At Home With The Gaskills

The Best Day of My Life

2010-04-19T05:18:00.000-04:00

The other night I was snuggling with Alex in his bed and saying goodnight. He looked at me and said, "Mom, today was the best day of my life." I thought over what we had done: planted some flower seeds in the backyard, played a game of war, made a big fruit salad, watched High School Musical together. We had some tickle wrestling, did some math homework, played on the swings in our backyard, did some chores, ate meals together, read some books, took baths, had family prayer. I sang each of my kids the 3 bedtime songs they choose each night. We didn't really do anything to brag about over the watercooler. But Alex was right; it was a great day.

I was reminded of an article I read in a past issue of the Ensign. BYU professor Shirley Klein wrote: "Everyday events in our home can seem so simple that we overlook their importance - like the children of Israel who were smitten by a plague of snakes. To be healed they had to just look at the brass serpent on a pole, but because it was so simple, many did not do it."

Here's to the simple life!

London 2010

2010-02-24T05:08:00.002-05:00

Some photos from our winter break trip to London.

A highlander in Trafalgar Square

2010-02-24T02:55:00.004-05:00

This hardy Scot was piping in Trafalgar Square just outside the National Gallery. The temperature was mid-30s with an icy breeze blowing up his kilt.

Alex and Grayson are in the foreground. Check out their spontaneous jig...

The Cat

2010-02-24T02:37:00.003-05:00

Ellie getting her face painted by our neighbor on the first full day of this year's trip to London.

Holidays 2009

2010-01-01T05:59:00.004-05:00

Alex has declared 2009 to be the "greatest holiday season ever." We kicked things off with a Thanksgiving Day weekend in Vienna and by Christmas Day we had our house full of the entire Kraus family. Fantastic!

Summer Vacation in Utah and Yellowstone

2009-12-13T16:26:00.000-05:00

Make a Smilebox slideshow

California Summer

2009-12-13T05:10:00.003-05:00

I finally got around to putting together some pictures from our trip to California. It was so great to be with all my family and to see the kids playing together.

Stay tuned for pictures from our trip to Utah...

Make a Smilebox slideshow

So long. Farewell.

2009-10-24T09:57:00.005-04:00

I think it must be pretty difficult to make a successful life in the Foreign Service without at least a mild case of wanderlust. Which, thankfully, I have and it tempers my sadness at leaving with excitement for the adventure ahead.

Usually.

I'm in a weird space right now. One I haven't been in before. I am faced with the reality of leaving my house, my community, my friends... my home... without having an adventure to look forward to. We've researched jobs, sure. We've made our best case for our top picks and have some ideas on where we might be headed. But we don't find out for another week or so, maybe longer. I don't know where I am headed, only that I am leaving people I have come to love. The reality I live is suddenly sharp and devastating. All bitter, no sweet.

Uncharacteristically, I feel grateful to have just the bitter taste in my mouth. I worry sometimes that I say goodbye too easily. I worry that the comparatively small desire I have for roots will never grow bigger than the one I have for wings. But I see now that to all things there is a season. It is my time to fly but I don't go unfettered.

Plum Torte

2009-09-25T12:56:00.005-04:00

I had planned to make this cake for an event tomorrow that was canceled at the last minute. But I had scoured the green market this morning searching for these small sweet plums that are quickly going out of season in Belgrade and, really, I couldn't let them go to waste, could I? It turned out so, so good that I am secretly glad I didn't have to share...

The recipe came from two sites: King Arthur Flour's blog and from the Splendid Table on public radio. The KAF recipe is made with 2 cups of mixed berries instead of harder to find Italian plums (I'm still not sure exactly what kind of plums those are...) and has some other minor changes. See which you like best. This is the version I used:

Plum Torte

1/2 cup butter, softened
3/4 cup sugar
1 cup unbleached flour, sifted
1 teaspoon baking powder
2 eggs
1/4 teaspoon salt
24 halves pitted Italian (prune or purple) plums
1-2 Tablespoons sugar
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon or more, to taste

1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.

2. Cream the butter and the 3/4 cup of sugar. Add the flour, baking powder, eggs, and salt and beat to mix well. Spoon the batter into an ungreased 9- or 10-inch springform pan. Cover the top with the plums, skin sides down. Mix the cinnamon with the remaining 1 or 2 tablespoons of sugar and sprinkle over the top.

3. Bake for 40 to 50 minutes, until a cake tester inserted in the center comes out clean. Remove from the oven and let cool.

4. To serve, reheat at 300 degrees until warm, if desired. Serve plain or with vanilla ice cream.

Venice and Chioggia

2009-09-22T12:47:00.003-04:00

My neighbor and I took our kids to Italy for a week in May. We stayed just south of Venice in an apartment 2 blocks from the beach... yeah, it was as fabulous as it sounds. The beach was a low-key solidly middle-class family place perfect for us. The waves were mild and the water was shallow for 25 feet out. We took the ferry to Venice one day where we ate lobster pasta just off Piazza San Marco and shelled out the big bucks for a "romantic" gondola ride through the city. The kids kept trying to either put their heads in the water or reach out to touch the walls. How is it that I don't have any pictures from that day?! I know I took some!

This bridge view is in Chioggia

Gelato was a big part of our trip. Serena got a hilarious video of Ellie and G doing their "gelato dance" here. Think sugar high.

Buda+pest

2009-09-21T13:56:00.003-04:00

Back-blogging here... We went to Budapest for a long weekend, oh, last springish and had a really great time. The city is beautiful and Jeff found us a gorgeous room right in the heart of it. We like to just take it easy when traveling with the kids and Budapest was perfect for just walking around - beautiful architecture is on every corner. We especially liked the trolley and visit to Buda Castle (which really looks more like a palace, but who am I to argue?).

Hello Stranger

2009-09-05T07:18:00.002-04:00

Wow. Is anyone still out there? I've got some catching up to do... I can hardly believe it has been 4 months since I last posted. We've just got back from an amazing summer holiday and I have tons of photos to share. We are going through the bidding process and I hope that we find out soon where we will be heading when our tour ends next summer.

biting my nails,
Carli

Easter Weekend

2009-04-27T08:27:00.004-04:00

The PTA (including yours truly) put on a great Family Picnic the Saturday before Easter. We had a great turn-out and a wonderful time with all our friends and teachers.

Ellie takes no chances that her egg will drop while navigating the obstacle course
Alex with Principal Tim and Miss Jana

Score!

All the Lower School classes made silly hats for the bonnet parade. Come game time, Alex chose instead to don his b-ball Easter basket.

Sesame Peep

Big Bird isn't really that important, anyway...

Darth Peep

coloring Easter eggs with neighbors in our back yard

Easter Sunday before church

Random

2009-04-27T07:32:00.003-04:00

I've neglected this for so very long... Here are some "catch-up" photos

after church one Sunday

Alex photographs me in my natural habitat

student art show in the school gym

first swim of the season

crazy hair day for school spirit week

Golubac 2009! Camping in Eastern Serbia

2009-04-26T10:11:00.011-04:00

We get the major religious holidays twice here - once on the day we are familiar with in the West, and once on the Eastern Orthodox calendar. This year we planned a camping trip for the Eastern Orthodox Easter holidays.

Our camping trip took us out along the Danube (Western Europe's longest river) to the stretch of it that divides north-eastern Serbia from central-southern Romania. It's a beautiful length of river. Most of the Serbian bank of the Danube there is part of Djerdap National Park, which begins at a point called the Iron Gate, a geographical feature where steep, rocky cliffs narrow the river to just a few hundred yards breadth. Historically this point of the river has been key to commercial and military policy. From the Roman period forward fortifications, chains, and military camps have been built around the area to control trade and the movement of people and armies.

Today, not much is going on there commercially. The EU and the end of the Cold War have made it virtually unthinkable that war or ideology will divide people across the river. What's left is a serene landscape, friendly rural people, and fascinating archeological sites like Golubac fortress (pictured above at the Iron Gate), Viminacium, and Lepinski Vir.

Here's Alex in the excavated part of the mausoleum at Viminacium, the ancient Roman capital of the province of Moesia (modern Serbia). Viminacium was a major Roman city and military camp with a population of around 35,000 people. The mausoleum has some amazing tomb frescoes from the late classical period and, best of all for the kids SKELETONS! About a dozen tombs lie open at the dig and our tour guide took us right down into the dig and face to face with the grisly remains of these former pagan and Christian citizens of the empire. Needless to say the kids thought this was very cool!

The large central tomb in the background is likely the tomb of the Roman Emperor Hostelian, son of the far more powerful Emperor Trajan.

The two cute kids in a section of Golubac fortress. The fortress was built in the 1300s and was held, variously, by Serbs, Turks, and Hungarians over the next 500 years. Portions of it are now underwater following the daming and diversion of the Danube, but most of it is still above ground and good for climbing and pretend battles.

Ellie at our first night's camp. Everywhere we went Serbs gave us colored eggs. Many of them were colored with natural dyes and some had intricate patterns made by masking sections of the shell with bits of cut leaves.

London 2009

2009-04-26T02:43:00.003-04:00

London was, as they say, brilliant. We stayed eight days and could have stayed a million more. Locals were helpful and indulgent of our energetic kids, the weather was cold, but we had rain only one morning, the sights were amazing and, of course, the company was excellent. What was our favorite? The Tower of London. Or the Natural History Museum. Or the National Gallery. Or the British Museum. Or Buckingham Palace. Or Stonehenge. Or Hamley's. You get the idea.

Jeff did a fabulous job driving from the wrong side of the car on the wrong side of the street. Our screams, squeals, and squeaks every time we looked out the windows couldn't have helped.

We could see Stonehenge from the road as we drove in. It is utterly amazing.

A highlight for Alex and Ellie was the Natural History Museum.

Ellie in front of Buckingham Palace (she did her own hair). After the changing of the guard, the band set up chairs to play for the crowd. I've never laughed so hard as I did when Her Majesty's band started to play "La Vida Loca" - I just didn't expect it!

Tagged Twice

2009-01-25T19:56:00.005-05:00

My sis-in-law Azure and my pal Shanna both tagged me with this, um, 2 (or 3?!) months ago and, well, better late than never. Right?

8 Favorite TV Shows
Bones
So You Think You Can Dance
Project Runway
Everyday Italian
Masterpiece
Fetch! with Ruff Ruffman
Dr Quinn (secret's out)
the Closer

8 Favorite Restaurants
Matt's El Rancho
Aubry's soul food
Z Pizza
Bangkok Thai
PF Chang's
Smith & Wollensky
Cafe Rio
Red Robin

8 Things that Happened Yesterday
- remembered the mirror for my Sharing Time activity just as we pulled out of the driveway to head to church
- reminded myself to practice the piano so we don't have to sing acapella during sacrament meeting any more (our branch is tone deaf, bless their hearts)
- had our awesome missionaries over for dinner and conversation
- confiscated the scissors from Ellie, but not before she lopped off her Gettysburg doll's hair
- cleaned up poopy messes from both my kids
- listened to Jeff tell me stories from President Faust's biography
- played sorry! with Alex and Jeff until our cat ran across the board and scattered all the pieces
- felt really grateful for Sundays

8 Things I'm Looking Forward To
- being with my parents and brother for 8 days
- seeing Wicked in London next month
- homemade curry at Sangeeta's on Wednesday
- the end of the rain so we can play at the park
- branch cowboy party
- sorry! rematch with alex and ellie this afternoon
- a big pile of books from my family back home
- a warm slice of homemade bread for lunch

8 Things on My Wish List
- two children who stay asleep all night on the same night
- a self-cleaning car
- the ability to pause time
- a fabulous new bag
I'd better not push it by asking for more.

8 Things I Love About Fall
I don't think it's fall anymore, but...
- the smell of burning leaves
- crisp air
- apples, pumpkins, and warm spices
- sweaters and scarves
- plaid skirts and boots
- my birthday!
- my anniversary!
- turning leaves

What makes me happy in Serbia...

2009-01-18T08:54:00.003-05:00

Church Bells. I always sleep with the windows open and every Sunday morning I wake up to the sound of our neighborhood church's bells singing.
Imported German yogurt. Did someone say joghurt auf erlesnen Heidelbeeren?
Kosutnjak. Our "backyard" is a huge forested park perfect for picnics, long walks, sledding, and clean crisp air.
Green Markets. cheap fruits and vegetables grown locally and sold in season just down the street.
Expat Community. It's amazingly scary to move to a far away place - no friends, no family. Day one we knew no one. By day two we were embraced by a whole community of people.
The language. It's totally crazy and that makes it pretty fun to learn.
Primary. There are only 3 kids in our Primary and 2 of them are mine! It's so intimate and so sweet. It's a challenge for me and the Primary President to fill 2 hours, but when I was set apart I was told that I would be taught simple faith by the children I serve. I'm seeing those lessons every Sunday.
I would be lying if I didn't mention Sanja. She's my housekeeper and she's amazing!

What do you love about the place you're living now?

Snow Day

2009-01-17T04:21:00.008-05:00

Sledding in our neighbor's backyard...
(it's steeper and bigger than it looks!)

Ellie spent most of her afternoon throwing snow on the slide and zipping down

Rosy cheeked and breathless, we finished out the afternoon with hot cocoa and marshmallows

Christmas

2008-12-30T18:02:00.003-05:00

I love Christmas. I was spoon fed from a tender age the truth that Christmas is a time of incomparable joy and fun. My clearest childhood memories are of decorating our tree, piling in the car for a Christmas light tour of nearby neighborhoods, learning the subtle art of ribbon tying, eating at Ward dinners, listening to Johnny Mathis and the Carpenters, the debilitating excitement I felt on Christmas Eve and, of course, reading and receiving for myself the greatest gift ever given - that of a Savior born in Bethlehem.

This Christmas lived up to my every hope. I loved so much having my wonderful brother come and celebrate with us, loved seeing my children play with him and look at him as an uncle worthy of hero worship (he is!). I loved seeing my children play out the nativity, reading scriptures and singing songs of hope and peace (I was especially proud to accompany us on the piano). When I was 19 and in St Petersburg, I was walking home with some friends late one night and talking about life the way only 19 year olds can. It started to snow and I felt overwhelmingly that I should receive the beauty and peace of that falling snow as a gift from the Lord - to remind me that He knows me and is with me. It started snowing for me on Christmas Day. How grateful I am for simple gifts that touch and change the very heart of me. Merry Christmas!

Our beautiful Ellie ballerina danced around the house all morning

Santa leaves us a note after narrowly escaping the "trap" we set to catch him. We finally decided on a cargo net with a dental floss trigger attached to the ceiling after discussing several plans including melted popsicles, a yarn web and, my personal favorite, the one where Alex would jump out onto Santa's back for a take down. He was so quick he managed to evade us AND snarf down a plate of cookies!

Adventure awaits

our traditional Christmas morning breakfast
Jeff and Kev burn the midnight oil to put together Ellie's kitchen. Kevin is now invited to our house every Christmas Eve...

the best boys

Carli's favorite Christmas present - it started snowing at about 10:30 Christmas Day!

cutie Newtie Jeff helps me make Christmas breakfast

Uncle Kevy

2008-12-29T05:57:00.000-05:00

We had so much fun having Uncle Kevy here. He is an awesome Uncle and as a brother he's not too bad either. Love you Kev and can't wait to see you in February!

traditional clothing at the Ethnographic Museum

A & E love museums

Kalemegdan and the confluence of the Sava and Danube rivers

Walking street in Belgrade city center

Christmas Eve PJs

2008-12-24T22:35:00.002-05:00

Like so many, our Christmas Eve traditions include opening one gift. And that one gift is always pajamas!

Cookie Countdown

2008-12-20T03:33:00.006-05:00

We've been staying at home the past two weeks while Alex recuperates from pneumonia. Luckily, there are lots of fun things to do inside this time of year like making gingerbread cookies!

Playgroup Christmas Party

2008-12-18T05:57:00.005-05:00

Our playgroup had a fabulous Christmas party this year (thanks to a dedicated organizer). The kids wore their holiday or dress up clothes and made cookies and crafts. Our playgroup is a shoot off of the International Women's group here and each mom brought a traditional holiday dish from her country (pierogi and linzer torte!) and we sang Christmas carols from different countries as well. When Torie opened up the singing by asking if any of the moms had a traditional song they'd like to share, who do you think volunteered first? Ellie! She piped right up and said, "Let's sing Fa La La La La!" And then she just started singing and we all scrambled to catch up and join in! She loved making cookies with her two best friends the Knight and the Ballerina Princess.

Embassy Christmas Party

2008-12-13T17:33:00.005-05:00

Today was the Embassy Christmas Party at the DCM's residence. Alex has been really sick and wasn't well enough to go, so it was just daddy and Ellie having some quality time together with about thirty other kids and parents.

Santa arrived with Marine escorts in a horse-drawn carriage - Ellie was more excited about the horses than she was about Santa so we spent some time petting the horses and looking at their harness and gear. But she jumped right into the social aspect of the event, picking her way up to a spot in the rush around Santa's chair. She was thrilled with her present from Santa as you can see from the clip above.

For those of you who are not initiated into the world of Ellie speak, any male who is involved with a princess in any capacity is a "Derek" (that originates with Derek, the cobbler and love interest of Geniveve, in "Barbie and the 12 Dancing Princesses). Derek is currently dancing with all four of Ellie's Barbies (lucky dog he is!).

Halloween

2008-11-26T06:35:00.002-05:00

Yes. We did celebrate Halloween over here!
Hey, I'm only a month late...
We've been pretty lucky in our overseas assignments as far as Halloween is concerned - Monterrey celebrates Halloween just as we do in the States; we went trick-or-treating in our neighborhood and had school parties, etc. The international school here also had a fun Halloween Festival (costume parade, crafts, trick-or-treating) for families on Friday night that the kids really loved. Also, so many Americans live in my neighborhood that we had trick-or-treating around the circle and a party in the cul-de-sac on (much debated) Thursday. It's fun to be a kid! The kids loved the costumes their awesome Aunt Amy made for them :)

Ellie and Jeff with Sanja and Lara in the costume parade

defender of the faith

I've already found my hero

Proud of the Halloween centerpiece we made

Ellie and her "cool" pal Harry

Ummm... Okay, I'll admit it. We carved this AFTER Halloween!

Becoming One

2008-11-21T07:36:00.002-05:00

Something we do each week at fhe is choose a scripture that is either used during our lesson or is closely tied to the lesson's theme to memorize as a family during the rest of the week. We print the scripture out and post it up by the breakfast table and we say it together often. We try to use it in teaching moments during the week as well. It's a nice way for us to make connections between the scriptures we read and the hows and whys of the way we live and choices we make everyday. A couple of weeks ago our scripture was from Doctrine and Covenants 38:27 "...I say unto you, be one; and if ye are not one ye are not mine." from a lesson on family unity. So... imagine my delight when I heard Ellie playing with her dolls while I was working on dinner and she said, "Renember (I didn't mis-spell that's how she says it). If ye are not one, ye are NOT mine."

I can write my own name!

2008-11-17T08:36:00.005-05:00

3 is one of my favorite ages (followed closely by 5, 4, 2, and 1). I wish you could come and spend the day in our house. You'd see Ellie jump out of bed giggling while she runs to find her brother. You'd get "the biggest hug ever" and I'd enlist your help in making the 2 or 3 breakfasts Ellie usually eats. Yogurt or milk followed by a break and then oats or toast then another break and then sometimes eggs or a waffle with peanut butter. You'd see the piles of unders in her room because she likes to change her panties every time she goes to the bathroom. You'd hear her, um, enthusiastic singing. You'd go through piles and piles of books, some that you would read, but many that Ellie would read to you. You'd watch her tirelessly chase birds at the park and try to pet and hold every stray dog and cat she met. You'd hear her dreams of having a pony of her own to ride "all by myself." You'd wash markers off her hands; pull her wet dolls and animals out of bathing in the sink, again; wait patiently while she decides what shoes to wear. You would be so proud of her choosing to be brave at school when she is scared of mommy leaving. You'd hear her tell you that she is not a child of God, she is a daughter of God. She fills me up with happiness...

Conquering Leaf Mountain

2008-11-03T03:13:00.002-05:00

Our beautiful trees home deliver one of fall's best gifts - LEAVES!!


Leaf Mountain

Giddy Up!

2008-10-26T08:17:00.003-04:00

Ellie cried when at last we had to leave the ponies for home
check out the pink cowboy boots!

Once

2008-10-17T16:41:00.004-04:00

My fabulous neighbor's sweet dad records all the movies that come on his movie channel and sends the dvd's to her. She's like the local Hollywood Video around here - even better because she'll show up on my door step and say, "You've got to see this..." She introduced me to the movie Arranged, about an orthodox Jewish woman and a muslim woman who become friends and find common ground, which you must see. (It's better than I make it sound!) Anyway. She brought over a movie called Once that I can't recommend because of the language, but the music, that I found on iTunes, was fantastic. I wish you could see the movie because watching Glen Hansard and Marketa Irglova perfrom together is just so... real. powerful. He is really raw in places (esp. in Say It to Me Now), normally not my thing, but is tempered so beautifully by Marketa's voice. I've updated my playlist thing, so follow this link and give it a listen. I've also found Hold You in My Arms by Ray LaMontagne, which I can not see how anyone would not just love, and a couple more songs I dig. (Thanks in part to Ruth)

Don't bother reading the blurb, just click and scroll down for the music...
Carli's playlist

Romania

2008-10-14T15:24:00.005-04:00

Peles Castle in Sinaia, Romania
pathway up to Peles Castle

view of Bran Castle from interior courtyard

armor display at Peles Castle

I've seen the Carpathian Mountains before. Summer of 1998, while I served as a missionary in Chernivtsi, Ukraine. I have an amazingly funny picture of Elder Lubeck and Elder Colton asleep in the back of the van on the way home. I remember having to drink fresh, as in still warm, milk and gagging and sneaking my cup to Elder Colton to finish so I wouldn't offend the very sweet country family that invited us to visit. Somehow, the only picture I have of my first companion in Ukraine is on this trip and it is of her back and the beautiful and mysterious foothills she is walking toward. Even in summer these mountains were covered in thick mist. I did not think to ever see them again. We went to Romania to visit Peles Caslte in Sinaia and Bran Castle in Bran, both cities a bit south of Brasov (if you want to know). Both were amazing and worth the 26 hour round trip drive (yikes!), but what really moved me were those mountains. The leaves were changing, but not the showy and bright colors we've known in the states. They were burgundy and mustard yellow and deep deep green half concealed by fog. I don't think man was meant to live in concrete. I don't think we can ever truly be peaceful when we are so far away from the earth created to sustain and restore us. I think we were meant to breath the fresh air and hear the crunch of leaves as we walk and live by the sun and the seasons.

Peles Castle had an amazing little museum of armor. Swords, shields, body armor. A chain mail shirt from the 16th century. I took too many pictures to post here, but you can see our picasa web album by clicking on the album below. You'll see Alex with his pretend bow and arrow and Ellie as the princess warrior as well as all our photos of both castles. Visiting Bran Castle was fantastic. Originally we thought to visit Bran because it's Dracula's Castle (halloween and all that), but Bran Castle wasn't built by or for Vlad Tepes (the real count that inspired Stoker's Count Dracula). He in fact never lived there. Bran Castle was built in 1382 by Saxons. 1382! It looks as if it is built on a mountain of rock. Creaky floors, secret stairways, dark and short passages - creepy enough without the vampires...

Transylvanian Halloween

Two little monkeys swinging from the trees...

2008-09-30T07:21:00.003-04:00

All of our windows have these crazy bars perfect for climbing. If death is in mind.

Yes. I let my daughter play outside in her unders. Nac is never very far from my heart.

The original

Raisin Walnut Bread

2008-09-26T02:03:00.005-04:00

Ellie and I had a great time making this bread (in part because we ground extra flour to play with), but it turned out... muy disappointing. The crust was soft and the bread bland. So I was pretty surprised at how delicious it was this morning when I toasted some for breakfast. I don't like very sweet things at breakfast so this nutty wheaty bread was perfect. It gets most of its sweetness from the raisins - the dough itself has only one teaspoon of sugar.

Raisin Walnut Bread
modified from deliaonline.com
I changed a couple of things from the original recipe, like toasting the walnuts and soaking the raisins and using less raisins, and substituting butter for the walnut oil because I don't have any walnut oil...

4 oz / 110 g walnuts
2 oz / 50 g raisins
2 oz / 50 g sultanas or golden raisins
5 oz / 150 g whole wheat flour (I used about 1 cup plus 2 T)
5 oz / 150 g all-purpose flour (I used about 1 1/4 cups)
1 teaspoon yeast
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon brown sugar
1 teaspoon walnut oil
7 oz / 200 ml water

Coarsely chop walnuts and toast in an 350 degree oven until fragrant, about 5 minutes. Set aside.
In a small sauce pan, cover raisins with apple juice and heat until simmering. Remove from heat, soak until plump, and drain. Set aside.
In a stand mixer combine the flours, yeast and salt. Set aside. (if you don't use saf yeast you might want to proof your yeast like you do with other recipes?)
Heat water until it's hot-ish to the touch and stir in sugar and oil. Pour water mixture into flour mixture and combine. Knead with dough hook 5 minutes on medium high speed. Let rest for 10 minutes.
Pat dough out into a rough 12 inch square and sprinkle with walnuts and raisins. Press into dough. Roll up jelly-roll style and knead lightly to incorporate nuts and fruit. (I just folded the roll in half and pressed and then folded it again and pressed). Work into a rough circle or oblong shape and place on a cookie sheet. Cover with plastic wrap or a large buttered bowl and allow to rise until double. (Yes, you only let it rise once - no punching down.) This will take a while to rise.
Bake at 400 degrees for about 35 to 40 minutes. Then wait until breakfast for great toast or cheese toast!

I was lucky that this recipe had both metric and US measurements. When I'm not so lucky I use this great page from a guy who cracks me up: http://www.gumbopages.com/metric.html

Doing my bit to keep the environment clean...

2008-09-22T12:52:00.003-04:00

This is what remained in our washing machine after I had removed all the clothes. Maybe I should start checking the jeans pockets of a certain treasure collecting boy before doing the wash.

First Day of PreSchool

2008-09-14T15:23:00.006-04:00

Ellie in front of her nursery school's garden.

She is so happy to be a big girl. "I am growing more everyday," she chirps. She is growing and I am so proud to know this creative and passionate soul.

1st Day of School

2008-08-25T10:32:00.010-04:00

Several months ago we were at an ice cream shop with friends in McLean that has a big tree out front. Alex loves to climb and this tree was perfect for a boy to get up high. And he did. About 6 feet off the ground and then he fell. Out. To the ground. I wanted to run to him and take him home and tell him to never climb trees again. Against my every instinct I walked calmly instead, I made sure he wasn't really hurt, I held him, and then forced words out of my mouth that I didn't want to say: Hey buddy! Why don't you try again to climb up high in that tree.
Because I know that over protection is not really love. It's selfish and fear-driven. It says, "You can't do it. You can't handle this. You aren't strong enough to deal with this." It stunts growth and confidence. I know this. And yet, as I watched my son climb onto the bus that would drive him away from me and to an unknown world, I wanted to shout: Home school is still an option! You don't have to go!
But I didn't. Instead I smiled (it was sincere) and laughed as he skipped onto the bus and bounced in his seat, all youthful eagerness and fearlessness. I felt proud for raising a boy who holds his face to the sun, ready to leave my nest for a bright horizon. I felt grateful, so humbly grateful, for my testimony of the Gospel of Jesus Christ and the purpose of this life, giving me the strength to give wings where my heart, selfish thing, only wants roots.
And then I ruined all that by promptly going up to my room, closing the door, and sobbing into my pillow for a brief bout of self-indulgence well earned. I really missed you today, kid.

night before the big day...

We held a "lighting ceremony" for Alex Sunday night. We had 8 candles representing major steps in his life (school, baptism, etc to a mission) and let him light the first one. We talked about what he would learn and what we expect from him and how we love him. We talked about the path he would choose as he grew to be a man and that the Gospel and his family light the right way. Then Jeff gave him a father's blessing.
It was a great start to a new family tradition.

Old Fashioned Chocolate Cake with Stirred Ganache Frosting on my Grandma Boots' china
(Alex chose these dishes because of the "gold" that all pirates covet)
this was soooo good. email me if you want the recipe!

Waiting for the bus

Loves his new backpack

Hey. Hey. Check my ride.

Mom snaps pictures until the bus carrying her heart is gone...

Welcome to Serbia

2008-08-24T12:07:00.002-04:00

So, what have we been doing in Serbia for the past few weeks with no car, no computer, no toys, and no ability to communicate?
Getting creative...

Filling up our rain boots with water

Checking out the huge farmer's market
We take the bus downtown to get here , which is a whole different kind of adventure with kids!

"Hey! Let's take all our clothes out of the closet and throw them down the stairs!"Ketchup with a side of corn dog

Early morning wake-up call for our neighbors

Socks tucked into the refrigerator door handle. What does that mean?

Faced with a shortage of books, Ellie turns to unconventional reads and discovers a new favorite. I didn't know For the Strength of Youth was the fictional account of friends who go to balls and get time outs.

Tag. I'm it.

2008-08-23T21:05:00.000-04:00

My friend TSP tagged me! This is a first for me :)

The rules: List 3 joys, 3 fears, 3 goals, 3 current obsessions/collections, 3 facts about yourself. Tag 5 people at the end of your post by leaving their names. Let them know they are tagged by leaving a comment on their blog!

Joys:

Being in my thirties. I LOVE growing up.
Being a mother. It is life changing.
Knowing that I have a Savior, who knows me and loves me, through whom hope springs eternal.

Fears:

That something is really wrong with me because the easiest part of this exercise was listing my obsessions AND it required restraint to list only 3...
That some (all!) of my weaknesses and shortcomings and trials may turn out to be lifelong struggles instead of hurdles that are overcome in mortality. Come on!
Monkeys. Willy Wonka. Alice in Wonderland. Soap left on dishes.

Goals:

Brush up on my Russian and learn German. (Hello, Vienna)
Get in shape for a trip to Greece next summer
Develop more patience and compassion

Obsessions/Collections:

Children's clothes. For some reason, I constantly worry about having enough to meet any weather or activity clothing need. Rainboots? Check. For this year and next. Church clothes? Check. For the next 3 years. Camping? Check. School? Check. Freak snow in August? Check.
Balancing my checkbook. Down to the penny everyday.
Reading. I can't go a day without reading. I'll buy books with my last dollar and spend hours in a book store. I carry books in my purse and have one in my car door. I walk around with paperbacks tucked under my arm while I work in the house (as I firmly believe in bursts of work followed by breaks). And, frankly, it's mostly about love. Occassionally I read autobiographies or American history or psychology or a classic or contemporary novel or non-fiction that Has Something To Say, but when push comes to shove... Ahhhhh. Darcy. Or vampires. Do NOT tell me ANYTHING about Breaking Dawn. Stupid Serbian mail. I won't get it for weeks!

Facts:

I take a shower the same way every time. Every bit gets washed in order.
I love country music and cheesy movies.
I love collecting recipes and always hit my friends up for their good recipes (hint, hint), but not because I like cooking. I love to bake, but actually don't like cooking at all. What I love is eating good food!

I tag: Trish, Shanna, Michele (in an effort to get her to remember her blog *wink*), Azure, and Charish

3 Generations - 5 Kinds of Fish

2008-07-02T11:41:00.003-04:00

Alex and I have been really happy to have uncle Steve and Grandpa Gaskill here with us. We've gone on two fishing trips so far and you can see the results! We've caught a large-mouth bass, a yellow perch, a black crappie, a bluegill, and a channel catfish!

I'm personally so grateful and feel so blessed that Carli has motivated and encouraged me to take Alex fishing. He loves it and it's so much fun for me to see him have fun. I'm the luckiest husband and dad in the world!

Then Comes Marriage...

2008-06-21T18:35:00.002-04:00

Alex: I'm going to grow up and marry a girl.
Me: I think she will be a very special girl.
Ellie: Is it going to be me? Is Alex going to marry me?
Me: Do you want to grow up and marry Alex?
Ellie: Yes. I want him to be my Derek. (the Derek from 12 Dancing Princesses)

Fishing at River Bend

2008-06-21T13:37:00.006-04:00

Alex, Ellie and I went out to River Bend Park this morning for a little fishing. We had a lot of fun eating our very healthy McDonald's breakfasts, throwing sand at each other, throwing rocks at everything, throwing up (Ellie got a little car sick), and, intermittently, fishing. Alex landed this monster bluegill which measured out at just over six inches and weighed a few ounces. But, as anyone who takes kids fishing knows, the size of the fish is almost never proportional to the excitement of catching it (that is to say Alex had an absolute blast hauling in this pip-squeak).

Ellie hooked one - about the same size as Alex's - that got away just at the water's edge. As it turned out, it may have been a good thing she didn't land it, because as I was putting Alex's fish on the stringer Ellie started chastising me seriously. With her most angry-hurt face she yelled at me, "Daddy! Leave him alone! He needs to go back to his family." I tried to explain that fish don't really have families, but with the unshakable confidence of a toddler, she was not dissuaded and snapped back, "Yes, he does have a family. He needs them to take care of him and make his breakfast." (big pout!).

Alex had a slightly different, but no less familial set of plans for this fish. Alex excitedly suggested that if we could get the fish home alive he could be "Larryboy's dad." Larryboy, for those of you who don't know, is Alex's pet goldfish who lives in a 2 gallon aquarium. Alex's catch was small, but probably not too small to eat Larryboy whole, so that idea was a non-starter.

Lost

2008-06-21T00:05:00.006-04:00

I never like to listen to the music people post on their blogs. There's something startling about looking at the sweet pictures of family life while listening to JT bring sexy back. The visual evokes one emotion, the music another and my brain can't decide what to do about the incongruity. I have, however, learned that one should never say never...

I am in love with the new Coldplay album, especially Lost?. I'm sure there is a way for me to post the complete album here since I own it, but I don't know how and I couldn't find it online except for Viva la Vida (the song we've all heard). So, here it is along with a couple other songs I've been hitting repeat on obsessively. One I really wanted to post, but couldn't find is Hold You in My Arms on Ray LaMontange's Trouble. Another is It Don't Matter to the Sun by Rosie Thomas. Okay, so Ricky Martin. I saw this video while viviendo en Mexico and I really loved Mari, the woman who sings with him. It's embarrassing, but honestly, I love this song.

If you know me, you know that I love country music, but if I were to put all my favorite country songs on this playlist it would be monstrous. I'll save them for later :)

*Update: This widget updates automatically when I add songs from the playlist website... So you can now hear Hold You in My Arms. You won't be sorry!

Bread 101

2008-06-17T11:05:00.010-04:00

A couple of weeks ago I decided in earnest to start making all my family's bread. I dry packed wheat at the cannery, bought a wheat grinder, and sent out an sos to my ward listserve for wheat bread recipes. I decided to try this recipe from Rebecca first because, unlike many recipes, it makes just one loaf of bread (my stand mixer is in storage so I'm kneading by hand, baby) and also because she gave me a big warm jam slathered slice of it to taste when I was at her home and I knew it was yummy! Aside from my mom-in-law's amazing and super easy french bread recipe, this is my first homemade loaf of bread and it was surprisingly gratifying to make. You can see that I took the loaf out of the oven a smidge too early, but it was still soooo good. My boys gobbled it up as our fhe treat. Please, please, no, really, no need for applause...

Rebecca's Honey Oat Bread
1 pkg yeast
1 & 1/4 cups warm water
1/2 cup honey
(*I used 1/4 cup honey and 2 T molasses, next time I'll decrease the honey even more)
2 T canola oil
1 & 1/2 tsp salt
1 cup quick oats
1 & 1/2 cups whole wheat flour
1 & 1/2 cups white flour, divided

Dissolve yeast in water, let stand 5 minutes or until bubbly. (I used a hand mixer for this next step) Combine yeast mixture with honey (and molasses), oil, salt, oats, and whole wheat flour. Stir in 1 cup of the white flour. Use a bit of the remaining white flour to lightly cover kneading surface. Turn out dough onto floured surface and knead, using remaining flour as needed, for 8-10 minutes until smooth (but still slightly tacky) and elastic and until dough starts to spring back when you push your fingers into it. Put into a large greased bowl and cover with a clean towel. Allow dough to double in size. Punch down and shape into loaf and place in greased 9x5 loaf pan. Cover and rise again. Bake at 350 for 45 - 50 minutes.

Sleeping Beauty

2008-06-16T12:16:00.002-04:00

National Portrait Gallery

2008-06-09T17:23:00.005-04:00

We took the Metro downtown today to visit the National Portrait Gallery, which was mostly for me. Alex got pretty excited about this bust of Arthur Miller (no he did not know who he was!) and both he and Ellie recognized and were amazed to see this (badly photographed) portrait of Joseph Smith. We learned to waltz in the Lincoln Inaugural Ball exhibit, saw civil war swords and guns, and the kids also loved a lot of the modern art (didn't get that from me). We wandered, quite by accident, into an area of nude sculptures and before I could navigate us out, Alex and Ellie noticed and were talking and laughing, rather loudly, about naked people who forgot their unders. Yikes! Let's see, we set off 2 alarms, were tailed by a security guard and got scolded once by another patron. A pretty successful outing I'd say! I really wanted to spend some time in the newly designed Kogod Courtyard which has shallow floating pools that kids can walk in. But the pools had been drained! I hope to take my parents-in-law when they come and I'll cross my fingers for water. If you are coming to DC, I completely recommend this place. The building itself is GORGEOUS.

Squirt Park

2008-06-06T17:17:00.003-04:00

This was, if possible, even more fun than it looks!

Frying Pan Park

2008-06-05T17:02:00.006-04:00

Got up this morning and was checking up on some blogs and I got a great idea from Jana about how to spend our day! Frying Pan Park was as fun as I remembered it. Thanks, Jana :)

L.A.M.E.

2008-06-04T21:19:00.002-04:00

May was one of the busiest months we've had and I have so much to catch up on (for the 3 of you who check this blog. Hi, Mom!), but I can't do it out of order. I know how lame that is, but my semi Monk-like personality will not allow disorder. So, if you want to see what's new with us, you'll have to look back at the month while I backpost over the next couple of days.

Day Laborers

2008-05-31T16:40:00.002-04:00

One of the best DC finds is Homestead Farms in Maryland. We picked apples here in the fall and made homemade applesauce and this weekend we came back for summer strawberries. Hopefully in July we'll get some blackberries before we ship out. The kids had soooo much fun gathering berries and petting all the farm animals here. As a bonus some of our strawberries became a strawberry rhubarb pie!

Princess Sarah and Pirate Wally came along for the ride and,
lazy as usual, they didn't help at all.

Numnah

2008-05-31T16:09:00.002-04:00

Last night we had dinner with some friends and, after they had left, Jeff and I ate ice cream in bed while watching the much anticipated National Spelling Bee. One of the funniest things I've ever seen on TV...

Last Day of Preschool Party

2008-05-28T16:29:00.004-04:00

Celebrating an end to the "school" year, right to left: Lincoln, Ethan, Ellie, Alex, Isaac, Sarah, Isabella, and Jasper. It was way to cold for them to be in the water, but they couldn't resist the small pool or slip and slide! Thanks, Kara, for an awesome party :)

Duck Beach

2008-05-26T15:57:00.007-04:00

We have amazing friends! The Blacks invited us to join them and some cousins at a beach house in Outer Banks, North Carolina for a 4 day weekend over Memorial Day. It was fabulous and we hope we have the chance to visit Outer Banks again. We spent all of Saturday at the fantastic beach 500 yards from our front door and the water, while cold, was gentle enough for the kids to wade and swim (me, too!). Sunday we went to church and the small chapel was so full, as well as all the rooms and the chair lined hallways, that we actually sat in the foyer along with lots of other folks for Sacrament meeting! Then we headed out to Kitty Hawk and walked the first flight path, hiked to the Monument, and heard an amazing retelling of the Wright's story by a talented ranger. Monday morning was spent flying kites on the boardwalk. Before heading out, we stopped at a roadside diner for Carolina BBQ, which is advertised: Carolina BBQ = pig + vinegar. So sour and sooo yummy. But I loved the South Carolina Mustard sauce best. I didn't get any pictures of the beach (too busy having fun), but here are some of Kitty Hawk and the kites. (p/s isn't my husband dreamy)

Hugh has a Capital Time

2008-05-18T15:17:00.000-04:00

We loved having "baby" Hugh and Aunt Grace come for a visit - it wasn't long enough!

Futbol

2008-05-14T21:15:00.003-04:00

Highlights of this season, featuring MVP's Alex and Cole...

Cole's mom, my amazing friend Shanna, planned a little after-party for the kids in her yard on the last day of practice. They got wet, ate ice cream, and just had a blast...

Sadie and Ellie were not at all interested in the sprinkler. They filled buckets and dumped water on their toes and the driveway all afternoon...

Yellow Knight

2008-05-10T22:14:00.000-04:00

My Dad took me and a friend to a Renaissance Fair in High School and I remember thinking that I could really be one of those, I don't want to use the word geeky, but... people who got really into it. The costume, the hair, the olyde English, the inappropriate humor. (Would I be a lady or wench?) So, this Mother's Day was especially fun for me because Jeff took me and the kids to Medieval Times Restaurant and Tournament. Yes, tournament! A kidnapped Prince, knights on horses, a worried damsel, a falconer, eating with our fingers, jousting, sword fighting... I'm drooling. It was so fun. At first the kids were a bit scared of the dark and noise, but after a few minutes, they both got really into it. This was the best: at one point our knight's squire told all the "ladies" (read: little girls) who were in the front row to "do anything you can to get the knight's attention" so that she could be the lady he championed during the contests. So Jeff, being the amazing dad he is, stood up with Ellie in his arms and shoved her forward and practically dangled her over the rail! The knight had no choice but to choose her! She got a banner proclaiming her "Queen of love and beauty" and all the way home she told us, "And then, and then, he chose me!" Ah, young love.

Big 5

2008-05-08T22:20:00.002-04:00

A five year old?! This birthday is a big one for me because it marks both an ending and a beginning; an end to babyhood and the beginning of manhood. I know it's a long journey to manhood, but he takes a first big step as he moves out of mom's nest and into the big world of kindergarten this year. My life is about to change, my days spent without his constant companionship, and I can't help but be so grateful for this time I have had to be an at home Mom to my wonderful boy. He is an example to me. On a recent Sunday morning, he asked, "Is it Sunday?" Jeff answered that it was and he said, "Well, on Sunday I am going to make lots of good choices. " And then he lived his word and tried hard all day to be so gentle and patient with his sister. He is love undiluted. He says, "Mom, you're my best cutest Mom." And he hugs us and helps us and tells us jokes. My life is richer and fuller because of him.

We went to tons of Alex's friends' birthday parties in Mexico and he asked for one each birthday there. We said no. Mostly because birthday parties there are HUGE events: rented halls, a professional show, guest lists in the 50ies and 60ies, gift bags worth more that the gifts we usually bought, pinatas, dinner for the whole family... No way was I going to shell out $2,000 for a 3 or 4 year old's party. So I told him he'd have on in DC. We were going to play T-ball at the park, but we got rained out and ended up using the conference room in our apartment complex. The kids still had a blast and Alex was in heaven. Of course, I FORGOT THE CAMERA!! The kids especially had fun knocking down the pinata! The last picture is of Ellie using Alex's bug vacuum (gift from grammie) as a blow dryer. Too cute!

A lot can change in 5 years...

2008-05-07T23:36:00.000-04:00

Everyday a New Adventure

2008-05-05T19:25:00.009-04:00

This city is packed with things to do and we've been trying to fill our days with the sights while the weather is still manageable. Last Friday we "hiked" the azalea trail at the National Arboretum (and got soaked in the many fountains and ran screaming from gigantic bumble bees and stuffed our pockets full with rocks and collected sticks for dubious purposes) and endlessly watched the Koi fish swimming. The grounds were gorgeous - I especially loved the grape arbor. The green grapes were maybe 4x's the size of poppy seeds!

This week we headed to the US Marine Corps War Memorial (the famous Iwo Jima sculpture) and the Netherlands Carillon. The day was a bit hazy, but still so wonderful to sit on the shaded and grassy hills full of flowers to picnic and play. The photo is not aimed right for the view of the city, but that is the Lincoln Memorial in the far right and we could see the Capitol and Washington Monuments as well. Afterwards Jacob came home with us for a playdate and the kids decided to "grocery shop." They took turns wheeling Ellie's shopping cart into the kitchen and I loaded it with food from our cupboards. Without considering the consequences, I put an open box of pasta in the cart and a few moments later I hear, "Noodle Time!" They had (of course) dumped the pasta out all over the floor. Look at their faces; they are in heaven! Hard to be upset about that.

Rainy Days and Mondays

2008-04-24T14:29:00.004-04:00

They don't get us down because they provide the perfect excuse for us to stay in and do one of our favorite things: dress-up!

Swiss Family Robinson

2008-04-14T16:49:00.009-04:00

We went treehouse camping in Maryland this weekend with 2 families in our ward. Camping is fun. Camping with friends is soooo much more fun. The 5 little boys went exploring and most of them got burned while playing with sticks and the campfire. Friday night it poured buckets of rain, but we stayed nice and dry :) We made a westerly detour through Harpers Ferry (check out this wiki article for some good pictures, especially the 1912 panoramic) on the way home and immediately started planning our next weekend trip to the National Historical Park. It was gorgeous -- of course I am a sucker for water and Harpers Ferry is at the point where the Shenandoah River flows into the Potomac River. It's awesome! Of course, it's also on the Appalachian Trail and has a beautiful little town. If you're ever in West Virginia...

Happiest Place on Earth

2008-04-14T14:51:00.006-04:00

That's right. Our first family trip to Disneyland! My brother, who works for Disney, got us in for f-r-e-e and the thing about that is that all the pressure to "get your money's worth" was gone. We just wandered around following our fancies and had a great time. Well, Ellie didn't like any of the rides and still tells me not to take her on Peter Pan EVER again. Still... The 2 highlights for me were seeing Alex and Hugh bond over wrestling (each of them thought the other was the most hilarious person alive) and seeing Ellie's pure exhilaration at meeting, touching, and talking to Cinderella, Sleeping Beauty, and Belle. I was not even close to capturing the rapture on film, but believe me it was so precious. My mom and I were both teary-eyed!

I asked, "Where are you?" and snapped a picture of their answering screams, "Disneyland!!!"

Kraus Cousins

Main Street with Grammie K

with Grandpa K

Princesses

These ears are actually mine. And I want 'em back!

This lolly may have been Hugh's favorite part of the day. He was INTENSE!

5. 4. 3. 2. 1...

Everyone gets kisses

A California Adventure

2008-04-14T13:07:00.001-04:00

Alex spent a good hour by himself building this "spiderweb" in the garage. He requests big spools of string for his upcoming birthday.
Who's gonna clean this up?

Mini train in Griffiths Park. After the trains, we headed up to the Observatory for a great (albeit smoggy) view of LA, Beverly Hills, and the Hollywood sign

Cameron can hardly contain his excitement

The LA Zoo is fabulous and the weather was perfect. These giraffes were even closer than they look in this picture.

Ellie sweet talked Grandpa K in to carrying her through the zoo

Going Green

2008-04-13T19:01:00.008-04:00

What's Your True Color?

My Result: Green

You're green, the color of growth and vigor. Good-hearted and giving, you have a knack for finding and bringing out the best in people. Green is the most down-to-earth color in the spectrum — reliable and trustworthy. People know they can count on you to be around in times of need, since your concern for people is genuine and sincere. You take pride in being a good friend. For you, success is measured in terms of personal achievement and growth, not by status or position. Rare as emeralds, greens are wonderful, natural people. It truly is your color!

What are you?
http://web.tickle.com/jumpto?test=colorogt&c=506

Found this on Lindsey's blog - fun!

New Life

2008-04-03T17:54:00.003-04:00

Spring in Virginia is delicious -- delicious enough to rival the wildflowers and azaleas of Spring in East Texas. These are just a few of my favorite blooming things. I'm not a great photographer, but hopefully these give you a taste!

2008 White House Easter Egg Roll

2008-03-31T19:42:00.010-04:00

Eating our free breakfast burritos and playing games on the Ellipse while waiting for our 11:45 ticket time to enter the South Lawn. Since that morning, I have been able to get my kids to eat almost anything if I first wrap it in aluminum foil like a burrito...

Bored in the security check lines...

Ellie doesn't grasp the fundamentals of egg "rolling"...

A huge crowd turned out for the relatively small space -- I read that 22,000 tickets were distributed -- but everyone was so happy and there was so much to do and see and the volunteers did such a great job of moving the lines quickly that we didn't even notice...

I've been to some places. I've seen some stuff. I've done some things. I've been to the Kremlin. I've seen Michaelangelo's David. I've visited the largest outdoor sitting Buddha. I've floated down the Seine and I've eaten Ukrainian borscht in Ukraine. People have certainly done more, but to me, my life is pretty interesting. So I was a little surprised at how excited I was to be on the White House lawn 10 feet from the grass where Barney the Presidential Dog was lazing around. But it was exciting. It was very exciting. The weather was beautiful, the people were nice, the grass was soft and fragrant and green, the White House was...well, it was the White House!! We rolled some eggs and we laughed like kids all afternoon...

Lemonade 5¢

2008-03-30T17:06:00.008-04:00

As we passed the lemons in the grocery store Wednesday, Alex asked if we could make lemonade. It seemed a great way to celebrate the warmer weather and Spring blossoms popping out all over our Nation's Capital. We finally found the time to make it this morning before church and anticipated its tart sweetness all through meetings.
We weren't disappointed!

Alex's First Homemade Lemonade
1 cup sugar
1 cup water
1 to 1 & 1/2 cups freshly squeezed lemon juice
4 more cups cold water or to taste

Combine the sugar and 1 cup water in a small saucepan over medium heat. Cook until the sugar dissolves. Remove from the heat.
Combine the remaining ingredients and chill for at least 1 hour. Yum!

Some of lesser tastes in this house will disagree with me, but I say lemonade is always better with pulp. I found a really interesting recipe online for whole lemon lemonade. Anyone ever tried this? It sounds great.

MTC

2008-03-29T12:22:00.005-04:00

For the past 6 weeks my mind has been focused on one thing: planning the program for our ward's March Enrichment to celebrate the anniversary of the Relief Society. The theme for the night was based on an exhibit at the Museum of Church History and Art called Something Extraordinary: A Sampler of Women's Gifts. The enrichment committee asked sisters to bring items for display that showcased their unique talents, we had a nice sit down dinner and then I (asked by my best-friend from kindergarten. there's a lesson in there somewhere!) organized a 45 minute-ish program. I was really happy with the night and how the program played itself out (and I loved that we began it with a slideshow to my favorite cheezy song Women of Destiny). In all 24 women had roles in the program and each one of them really put their hearts into it. I had 2 big objectives for the program. 1 - for each sister to believe more deeply in her divine destiny and in the unique and important role she plays in the Relief Society. And 2 - for each sister to catch a broader vision of the amazing organization that is the Relief Society and the wealth of talents and gifts that enrich the lives of so many. Here is an excerpt from my opening comments:

As I have thought about and prepared for this evening's program, my mind kept coming to the word tapestry and to a 1989 General Conference talk given by then 1st Counselor Gordon B Hinckley. He could easily have been speaking of the Relief Society, when he said:

"President Harold B. Lee once said from this pulpit: Survey large fields and cultivate small ones.

My interpretation of that statement is that we ought to recognize something of the breadth and depth and height—grand and wonderful, large and all-encompassing—of the program of the Lord, and then work with diligence to meet our responsibility for our assigned portion of that program. Each of us has a small field to cultivate. While so doing, we must never lose sight of the greater picture, the large composite of the divine destiny of this work. It was given [to] us by God our Eternal Father, and each of us has a part to play in the weaving of its magnificent tapestry. Our individual contribution may be small, but it is not unimportant....Many small efforts and little acts become the cumulative pattern of a great worldwide organization."

Tonight's program combines the vision of Emma Smith – that we are doing something extraordinary – with the principles of attitude and action found in the Relief Society Declaration. I've thought of each of us as a thread in the tapestry of the Relief Society. Each of us adding depth and richness. Each of us lending our own unique texture and color. Each of us weaving our own story and complimenting and contributing to the stories of others until a beautiful work starts to take shape. Never underestimate your role in the weaving. Never question your place in the Relief Society.

As we reflect on tonight's displays and enjoy tonight's program, may we be filled with greater gratitude for the beautiful women of our Relief Society and how they have blessed an influenced our lives. May we believe in our own unique role and commit to developing and sharing our divine gifts and talents.

It was a real gift for me to work on this program. I met so many amazing sisters, I was totally overwhelmed by so much support and offers of help and willingness to participate, and I gained a deeper and richer testimony of the Relief Society - frankly, probably my first real testimony of Relief Society.

But, really, the best part of the night was sitting by 2 of my former MTC girls. We were a unique group and very close. 10 years has gone by and we have changed, but sitting there looking at these 2 beautiful and amazing women, the feelings and the love all came back. And I was sooo grateful for eternity. To know that I will know them and love them through all my existence, to know that we will be a part of each other forever. Amy, Kathryn - I love you!

Good News!

2008-03-27T22:01:00.003-04:00

This week has brought our family 3 pieces of much anticipated good news...

We received official word that Alex has been accepted into the International School of Belgrade
Today the Department approved the Ambassador's recommendation that all embassy personnel should return to Belgrade. In other words, yes, we will be going to Serbia together as a family in July! Wahoo!
In the State Department, one must be like a rabid dog when it comes to arranging anything pertaining to a move. Every HR person will try and give a different answer to the same question -- it's exasperating. So, thanks to Jeff's rabid dogness, we have a tentative packout date of July 10th AND WE CAN MAKE AN HHE SHIPMENT!!! This means that instead of the 700 lbs of things that we thought we'd be able to ship from DC, we can now ship 3,000 lbs of stuff. Bunk beds, play houses, and filing cabinets, oh my! (I'm pretty excited about this, if you can't tell.)

Declarations of Independence

2008-03-24T23:11:00.002-04:00

Alex and Ellie really are independent-minded children. I'm so happy that they are and that their personalities are strong and that they have the courage of their convictions. Of course, sometimes that leads to interesting parenting experiences as regular readers of this blog will know. I just wanted to share a couple of experiences tonight while they are still fresh on my mind.

Ellie - Tonight while we were getting the kids ready for bed Ellie decided that she did not want her diaper changed, even though she really needed it done. Maybe I could have tried more reason and persuasion, but time was short and I ended up just holding her down while I changed her diaper. Carli was standing nearby hanging up the kids clothes and Ellie - furious that I was changing her diaper and looking for an ally - screamed at her, "Mommy, get angry at Jeff!"

Alex - We have discovered the Magic Treehouse series of books. We finished our first one yesterday and went to the bookstore tonight to buy a new one. We had a limited budget, enough to buy a paperback for Alex, and a picture book for Ellie. Alex and I were at the bookstore without Ellie, but he was excited to take a book home to her. As we got ready to leave the store however, we walked past a big display of hardcover copies of the newest Magic Treehouse book. The cover showed the two kid heroes of the books being dragged under the sea by the tentacles of an enormous octopus - just the kind of image Alex loves. As soon as he saw the book he literally dropped the two paperbacks he was carrying and snatched up the hardcover. "Dad! We have to get this!" Now it was decision time. I told Alex we could get the new book, but that would mean we wouldn't be able to get a book for Ellie - since the new book was a little bit more expensive - or we could buy the paperback book, get a book for Ellie and come back on Friday to buy the new book. Alex didn't hesitate in making his choice, but there was a very Alex-ian twist to it. He immediately decided to get the paperbacks so he could take a book to his sister, but told me, "Dad, we need to hide one of these new books so they don't sell them all." And then he squirreled away a copy in a location I have pledged not to disclose.

Apparently, Alex has discovered the principle of scarcity and has decided that anything he likes must be universally in great demand and therefore likely to sell out quickly. We have also hidden, at various other times and in other un-disclose-able locations, squishy rubber frogs at Target, a soccer ball, gum, and double chocolate Milano cookies. So, think of Alex the next time you go to a store and find some completely random item hidden askew behind a row of other, non-related items. Think of him, but don't your dare buy that hidden item!

5000 Camp Out On White House Lawn

2008-03-22T09:21:00.006-04:00

Last night I joined about 5000 other folks who were camped out - some of them for over two days - on the Bush's front lawn. And no, I wasn't holding an "Impeach Him!" sign. We were there waiting to get tickets to one of Washington's most anticipated events of the year. Hannah Montana? No, the White House Egg Roll!

The grassy ellipse in front of the White House temporarily became a tent city, full of people hoping to get some of the 8000 or so available tickets. Some of the people in line camped out two nights in a row, so I felt lucky that I - with a much appreciated urban camping buddy - scored tickets for Carli and the kids even though I didn't show up until 11:00pm the night before the ticket give-away. I guess you know you're really a dad when you camp out for Egg Roll tickets instead of March Madness or Springsteen tickets.

Around 4:00am, Park Service employees moved down the row of queue-ers, passing out laminated, numbered vouchers each of which could be turned in for 5 Egg Roll tickets at 7:00am. I was number 534 in line, guaranteed to get tickets for the coveted morning entry to the White House lawn. Very exciting! Unfortunately, many of the folks farther back in line were turned away when the Park Service hit the maximum number of available ticket vouchers.

After our two-year stint in Mexico, I was amazed at how orderly the line-up was, how readily everyone followed the Park Service's rules, how fast the tents came down in the morning, and how almost spotlessly clean the campers left the spots where their tents had been. God Bless America!

2 Cute Bunnies

2008-03-19T17:38:00.007-04:00

Those of you who know her, know that Ellie is cautious of people that she doesn't know well. She is very outgoing at home or with friends that she has spent a lot of time with, but... well, let's just say that at 2 1/2 Ellie is still not transitioned into nursery. (another post altogether) Getting her to take a picture with Santa, or to even get within 50 feet of Santa, is a no-go. So when she practically tipped the stroller over to wave at a man in a bunny suit, I asked her if she wanted tell him "Happy Easter" and give him a hug. Change, it is a'coming.
I love the sweet, reserved smile on her face. This is our Ellie!

Easter in Serbia

2008-03-19T10:36:00.003-04:00

This is a video for a popular, traditional Easter song in Serbia. I think the arangement is beautiful! And the video sort of gives us a feel for what our new home will be like (yes, we are pretty sure we are still going to Belgrade).

Tuna and Candy Corn

2008-03-18T15:39:00.004-04:00

What? Last summer, as we drove from northern Oregon to Washington to Utah, Alex spent a good amount of time in the truck with his Uncle Steve. I don't know how the subject arose, but Alex insisted that one of his favorite food combinations is tuna with candy corn. In an Easter package from the Grandparents G, Steve included a special surprise for Alex: tuna and candy corn. Alex thought this was very cool. Did he eat it? Did I make it? Let's see how well you know us!

Irish for a Day

2008-03-17T15:17:00.004-04:00

Alex and Ellie stuffed themselves with shamrock cookies slathered in green icing and sprinkles and then enjoyed a silly game taking turns hiding a slightly menacing-looking leprechaun around the house. The best: all this irish-ness shared with our friends, the O'Neills!

Speed Readers We Are Not

2008-03-15T13:34:00.005-04:00

Alex and I have been reading chapter books at bed-time for the past six months. So far we've read The Swiss Family Robinson, The Wind in the Willows, The Wonderful Flight to the Mushroom Planet, and The Dragons of Blueland. Alex feels pretty grown-up reading bedtime stories that last several nights, but I discovered that one of the books has gone on too long when he confronted me after his and Carli's most recent visit to the library. A couple of weeks ago they had checked out Mr. Popper's Penguins. We've been working on it since then, but didn't manage to finish it before the due date. Carli thought it would be fun for Alex to renew the book himself at the library so she had him take it up to the librarian and tell her, “I haven't finished this book yet.”

All seemed to go well. The librarian renewed the book and Alex brought it home and put it in his nightstand ready for bedtime. But, when he and I climbed into bed to read, he shot me an accusative look and said, “Dad, you are taking too long with this book! I had to go to the library and tell them I'm not finished yet and it's because you are making me go to bed too early and you are not reading fast enough!” Very chastened, I read an extra chapter and started a third one, during which Alex feel fast asleep.

Kid Fishing Day!!!

2008-03-15T12:54:00.007-04:00

Today was kid fishing day, the first day of trout fishing in Four Mile Run Creek and a day set aside for the under-15 crowd to fish without competition from more aggressive, if not more competent adults. Alex and I have been excited about this for a couple of weeks now. We got up this morning and while we were getting ready, Alex threw a HUGE bird's nest in his line and somehow managed to unspring the release on his reel. After a few tense minutes I got the reel fixed and cut the Gordian knot in Alex's line (Grandpa Gaskill would surely have managed to untangle it, but I am still a bit of a rookie untangler), and we were off.

The Parks Department planted the fish late last night in a couple of spots along the creek. We got to Four Mile Run Creek a bit late and the mob had already formed in all the planted spots. The ratio of people to visible fish was about 4:1. The fish were good sized rainbows, but appeared to have been well-fed before they were planted and they weren't biting on anything. We did see one fish caught with a net (Alex thought this was a fabulous idea and insists that we bring a net next time - we'll be reading the Virginia State fishing regs. at bed-time to help clarify why this is a no-go).

Ultimately, we were skunked, but we had a great time. Alex did a good job of rigging up on his own and got a feel for how to spot good holes. We are planning to go out early in the morning before work this week to see if we can catch a few.

Red Onion and Poppy Vinaigrette

2008-03-13T15:57:00.006-04:00

Now that the weather is spring-ing up, we've been walking down to the park near our home. It's a fun walk and a great park because of the bridge and creek that provide endless diversion. Anyway, last week at said park we met an Australian woman and her two kids and we were talking about how she's adjusting to life in the US. She made some very funny and insightful comments about our health care system, which horrifies her, and our public school system, which delights her. "So," she says, "you're educating your kids enough so they know they're getting ripped off!" She also commented that the food here was hard to get used to because everything is so sweet. My sister-in-law and fellow Aussie has made comments similar to that and is always searching for bread with out sugar. To prove them right, here is a fabulous new recipe I was given that sugars up your raw veggies. Seriously, this is a very, very yummy salad dressing and it turns out a beautiful pink color perfect for spring. I modified this from Sarah's (thanks, Sarah!) original recipe to suit my tastes. Enjoy!

Red Onion and Poppy Vinaigrette

1/2 of a large red onion, coarsely chopped
scant 1/4 to 1/2 cup sugar
1/3 cup cider vinegar
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon mustard
1 Tablespoon poppy seeds
2/3 cup canola oil
Freshly ground black pepper to taste

Put all ingredients in a blender and blend until onions are pureed.

Peter and the Wolf

2008-03-12T14:19:00.012-04:00

Preschool this week is at our place and I dusted off Alex's hecho en Mexico Peter and the Wolf puppets and downloaded a very melodramatic version of the story with obi-wan kenobi (alec guinness) as the narrator and the Boston Pops as the orchestra. The kids really got into the story and the music and they loved acting out all the characters.

the grumpy old grandpas...

the ducks... (which look surprisingly like grumpy old grandpas)

the hunter...

the wolves...

Tapochki

2008-03-09T17:29:00.005-04:00

We have been home from church for 1 hour and 29 minutes. Ellie is still in her dress. I fought with her for 45 minutes this morning about putting the dress on and now I can't get her to take the dress off. It may have something to do with everyone at church telling her how beautiful her dress is and how sweet a little girl she is -- both true! *sigh*

The house slippers Ellie is holding in this picture ARE the shoes she wore to church today with her lovely dress. There are some fights worth fighting (wearing a dress to church) and some worth letting go (slippers to church?!). I find that battle lines change after one has engaged in a 45 skirmish.

The Indoor Angler

2008-03-08T12:08:00.009-05:00

Alex and Dad are getting really excited for kid fishing day next week. The parks department is going to plant trout in a local stream and the first day after planting, the stream is reserved for kid only fishing. Alex got out his pole this morning and we rigged up with a small bell sinker to practice casting. He's a natural (almost), as you can see in this video...

A Happy Secret

2008-03-04T00:58:00.007-05:00

Lately, this house is full of secrets. Secrets about princesses and monkeys and babies and dinosaurs who eat bones. Secrets about mysteriously disappearing bowls of ice cream and rides on Santa's sleigh and ballerinas who get lost. Ellie is full of them. She wraps her little hands around our necks, presses her lips right up against our ears and loudly whispers bits of dramatic nonsense that we can hardly understand. Then she stands back and waits for an appropriately dramatic reaction. We either give her that reaction or we must hear the secret again (and again) until the desired response is given. Have I mentioned how much fun it is to be a mom? Is there any better way of passing time than sharing secrets with the funniest and most passionate of baby girls?

Today was one of those perfect days. Mid 60's and sunny, we drank it up for 3 hours at the park with 6 of my friends (2 of whom we serendipitously ran in to without planning before hand!) and then BOTH OF MY CHILDREN FELL ASLEEP on the way home AND MY HUSBAND CAME HOME EARLY from work. So, I had him all to myself in the middle of the day for 2 hours! We had left-over roast, of which I am master, for dinner - read: no clean-up - more family playing outside and then another successful fhe. Alex loves to role-play stories from the scriptures and tonight he was Nephi bound by his brothers, filled with strength, faith, and forgiveness. Seriously, I hope I meet Nephi. If all that wasn't enough, tonight all my planning and praying found its answer at midnight and I sat down and put together all the fragments in my head for the program for our Enrichment this month. To celebrate the RS birthday, we are having a dinner and program based on the Church History Museum exhibit Something Extraordinary: A Sampler of Women's Gifts. It's going to be amazing!! (No! My calling is not even in the Relief Society.) I just feel so grateful to Heavenly Father for all my blessings and for all my trials - both are teaching me what it means to trust in the Lord and showing me the great things the Lord has done and is doing in my life.

Texas Born

2008-02-23T16:18:00.006-05:00

About the only thing we don't like about our furnished apartment is that there are TVs in every room. Now, we have talked to the kids about not turning on the TV unless they get permission, but... Early this afternoon I walked into Alex's room and found him stretched out on his bed, hands crossed behind his head, chewing a huge wad of gum and watching the warm-up to a NASCAR truck division race on TV. When the national anthem was sung the camera cut away to a shot of the American flag. Alex said, "Yeah, that's the flag of Texas!" As the anthem was introduced the voice-over noted, "Now the anthem of the United States of America." And Alex said, "America! Ellie lives in America!" To which I responded, "Where does Alex live?" he replied, proudly, "TEXAS!" We took the boy out of Nacogdoches, but we can't take Texas out of the boy.

Quoatable Alex

2008-02-22T18:04:00.014-05:00

"Oh! My two cute girls!"
with his arms around me and Ellie in a double hug

"Mom, I'll handle this."
in response to me guessing answers during a family game of charades

"A doctor. With a heart checker and for peeing in cups, but no shots. They are too pokey. And no finger pinching things."
career ambitions

"I've got to say all the prayers because I've got to pray all day so I can be like God."
in answer to who would say the blessing at lunchtime

"X. O. O. O. X. O."
collecting his two favorite letters from signs as we drive through town

"Hey! Come back you scurvy scared-y-cats!"
role-playing Nephi calling out to his fleeing brothers (convincingly played by dad) who mistake him for Laban

"Mom, I hope Sarah is not at pre-school today. I really don't like to share my friends."
on hoping for alone time with pal Isaac

(Dr. Alex with the usually beloved Sarah)

Wintry Mix

2008-02-22T17:28:00.003-05:00

We woke up this morning to see our world covered in ice -- the tree branches heavy and sparkling and completely still, everything so shiny and slick. It was exquisitely beautiful. We could pull the ice off the bushes in the perfect shape of leaves, which we devoured like so much candy. Happy winter!

George Washington, Pirate on a PogoStick

2008-02-18T17:15:00.009-05:00

Today is President's day and we went to Mount Vernon to commemorate the day. Alex was really excited to see some of Washington's military memorabilia in the museum - especially the General's swords and firearms - and he and Ellie both were excited to see a Washington re-enactor riding the grounds on a big, chestnut horse.

We've been talking to Alex about George Washington, so he knows a little bit about him and can recognize pictures and sculptures of the President. But today we learned how unique Alex's impressions of the first President really are.

When we got home from Mount Vernon I asked Alex, "So, was George Washington cool?"
Alex: "YES!"
Me: "Why was he cool?"
Alex: "Because he dressed like a pirate!"
Me: (Thrusting my arm into the air like brandishing a sword) "And he had a..."
Alex: "SWORD!"
Me: (Pantomiming aiming a rifle) "And he shot a..."
Alex: "Gun!"
Me: (Holding my hands in imitation of holding reins and bouncing up and down as if galloping on a horse) "And he rode a..."
Alex: "PogoStick! YES!!!"

The Awakening at Hains Point

2008-02-08T15:45:00.000-05:00

Today, we went to see a sculpture called "The Awakening" with our playgroup friends and had such a good time. It is a 100 foot outdoor sculpture of a man awakening out of the ground and has been at Hains Point for 27 years. (It has recently been sold and will soon be moved to National Harbor in Maryland) When I told Alex about today's fieldtrip he had some concerns that he would not enjoy climbing on it because "it will be too slippery. I like climbing on rocks." However, his worries proved to be for nothing and we spent the morning climbing in the mouth, up the arm, hand, and foot, and sliding down the leg. Hains point is where the Anacosta and Potomac rivers converge in southwest DC so we also got to see planes take off over the Potomac and feed the ducks and seagulls. (well, I think they are seagulls - what say you, Dad G?)

Arrrrrgh!

2008-02-07T16:41:00.000-05:00

Alex got the coolest pirate costume in the mail from his grammie G today. He immediately put it on and spent the rest of his evening sacking, pillaging and terrorizing.

Pretty Ballerina

2008-02-04T16:51:00.000-05:00

We dressed up and headed downtown to see the Washington Ballet's Nutcracker just before Christmas and Ellie's slight interest in ballet turned into a burning love, much to our delight. She even asks to listen to "the ballerina music" while we're driving, meaning classical music and how awesome is that! (Of course, Alex complains the whole time and chants "Laurie Berkner! Laurie Berkner!") She dances often and everywhere, but her favorite place is the kitchen table so she can see herself in the mirror and so I can stand at the edge and do the lifts! I am so in love.
Notice Ellie's shoes? She picks out two different shoes most days!

Sick Days

2008-01-28T20:36:00.001-05:00

This household has been sick (first Ellie, then Alex) for 2 weeks now and we are going a bit CRAZY -- especially me! The kids spent a good part of today playing in mom and dad's bed. They took turns sitting on each others tummies, falling face first into the pillows, and making crazy faces. If you can't tell from the pictures, they are crazy about each other. Later today Alex put an apple sack on his head and ran from room to room saying, "robot. out of control. robot. out of control." Maybe he's feeling better :)

Jeff and I were to speak in Sacrament meeting yesterday and we had been praying that Alex would be well enough to attend. He was given a blessing just before church and, blessedly, he fell asleep on our pew and stayed that way through the meeting. What a gift!

We Thank Thee, O God, for a Prophet

2008-01-28T09:56:00.001-05:00

Our hearts are saddened today by the loss of our beloved Prophet. He died Sunday, January 27th at 97. He spent his entire adult life in service to the Church and to the Lord. He touched millions of lives. We loved him and followed him; we were inspired by his life and faith and energy. Visit the Church newsroom for great articles on the life and service of Gordon B Hinckley.

Private Parts

2008-01-25T10:35:00.000-05:00

I came into the family room to Ellie screaming at Alex with full volume, "WE DON'T TALK ABOUT BUMMIES!!!" Okay then.

Buddies

2008-01-16T09:09:00.000-05:00

We were in Target the other day when Alex spotted this football snack bowl thing. You push a button and the NFL on Fox theme song plays and the tip of the football hisses open to reveal this tiny goody compartment. Now, I let my kids carry things they find through the store to keep them occupied because they don't ever give me grief about putting whatever it is back when we need to go. So, I am walking up and down the aisles of Target while Alex sits in the basket and pushes this button like a chain smoker smokes. Over and over and over and over. The song was pretty loud and I was starting to get embarrassed. I tell Alex it's time to go, gotta put away the football. His little lip starts to quiver and he tells me he has GOT to get this football thing for his dad. "We'll watch football games and I will put some snacks in the football and I will push the button and dad will be so happy and he will tell all his friends at work that he has a football snack." So I give in. He brings the football home, puts it on the table and covers it with a blanket from his bed so that he can take it off when Jeff gets home from work. "And dad will say, 'Wow, Alex! That's a great football.'" It is no wonder Alex loves his dad so much because Jeff really supports whatever Alex is interested in. See, Jeff isn't really that into football. He likes it, but he isn't into it like some guys are. But Alex was so excited about watching games that Jeff printed out all the team logos (which is how Alex decided the Seahawks were his favorite team) for the playoffs and made up a chart and they cheered the Seahwks to victory. They lost, but Alex would not be convinced, so victory it is. A great dad. They pal around together all the time and it is wonderful to see.

Christmas Eve

2007-12-25T02:34:00.001-05:00

The morning of Christmas Eve, we headed down to the Botanic Gardens right next door to the US Capitol to check out the mini train displays. Amazing. They also had on display replicas of many DC monuments and buildings. The photo here is of the Smithsonian castle and, believe me, it is that much more impressive in person. The gardens had Christmas tree printouts that the kids could decorate with stamps hidden throughout the building, which was also pretty fun for Alex. Later that evening we met up with our fellow State Dept friends, the P family, for Christmas Eve dinner and do-nuts on strings. Two years running now the kids wear their Christmas jammies all through the month of December, but come Christmas Eve they want to wear something different, of course. Still pretty cute, if you ask me.

Famous Pecan Pie Squares

2007-12-15T12:20:00.000-05:00

Every time I have made these pecan squares, I get asked for the recipe. They have been delivered to our friends on our Christmas cookie plates since Nacogdoches and I am now sharing it with you. The funny thing is the recipe is straight off a package of chocolate chips - no family secrets here! Enjoy :)

Pecan Pie Squares

CRUST
1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 cup butter, softened
1/4 cup packed brown sugar
FILLING
3 large eggs
3/4 cup corn syrup (*if you, like us, are trying to avoid HFCS, look for cane sugar syrup, like Lyle's Golden Syrup. It works and tastes great in this recipe.)
3/4 cup granulated sugar
2 tablespoons butter, melted
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 package semi-sweet chocolate chips or chunks
1 1/2 cups pecans, coarsely chopped (looks prettier when you leave them whole, but harder to cut!

Preheat the oven to 350° F. Grease a 13 x 9-inch baking pan. (just use Pam)

For the crust:
Beat the flour, butter and brown sugar in small mixer bowl until crumbly. Press into prepared baking pan.

Bake for 12 to 15 minutes or until lightly browned.

For the filling:
Beat the eggs, corn or cane sugar syrup, granulated sugar, butter, vanilla extract, and salt in a medium bowl with a wire whisk. Stir in the chocolate and nuts. Pour evenly over warm baked crust.

Bake until set, about 25 to 30 minutes. Cool in the pan on wire rack. Cut into bars.

The word according to Ellie

2007-11-24T16:51:00.000-05:00

Ellie has a truly unique way of expressing herself...

skunk = apple peel

pacuter = computer

alligator = elevator

ballerina = Ellie

noise = burp

choke = throat

leckas = necklace

perspectible = acceptable

If Alex is not playing ball, he's dreaming of it

2007-11-09T10:24:00.000-05:00

Soccer. Baseball. Baseball. Soccer. It's one or the other all day, all night.

Ellie rides a pony. And again. And again.

2007-11-08T20:21:00.000-05:00

Ellie's favorite thing to do is ride a pony. Her favorite things to talk about are how she has ridden a pony or how she wants to ride a pony. When we went to sea world she brought home a stuffed pony. She calls herself a cowboy girl. She likes cowboy hats. She wears pink cowboy boots. Boots that she chose all on her own. She takes horsemanship pretty seriously: she holds on tight and keeps her expression appropriately serious. But afterward, whoa doggie, can that girl holler!

Fall Festival, October 6, 2007

2007-10-08T19:37:00.000-04:00

One of the great things about living in DC is that something is always going on jsut down the street! On the Saturday morning before General Conference, we took Alex and Ellie to the Fall Festival.

Utah

2007-09-06T14:29:00.000-04:00

Last stop before getting back to real life was, of course, Utah to spend more time with Grammie and Grampie and our Uncles, Aunts, and cousins. We had a really great time, but it went by much too fast. Don't you think Logan and Ellie could be brother and sister in this picture?