Kid's Room: Moved In! YES!

Justin and I are happy to announce that the kids are back in their own room now... and we are so happy with the way it is looking... we'd thought we'd share some pictures! (mind we still need some art work on the walls... but we'll get there soon.

The first day we put the rug down, they kids were so happy, the brought all their stuffed animals out and started running around in circles... it was pretty fun. So, here's our full picture of the rug, that we got on super deal at Pottery Barn Kids, plus it was the floor model... extra 10% off. I love a good find and I think it just 'makes' this room!

Changing table/Dresser, and rocking chair...

No Reservations

This is a really cute movie, I watched last night, by myself. I recomend it... Esp. for Valentines day... with a loved one. This Comedy, Romance, Drama is rated PG. Here's a little bit about the story...

Master chef Kate Armstrong (CATHERINE ZETA-JONES) lives her life like she runs the kitchen at upscale 22 Bleecker Restaurant in Manhattan- with a no-nonsense intensity that both captivates and intimidates everyone around her.

Kate's perfectionist nature is put to the test when a brash new sous chef joins her staff, the high-spirited and freewheeling Nick Palmer (AARON ECKHART). A rising culinary star himself, Nick favors opera while working and loves to make everyone around him laugh. His casual approach to both life and cuisine couldn't be more different than Kate's, yet the chemistry between them is undeniable, as is the discord, like forks clanging off a granite countertop.

It might be easier to deal with this turbulence at work if Kate wasn't already off balance at home, struggling to connect with her nine-year-old niece, Zoe (ABIGAIL BRESLIN), who has recently-and very unexpectedly-come to live with her. ( http://www.moviefone.com/)

PS. This is the little girl from the movie The Ultimate Gift, (another GREAT movie!) I absolutly love this little girl! Such a great little actress!

Anyway, that's all i'm going to say for now... except... you should watch it. it's cute.

-Panda

Favorite (Valentine) Sugar cookies

1 cup butter

1 1/2 cups sugar

2 eggs

3 tablespoons sour cream

1/2 teaspoon almond or lemon extract

1/2 teaspoon baking soda

1/4 teaspoon salt

3 1/4 cups flour

Cream butter and sugar. Add eggs, sour cream, almond or leamon extract and vanilla and mix well. Add soda, salt and flour and mix on low just until combined. Roll dough into a ball, wrap in plastic wrap and refrigerate 3 to 4 hours. Roll out on floured surface and cut into shapes. Bake on ungreased cookie sheets at 375 degrees for 6 to 8 minutes. (these cookies don't brown.) cook on racks, then frost and decorate!

Favorite Frosting:

1/3 cup butter, softened but not melted

4 cups powdered sugar (about half of a 2 pound bag)

1/4 cup milk (or more)

1/2 teaspoon vanilla

1/2 teaspoon almond extract

pinch of salt

In mixing bowl, beat butter slowly with powdered sugar. Add milk and continue to beat. Add vanilla, almond extract and salt. If needed, add more milk to make frosting spreading consistency. Color with food coloring if desired.

Dearly departed... a short tribute to Grandpa Paul

Well, Grandpa Paul decided not to wake up this morning, which, while not entirely unexpected, was quite a surprise to the family. Just last night, Nana Carole on the other side of the family asked my dad how Grandpa was doing, to which the reply was simply, "Great!"

Grandpa lived a full life, and I have no doubt that his active energy carries over into the next state and that he's in Paradise with Grandma.

When I think of the transition from this life to the next, a.k.a. death, I can't think of a more peaceful way to go than Grandpa did. I wasn't there, and as I understand, nobody was. But the present indicator is that he went peacefully and without any pain.

Another silly thought I had was how Grandpa avidly read the newspaper. He would read BOTH local papers EVERY day, even if he had to set them aside for a day or two. One of the things he read unfailingly (one that I read, too) were the obituaries. I'm willing to bet he wrote his own at for its eventual use, and if so, I know he will have made it humorous. He's had many letters to the editor published in the past, but now will be published his personal "hurrah." I know there will be many solemn friends and associates who will read his tribute and feel his loss. He was a good man.

I'm sure he's happy on the other side!

UPDATE: As I suspected of him, he wrote his own obituary. It's a fitting final hurrah, as I guessed! :) See it here.

Food of the Day: EDAMAME!

"Edamame is a green vegetable more commonly known as a soybean, harvested at the peak of ripening right before it reaches the "hardening" time. The word Edamame means "Beans on Branches," and it grows in clusters on bushy branches. To retain the freshness and its natural flavor, it is parboiled and quick-frozen. In East Asia, the soybean has been used for over two thousand years as a major source of protein. Edamame is consumed as a snack, a vegetable dish, used in soups or processed into sweets. As a snack, the pods are lightly boiled in salted water, and then the seeds are squeezed directly from the pods into the mouth with the fingers." (http://www.edamame.com/)

Eda-whaty? Yeah, the first time I heard of it, I was like... hum... I'm not so sure about this. But wait till you try them! (And you probably already know about them... but I'm just here to remind you that they make a great snack... or side-dish with fish or ice cream or whatever.)

The taste? Whoa, they have like a buttery 'center of an artachoke' taste but BETTER! (Can be eaten hot or cold. I prefer hot!) Justin and I get them from Sam's Club (avalable at Costco, too). They come (frozen) in a box with eight little microwaveable steam packs...

SO... (cheezy sales person smile)...your snack could be ready within 3 minutes!

Whooo-Hooo, We love Edamame!

Per 100 grams (edible portion)
Calories........................................125.0
Protein.........................................12.1
Carbohydrates............................13.1
Fat................................................3.6
Ash...............................................1.7 (umm. not sure what this is! any guesses anyone?)
Calcium........................................9.3
Phosphorus.................................180.0
Iron..............................................2.7
Sodium.........................................5.0
Vitamin A....................................130.0
Vitamin U1..................................0.31
Vitamin C.....................................40.0

This Post has been brought to you by the letter E! (for Edamame!)

-Panda

Our New Floors!!!

Check this out! The Wednesday before Martin Luther King day Justin calls me from work and says... "we are re-doing our hardwood floors this weekend! A friend is getting me sanders for FREE, and he's going to deliver them Friday afternoon! What a deal!" So, right away i'm pretty excited! While the kids napped that day...i start moving all their toys to the basement... and extra things into the kitchen... sweeping and preping the floors to be Dazzled!

I'll spare you all the painful details... and there were many... (where crying and swearing were both involved... and that's all you really need to know)...but i thought i'd share with you some pretty scarry and quite humerous pictures of how we lived for a week and a half... (yeah, "we are finishing our floors THIS WEEKEND??" it turned out to be a much bigger project than we anticipated! BUT they look B-E-A-UTIFUL! and JUSTIN gets the "Mr. Fix-it-Super Husband" award AND his picture in a calender. (Mr. January!! Whooo-Hooo)

aheam...anyway...

Side note and HUGE Thank you to Justin's parents for letting me and the kids sleep over at their house for 4 days while Jusin put the final coats of Polly-stink... good thing... alot less headaches, and more brain cells saved that way! So, BIG THANK YOU!
OK, so here are pictures of our living conditons first!

The Kitchen

Not so bad huh?

Next we go to our Bed room, take into concideration. there are Two very large couches (stacked) another couch and matching chair, Will's Bed, Caitlin's bed, Their dresser, a rocking chair, Our bed and a small book shelf...(want to play "where's waldo??" (oh, not to mention we put the fire place on hold so we could take advantage of the free sanders... so don't think we are leaving that fire place and wall looking like that... eek!)

Now, if that's not "Red-Neck" enough for you... check out the play area we set up for the kids down stairs!!

We had to cover the book shelf with a blanket, so the kids would not pull the books off the shelf... our New DVD player is to the right of the TV covered by a dish towel... (both attatched by ducked tape!) About the DVD player... the kids totally killed out old one... so, are are saving for an entertainment center that will keep the kids away from the player... BELOW is a picture of what it looks like until a 'safe place is prepared' for it...
Justin promised me some day we will not be so "gett-o" and that some day we'll look back on this and laugh... and wish life was that simple again. ha! maybe. (since this picture was taken... Caitlin and Will ripped off that little piece of tape... and use this box as a 'super garage' for their match box cars! KIDS!

Ok, here is the other direction of the 'new' play room. stairs are to the right of this picture.

OK, now the moment you've all be waiting for...

BEFORE PICTURES: Kids Room

Justin: "Mr. Sandman!"

During: After sanding...

(then we wipped down with mineral spirits...or something... no picture.)

This is a test (after 5 and 10 minutes) of the color in the kids closet... (really no difference... so we went with 5!)

KIDS ROOM: FINISHED!!

HALL WAY Before:

HALLWAY After:

and i thought this was a cool picture of the front room during sanding...

FRONT ROOM Finished:

The front room looks alot lighter than the other rooms... only because of the windows in the front room... more light... the all look the same in real life. Hope you've enjoyed this HUGE posting... and sorry it's taken so long... to show you what we've done. more to come!
Way to go Justin!

Edward and Bella

Ok, now that i'm a pro at this 'blogging' stuff... i wanted to add my favorite pictures of the actors

Summit Entertainment will bring Twilight to the big screen, directed by Catherine Hardwicke ("Thirteen," "Lords of Dogtown") and starring Kristen Stewart ("Into The Wild") and Robert Pattinson ("Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire"). It will be released nationwide on December 12, 2008.

DECEMBER 12!!!!!

If you haven't read it... you should.

The authors web page http://www.stepheniemeyer.com/

Amanda Panda

August 2, 2008!!!

I'm SO excited... FIRST, this is my first posting...EVER! (thanks Amy for your Help!!) and SECOND, Stephenie Meyer just announced the release of her new book "Breaking Dawn" (4th in the Twilight series!!)... it is to be August 2nd!

AUGUST 2nd!!!

I'm like a little kid in a candy shop... only... i have to wait... 6 long months... to buy my candy!

:(
I can do this!
:)

OK. Rock on Bloggers! till next time.

Amanda Panda

Glen Beck's Tribute to President Hinckley

This was shared with us by Nana, and we enjoyed it as much as she did and wanted to share with any readers of our humble little blog:

Mourning the loss of a great man

We were grieved to see the breaking news tonight about President Gordon B. Hinckley's passing.

He was an amazing man and the utmost example of selfless service in our time. We are truly sad that he is no longer here with us, yet at the same time we can only imagine the amazing reception being held for him on the other side this evening.

We are happy that he and Sister Hinckley get to be reunited. And without a doubt, he is sure to be hearing the words, "Well done, thou true and faithful servant" from our Savior Himself. Amanda talked of the choirs of angels that must be heralding his return, too.

Personally, I was pondering the idea that one of those on the other side of the veil there to greet him had to be the Prophet Joseph Smith. President Hinckley often spoke of his admiration for Brother Joseph and his looking forward meeting him some day. Now that day is here, and I can't help thinking which of them is looking at the other with the greater amount of admiration! They both did truly amazing things in this final dispensation. They served at the helm during truly unique eras of history for both the Church and the world.

Here's to a truly great man and an inspiring leader. We will miss you, President Hinckley!

Here's a link to the LDS Church's official news page: LDS News

Thank you!!! Justin's new guitar!

For Christmas and birthday this year, when asked what he wanted for gifts, Justin made the request for contributions toward something he also wanted but never had splurged on for himself: an acoustic guitar!

Thanks to parents in Utah and Pennsylvania, siblings in both states, and grandparents, that dream is now a reality! And after some intense studying and shopping, he found the one he wanted for a pretty good deal through Musician's Friend. (They have GREAT customer service, by the way.)

Here are a couple of pictures AND a funny little clip! (I've got LOTS to learn.)

Doggie Door!

In spite of our being blessed with a smart puppy who has been a very successful house training pet, we decided to make it even easier on us by installing a doggie door! Here are some pics...

Will's a good helper!

So is Mommy! :)

Can't you just hear his thoughts? "I think I could probably fit through here myself!" Both of 'em can, as a matter of fact.

"Winter wasteland? I think you mean winter WONDERland!"

So yeah, this weekend we decided to refinish our hardwood floors because of Monday being MLK Jr. Day (another day I love being a banker). But lo and behold, we didn't get to focus all of our energies on the floors because IT SNOWED A FOOT. These pictures were taken a couple of days LATER... so just imagine not being able to see the driveway OR the sidewalk, even though they'd both been shoveled 4 times. :)

Our adventures in NYC!

For Christmas/birthdays, Amanda and I decided to give each other a trip to the Big Apple to see Wicked on Broadway! It was a BLAST and one AMAZING show. We got to sit about 8 rows from the stage and felt like we were right in the production. Here are a few pics from the day trip to the city.

We were SUPER blessed to have Em & Sua offer to take our kids--not just for the day (Saturday), but for Friday night & Saturday night, too!! Not only that, but they let us take one of their cars for the 90 minute journey between Lititz to Trenton! THANKS you guys!

Brandon and Kev joined us for the trip up, and we got to spend the whole time minus the show together. This is a picture at the lovely parking garage right outside the Trenton, NJ, train station:


Catching the train bound for Penn Station:




"Ew, what's that smell, Kev?"


Our studly new RM brother, B:


After arriving in Penn Station, we spent our best $7 on day passes for the subway/bus system. We never messed with the busses because life "on the surface" was nuts so close to New Years. But the subway system rocks! We headed south first to Ground Zero. This photo was taken just after grabbing a sandwich at the Essex Cafe:


Then we walked south to Battery Park where we saw the WTC Memorial (this sculpture was IN one of the towers and they saved it in its damaged condition as a memorial to 09.11.01) tons of handbags for sale, and the Statue of Liberty from a distance...






Then it was time to head back uptown. We caught the subway and took it to Times Square.


We have never been in such a crowd... It took us 20 minutes to walk one block up there. We tried to walk over to Radio City Music Hall and something was going down over there. Brandon got a couple of NYPD with attitude telling him to "get back on the sidewalk" as we were all walking down a closed off 51st St. We went around the block and visited H&M, which was worthwhile simply because we got to use their restrooms.

From there we went to the "ticket lottery" to try our luck at getting front and center (in which event we would have given Kevin and B our other tickets), but we didn't have that fortune. Kev and B split from there for their own little adventure in SoHo. After some pizza at a local place, we went over and saw our show!


The show was simply mahhvelous! We can't wait to see it again when it travels through SLC. Kev & B met us at the subway station right by Gershwin Theatre, and we timed our arrival back at Penn Station perfectly enough to catch the "early" (11:14 p.m.) train back to Trenton, arriving there at a quarter to 1:00, then driving home. What fun memories!!

Cute pic from the holidays...

We hope Aunt Amy and Unca Kev don't mind our "borrowing" this picture from their blog... but we claim 50% vested interest in the subjects, so we did it anyway! Isn't it a cute picture? Yes, those are little monkeys on their Christmas p.j.'s... very appropriate, in our opinion. Good choice, Grammy!

Happy 5 Years!!

Vancouver, Washington