A first!

A couple of weekends ago Rod, Mike, my mom the three dogs and I jumped in the MDX and headed to Altamont to look over our family reunion destination, which we are planning for Labor Day weekend. Since the drive to Altamont is about 3 hours from Salt Lake, we decided to camp at Moon Lake that night. In all the trips Mike and I have been on, camping has never been one of them so this was a fun adventure for us all. Luckily my parents have duplicates of everything so they took very good care of us and we had everything we could possibly need. We had a great time just relaxing, eating, going on a hike, chatting and spending time in the outdoors with our dogs and our great family. We can’t wait to go again, it was so fun, I just don’t think we will be taking anymore “scenic drives”! :-)

Here are some pics from our first camping trip!

Beautiful Moon Lake

Mekan and I in the tent!On the hikeMy amazing Mom and I

Our little famRod and SallyRod and Mac.

Thanks for the great weekend getaway!

First Attempt...

Mike has never spent much time around babies and definitely not around 1 month olds, so they frighten him just a bit. Aubree and Laura came over for dinner last week and Aubz being the good friend to me that she is, made Mike hold Kyler so he can get used to having one of his own. Kyler was by far the smallest baby he has ever held and he was definitely nervous. I think he needs a bit more practice, but it was a good first attempt! :-) Anyone else have any babies Mike can practice with. He he!

In all honesty though, I can't wait for him to be a daddy because I really think he is going to make an amazing one. I can just tell by the way he is looking at Kyler in this first pic.

Just Love Mah Be and the lil monkey he is holding!

Thanks Hannie!

Thanks to Hannie, Mike and I are able to take advantage of this great promotion Comcast is offering. We originally were unable to get Comcast in our area but Hannie was able to help us out and it is now being installed next week. This is by far the best deal I have ever seen with Comcast and the best part about it is that the price is locked in for 2 YEARS!!! I hate that promotions with cable companies can just “run” out and then you are stuck paying twice what you have been paying unless you A. switch or B. talk to someone who is willing to set you up with a new promo. It’s so annoying to have to remember when to call and then have to change your plan every few months. With this deal, you don’t have to worry about that for a whole 2 years. I am so excited! Anyway, here is the promotion:

Triple Play
$99.00 for 2 years which includes:
-80 Digital cable channels INCLUDING HBO
-Internet with 12Mbps
-Phone with unlimited local and long distance calling.
-On Demand
-Free HD DVR for 6 months. $10.00 a month after that.

If you are thinking of changing services, now is the time. But hurry, offer ends on July 12 (Sunday). Ok, now I sound like a salesperson from Comcast. I promise I am not, I just hate Dish and Quest and have always been really happy with Comcast.

Cancun here we come!

Thanks to the swine flu and the Mexican drug wars, Mike and I will be heading back to Cancun in September along with a huge group of friends including one of my fave couples JD and Britt and two of my favorite bachelors Naanes and D’Eutsch. We were able to find a killer deal on a resort down there (HALF PRICE!) and decided this would be our anniversary gift to one another. I can’t wait to be on the beach with some of my best friends enjoying the sun, sipping on strawberry daiquiris (they have beachside service!!!), eating incredible food and enjoying all that Cancun has to offer! This is shaping up to be one of our best trips yet! I just wish the Albrechts and Bills’ could join us! Are you sure you can’t make it?!? No pressure or anything :-)

If you are in need of a travel agent I highly suggest Shelly with Vacations To Go. She was fabulous, super easy to work with and got us an amazing deal. Her contact info is 800.998.6925 ext. 8615 or spenry@vacationstogo.com. This is Vacations To Go’s website, http://www.resortvacationstogo.com/. Another website I love is www.CheapCaribbean.com

This is where we will be spending 8 relaxing days. I am drooling just looking at it, especially since I know this is going to be my last tropical vacay for quite some time!

http://www.secretsresorts.com/silversands/

September can't come fast enough!!!

Our 4th of July Celebration!

This year Mike and I didn’t attend any barbecues, light any fireworks or watch any parades for the 4th. We did something much better, we MOVED!!!! It’s official, we are in our new home and loving every single second of it. Thanks to my parents, Mike’s parents, Robert, Doni, Jeremy and Coon we had everything out of the old house and into the new one by 5 on Friday and Saturday Mike and I spent the day unpacking. It’s still surreal that this home is ours but we and the dogs couldn’t be happier! Thanks to everyone who helped us move, it wouldn’t have been possible without you!!!

Are you epicurious?!?

My mom introduced me to http://www.epicurious.com/ a while ago but I haven’t had much time or motivation to cook in the past few months. Now that I have a kitchen I enjoy cooking in I think this website is going to be my new best friend. It has a lot of great features such as an online recipe box where you can save recipes and make online notes such as less baking time or more salt so you can remember the next time you make it. It even gives you the option to print out 3x4 or 4x6 recipe cards so you don’t have to get carpal tunnel transferring recipes. I have also found the reviewers tips to be extremely helpful. Since I am far from a great chef or baker, it’s nice to see what modifications others have made in order to improve on the recipes before I even make it.

Hope you all like this site as much as I do and if you know of any other great websites, please share!!!

This one is for you Kristen!

Gourmet Chocolate Chip Cookies

Ingredients
3 cups all-purpose flour
1 1/2 teaspoons baking soda
1 1/2 teaspoons salt
2 sticks (1 cup) unsalted butter, melted and cooled slightly
1 1/2 cups packed light brown sugar
1 cup granulated sugar
3 large eggs
1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla
2 1/2 cups semisweet chocolate chips (16 ounces)

Preparation
Put oven rack in middle position and preheat oven to 375°F. Line 2 large baking sheets with parchment or wax paper.
Whisk together flour, baking soda, and salt in a small bowl.
Beat together butter and sugars in a large bowl with an electric mixer at high speed until pale and fluffy, 2 to 3 minutes. Lightly beat 1 egg with a fork in a small bowl and add 1 3/4 tablespoons of it plus 2 remaining whole eggs to butter mixture, beating with mixer until creamy, about 1 minute. Beat in vanilla. Reduce speed to low and mix in flour mixture until just blended, then stir in chips.
Scoop 1/4 cup batter for each cookie, arranging mounds 3 inches apart, on 2 baking sheets. Flatten mounds into 3-inch rounds using moistened palm of your hand. Form remaining cookies on additional sheets of parchment.
Bake, 1 sheet at a time, until golden, 13 to 15 minutes. Transfer cookies to a rack to cool and continue making cookies in same manner using cooled baking sheets.

I only cook them for 9 minutes since Mike likes them chewy and I use a bit less salt. I hope you like them!