CALIFORNIAAA!

Sam and I have been really taking advantage of our 2 week vacation before fall semester starts. the day after finals ended on friday the 14th, we took off to visit my sisters in california and to see my niece millie get baptized. we had soo much fun with everyone over the weekend! i loved seeing my sisters again. my parents were in town and it was nice to see them also. then on monday we took a day trip down to San Francisco with my parents. it was quite a full day and we got to see a lot!! then on tuesday we had planned to head back to provo, stopping at Lake Tahoe for a couple hours to spend some time at the beach. however, sam found out he didnt have to work the next day so we decided to take a spontaneous detour to Las Vegas! we found a CRAZY cheap room so we figured why not! it was soo random and soo fun! i had a blast spending time with my hilarious and wonderful husband! so there are quite a few pics because we were able to do and see so much in so little time. it was crazy but fun!Me with Millie after her baptism! she is growing up so fast:
we spent the afternoon and evening at Folsom Lake in Sacramento:
Simon:
Madelyn is such a cutie!! :

In San Francisco with the parentals:
cool ship from WWII and Alcatraz in the background:

sea lions at Pier 39:
at lunch.. amazing seafood!! loove san fran!!:

Golden Gate Bridge.. kinda foggy:

Seeing the Redwood trees in Muir Woods:

the California coast!! way windy but so beautiful:
Glen Alpine Falls (i think thats what they are named)... near Lake Tahoe:

Lake Tahoe.. gorgeous lake!
VEGAS! we stayed in the Stratosphere. not bad!
we went to the Forum Shops at Caesar's Palace.. beaufitul statues and architecture:
the Bellagio:

Christa's Baby Shower

A couple weeks ago Christa's sister Hilary and I threw Christa a baby shower for all her friends out here in utah. In July we had talked about a date and decided on august 8 because christa's due date wasnt until the end of august. then christa had little baby parker a couple weeks later on july 28 so we decided to just keep the same date for the shower. we were just glad that we didnt have to worry about him coming DURING the shower haha... anywho, here are some pics from the day. we had some great food and fun games. thanks to hilary and christa's mom for helpin me out wth all of it. we had so much fun getting it all ready and it seemed everyone had fun there at the shower. and congrats to christa for havin that cute baby!

the yummy food:
a couple games and paker's baby book and pictures:
christa with her diaper cake that i made for her:
me with the cute mommy! (notice the fun balloons we picked out):
most everyone that came:

Requested Recipes

So a few of you friends and family members have been asking me for some recipes lately that i have been trying out. Sorry it has taken me FOREVER to finally post them. I was gonna email them but then i thought, well why dont i just post em for all to enjoy! so here ya go!

Chicken Parmigiana (easy!):3/4 c. plain breadcrumbs (italian works good too)
3/4 c. grated parmesan cheese
8 chicken cutlets or 4 boneless skinless chicken breast halves
1 large egg
2 c. easy chunky tomato sauce, jarred tomato sauce, etc
1/4 c. olive oil
6 oz mozzarella cheese, preferably fresh, cut into 1/4 inch thick slices

1. Heat broiler. Combine breadcrumbs and Parmesan in a shallow bowl. Season both sides of the chicken with salt and pepper. dip chicken in the beaten egg, then dredge in the breadcrumb mixture, turning to coat both sides
2. spread tomato sauce onto the bottom of a baking dish (i used 9x13). Heat 2 tbsps. olive oil in a large nonstick skillet over med heat. place 4 chicken cutlets in the skillet; coot until golden, 1-2 mins each side. using a spatula, transfer the browned chicken cutlets to the baking dish, placing them on top of the sauce. repeat with remaining oil and chicken.
3. top each cutlet with a slice of mozzarella. broil about 4 inches from the heat source until the sauce is hot and cheese is melted and lightly browned in spots. about 5-8 mins. make sure chicken is cooked through. serve immediately with pasta.

* * * * *

Here is another one i have tried recently. it was pretty yummy. not very healthy im sure but it tasted great! haha....
Slow-Cooker Chicken and Dumplings:
2 c. chopped carrots
2 c. chopped potatoes (i used red potatoes, yum.)
1 1/2 c. chopped parsnips
1 clove garlic, minced
2 bay leaves
1 tsp. dried sage, crushed
3/4 tsp salt
1/4 tsp pepper
2 lbs boneless skinless chicken thighs cut into 1 inch pieces (i used chicken breasts, it worked just fine)
1 14 oz. can chicken broth
1 10 and 3/4 oz can cream of chicken soup
2 tbsp. water
1 tbsp. cornstarch
1/2 c. flour
1/2 c. shredded cheddar cheese (2 oz.)
2 tbsp. milk
2 tbsp. butter, melted

1. for stew, in a slow cooker, combine the carrots, potatoes, parsnips, garlic, bay leaves, sage, 1/2 tsp. salt, and pepper. Place chicken on top of the vegetables. in a med bowl, gradually whisk broth into soup. pour over chicken.
2. cover, cook on low-heat for 8-10 hrs or on high-heat for 4-5 hrs.
3. after cooking, if using low- heat, turn slow cooker to high-heat. with a wooden spoon, stir stew. remove bay leaves; discard. in a small bowl, combine water and cornstarch; stir into stew until combined.
4. for dumplings, in a med mixing bowl combine flour, cheese, cornmeal, baking powder, and remaining salt. in a small bowl combine egg, milk, and melted butter. add egg mixture to flour mixture. stir with a fork until moistened. use 2 sppons to drop dough directly on top of stew.
5. cover, cook for 25-30 mins more or until a toothpick inserted into a dumpling comes out clean. (do not lift cover during cooking.)

* * * * *

and finally, the "Better than Sex Cake"
1 cake mix -german chocolate or regular chocolate flavor
1 can sweetened condensed milk
1/2 bottle or jar of caramel ice cream topping (i tend to use more than just 1/2 the jar. hehe)
Whipped cream or Cool Whip
bag of Heath Bits

Bake cake in a 9x13 pan with regular instructions

While cake is still hot, poke holes with a knife or skewer. pour can of sweetened condensed milk and jar of melted caramel all over the cake. Chill in the refrigerator. Top with Cool Whip then Heath bits. it's that easy!!

Sam's Mosaic

So remember this mosaic i made a few weeks ago?

Well i decided to make one for Sam too and i love how it turned out! He thought it was pretty cool too.. way more boyish than mine haha:
1. His name: Sam- short for Samuel

2. His favorite food: if there is something sam could never get sick of, its a great steak. when we go out to dinner, he almost always gets a steak at whatever restaurant we are at lol

3. His high school: Friendswood High School.. the Mustangs

4. His favorite color: Navy blue. I actually couldnt think of sam's favorite color because he never talks about it. then when he told me it was navy blue, it totally made sense even tho he had never actually said it before.

5. The place that he is at now: BYU in Provo, UT.

6. His favorite drink: Root Beer! dr. pepper comes close but root beer is definitely his favorite.

7. His dream vacation: Tahiti, Bora Bora, OR somewhere in the bahamas. basically an awesome tropical beach with clear water and white sand.

8. His favorite treat: Better than "anything" cake. he loves brownies and what not but this is his all time favorite

9. What he wants to be when he grows up: a professional wakeboarder! hehe... sam loooves wakeboarding and hopes he can someday do tricks like the guy in the picture.

10. Whats most important to him: family.

11. A word to describe him: This was easy for me to think of... the best word to describe sam is boyish. He jokes around a lot (not in a mean way of course). He loves to have a good time and play and be adventurous. He is HILARIOUS and we have so much fun together.

12. A nickname of his: This one is kinda complicated but i couldnt but 2 pics down.... sam's family has always called him ELTON KELLER. half elton john because he plays the piano and sings all the time (name came from when he was 9 years old and would play 'can you feel the love tonight' everyday on piano lol). and half Helen Keller because he is partly blind in one eye (this also came from when we was younger- when he would mow the lawn, he couldnt mow very straight and when people tried to call his name, he wouldnt hear them). sooo sam's family just kinda combined the two and from now on, he will always be Elton Keller. hehe

If you wanna make one for yourself, here are the instructions!! Have fun!

Step 1: Go to flickr.com

Step 2: In another window open http://bighugelabs.com/flickr/mosaic.php

Step 3: Choose 4 columns, 3 rows
Step 4: Answer the questions in the search bar of flickr and pick your favorite picture on the page and paste the address into the mosaic maker. Create the mosaic and then save it to your computer and post it as a picture. Have fun! :)

Christa and Randall had a baby!

So my best friend Christa had her baby the other day! the original due date wasnt until august 27 or so but the little guy decided to come a whole month early! he was born on July 28 and even though he was so early, he still weighed 7lb 4 oz!! good thing he was born early or he woulda been huge! lol... anywho, they named him Parker Lewis Hendricks and he is way cute. and christa is doing great! there were no complications or anything... it is a lot different seeing my best friend go through the whole baby thing than watching my older bros and sisters have kids. and its way cool to be able to hear all about her delivery and what not. i think seeing her go through it all makes it so much more real to me. probably just because she is my age and my siblings are all older so it makes me realize that we could be having kids soon.. (dont worry! that is NOT me making any announcement whatsoever lol).. but yeah. just had to post a congrats to christa and randall on a cute, healthy boy! yay!