Once there was a Snowman

Ruthie and Daddy made a little snowman with the little snow we had left on our backyard.

Give to Haiti

If you have been wanting to give to Haiti here is your chance. This site is set up by my church and I know that 100% of your donations will go straight to those in need. You can read more on this site.
Humanitarian Services

Playdough

My friend has this awesome blog called Favorites and Things. The other day she posted about doing more activities with her daughter that is Ruthie's age. One thing that she did was made playdough. I thought that sounded so fun that we just had to do it. It has been soo long since I have played with playdough. Ruthie liked playing with the cookie cutters more than the playdough. She thought it was funny to stack them on her head and wear them as bracelets. If you want the recipe to making the playdough, you can click on her blog from my list.

For Chris and Ashlie

Ruthie's Uncle Chris and Aunt Ashlie got her this cute hat for Christmas and I promised I would take pictures so here they are! It was really hard to get one of her face, because she refuses to look at the camera. But I think she looks rather adorable in it.




Thanks for the cute and very warm hat!

Best 7 layer Bean Dip

At Thanksgiving, Justin's aunt made this awesome 7 layer bean dip. I crave it everyday now. I forgot to get the recipe from her, so I decided to look it up and found this on grouprecipes.com . It's amazing and I had to share it. ENJOY!

Ingredients

2 cans jalapeno-flavored bean dip ( we have made it with a can of jalepeno flavored refried beans and it was just as good)

3 avocados
Lemon juice
Salt and pepper to taste
1 cup sour cream
½ cup mayonnaise
1 package Shilling taco seasoning mix
3 or 4 finely diced plum tomatoes ( justin's aunt used grape tomatoes)

2 cups sliced black olives
1 or 2 bunches sliced green onions
2 pounds shredded cheese (suggestion: mix jack and Cheddar together)
1 bunch cilantro, chopped.

Directions

Mix together sour cream, taco seasoning mix and mayonnaise. Set aside.
Mash and mix avocados with lemon juice ( to taste- approximately juice of one lemon), salt and pepper.
In a 13x9 glass casserole dish, layer as follows: bean dip, avocado mixture, sour cream mixture, tomatoes, onions, olives
and grated cheese.
Garnish with cilantro and serve with tortilla chips.

Want a serious butt kicking work out?

Try this DVD and if you are as out of shape as I am, you will be hurting.. I have been doing it for two weeks and still have not made it through the whole work out!

Catch up!

I know I have been terrible about blogging. It's kind of a love hate thing I have with blogging. I hate writing and reading all of your blogs get me depressed. You are all such great writers and I love reading your blogs. Then I look at mine and feel a little embarrassed about how boring mine is. So this blog will be lots of pictures with some captions of what we have been up to...

Going to Ikea.

Dinosaur Museum


Christmas vacation in Vegas.



Bowling


Ruthie's favorite place to watch t.v. at Grandpa and Grandma's house.
Bass Pro Shop




Bellagio Flowers


Decorating the Christmas tree which she would redecorate everyday!


Chuck e cheeses for the first time.. she was one crazy driver!

We are officially Utah residents. Ruthie waiting for Daddy to be done with his test.
Waiting for Santa at the South Towne Mall.
Our Ward Party
Ruthie eating her prize from the Pinata!
Visiting Santa's reindeer at Thanksgiving Point.

HANDBOOK FOR 2010

My mom sent me this and I really liked a lot of the things. Especially the ones in bold and the things in parentheses are what I added.

HANDBOOK FOR 2010

Health:
1. Drink plenty of water.
2. Eat breakfast like a king, lunch like a prince and dinner like a
pauper.
3. Eat more foods that grow on trees and plants and eat less food that
is manufactured in plants.
4. Live with the 3 E's -- Energy, Enthusiasm and Empathy
5. Make time to pray.
6. Play more games. (and watch less tv!)
7. Read more books than you did in 2009.
8. Sit in silence for at least 10 minutes each day.

9. Sleep for 7 hours.

10. Take a 10-30 minutes walk daily. And while you walk, smile. (exercise more in general)

Personality:
11. Don't compare your life to others. You have no idea what their
journey is all about.
12. Don't have negative thoughts or things you cannot control. Instead
invest your energy in the positive present moment.
13. Don't over do. Keep your limits.
14. Don't take yourself so seriously.. .no one else does.
15. Don't waste your precious energy on gossip.
16. Dream more while you are awake.

17. Envy is a waste of time. You already have all you need. ( something i have been trying to do my whole life. i am always wishing i was skinnier, prettier, smarter but no more! hopefully..)
18. Forget issues of the past. Don't remind your partner with his/her
mistakes of the past. That will ruin your present happiness.
19. Life is too short to waste time hating anyone. Don't hate others.
20. Make peace with your past so it won't spoil the present.
21. No one is in charge of your happiness except you. ( i have been playing the blame game a lot lately)
22. Realize that life is a school and you are here to learn. Problems
are simply part of the curriculum that appear and fade away like algebra
class, but the lessons you learn will last a lifetime.
23. Smile and laugh more.
24. You don't have to win every argument. Agree to disagree...

Society:
25. Call your family often.
26. Each day give something good to others. (i really want to volunteer more as a family.. any ideas?)
27. Forgive everyone for everything.
28. Spend time with people over the age of 70 and under the age of 6.
29. Try to make at least three people smile each day.
30. What other people think of you is none of your business.
31. Your job won't take care of you when you are sick. Your friends
will. Stay in touch.

Life:
32. Do the right thing! Trust God for everything....
33. Get rid of anything that isn't useful, beautiful or joyful.
34. GOD heals everything. In HIS own time....
35. However good or bad a situation is, it will change.
36. No matter how you feel, get up, dress up and show up.
37. The best is yet to come. Wait and See...
38. When you awake alive in the morning, thank GOD for it. You have work
to do....
39. Your innermost is always happy. So, be happy.