2 years of not blogging... part 2012

Wow, so one thing we have definitely not been good about is blogging... however, that is not because we haven't wanted to blog about anything... It's just that we do other things instead. You might say that it's kind or like flossing: if you don't floss one day, there is a really good chance that you won't floss for two years. (At least that's how I feel about flossing now. Oh, and don't worry we're flossing daily ;-)

Anyhow, due to a variety of events, Andi now volunteers at the hospital on Sunday nights in Mother Baby instead of Tuesday afternoons in oncology and it leaves me a big opening to make some updates. There are so many things to write about, so I think I'll take the writing approach that my advisor call the "shotgun" approach to writing. I'll throw up all the figures, or pictures in this case, of what I want to write about  and then I'll fill in the text to describe the figures.

While sometimes I feel like I spend way too much time banging my head on a keyboard... which I do enjoy. I'll keep this post to talking about the fun things we have done together. If you want to know about the keyboard banging, read my papers.

So here we go on a nearly two year adventure as retold mostly by my cell phone pictures.
*Actually on second thought. I'll stick with just finishing off 2012.

 In May went camping with our friends up Payson canyon.

 We had some fun with the solar eclipse. You can use binoculars to project the Sun onto a piece of paper. I did this later in 2012 with the Venus transit. (Venus passed in front of the Sun and is the dot on the right side).

 I went mountain biking with Russell up Dragon's Back, which was great the front wheel popped off when I re-entered the parking lot and...

 And ended up riding in an ambulance to the ER. Scoring me the the KOM for the University Avenue segment. (Until someone flagged it) pfff.

But hey, I got a beard card for a few weeks.

We went for a hike with Joey and the singles ward.......

Had a great family reunion near Lava hotsprings... oh and just in case you camp there sometime. It is totally worth the $8 to go shower and sit in the hotsprings after a few days of camping.

 Hung out with some of the nieces and nephews at BYU.

One day in July we wanted to go for a hike up Rock Canyon and on a whim decided to hike Squaw Peak... we really should have brought a little more than a single water bottle and granola bar... but I'm sure some of you have done sillier things.

 After hike dinners offer a great opportunity to analyze your dirt line.

 We bought me an awesome Mountain bike!

 We went to the Mayfield Parade and saw our old landlord.

 And a huge cow.

 But really we took the trip for the the mini milk chug.

 In august we took a trip to Lake Coeur d'Alene with Andi's family. (In the background you should be hearing Andi shout Hallelujah now).

 Andi was enlisted to recreate Grandpa and Grandma C's Wedding cake.

 Cell phone camera's do not do the sunrises justice.

 We took a ride out to get some ice cream.

Then back in Wenatchee I road up Devil's Gulch trail. Which greets you with some beautiful single track at the start, but quickly turns into a narrow trail next to a steep and rocky gulch. On the way up, it felt it made me nearvous. So I didn't finish the trail that time. It felt just fine coming down, but I'm glad I turned around when I did because hadn't brought enough food and that is when I truly came to understand what it means to bonk.
I had used google maps to direct me to the trailhead, and it tried to direct me to take a 4x4 road... I didn't want to risk getting our Ford Escort stuck so I just decided to bike the rest of the way... but that made it so I had over a 1000 ft climb on a 4x4 road after my "mountain bike ride".

 Meanwhile Andi picked out some fabric and later we upholstered some yard furniture at her parents'.

 In September we started and...

 completed a challenge to run 100 miles in two weeks (on trail when possible). Andi basically devoured a water melon a few minutes after posing for this picture.

 Also for a date night we checked out the chalk the block sidewalk art at the Riverwoods in Provo.

 Of course we played in the dirt with Sammy and Joey....

 And played in some more dirt. These pictures actually are sequential in my photos... kids like dirt ;-)

 In October, Andi's Great Grandma Julina died. She was a great lady. Lucky for me she eventually decided that she loved me... if you don't know the story that goes along with that ask Andi.

 We took a trip to Pasedena and along the way Andi wanted a picture next to the Joshua trees outside of Vegas.

 I gave a presentation at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory.

 Then we went and had some fun at Santa Monica. We stayed with my first mission president and his wife the Whitesides (They are soo awesome). And we had the chance to go to the Newport beach temple with them. Suburashkatta yo. (It was awesome).

 In November we took a tour of BYU with a few of the residents at Andi's work.

 Then a few day's later Andi was at Runner's Corner and one of my friends from the UVSC cross-country team asked her if I would want to run the Las Vegas Ragnar. And since we had just finished the 100 mile challenge I said sure, and was on my way to run Ragnar with a group of people that I barely met. (My friend didn't run because of an injury).

 There was Thanksgiving at Grandma and Grandpa J's in Shelly ID

Of course with a proper 10k turkey trot before hand... too bad I didn't take a picture of the pie table. We usually have about a pie a person =)

In December there was Sam's baptism. Congrats Sam, you've made an great decision!

 Then for Christmas with the Lewis's we went and harvested a Christmas tree.

 And since it was my first time, they let me cut and carry it ;-)

And of course we took a trip up to Leavenworth during the break!

That wraps up 2012... I'm going to have to leave 2013 for another post. We have had a lot of fun, and have really been blessed by the Lord. While most of the pictures highlight fun times, there were definitely some rough times. I left one of the roughest and the best times to some ellipses because it deserves a full post sometime. But oftentimes, it is during the difficult times is life, the times when you have no other place to turn other than to the Lord, that you can feel the Lord's love the most.

Thanks for reading my picture book. See you next in a year (2013)... Posting things more often would make this a lot easier.

Jam Dream Cookies

These cookies have gone by many names over the years, jam dream cookies, thumbprints, Brian's cookies, Nathan's cookies, Andi cookies, and the list goes on.  Craig even tried to get them named "Craig's Cookies" for a while because they are his favorite, but that just got confusing because our family associates a different recipe with the name "Craig's Cookies."  Anyhow, I initially received this recipe from Sandy Wells years ago, and shared it infrequently, until now.  You see, I was out of town and without my recipe box a few weeks ago and really wanted to make these cookies.  I thought for sure I'd have a post about them on my blog and could retrieve the recipe that way, but was out of luck.  So, when I made some this evening I decided I needed to post ASAP so I would never be in the same dilemma again.  So really this post is kind of a selfish one, but hey, you get to benefit as well!  

Ingredients:

2/3 cup granulated sugar

2 cups flour

1 cup salted butter (NOT MARGARINE, NOT SHORTENING, BUTTER ONLY)

1/2 tsp almond extract

Jam (I prefer strawberry freezer jam)

1 cup powdered sugar

1 1/2 tsp almond extract

1-3 tsp water

Directions:

Combine the first four ingredients until they form a smooth, paste like dough.  Roll one tablespoon quantities of dough into ball and place on an ungreased cookies sheet.  Make a dent in the center of each cookie and fill with jam. (I put my jam in a ziploc bag and cut a small hole in the corner and squeeze it into the dents.)  Bake at 350 F for approximately 10 minutes or until the edges just barely begin turn turn light gold.  Remove from oven and transfer cookies to a cooling rack.  Combine the last three ingredients to form a glaze and drizzle over the cooled cookies.  (I use a ziploc for the glaze as well.)  Enjoy!

These cookies have a longer shelf life than other cookies and work great if you want to send someone a treat in the mail. 

 

My First Wedding Cake

My little brother married his sweetheart Fang yesterday in the Jordan River Temple in Utah.  It was a lovely wedding and I'm so excited for them and to have a new sister!  Anyhow, I made the cake and the wedding bouquet and was pretty proud of them so I thought I would post them and boast a little.  I wasn't too nervous about the flowers because I have made multiple bouquets it the past.  The only scary part was that I made it with tulips and I had never worked with tulips before.  Also, the day I needed to go and buy the flowers was the same day as BYU's graduation and two local high school proms, so I was afraid I wouldn't be able to get what I needed, but thanks to the ladies at Best Buds on Canyon Road in Provo I was able to get everything I needed!  The cake on the other hand was a much scarier experience.  You see, I have never made a wedding cake before.  I made a practice cake last week just to make sure I wasn't going to fail completely, and then when it came to making the real thing, a kind and patient friend who knew what she was doing came over to the house and helped out (that's most likely why it turned out so well).  I had also never transported a cake before and I knew we were going to be driving through the I-15 construction mess and was afraid that we'd ruin a layer in transit.  We were blessed and made it to the reception without any cake disasters, and once I put it together and got it decorated I was finally able to take a sigh of relief.
The past few days have felt like I've been running a marathon, but it was all worth it.  Everything was so nice, there were no major disasters, and best of all my brother was able to marry his wife for time and all eternity and I was able to be there with him!

Manna From Heaven: Jayne Clare's Roll Recipe

     I was needing to make bread today and felt like making rolls instead of loaf bread, so I pulled out the cookbook that I am currently trying to work my way through and saw the recipe for these lovely rolls.  I, along with many others, have consumed these rolls on multiple occasions and love them, and if they are like me, they likely miss them dearly.  For those of you who know the Clare family and have had the great fortune to eat some of Jayne Clare's rolls, this is the recipe.  Now I must admit, they did not turn out quite as fabulously as when she makes them, but they were still REALLY tasty and brought back a bunch of memories.  Here's the recipe as it appeared in the BYU 59th Ward Recipes December 2008 edition.

Rolls

Jayne Clare

Ingredients:

1 can evaporated milk

1 egg

1 c. sugar

1/2 c. oil

4 1/2 c. warm water

2 T salt

3 T fast-acting yeast

1/2 c. potato flakes

12-14 c. flour

Directions:

     Mix wet ingredients first and then put in your flour.  It works best if you have a bread mixer like a Bosh or even a bread machine works if you cut the recipe in half.  The bread has enough flour when it pulls away from the side all the way down the bowl almost to the bottom.  Then mix it for five minutes.  Let dough rise in bowl for fifteen minutes and then roll into balls five across and seven down in a large cookie sheet pan.  Let rise and then bake at 350 F for 20 minutes or until golden.  This recipe makes about 60-70 rolls.

Andi's Notes:

      The above instructions are exactly what appeared in the cookbook.  The following are notes from me regarding tips on things that I did as well as a few tips that Jayne gave me over the phone today.

1.  I mixed all of the ingredients, except for the flour, together first.  Not just the wet ingredients.

2.  I do not have a Bosch or a bread machine, so I had to adapt the directions a bit.  After I mixed the initial ingredients, I then added six cups of the flour and mixed that in well with an electric hand mixer.  I then added the remaining flour and just mixed that with a spoon and then my hands until it came together to form a dough.  I then kneaded the dough for about five minutes, let it rest for a few minutes, and then kneaded again for about another five minutes by hand.  At that point, I went back to following the rest of her original instructions (I picked back up at the instruction that says to place the dough in a bowl).

3.  Jayne told me that once she removes the pan of rolls from the oven she butters the tops of the rolls.  She also said that she removes the rolls from the pan as soon as they cool enough to not burn your hands and places them in a basket lined with a towel so that they wont sweat. 

     I hope you guys enjoy these as much as our friends and us did this evening!

The big discoveries of the day were as follows:
1. I found a Costco in downtown Vancouver and they have some pretty good looking items that I think they should add to the US Costcos.
2. I found a huge Asian grocery store/market that is just 2 blocks from our hotel. Needless to say, I've visited 3 times already today and ate 2 meals there. Pretty sure we'll be back again tomorrow.



This picture was taken outside of the conference center where Craig's conference is going on.

Eh?

I finally overheard someone say "eh" today. I don't think that Vancouver is an accurate representation of the country as a whole. Everyone I pass seems to be speaking a different language. I love the diversity of this place though, as I hear everyone speaking different languages and as I see/smell all of the international food vendors, my desire to travel grows!

Here is today's picture of the day from Canada. I passed this place yesterday when I was out exploring and decided that we needed to try it before leaving, so we went back today for lunch and this is what we had:



The restaurant (classy food shack by the water) was called, Go Fish. We got the fish and chips with slaw. We got one piece of salmon and one piece of cod. SO GOOD!

Oh Canada!

I'm going to try to feature a picture each day from our trip here in Canada. We have been very blessed to have the opportunity to be here in Canada. Craig's research has brought us to the land of the maple leaf and is thankfully paying for most of the trip as well! Craig presented at the conference today and reports that all went well! The conference goes through Friday and we arrived yesterday (Monday). We were looking forward to the food the most, but we've been surprised by many more great gifts of the city. Today I came across a rock artist, at least that's what I'm calling him. Here's a sample of his craft:



Also, it has been far too long since our last post. I promise to catch everyone up with our adventures over the past year and I promise to deliver some new, great recipes soon, but for now, I'm going to address our current trip to Vancouver, British Columbia.