Thankful

photo found on zdnet.com.au

Today I am very grateful for something I always took for granted until lately. Today I am very grateful to live in this modern day and age with all the advances in medicine and technology. My baby girl went to the doctor yesterday and got tested for Celiacs Disease. In 3 years she had only gained 10 pounds from feeling "yucky" all the time. I'm grateful that doctors know about this disease and that she's getting tested for it while she's still so young. It's also SO much easier to be Gluten Free these days than when I was young.

Jon will be so glad to hear me say what else I am grateful for . . . my iPhone 4. I have griped numerous times that no one NEEDS movies on a cell phone or games etc. It just contributes to being "Heavily Dependent on Electronic Devices" (there is a GREAT story behind that quote). Well, I ate those words yesterday when I had the brilliant idea to have Grace watch a movie while they took her blood. It helped her be distracted and me to not be so nervous for her. And later when I was trying to find Sprinkles cupcakes so she could get a Gluten Free cupcake, I used my uber fast phone to find directions to it so I didn't get lost.

We can't wait to skype with our family this afternoon, and we couldn't do it without technology, so I am very grateful for the internet and to have a computer so I can see our families today while still being 1500 miles from them. Yay for technology!!

Sunshine Boats . . .

Bangers and Mash . . . kind of upside down Sunshine Boats

I grew up in the hick town of Springville. I don't know if Sunshine Boats were a Springville thing but no one else I ever tell about these (not that I tell a lot of people) has ever heard about them. Maybe the lunch ladies got the recipe from one of their ancestors or something. I like to think that. I'm sure they really just made it up after having leftovers and wondering what to do with them. But let me live in my own little world. At the beginning of every month when the new school lunch menu came out I would look for Sunshine Boats and count down the days. We took our sack lunches every day, but once in a while we got to eat school lunch (for 35 cents!) and I lobbied hard on Sunshine Boat day.

So, what are Sunshine Boats?? Think Bangers and Mash with cheese. Or think a split hot dog (Art City Elementary used these long, skinny, spicy, red hot dogs) with 2 ice cream scoops of mashed potatoes, sprinkled with cheddar cheese and broiled till browned. Mmmmmmmm. Every few years when I have some leftover mashed potatoes I need some and today was one of those days. If you feel like making some, here's what you need:

Hot Dogs (Oscar Meyer is the best)

Leftover (or new) Mashed Potatoes,warm

Sharp Cheddar Cheese

I like to brown the hot dogs on the outside, split them and brown the inside. Put 2 nice sized scoops of potatoes on top and sprinkle with cheese. Broil until cheese is browned.

Homesick . . .

Exactly a year ago I went up to Utah so my sisters and I could kidnap my mom for the weekend to celebrate her birthday.

Can we make that a new tradition? I know it was for moms birthday, but it did wonders for me. My family are my best friends and I miss you guys! I miss our lunches, family dinners, running into you at the store and honking every time we drove by moms house. Thank goodness my "little" sister Ems is coming here next week! We can't wait!

Silk Road Mummies

Did you know I was going to major in Archaeology at "Uni"? I subscribed to Archaeology magazines in High school and studied all I could. Then I got to BYU and realized that my lifelong desire wasn't really what I wanted. I wanted to study living people, not dead ones, so I switched to Anthropology, but I still have a love of artifacts and especially mummies.

At our Natural History Museum there is a really interesting exhibit called Secrets of the Silk Road. We are one of only 3 museums in the US to be getting this exhibit and it was really interesting. I couldn't take pictures and didn't even think of taking any of the kids before or after, so you'll have to do with these pictures of a couple of the mummies. This one is a baby but the main one, The Beauty of Xiaohe (this is a link with pictures and good info) was too scary for Grace to look at so I won't put it on here either.

The kids favorite part was the 4,000 year old mummified spring roll, wanton, and flower cookies. Ok. I liked them too.

Flashback Monday

I found this a few weeks ago and keep chuckling about it, so I thought I'd share. Where has the time gone??? When I showed this to Collin he said, "Oh boy . . . who is that?" His jaw dropped when I told him it was him. Wasn't he the cutest chub o' love??

Hello November!

No, this isn't what it looks like where we live. It's suppose to get to 88 today and set a new record, and leaves don't turn colors here, but I can always dream right?

My Christmas shopping is 3/4's done, a "cold" front is coming this week and Grace has a cold, so it feels almost like fall should! Have a happy Autumn.