Easter Weekend documented

We had a great Easter last weekend, snow and all. There was an Easter egg hunt, complete with sledding and hot chocolate--great improvisation when all the snow came. And really glistening white snow makes it a lot easier to find brightly colored plastic eggs. Everyone hunted in their snowsuits. Phil and Noelle braved the blizzard to drive to visit us. The last 45 minutes of the drive took them 2 hours. Thankfully they weren't one of the cars off on the side of the road. Quite the white-knuckle-grip-on-the-driving-wheel experience. We watched Dan in Real Life. Great movie. We had the best Easter dinner ever. Several people weren't partial to ham, so I conviced Mike (grumbling the whole way) to make his super yummy lemon something chicken. Then we had masterfully whipped mashed potatoes (go Noelle) and asparagus and rolls and then Noelle made chocolate eclairs. Phil was an awesome Easter bunny that was sooooo tall and hid eggs in really hard places. Brayden was an ecstatic three-year-old that revelled in the candy and finding the eggs. Caleb, our food-monger ate all the candy, and I really enjoyed having people to talk to and help with all the dishes and cleaning. Phil and Noelle are great at jumping in and getting a lot done. And I think Mike was even able to relax for a couple days. Pretty unusual when you're desperately trying to finish a PhD. :) What a fabulous weekend.

Cherry Mouth

So all day long Brayden asks me, "Do you wanna see how big my mouth is?" "How big is your mouth?" "My mouth is bigger than your mouth." And on and on and on. Also, the Cherrys generally have bigger mouths, which is the reason for their big beautiful smiles. So here's a picture of the Cherry boys demonstrating what Brayden does all day long.

addendum

This is a little add on to the previous post for added clarification. I have tried broccoli many, many times in my life. This just was actually the first time I liked it. I even tried broccoli last Friday and didn't like it. So there ya go.

I like broccoli

So tonight I tried broccoli and for the first time ever in my life I liked it. I saw on Rachel Ray a while back that this was the broccoli for people who didn't like broccoli. And I think I have to say she is right. It was really good. I was skeptical because when we were cutting it up and it was starting to cook, I hated the smell, but you cook it long enough and the flavor changes and it was great. So for any that want to try, here's the recipe straight off her web page.

Oven-Roasted Broccoli
Serves 4
Tags: sides vegetables roast Yum-o! Family Friendly
Submitted by
Rachael Ray
Yum-o! Family Friendly
on 09/03/07

This is an easy to make dish that will make a broccoli lover out of anyone! Rachael serves it with Brandy & Orange Chicken with Stuffed Shrimp.
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Ingredients

* 1 head broccoli, cut into pieces all the way through the stem
* 2-3 cloves garlic, finely chopped
* 3 tablespoons (eyeball it) extra-virgin olive oil (EVOO)
* Salt and freshly ground pepper

Preparation

Preheat oven to 400°F.

Liberally drizzle EVOO over broccoli, add garlic, salt and pepper, and toss to coat.

Transfer to oven and roast for 15-20 minutes, until broccoli is nice and crispy on the ends and a little brown.

This is a great recipe for kids and the whole family from Yum-o! It's good AND good for you. For more information about Yum-o! go to the Yum-o! website.

And Lisa, this is just for you, I am posting this at 11:04 p.m. I don't always die at night . . . like those days I take naps. :)

So I am lazy . . .

We went to Kalahari, a HUGE indoor waterpark in Ohio for midwinter break. It was awesome, and since three out of the four other families we went with have already posted and I haven't, and my 15 minutes that were for doing the dishes and not blogging are already gone, I'm just going to post links to their blogs. :) Elders, Thackers, Savages.

Also, here is a link to my friends the Millars. After you read their stories, you'll know why they were some of my favorite people at BYU. Not exactly happy stories, but entertaining.

Valentine's Day

So I'm going backwards, but I'm trying very hard to avoid going to bed right now, so I'm posting a picture of Mike and me on Valentine's Day. My sister dressed me up, did hair and make-up and then Mike and I went to Pizza House. We both love pizza and I love their salad and breadsticks, so it was quite fun. Then we watched No Reservations. Not as cute as I would have hoped, but at least it was a free rental.

More shopping

My favorite place to shop in Michigan is Great Lakes Crossing. Once a year I go and visit Ann Taylor Loft and get these really amazing deals. And they just put in a HUGE H&M, so that was even better. Since the young men were tobogganing, Noelle, Michelle and I bundled them up and took them with us on our shopping adventure. The kids were really good and we scored some super deals. Noelle (for those not introduced to her yet, she is my sister-in-law, she married my brother, Phil) found a wool pea coat for $6 and a pair of nice jeans for $3, among other things. I found pants for $10 and a dress that is going back because the only place that it closes is at the waist, oops! And Michelle found a velvet nice dress coat for $40 that was originally $120. So here's a little picture of us modeling out stuff. Incidentally, a boy visiting Michelle had to watch us parade around in all our outfits. I'm sure he had loads of fun.