Bubbles!

 

Bubbles are great. I love that I can spend $1 and entertain my lovely child for hours. We've had such miserable weather lately so we couldn't pass up the chance to get out in the sun on Monday and blow some bubbles. I even got my first sunburn of the year. Good times.

Spring Flowers

I love spring. I love watching the first spring flowers brave the unpredictable weather and fill our dead gardens with bursts of color. Our yard is a continuous work in progress and we don't have many bulbs this year, but thankfully our neighbors Kerry and Jeff have such a beautiful yard we can admire! We are lucky to have so many great neighbors on our street.

The weather was so beautiful yesterday I thought it would be fun to take some pictures of the flowers in their yard. Happy spring everyone!

 Isn't my baby girl so cute? I love that smile!

The last three pictures turned out great and I used some new Photoshop actions on them. They are going up in my room!

Golden Goddess Caramelized Onion Dip

James loves onion dip like a fat girl loves an all you can eat buffet, and that's a lot!

We make an awesome onion dip with chopped olives that sounds foul but is really so good! While stalking Pinterest I found a yummy recipe for a caramelized onion dip. As soon as James saw the picture, he began whimpering, begging me to make it.

I'm a giver, you all know this so I agreed to chop TWO smelly onions to make this dip. I will admit, it's pretty good. If you like onion dip, try this. The prep is kind of a pain but its worth it and the longer it sits, the better it gets. 

What I also love about this is the Greek yogurt is very low in fat and high in protein, which makes this dip almost good for you, expect when you eat it with an entire bag of chips.

Going in the for the taste test....

Ahhh....the face of a satisfied customer. James owes me big time. 

Golden Goddess Caramelized Onion Dip

Adapted from: 101 Cookbooks

2 Tbsp. extra virgin olive oil

1 Tbsp. butter
2 large yellow onions (about 1 1/2 pounds), finely chopped
3/4 cup sour cream (low-fat is fine if you like)
3/4 cup Greek yogurt (low-fat is fine if you like)
3 teaspoons onion powder (not onion salt)
1 tsp. salt

2 beef bullion cubes

1 tsp. hot water

1/2 tsp. Worchestershire sauce

In non-stick skillet over medium heat, saute the chopped onions in the olive oil and butter along with a couple pinches of salt. Stir occasionally with a wood or metal spatula and cook until the onions are deeply golden, brown, and caramelized - roughly 40 or 50 minutes. Set aside and let cool to room temperature.

In the meantime, whisk together the sour cream, yogurt, onion powder, and salt (adjust the salt/onion powder to taste). In a small bowl, combine the two bullion cubes and the water and microwave for about 30 seconds until the bullion cube is soft. Mash them up into a thick paste and add to the dip along with the Worchestershire sauce. Stir in 2/3 of the caramelized onions and top with the remaining onions.

For all the birth mothers out there....

 As you all know, James and I hope to be able to adopt again. I put together some layouts for potential birth mothers. If you know of someone who has an unplanned pregnancy and is thinking about adoption, will you please let them know about us? Love you all! Enjoy a little slice of our life!

Happy St. Patrick's Day!

Happy St. Patrick's Day! Bridget had so much fun with St. Patrick's day this year, thanks to Ms. Lorie and Grandpa Avery at pre-school. The Leprechauns messed up her class room and left goodies for all the kids. She had a great time! We found her a cute Hello Kitty shamrock shirt and Tonya gave her the cute hair bow. She looked so darn cute!

Bridget made this cute shamrock headband at preschool. She cut it out herself!

Bugged.

Really?

Isn't it irritating when you find out after the bread has been baked 

you didn't grease and flour the pan well enough? 

For the love...

A desperate plea!

As you know, things around our house have been a little tighter than usual with James losing his job last year. Instead of dwelling on the negative, I'm putting my talents to good use and trying to support my family until James can get back to work.

I've started working with my sister-in-law Alyse for International Student Exchange, a great program that places kids from around the world with host families. I've started working in the Eastern part of the state from Park City to Vernal.

Here comes the begging (be prepared).

I need help! I have one student placed and need to find good homes for nine more before then end of March! Aack! Alyse has been doing this for a few years now and has had several students stay with her during the school year. It is such a fun experience and her family has loved it. In fact, when we get through with our foster care/adoption process, we are planning on hosting a student at our house.

These are great kids who want to come and experience life in America. Utah is a great place to do that because the quality of people here is so high. If you are interested in hosting a student and you live outside of the areas I'm searching for, please let me know! We can find a student for you.

Here are a few facts about this program:

1. The kids speak and understand English.
2. They are expected to attend school and maintain a C average
3. They are here to become a part of your family for the school year.
4. Hosting a student is fairly easy, you basically provide room and board, food and support for them.
5. These kids come with their own spending money, insurance and a desire to become a part of your family.

Think about what a great opportunity this would be to teach your kids about another culture. We got to know Alyse's exchange student last year Francisco and we're still Facebook friends. He was a nice, quiet young man from Equador who taught their family a lot.

My friends, I love you all and I appreciate the support you give me and my family. Please share this with your friends, family, neighbors, church members, and who ever else. I only have 27 more days to get nine more students placed!

It's so unattractive but I'm desperate to find homes for these students. I don't want to let them down. Any help you could give I would appreciate.