10th Anniversary!!

We celebrated our 10th anniversary last week (note to self: next time get married in the summer, it was COLD out!) Gasp! Ten years?? Crazy how time has flown and yet I feel like I have been with Can forever! But really I have been with him my whole adult life. It has been such a sweet life and I am SO glad that I married this man. He is sweet, patient and so so kind. He puts the Lord and his family first and we always feel loved and know that we are most important to him.

Sadly this is the only picture of the night, (translation: the only one where Can wasn't blinking) but it was so nice. We went to the Temple, The Place in the West Village and to see the movie True Grit. It was a nice simple night with lots of reminiscing. But the best part? My present, we are going on a vacay in February! Woot Woot! This girl needs the sun to survive and my man knows this, so we are going some place where I can lay out and eat, the end.

Merry Christmas!

Merry Christmas to all my faithful readers.

I hope that everyone did their shopping earlier than us this year. When we were at Target this morning I asked a girl if they had Yo Yo's, she wasn't sure so she asked her homie with the scanner and he had no idea what she was talking about. "You know a Yo Yo, that classic toy that goes up and down? .....its spelled Y O Y O. You know you put it on your finger?" So she informed me that he would look it up in the system. So he asks me if its the thing with the rubber band on it. No, I said its made of plastic and string. Ohhh ok, yeah we have one in the dollar section which of course they didn't which led us on a wild goose chase through the city until we finally got one approximately 20 minutes ago. Good times. Note to self, next year order all gifts online.

Easy peasy pinto beans

I love to make beans, soups, stews etc when its cold out. These beans are THE easiest meal I make and they last for a long time.

1lb Pinto beans soaked overnight with an acid (lemon juice, whey, apple cider vinegar) if you would like to get lots of gas and bloating from your beans then by all means skip this step. If you would like to eat your beans with NO gas and bloating then DO IT!!

Rinse beans and add them to crock pot

Add 2 medium onions diced and some diced garlic

Throw in some pork or as we say at our house "park" (I use pork sausage from my farmer, its a bit too porky to eat plain but works perfectly in this recipe. You could also use bacon)

Add enough water to cover, about an inch above the beans

Turn on your crock pot and bam you're done! (and when I say bam I'm not copying Emeril, even though he does live across the street from me and we are like BFF's, but its because its just something I say)

The Joys

What a lovely fall day in the city.

T

Isn't it so fun to have a dog?

Hmm...or not so much. But what does make it better is my poor little Cinderella who will pick it up for me :)

Indoor Carnival

An indoor carnival was held at the Park Ave Armory, which itself is an amazing building. But what they did inside was so cool!

Long ago.......

In a beautiful city on a warm day in early fall.....

there was a hostile take down.

And a widdle sweeping puppy....awww!!

And a sweeping boy....hallelujah!

And a dead butterfly....sad :(

And a carousel ride with the previously sleeping but ever timid boy. (He refuses to go on the up and down horses and sticks to the seats, but still manages to have fun)

And a silly face. The End.

Comic-Con

One internet site states that the New York Comic-Con is: " the largest pop culture event on the East Coast. Hosting the latest in comics, graphic novels, anime, manga, video games, toys, etc."

You know what I say it is? A major dork fest. No offense intended. If offense was taken please view the following evidence and I'm sure you will change your tune.

Exhibit A: No caption needed.

Exhibit B: Uhh....ahem. No caption needed.

Exhibit C: Although this is a fine specimen of a male dork, what with the rippling muscles and all, he is still (if you don't count the paint) naked save his tighty...uhh bluey's?

Exhibit D: Well really, where else are you going to put your phone in this outfit?

I rest my case and my opinion stands.

Imagination Playground

This picture just makes me feel warm. Sigh. Well when it was beautiful and sunny in the city once upon a time, we discovered Imagination Playground at the South Street Seaport. It was designed by a dad who wanted the kids to just play and be creative without all of the hovering that moms do (city moms to be exact, they're a bit paranoid. And no I do NOT include myself in this category) It was so much fun and had so much for the kids to do. They of course favored the water area. Definitely check it out next summer.

Thoughts by Levi

One day last week Levi tells me that he wants a yo yo for Christmas.

Today he tells me that he wants a yo yo for his birthday.

"But Levi, I thought you wanted a yo yo for Christmas?"

"I want one for both"

"What will you do with two yo yo's?"

"But Kass, I have three hands, see?"

"Levi, count your hands."

"Oh....see I have two hands!"

Gotta hand it to him, it makes perfect sense. It also demonstrates my incredible teaching skills.

Happy Thanksgiving!

I am so grateful for family, especially my little family of 4 that I have created with the sweetest man. I am especially grateful for a loving Father in Heaven, the Savior Jesus Christ and for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints. I have been so blessed in my life and I have so much to be thankful for!

Have a great Thanksgiving!

Dashboard Concert!

To celebrate buying tickets to their upcoming concert, here is another favorite that was actually my very first favorite song of theirs. Please excuse the Spanish subtitles :)

Freaking Awesomest shoes in the whole world!

And I have them and wear them with pride. I workout, run and just plain walk with them everywhere I go....unless of course I want to look cute, because as cool/comfortable as these are, it is quite impossible to look cute in any way while they are on your feet.

When I grow up.....

Do you think little Leavers has a future as a Monk? He certainly looks cute in the garb.

BRGR

A BRGR opened up near us and we went to try it out. They use grass fed meat so you know I am excited. It was pretty good except the burgers were kinda small and I likes me a big burger.

Gus #1

I came across these pictures yesterday. I might have already posted but here is the first Gus, with the blue collar, and his sister Tallulah. We had to give them away when we moved to NYC but they were so cute!

Just as a refresher, this is Gus II

And just because here's an old one of Miss E who had just turned 3. She was so chubby!!

US Open

Unfortunately I didn't actually get to go to a match but Elyse, her friend Sanya and I went to their kids day thanks to K dawg. (Can ended up getting to go...I was jealous) Bad part of the day, my water bottle got stolen. My nice Klean Kanteen one. Grr.

They had some activities for the kids before the concert started. This lady is awesome.

I mean awesome cuz she helped Elyse spin her plate on a stick. What?

Uhhh.....hmm.....

We had to wait FOR- EVER for the concert to start. It was HOT, but the prospect of seeing the Jonas Bros and Demi Lovato helped them persevere.

Much shrieking ensued when they took the stage.

Summer Installment #6: Guns

Cannon's friend Nick, who he met on his mission, took us to shoot guns after we went to Mt Evans. The only other time I have shot a gun was with Nick about 9 years ago so it was fun to give it another go. It was also really fun to meet Nick's wife Sarah who I knew from high school in UT. We weren't friends at all but when we made the connection a couple of years ago we became blog friends so it was great to finally meet and talk in person. Of course no pictures but she has 2 gorgeous girls.

I must admit that I was a pretty awesome shot with the handgun. The semi or whatever it is that I'm shooting at the top was a bit harder to aim. And Cannon, lets just say that if we need protection from a burglar, I will be the one wielding the gun.

Some of the people that came to the range looked like Rambo with all of their artillery. Which was a bit creepy.

Summer Installment # 5: Scenery

Colorado was beyond gorgeous. Can's friend took us up into the Mountains. We drove up to Mt Evans where the average summer temp is 41!

This is a lake on the way. Breathtaking.

The Mt Goats that live at the top of Mt Evans.

Brr!! Poor Elyse was having her bout with the flu so she was in the car. I just couldn't get over how gorgeous it was there.

Summer Installment #4: Boulder

Most of you probably know that Boulder is great. It is also extremely granola and filled with street performers. Good thing I'm a sucker for them, because they were everywhere.

Didgeridoo guy. He was gettin down. Movin his neck all over the place.

This guy was entertaining but not a good magician.

I got to participate in one of them, I threw the knives...yikes! There were more that we didn't get pictures of and even though I normally love street performing by the end of our trip we were sick of them.

It is always so funny to see the kids react to these guys. They always think they are hilarious no matter how cheesy it gets.

Summer Installment #3: Colorado

So I realize that this is only 3 months late but here is another summer installment.

After UT we went to Boulder, Colorado for a week. It was SO gorgeous!

This is my sister Alicia's backyard.

Mr Micah had his 1st birthday. It was special because I was with them one year ago when she gave birth to him! Because he is on a special diet we put some candles in a pear and he dug in.

Unfortunately we all got a little flu bug for a few days. Levi got it first. We knew he was sick when he just crawled up on the couch and zonked out!

While I was taking my turn being sick Can took the kids to Winter Park....isn't it gorgeous?

Love this picture! Levi is nervous and Elyse is having a blast!

The kids had so much fun getting to know Miss Sage.