Ray Reader: January 2011

Sunday, January 30, 2011

Successful Dinner

Have you had this happen? You find something you really like to eat if it be when you eat out or have at someones house and just have to have the recipe. Well my brother-in-law is quite the cook and I don't know if I will ever get his secret recipes from him, but this one is one he got from someone and hasn't changed, so he was willing to share. I thought I would share hope he doesn't mind. I was really wanting this for dinner so made it for the first time and it turned out great. (Brylee has been quite the picky eater lately, so she ate the bacon off the top is all. No snacks for her for the rest of the night!) It is a lot simpler then I thought and other then baking the potatoes that is what really takes the time. So here is a picture and the recipe if you like potato soup you gotta try this, it is amazing the difference in the taste when the potatoes are baked rather then boiled.

Alex's Bake Potato Cheese Soup

10-12 Russet Potato's (Not the Large Bake Potato's, just the med to small sized)
8 cups Milk
6Tb Butter
1 tsp Dried Dill Weed
1/4 cup Green Onion (plus slice extra for topping at the end)
16 oz Velveeta Cheese
6 Tb Flour
1 tsp Salt (add more at end if needed)
1 tsp Pepper (I used fresh ground pepper)
1lb Bacon (break into bits)
1 cup Cheddar Cheese Shredded

Bake the Potatoes at 425 for 1 hr.
Scoop out potatoes, but cut up 2 or 3 with the skins.
In a large pan melt butter, add onions stir in dill, salt, and pepper. Mix the milk and flour and stir into pan. Cook 15 min or until starts to thicken some. Add Potato's & Velveeta cheese until cheese is melted about 5 min or so.
Optional-when serving top with green onions, cheese, bacon bits.

Cook Time 1 hr 20 min.
(Served 10 people, can 1/2 the recipe for 1 family size)

ENJOY!!

Friday, January 28, 2011

Play Dates

Quenten at Brylee's Birthday ÜÜÜQuenten and Brylee when we did cookies

Close up of the darling Sasha ÜÜÜÜ Brylee and Quenten Playing Games

Lots of Fridays we do a play date at our house or the Prices house. The first Friday of the month I usually go and volunteer in Tanners class Brylee usually has gone over and played and that helps me a lot to not have to take her to the school and be a distraction in the class. This was a day I got to go to the Prices and watch the kids and hold cute Sasha all myself for a couple of hours. She was less then a month old at the time. I was in heaven holding her and cuddling her. Brylee and Quentin play so well together and have such a fun time. I have enjoyed my time getting to know Kelsea and she has become a best friend of mine. I treasure the times they have come over and we visit while I do dishes or laundry or whatever I need to get done while the kids play. Thank Heaven for Good Friends, I don't know how people live without friends, I think you can never have too many friends!!!

Friday, January 21, 2011

Family Friends

Amy & Garrett's Family are our best friends. We meet each other occasionally at Chick-Filet on Wednesdays for Family Night, we get together often, we all get along and our kids play so good together. We moved away from each other three years ago and we are still the best of friends. You know you found a good friend when you move away and you still stay in touch and get along and pick up where you left off if you haven't seen each other in a while. The nice thing is that you don't get friends often that the husbands get along so well and the wife's get along just as well. I cherish our friendship, they are like family, and hope they will always be a part of our life.

XI FRIENDS

ÜÜÜÜ XI FRIENDS FOREVER ÜÜÜÜ

*****Cute Prego Susie*****

As always it is a joy to get together with my friends from college, we pick up right where we left off as if it were last week. Our Dinner out is usually a 3 hr dinner, I am sure the waitress loves us taking up a table, but we warn them at the beginning. We were all thinking of each other and got each other something and alot related to our fun trip to NYC. When we were in NYC we painted our toes and Heidi made them look all cute and we all were sad when we had to repaint them because it reminded us of our trip. I got them a pedicure kit in remembrance of our toes. Heidi got us all a cute headband that pretty us up. Diana gave us a tin gift set from Max Brenner's, one of the places we ate in NYC that she had told us about she didn't even know what Max Brenner was when she got them. After the trip instead of dividing them out as neighbor gifts she decided to give a set to each of us. So fun my kids love using the hug mugs and Brylee decided it looks like an Egg, so she calls it her Egg Mug. Susie was the creative one as she made our gifts from a canvas that has Choose Faith on it with a quote on the back from the talk at General Conference. It is such a good quote that I for sure needed a reminder.

"Because of the conflicts and challenges we face in today's world, I wish to suggest a single choice-a choice of peace and protection and a choice that is appropriate for all. That choice is faith....So I say, choose faith. Choose faith over doubt, choose faith over fear, choose faith over the unknown and the unseen, and choose faith over pessimism."

Richard C. Edgley-Oct 2010

Monday, January 17, 2011

My Baby Girl is Not so much a Baby Anymore!!

I can't believe how fast my kiddo's are growing up. My baby is not so much a baby anymore. She says funny things and is definately a girl. We asked her what her favorite food is and without hesitation she blurted out with excitement "Chocolate!" She is definatly a true girl!!! She will talk your ear off most of the time and talk as if she is thirteen instead of only four. She is sneaky, caring, loving, funny, cute, full of energy, a nightowl, loud, smart, loves to play, loves to color and draw, loves to paint her fingers & toes, loves her brother, loves life, loves her baby dolls & barbies, loves her stuffed animals, loves to pretend she is a dog, she is a snacker, and all attitude. We are so lucky to have her in our family, she sure brightens up our day and makes us feel good and always tells us she loves us.

Just some funny Brylee Moments:

She was talking to Tanner in the car the other day and I wasn't paying attention and she said "Huh Mom" I said "What" she said "Snow is made of Milk!" I laughed and said "well it sure looks like that doesn't it, but it is not."

We have been talking a lot about telling the truth and not lying, and we were on our way home last night and Brylee was accusing Tanner of lying, he wasn't lying she just didn't like what he was saying, so I said "Do you lie?" she said "No, well yes but I have to because I had to look at my present cuz i just can't wait." Just to explain the day before we were on our way home and she was holding a birthday present and was not suppose to peek and she did, but she said she didn't, then told Tanner what it was, so we had the talk about telling the truth. I should have known to not even let her hold it, but it ended up being a good teaching moment.

I had to work late last Thursday so Jason took the kids to his Church Basketball game and Brylee took a large box of Nerds that Aunt Marci gave her to the game. Can you guess what happenned? YUP during the game she dropped the box of nerds and they dropped onto the basketball court and they had to stop the game and sweep up 1/2 of the court before playing again. They said next time Jason bring her gummy bears or something will ya!! She was so embarassed that she wouldn't let go of Jason and he couldn't play for almost 5 minutes of the game.

We told her she could go anywhere she wanted for her Birthday Dinner and Tanner said "But NOT McDonalds!" I was glad he said it becuase that would be the only time I let them go to McDonalds, but she said Chick Filet so we were all happy about that. I asked her do you even like McDonalds Brylee or do yo just like to play on the toys, she said she just likes to play on the toys, so the truth came out they don't even like the food either!! Even better it was on Family Night at Chick Filet so you by a Meal and get a Kids Meal FREE!!! We love Wednesday Family Night at Chick Filet!!

Our Little Sunbeam. Brylee's first week as a Sunbeam on the way home Tanner said "Brylee you have to quit looking at me when we are in primary." She said "I don't have to because you are my brodder!" They really are the best of buddies. They can sure tease each other, but they play so good together.

WE LOVE YOU, AND YOU WILL ALWAYS BE MY BABY GIRL!!!

Saturday, January 8, 2011

CAKES CAKES CAKES

One of My Hobbies

I have been wanting to post something like this for quite some time and just haven't. One of my new years goals is to blog more, since I used this as part of a journal/scrapbook, so I really want to do better. Cake decorating became a hobby of mine when I had kids and wanted to make cute Birthday cakes for them, so here are most of the cakes I have done so far. Some better then others that is for sure. My cousin asked me if I wanted to take a cake decorating class a few years ago, and it was so much fun. Prior to the class I cheated and just used the can of frosting that came with tips to do some of the decorating. (It is kind of like that can of easy cheese but it is frosting, bet ya didn't know they had that kind of frosting huh!) Now I have a bunch of cute pans that I have found here and there on clearance or yard sales and a tool box of cake decorating stuff. I really enjoy making the cakes, I am not a pro, but I do enjoy it. Tanners last birthday he said "Mom you are such a good cake decorator." My niece Brinley was over and she said, "Betsy when I grow up, I hope that I can make cakes as good as you." Those simple innocent comments sure made me feel good, and realize it doesn't matter the flaws I see in the cakes, the kids enjoy them the most and don't even see the flaws. (Isn't that true with life too! We are so much harder on ourself then we should be!) Really cake is not my favorite dessert to eat, unless it is Aunt Darla's Homeade Strawberry Cake. My favorite dessert/treat would have to be a homemade fresh peach or strawberry pie, ice cream, and cooked peach/apple pie. It was fun looking through my pictures for the cakes and seeing how big the kids are getting through the years. That night Brylee and I stayed up late looking at pictures of when she and Tanner were babies. It did get me a little baby hungary, but only for a second, because then I started thinking about carrying a diaper bag around again & potty training, that sure got me thinking straight again.