while i was working

daddy was babysitting.  the girls must have gotten hungry.

new years resolutions

my friend posted her's on her blog, i thought that was a good idea.

1- pray more
2- be more humble and less prideful (will require a lot more praying)
3- bear my testimony in church (not something I've ever done).  I did it today, with some moral support from anna.  guess i can cross that one off.  maybe I'll do it again this year.
4- read old testament using institute study guide (did book of mormon last year and it was good).  So far good progress.
5- go on more dates with richard
6 - answer phone calls and listen to voicemails.
7 - find some friends for anna
8 - continue good habits from last year

Richards:

he said to nicole: "make some for me, do a century again, i made it to the yurt already (on cross country skis, 5 miles), so there goes one - you tell me and I'll do it"
so here i go, im going to try not to be prideful or mean:

1- close the door when i go outside - or come inside for that matter
2- stop leaving my towel on the bedroom floor and stop habits that create more work for my wife
3 - read scriptures with anna everyday
4 - take a dance class with my wife
5 - go to the symphony with my wife
6- richard adds "for every three sporting event dates, we will go to one music event"  Nicole says:  no.
7 - stop eating tortillas and cheese before dinner
8 - stop eating tortillas and cheese after dinner
8 - stop eating the pepperonis nicole buys for pizza, or at least wait until she's made a pizza.  better get back on task.........uh oh now richard's catching on, he said "is this a nag list or a new years resolution list?" Better change gears....getting too prideful here.
9 - continue coming home for lunch to smooch my wife
10 - continue to plan adventures for my homebody wife
11 - floss EVERYDAY.  no more cavities in 2014.....
12 - buy a house with a garage and window about the sink.  then buy a piano to go in it for my wife
13 - visit steven in hawaii
14 - talk with Joy more
15 - cross country ski at least 3 days/week when there is snow
16 - continue to read conference talks in the morning with nicole
17 - read the old testament and have deep discussions with my wife about YWEH and heavenly mother
18 - hike the wasatch front section of the great western trail
19 - do the bear lake century
20 - shoot Utah's largest elk
21 - shoot utahs' largest buck
22 - catch utah's largest fish
23 - watch the Yankees win the ____ (i forget what they would win)
24 - watch the jazz with their championship
25 - watch the BYU basketball and football conquer all other colleges
26 - convince my wife to create a boy that I can take hunting and fishing and to sporting events - probably not going to happen this year.

better stop.  love you richard, hope you have a good year - even though I can't make some of your dreams come true (;

happy new years.

julia, so cute, so adorable and "a good little monkey, but always very curious"....and maybe a bit mischievous too

Julia:

Rich bought me some earrings.  They didn't fit (my holes are small).  We went to macy's to exchange.  Julia was a monster, throwing things off racks everywhere and running around.

I finally chose some.  When i put them in this morning, Julia was in awe.  She can't stop admiring them. I sat down to check some emails and she grabbed my head, turned it to the side and kissed my earring.  Then she turned my head and kissed hte other earring.  This girl is going to be TROUBLE.

We made sugar cookies today.  While I had my back turned that little imp licked the frosting and sprinkles off every one of those cookies......it was quick too!  this picture is the aftermath.  She was so mad I made her stop.  COOKIE COOKIE COOKIE!  Of her limited vocabulary, cookies is a common word!

Julia has caught the book bug.  Anyways, I often find her reading in this spot.  It's her favorite.  This also means that when I clean the couches I find all sorts of treasures in this spot.  Specifically, babies wrapped in rags (like dishrags).

Today was julias first day in nursery without anna.  she was fine until lesson time.  usually anna sits next to her during the lesson (our nursery is really good, they have them all sit in a chair for the lesson).  I guess she looked around for anna and when anna wasn't there she started to cry. richard was standing outside and came to rescue her.  that was the interpretation from the nursery teachers.

Richard's interpretation:  "someone was sitting in julia's chair (they have princess stickers on them).  Julia was mad.  This girl loves her sister. but I dont know"  What I know:  julia can't wait for anna to wake up in the morning and she gives her big old lovies every night before she goes to bed.  I hope they stay best pals.  And I hope julia doesn't get anna into too much trouble.

copied blog post from mark bittman - i made this for dinner (thanks joy for the food matter cookbook)

I bought too much steel cut oats - but here's a way to use them other than breakfast.  It was SO good.  I had to eat the leftovers before i went to bed.  YUM.  I took the skin off my chicken first.  Anna ate it all, but not until I put the vinegar on it.  She loves balsamic vinegar.  julia ate the chicken.

Braised Chard with Chicken and Steel-Cut Oats

11|8|10

By Freya Bellin

I’ve never thought to use oats in a savory dish, so this recipe immediately caught my eye.  The headnote mentions that you can substitute bulgur, which maybe sounds like a more suitable dinner grain, but is actually quite similar to steel-cut oats. I opted for the oats and was pleasantly surprised by how well they fit in as a savory ingredient, with their nutty flavor and chewy texture.  It makes a nice base for the sweet, vinegary sauce.

This one-pot dish comes together pretty quickly once you get it on the stove; separating and chopping the chard was probably the most time-consuming piece of the whole process, although I was happy to make use of both the stems and leaves.  Browning the chicken thighs really deepens the flavor of the dish, which tastes best when eaten hot right away. Recipe from The Food Matters Cookbook.

Braised Chard and Chicken with Steel-Cut Oats

Makes: 4 servings

Time: 30 minutes

Hearty stews are usually tricky to pull off on weeknights, when you want something on the table quickly. But here’s a delicious braised grain dish with that odd acidic sweetness of chard (substitute other greens if you prefer) and the crisp juiciness of chicken thighs. Bulgur also works well.

About 11⁄2 pounds chard

2 tablespoons olive oil

4 bone-in chicken thighs

Salt and black pepper

1 red onion, halved and sliced

3 garlic cloves, sliced

3⁄4 cup steel-cut oats

1⁄2 cup white wine or water

2 cups vegetable or chicken stock or water, or more as needed

2 tablespoons balsamic vinegar

1. Cut the stems out of the chard leaves. Cut the leaves into wide ribbons and slice the stems; keep the leaves and stems separate.

2. Put the oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat. When it’s hot, add the chicken thighs, skin side down, and sprinkle with salt and pepper; cook, rotating and turning as necessary, until browned on all sides, 10 to 15 minutes. Remove the chicken. Add the onion and garlic to the skillet and cook, stirring, until softened, 3 to 5 minutes.

3. Add the chard stems and oats along with another sprinkling of salt and pepper; cook, stirring occasionally, until the oats are glossy and coated with oil, 2 to 3 minutes. Add the wine, stir, and let the liquid bubble away. Add the 2 cups stock all at once and return the chicken thighs to the skillet (skin side up). Reduce the heat to medium-low, cover, and cook. Check to see if the oats are tender after 15 minutes; if they’re not quite done, cook for another 5 minutes, then test again. If the oats become dry, add a little more stock or water.

4. When the oats are almost done, add the chard leaves and the vinegar. Replace the lid, remove the skillet from the heat, and let rest for 5 minutes. Fluff with a fork and taste and adjust the seasoning. Serv

My mom went to Grandma's house today we went to and did a puzzle I didn't get pictures but also today my friend Jessica came with her two little girls its great living in Utah during the holidays

cousie games

new years eve and the first day of 2014!

 anna requested to watch the grinch ONE MORE TIME before the christmas season officially ended.  But she is still singing christmas songs.  she woke up this morning singing "i wish you a merry christmas, and a happy new year" and went to be singing "rudolph the red nosed reindeer"  It will take a while to get christmas completely out of her system.

 blobs watching a movie.

 at least the grinch is only 1/2 hour.

 rich and i at midnight.  we had a game night at amys.  first we ate pizza and shrimp.  then we played basketball at the church.  then we played the train game with the kids and had ice cream.  then the kids went to bed and rich, amy, kelby and I played games without any child interruptions.  it was awesome.

 at 12:00 we watched fireworks from the window.  they were impressive, as you can see!

 it was a bad night (as i usually go to bed at 9 or 9:30).  Julia was up a lot and wouldn't go to sleep (without waking everyone else uP!).  But rich let me sleep in this morning.  kelby made german pancakes.  the girls loooved that!  white flour!  wahoo!

 jane and julia both drew on their faces with black marker.  jane got the unibrow.

 sometimes they play nicely.  amy has a playhouse in her basement.

 anna got to watch part of anothe rmovie while rich and i went on a date with kelby.

 cross country skiing at the ogden norditrack.

 lots of falling down by me and kelby (his first and my second time)

 rich is always so patient and kind.  it was A BEAUTIFUL DAY.  perfect for skiing.  nice and warm and soft snow.

 there we are!

 we got back to amy's house to find this:  my brother andy FRYING STUFF.  chickens and french fries to be exact.  he is a goomba.

 turns out there was a whole feast inside!  Shrimp!

 bacon covered little smokeys.

 tempura shrimp.

 my favorite - bean soup
plus not shown here:  ribs!  a lot of ribs!  rolls, ice cream, hummus and veggies, crackers with cream cheese and hot pepper jelly  it was like a crazy feast!

 virginia and chloe.

 chole and amber had a fashion show for us.  how silly.

 here is andy and his deep fat fried chickens.

 me and the veggy tray.  i think i ate most of that myself.

 anna had a glorious time playing with her cousins.  She plays best with remi and evan.  they have fun making up weirdo games together.  Im not sure what this one was.

then  just as we were leaving they were playing some weird game that gavin made up in the basement.  maybe ill have time to post the movies of it tomorrow.

we love living by the cousins.  what great memories they are making.  at least that is what we are going for.  its been a happy new year so far!