I Am Home From Maui!

Yes I am home from Maui! But I am now in Utah. Bryndee is enjoying herself at EFY here at BUY and the girls and I are hanging out at Mom's. Sorry I have not posted about my wonderful trip to Maui. I came home to Abby terribly sick with high fevers (105 at times) and throwing up. Ended up being pneumonia, her right lung was almost full. So between helping her out and taking her to multiple Dr. apts and X-Rays apts and then having to get myself and my 6 girls ready to leave to Utah I didn't take the time to post. Now that I have time I do not have access to my pictures. I sent my camera with Bryndee so she could capture her experience of EFY on film. We will see if that really happens. So when I get home I promise I will post about all the fun that Tara and I had in Maui and the fun the girls and I had in Utah. Until then...

Maui!

Ahhhh Maui! I am finally getting around to posting my pictures of Maui. What a fun time I had. As I said before Tara won a trip through work and she took me as her guest. We stayed at the Weston Resort and it was beautiful! The view out our window was incredible. Tara and I spent most of our time at the beach. We rented 2 lounge chairs and an umbrella and camped out. Most of my week consisted of reading in the sun while getting a little color, playing in the ocean, and shopping. I spent alot of time in the ocean playing around by myself because Tara doesn't like getting in the ocean water (swimming things kinda freak her out). But even though I was by myself it was fun, I did a lot of people watching. I can't believe how many people should not wear a bikini and choose to do so. One day Tara and I booked a snorkeling excursion. The boat ride was so relaxing. While getting to our destination, a pod of spinning dolphins decided to visit us. It was really cool seeing those animals up so close. I have never been snorkeling before, and was kinda nervous. But those nerves went away quickly. Tara didn't like it very much (going back to the thing with being in water with swimming things) and after about 2 minutes she went back on the boat. I LOVED it! I found a couple that was really nice and let me tag along with them in search of a sea turtle. We found it and I swam right next to it. I could have touched it if I wanted to. I am really disapointed that the pictures were not too clear, I guess that is what you get with a cheap disposable camera. The day we left, Tara and I decided to try parasailing. It was amazing. I could not believe how quiet it was up there 600 feet above the ocean. The view was amazing and it was really fun. This trip was so much fun and I am really grateful for Tara taking me. Next time I am going with Ron!

Maui Pictures

The view from my room.

Some of the exotic birds that could be found in the hotel lobby.

The place where I spent most my time. I was very happy...a book, a view, and no one calling me mom!

This is the view I had from my spot on the beach!

This is a Hula Pie from a restaurant on the beach. It is as rich as it looks.

The turtle I swam with on my snorkeling excursion.

Tara and I going up in our parasail.

Being "dipped" in the ocean.

I Forgot To Tell You!

I am going to Maui!!!!

Yes you read that right. I am going to Maui. Not with my husband, but with my wonderful sister, Tara. She won a trip through work and I am her guest. We were suppose to go to Puerto Vallarta, but with the lovely Swine Flu they decided to stay in the USA. I am so excited! 5 wonderful days of beautiful beaches, wonderful food, and good company. And best of all no one will call me MOM while I am there. Thanks Tara! I can't wait for May 12th come!

I Am Back In The Blogging World!

Taralee had taken off with my devise I use for uploading pictures to my computer. Today I got lucky and found my cable that connects my camera to the computer (it has been missing for quite some time). So without further adieu here is what has been happening in my world...

Gourmet Food Club!

I belong to a Gourmet Food Club (I sound like I am confessing something)! It is such a fun thing to be involved with. We are a group of 8 women who really love cooking, really love entertaining, and really love eating good food. The 8 of us are then divided up into groups of 2 making 4 partnerships. When a partnership is created it is there responsibility to come up with a gourmet meal to host for the other 6 ladies. My partner in this group is my good friend Ariane. We had the opportunity to host a dinner on April 30th. We had a really good time this last month thinking, planning, researching, and creating for our dinner. We decided our theme would be "Simple Elegance" with the focus on gerber daises. The colors we choose were white, silver, hot pink, and lime green with a few splashes of bright yellow. Here is what we came up with for the table setting.

Ariane has a wonderful resource in her mom who loves to entertain. After we choose our flowers we took them to her mom and she had these tall skinny vases and all the different sized candles that she let us use. I was so pleased with out table setting it was just as I had imagined it.

These are our name cards, a silver pot with pink gerber daises bunched together. Ariane embossed each name in silver. We didn't know we could be so creative!

Here is the actual place setting. I think it turned out perfect!

Here is our menu:

Appetizers

Mini Cheese Balls

Cucumber Sandwiches

Lime Spirits (The Mormon Way)

Soup

Creme of Asparagus

Salad

Leslie's Salad

Lemon Sorbet

Main course

Feta and Spinach Stuffed Chicken breasts

with Coconut Lime Sauce

Balsamic Roasted Asparagus

Croissant

Dessert

Chocolate Dipped Macaroons

Lemon Meringue Puffed Tart

Strawberry Danish

Here are our appetizers

Here are our desserts. When the flash went off it made the charger look gold instead of silver. I didn't even think about taking a picture of our salad and soup,but I did take a picture of our main dish, but it was very blurry and not worth posting.

Ariane and I took 2 days to prepare the food. So when the actual event came, the evening was so fun and relaxing. I enlisted Bryndee and Torie to come and help serve. Torie totally ate it up. She was loving every minute of it. She would fill our glasses, take away the dirty plates, bring out the new plates with the new dishes on them. Bryndee on the other hand, was much happier in the kitchen helping to prepare the plates and clean the dishes 0ff. These two girls are so different it is amazing they are from the same family. Once again it was a wonderful night and thanks so much Ariane for all the fun memories and to Brett for doing the dishes! What a guy!

Ellie Sure Loves Bryndee!

The other day Bryndee came home from school tired and wiped out, which she does often. She ended up falling asleep on the couch. A little while later I realized I had not heard from Ellie for quite some time. When this happens I tend to panic we never know what Ellie will get into. Anyway when I came into the Family Room this is what I found...

Ellie sound asleep snuggled up right next Bryndee. Bryndee had no idea she was there until I woke both up for dinner. Ellie sure does love Bryndee.

Kymber's Book

Kymber's 3rd grade class wrote books and published them. Kymber is my creative child and you never know what she will come up with. The title of her book is "The Day I Captured Steve Nash!" Go figure? After they were published Mrs. Garcia invited parents in to hear our kids read their book to the class. I was pleasantly surprised with Kymber's book. The plot of her story was she tried to get an autograph from Steve Nash and could never get him to slow down long enough for her to get it so she captured him and took him to her house. Her pictures were right on with the content of the story. Who knows Kymber might become a published author in the future?

Easter 2009

Easter morning we woke up to Ellie and Taralee sick. Tara being so gracious came to my house after her Sacrament meeting and stayed with the 2 sleeping babies and I was able to make it to my meetings with the rest of my family. Rosalie came down to spend the day with us which was a real treat. The kids love it when they get to spend time with Grandma Rosie! We came home from church to a wonderful meal that I prepared before I left and Tara finished up for me. We had Chicken Cordon Bleu, Mashed Potatoes with Chicken Gravy, Salad, Corn, and for dessert Mandarin Orange Cake. It was delicious. Here is a picture of my kids after church. Ellie had just woken up and insisted on being in the picture. Taralee is still asleep at the time the picture was taken. Torie really isn't that much bigger than Porter, she is standing closer to the camera and she has on heels which gives her more height. I actually took my girls shopping this year for their dresses. This is something I have a hard time doing. I love to shop, but I don't enjoy doing it with all the girls. I would rather buy 3 dresses for each one have them pick out their favorite and return the rest. But this year they were persistent on coming with me. It wasn't too bad, we actually came home from the mall still speaking and no one crying. It is funny to see the different personalities in my girls clothes. Each one has a very particular taste and no amount of persuading will change their minds.