Happy Valentines Day!!

Happy Valentines Day everyone!

here is what my family woke up to this morning....the boys were so excited to eat their "Chineese food" with their "chopsticks".

MIA...

Life has sure gotten in the way the last couple of weeks...

So I have been missing in action....

I thought I should take a few minutes from my craziness and post an amazing video I saw on Sunday during the General Presidency Christmas Devotional.

I felt the spirit of my Savior while I watched this amazing depiction of His birth.  I am thankful for this time of year and the chance to be able to celebrate our Saviors life.  

Reusable swiffer covers!!

Friday Finds!!

I am so excited about this one!!  So awesome!  Can't wait to make some of these!!

Check out this tutorial for making reusable swiffer covers!!

Happy Halloween 2011!!

Gardner pumpkins this year!  

Boys are so proud of the ones they did! 

 These are of the boys at there school outing to the corn maze.  It was fun to just let them run while Dad and Mom got to hold hands and go with the flow.

 COSTUMES!!!  We went to Grandmas neighborhood and trick or treated with cousins and friends!  It was a blast this year!!

My little artist.  He came up with this one on his own!  He said I want to be an artist and I want the bag attached to the pallette!  He thinks his mom can make anything I suppose....Well I got it done as good as I could... HE LOVED IT!  He got a lot of comments about his creativity.  Which made him grin a lot!

This boy was the hardest to get to decide what to be!!!  At first it was Thor...then it was a spy...then it was Darth Vader....then we finally decided to use his brothers costume from a few years back and be a clone trooper so he could use his Boba Fett gun he got for his birthday this year!  He would have kept going house to house to house if we would have let him...Great kid!!

Hope all of you had a happy and safe HALLOWEEN!!

Where were you?

I was awoken with a call from my mom to turn on my tv.

I had been up that night with my 3 month old baby boy.  

I sleepily got up and turned on the TV...

I was horrified.

I was glued to that TV screen and remember watching the second plane hit...

Then watching the footage over and over again...

I couldn't even believe what I was watching...could this be real life?  

How could someone do this to another human?  

I was saddened that day for not only Americans but for our entire human race.

We had a temple trip planned for that afternoon 

and it would be the first time I had left my first baby with anyone...

I was terrified to leave him and went back and forth on weather to leave him or to just stay home... 

but came to the conclussion that it was important that we go.  

I was in shock until I walked into the temple that day.  

There was such peace as we entered that holy place.  

I was so impressed with the temple workers.  

They were a source of strength that day to the many people who came there.

My testimony was strengthened that day.

I realized then that there was a bigger picture to this life 

and that was the reason I was there on that day.  

My thoughts and prayers are with the survivors of that horrific day.  

I am thankful everyday for those men and women who serve me and my country 

to give us the freedoms that we have.  

I could never thank them enough for the service they provide.  

I am also thankful for their families and the sacrifice they make 

and the struggle it is sending a loved one to war.  

Thank you!  

Let us all take a moment on this Patriots Day 

to pause and be thankful for the life we are lucky to live.

Where were you?

TOMATO GRAVY!!

I know you are all thinking WHAT?!?!  

That is how I responded to this years ago when my mother-in-law made it for dinner one night.

So what is it...

Only the BEST best thing to do with tomatoes out of the garden!!! 

It doesn't LOOK very appetizing but TRUST me it is sooooo good!!!  

My husband says it looks like school lunch slop but when you taste it you will quickly forget how it looks!!

It is kinda like a thick version of tomato soup.

So what do you do with it?

Put it on TOAST or warm sliced bread!!  

The best is french bread but this is what I had here.  

Still VERY yummy!!

So now...how do you make it...

Have you ever skinned a tomato?

If so...skip this part...

(this is also helpful for canning tomatoes)

You bring a pot of water to boiling and put the tomatoes in for about a minute...

until you see the skin cracking like this...

(sometimes they are stubborn...so just poke them with a sharp knife that will help them the skins the crack)

then put them in bowl of cold water to cool a bit so you can handle them.

While they are cooling you can get a pot and add the butter to start melting while you skin the tomatoes.

The skins will just slip right off

Then cut of the tops off of the tomatoes.

slice them up into smaller pieces.

Now add them to the pot where the melted butter is.

ok I know I know this looks GROSS!! 

 But stay with me!

Stir it around and mash up the tomatoes...they need to get a lot more mushy.  

You want it to look like this

now it is time to add the flour to get it to thicken up.

when it starts to pull away from the bottom of the pan you will need to add the milk

let it warm up to a slow simmer and get thick.

then...serve it on toast!  It is excellent with corn on the cob!!  

That is our favorite!!!

Here is the recipe so you can try it!!

TOMATO GRAVY!!

10-15 average size tomatoes (I use a mixture of different kinds)

1/2 a cube of butter

2-3 TB flour

2 cups of milk

bread of your choice (baguette and french bread are our favorites)

ENJOY!!!

Science vs. Religion...hmmmm

I have a special connection to science...

my husband is a teacher of physics and chemistry...my boys also LOVE it!  

So when I saw this I was so impressed by this video and had to share!