Weekend events

Yesterday we had a stake Relief Society service project. We made blankets for the local Project Linus chapter who takes blankets to crisis centers, hospitals, police and fire departments to help kids and families. Project Linus is a national organizaiton and over the last month they have sent 30,000 blankets to Haiti. I tied a baby blanket and finished the ends on a fleece one. There were tons of people there! I just wish I knew more than just my family who was there...I am still shy I guess!

Last night we went to a ward activity of sorts. It's called the dinner party, and they ask for voluteers to host dinner in their home. We went to Libbie Jones's (I think that's her last name) home with 4 other couples: the 1st counselor in bishopric & his wife the RS pres, and 2 other couples near our age. It was really fun...and I think we have made some great friendships already!!

When we came home Zenock was crying hysterically because he wanted mommy. It took him forever to calm down, then he fell asleep in the car taking Celeste home. He feels so yucky, and I know it's viral, so there's nothing I can do for him but load up the humidifier, vicks him like crazy and give him umka. And to top that, he had a fever all night so he was in our bed most of the time...at least until he had been awake for a while from 4-5am and I convinced him to go to his bed so I could sleep. And then when he woke us up at 8 he was back in our bed! Brady feels crappy too, and Ammon has a cold as well. But he has more energy than everyone combined so he wants to go to church with me and sit on the front row! I am still debating if I will let him go to church, so I might end up going by myself today. I hope everyone is better in the next few days...being sick is the pits!!

A chance

Tomorrow I have my first interview since last August, for a job here in Nevada. It's with a very large insurance company, United Healthcare. Over the last 3 weeks I have applied for 6 jobs there...and I got a callback!! Wish me luck!!!

Park

We went to McCloud Park Saturday to enjoy some time outside in the sunshine. The boys liked this park a lot because it was really easy to get on all the slides and other things. This park is similar to the all access park in Idaho Falls by the zoo. We'll definitely be coming back here!

Rain...and Snow

Last week we got almost 2 inches of rain, and it really poured. Nevada doesn't have canals full of water like Idaho, they have concrete drainage canals for the rare rainfall...so the area doesn't flood because the ground is so dry. It was weird to drive around and see these canals with water flowing in them for several days.
This is the biggest, and longest rainstorm we had. This picture really doesn't do the rain justice.
While it rained in the valley, it snowed in the mountains. Yesterday we went sledding with Ronny's family on Spring Mountain. Of course, it took us over an hour to get there! But here we are at 8000 feet and it's 39 degrees...perfect for some sledding!!

Ammon had so much fun sledding by himself. He was a real trooper, until he went off a jump and tumbled off the sled. I wonder if he was more upset about falling off the sled, or the flying in the air?

Me and Izabella. I think we actually stayed on the disk the whole time.

This is Brady

This is the after effect

And here is Zenock, king of the snow pile!

More Susan Boyle

I just LOVE Susan Boyle. Enjoy this!!

Yummy

If you like sweet and sour chicken, especially from Fongs in Rexburg, you have to try this recipe. It's so good, and tastes almost like Fongs! I made this for lunch today, and wow! I was so impressed at the flavor!

Sweet and Sour Chicken

2 boneless, skinless chicken breasts, cut into cubes
1 egg, wisked
cornstarch
1 T extra virgin olive oil
3/4 cup sugar
4 T ketchup
1/2 cup vinegar
1 T soy sauce
1/2 tsp garlic powder
1 to 1 1/2 cups orange juice

Dip chicken in egg, then coat chicken evenly in cornstarch. Cook in hot pan with oil until almost done. Wisk together remaining ingredients. Pour onto chicken and stir frequently until sauce thickens. If sauce thickens too much, add more orange juice and stir until desired thickness. Pour over cooked white or fried rice. Feeds 3-4 people.

This recipe cooks up so fast, and it is so delicious. I have never had homemade sweet and sour chicken that tasted this good.

It worked!!

The SD card worked in the laptop! In fact, it downloaded the photos much faster than connecting the camera to the computer. So here is a ton of pictures from today at Hoover Dam. Someday I am going to figure out how to do a slideshow...I think that would be faster to create than this, but anyway...ENJOY!!

Ammon is in Nevada, and Zenock is in Arizona

This is the new bridge/road being built over the Colorado River to both connect LV to Phoenix better and more directly and to stop all the traffic having to drive over the dam. It's supposed to be done this fall.

Arizona side

More Arizona

Saturday is a Special Day...

It's the day we have fun before Sunday!! We put on our shoes and we brush our teeth. Then we go potty before going on a short road trip (to the tune of the primary song about getting ready for the Sabbath). We had so much fun today!!! We went to Hoover Dam - to which I have never been in all the years we have come to Vegas to visit.
We got some awesome pictures...and I would happily post them today, but for the life of me, I cannot find the cord to connect the camera to the computer to download. It seems I have a few more boxes to go through still! Hopefully I can find it tomorrow before church and then do a post then. I had a breakthrough just now. I think I have an SD drive on the laptop, so maybe I can load the pictures up.

Kids say the darndest things

Last night Ammon asked if the clouds were fog and how do they get to the ground. Zenock piped up and said: First, you have to get a spoon then a tall, tall ladder. You go up and scoop and then come back down. That's how clouds get on the ground. Three year olds are so smart!

It rained for about 10 minutes yesterday, but it didn't rain, it poured. And now we won't have moisture for at least another month. I think I might miss the spring showers.

We took the kids to the lion habitat at MGM. It's one of the few free attractions here. There were three lions there, and they were up walking around for some of the time. We got to walk under them in a glass tunnel, so we could see their bellies and huge feet. It was fun for the kids, and for us too. 5 pm during the week is the time to go do stuff on the strip. It was dead...compared to the weekend. There are some things that residents get discounts on, so when we get Nevada drivers licenses, we can go do some of the fun things.

Settling In

We are finally mostly unpacked here in Nevada. The weather is wonderful, and Brady is loving riding his motorcycle all the time. Apparently we left Idaho just in time. There is 10 inches of snow in Idaho Falls, most of it coming yesterday. No sledding for us I guess. But we can ride bikes all the time, so that's a good trade.

We get to go to church tomorrow at 1 pm. That means no naps on Sunday anymore, but bedtime is at 8pm sharp...so that means I can probably get away with bedtime at 7:30! Now that's cool, even though I have to deal with grumpy kids.

I have a bunch of pictures to post of Christmas, the kids playing with cousins and other stuff, but I haven't gotten around to unloading the camera yet. Maybe tomorrow...

It's been 6 years already

After Brady's mission farwell May 2001

Engagement Fall 2003

Married for less than an hour!

Six years later, here we are with two boys! It's been a heavenly six years for us, and later this week we enter a new chapter of our lives in Nevada. I love you Brady!!!

Decisions, decisions

Okay, so I should post the most recent happenings at our house. The first Saturday in December we decide to move to Henderson, Nevada. We are out of work, and hence need money to pay bills. So we are going where the really good paying jobs are. Originally we thought about moving there next August if Brady gets accepted to the MSW program at UNLV, but after much thought and prayer we decided it was best for us to move there now. We will be loading up the moving truck on Christmas Eve – except for the Christmas tree and other things we need to sleep there one last time. Christmas day after breakfast we will be heading south for the winter, and the next few years as well. Hopefully since we will have established residency by summer Brady can get right in to his program and finish his master’s degree so we can move on with our lives. We should be back in Idaho in 5 years or less…but Nevada will be fun.

I know I will have a hard time leaving my family and friends, and most especially our ward. However, the Church is the same wherever we go, so I’ll be able to make new friends. We’ll also be near Brady’s family. The kids will have so much fun playing with their cousins all the time instead of once or twice a year. It will be an adventure for all of us, and we are ready to move on. I get to do the last of my visiting teaching on Thursday, and then we have just one week left in this cold, cold weather.

This is the top 10 things we will miss about Idaho.
1. shoveling snow
2. slipping on the ice
3. getting snow inside our shoes when we should be wearing our snow boots instead
4. walking on melted snow in socks
5. having the furnace turn on when we are watching a really good movie
6. scraping snow and ice off the car
7. swerving around people who don’t know how to drive on slick roads
8. spending 20 minutes putting snow clothes on and only playing outside for 10 minutes because it is too cold
9. feeling the draft from the window while sitting on the couch
10. being cold