Yum Yum!

Last week, Craig and I were in the mood to make a sweet treat. One that was easy, very yummy, and a recipe that we had all the ingredients for. Well, we found it! They are peanut butter balls. They are so good, I've made the recipe twice since then, so three times in one week! Wow! Not good for the waistline I'm trying to shrink, but oh well! One has to splurge on something! Anyway, I thought I'd share the recipe with you.

Peanut Butter Balls (found in the Better Homes and Gardens cookbook-I modified the recipe a little)

1/2 c. peanut butter

3 Tbsp. of butter (softened)

1 c. powdered sugar

8 oz. dipping chocolate (I just used chocolate chips)

Mix together the peanut butter and the butter until well incorporated. Gradually add the powdered sugar. Roll into little balls (The recipe says 1-inch balls, but who measures anyway!) and set on wax paper lined cookie sheet or plate. Melt the chocolate in the microwave. Dip the balls in the chocolate using a fork. I tapped the fork on the container the chocolate was in to get rid of the excess chocolate. After all the balls are dipped, place in the refrigerator to set up the chocolate. They are ready when the chocolate is not shiny.

I am not a candy maker, therefore, I cannot dip things in chocolate without them looking like a mess. I somehow also made the balls look like misshapen blobs! Hehe! I don't care though! I'm just going to eat them anyway!

Happy Birthday!

My little girl is 3 months old today! She has grown so much in just the past month. She can now smile a lot, she can laugh, she loves to look around everywhere, she talks a lot, and she can even grab and play with toys! She even rolled over once! I look back at her newborn pictures and remember how small she was. She is getting so big! I don't know exactly how much she weighs, but she is definitely over 10 pounds! She is such a joy to me and her daddy's life and we feel so blessed that she is a part of our family! Happy Three-month Birthday, Ella! Mom and Dad love you so much! (This picture was actually taken yesterday, but she's close enough to 3-months. It's one of my favorites so far!)

Ella's Special Day

Yes, I know. Two posts in one day. Anyway, yesterday was a special day for our little girl. It was her blessing day. Her daddy blessed her and it was such a nice blessing. He was sooooo nervous, but he didn't even show it! The circle was small, because a few of Craig's friends were supposed to be there, but they didn't show. So, Craig's twin brother Keith, my dad, my brother Marc, and our brother-in-law John (my sister's husband), and Craig's friend Nate were in the circle. Craig's parents are on a mission, so his dad was not able to participate. Ella was so pretty in her beautiful blessing gown! Thanks to my mom for putting in the time to make it!

After Sacrament Meeting, all of our family gathered at our house (well technically his parents' house because we're house-sitting while they are gone) and had a great time visiting and eating. It was a pot-luck style get together, and everybody brought some delicious food! After everybody left, we Skyped Craig's parents, so they were able to take part in the day in some way. It was a very nice day and it was wonderful to be able to be with both our families at once.

Both of our families together

Happy little family

Full view of her dress

Matthew (my nephew) holding Ella

My sister Kerin, her husband John, and Matthew

Keith (Craig's twin) and his daughter Ashlynn

Kerin, my dad, and Craig's sister Melissa

Camping in the Rain!

Last weekend (Labor Day Weekend), we went camping with Craig's two sisters and their families. Our first plan was to go up Friday evening and everybody else would go up Saturday morning, and come home sometime on Monday. It started storming down here in the valley, so we decided to not risk driving a long distance in a storm. Plus, it would be hard to find a camping spot in the dark. So, we decided to leave bright and early Saturday morning. We left around 6am. We took Craig's Altima because it's bigger than my Cobalt and we definitely needed the room with a baby and a dog! We almost didn't get everything fit in the Altima, but Craig is the master of making things fit!

We got up to the usual place and of course our spot was taken, but we found a place just as nice, except for all the traffic of quads that went by. We got set up and really enjoyed the day. The others got there around 1:00 or 2:00 in the afternoon, and it started to rain just soon after they finished setting up. It lasted for about an hour, but was very enjoyable. We had bought a canopy with a bug net so Ella could sit under it and not get bugged by bugs (haha!) or get too much sun. We did not have any problem with too much sun! After the rain let up, we finished getting all our stuff in the tents and so on. It started to get pretty chilly an never got warm the rest of the trip.

The next day was miserable after around 11am. It not only rained, but it stormed, and was downright cold! I think the temp. was around 40 degrees. Yes. In Arizona. In the summer. We were prepared, though! Anyway, the rain never really let up, so around 3 or 4pm, Craig and I stared packing up to leave with poor Ella bundled up in her carseat in the car. And that was Ella's first camping trip. I wouldn't call it a bust. We had lots of fun the first day and a half. It was an adventure, and I love adventures!

Hobbies

A couple of weeks ago, I decided I needed a new hobby. I was tired of not really having anything to do when the baby is sleeping and when I'm not cleaning. So, Craig and I went down to Joann's to find something for me to to. I am not a crafty person, but I thought I'd give it a try. I have a sewing machine, but I don't feel like getting it out a sewing something. Besides, patterns and fabric and all the notions can get pricey. We walked straight past the scrapbooking section (I HATE scrapbooking and do not plan on ever doing it again) and then started walking up and down the aisles.

Then I saw it. It looked interesting and challenging, but not too challenging for my non-crafty self. I remembered back when I was young, I had a big box of beads to make jewelry with. I had many hours of fun doing that, so a new and more sophisticated type of jewelry-making was just what I needed! So, the new hobby that I chose is making wire jewelry. Like bending wire into neat little shapes, adding beads and creating a cute piece of jewelry. It looked pretty easy too!

We got home and I was very excited to try out my new hobby! It is fun. However, pretty challenging for me because I'm NOT artistic at all. I'm getting a little better at it, though. so far, I have made two pairs of earrings and am working on a necklace that I will give to Ella when she is older. I don't have any pictures yet, but I will post some soon!

ASU ranked 15th in AP Top 25


The ASU Sun Devils will start the 2008 season ranked 15th in the country, according to the Associated Press Top 25, released this morning.
The Sun Devils (10-3 in 2007) are listed 16th in the USA Today coaches preseason poll.
The Georgia Bulldogs are No. 1 in the AP poll, the same place the coaches placed them.
Ohio State, USC, Oklahoma and Florida round out the top five.
Missouri, LSU, West Virginia, Clemson and Auburn are ranked 6th through 10th. That gives the SEC four of the top ten teams in the AP poll.
The only other Pac-10 team to receive preseason consideration by the AP Top 25 is Oregon, ranked 21st.
Cal garnered 59 votes, good for 28th. UCLA got six votes, Oregon State five, Arizona three and Washington one.
ASU opens the season in Aug. 30 at home against Northern Arizona.

She's Growing Up So Fast

Nope. Not talking about Ella. Not talking about my wonderful nieces either. Who am I talking about? Her name is Marcy. In fact, she's not even human. She is our cat. Here she is.

We got her when she was 8 weeks old, just about a year ago. She was the tiniest little thing! She still is, actually. She's probably only about 6 pounds, and she's full grown.

Anyway, as the title says, she's growing up so fast! Okay, so she's technically an adult already and has been for two months. We haven't been able to get her spayed yet (can't wait for October!) and like all female cats who have not been fixed, she has been going in and out of heat. At times, this has made us a bit insane. If you've ever had a cat that's gone into heat, you know how it is! So, because of this, there have been many cats hanging around outside the house. This is a good time to mention she is an indoor only cat.

Well, our little kitten has officially been through her first "relationship"! Yes, she had a boyfriend! He started to hang out right by our front door every day for about 2 weeks, and they would even look at each other through the front window. It was so cute! We really liked him, and approved of him and named him Marco to fit with Marcy's name. Although we would never let them come in contact with each other because we don't want little kittens running around! One day last week, I went out to go take a picture of Marco, and he wasn't there. It was a very sad day for our family. We're hoping he'll come back someday.