We've got news...

IT'S A GIRL!

That's right, we went to the doctor this morning for an ultrasound and we found out that we'll be having a little girl in January. What was my initial reaction? Incredulous. Amazed. A girl? Crazy! I've only ever experienced a boy, so I can't imagine having a girl. Although I was totally surprised, I am super excited! I'm 21 1/2 weeks along now, so this pregnancy is moving right along. :) Now for a name.....

Will you meet with the Bishop before church?

Today Jed and I received a joint calling for our new ward...

NURSERY LEADERS!

We had a suspicion that we would be called to the Primary in some way... Positively thinking, I think it will be fun to teach the little toddlers about Jesus, and interact with them. Having my own son at that age makes it a more exciting calling, because I know how much they are learning and taking in. And they are all so cute!

Before I even knew of the calling, I was simulating a bit of nursery at home... On Saturday, Benjamin and I made crafts that would help him learn some Primary songs. We colored stars with yellow crayons, cut them out, and taped them to the ends of chopsticks and used them to sing "I am like a Star Shining Brightly." We also made a little sun out of a styrofoam plate and used it to sing "Jesus wants me for a Sunbeam." Benjamin looked so adorable with his little sun around his face that I had to get out the camera. When I said, "Smile!" he gave me his classic scowling face:

What a little ray of sunshine! Hahaha! I promise he was actually having fun!

He really enjoys singing primary songs. Before he goes to sleep I always sing him some songs. He sometimes tries to sing along with some of them, and he is good at the actions for "I'm so glad when Daddy comes home." Lately he's been saying, "Jesus! Jesus!" to ask me to sing a song about Jesus. If I start a song that doesn't actually have the word 'Jesus' in it, he will interrupt me with "No, Jesus!" Recently, even if I start singing a song about Jesus, he will interrupt me with "No, Jesus baptized!" Yeah, for some reason his all-time favorite song is the one that goes, "Jesus came to John the Baptist in Judea long ago..." I'm not sure why he is so attached to that one, but whatever!

Now where's that umbrella?

Wow, it's rained almost every day this week. It doesn't necessarily rain all day, just for part of it. It even rained the morning of our Tigers game, but by the afternoon it was in the mid 80's.

A few days ago we had a massive storm. One moment it was a normal evening and the next moment, it went really dark and there was torrential rain, high winds, and thunder & lightening. It was awesome! Benjamin and I opened the front door to try to sit on our covered patio to watch the storm, but the rain was being driven under the awning.
My potted coleus was tipped over in the wind, and Benjamin was very concerned. He kept pointing to it and saying "uh-oh! Fell! uh-oh, Fell!" over and over. I had to tell him multiple times that it was okay, and that if I tried to go fix it, I would be soaked in a matter of milli-seconds. Still, I ended up having to drag my little boy back into the house so I could close the door, while he frantically repeated, "uh-oh! uh-oh! Fell! Fell!"

4 YEARS!

Yesterday marked our 4 year anniversary. Jed always plans some surprise for me on special days like our anniversary and my birthday. He is such a fun husband! This is how our day went:

We had crepes and smoothies for breakfast, and then Jed mysteriously told me that we were leaving at 11:15am. When we loaded up the car and headed out I had no idea where we were going. Our first stop was to the Dixon's home, where Jed dropped off Benjamin to be babysat for 'a few hours'. So, we were going to have the afternoon just to ourselves! We drove to downtown Detroit, where I haven't been yet. It was fun to see all the buildings and old churches, but the traffic and tiny roads were disconcerting - I don't ever want to have to maneuver a car in that place! We parked and started walking... Jed led us down the streets until we came in sight of the TIGERS STADIUM!! We were going to a Tiger's Game!

This was the first Major Leagues game I have ever been to. It was pretty fun to see the players in real life. We had fantastic 'club member' seats, in a balcony on the first row, so we could look down on the game with a perfect view. It was awesome!

Afterward Jed told me we had dinner reservations in a few hours, so I realized this was going to be a whole day out together! We drove a short distance to Belle Isle and looked around. I wanted to go inside the conservatory (pictured below), but it had barely closed. I got a glimpse of their gardens, though. WOW. We'll be going back for sure.

We went to dinner at a Mexican restaurant in Mexicantown in Detroit. We had walked through Greektown to get to the stadium, and now we were eating dinner in Mexicantown. I bet they have a little 'town' for every ethnicity. :)

On our way home Jed pulled into an A&W and ordered us a rootbeer float to share because I've been saying all week that I wanted to buy an A&W float. He is so cute!

We picked up Benjamin from the Dixon's at 7:30pm. They had had him ALL day! We totally owe them. It was so nice of them to take him for us. Jed had made all the arrangements for them to babysit him - it was so sweet.

As I came out of Benny's room after I put him to bed, I saw that Jed had set up the front room for a movie - the couch was pulled up closer to the TV and his laptop was set up with earphones so we could start a movie right away without keeping Benjamin up. We watched it on the TV and listened to it with sets of earphones! It was so fun!

From start to finish, Jed had planned every step of the day, and it was all a surprise. He had carefully planned every tiny detail: our tickets and reservations, maps of how to get to our destinations, babysitting, renting a movie... even to packing some treats for the Tigers game and packing the diaper bag for Benjamin with extra diapers, two sippy cups of milk, and a few snacks. He thought of everthing! I felt so loved! It was such a fun day, and I loved spending it with him. These past four years have been full of happiness, and I feel like we have been so blessed!

Braving the Michigan plague

Today was such a beautiful day! Not burning hot like it was when we first moved in. We've been enjoying cooler cloudy days, which make playing outside much more enjoyable. Except for the mosquitoes. I never knew the meaning of mosquitoes until I moved to Michigan. When you walk on the grass you are immediately enveloped in a CLOUD of mosquitoes. The first time we spent time outside I sprayed my arms, but when Jed told me to spray my ankles I thought, "nah, I'll be fine." I am still suffering from about 10 red dime-sized mosquito bites all over my ankles. What's even sadder is that Benjamin got a huge mosquito bite just under his right eye, and his eye/cheek is all puffy and red now. Not to mention the other bites on his legs. He calls them something like 'see-goo bites'. This place breeds mosquitoes!

"Down Slide! Whoosh!"

Benny and I packed a lunch today and met Jed at the park near our home. It was the coolest park ever. They had an enormous jungle gym that Benjamin thought was SO EXCITING. He particularly loved the slides. On his way up to go down the slide again, he ran up to a lady and excitedly started telling her "down slide! woosh!" while moving his arm to show her how he slid down the slide really fast. It was pretty funny.

Notice the buzz cut. Yeah, I did that the other day. It took a while to get used to it. The first day, every time I looked at him I started to laugh because he looked like such a little army kid. It's for the best, though; when he has long hair it is often damp and sweaty from him running around. Hopefully this buzz cut will help his head emit heat better!!

Save the BEST for last

Harry Potter 7.... This book was AWESOME! It was the perfect ending to the entertaining Harry Potter series. I totally enjoyed it - there were so many unexpected and pleasant twists and turns, and lots of exciting events. I was so happy about all the GOOD that was shown in the characters - like courageous Neville Longbottom, and Kreature and Regulus... and I won't go into any further detail incase someone hasn't read it yet. I just loved that there were so many people who rose to the occasion and sacrificed for the cause they believed in. It was a sweet book! :)
I must say it is in my top ten. (That's big, coming from me. I don't give that status away easily!)

A few last photos from Missouri

I'm back to the blog again! We just finished getting settled at our new home in Michigan. We moved a week and a half ago. We love our home and our neighbors, and in the next two weeks we plan on venturing out to see Detroit and the new city we live in.

I'll post a little video tour of our home in the next while. But for now I'm postinga few pics that we took before we left our little Kirksville.

Jed replaced our muffler before we moved. Look at what a cute dad he is! He lets Benjamin join him in almost everything he does. What a lucky little kid. :)

Our quirky little boy is constantly lining things up meticulously. Yesterday he was playing with some Cars window stickers that his Grandma Sterzer sent him. Later in the day we saw that he had placed them all in a straight vertical line on the sliding glass door. The other day I went into his room and all his matchbox cars, trucks, and tractors were all in a straight line across the floor. He is hilarious!

Here he is in the bathroom with everything he could find all in a row on the bath edge.

Benjamin was such a sweetheart while we were packing and getting ready to move. He was easy going and nondemanding. If we didn't have time to play with him, he was content to sit in the middle of the floor and look at his books.

He loves looking at books, and having them read to him. I kept a big box of books next to me on the 11 hour road trip to Michigan, and he loved looking at them one by one. I would pass a book back to him and then when he was finished looking at it, he would toss it to the side and call to me, "More Book!" We went through that huge stack of books a couple times during the trip.

Grilled Chicken Pesto Panini

Last May, my sister, Melanie, introduced me to the wonderful world of paninis. Then I tried out Katherine's delicious recipe for Tomato, Pesto & Mozzarella Panini, and it was amazing. Last night I made my own version of a panini:

This panini has pesto spread on the inside of both pieces of the Italian bread (I used a Neo-Tuscan Boule). Then I layered grilled chicken (I grilled mine with some lemon pepper on it), tomatoes, avocado, roasted red peppers, and fresh mozzarella cheese (the kind that comes in a ball). I spread a little butter on the outsides of the bread and then grilled it in a George Foreman-type of grill for a few minutes. I served it with a romaine salad and fresh corn on the cob. So good!

To make roasted red peppers, half the bell pepper and remove seeds and stem. Place face down on a sheet of tinfoil (crease the edges up so the juices don't run off), and place under the broiler. Broil until the skin is black all over, about 8 or so minutes. I covered the tops of the pepper with some tin foil when it got black and continued to broil it so the remaining sides could blacken. (You could also put the whole pepper under the broiler and rotate it as it blackens.) Once the skin is black, fold the tinfoil around it to seal in the heat (or place in a bowl and cover with seran wrap) and let sit for 20 minutes. Then rub off the black skin and cut into slices.

LDS Historic Sites

Jed and I decided to go to Kansas City and visit the historic sites of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. It was such a neat experience to remember the trials and the faith of our pioneer ancestors. Some of the tribulations they went through are just indescribable, and yet they still put their trust in God. I am so thankful for the heritage they passed on to us. Here we are at the LDS Visitor's Center in Independence. The Saints gathered here when they were driven from Kirtland, Ohio. But because of persecution and mob attacks in Independence, they soon fled to Liberty and then to Far West.
Jed and Benjamin in front of the cut-away replica of the Liberty Jail, where the prophet Joseph Smith and others were imprisoned the winter of 1838-1839.

Jed and Benny in front of Shoal Creek, where Haun's Mill is located. (Notice Benjamin's amazingly disheveled hair. That's what all day in the car will do to you!)

Jed and I are standing in front of one of the glass encased cornerstones to the dedicated temple plot in Far West. The people were never able to build the temple because they were driven from Far West during the winter of 1839. It broke my heart hearing about how they were forced to leave behind their homes and all their possessions, and flee out into the bitter cold and snow, with nowhere to go. The temple plot is very peaceful, though, and beautiful. I was glad that we could visit this site.

Here's our little family in front of the valley of Adam-ondi-Ahman. This is a very large and wide valley. The green expanse was beautiful.

Moving Days

Today the Paces moved. Next will be the Wilsons, then the Aanderuds, then the Sessions, then the Fields... along with everyone else. Then, there will be me. :) It's so sad to see everyone split up! Everyone is super busy these days with packing and moving. Here I am babysitting Ellie and Abbey while their parents packed up the trucks and cleaned out their homes.

Jed thought it was funny that I was entertaining three toddlers at once, and he took the picture. I didn't want them to get bored, so I was making different voices for the characters in our books, and whispering or speaking with emphasis sometimes, just to keep their attention. :)

Delightful Lemon Icecream

I like homemade icecream...if it's just right. If it doesn't reach that level of perfection, then I would almost rather have store bought. Sometimes it's too creamy and it coats the inside of your mouth with a residue of cream. Sometimes it's too icy and not smooth like icecream ought to be. Sometimes it's bland. But sometimes you taste that perfectly smooth and delicious homemade icecream that knocks you off your feet. Whenever that happens to me with any food, I try to get the recipe. A few years ago I got the recipe for this amazing lemon icecream. It is so wonderful that when I eat it I can't stop myself from closing my eyes and savoring every spoonful. If I could find one more homemade icecream recipe that I loved as much as this one, I would be truly happy!

Lemon Icecream
makes 4 quarts

4 eggs, beaten
3 1/2 c. plus 1 T. sugar
1 T. mexican vanilla
1/2 T. lemon extract
2 quarts whole milk (8 cups)
1 1/2 pints whipping cream (3 cups)

Mix all ingredients and put in a large pot. Heat on medium-high stove, stirring constantly, until an instant-read thermometer registers 160°, about 5 minutes. Let cool slightly, pour into a metal icecream canister and refrigerate for 24 hours.
Freeze in icecream maker according to manufacturers instructions. The secret to good homemade icecream is the ratio between salt and ice. For every 2 inches of ice, add a layer of 1/4 c. rock salt.
When the icecream is frozen, you can take out two big bowl-fulls and then begin mixing the remaining icecream again and it will fill up the churn once more. This is optional, but it makes more icecream for a big crowd.

*When I first got this recipe, I was so sad to discover that the eggs were raw. I didn't make it for a long time because of that. But I researched salmonella and discovered that heating an egg mixture to 160° will kill all salmonella that might be present in the eggs. This process didn't change the taste or texture of this delicious icecream! Now the whole world of raw-egg-homemade-icecream is opened to me!

*By the way, I don't recommend Martha Stewart's French Vanilla Icecream. It wasn't that great. Maybe because it was custard-based...? Or maybe because it didn't have much taste to it...

Guess who's TWO?!

Benjamin turned TWO years old yesterday. Crazy. Jed and I took him to the park and we had a blast going down the 'shlide' and pushing Benny on the swings.


That evening we had some friends over for cake and homemade icecream. We sang 'Happy Birthday' to Benjamin and he wasn't quite sure what that was all about. I made a Strawberry Yogurt Cake for his birthday ~ it had strawberry yogurt in the cake and in the whipped cream frosting. I also made Martha Stewart's summer shortcake & her homemade French Vanilla icecream, and my favorite Lemon Icecream. That sounds like a lot, but all the cake & shortcake was finished off. With everyone milling around and kids underfoot, my house has never felt so small! Luckily it was good weather and we all went outside.

The kids had a blast in the backyard, playing in the upside down pool and hanging on the fence.After the party, Jed did a little firecracker display for me and Benjamin. Benny likes them if I'm holding him. But otherwise, he doesn't want anything to do with firecrackers.

I found Benjamin like this the following morning. He was sitting inside the lego wagon Grandma Walker gave him, and 'reading' the book about the States that Melody gave him. Funny kid. :)

I'M HOOKED AGAIN!

So, I caved in to the temptation and read a novel yesterday! It was awesome and I loved every minute of it! I read it in the space of about 24 hours. After not letting myself read a novel for almost 5 months, I knew I was going to have no self control with this book, so I picked a short 200 page one that I could get through quickly if I read it nonstop.
I bought this out-of-print book by M. M. Kaye at the library booksale a few months ago. I bought it because I remember reading her other works, The Far Pavilions and Trade Wind, years ago and liking them. This was an enjoyable murder mystery with some unexpected twists. It was very suspenseful; this author did a great job in that aspect. It was published in 1955 and I could definitely tell. It had the same romantic ending that seems to be characteristic of that time period - where the hero and heroine suddenly fall in love and you have maybe 1 or 2 sentences to be excited for them, and then it ends. :) The Wedding Bargain by Agnes Sligh Turnbull (published 1966) is the same way. I think these early authors are very fun to read, but I sometimes wish they would prolong and develop the romantic climax a little. :)

I LOVE collecting out-of-print books from the 50's/60's/70's. I particularly keep my eye out for books by Madeleine Brent; I also consider Victoria Holt books when I see them. Sometimes Victoria Holt is hit or miss - I remember liking Mistress of Mellyn, but I hated The Legend of the Seventh Virgin. Is there anyone else out there that likes these types of books? Or has a good one to recommend to me?

*Althought this was an enjoyable read, I'm not necessarily recommending this book.... I only recommend AWESOME books. It would be safe to say that I would recommend anything by Madeleine Brent. Check out my book list to the right to see all my top recommendations. :)

Shrimp, Shrimp, I love Shrimp!

Last night I made Shrimp Fra Diavolo with Lemon Linguini for dinner. It was yummy, and the zesty lemon pasta was very different and fun. The recipes are from Eugena, and you can find them on her blog, http://eugenagunderson.blogspot.com/. (Just scroll down a bit and you'll see it.)

I made a few changes - I used only 2 T. olive oil in the beginning, I substituted white grape peach juice for the white wine, I substituted linguini for the spaghetti, I omitted the 2/3 c. olive oil that was supposed to go into the pasta, and I only added about 1 tsp (maybe 1 1/2 tsp) lemon zest.

Snip-Snip

Before:

After:

Yes, yes, I know - the 'Before' looks like I was really trying to do the magazine thing - no makeup, hair not styled, picture not focused, etc. But I wanted to take a quick picture and no one was home, and I had just got out of bed and was going to jump in the shower before my appointment, so I didn't want to put on makeup just for the dumb picture! So, there's an ugly before shot and a normal after shot. :)

COOKING CLUB!

We had a our last cooking club last night at my house. Everyone is moving in as little as 3 weeks, so we squeezed one last cooking get-together in. And it was so fun!

Our theme last night was 'Exotic Ingredients'. So everyone brought something that had a unique and different ingredient in it.

I made a Frozen Mango-Cream Cake. It has a macadamia nut crust and the frozen mango-cream filling is made of two blended mangos, freshly squeezed orange juice & lemon juice, sugar, and gelatin, with whipped cream folded in.

We took a few pictures of some of the other things that were brought. Not everyone's dishes are represented since some people arrived late. And I don't think a picture of Jill's Italian Cream Sodas in the sponge-bob cups would have done that delicious beverage justice! ;)

Allison's Cheesecake Strawberries & Ashley's Strawberry Turnovers

Melody's Vegetable Curry Katherine's Shrimp Pad Thai

Chicken Saltimbocca & Lemon Blueberry Biscuits

Last night I made Chicken Saltimbocca for dinner. That's Lisa's recipe from the SAA 2nd Edition cookbook. It was DELICIOUS. Jed and I both really liked it. I also made Lemon Blueberry Biscuits with a fresh lemon glaze:These were soooo good. Jed and I couldn't stop eating them. They had Yoplait lemon yogurt and fresh lemon zest in them. So delicious! In fact, I'll just post the recipe below.

I also served garden fresh green beans. My friend went out of town this weekend and told me I could pick her green beans on Saturday and Monday. She has four rows of beans, so the three of us have been feasting on them all weekend. They are delicious. I think I'll plant some green beans at our new place next summer. Problem is, when I pick green beans I always get itchy hives up my arms, where my skin touches the leaves. I remember that happening to me when I used to pick the beans in our garden when I was growing up; it wasn't until recently that I realized that not everyone gets a rash when they pick green beans! I totally could have used my allergy as an excuse to get out of picking beans in the hot sun when I was growing up... I wish I would have found out about this earlier! :)

Lemon Blueberry Biscuits

2 c. flour
1/3 c. sugar
2 tsp baking powder
½ tsp baking soda
¼ tsp salt
1 carton (8-oz) lemon yogurt
1 egg, lightly beaten
¼ c. melted butter or margarine
1 tsp grated lemon peel
1 c. fresh or frozen blueberries

Glaze (I might make 1 ½ times this recipe next time):
½ c. confectioners’ sugar
1 T. fresh lemon juice
½ tsp grated lemon peel

In a large bowl, combine dry ingredients. Combine yogurt, egg, butter and lemon peel; stir into dry ingredients just until moistened. Fold in blueberries. Drop by spoonfuls onto a greased baking sheet. Bake at 400° for 15-18 minutes or until lightly browned. Combine glaze ingredients; drizzle over warm biscuits. Makes 12-15 biscuits.

Hit or Miss at the Library

Last time we went to the library, I picked out some books for Benjamin. I got a book about MONSTER MACHINES. Boy, that was a huge hit! When we started looking at it at home, he was so excited about the big trucks and airplanes that he couldn't contain himself. He would point at the airplane and yell "aih plane!" and then cover his mouth and laugh, and then he would point to it and yell again. I can't describe the EXCITEMENT he felt - he was seriously flipping out over this book. He cried when he had to leave it and come to dinner - very traumatic.

I also got him some books about dinosaurs. As Jed and Benny were looking at one of them together, they came to a gruesome page...

Later on, when Benjamin and I were looking at it, he kept flipping to that page and pointing at the image and saying "uh-oh!" I kept trying to turn the page quickly, but after a moment he would turn back to it. Finally I put the book away. Well, yesterday he found it as I was in the other room, and soon I heard him repeating "uh-oh!" I knew exactly what he was looking at. This kid is drawn to this disturbing picture! Once he turns to that page, he'll stop turning pages and just look at it and say "uh-oh!" over and over. It's so fascinating to him. I think he is going to be warped from this book!

Isn't this a gross picture for a kid's book?!

Spaghetti with Peas & Zucchini Ribbons tossed with Garlic Shrimp

I made this for dinner last night - Spaghetti with Peas and Zuchinni Ribbons tossed with Garlic Shrimp. I got the recipes from my Martha Stewart magazine (thanks Mom!). The sauce is actually plain yogurt, which makes this meal very healthy. I thought it was delicious, but Jed wasn't too sure about a sauce made out of yogurt. He did have a great request, though - double the shrimp next time! We both LOVE shrimp. Mmmm...