Random Stuff

Cheese...so we had a chili cook off yesterday at work and I volunteered to bring cheese and sour cream. Sometimes I can be picky about my food. (Okay, maybe more than just sometimes.) So my concern was the cheese--grate it myself or buy pre-grated cheese. Well, I decided to grate it myself and everyone was happy to have "queso bueno". I thought it was so funny that I was going crazy over the cheese.

I was asked to be the group leader for our ward's book club. I'm really excited about getting it started and meeting with everyone. I chose Endurance: Shackleton's Incredible Voyage. A lady from the other book club I go to suggested a few books and that was the one that sounded like everyone would enjoy. I'm also nervous because even though I like reading books it's hard for me to have intellectual conversation about them. It will go well, though. I'm not planning on leading the discussion for all the books we decide to read.

Oregon/Washington Trip

I just got back today from Seattle, WA. Last Friday, Ariana and I met up with our parents in Portland, OR. We spend one night in Portland, one in Astoria and two in Seattle. We ate lots of yummy food, so much that I still feel full. One of my favorite dishes was a chanterelle mushroom ravioli in a creamy hazelnut sauce. At the bed and breakfast we stayed at we were served fresh fruit, bagels with cream cheese and smoked salmon, and a pumpkin muffin. At the Silver Salmon I had a seafood Caesar salad with crab and shrimp. The blackened steak tip appetizer we had there was also very good. We also sampled pastries everywhere we went. One of my favorite things to do was buy hot chocolate. Moonstruck Chocolate was my favorite place. I had a dark hot chocolate with whipping cream and it was perfectly smooth chocolate, not too sweat or bitter.

It rained most of the time. We were very lucky for a non-rainy day in Seattle. It made the sights there really pretty.

I made hotel reservations and did an amazing job of booking us in two places there were being refurbished. Both of them had phones that didn't work. That didn't matter too much, but it was still funny all the same. Also, in the hotel in Portland we found the sign below in the elevator.

While in Astoria we saw the Goonie house. It's amazing to see how everything is located differently than what you think. We saw the monolith Haystack in Cannon Beach. It is the third largest. We were driving along the road, wondering where to find it and then all of a sudden it appeared in front of us. The size of it surprised me.

I took tons of pictures and there are just a few here for you to see. I hope you enjoy

Also, check out the video I took of our drive through the Ecola State Park. I think we drove about 20 mph, but it felt like we were going much faster as I was recording. Don't get sick....

The Season's First Snow

Technically, yesterday was the first snow, but nothing stuck. This morning when I went to the club house to go running it had just started to snow. The ground was only wet, so I was hoping the snow would be light. However, when I came out of the club house there was a blanket of snow on everything. Above you can see a view from my balcony. The snowflakes were still pretty big when I took the picture. Last winter I had snow up to my mid-calf (or a little higher) collect on my balcony. I probably should have shoveled the snow away. Below you can see the snow from February earlier this year. Crazy!

Cowboy Cookies

If you want a cookie for a chocolate fix, this is what you want. They don't come out too sweet, so you really get to enjoy the chocolate goodness. You can quickly mix everything together and bake it in no time at all. After making the cookie I thought it might be funny to call them "Cow patty" or "Cow pie" Cookies. heehee!!!

Cowboy Cookie

1/2 cup butter, softened
1/2 cup packed light brown sugar
1/4 cup sugar
1 egg
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 cup flour
2 tablespoons unsweetened cocoa powder
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon baking soda
1 cup uncooked rolled oats
1 cup semisweet chocolate chips
1/2 cup raisins
1/2 cup chopped nuts

Preheat oven to 375°. Lightly grease coolie sheets or line with parchment paper. Beat butter with sugars in large bowl until blended. Add egg and vanilla; beat until fluffy. Combine flour, cocoa, baking powder and baking soda in small bowl; stir into butter mixture. Add oats, chocolate chips, raisins and nuts. Drop by rounded teaspoonfuls 2 inches apart onto prepared cookie sheets. Bake 10 to 12 minutes or until lightly browned around edges. Remove to wire racks to cool.

Makes about 4 dozen cookies, but I got about 3 dozen out of the recipe.

Hanging Out With The Kids

Today I spent all afternoon hanging out with Andy and Rynell's kids (minus Audrey) to give the parents a break. These munch kins have a lot of energy!
Here they are at the library, all being well behaved. I was very impressed that there was no screaming, running or fighting. They know how to act in the library. One of their family rules is that they can't check out more than they can carry. Melina and Max had comfortable piles of books to carry, but Josh had a pretty big pile and almost lost it a few times.

After we left the library we went to the park. There's a nice park not too far from where they live and there's a duck pond. One family that came to the park brought two bags of bread and shared it with all the other kids. So, Melina, Josh and Max all had the opportunity to feed the ducks. Above is a picture of some of the ducks that swam over to be fed. All the kids were laughing and having a great time. They even got to see some of the ducks fight over the bread crumbs.

Then, when the duck feeding ended, we ran and sat in the grass. A couple showed up with a dog and Josh went over to play and run around with the dog, Petunia. He had a blast and the couple was very nice to let Josh play with Petunia.

Well, after leaving the park the kids weren't finished playing outside. So we hung out in their backyard and gathered leaves and sticks. It kept them busy and entertained for a while and I was very exhausted by the end of it.

Once we got inside the kids took their baths and we watched a video together. Andy barbecued some salmon and chicken for the kids. After they ate I took off for home. If the kids are as tired as I am, they should sleep very well tonight.