O Holy Night

I just had to write about Christmas and how each Christmas I reflect when I was in Bethlehem and we went to the feilds outside of Bethlehem in late November. I walked out into the feilds and the light was much like in this picture, we sang Christmas hymns and I looked up at the sky and how I knew that the Jesus Christ was a real man that was born in that town many years ago to bring peace to the earth. The world is forever changed because of the love of our Heavenly Father and the sacrifice of his Son. Christmas is such a beautiful season because it is the season that is about love, giving and forgiveness. All of these attributes of the Prince of Peace. I love the spirit of Christmas.

ABC's of me! Tagged

ABC's About Me
A - Attached or Single: Attached- Got Hitched to Mark!
B - Best Friend: Mark, my sisters, mom, courtney, alycia. Okay I got lots of wonderful friends
C - Cake or Pie: This one is tough, because I love both, but I think pie, a good berry pie can't be beat!
D - Day of choice: Saturday, its the day Mark and I get to do fun stuff and no work!
E - Essential Item: my whisk and heat resistant spatulas, a whisk is so nice when you are cooking and baking. I think I could never have too many spatulas!
F - Favorite Color: Probably red, I love all the different shades of red, it just catches my eye!
G - Gummy Bears or Worms: Worms, worms are more fun to eat and last a little longer
H - Hometown: Kalispell, Montana
I - Indulgence(s): I got my fist pedicure this summer and I am definitly a fan, I will keep up that indulgence up!
J - January or July: I love JULY! The fourth is always so fun, and has so many good memories.
K - Kids: Not yet! But hopefully someday soon! I will crack up if all we have are girls cause Mark is really rooting hard for boys!
L - Life is incomplete without: My Family
M - Marriage Date: September 15, 2007
N - Number of Siblings: 3 sisters one brother
O - Oranges or Apples: Apples, I love the fall here with all the different kinds of apples, and I love apple crisp, my sister Gabe, is a trophy winning apple crisp maker, so I am lucky to have her!
P - Phobias or Fears: I really hate moths, they are so gross and dumb, they just fly straight into you, yuck it grosses me out!
Q - Quotes: My favorite of all time has to be when Audrey, Gabe and I were standing in my parents kitchen and Audrey starts out the conversation by saying "The other day Homer was telling me....." I know I laughed so hard with Gabe I thought we were going to pee our pants.
R - Reason to smile: Mark and I are healthy and happy and have good jobs. Oh and my really cute neice and nephews too!
S - Season: SUMMER, I really loved this summer, being married, going camping, boating and enjoying the sun!
T - Tag Five Friends: Maile, Laura, Gabrielle, Andrea, Julie
U - Unknown fact about me:I set the sit and reach record in 9th grade!It was still up there last time I looked about 3 years ago! Woohoo Me!
V - Very favorite Store: Okay I love going to Grocery outlet and finding deals. I also love going to any sort of kitchen store and dreaming about all the fun things I could make!
W - Worst habit: not putting away our clean clothes, I will do the laudry but then not want to fold it and put it away!
X - X-ray or Ultrasound: Well I am going with Ultrasound, x-rays that I have had are not fun at all, especially those dentist ones, they make you bite down and it always cuts my cheeck or gums! Ultrasounds can bring such great news, like having babies
Y - Your favorite food: I love homemade salsa, any sort of vegetables. This question is way to hard, basically I love food!
Z - Zodiac: pieces

Apple Cheesecake Bars with Caramel Sauce

These are fantastically amazing tasting! I got this recipe from a Paula Dean cookbook and made them for the missionaries coming over to dinner last night. We all loved them a lot!!! The receipe is below. A word of caution you won't be able to stop eating these. Oh I used 5 apples instead of three. I like more apple.

2 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 cup firmly packed brown sugar
1 cup (2 sticks) butter, softened
2 (8-ounce) packages cream cheese, softened
1/2 cup sugar, plus 2 tablespoons, divided
2 large eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
3 Granny Smith apples, peeled, cored and finely chopped
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg
Streusel topping, recipe follows
1/2 cup caramel topping

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
In a medium bowl, combine flour and brown sugar. Cut in butter with a pastry blender until mixture is crumbly. Press evenly into a 13 by 9 by 2-inch baking pan lined with heavy-duty aluminum foil. Bake 15 minutes or until lightly browned.
In a large bowl, beat cream cheese with 1/2 cup sugar in an electric mixer at medium speed until smooth. Then add eggs, 1 at a time, and vanilla. Stir to combine. Pour over warm crust.
In a small bowl, stir together chopped apples, remaining 2 tablespoons sugar, cinnamon, and nutmeg. Spoon evenly over cream cheese mixture. Sprinkle evenly with Streusel topping. Bake 30 minutes, or until filling is set. Drizzle with caramel topping.

Streusel Topping:
1 cup firmly packed brown sugar
1 cup all-purpose flour
1/2 cup quick cooking oats
1/2 cup (1 stick) butter, softened
In a small bowl, combine all ingredients.

One Year!!!

One Year Anniversary!

I can't believe it has already been one year. I have a picture of the beautiful roses Mark got me on our camera, but the camera is having issues so I will post that later. I came home to a dozen beautiful roses on table with a very nice card. We went to dinner at a great Italian restaurant and had a really nice evening. We talked alot about our wedding day one year ago. I am so glad I married Mark. He loves me a lot and is a good man. The first year of marriage has been such a good thing for the both of us. I do love him more and more each day. Thanks again to all those of you who supported us and shared that day.

Montana Vacation

We got to go to Montana for week and it was lots of fun. We had so much fun that by Saturday it was hard to get off the couch and want to anything more. It was so fun to be home, and go mountain biking, boating, kyaking, hiking, shopping and be with my family. All of the kids were home that week so it was so fun and busy! Thanks to Mom and Dad for being such good hosts and we had a great time. Even when Mark and Dad were hiking out of Jewel Basin as fast as they could in a torrential hurricane weather makes for great memories!

Mark, Dave, Nate and Gabe got to do some serious mountain biking on Big Mountain and loved it! It was Mark's first experience with riding the chair up and going down on the bike. He loved it! Which isn't suprising, mainly because it involves a whole bunch of speed!

Marriage Lesson- Boys and motors!

One thing I have learned a lot about being married to Mark is about anything with motors!

I have learned about horsepower, transmissions, power steering boxes, turbo-charged, 1 ton vs. 1/2 ton, and the importance of four wheel drive! Whew and this is only 10 months of marriage......
This is his ATV that we take out riding in the Sand Dunes. Two weeks ago the Jensen family came with us out to Sand Lake and we rode all over the dunes and the beach and camped. It was really fun. Avery called the the four-wheelers Motorcycles and told Mark while she riding with him she told him to, "Mark go faster!" We had a great time, and I am getting to be a much better clutch driver.

Aunt Bobbie gets to Babysit!

I got to babysit Cannon and Quinny this past Tuesday while Nate and Maile went on a date for Maile's birthday! It was so fun! We got to go to dinner at Samarai Sam's and then go to Cold Stone and then come home and play Operation. What a great night and it awesome to be a Aunt. Quinn asked me several questions like "What is a date?" and "What is a play?" and "Do people tell jokes in plays?" "Do they tell jokes like why did the elephant sit on the house in plays?" It was cracking me up. Cannon gave me so many loves and "pat, pat, pats" on my back. He give you pats on your back and says "pat, pat, pat" as he is doing it. It made me feel really special. I am excited for Nate and Maile to go on another date, cause I had such a good time! Oh thanks to Maile, I stole this picture from her!

Olympics

I love the Olympics! I am very excited for them to start. I love the swimming, diving, gymnastics! It is awesome to watch people do amazing things with their bodies and be in such amazing shape. I remember one as a kid summer olympics watching Mary lou Retton win the gold, with a perfect 10! That was so exciting. I am excited to see how we do this summer! GO USA!

My Mom and Dad were in town last week and I took last Friday off to pick berries with my Mom and my sisters! (We missed Audrey of course) So we made tons and tons of raspberry jam last Friday the 11th. Then I had ordered 15 pounds of raspberries from the Rotary club, they arrived on this past Thursdaythe 17th. So Friday night I made more raspberry jam. So if there is ever a disaster and there are no grocery stores open, Mark and I will living on Raspberry Jam exclusively, cause that is basically all that is in our freezer! Good thing we both really love it.

Gabe and Dave Got a Boat!

So we are pretty excited Gabe and Dave got a boat! Which mean lots of fun times in the water. I LOVE waterskiing and tubing. We went last weekend and had an awesome time. My mom and Dad were in town too, and it was great to spend some time with them!

TAGGED by Maile!

Finally updating my blog!

1. What were you doing 10 years ago? Iwas in my going to Utah state and just finished by sophmore year of college, during the summer I was working at Flathead Lake Lodge, so fun!

2. What are five things on your list today? Make it through Friday, make raspberry jam, make a raspberry pie for my hubby (can you tell it is raspberry season?) go swim, pick up my car from the shop.

3. What snacks do you enjoy? hummus, Chips and salsa(especially Mailes and Gabes) Necturines, cookies, my mom's homemade tapicoa pudding we had after-school sometimes!

4. What would you do if you were a billionaire? Oh boy where do I start, buy an awesome big house in Montana on a lake where all the family and friends could come stay and play and have a great time. Give away a lot of money to children's not for profits. Set up education funds for my family, Travel. Quit work and volunteer at the not-for profit here in Salem for children 6 months-6 years old. That would be awesome!

5. What places have you lived in?
Kalispell, MT;
Provo, Utah;
Logan, Utah;
Jerusalem, Isreal;
Hailey, Idaho;
Salem, Oregon;
Odense, Denmark

Penne Rustica

Marcorni Grill Penne Rustica
This recipes is awesome! I made it for to have the missionaries over and wow it was yummy. Laura let me know about the blog yourhomebasedmom.com and I got the recipes off of her site.
FYI this recipe makes TONS, I obviously cut in half and it made one really full 9 X 13.

Ingredients:12 oz. grilled chicken breast (marinate in olive oil and garlic salt overnight, then grill on barbecue for best flavor)½ pack thick bacon 48 oz. (3 boxes) penne pasta2 large red bell peppers- diced1 cup grated parmesan cheese½ tsp paprika

Gratinata Sauce:2 tsp butter2 tsp chopped garlic1 cup marsala wine OR 1/3 cup apple juice + 2 tbsp red wine vinegar +enough chicken broth to equal 1 cup1 tsp dijon or dry mustard1 tsp salt1 tsp chopped rosemary¼ tsp cayenne pepper8 cups heavy cream

Directions:Sauté garlic in butter in large pan. Add marsala wine, mustard, salt, rosemary, cayenne pepper, and heavy cream.Cook pasta according to directions. Cook bacon. Slice chicken into medium-bite size pieces.Combine sauce, cooked pasta, diced chicken, cooked bacon, bell peppers, parmesan cheese, and paprika and mix thoroughly. Spread in pans. Top with chopped rosemary and mozzarella cheese.

Bake @ 475 for 10 minutes.

If frozen, thaw in refrigerator the day of. Cover with foil and bake @ 375 for 1 hour. Remove foil during the last 15 minutes.Number Of Servings: Yields one 8×8 and two 9×13 casserole dishes. Preparation Time: More than an hour

30!

I turned 30! Holy Cow what happened? Yesterday I swear I was 23 and woke up today and I 30. It is good though cause I got to share my birthday with Quinn(nephew) and Myah.

I love our mouth full of food smiles!