanuts thrown out at us. The floats are much more elaborate as well. It was really good.
We had a wonderful time and it was exactly what we all needed. Thanks for letting me share our vacation pictures will all of you.
...that I love the option of scheduling my posts at a later time. I actually did all my holiday posts in 2 days but scheduled them to post on a later day. I LOVE BLOGGER!
This weekend, I made 3 new recipes. I have decided that each week (in addition to my 5 for Friday and My life in photos) I will feature a new recipe each week. This Friday will be my first regular 5 for Friday and I will do the weekly recipe on Wednesday or Thursday.
We've had a terrific weekend. We swam, played, ate popcorn, watched movies and hung out.
Happy Monday everyone!
The zoo was smaller than I anticipated, which was perfect because we got to go to "This is the Place" monument (which was 2 minutes away from the zoo, and SONIC!)
This elephant was huge! It also made elephant noises. 
The whole elephant.
They have a new baby elephant. Her name is Zuri. She was "pawing" around in the mud. We were there first thing when it opened and it was perfect because most of the animals were up and active. 
Tanner with his "other" family...lol
This Giraffe was amazingly close. I mean, I could have reached over the fence and touched it. That's how close it was. I was really surprised. 
Tanner and the Giraffe
Of course we stopped for a snack. This was a vain picture. I said to Matt "you should take a picture of Tanner and I eating because I'm having a really good hair day" and he said "yeah, I know. You look hot today!" So this is more of a hair picture.
I loved this water fountain. They had a few of them throughout the Zoo. I wanted Matt to stick his head inside the mouth but he wouldn't. I think he was afraid that the lion might come alive and eat him...lol
When I was looking online for things to do, I saw this. It's the monument on the hill that Brigham Young stood on and declared "this is the place". I didn't plan to go there, but when we saw it as we were leaving the zoo, we decided to stop and look. If you want the tour to see the exhibits (the farm and orchard etc) you have to pay (we didn't budget for this so we didn't do the tour. We'll do it next time) but if you just want to see the monument, you can. It looked like a really neat place and I'm looking forward to going back and doing the tour. 
This is a monument that tells of the Prophecy of the Rocky Mountains. Really neat.
"On the 14th of July [1842] in company with about 50 or 100 of the brethren, we crossed the river to Montrose to be present at the installment of a lodge of the Masonic order, vis. “The Rising Sun.” Whilst together, Joseph, who was with us, told us of many things that should transpire in the mountains. After thinking a draught of ice-water, he said, “Brethren, this water tastes much like the crystal streams that are running in the Rocky Mountains which some of you will participate of. There are some of those standing here that will perform a great work in that land...There is Anson. He shall go and shall assist in building cities from one end of the country to the other, and you shall perform as great a work as has ever been done by man, so that the nations of the earth shall be astonished, and many of them will be gathered in that land, assisting in building cities and temples, and Israel shall be mad to rejoice. But, before you see this day, you will pass through scenes that are bul little understood by you. This people will be made to mourn, multitudes will die and many will apostatize, but the priesthood shall prevail over all its enemies, triumph over the devil and be established upon the earth, nevermore to be thrown down. " 
"It is good to look to the past to gain appreciation for the present and perspective for the future. It is good to look upon the virtues of those who have gone before, to gain strength for whatever lies ahead. It is good to reflect upon the work of those who labored so hard and gained so little in this world but out of whose dreams and early plans, so well nurtured has come a great harvest of which we are the beneficiaries, their tremendous example can become a compelling motivation for us all, for each of us is a pioneer in his own life." Gordon B. Hinckley 
I am no longer a Sonic virgin. I had never ate there until this day after the zoo. It was pretty good. Whenever we haven't done or eaten at a place we consider ourselves virgins. It's just our thing. Maybe it's lame, but whatever...lol
Tanner enjoying his Sonic.
Since it's the Sabbath, I thought it would be appropriate to post my pictures of the Temple that we took. 
Can I just say how difficult it is to get a picture of the Temple and reflection pond with NO people in front of it...it's pretty impossible actually.
So the solution is to tip your camera up so you just get the Temple without the pond. Not the same, but still beautiful. 
So the next few pictures...this is a very common place for families and especially missionaries to get their picture taken. There literally was no one close around us so we sadly didn't get a family picture, but we made the best of it and Tanner got his picture taken with both Matt and then I...
Then Matt took one of me, since I am the only one in my family that didn't serve a mission. Amy, Megan, and Melany all have a picture of them on this pedestal in front of the Temple. Now it was MY turn...lol
Matt's "missionary" picture. I love him! 
I love to see the temple!
A lot of married couples get their picture taken by these doors (there's a few sets, actually). While we were taking this photo, there was a wedding party just finishing up and when we finished, another wedding was coming over. 
Tanner looks so small in comparison to these huge, massive doors.
We were lucky with this one. We asked someone to take a photo of us and he actually took a few pictures. We were very appreciative. 
Can you believe that these are still original? So beautiful and intricate. 
The view looking upward. So neat!
This was one of several of the same trees on the grounds. It actually provides shade for wedding guests waiting. They're right by the doors that newly married couples come out of the temple. 
We drove to South Jordan to attend the Jordan River Temple. This has the most beautiful Celestial Room in it. I loved it more than Cardston. This Temple is different inside in that it has escalators so it kind of feels like a church office building more than a Temple. At least it did to me. All the Temples are beautiful and all have different, unique features. For example, I've been told that Cardston Temple is the only Temple of all the Temples that has dark wood throughout it. It's also the only Temple (so I've been told by someone who works in the Temple) that it's the only one that doesn't have a gate or fence around it. Interesting, huh? 
Happy Sabbath and enjoy!
