Monday, August 13, 2012

In the kitchen: Strawberry Bread

This fabulous recipe is from my friend Jill.
She is SUCH a good cook. And so funny. Always lots of laughs to be had with Jill around!!! I am sure I will probably share some other recipes Jill has shared with me on here!

Strawberry Bread
Jill's Strawberry Bread

3 cups all-purpose flour
1 tsp salt
2 cup sugar
1 tsp cinnamon
1 tsp baking soda
4 eggs, beaten
1 1/4 cup canola oil
2 1/2 cup strawberries, chopped (can use fresh or frozen. If using frozen, thaw and drain beforehand)

Mix flour, salt, sugar, cinnamon, and baking soda in large bowl. Make a well in centre. In a separate bowl, mix eggs canola oil and the strawberries.
Add into well in centre of flour mix. Combine but not overmix. Grease and sugar two loaf pans, coating the inside. Bake at 350 for 1 hr. (I always sprinkle tops of loaves with sugar before baking to make it crunchy)

I made this a couple weeks ago and I didn't have any strawberries, frozen or fresh. But I did have some of these freeze dried strawberries from Thrive.
And they worked really well. I ended up letting them sit in water first and then draining them. And I added more like 3 1/2 cups. But worked out so good! So if you have
Thrive products in your home try some of those in this bread!

Enjoy!!


Sunday, August 12, 2012

Spiritual Sundays

"Faith is like spiritual oxygen. As we allow faith to freely flow within us, it awakens and enlivens our spiritual senses. It breathes life into our very souls. As faith flows, we become sensitively attuned to the whisperings of the Spirit. Our minds are enlightened, our spiritual pulse quickens, our hearts are touched. Faith fuels hope. Our perspective changes; our vision becomes clearer. We begin to look for the best, not the worst, in life and in others. We gain a deeper sense of life's purpose and meaning. Despair gives way to joy."
- David A. Bednar, GC Oct 2006

Friday, August 10, 2012

Foto Friday: Our Year in Photos

ouryearinphotos


Month 9 Week 2: Relationships

Our Year in Photos: Siblings
Our Year in Photos: Siblings
It never fails... at least ONE child is always being silly....
Our Year in Photos: Siblings
Funny enough it's often Eli... I think it's his age??!!
Our Year in Photos: Siblings
Our Year in Photos: Siblings
Our Year in Photos: Siblings

Our Year in Photos: Siblings
Hey look!! They are all looking!!!
Our Year in Photos: Siblings

Tuesday, August 07, 2012

10 on Tuesday

1. Our basement flooded again. Yep. Again. And they haven't even finished fixing it from last time. Obviously they didn't fix the problem either.

2. Did you see that Women's Soccer game with Canada vs the US??? Can't believe they lost it! Terrible calls! So sad!

3. How about that smack down that Murray gave to Federer?

4. Since I was feeling discouraged about the basement mess last night and Regan was on call I sat at the computer and went through some old pictures editing and I found this gem. HAHAHA Doesn't she look happy :)
Lucy on the tramp

5. And since I'm sharing pictures.... here's one from Regan's instagram lately.
iPhoto from Regan

6. All my kids are now sleeping in two rooms. Yep that sucks.

7. Speaking of my kids and their sleeping, last week Lucy was hanging out with a girl older than her and that girl told her a scary story. Something about a guy waiting in a closet and who knows what else and now Lucy is afraid of everything. As in she won't sleep without someone else around. And she spent two nights of hysterical screaming. The first night I was feeling a little bad for her. But after that she was totally out of control and she lost my sympathy. Like she was switching between talking calmly to acting like a loon. It was totally fake. And I couldn't take it.

8. Alden tried water skiing yesterday. I stayed on the shore so I couldn't see. It would make me too nervous.

9. Maybe this time I should go for new carpet?

10. In the spirit of the Olympics, you should check out the beginning of the ping pong games just to see how play music (and the music they play!) and then how they get their rackets out of a special box. Quite the ceremony!

Friday, August 03, 2012

Foto Friday: Our Year in Photos

ouryearinphotos


Month 9 Week 1: Rooms in the House


First off, I have literally done NOTHING to my kids rooms yet. They are on the list to decorate, but they are not yet. I have lots of plans and even the paint colors already picked out but actually GETTING to it is a whole other thing!


Alden and Eli share downstairs. And their rooms is ALWAYS a mess. Alden tries blaming it on Eli, but it was a mess before Eli moved in... so nice try Alden :) (look at those goofs showing off....)
Alden & Eli's Room

Lucy has her own room. And is quite sad about that fact. She keeps asking if when Oliver gets older they can share and have bunk beds. I keep telling her her only chance is if our next baby is a girl.
Lucy's Room

Oliver just got his own room not that long ago when we moved Eli downstairs. I am so excited about the things I have to decorate his room with. Again it's that whole getting it done thing. I need to hire someone to come in and paint and then I could have is room done in like 2 days. I have everything!! For now it's just plain jane! I haven't even taken Eli's pictures out of the room from when it was his!
Oliver's Room

You can see all my other entries for this project here

Thursday, August 02, 2012

Listography: List 83

list 83: favourite flavours of ice cream

1. Chocolate. REally of any sort!
2. Strawberry
3. Raspberry
4. French Vanilla

yum!

Wednesday, August 01, 2012

34 Things about Regan

Since today is Regan's Birthday I thought I'd do a list of 34 things I love about him. (that's how old he turned today!)

1. His kindness.
2. The relationship he has with Lucy. You know how they say that a daughter marries someone like her father.... Her future husband will have a lot to live up in regards to that relationship.
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3. His appetite. I love that he enjoys food as much as I love to cook it.
4. His commitment to healthy living through exercise, etc.
5. His unfailing support in me.
6. How capable he thinks I am. When I was kid I always thought I wanted a husband that "took care" of me. But Regan encourages me to do all that I can on my own and to try everything. And is there supporting me.
7. He is so smart. So very very smart.
8. His humility. One of his best qualities.
9. His absolute devotion to Heavenly Father. He wants to do what is right and is always trying to improve.
Big Smiles
10. He is very generous and willing to share what he has.
11. His lack of worldliness. He could care less about anything that comes from a store.
26 February 2012
12. He is so handsome.
Regan and Me
13. His random dancing.
Apr 13 - Dad's home
14. His easy going nature. One of the very first things I feel in love with about him. After we were married I had done some small annoying thing I thought he'd get upset about and he hadn't even noticed. :)
15. His consistency.
16. He is SUCH A good dad.
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17. His make up stories for the kids. Oh my you should hear the tales he tells to these lucky kids. He can make up a 10 minute make up story and they are hanging on his every word. He really should write kids books.
18. His honesty. Also one of his best qualities.
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19. His willingness to do things that will make me happy. (Like sitting still for random pictures even though he hates having his picture taken)
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20. His musical abilities.
4 March 2012
21. His support of my hobbies.
22. He is very funny.
june19: father's day 2011
23. His iPhone picture taking skills. Seriously he's good at it :)
24. The little jokes we share between the two of us.
25. All his hard work over the years in school and all the work it took. So proud of him.
26. How he provides for our family.
27. That he'll play games with me.
Camera man
28. The way he says "huh" to himself while he reads when he finds something interesting.
29. How FUN he is with the kids.
30. His gospel knowledge. It's amazing. When I read a random scripture to me he can tell me where it is and often even what side of the page it is on.
31. His willingness to serve wherever he is called. Right now he is the primary pianist. And he loves it.
32. How he pays attention to the things I tell him about things he really doesn't care about. Like reading something interesting I learned about food or art or photography stuff.
33. His ability to fall asleep in 3 seconds. Seriously it's amazing and I am sooo jealous of it every night.
34. How much he loves me.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY Regan!!! I love you so much!

Tuesday, July 31, 2012

10 on Tuesday

1. Phew. Didn't post for a few days hey? Well thats how the summer goes :)

2. Got my new patio furniture. And it looks great. And I love it! :)

3. Tried out our fire pit last night for FHE. Did a wiener roast and made s'mores. mmmmmm S'mores!! Regan taught Alden how to build a fire. So he did it all himself.
DSC_7975

4. I'm trying out a new drug to help with the puking. And it is EXPENSIVE!!! Holy cow! So glad we have insurance!

5. Speaking of that patio set.... I made a fun playhouse out of the boxes for the kids. Oliver and Eli and I sat out in that play house for like 2 hours. I read a book and they played. It was great. (Had to share these all cause he looks so cute!)
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6. Got to see my "little" brother and his whole family this week too. Took the chance to snap a few shots of them.
My "little" brother and his family
DSC_786My "little" brother and his family0

7. And Oliver "played" with his newest Davis cousin Joshua.
DSC_7842
8. Check out how Alden is roasting his hotdog.... with his feet. Goof!
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9. This shot just feels like southern Alberta to me.
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10. Caught this photo a week or so ago when we stopped after coming home from a family trip to Lethbridge. We went to Chapters and everybody picked out a couple books, stopped for cupcakes at Crazy cakes and went to IHop for dinner. Fun little family evening.
DSC_6955

Thursday, July 26, 2012

Listography: List 81

List 81: 25 Things I love about summer:

1. Sunshine. Lots and lots of sunshine.
2. Fresh fruit and veggies
Peaches
3. Vacations
4. Family time
5. Birds and Flowers
Burrying Owl
Busy as a Bee
6. Gold Hours of light
Evie
7. Jumbo Mr. Freezes
8. Kids playing outside
1 May 2012
9. Garage and Rummage Sales
10. Flip flops and no socks
11. Sleeping in (sometimes)
12. BBQ'd food
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13. Visits with family
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14. Having friends over
15. Slip and Slides and all kinds of water fun
15 May 2012
16. Naps on the couch in the day
17. Spending time in the mountains
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18. Warm weather
19. Blue skies
20. Farmer's Markets
21. Slurpees and Snowbobs
22. Reunions
23.Smores
Aug 9- mmmm Smores
24. Beautiful Sunsets
june 10: Sunset
25. Smell of freshly cut grass