time for dinner

here's a meal that BOTH jason and i can agree on!

BBQ Chicken Pizza

BBQ sauce
2 chicken breasts, cooked and chopped
1 pkg bacon, cooked and chopped
mozzarella cheese

pizza dough:
1 1/2 C warm water
1/2 t salt
1 1/2 Tb yeast
1 1/2 t oil
1 1/2 Tb honey/sugar
3 1/4 C flour

For the dough, combine the ingredients. Allow 15 minutes to rise. Form dough into desired shape. Push it into the pan or I like to put it on my baking stone. Spread on BBQ sauce. Throw on the chicken (I cook up the chicken using Italian dressing instead of oil for a little added yummy seasoning.) On with the bacon. And top it with all the cheese you can handle. Bake at 350 for 20 minutes.

Yumminess then comes out of the oven and into your happy mouth. The end.

memorizing scriptures

Daddy: If ye
Sammy: If ye
Daddy: love me,
Sammy: you wuv me,
Daddy: no, if ye
Sammy: if ye
Daddy: love me,
Sammy: you wuv me,
Daddy: if
Sammy: if
Daddy: ye
Sammy: ye
Daddy: love
Sammy: wuv
Daddy: me
Sammy: me
Daddy: keep my
Sammy: keep my
Daddy: commandments
Sammy: kee-da-mamds
Daddy: good job!
Sammy: yeah!

a fishin' we will go

On Saturday we were able to have a little family time. We went to a little fish and duck pond in Springville. Jason decided it was high time Sammy learned to fish. (or get she-shoos if you're speaking Sammish.)

Step 1: Stop and get Sam his very own fishing pole.


Step 2: Show him what a fishing pole is for:




Step 3: Bask in the after-moments of a succesful fishing trip.


Step 4: Brag to the little one that you got one... and she didn't.

Step 5: Deal with the fact that she didn't really care that much.


Another fun Sam moment to add to the list of memories: After Sam caught about 3 fish in 2 minutes, he put his line back in and caught another... something... quack! freaking-out-quack!
Jason just quickly cut the line.... oops, sorry there, Daffy.

Doh! (Play, that is.)

Last night for Family Home Evening, Jason thought it would be a great idea to make some homemade play dough.
As you can see, Sam thought it was a great idea too.

Here are a couple of scenes of the snake vs. the bear.


The snake won.


If you want to make your own snakes and bears, here's how to do it:

Play dough:
2 C flour
1 C salt
2 Tb cream of tartar
2 C water
2 Tb baby oil
liquid food coloring

Combine dry ingredients. Add water and oil. Stir well. Microwave on high 4 - 5 minutes. Stir again. Microwave another minute. Stir. Continue to microwave one minute, then stir, until dough is the consistency of mashed potatoes. Cool it enough to touch. Knead in food coloring until dough is desired color. Store dough in air tight container or a zip-lock bag.

Ooops

You know when little kids find a scissors and give themselves a lovely haircut?


I desperately wish I could use that excuse. But alas, I cannot.

I admit it, I forgot to put the shield on the clippers before I began.

I'm just glad he's only two. So, he doesn't really care. Oops.

I'm a lucky girl

I'm so lucky to be Sammy's mommy. Today as I was feeding Livia, he was trying to climb onto my lap too. I was worried about him squishing Livia, so I was about to scold him... until I realized he was puckering out his lips to give me a kiss. It was so sweet that I couldn't resist getting his kiss... even though he was a little bit slobbery already.


After his kiss, he gave me a big hug. I got a little emotional with his sweetness. I even got tears in my eyes. I told him that I loved him, and he, still hugging me tight, said, "I wuv you too, mommy."


I just feel so blessed to have him in my life. He makes me a better person.



I love my sweet little Sammy boy!

Why so serious?

All he needs is longer green hair.... ha ha ha ha ha ha.
(It looked more joker-like in real life.)

Part I: To CA we go

A couple of Saturdays ago, we started our little journey. We've been wanting to visit Jason's sister, Holly and her husband, Scott, and their family in California for a while now. We talked about going out in the summer. Then they bought a house. They were telling us about all the work they would need to do before moving in. We decided we wanted to be the first family members to see their house, so off we went.

This was when Sam was still in a good mood. It was an 11 hour drive on the way there. (And about 12 1/2 on the way back... Livia didn't make it easy on us.)


This was one of the bad mood moments. He got ticked off at the sun for being in his eyes... and he screamed at the sun multiple times because of it.



Ahh, that's much better. Pullovers make great curtains. He called his head phones his 'hears.' He's so practical.



Yeah, finally, welcome to California!


After a long drive, Sam needed some good rest. Nothing like sleeping as stiff as a board, and only staying on the bed because a dresser is jammed into your back. When we first found him like that, his feet were hanging off the end. I don't know how he can sleep like that!


The rest of the week was really enjoyable. We went to bed tired every night! It's always nice to get some hard work into your week. Jason helped fill a lot of the holes in the walls, and we both did quite a lot of painting. We also got to help tear down some walls... messy, but fun.

We were mostly excited about spending time with Scott and Holly. We don't get to see them much because of the distance, but we enjoyed the time we had to be with them, work along side them, and learn from them. There are several things we are hoping to incorporate into our family and home that we learned from them. They are great examples, and we feel blessed to have them in our family.

What were they thinking? (the previous owners)

From the outside, the house looks amazing. There are lots of windows, an incredible open 2nd floor loft you can see from the front door, a super cute balcony above the garage, and you can't see from the front, but a great looking pool in the back yard.

And then you enter...

I'm so impressed with Scott and Holly and the fact that they could see the potential of this house. I know that after they are done with their fix-ups, this house is going to be AMAZING!!

But for now, they first have to deal with the remains of the previous owners. You know the phrase, "everything but the kitchen sink" well, these people took it literally. That means they took the entire kitchen... everything but the kitchen sink! (They took the cabinets and countertops and all appliances.) So they really are starting from scratch! At least they get to pick what they like!

There are lots of bedrooms... but the problem is, these people DID NOT know how to paint. I'm not even sure they tried to do a nice job. In fact, I'm wondering if the painters were all under the age of 10! With the exception of a gothic, psycho teenage boy.

Here's where the gothic kid comes in:
Yes, even the shower was spray-painted black. And who needs to waste time with a toilet seat? Nah, let's just rip the whole thing off.

And I'm pretty sure this was his bedroom. How proud his parents must have been.



And then there is a brainiac. Or maybe a cult member.... I'm not that familiar with either... take your pick.


I'm sure this little girl was really sweet... perhaps even a princess. However, she should not have been trusted with a paint brush!


I'm so excited to see the house when they finish! I know it will look incredible! They accomplished so much in just the week we were there, I can't wait to see it again.

It was so fun to be a part of this with them.

Part II: San Francisco

On Thursday we took the day off and went to San Francisco. Jason's brother, Jared, was in San Francisco most of that week on a business trip. He talked his wife, Allyson, into coming along. So when we went into SF we met up with Allyson and Brigham (their little boy) and spent the day with her, and then met up with Jared after his meetings for dinner.

This is the bridge we came in on. I think it was called the Oakland Bridge.



This is a distant photo of the Golden Gate Bridge. We hoped to make it over there, but we ran out of time and energy.


But it's beautiful, even from a distance.

Aquarium of the Bay

Uh, well, uh, hello....


We went to the Aquarium of the Bay. It has a 300 ft clear tunnel to walk through inside the aquarium.

We got there in time to see them feeding the seven-gill sharks.


It wasn't as exciting as we hoped. They feed them twice a week, so they are usually full. That way they can co-exist with the other fish and not want to eat them. It also means that dinner time is not very exciting for them...

And these guys, well, I just think they look funny! And yes, so does Jason.




Here is a fish that could eat Sam for supper and not even notice.


At this point Livia was still being an angel.


Meet Nemo, Marlin, Dory and friends... (Sam was happy to see his dear movie friends.)


There was also a touch and feel portion. They are under construction, so this was their make-shift pool. It was still fun to see what star fish and crabs feel like. Sam just liked splashing in the water.

Lombard Street

Lombard Street is the most curvy street in the world I think. (and hope... it is pretty curvy.)
We thought we would get a little exercise (oh and not lose our parking spot) and walk to Lombard Street from the Pier. It didn't seem too far...

other than the fact that we were walking up several crazy steep streets. I swear they are about 45 degree angles! Thankfully, Jason was willing to push the stroller!

Here is a picture from the bottom of it. You can see how many times you have to switch back, by looking at the different levels and cars.


Happy we made it this far:


All of us were content to just look at it from the bottom... except Sam... man, I must love that kid.

We walked part way up, but he insisted on going further and further.... and further. Yeah, we reached the top, and came back down the other side. I was surprised that Sam made it that far, and then proceeded to run all the way back down all the hills we had climbed to get back to the Pier. Oh, to have that kind of energy again.... (sigh)

Pier 39

This is where we were most of the day.


Sam loved watching the sea lions. Brigham kept telling everyone Ow! Ow! Ow! just like the sea lions say.


I think Livia was a little less enthused about it all.



This is the view of the Golden Gate Bridge from Pier 39. We didn't get a chance to get any closer.




And the view of Alcatraz of course.


Sam was super excited to ride on the carousel!


And not super excited to get off: (you can see Jason fighting him towards the bottom of the picture)


Brigham loved it so much, he couldn't even take time to look at the camera!


Our evening with Jared and Allyson at the Crab House. (Where the nice couple paid $50 of our bill.) And yes, my husband IS wearing a large bib.

Part III: Jelly Belly

We were in Stockton, about 30-45 minutes from Sacramental... and the Jelly Belly Factory! Yes, the Jelly Belly Factory that gives free tours!



Everyone was required to wear a Jelly Belly hat during the tour. But they said the baby was ok to not wear one.


I wasn't sure if it was because she doesn't actually have any hair... or because the hat engulfed her whole head, disabling her to breathe...

It was really cool to see how they make the beans. The flavoring section smelled so yummy! They were flavoring blueberry, strawberry daiquiri and cherry berry when we were there... it was purely delightful!

After the tour, you can walk by the sample bar and they will give you as many as you are willing to ask for. Then there is a little shop where you can buy any of their flavors... and their irregular beans they call Belly Flops. I personally could care less about the shape... I'm all about the taste! (We bought 3 bags of Belly Flops... and each picked out a bag of our own personal favorites. I'm embarrassed to say... buy we spent over $40 on jelly beans!)

Part IV: hanging out

In the back yard, they had a mini orange tree... a very sour mini orange tree!


But Sam liked to pick them nonetheless.


Our niece Rachel is as sweet and cute as can be!


Sam and Rachel loved playing together... especially on the trampoline!