OUR NEWEST ADDITION

Well as some of you may know we have a baby! She's adorable. Her name is Agnes and she is just a couple months old now. She is sorta crazy though. While all the cool people blog about their kids I will blog about my kitty Agnes...although I think it may be a battle taking her with us when we go, the parents and Daysa have taken quite a liking to her. and who can blame them?

When we got her from Malad she has UNBELIEVABLY sharp claws so we trimmed them and put kitty caps on her to teach her not to scratch the couches and carpets and such. Amazing right?

She's pretty hyper and LOOOVES to play. Her favorite place to sit is right in the middle of whatever anyone is doing. she is a drama queen this one. The funniest thing though is she thinks she's a dog. Up and Clair's house in Malad there is a big dog and a puppy and she chases her tail, her favorite pass time is fetch. for reals. I have the video to prove it all. I'll eventually post it. I recorded it on my phone and its struggling. Stay tuned for more of Agnes.

She's pretty much our experiment to see if we actually want kids. The first night we got her she cried ALL NIGHT LONG. Clair, while talking to a buddy at work about his kid crying all night, responded "ya I know what you mean we just got a cat." She goes out to the garage at night but someone lets her in super early in the morning and she meows at our door to come in our room and sleeps either right in between us OR right on top of one of us. She's great and a nice practice round.

Yes, we're alive

Okay its been a long while but here I am with not a lot to talk about. Its probably much easier to blog when you have children to talk about and blog about with waiting aunties and nanny annies and grumpas to look at them. But here is my exciting-ness. I'm baking again. I used to LOVE to back and now I am back at it. I made sugar cookies a couple of weeks ago and they were AMAZING. the best ones i've made ever in my life. You are supposed to use almond extract in the glaze but we were out. So I used lemon and it worked out quite nicely in my opinion. Then saturday was my mother in laws birthday so I made her a cake and we headed up to Malad with it. The recipe said to make it in a 9x13 pan but I really wanted a circular, layered cake so I made it  and wow did it fail. The picture I took is of the 4 inches that actually turned out. the rest was horrific to look at. Its a carmel cake and the Semrads and Daysa said it was really good I don't like cake at all so I only tried it and thought it was extremely too rich. But I did get a cake carrier out of my temper tantrum of the disastrous cake.

Hopefully I'll have exciting things to post about soon. My once a month posting is much better than my previous blog.

Clair Bear

Yes, Yes its been a long while since we have posted anything...the truth is we havn't done much to post about. Still in the basement, still working like crazy, and Clair has now added school to his busy schedule of work and golf. He started at the beginning of the month and I can't believe he is almost to month 2.. especially since his school finishes on December 15th... SUPER SHORT. I think at least. but on to more exciting things... CLAIR!! YAY. worlds greatest husband! this post is dedicated to him and his on goings.













really.. could he be any cuter :) This is on the 4th of July and we totally matched.. we started our day in Malad and both packed blue shirts and white shorts. I loved it, and he did not.

This one is from one of his golf tournaments, this is his work one and he is SOO much smaller than all the guys on his team. He looks so little in this picture but these guys are all over 6'3" and 200 lbs. and Clair is not. But they played well and took 3rd. He's had a few tournaments this summer and another one this upcoming Saturday.

And last but not least, Clair and his first day of school SO cute right? He was not super happy that I really really wanted his picture but oh well that how I roll. So thats what we have been up to, and looking for a place to live. Once we get that down we will have so much more to Blog about! Hallelujah!

LABOR DAY FUN

We went camping for the first time ever in our 4 years together.. crazy.. not really. I grew up with MINIMUM camping. Like backyard was as close as it got unless a cabin or hotel was somehow involved. Our friend James invited Clair and me to go up with his fam over labor day and it was a blast. I took lots of pointless pictures..but pictures non the less. My favorite was the bathroom that Ecko and Kim made for us. The "Ladies" bathroom.

 

complete with a Cars training potty and all :) I took a few pictures of our HUGE tent that Clairs brother Clint let us borrow (THANK YOU.) It was preety cold when we jumped into bed so I made Clair Bear take a cold picture with me.

Thanks James and Kim we had a BLAST!!

2 YEARS LATER

August 29th was our two year anniversary! Clair planned a small get away and it was a blast. We went to this BEAUTIFUL location..Bear Lake.

Okay so we were REALLY excited to go boating and jet skiing but it was REALLY cold! we stayed overnight in a hotel right on the beach and woke up to the next morning to rain and clouds. All is well... we ate at a small cafe and took our time heading home making lots of stops along the way. We stopped at the Living Planet Aquarium.

We LOOOOVED it. while we were watching the frogs one kept fidgeting around until...

splat it jumped literally right at Clair's face. ha ha ha we both jumped and i maybe squealed a little bit :) we also got to pet the sting rays which was super gross.

Although nothing went according to plan we had a blast. Happy Two Years Clair Bear! I love you and i'm looking forward to many more years to come!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY--and food

here's a belated birthday wish to two of my favorite girls in the world! Daysa Oswald my baby sister turned 17.. crazy. and to one of my very best friends Katie Hellewell Holman! happy birthday girls. you are the best friends a girl could ask for.

on a side note. Clair and I recently made one of my most favorite summertime foods. its summer chicken chili. I love the colors and all the vegetables. It kinda has a kick so BEWARE!

Summer Chicken Chili
*This recipes works GREAT as a freezer meal. Double or triple the recipe and put the extra in Ziploc freezer bags for later (Clair eats it FOREVER at work)
1 medium zucchini, chopped (I also add yellow squash)
1 medium white onion
1 bell pepper, chopped fine (any color)
2 cans pinto beans, drained
2 cans black beans, drained
2 cans kidney beans, drained
2 cans corn, drained
16 oz. thick and chunky mild salsa
3 chicken breasts (uncooked)
1/2 -2 T. chili powder
14 oz. cans chicken broth (or 2 c. water and 2 T. chicken base/bouillon)
1 can diced tomatoes
8 oz. tomato sauce
1 garlic, pressed
1t. ground cumin
2 T. lime juice (fresh or from a bottle)

Sauté onion, zucchini, pepper, chili powder and garlic until onions are tender. Add other seasonings and lime juice. Add chicken breasts (cut in half or quarters) and the remaining ingredients. Simmer for 30 minutes after coming to a boil, or until chicken is tender and begins to fall apart. Take out large pieces of chicken and shred. Return shredded chicken to soup. Simmer until ready to serve. Top with chips, cheese, sour cream, extra lime juice, cilantro, etc

A Very Busy August

Our August has been NUTSO! super busy with weddings, visitors, dinners, work and getting Clair ready for school. So here's a little blip and there will be more to come of our exciting-ness.

first and foremost congratulations Justin and Zhenya Jaynes, my cousins, married on August 12 2011 and Clint and Shellee, Clairs brother,married on August 13 2011. Thanks for letting us come and be part of the festivity. both were beautiful.