Celebrity Homebirth!

I am not a fan of celebs because I think our society idolizes them waay to much. But I do love it when they have homebirths because it helps get the word out.

Latest homebirth is Giselle B.

Chilean sea bass

Yum Yum! Courtesy of Osman (our lovely super) via extremely friendly Dominican guy at the fish store on our block. Gracias.

Rubik's Cube

E got a Rubik's cube for Christmas. I didn't stop until I had it figured out. Which was the next night. (thanks to youtube) It is actually quite simple....if I have my notes :) Poor Can, he thinks I am on my way to being a Rubik's cuber (don't laugh its a real thing) I just gotta shave about 5 minutes off my time and I'm good to go!

Christmas Day

The loot.

They look thrilled don't they?

Hanging out amidst the chaos.

Some moustache bandaids courtesy of Hyrum.

The only thing that L asked for was lollipops. Santa gave him some yummy organic ones and he ate every single one. By noon.

Can was very pleased with his new Harley boots. They are pretty tuff.

I told him to do a cute pose. Sorry to throw you under the bus with this pic Can, but this was the best one that we got.

She got her wish!

Another lemon juice! Sadly this one met its end shortly after this picture was taken.

Since the camera was mostly put away L was able to strip back down just how he likes it. All in all we had a great Xmas and feel so blessed that we have so much.

Oh and our main gift that Cannon planned and surprised us with that morning was a trip to Disney World in a few weeks! We are so excited!!

Testing Testing

We got a new camera...finally! (hence the testing title as these are some test pics.)We got it on the way to Macy's so we could take pictures of the kids with Santa, but now those pictures are on the internal memory. So now I must figure out how to access that. I know I am a slacker, but deal with it and just enjoy the next week or so that will catch you up on the last month of our extraordinarily exciting lives.

2 Bomb soup recipes

These are two of my fave Lentil soup recipes.

Lentil Leek Soup

-3 leeks (clean, rinse, chop)

-4 cloves garlic (chopped)

-1 yellow onion (minced)

Saute in olive oil. Once leeks are soft, add

-8 stalks celery (chopped)

-3 cups carrots (chopped) Cook together till soft.

Drain water from lentils and add to pot. ( To soak Lentils put in a jar, put a splash of acid lemon juice, whey or apple cider vinegar then cover with water and soak overnight. The acid helps break down the phytic acid in the lentil so its easier to digest. You can do this with any and all grains even oats)

-Add two quarts vegetable stock (or more if you want more soupy).

-Add two dry bay leaves

-1 1/2 tsp dry thyme

-1 tsp pepper

-1 tsp ground cumin

-Salt to taste (at least 1 tsp or more)

-Add 1 small can tomato paste

-Simmer till everything is cooked through

(option- freshly squezzed lemon juice and kale.)

I of course add lots of basil cuz I loves it and extra garlic powder. I always add more than the recipe calls for. This tastes so good with a good baguette.

Red Lentil Soup

1 tbs olive oil

1 small onion chopped

1 Tbs fresh ginger ( i use powder cuz I'm lazy)

1 clove garlic chopped

1 pinch fenugreek

1 cup dry red lentil (to soak see above)

1 cup butternut squash peeled, seeded and cubed

1/3 C chopped cilantro

2 cups water ( I use chicken stock b/c I have tons in my freezer. Stock is super duper easy and nutritious to make on your own, skip the store bought kind with lots of yucky stuff in it)

1/2 can coconut milk (7oz)

2 Tbs tomato paste

1 tsp curry powder

1 pinch cayenne ( I skip b/c my kids won't eat it otherwise)

1 pinch nutmeg

salt and pepper

1. Heat the oil in a large pot over medium heat and cook the onion, ginger, garlic and fenugreek until onion is tender

2. Mix lentils, squash and cilantro into the pot. Stir in water or stock, coconut milk, and tomato paste. Season with curry powder, cayenne, nutmeg, salt and pepper. Bring to a boil reduce to low and simmer 30 min or until lentils and squash are tender. (when you soak lentils they will be tender super fast.)

Memories....

I got an old roll of film developed in March 2008, and I am finally getting around to putting them on the computer. These are from the winter/spring of 2005, just a few months before we moved here.

Gus and Tallulah our sweet brother and sister dogs that we adopted for a few months, when we found out we were moving we were so sad to have to leave them behind.

Lets see...this was Can's 28th birthday! wow, I remember thinking how old he was! (sorry can, not the best picture of you but cute one of E)

Dang he looks huge!

Below are some pictures from E's 3rd birthday party.

I was (am) such a sympathetic mom.

And I think its funny that this is taken in January and then 3 months later at Easter I am wearing the same outfit....

She loved to dress up and prance around. This was an old dance costume of Nee Nee's.

Below are some pictures from E's 3rd birthday party.

I was (am) such a sympathetic mom.

And I think its funny that this is taken in January and then 3 months later at Easter I am wearing the same outfit....

She loved to dress up and prance around. This was an old dance costume of Nee Nee's.

We got this cute little frog and E loved to hold him, she was very gentle, which is funny because she is about L's age in this photo and I can't imagine him being gentle, he would probably squish it first chance he got. E had named this little from but we could never understand the name that she picked so Can and I never knew his name.

This was a stray cat that we took in, his name was Boots and about 2 weeks after we gave him to a nice family we found out he had had kittens. Phew!

So cute she was! And so chubby! Its sad because I can barely remember those days and it was only 5 years ago! It feels like a whole different life when I think about when we lived in UT.

A new little graduate is coming to the Anderson's!!!.

In the Spring of 2029 that is :) (betcha a few of you thought I was preggo...hah!) Thats right I will be graduating in approximately 19 years, you just wait and see. I started the BYUI Pathways program. You do online classes for 3 semesters and if you maintain a B average you are a full fledged online student. It is perfect for me and it is cheap. Its a pilot program so its only offered in AZ, ID and NYC. And institute counts as college credit which is pretty sweet. And no it won't take me 19 years, but it might take 10, which is fine with me :)

Although I am excited at the prospect of going back to school, those of you who knew me in my youth know that I feel more like this at the very thought of school. But I am putting on a happy face and going with spring in my step.

Baptism

My little girl got baptized on Sunday! She has been looking forward to it for so long and we were so proud that she made this decision.

I feel so blessed to have the priesthood in my home and that Can is worthy to bless us with it on a regular basis. E invited her whole class and many others as well. 4 of her friends from school came and there were so many people we held the service in the chapel. She felt so so loved, so thank you to all who attended .It was a special day for us, one that I can't believe is already here. Does that make us old?

She has accomplished so much over the past couple of years. She loves to read and is so good at it. She is a great friend and really looks out for those that are lonely or need a friend. She has started learning the piano and has made great strides. She really really tries to choose the right and make good choices. We love you so much E!!

Chocolate (say it with a spanish accent, it sounds better)

I can't believe that I forgot to mention this oh so important detail in my life. A past client sent me a 50 piece dark chocolate box from Jaques Torres, whom I dearly love. These did not last long. Thank you Kate!

(and my floors are NOT old and gross...they have character)

oldie

I was looking in my old email account and found this picture from our first Christmas in the city.

Click here to view these pictures larger