SLC Trip

We've been wanting to go the the Salt Lake City temple for a long time. Since Devin and Julie are always inviting us to go to the temple with them we thought this would be a good opportunity.

We had a great time with them while we were there, and Anna is growing up so fast! We are grateful to D & J for their hospitality and the good times they share with us!

We all went to the Salt Lake City Temple on Saturday afternoon and it was absolutely beautiful! No wonder it took so long to build! I always enjoy the peace I feel in the temple and the things I learn too. While we were there I couldn't help but think of the Saints who built that temple and the sacrifices they endured before they even reached Utah. They bore those burdens because they had a testimony of God and his plan, because they knew of the blessings of His temple and that they could be with their families forever, and because they knew that the truth had been restored to the earth. That is why they sacrificed so much. How grateful I am to them... my ancestors, because without them I would not have my testimony of those same doctrines! Because of them I can be with my family, and my sweet Briant forever, and know of God and his plan! I am most grateful for the temple and for all the happiness it brings to me.

(sorry these pictures aren't the best, it was dark when we got out)

I always wanted to stand here...

A guy showed us around a bit inside and we were
able to stand on the other side of this door :-)
I'm so glad we finally got to go to the temple with these guys! It was a great experience!

Briant had a cousin get married that same day. They happened to have their reception in the Joseph Smith Memorial building, so we went to see them and the extended Giles family. It was nice to finally meet and visit with some of his family I've never met before!

Congratulations Lisa and Brett!
Lisa has been commenting on my blog... it was good to finally meet her!
Grandpa Giles and his kids (minus Briant's dad)
Briant stood in for his family...

It was great to visit with family we haven't seen for a while. We can't wait for the Giles family reunion in June!

Bowtie Pasta Recipe

So it was just the Bowtie Paste Recipe that you all wanted right? Okay well, grab your paper and pencils...

Creamy Chicken Bowtie Pasta

4 Chicken Breasts
1 pkg. Italian salad dressing mix
1/4 cup butter
1/4 cup water
1 tsp. Italian seasoning (spice)
1 8oz. pkg. cream cheese
1 can cream of chicken soup
1 cup milk
2 tsp. Italian seasoning (spice)
7-8 cups bowtie pasta (dry)

Clean chicken. Melt butter (in microwave... or with hair dryer, which ever you prefer-- dryer takes longer though). Pour into crockpot. Add water, Italian salad dressing mix, and 1 tsp. Italian seasoning. Mix well. Add chicken and coat with mixture. Put lid on and cook on low for 2-3 hours or until done. Remove chicken and cut into bite-size pieces. Set chicken aside.

Soften cream cheese (I just left it out while the chicken was cooking). Mix in soup, milk, and 2 tsp. Italian seasoning. Stir until smooth. Warm in microwave-- hair dryer won't work for this one, for 2 minutes to help get mixture smooth.) Add to the sauce that is in the crockpot and mix well. Add chicken and stir. Cook 1 hour on low.

Cook pasta according to directions on package. Serve with the chicken sauce. Mmmmmm...

Bowtie Pasta

Briant loves his Aunt Lisa's famous Bowtie Pasta. He is always talking about how good it is and how nobody makes it like Aunt Lisa.
Well, we've had the recipe for a while so, today I decided to make it. I told Briant I would make it, but he decided he needed to start it with out me. I walked in to see him with the 'melted butter' it called for, only halfway melted, and being poured into the crockpot. I said to him, "That's not all the way melted, you should put it in a little longer." To which he replied, "Oh, it will be fine." A few minutes I heard him mumbling something like, "Hmmm, maybe I should have put this in a little longer... where's the hair dryer?"

This would be my husband finishing the
butter melting process with a hair dryer:

Usually, when we return from church, this is where you will find Briant until dinner is ready to eat. Staring at the contents in the crockpot, licking his lips and talking about how he can't wait.

YUMMY! The finished product. I might I say, it was absolutely delicious!

Briant is very happy that there are plenty of leftovers!

I decided after dinner that I wanted to make a white cake... FROM SCRATCH. I've never done that before, and it turned out pretty good, for my first attempt. Of coarse there are always things to learn for the next time. After I frosted, Briant got really excited and insisted on putting on the sprinkles. I think he said something like, "Step away from the cake...".

This is how Briant rolls... with cake. Let me know if you want the recipe.

A Happening Halloween

Ah yes, we just celebrated Halloween, definitely my favorite holiday!And little did I know that I would be working for a company that dedicates an entire day to Halloween festivities. This year my department decided on an Outer Space theme. Unfortunately, my most favorite costumes of all time, The Pope and Lil Jon, would not work for this theme. I had a difficult time deciding what I would be, but at last the idea came:

I give you Balloon Boy!
This time, it wasn't a hoax! Ha!

Remember a few weeks ago when the world was captivated by the story of a run away, UFO-like, silver balloon flying in the skies above Denver?A 6 year old boy, Falcon Heene, was missing, and his parents who had built the balloon, thought he was inside. Well, it turns out the kid was hiding in the attic the whole time because, well, he "did it for the show!"

So I decided I would be Falcon. I made the costume out of a box, an emergency blanket, silver wrapping paper, and 16 helium balloons. I made suspenders inside of it so it would be easy to carry around on my shoulders. The coolest part was that I could see through the blanket, but nobody could see in. I didn't even have to cut eye holes! Oh, and I had better mention that I did wear a Colorado shirt with a "Falcon" name tag (can't forget details). So here I am below, on the far left, with the rest of the Marketing group.
I got some good laughs from some people, but not as many as the Yip-Yips from Sesame Street though. They looked great.
We had a good time that day. Our department won the award for most creative group. That stems from our room at work that we turned into a space ship and outer space.

On Halloween night we had a party (which was very fun and hilarious!) at our house with some couples from our ward, so I did get to dress up as Lil Jon after all. I gave my brother my Pope costume to wear to his parties, and he became an instant celebrity! Until next year everybody!

Annual Pumpkin Carving

The big family carving night was last night, but we missed it because we were driving back from Utah. So we went over tonight for FHE and carved our pumpkins. Mom, saved hers and carved one tonight too.
We are very proud of our pumpkins...
But, I always think they look way better in the dark.
Mom didn't do her traditional pumpkin, it was fun to see her do something different.

We had so much fun! This is one of my very favorite parts of the Halloween season so I'm very glad we didn't miss out on the carving this year. I'm kinda bummed that we didn't get to do it with everyone else though. Oh well, next year.

Football, Skating, Family... what more could we ask for?

We've had tickets for a while now to the game that took place this past weekend between BYU and TCU in Provo. Unfortunately the game didn't turn out the way we all wanted... but we still had a great weekend in Utah.
We stayed at our Aunt Lisa's house in Orem. It's always good to visit with family and catch up. Lisa and her family are always very hospitable and we really appreciate them! Thanks again guys!

Saturday morning, we got to spend some time with Devin, Julie and Anna at Classic Skating. We always have so much fun with those guys! They busted out the hockey nets and sticks and we all had ourselves a little game. I'm sure glad we didn't keep score. Spencer even came too, despite his late night, or shall I say early morning. I think it's been a while since Briant and Spencer have played together, and it was really fun to watch their teamwork. Julie's got skills. Need I say more? Devin and I had a big run in, that I'm sure was fun to watch, but left me with a few bruises.
All the time, Anna and Julie's mom played along the side lines. I couldn't help but get a little distracted once in a while from our game.

It was fun to see her drive this little toy car. She was even shifting!
They put her in a little walker and she had a good time cruising around the rink. Check out this VIDEO OF ANNA (it's at the bottom of the post).
Anna is really starting to get the hang of walking. She is growing up so fast!
Later, we went and had lunch with Briant's Grandpa Giles. He is so funny, and we just love spending time with him.

The football game was a little disappointing but there were some positive points during the night. #1 - We were some of the only BYU fans sitting in the TCU section (they were the best seats we could get), and we didn't get beat up!

#2 - It stopped raining an hour or so before the game and it didn't rain at all during the game.

#3 - We stayed warm!
#4 - Briant got his glasses back so he was able to see everything very clearly.
It's always fun spending time in Utah! There is so much to do! I kinda feel like we don't get in everything we want to, but there is always next time!

Sunny in October!

They said on the news that this was supposed to be the last "nice weekend", weather-wise anyway, and what a nice weekend it was! We got a lot accomplished!

It started out on Friday morning with a trip to the auto body shop. "Let me esplain... no, there is too much, let me sum up." When it get's cold in Idaho, and your car sleeps outside, sometimes your door will freeze shut. Such was the case a few weeks ago. Instead of patiently prying it open from the top of the door, where it was firm, I just yanked on my handle a little harder. Natural consequence... car handle breaks off, leaving you wondering how you are to enter your car now! So after paying (literally, more than I'd like to) for my stupidity, my car now has a new handle!

Next, on the nice weekend agenda... installing the new screen door. We had quite a cold draft last winter. Our doors don't seal very well, and this causes our house to be colder than it should be. So this year we decided to fix the problem. We put on more weather striping on the downstairs door last week (this ended up being a very frustrating chore, since we both aren't really 'Felix Fix It') and bought a screen door for our upstairs door. Thank goodness we decided to have Home Depot install the screen door; we would have been in big trouble on our own! They came on Friday afternoon, and while they installed it, I chopped off my annuals, in prep for winter. The screen door looks great, and in fact you really can't even tell it is there! I'm really hoping this helps me stay warm this winter!

Saturday morning we got up and dug under the garden. A week ago, my Aunt and I got some compost and soil pep to mix into my garden. THANKS PAM!!! Hopefully this will give it some nutrients, and keep it from being so rock hard next year! So now our garden is officially put to bed until next year.

Briant went to the eye doctor this week and got a new prescription. So we got to pick out some new glasses for him. I'll post a picture of his pricey four eyes when we get them back. They really do look good.

What better thing to do on a nice October day than to spend some more time outside eh? Saturday afternoon, we loaded up our roller blades, jumped on our bikes, and rode to the church parking lot. They just got it refinished so it was nice and smooth! We played a little hockey... little being the key word... we only have one stick. So we have to switch off. I learn something new everytime we play. This was really my first time playing on skates... it's a lot harder, but my skating skills are improving big time! Hockey is much more fun to play than to watch!

The sunny weather is nice to have. Pretty soon, the clouds will cover the sky, and the snow will stick. Sometimes, I wish it could be this nice mix all winter long. Not too hot, but not really cold. Alas, I would probably get bored with that in the end, so I try to remember, there are good things with every season.

I've started making Pumpkin Rolls again at GH. That will pretty much be my life until Christmas is over with. Tell all your friends to come get some, they are super good! With the start of PR's I can't help but think about Thanksgiving and Christmas. The smell of the cold in the air, and the aroma of pumpkin at work really gives me that dejavu feeling, and it gets me really excited for the upcoming season! After all, this is one of my favorite times of the year!