She did it AGAIN!!

My Connor is my curly-locks boy and I love him to bits!

Zak says the time is almost here for a haircut.

Had to get these beauties documented before the

ax ( or scissors) fell!

Once again--the SUPER FAB

Veronica Reeve

Stepped in to save the day!

I love tese pictures very much--she always captures my

boys just as they are--no boring portraits.

And sometimes Boys have an opinion of how the

photos shoots should go as well!

I love how these turned out anyway...

In fact, I think the curls need to stay a bit longer.

Go ahead and cancel that haircut appointment!

LaKe TaHoE

We had an enjoyable week in Lake Tahoe, California/Nevada. I say both states because this beautiful lake is on the boarder of both! We stayed a few feet (literally) over the California boarder. The Mueller clan was all there! Newlyweds and all. We shared a villa at the Marriott Timberlodge from the generostiy of Don and Kim! Thanks for letting us have a fab family vacation! Lots of activites whenever we are with the Mueller fam, never a dull moment--beach, "potholes", biking, hiking, eating, shopping. Landon could be seen wearing this get-up anytime he was near the water--whether or not he was actually scuba diving or not! He even took a nap on his towel--mask, snorkel, floaties and all! Hee! Hee! Good times, good folks, great memories!

After I have HARRASSED my dear friend Veronica, nearly to death--Here is a sneak peek of my little Brother's wedding that took place in June. PERFECT. She totally caputred the personality of the bride and groom to a tee!! What a great day and what great memories we will have because of the Talented and Beautiful Veronica Reeve!

These "tough" guys are looking pretty handsome in their bright shirts

and ice cream "facial hair!"


You scream, I scream, we ALL scream for Ice Cream!!


Fun Cakes and colorful decor!

The Beautiful Couple!

Love the sense of style these two have--

Veronica you did wonderful!

PS--Check out her blog for MORE:

http://www.veronicareeve.blogspot.com/

Hair Dawg

This is what happens when the "hair guru extraordinaire"

aka Ashley McCleary is on materinty leave.

Needless to say--Ashley we miss you!

Before: The Hair DAWG

During: Two Baldies!

After: The "Summer Buzz Cut"

Nurse Kelly

I have neglected the blog, once again. But I am busy nursing my cute hubby back to health. He had ACL knee surgery last Wednesday and we have definately had some ups and downs. The ups being that he is home ALL the time, been a good patient--never commplains about the nursing staff, and he gets to watch all the world cup soccer he can handle!

The downs have been a trip to the ER for a cathader in the middle of the night, Zak passing out on the bathroom floor, and having ONE more person to take care of 24-7!

All in all we have done pretty good. Just want to say thanks to ALL the big helpers out there. I have called nurse pals in the middle of the night, used the amazig skills of our neighbor/nurse anthestist, dropped off kiddos to parents in the wee hours of the morning, and had meals brought in by kind and wonderful family members! THANK YOU to everyone!

South Ogden 5K Fun Run/Walk Anyone???

Anyone want to join me on this fun run/walk? And yes, I will run AND walk. I run as far as I can then walk, then run. You get it. It is a new route this year it starts at the nature park then up around by my house, back down the trail, up to the other neighborhood and back to the park. Just an FYI--they do give away awesome prizes! One year Libby won a year membership to the Ogden Athletic Club....if only we had stuck around to claim our prizes! It should be a fun night. They are having the Kids K and dinner in the park. After the run they will be showing a movie outside too!

I signed up online at www.southogdencity.com. It costs $10 before the race and $20 the day of. The kids K is $7.

It will be fun! Landon is going to do the Kids K. They get a t-shirt and medal. Last time he thought he was pretty HOT STUFF for running a "marathon"!

Chocolate Chip Cookie Bars

I love cookies and so does my hubby. So I saw this on

http://www.readableeatables.blogspot.com/. I really love her blog! I know that everyone probably has a stand-by cookie bar receipe--but not me. I do like the pudding in this one. Yum! I took a plate of these to my new backyard-across-the-park neighbor, Veronica. (Hope you liked them!) And I also shared with my two BEST brothers, who came to mow my lawn--since my hubby is a cripple for the ENTIRE summer. So now the pan is empty! Guess I'll have to make some more. Thanks Readable Eatables for letting me "steal" your receipe.

1 cup butter, softened
3/4 cup packed light brown sugar
1/4 cup sugar
1/4 cup vanilla instant pudding
1 tsp vanilla
2 eggs
2 1/4 cups flour
1 tsp baking soda
1 pkg. semi-sweet or milk chocolate chips

Heat oven to 375. Mix butter, sugars, pudding mix and vanilla in a large bowl on medium speed until smooth. Beat in eggs. Gradually add flour and baking soda, beating until well blended. Stir in chips. Spread in greased 13 X 9 baking pan. Bake 20 to 25 minutes or until golden brown. Cool in pan, cut into bars.

Note: Does anyone ever think cookie bars need salt? I may add a smidge next time I bake these. But then, maybe not.

Love Birds

Last week I went with my little brother Andy and his darling fiance' Marilyn to do their engagement photo session. They have the TALENTED, FUNNY, FABULOUS and CREATIVE Veronica doing their wedding. I am totally blown away at how well these turned out!

She is the best. No discussion. End of story.

Check out these beauties!

(More on Veronica's Blog)

And check out Veronica at http://www.veronicareeve.com

Spring Time Fun

Its been too long and I have too much to post for one time. So here is a few random photos for a small update. Landon's preschool went on a field trip to the Ogden Nature Center. It was lots of fun. You can check out the website for a list of events!

Connor is ALWAY a trooper and up for ANY adventure!
Our cute preschool group and a few extra siblings

This one is for Zak--The Dew King!

Bet the birds that live here are highly caffinated!

Cheesy Garlic Biscuits

I LOVE carbs. Enough said. I am sure that everyone has already made these. But for some unknown reason, I have yet to try my hand at Bisquick biscuits until this week. In fact, I have made two kinds. The first being a receipe from someone's blog...cannot remember who. Sorry! And the second being my own made up version. The first called for butter, salt, garlic powder, etc, etc. So I did like them---except they seemed extra salty to me. So the second time I just toned it down a bit.

Kelly's Made-up Version of Garlic Cheese Biscuits

1 and 1/4 cup Bisquick Mix

1/2 cup shredded cheese

Dash Salt

Dash Garlic Powder

1/2 cup Water or Milk

Mix all together and bake at 400 degrees for about 10 minutes. You could brush with melted butter after you baked them--but you don't really need to.

So easy! So Delish! Espcially when you need a little bit of carb lovin with your dinner. Seriously--they take about 4 seconds to make!! This receipe made about 8 large biscuits.

Birthday Boy Date Night!

It was my darling hubby's birthday last week! I gave him two tickets to see the Utah Jazz play against the Houston Rockets last Saturday night. So being the nice guy that he is, he invited me to go with him! Yeah for date night. We started off at Pei Wei Asian Diner in Bountiful for edamame, cream cheese and crab wantons and some yummy entrees! Then down to the game, the Jazz played well and actually won the game! We had to have a treat for half-time, and we chose a big waffle cone with cookie dough ice cream. Delish. I had a chance to do one of my favorite past-times--people watching, and lets just say I did scope out some doozies! I bet Zak wishes I'd pay more attention to the game, rather than the fact that Kyle Korver is the ONLY Jazz player to still wear the really tall socks! But, thats' who I am, and he knew it before he married me--always analyzing the people and what they are wearing, not the game! It was great to be out on the town with my hottie boy toy! Thanks to the Erwin's for tending the boys for us. You are super grandparents!!

PS---No photos? I left the camera in the diaper bag! I was foot loose and fancy free!

Sweet and Sour Meatballs

So this week I kindly borrowed my receipe from Colleen Hill a favorite old neighbor that has since moved on to Kentucky! Her receipe blog is lots of fun! (Its listed as Hill Family Faovrites on the right side of my page.) Anywho--I think this is a yummy little dinner--except that I forgot that my hubby doesn't care for cooked pineapple that I added along with green peppers. Oops! So I say this was delightful, Zak however, might say it was more of a disaster!

I also cheated and used up my extra frozen meatballs that I had used for the Superbowl. I bet these home made beauties would be much tastier. Thanks Colleen for the yummy dinner idea!

Ingredients for Meatballs:
1 to 1 1/2 pounds lean ground beef
3/4 C rolled oats (I usually throw in a little extra)
2 eggs, slightly beaten
1/2 C finely chopped onion
1/2 C milk
1 t salt
dash of pepper
1 t Worcestershire sauce

Ingredients for Sweet and Sour Sauce: (Kelly even doubled this sauce--too many meatballs)
1 C brown sugar
1/2 C vinegar
2 t mustard
1/2 C barbecue sauce
2 t Worcestershire sauce

Directions:
For the sauce, combine all the ingredients. Heat over low heat.
Combine all the ingredients for the meatballs. Mix well.
Form into several small meatballs (or about 12 big ones, if you prefer) and place into a 9x13 casserole dish. Cover with the sauce. (Kelly also added a can of chunk pineapple and one chopped green pepper to give color and variety)
Bake at 350 degrees for about 30 minutes.

(Kelly had to cook longer since my meatballs were frozen!)
I like them served over rice. (So does Kelly!)

This melts my heart!!!

Sick of seeing pictures of my chubby, blue eyed Connor? Too Bad. We finally had a sunny day and were able to get re-takes done. Connor was very happy and smiley. The light was pretty good in my house. Veronica brought along her best talent and was able to capture my boy perfectly! Thanks Again Veronica! Who doesn't love baby buddah boobs???
Please feel free to check out Veronica's Website at www.veronicareeve.com

Grumpy Connor + Veronica = Darling Photos!

It doesn't matter if your baby woke up 2 hours too early to have pictures done by Miss Veronica! She still caputres them perfectly! Ok--so we are doing re-takes on Monday. Connor was a bit of a grouch and we only got into one outfit and no nakieness yet! But just you wait until Veronica works her magic again on Monday. Here is a sneek peek of what cute ones she got today!

Thank you to Veronica for having such an amazing talent! Thank you to Libby for being my Landon chaser and camera assistant! Thank you to Popsy Healy for the lovely home and perfect natural lighting!

And Thank you to Connor for being so fun and chubba-licious! He did learn one trick today, how to roll over. (FINALLY!) He got so mad about being on his tummy for photos he actually decided to do something about it.

You can see more of the Fabulous Veronica Reeve at: www.veronicareeve.blogspot.com

PS-- Veronica, is it okay that I "borrowed" these pictures from your website?

Attempting Homemade Flour Tortillas...

Our friend Paul is Mexican (no really, he is!) and his Mom had us over one time and showed me how to make homemade flour tortillas. That was last summer....and I haven't made them on my own yet! Then today I saw a receipe on a FABULOUS food blog:

http://www.readableeatables.blogspot.com/

Zak wants tacos tonight--so I think I will attempt these little babies all on my own. I have a small feeling that they might turn out a "disaster" not a "delight". But I will keep you posted!

Homemade Flour Tortillas--brought to you by Readable Eatables

3 cups flour
3 tsp. baking powder
1/4 tsp. salt
1/4 cup vegetable oil
1 cup hot water

Mix all together in a bowl until a ball of dough forms if it is too sticky add a little more flour if too dry add a little more water. Knead the dough for about 5 minutes and let sit for about 10-20 minutes. Divide the dough into about 2 inch balls. Then just roll out on a floured surface. And then I just use my griddle to make them on, turn the heat up to 450 degrees and cook on each side for about 1 minute. If you are using a regular pan make sure it is a non-stick one otherwise the pan will burn (I have done this oops) ENJOY!"

UPDATE 02-04-2010:
So I did ATTEMPT these tortillas and the first batch was a disaster! BUT I did learn a few things! I need to use the dought right away or it gets too dry. I need to figure out hot to roll these puppies out--they were too thick and not round--more like Texas shaped! I will try this again! (Maybe after another lesson from my Mexican Mama!)

Delights and Disasters

I am ALWAYS looking for something new to try for dinner--something that I can just whip up with ingredients I have on hand. Lately, I have been perusing the web to find such dinner ideas. So, I think I will try to post one a week of something I have tried. I am calling it "Delights and Disasters"--because you just never know how these things will turn out!

I found this receipe on http://www.utahdealdiva.com/

I had all the ingedients on hand---we just did a major food storage shopping trip at the Macey's Case Lot sale! I did stop on my way home and pick up some fresh cilantro! I love cilantro!

Jessica's Chicken Tortilla Chip Casserole

1 can diced tomatoes
about 1 cup diced cooked chicken-(I used 1 can costco chicken)
1 small can green chilies
1 can beans- pinto, kidney, black- whatever you have
1 can cream of chicken soup
1/4 cup sour cream
3/4 cup milk
2 cups crushed tortilla chips
1/2 cup shredded cheese
1/2 tsp Cumin
1/2 tsp taco seasoning
salt to taste

Directions:
Pour tomatoes in casserole dish, add can green chilies and seasonings. Crush tortilla chips and layer over tomato mixture. Mix together chicken, soup, beans, milk and sour cream. Spread over chip layer. Bake in oven at 350 for 30 minutes. Top with cheese, cilantro, avacado etc. Bake for 5-10 more minutes.

This wasn't a DISASTER, but I wouldn't call it delightful either. I probably won't put it in the regular dinner rotation. But I would make it again. Zak liked it well enough to take laftovers for lunch today.

*UPDATE* Zak and I both ate this for lunch the next day--it was better the second day! Yum!

LHM....You know this guy!

So, an update...

Our roller coaster ride is now on an UPHILL climb!

Zak interviewed with Larry H Miller

and has a job working is the new

Dodge/Chrysler/Jeep dealership in Riverdale

(The old Saturn building)

To make a long story short--

LHM wanted the location

all the Saturn employees got to interview

and they kept Zak!!

Yipee!

Things are crazy-he works from 7am to 6pm each day

They have to start a new business from scratch

while still working on old Saturn customers

and getting to know new ones.

BUT--no complaints here.

Just feeling blessed to have a job!

Now--I am BEGGING you

to bring your cars here to be worked on

unless you have someone else you need

to be loyal to!

Zak is working on 100% comission!

We LOVE your busines!

Thanks Larry H Miller!

PS--Zak is DEFINATELY still open to other job opportunities

-not sure he wants to be in the auto industry forever...

Thanks for all the prayers and concern it means the world to me and Zak