Two great recipes!

Here are two EASY, and YUMMY recipes that I recently tried. I am always on the hunt, so I thought I would share for those of you who are also looking for something different:)

Crockpot Sweet N Sour Chicken

4 Chicken Breasts
3/4 C. Water
3/4 C. Ketchup
1/2 C. Sugar
2 T. Worcestershire Sauce
2 T. Vinegar
4 T. Soy Sauce
(I add a can of pineapple chunks and a green pepper cut into chunks)
Combine ingredients and place over chicken. Cook on low for 8 hours or high for 4-5. Serve over rice

Orange Almond Chicken

1 C. dry bread crumbs
1/4 C. almonds, finely chopped
1 tsp. salt
1/8 tsp. white pepper
2 T. fresh chopped parsley
1/4 C. frozen OJ concentrate, thawed
1/4 C. butter, melted
6 Chicken breasts

Combine bread crumbs, almonds, salt, pepper and parsley in shallow dish. Combine OJ and butter in another bowl. Dip breasts into OJ mixture and then into bread crumb mixture. Place in 9X13 dish and bake for 45 min @ 350 degrees

Rainy Day!

Today it actually rained, and was less than 70 degrees! Now, we're feelin like winter! I better enjoy this before I die next winter in Utah! As soon as the girls woke up and saw the rain outside they begged to go out and play. They had so much fun getting all wet. Katelyn had the idea of a water bottle...go figure! Taylor then became obsessed with squirting herself with it and couldn't figure out how to turn it around and spray away from herself! So, I put on a plastic bib so she wouldn't get soaked. I love to watch the girls play outside...that's where they are the most content and are in discovery mode. I could watch them explore nature forever!


I had to get a picture of this very familiar face! Taylor is now in the "I want to do it myself, but can't do it myself, so I throw a fit" stage...it's loads of fun!

The Ring!

I can't believe I forgot to mention that Chad brought down my official ring! I absolutely LOVE it! And we went down to LA and bought his band. Thank you Chad! Love you!

Happy Birthday Chad!

I took Chad back to the airport today...these weekends get shorter and shorter! He came down for his birthday, and we went to Disneyland. This time we went without the kids and had a blast (until I got really sick from too many rides in a row!). They gave Chad a birthday pin and both of us a "just engaged" pin. It was kind of fun walking around having everyone say "Happy Birthday and Congratulations!" Then we had crab legs at one of his favorite restaurants, The Crab Cooker. I was so tired this morning that Chad and my dad took Katelyn to Vasquez for an hour and a half so I could nap with Taylor. Now it's back to normal life until I see him in two weeks. It will be nice when all of this traveling is over and we can all be together for real.

Neep Help

Ok everyone...I need your help!
First of all I am looking for ivory dress shirts for toddlers...and can't find them ANYWHERE! Any ideas?
Also, we are going to Maui on our honeymoon and need advice from those who have been there...where should we stay? Any good restaurants? Where is the best beach on the island? etc
THANKS!

Wedding Details...

For those of you who are interested...this is what I have come up with so far...
The colors are green apple green, chocolate brown and ivory. My dress will be ivory (which I could post a pic, but Chad might see it:)) There are 14 girls-nieces and Katelyn and Taylor! And they will all being wearing chocolate brown dresses with green sashes. Katelyn & Taylor's sashes will be ivory. The reception will be at Heritage Gardens in Sandy...it gorgeous! Byron's wife Hayley and her band will be playing at the reception...I am so excited to have live music!
Oh and I forgot to mention my nephews (thanks Kim!)...the four boys will be wearing ivory dress shirts or chocolate brown sweaters with green ties and chocolate brown pants.

Flowers

This is how I hope the flowers will turn out for the wedding...

Thanks!

Wow! Have some comments! I can't thank all of you enough for your love and support. Thank you for your prayers this past year, and I am so glad that you can share this joy with me! To answer some questions, we are getting married in Salt Lake on April 3rd and we are hoping to live in Salt Lake. It will be hard to leave my family but I feel that it is what I am supposed to do. Now, we are in crazy wedding planning mode and it's hard to plan in another state! I will post the details so far on here...since I know some of you girls are interested!We have had the opportunity to do so many fun things together! Here we are at a Lakers Jazz game!

I never thought this day would come...

It's hard to explain, but after my past I never thought I would ever have another opportunity to find what I was looking for. I just never thought that a happy ending was in the cards for me...but I was wrong. WAY wrong! I have been so blessed this past year, and the biggest blessing of all was finding Chad. Our story is a miracle in itself, and I like it! The reason I am writing this little introduction is because
I am now engaged!
Chad officially proposed (we had already started planning the wedding) the night before New Years Eve. I was completely shocked and have never been so surprised! My ring is being custom made, and I knew it wasn't ready yet so there was no way I was getting it while I was up there. Chad decided to still propose to me to surprise me, and the jeweler let him pick out a ring for me to wear until mine was ready. So here's the story...
We went to his friend's wedding dinner at the downtown Marriott in Salt Lake. It was beautiful, and I was just sitting there thinking that some day that would be me...you know how girls daydream at weddings! Then he said he wanted to leave early because he wanted to look at the temple lights before they turned them off. On the way out, he said "There's this room right here that's really cool that I want to show you." When he opened the door, it was dark except the candle light. There was an aisle made with rose petals and candles in vases that led to a table that had chocolate dipped strawberries, martinellis and roses on it. Over to the side was another table with roses, music and a video camera taping the whole thing. I didn't notice the camera til he pointed it out afterward. It took me about 10 minutes to realize what was going on! He was so nervous and walked me straight to the table, grabbed a white rose that had a ring tied to it and got down on one knee. He proposed and I of course said yes! It was so intimate and romantic. I was still in total shock. Then a song came on, and it hit me, and the flood gates opened. I could not stop crying. There was so much that I wanted to say to Chad but couldn't speak. I just kept saying, "You have no idea". How was this happening to me? How did I get so lucky? After that he walked me outside to a horse and carriage that was waiting for us with hot chocolate and blankets on it. We took a ride around temple square and it was beautiful.
I am so excited and overwhelmed with how blessed I am. It's amazing what can happen in a year and how your life can completely change. Just 2 weeks before meeting Chad I told Marci that this would never happen for me and and that I couldn't imagine how it could ever work. Well, since the day I met Chad it has been completely effortless. I have never been in a relationship that was effortless. He is amazing and I love him for making me want to be a better person everyday.
So, there's my fairy tale ending...and I can't wait for my amazing 2009!

Christmas

I hardly took any pictures of Christmas this year! I am so mad at myself! But here are the few I took. It was a great Christmas this year, and the girls loved their stuff. On Christmas day, all of the family got together in the afternoon and hung out all day. We missed Chad, but the day after Christmas we drove all the way to Utah for a week. That was an adventure! the girls were sick the entire time, and the drive was not fun! I will never make that drive again with children under the age of 3! But it was great to have my parents meet Chad's family and to see the girls play with all of the Chad's nieces and nephew! Plus we we able to see most of my extended family and that was great.

Katelyn's Christmas Preschool presentation was so cute! They sang Rudolph the Red nose Reindeer and other songs

The Christmas set up...

Christmas Eve...in PJ's