nursery

My little girl went to nursery for the first time today and did AWESOME.  Berret and I spied on her a bunch through the tiny window on the door.  It looked like she kept to herself quite a bit but I think she was taking it all in and was a bit confused.  She did really good though and I’m sure she’ll be more playful once she gets more familiar with the leaders and other kids.  It was nice to not have her in Primary with us, she was beginning to be a distractions for the other kids (we teach the 6 year olds).  We had some visitors in our class and they were SOOO good it was great.  They were also really funny.  One of the little boys in the the beginning of class asked Berret what was on his face while pointing to his chin.  Then the little boy points to his upper lip and says he had some stuff up there too.  Berret being kind of messy is used to being told there is stuff on his face but couldn’t figure out what the little boy was talking about.  I then figured out it was Berret’s facial hair.  Hahahahah, Berret even shaved this morning but he just has thick facial hair.  It was pretty funny though.

                and now for Hallie to take a nap. 

Tonight we are having company for dinner, we’re so excited.  It is Scott, Erica, Landon, Becky, Joey, and Adrienne.  Hallie is going to love waking up to all the company to entertain.

party animal

A couple of weeks ago we got to celebrate Erica’s birthday and part of her family was even in town.  It was so fun seeing the Peacocks and having them over for dinner with us.  Hallie loved every bit of their visit.  She LOVES attention and knows how to work a crowd.  I put up some pics of Erica and that made Hallie really excited to see her.  She even tried to say Erica when I showed her the pics on the wall “er er er er,” she kind of sounded like a seal though.  Then when Erica got here she kept wanting to be held by her which isn’t typical of Hallie so it just shows how much Hallie loves Erica.  “oh no I need a new song!  hurry please.” “that’s more like it.” “um, it happened again.” patiently waiting for another song “ROCK ON!”

dance party from tanyamg on Vimeo.

Peanut butter brownies were Erica’s request.

Happy Birthday Erica!

For dinner Berret grilled salmon with jerk seasoning from Penzey’s and skewered onions and peppers.  I made sweet rice, guacamole, and fresh salsa.  After dinner all the dishes were done in no time.  Amy does not mess around, I am still amazed when I think about how fast she did all of those dishes.

Sweet Rice

• 1/2-1 tablespoon vegetable oil
• 1/2 of a white onion, chopped (add more or less to your taste)
• 1/2 bunch fresh cilantro
• 1 1/3 cups white rice
• 3 cups chicken broth
• 1/4-1/2 cup white sugar (I do 1/4 cup)
• Put a little oil in bottom of pan (maybe about 1/2-1 tablespoon).
• Saute chopped onion until translucent. Add the chopped cilantro (no big stems) and saute a minute more.
• Add the rice, cooking until it is light brown (being careful not to burn).
• Combine the chicken broth and sugar, letting sugar dissolve. Then stir into rice until combined. Bring to a boil.
• Cover and let cook on low, med-low until rice is done, about 25-30 minutes. Fluff with a fork before serving.

Guacamole

• 3 avocadoes
• teaspoon salt
• half  bunch fresh cilantro
• juice of 1 lime
• 2 roma tomatoes
• 1/2 cup diced onions
• 1 teaspoon minced garlic
• 1 pinch ground cayenne pepper

Salsa

• 4 tomatoes
• 4 green onions
• 1-2 jalapeno slices
• juice of 1 lime
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• cilantro
• let stand at least an hour before serving

Peanut butter Brownies

• 4 eggs
• 10 tablespoon butter
• 1 1/4 cup peanut butter
• 1 2/3 cup sugar
• 1/3 cup honey
• 2 teaspoons vanilla
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 4 teaspoons baking powder
• 2 1/2 cup whole wheat flour
• mix together and put in 2 (9x13) pans-greased
• bake at 325 for 20 mins
• cool and frost with chocolate peanut butter frosting

Chocolate peanut butter frosting

• 6 tablespoons butter
• 1/3 cup cocoa
• 1/2 cup peanut butter
• 3 cups powdered sugar
• 1/2 cup water

4th continued & a recipe

On Saturday the eve of the 4th we had a BBQ.  Berret did the grilling and I took care of the rest of the food like the potato salad.  It was a simple meal but so good,  Berret is getting really awesome at the grill.  As mentioned in the previous post we also had good company, Scott and Erica.

I had never made potato salad before so I went to AllRecipes and found a winner.  It is a bit different than a lot of the typical potato salads I’ve had though.  Funny story, I was telling Scott and Erica that is was my first time making potato salad and that it is a bit different.  Erica then says, “IF I like it I’ll have to get the recipe from you.”  “IF” she liked it, hahaha, I guess if I don’t get asked for the recipe it was terrible.  We all kind of joked about that the rest of the meal.  Anyways they liked it so now I’m going to share the recipe with everyone including the changes I made.

Green Onion Potato Salad

Ingredients

• 2 pounds red potatoes
• 1 tablespoon Kosher salt
• 1 1/4 cups Mayo (I did about 1/3 of this measurement with sour cream)(I also am not picky about measuring this accurately I just estimated)
• 2 tablespoons white wine vinegar
• 1 jalapeno pepper, chopped and seeded
• 2 teaspoons Kosher salt
• 1/4 teaspoon ground black pepper
• 6 green onions (green and pale green part), thinly sliced
• 1/4 cup chopped fresh cilantro or flat leaf parsley (I used cilantro)
• 3 hard boiled eggs chopped

Directions

1. Cover potatoes with water in 4-quart saucepot. Bring to a boil over medium-high heat. Add 1 tablespoon salt. Reduce heat to low and simmer 10 minutes or until potatoes are tender; drain and cool slightly. Slice into 1/4-inch-thick slices. Berret’s mom got me a steamer so I had an easier way of doing this.  I cubed the potatoes raw then put in the steamer.  In another layer on the steamer I put the eggs.  Set the timer for about 18 minutes and they were both done at the same time and I didn’t have to watch it.  Boiling potatoes on the stove is always so messy when they inevitably boil over for me.
2. Combine mayo/sour cream, vinegar, jalapeno peppers, salt and black pepper in large bowl. Stir in remaining ingredients and toss gently. Season, if desired, with additional salt and pepper. Serve chilled or at room temperature.

There you go, enjoy.

happy 4th!

We have had a great weekend so far.  Berret and I got lots done on Saturday yet had a relaxed day.  Scott and Erica came over Saturday evening and we had some awesome food.  Hallie was still pretty grumpy and tired Saturday so we weren’t able to make it to the fireworks (I was pretty bummed about this, she would’ve loved them).  Scott and Erica stayed the night and we all stayed up late just hanging out.  It has been a laid back weekend which has been wonderful.  I’ll have a few more pics from Saturday later but for now I’m going to enjoy my Hallie and Berret.  These pics are all from this morning before church.

friends, fort, and corn on the cob

This was almost a month ago I think.  Our couch had to be repaired and Scott and Erica were nice enough to come and help us get it to the place to be fixed.  It was a good excuse to get together.  Here are the guys playing a shooting game on the Wii and Erica letting Hallie dance with her phone.  

While the couch was gone Berret deciding to build a fort for Hallie.  She loved it but wasn’t feeling the greatest that day and that is why she is fussy in some of the pics.  This was also awhile ago and have had our couch back a couple of weeks now.

This girl is serious about her corn on the cob.  I’m really hoping we get more today through Bountiful Baskets but I kind of doubt it.  It was good stuff.

We are going to see the big firework show tonight and are pretty excited about it.  We are usually out of town for it but have heard it is pretty good.  Scott and Erica are coming over and we are having a BBQ then going to the fireworks.  Hallie is for the most part better I think, I can’t wait to see what she thinks of the fireworks.

Have an awesome weekend everyone and be safe.  Happy 4th of July!

bye

The hard part about living here is we often have to say good-bye to our friends from school as they move on to new and exciting things. Last week we drove down to Rexburg to eat out with with a group of people to say bye to the Jacksons. We are sad to see them go but excited to for them as they move on. Here are some pics of us driving down, dinner, and Hallie asleep on the way back. I’m sad we didn’t get pics of more of the group but their is obviously lots of Hallie and a couple of their cute girl. Hallie is getting hard to take out to restraunts and I guess we were too distracted to take more pics because we were too busy trying to keep her in line.