I DID IT!!!

Yahoooooo!!!! I did it! I have never made homemade bread before and today I DID! I got the recipe from a darling friend. I called her this morning to get some more tips on the whole bread making thing. Well, she gave me some more tips and off I went on my little adventure. It was very fun, plus I kept being surprised every time I looked to see how it was rising. It doubled and double and doubled again. The best part was TASTING it. It is so yummy! Thanks for the recipe Alys.

Here is a picture of my first ever homemade bread. Below is the recipe if you want to try it out. MMM MMM GOOD!


Grandma's Homemade Bread
from the kitchen of M. Cloward

1) Scald
2 cups milk
1/4 cup shortening

ADD TO MILK AND SHORTENING:
4 tsp salt
1/4 cup sugar

2) Let mixture cool.

3) Mix together in a medium bowl
1 tsp sugar
2 packages yeast
1 cup warm water

4) Set aside for 10 minutes to activate yeast.

5) Mix milk mixture and yeast mixture in a large bowl.

6) Add 2 cups of flour and beat mixture 200 strokes.

7) Slowly add 4 to 5 cups of flour, mixing after each new addition.

8) Let dough rest 10 minutes

9) Knead dough for 10 minutes

10) Let dough double in size

11) Punch down and let it rise again.

12) Punch all the air out and form two loaves of bread. Place the loaves into buttered bread pans. If desired, butter the tops of loaves. Let the dough rise again.

13) Bake at 400 for about 25 minutes.

Here are some of Alyssa's tips:
1) To speed up step 2, you can put the bowl on ice
2) In step 7, I add closer to 4 cups of flour
3) You can always use your Kitchenaid dough hook to do the kneading for you. . .

Such a Sweet Girl!

Sometime last year we switched Mylo into his "Big Boy" bed. When this all happened Leah really wanted to get a new bed and redo her bedroom. Well, the time has finally come. Thanks to IKEA, I love that place. Leah and I went to IKEA on Presidents Day and got what we needed to give her room a little make over. The truth is that Leah has earned this make over. She has been a very good girl for the past few months and has been a true pleasure to have around (not that she wasn't before).

Here is a picture of the before....

Here is the after....


Here's the part were "She is such a sweet girl"... After we fixed up her room all beautiful the next morning she woke up made her bed, as she usually does, that is one of her chores, picked out an outfit for the day and went upstairs to do the usual morning thing. Well, when I finally got out of bed I went in to her room and then to Mylo's, who by this point was already upstairs also, and to my SURPRISE Leah had made Mylo's bed as well. How SWEET is that?!?!? I have NEVER asked her to make his bed but she did it out of the kindness of her sweet little heart. What a doll I have. She is always willing to help and loves to help Mylo. I gave her lots of praise for her sweet kind service. She is a true joy to have around. I just ADORE her!!! I feel blessed to have a sweet little princess in my life... she makes everything very exciting. Here she is looking "Oh So Sweet"

Snow Buddies!!!

I must start by saying that Dave is an amazing dad. Leah and Mylo love hanging out with him. We all get very excited to see him come home and love to have him with us on the weekends. He is always a lot of fun. This winter the kids have had a lot of fun playing with Dave in the snow. I never had snow growing up so to me its all a big mess, however, I love to see the kids play with Dave out there. I have never in my whole life been sledding (actually I did once when I was like 9 or 10). I got to this winter and I was very fun. The kids love to play out in the snow while Dave shovels the endless snow and then they get to build a snowman, or go sledding, or even practice their snowboarding skills. They are lucky to have a snow buddy like their Dad!!!

Here are pictures from this winter's fun in the snow!!!

San Diego with the kids!

Dave's sister, Sarah, lives in Carlsbad, CA. We like to go visit her and her family when we get the chance. We often see them in the summer when they come up for family get-togethers. They're a lot of fun. They have two girls the oldest is Megan (soon to be 8!) and the second is Maddison (she is 5). Since they live so far away, we don't get to see them much. The kids and I got to go late August to visit. The trip was very fun, as it always is. We went to Animal Kingdom, fed the parakeets (I think that's what they are), went on their little safari, which is always fun, and even though I had a splitting migraine, we had a great time there. We went swimming at the pool at their house, and of course went shopping (Sarah is a great bargain shopper). One of the funnest times was at the beach. I love the beach. It was later in the day, so it wasn't terribly hot but just perfect. The kids had a great time playing in the sand and Leah had fun running away from the waves. The kids did get sick. Leah came home to find out she had pneumonia and Mylo got krup. Regardless it was a lot of fun! Thanks Pearce Family for your hospitality! You guys are great!!!

Here slide show from our trip.

We got back on Sat September 1st and on the 2nd we found out we were expecting our 3 baby. I was due to have a baby this month and yet, here I was I got it anyway!!! I was and still am so thrilled to have another baby. Yippy!!!

A BIG boy!!!

Mylo is over 2 and a half. The new baby is due to arrive just before he turns 3. So, I have for the third time tried potty training him. I had to try three different times before Leah got it. So.... I am so happy to tell all of you that Mylo is a BIG BOY! He has been amazing! He has been potty training for a month now and really he was a pro in the second week. He still won't tell me when he has to go but I have him go just about every hour. He wakes up dry from his naps very often but I am still cautious just in case. He was a piece of cake to train. This past week he started peeing standing up... it's so cute (and funny) to watch him, cause he is so little and can barely clear the toilet. Needless to say I have been cleaning that bathroom every time after he uses. He has said some really cute things through this whole process. My favorite has been...

I potty training like dad!

This picture was taken just before a bath. Mylo was only 7 month. Way before he was even think he peed or pooped. I love his rolls!!! They are all gone now.

Let the recaps of 2007 begin!

I have read many blogs in the last few days trying to figure out how to incorporate some ideas to my own. I really want to update some of the exciting, and maybe some not-so-exciting, things that happened last year in my blog... while they are some what still fresh in my mind. I will start with the beginning of year in 2007. More post will soon come relating to my "recap of 2007".

So, with that said...the first thing I can remember in 2007 was our Hawaii trip. Dave and I had a dream to some day go to Hawaii together. We had that blessed opportunity last March and we had a ball! We went to Maui and stayed in Wailea Beach. We went with another friend couple, Tiffany and Zeke Guzman. Once we booked the tickets I started the count down. I knew it was going to be like paradise. The second we stepped off the airplane it was great, a bit humid but WOW! I couldn't believe it, I was in Hawaii!!! Thinking about it now makes me want to get up off my chair and scream from excitement. We were there for 8 days filled with lots of fun things to do. My most memorable times were: Our first walk on the beach, early morning walks, snorkeling on Molokini, swimming with five sea turtles, laying out on the beach, watching Dave body surf... so funny..., the constant on the look out for whales to breech, sitting on the hotel lounge chairs over looking the ocean, great sea food and kayaking on the ocean. One thing that still takes us back to our Hawaii experience is the ever so delicious Lava Flows, included in our hotel stay were two drinks a day, we had these Lava Flows every day. Its a piña colada drink with strawberry puree on the bottom making it look like the lava is actually flowing. They are soooo good! Oh my goodness!!! It really was paradise! There are so many more things that were so fun to do. I am sure that we will return some day. We had a great great time.

The kids stayed home with the best babysitter in the world, Abuela Mercedes. They missed mom and dad but were very well taken care of by Abuela. They were excited to see us come home again and also see all the fun things we did. After this amazing week in Hawaii we only had one not so fun news. We had been expecting our third baby and the day we got home we found out I had lost the baby. It was one of the hardest things I have ever had to endure. We were so excited to have another baby. I thought perhaps something might be wrong but I pushed it away really hoping not to have to go through yet another miscarriage. It was extremely sad times but the bond Dave and I had formed in Hawaii helped us get over it. To top it off Maria had a baby the after I miscarried. It was a bitter sweet time for me. I am grateful that my Father in Heaven blessed Marcos and Maria with Preston and even though I didn't get my little angel sent to me at that time... As you know now, I am expecting our a baby girl in May of 2008!!!

I hope you enjoy the slide show of our fun Hawaii Trip!

Make photo slide shows at www.OneTrueMedia.com

Happy Birthday Tomat!!!!

A special day for a special girl.... Happy B-day Tomat!I love my little sister! She is turning 27 today! Some of the things I love most about Tomi is her sense of humor, although a little sensitive at times, she is very funny and we have lots of inside jokes that really don't need to be explained. We know what each other thinks and likes. Tomi is an amazing and very loyal friend. She has always had a lot of friends, who adore her for she is super fun and has a ready-to-do anything attitude. As the years have passed she has impressed me with her dedication to be successful. Even though she lives far away, we have been able to keep in touch and that is a priceless gift to me. I love you, Tomi!!! Hope you have a great day girl! You are the best! Thanks for being a great friend.

Fancy Valentine's Fun!

We have this book called "Fancy Nancy" that Dave's Aunt Nancy gave Leah for her 5th b-day last year. We love that book. Its all about being fancy. So, for Valentine's Day I had decided I would have a "Fancy" dinner for Dave and I. As I contemplated the days events and really Valentine's is all about LOVE, I thought it would be fun to include the kids on this "fancy" dinner. So, we went to the grocery store and purchased all we needed for our "fancy" dinner. I got dinner ready and had Leah help me "fancy-out" the dinner table. It was really fun. She has fun ideas and is a great little decorator already. I love sharing these moments with her. The best part is that I had all the decorations in my house already. When Dave got home from work dinner was ready, we had the candles lit and as soon as he walked in the door we yelled, "WE LOVE YOU!!!". The night felt so special. I made a regular dinner of red potatoes, oven baked chicken and asparagus. For desert we had chocolate covered strawberries. We all shared what we loved about each other and that was very special. It was nice to feel so much love in the house... plus we had made a very special memory and a new tradition.

A little about us!

A little about our family.... Dave and I have been married since October of '99. We have had lots of fun through out the years. After being married for three years we welcomed our first child into the world. Leah, came on October of 2002. She was and is a very happy little princess. She brings a lot of fun and drama to our lives and family.

In May of 2005 we welcomed our second child in to the world. Mylo, our boy, was and is a super mellow baby. He would sit and watch me for hours, as happy as could be. He is still a very mellow kid who goes along with pretty much anything. He is a joy to have in our family.

I have really enjoyed watching these two monkeys grow up thus far. Some of my favorite moments is to watch or hear them playing together. It takes me back to when I was a child playing with my siblings.
We are due to welcome yet another baby in May of 2008. We look forward to her arrival as it has been a long time coming. I am sure she will be a great addition to our family.