We had an awesome Monday night! Our good friends, the Sansoms, joined us for dinner and FHE.
Rewind...
The Sansoms like the UofU. I know, nobody is perfect.
We made a bet during football season that whichever team won, the losing fan would learn the opposing University Fight Song and sing it in a public forum. Kelly lost along with his Utes!
Kelly made good tonight on our bet! Check it out!
We also had a lesson, ate some amazing food prepared by Jenny, and finished off the night playing Rock Band! We thought we would share our first music video with all of you!

This post isn't what you think.

I am large
It has been a while since I have been to the gym or paid any attention to eating right. So this week, Monday to be exact, I decided that I would fix those two dilemmas. Who knows how long this resolution will last, but I get points for trying, right?

I have been running everyday this week and I feel so much better. Sure, I ache and my body has gone into workout shock, but I can feel progression ever so slowly.

And as far as eating? I have the best cook as a wife EVER! She has fallen in love with the website www.allrecipes.com and she hasbeen cooking up a storm. Not just cooking mind you, but creating some of the most amazing meals I have EVER tasted. She loves to cook it and I love to eat it! We make a great team.

Not only is her cooking wonderful, she has been going out of her way to make healthy stuff too. If I can eat meals that taste as good as what she has made and they not make me look like a whale, I imagine this is what the Celestial Kingdom will be like.

I would like to bear my testimony that Healthy+Delicious=Feel Good! Try it out! (thanks Kelly Anne for putting us onto that site!)

Here are a couple of links to recipes Jenny has made for our last three meals.

http://allrecipes.com/Recipe/Almond-Lemon-Chicken/Detail.aspx
http://allrecipes.com/Recipe/Bacon-Mushroom-Chicken/Detail.aspx
http://allrecipes.com/Recipe/Chicken-Cordon-Bleu-II/Detail.aspx

I didn't eat the creamy sauce, but they were glorious even without!

matt

You know how once in a while you're at a total loss for words? It doesn't often happen to me because I am training to be a professional talker (well, almost). I do love to talk.
So on Sunday I got all frustrated with Isaac and I told him to shut up. I don't normally say this to my kids, so once I calmed down I felt really bad. I called Isaac over to me and told him I was sorry I was grumpy to him. To my confession he replied "That's OK mom, you just had Satan inside of you". I was shocked and told him I did NOT have Satan inside of me. He then said "Mom, when you do bad things of course you have Satan in you. Who else would be in there?" What do you say to that? Speechless.

You may not have any idea what you are looking at. I don't know what the real name of this dessert is, I only know it is EVIL. No really, I mean it; carmel, chocolate, oatmeal, butter, sugar EVIL. You can be watching TV or reading a book, minding your own business, and it calls to you.
There is no point trying to ignore it, the EVIL will continue to call to you until you create it and consume it. Then it will sit in your gut and taunt you for hours. From there it moves directly to the area of your body you least need the added mass (i.e. your behind).
I first discovered this recipe 4 years ago when my sister-in-law Tori made it for us. It has since become a staple in our home. Nearly every Sunday we heed it's demonic call and create another batch. We then devour it, vowing afterward we will never eat again...until the next time it calls.

Evil Carmel Deliciousness

2 sticks butter
1 1/2 cups flour
1 1/2 cups brown sugar
1 1/2 cups oats
1/3 tsp baking soda

caramels
chocolate chips

Mix ingredients together (except caramels and chocolate chips) and spread half into a 9x13 baking dish. Bake for 12 minutes at 350 degrees. Meanwhile, melt one 11 oz. bag of caramels (the little caramel bits work best because you don't have to unwrap them) in a saucepan with 7 1/2 tablespoons of milk. When the oatmeal mixture is done baking, remove from oven and cover with chocolate chips until oatmeal is fairly covered. Then pour melted caramel over the chocolate chips. Top with remaining oatmeal mixture and bake for an additional 10 minutes.
Let cool for 10-15 minutes. Serve warm with ice cream (ice cream is not optional, this dessert is way too rich without it!).

2 years in a row...

GLORY!!!

This year was quite different than last year however. Last year we slayed the lions in the den with no trouble whatsoever. BYU blew Utah away. This year, the Utes just about administered a Sigmond and Freud!

But they didn't! And now I can't wait to rub it in to all my fair-weathered, Utah fan friends!

6 of us ventured to Salt Lake City, dressed in blue, painted faces, crazy blue hair, ready to engage in battle. I cautioned Alex that if defeated, we would stay till the very end and take our whoopin' like men! But fortunately, Alex has never had to experience a whoopin' from the Utes! As of recent, we just keep beating them! And after the years of despair from Utah victories as a devoted Cougar fan, I am living it up!

I know the tide will turn again! Utah will take back over the victory verbal hazing, but there is one thing for sure... I am going to enjoy the ride while I can!

GO COUGARS! 55-52 BYU VICTORY IN THE HUNTSMAN CENTER!

Once in a while motherhood gives you a moment. It's usually unexpected and for that moment everything you do, day in and day out, is worth it. It could be the first time your toddler brings you a flower (from your flowerbed) clutched in his dirty little fist, it could be an impromptu "I love you" from a child who is "way too old" to be lovey to his mom, it could be watching your baby sleep after a rough day. When you are a mom you need these moments, you live for them. Today, after an exhausting day with my kids, I put them to bed and went downstairs to be by myself for a minute. When I came back up to kiss them goodnight, this is what I saw... Thank heaven for these moments; it's all worth it.

Happiness is...

Every year since we returned from Alaska, we, along with quite a riotous bunch (you know who you are!), venture to a small town outside of Jackson, Wyoming to run the Snake River for several days in July.

It is a BLAST! We run the fast, white-water river every day for three or four days and we have the time of our lives. Not to mention the fun we have with the 50+ friends that come along as well. There is always room for more!

This year, because of some family coming from Indiana, we are probably going to be running the week of the fourth of July. So, if you are a friend of ours, please clear your schedule because we promise you will have a better time on the Snake River celebrating our country's birthday than you could have where you live! Watch the video and you will see what we mean!

When Jenny and I were married, we decided we wanted our lives to contain a certain element of adventure. So, in order to quench this spirit of wanderlust, we decided we would move to Alaska for a Summer while I attended BYU.

So, maybe I am a bad parent.

So my hearing may be gone for good.  There is just this constant ringing now...

I am a wedding videographer.

So you know how you have friends that have all kinds of different talents?  Kelly Anne Sampson is my Martha Stewart friend.  Talk about intimidating.