Graduate Scott

This post is a little late, but it had to be done! Scott has officially graduated from BYU! Of course now it's on to something much more difficult, but life is an adventure and I'm excited! In honor of the occasion Scott's parents gave him a new laptop! He is very excited (as I am) and we love it. My parents asked me what Scott would like from them for graduation and I gave them the honest answer: a shredder. They were a little taken aback before remembering how practical Scott is. I went with them to pick it out, and he loves it!

Need a Laugh?

I don't know how to embed the video...I'll figure it out. In the meantime, click on the link below to watch it. You won't be disappointed, and I promise you'll laugh.

Greek Irish Dancers

The Miller Family!

I'm sitting home waiting for the family to arrive. Scott's graduation is tomorrow so everyone will be here tonight! I'm so excited that I didn't know what else to do with myself but blog about my amazing in-laws. If you've met them, you love them.If you haven't met them, you should! I mean seriously, who can't love these people?


From left to right: Dave, Lisa, Landon & Julie (back), Melanie, Janelle, Scott & Rachel.

The Beauty of Breadmakers

Last summer Scott's grandma gave us a bread maker that she no longer needed. I've used it a few times to make dough and it's been good so far. A few days ago I decided to see how well it bakes the bread, and the experience was a good one! All I had to do was put all the ingredients into the bread maker and press a few buttons. An hour later I sat down to enjoy a warm slice of homemade bread! It was absolutely delicious, and I'm proud to say it was wheat bread. I can't bring myself to buy white bread at the store, let alone make it at home.

The finished loaf!

I sliced the bread while it was still warm and took a plate into work to get some opinions.

Easter Sunday

Easter was great! Scott and I got up and headed to church. In Sacrament Meeting Scott played the piano while the primary kids sang a few songs. It was nice to spend some time thinking about the reason we celebrate Easter. After church we spent time at my dad's house with some of my siblings, nieces, and nephews. After eating a light lunch and collecting our Easter Basket (the bunny went to the wrong house!) we drove over to my mom's house for dinner. We had roast for dinner - very yummy - then proceeded with the festivities. My mom broke out about eight packs of Peeps and announced that we were making s'mores! My step-dad Alan melted chocolate to put on the graham crackers, then we roasted our Peeps on skewers over the flame on the stove. Talk about delicious! Here are some photos to enjoy.

The finished product!

A skewered Peep.

Banana Bread!

I just made some banana bread and wanted to boast about how amazing it is. Maybe I think it's so delectable because I made it, but it's okay to be bias sometimes. A while ago I posted about cooking catastrophes and Maranda gave me some tips on banana bread. Tonight I implemented them and things went well.


Thank you Maranda!

If you're interested, here is the recipe:

Ingredients
1/2 cup butter, softened
1 cup white sugar
2 eggs
2-3 over ripe, crushed bananas
2 cups flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
pinch of salt
1/4 cup nuts (I use chocolate chips instead)

Directions
Cream butter and sugar; add eggs and beat well. Add bananas, flour, baking soda, salt, and nuts (and/or chocolate chips). Pour in greased loaf pan (a glass one works best) and bake at 350 degrees for about and hour. Hint: Put a separate bowl of water in the oven while the bread bakes.

Winter

Today I woke up to find snow on the ground. Oh Mother Nature...please just let us keep the warm sunshine! As many people in Utah, I am growing tired of the cold. Winter was great while it lasted (most of the time) but it's time for warm weather! It's time for picnics and kite flying, for boating and sunbathing, for washing your car outside without freezing, for not wearing a jacket when you are outdoors! Here are some fun winter photos. Hopefully winter can leave in peace once I've posted my tribute.



Snowboarding with my awesome friends! Me, Todd, Liz and Amanda.


About to go sledding with Scottie and Liz!

Liz and I, just before sledding.

April Fool's Day

Happy April Fool's Day! In all actuality, April Fool's is one of my least favorite holidays. Some traditions just aren't worth it. I don't like that it is a day dedicated to embarrassing the gullible. I recently learned the origins of this unofficial holiday and thought I would share. Here is a paragraph from www.wikipedia.org:

"The origin of April Fools' Day is obscure. One likely theory is that the modern holiday was first celebrated soon after the adoption of the Gregorian Calendar; the term referred to someone still adhering to the Julian Calendar, which it replaced. In many pre-Christian cultures May Day (May 1) was celebrated as the first day of summer, and signaled the start of the spring planting season. An April Fool was someone who did this prematurely. Another origin is that April 1 was counted the first day of the year in France. When King Charles IX changed that to January 1, some people stayed with April 1. Those who did were called "April Fools" and were taunted by their neighbors."

Another holiday tradition I dislike? Having to wear green on St. Patrick's Day for fear of being pinched. What kind of society do we live in? I did wear green (on my socks where no body could see), and warned all those who mentioned pinching me.

Homemade Lasagna!

Yesterday I spent the evening with my fabulous sister-in-law Julie and we made lasagna! I'm not saying we bought a frozen one and let it sit in the oven - we bought all the ingredients and assembled the dish ourselves! We are slowly but surely becoming the best cooks around. Click here for the recipe.

Julie let me wear this fun apron. I wish I had an apron of my own
 I'll have to look into that.

The one and only: Julie Lisonbee!