Moving

Theses boys do not want to move!  Look at them!!!  In two weeks, we have to be out of our house here in Layton.  Because Dad did such an amazing job fixing this house up, it sold in less then a week on the market. Yeah, that is how good his skills are.  However, it leaves us about 2 1/2 months soon than we wanted to be out of here.  So, we are going to live on the road, and if you want us to stop by, lets us know!  We will probably be moving to our final destination in the beginning of June.  And that destination will be: Bay City, Michigan.  Tim is going to do a preliminary year there, and we hope we like the place. :)  Our time here in Utah went way too fast, and we are sad to see it come to a close.  

Snicker

One thing I love to do when I am totally stressed is to bake something.   I have a whole house to pack up in  a few weeks, so I decided to make some cookies.  Carter was my assistant, and he loved it!!!  And, these are by far the best Snickerdoodle's I have ever had!  Enjoy!!!!

Snickerdoodle's 

Source: Chef In You

1/4 C. butter

1/4 C. shortening

3/4 C. sugar

1 egg

1t. vanilla

1-1/3C. + 1T. flour

1t. cream of tartar {or white vinegar}

1/2t. baking soda

1/8 t. salt

2-3 T. sugar

2t. cinnamon

- Preheat your oven to 400 degrees. Line two cookie sheets with parchment paper. Set aside. 

- Now, this recipe works MUCH better if you mix it by hand. So, start by creaming your butter and shortening.  Add the sugar, and mix well. Beat in the egg and vanilla. {this is when you'd add the vinegar if you're substituting} 

- In a separate bowl, whisk together the flour, cream of tartar, baking soda and salt. Slowly stir in the dry ingredients. 

- In a small shallow bowl, combine 2-3T. sugar with the cinnamon. Scoop a heaping teaspoon of dough, and form into a ball. Roll the ball in the sugar mixture and place on baking sheet. Continue until all the dough is rolled out. 

- Bake for 8-10 minutes. Some people find that their ovens cook hot. If that's the case, you're cookies could be done as soon as 5 minutes. So keep a close eye on them. I made mine a bit larger, so they took about 12 minutes. 

Tips:

* make sure your butter is soft!

* You want your egg at room temp.

* and finally, you want to hand mix. Something about the mixer makes 

these come out flat and hard...

Date Day

With Mom and Dad in town, Tim and I took advantage of having a live in babysitter and went skiing.  We thought it was going to be a pretty bad day on the slopes since it was supposed to rain, but boy were we in for a surprise.  It ended up snowing all day long, and we had one of the best powder days ever!  We got spoiled using the Gondola and have decided to never use a chair lift again!  I was exhausted at the end of the day (and for 2 days following), but it was sooo much fun.  Thanks for watching Carter Mom and Dad! 

28 Years?

Ok, so I am almost a month late on this post.  Finally it is here!  I turned 28 last month, and it was a great birthday.  Mom and Dad were here working on the house, and Andrea came up with all the kids.  It has probably been 10 years since I have gotten to celebrate my birthday with family, so that was amazing!  We let the kids have a fun day playing and then we went out to dinner and had cake.  Tim spoiled me again with going shopping for me and picking out some super cute clothes.  It was so much fun to just be with loved ones, and I don't even feel older!   

Straight Please

Yeah, that is my spine.

Yeah, it should be straight.

Yeah, that is why I have been suffering back pain for 10 years.

Yeah, it is scoliosis.  

And Yeah, that sucks.

But, I have started Physical Therapy twice a week so I can learn to take care of my back for the rest of my life.  I have to take better care of it, or else I will end up getting rods put in a lot sooner than I want.  The Doctor said I have the back of a 70 year old.  Awesome!  What is more disturbing than the shifting of my spine, is the narrow joint spaces at the bottom.  See, that causes a lot of pain.  So, lets hope all these stretches and exercises work.