Primary Talent Show

Our ward had a Primary talent show a week ago. It was so much fun! We asked Kyler if he wanted to whistle because he is such a good whistler. He said "No. I want to do basketball!" So we set up some chairs on the stage and he dribbled around them and passed the ball to Mike, while I commentated. Go, Ky!

With Addie, everything is a song. So we practiced the chorus of Follow the Prophet with her. We rehearsed with a microphone at home and Mike took her to the talent show early so she would be comfortable with the stage. We weren't sure if she'd actually do it. But she surprised us. She grabbed the mic from Mike and started belting out her (very short) rendition of Follow the Prophet. It was so funny! I laughed so hard I was crying. The "attempt" at a somersault at the end just adds to the funniness. Here's the video. She surprised me and started so quickly I missed the first few seconds. Funny Addie!

Junior Jazz

Kyler started his first year of Junior Jazz in January. He plays at the Logan Rec Center and his team is the Hawks. He's having so much fun. He has a great coach and is learning a lot. It's fun to watch 1st and 2nd graders play. He only has two more games left, but then soccer starts in April. (His other favorite sport!) Go Jr. Jazz!

Dominoes

I came up with this after-school snack last school year when Kyler was in Kindergarten. We call it Dominoes. It's graham crackers, peanut butter, and chocolate chips. Kyler now helps me make them and he's very particular about the number of chocolate chips on each Domino. When he was in Kindergarten, we'd say, "Eat the one with the least number of chocolate chips..." I think he still eats it that way. Now, Kyler asks for them almost every day after school. Yum!

"Sweet" Food Storage

I decided to start using the dry milk that's in my food storage. I used it a little in the past for making bread, that's pretty much it. But a web site www.funwithfoodstorage.com inspired me to use in a lot more often. So recently we were making a dessert and it called for sweetened condensed milk and we didn't have any. You can make it from your dry milk! The dessert turned out great. I like the website. It also gives tips on planning and buying your food storage, but I mainly use the "eat it" section. I now use the dry milk in any (almost) recipe that calls for milk. I save the fresh milk for drinking. You can also make evaporated milk and condensed soups (haven't tried that yet). On the website she explains the difference between instant dry milk and non-instant dry milk like what the LDS church cannery has (that's what I use.) A while ago I was feeling ambitious and made my own yogurt from dry milk and an old heating pad as an incubator. Sounds weird, but it worked! I mainly used the yogurt in my smoothies. Here's the recipe for the sweetened condensed milk from non-instant dry milk.

Sweetened Condensed Milk (14 oz can)
1/2 c. hot water
1 c. dry powdered milk
1 c. sugar
1 T. Butter
Blend VERY WELL in blender.

A Christmas miracle

A good picture of Addie. That's what we're calling a Christmas miracle. No weird poses or weird smiles. Her eyes are open and she's looking at the camera! What a cute smile and she looked so cute in her Christmas dress.

Kyler looked cute, too!

Lights at Temple Square

We went to Temple Square the Saturday before Christmas. It was crazy busy, but we still had a great time!

Christmas Traditions

One of our traditions, in the time Mike and I have been married, is to buy a new Christmas book each year. At the front of the book, I put the names of the people in our family and the year. This year I bought our tenth Christmas book! I decided to buy one with Christmas carols. I was happy to find this one with both hymns and other Christmas favorites. We will read one each day before Christmas, and on Christmas Eve we read Luke 2. Another tradition is one I'm starting this year. Every day in December we'll read a scripture, a thought, or sing a song about Christ. Then we'll put one ornament on a little tabletop tree. This year I think I'll just use things I have around the house for ornaments, like tiny homemade paper stars and snowflakes, ribbon, etc. Then by Christmas day, the tree will be decorated!