Mmmmmm....Cheesecake

So, I ventured into the unknown of making my own cheesecake from scratch. Little did I know that it was going to be very time-consuming and not so cheap to make. But it was pretty good and I was satisfied with the end result. This is my lovely graham cracker crust that I pressed into my new spring-form pan. Then the wonderful cream cheese filling. And Tah-Dah! The grand finale! Wish you were all here to try it. I guess I'll just have to eat it myself.

More Cute Pictures Of Our Claire Bear

Claire fell asleep one evening playing with her toys. I thought it was too cute to pass up for a picture.

I Love....

My adorable new outfit and dressing up warm to go for walks with dad!

I Love My Baths!

I Love Carrots!

Happy Halloweenie!

I hope everyone had a fun, safe, and scary halloween. Dallin and I and Claire didn't do a whole lot. I did do more than I did last year. It wasn't hard though to do more than I did last year. I dressed Claire up as a pumpkin. We took her to the fudge/candy store in Salmon to have her picture taken. I won't get those photos for about a week. Do you think I could make it out of the store without buying some fudge? No! I got 1/2 pound of raspberry and 1/2 pound of rocky road. Then the store owner told me, "When you buy a pound you get a 1/4 pound free." Oh, you evil store owner. She obviously cares nothing about my ever expanding waist line. But, how can I hate someone who makes such delectable fudge? It just melts away in your mouth to a cream. Anyways. Then Claire came home and hung out in her costume at home. The merchants here in Salmon give out candy to trick-or-treaters. Everyone told me that I should take Claire. Funny thing though. I think the store owners might catch on that the candy is not going to be for Claire. So, I decided not to go. I did take Claire to my work to show my fellow co-workers her costume. She got the sniffles late last night so my little pumpkin has a snotty nose. She is still pretty cute though.

Never-Fail French Bread

So, I got a couple of requests for the French Bread recipe, so here it is:

2 pkgs . active dry yeast (2 T.) "It's alive!" :)
1/2 cup luke warm water
2 cups hot water
3 T. of mmmm....sugar
1 T. salt
1/3 cup oil
6 cups flour
slightly roughed up egg white

Dissolve yeast in luke warm water. In large mixing bowl, combine hot water, the mmmm...sugar, salt, oil and 3 cups of flour. Add dissolved yeast. Beat until smooth and well blended. Add remaining flour to make a soft dough (about the consistency of your stomach) that can still be mixed with a spoon. Leave spoon in batter and allow dough to power nap for 10 minutes. Stir down batter, let dough power nap again, then repeat the process of stirring dough followed by 10 minute power naps until it has been done a total of 5 times. Turn dough onto lightly floured surface and knead like a kitty cat only enough to coat dough with flour so it can be handled. Divide dough into two parts. Roll each part into a rectangle (9 x 12"). Rollup like a jelly roll. Arrange lengthwise on greased cookie sheet. Repeat with remaining portion of dough. Brush tops with roughed up egg white. With a sharp knife, slash with a vengeance the tops diagonally about 3 times across loaf and make the "Psycho" sound effect. Cover and allow to rise until double in bulk, about 30 minutes. Bake at 375 degrees for approximately 20-25 minutes, or until golden brown. Makes two loaves. Note: this bread also makes good cinnamon rolls. You can double this recipe and it also freezes well.

Our New Friends

So, Dallin and I and Claire all made some new friends. Their names are Jesse and Tiffany. They have an adorable little boy that is 4 months old. His name is Cameron. We were all joking that he was Claire's future prom date. Here are some pictures of Claire and Cameron playing together and my pretty dinner that I made. I made Chicken and Dumplin's and homemade French Bread. Mmmmm...boy howdy... I got the awesome recipe from my awesome sister-in-law, Melonie. It is called "Never Fail French Bread." And it really is Never Fail. I look for those kinds of recipes. The first picture is just Claire sporting her cute winter hat that I made her.

Our House

Here are some more pictures of our home. One is of our master bedroom. Note the wonderful magnificent king size bed. We just got that not too long ago. We stained it ourselves too. Then the other picture is of our guest bathroom. So if any of you come and stay you will have your very own bathroom.

Opposition in all things

Claire and I like to go for walks it helps break up the day. On this walk we went and chilled by the river. It is fun to get to go for walks and spend time with her.
Dallin

Roasted Portabello Mushrooms

So, I made a new recipe today. I got the recipe from Rachael Ray. Yumm-o! It is very fresh, simple, and clean tasting. It is pretty easy also and I thought pretty enough to take a picture. I even think it is pretty healthy also. The recipe didn't really call for any spices so I had to add some of my own. I thought it might not be as good unless I doctored it up a little.

Mary, Mary, Quite Contrary

So, the greenhouse in Salmon is having an awesome awesome sale on all of their trees and shrubs. To be exact 60% off of their trees and shrubs and 75% off on their perennials. We thought it might be a great time to buy some foliage to plant in our naked dirt. So we bought a Patmore Ash, an Autumn Red Maple, and a Spring Snow Crab. Before you turn your nose up to the crab apple tree let me just say that it is the only variety of Crab apple that gets beautiful blooms but not fruit. That's right folks. You heard me right...no fruit! Isn't that just fantastic? Anyway, they are not much to look at right now but hopefully they will be beautiful next year. Since we have so many gosh darn deer around here people have to put up deer fences around their new trees or the deer will strip them to their death. The fences have to be 7 feet tall. They also look very tacky, but I don't want a dead tree. We planted a hydrangea bush and some other bushes. We also planted some grasses to add some sweet zen to our yard, which by the way, Bob already has figured out that they are great to lay under and fun to chase. We planted the ever so soft "Lamb's Ear." If you haven't ever touched one of these you have to seek them out and find them next summer because when you lay hold on them you will want to keep on touching them they are so soft. I become like "Lenny" in the book Of Mice and Men.

Just Claire

Here are some more pics of Claire eating her cotton dinner.

Bob

So, after waiting 8 long years I finally got my very own kitty cat. I have always loved cats and have patiently waited for the day I could go pick out my very own. My mom never allowed animals in the house and for the life of me I could never understand why...until I owned one along with a new home that is my very own. We went to the humane society here in Salmon and picked out "Snickers." We promptly renamed him Bob because he has long hair on the tips of his ears that make him look like a bobcat...I know...original me. The description of the cat said he loved to play with the kittens and he liked the dogs...we'll see. So the first day he only could stay indoors. I wanted him to get comfortable calling this home. After the first day I let him venture out into the great outdoors. He sniffed the air and scanned the outside with his large eyes and carefully stepped out into his knew surroundings. Ever since then he has loved to scamper outside into the cow pastures and wander around the canal bank chasing 'hoppers. He also loved to come in the house too. I used to let him in and out whenever he pleased until I started noticing cat hair on Claire's clothes and another nice surprise he left for me. I'll leave it to the imagination. After the nice surprise I decided he was now primarily an outside cat. I promptly moved the litter box and food out to the garage. He now only comes in for about 10 minutes out of the whole day. I now know why my mother never allowed animals in the house, but we sure love him. He is very lovable. He's almost like a dog in that he always wants your attention and comes to you every time you call. He definitely is not snooty like some cats. Dallin gets a little annoyed with him...and so do I, but he has been fun. By the way, I think the flash on the camera made his eyes wig out.

Some More Cute Pics of Claire

Here are some more cute pics of Claire. She has started to eat rice cereal. That has been very enjoyable to watch her figure that out. The first time we gave it to her she gagged...probably because it was too thick...and she would put her hands in front of her face and cry when we tried to give it to her. I was determined that she would like it so I kept trying to make her like it. Now, she inhales the stuff. As you can tell in the bottom left picture she also loves eating her shirt. I am interrupting her dinner of cotton goodness in that picture.

Home Sweet Home

So, we have been moved into our new home for a little over a month now. I've been meaning to take some pictures of our new home but I'm waiting for it to be clean to take pictures. I realize that that might never happen. So far I've only gotten a picture of a clean kitchen. So here it is.

Jimmy Choos

So, my sister Lisa went to Portland to visit my other sister Cathy. While she was there she got to buy a pair of Jimmy Choos for her 40th birthday. By they way...HAPPY BIRTHDAY LISA! I'm a crappy sister and never called her. Anyway...I am so jealous because buying a pair of Jimmy Choos is on my Bucket List. I only want to buy them just so I can say I have a pair of Jimmy Choos. I know...I know...I am solely buying them for the name brand. I'll admit it. I like the name.

My Holiday

Because I am not an avid backpacker I decided to go visit my mother in Twin Falls because she told me she missed Claire...not me...Claire. So Friday I made the 4 1/2 hour drive to Burley to visit my sister, Lori. And by 4 1/2 hours I mean for the normal adult with no children. With Claire it probably took me about 6. She cried for a good two hours straight. I kept having to pull over and hold her. I kept thinking that maybe she was hungry, since that is the only thing I can think of to do when she is crying. Every time I tried to feed her she would just look at me and smile as if to say, "What are we going to do Mom? I know! Let's play!" So then I would stick her back into her carseat because I just wanted to get to our destination before her high school graduation. Then she would start to cry again. I finally got to Burley with a smidgin' of sanity. Then that night I drove to Twin to stay with my Mom. Saturday we pretty much went shopping. I have to take advantage of being places that have stores besides Kings and Alco Discount. I attempted to buy clothes for me. Attempted being the key word in that sentence. So, I then promptly went to clothes shopping for Claire because everything looks cute on her. That night we watched Women's Conference at my mom's house with Lori and Diana and then went out to dinner. And stayed up late talking and laughing. It was a fun weekend. It came to a close with a 5 hour drive home and Claire screaming for another 2 hours.

Dallin's Holiday

Dallin and his brother, Devin, decided to go backpacking last weekend. They ventured off to the Frank Church-River of No Return Wilderness to hike to Ship Island Lake. Here are a couple important highlights of the hike:

Total Distance: 22 miles round trip (about 21 miles too far for me)
Difficulty: Strenuous (or wish you were dead difficulty)

I am forever grateful that Devin went with him because Dallin always gets this hair-brained idea of going backpacking by himself. I feel that if I allow him to do this he will never come home because he will have broken his ankle from a fall and that he will be stranded in the middle of nowhere and he will get so thirsty that he will have to drink his own pee and then a bear will come along and find him a tasty meal. I don't need to go on. So, Devin thank you thank you for going with him and for taking your gun to shoot all the hungry bears.

They were both pretty tired when they came home. But, they had loads of fun.

Claire at 4 months

I thought I would put a couple of pictures of Claire up. She is growing up fast and it has been fun watching her during the day. She rolls over now and laughs at the weirdest things.

Dallin

4 Month Immunizations

So, Claire went in for the good ole immunizations today. Call me crazy but I didn't feel it was appropriate to shoot a before and after picture for the blog. Just picture a smiley happy baby with her fat happy legs a-kickin' then picture a squinty-eyed baby with big ole tears mouth wide open and a cute little baby girl cry and frigid tight fat legs. There you have it. I really feel that today might have been worse for me then her. I had some major anxiety before the appt. So I promptly walked across the parking lot to the hospital got into the medication closet and fished out some Versed and popped it right into my vein. I felt much better after. (By the way if anyone out there from my job is reading this, I was totally kidding.) She actually did much better this time. It went a lot quicker, partly because I helped give the shots. I got her on her right leg and the other nurse got her with two on the left. We were done in a jiffy. She cried for about a good 30 seconds. Then she was pretty good the rest of the day...a total difference than last time. She now weighs 12 lbs 12 oz. She also started to laugh a week ago. It is the cutest ever. She laughs at funny things that I wouldn't think would be funny. We love her! She is so fun. I think this Friday we will start her on solids. I'm looking forward to that. We've noticed her staring at our food more often. It will be a great fun mess!

Three Things I Want

So, after reading Mandy's blog it made me start thinking of all the things I would like to own in the near future. I decided to only limit it to three. The first would be the lovely storage containers for cotton balls and q-tips. I would like two of each so that I could put one in my guest bathroom for all the guests we won't get. Also I found this awesome person who make these awesome adornments. I too, fear like Mandy, of letting myself go. This adornment is just one of many. If you would like to venture to her website here it is. The third would be a swim suit from Modbe. I loved the swimming suit that Mandy had on her blog so I ventured to the website and found this little number. I noticed how it would cover my tiger-striped belly and the bread-dough-consistency-of-a-stomach-that-I-fear-I-will-never-part-with. They also have these great swim suit skirts that I could wear over my thunder-thighs and cover up the few hundred pounds that have taken up residence on my, as I say around Claire, "bum-bum."