Cool Video from Yahoo!

You may have seen this on Yahoo--I love this video. Just so fun and inventive! It gives new illumination to the ideas of dreaming/sleepwalking--so creative!

We'll post some holiday pics soon--we had a great time in Houston and in Las Vegas.

HAPPY NEW YEAR!

Can you believe another year and decade has slipped by?
Where does the time go?

Scarecrow Dip

Here is the picture of the Scarecrow Dip I made for Evan's office Octoberfest celebration. This is actually Mexican Seven Layer Dip camouflaged with refried beans and a funny face and certainly not German or Octoberfest fare usually, but it is fall and scarecrows come out in the fall so I thought it would be fun to serve. Just a note, Evan said that people didn't know how to get at it with the lettuce collar, so once he removed it they ate it up!

The idea came from a Pillsbury Seasonal Cookbook from 2006 and can be found here:

http://www.recipehound.com/Recipes/Recipes3/9880.html

Have fun! Don't you just love all the fun and spooky treats you can make this time of year for fall and Halloween! Katie: Post those pictures of all those cute ideas you had to make for enrichment! Pronto!

Fall has arrived!

I wanted to try a new crock pot recipe and today seemed like the perfect day because it was rainy all day and the temperature has dropped from a warm, humid 80 degrees this morning during seminary to 55 degrees right now.

This is a basic lasagna recipe, but you just use the crock pot and it is so much easier. I did substitute 15 oz. of cottage cheese and 1 cup sour cream for the ricotta cheese. I would have added some green onions to this mixture, but I didn't have any. It's basically the same lasagna recipe as the Lazy-day Lasagna in the ward cook book that Katie put together a few years ago but in a crock pot. I did end up cooking it too long, so I would recommend about 4 hours on low. It was very good! Hurrah for Fall!

http://www.kraftfoods.com/kf/recipes/slow-cooker-lasagna-114123.aspx

(How do you make this link live?)

"Step in Time"

We were thrilled to be able to see the Broadway musical, "Mary Poppins" this past week. It was fabulous! Both stars playing Mary and Bert from the original Broadway cast appeared in the touring company along with the sister of the wife of our first counselor who we hometeach also in the ensemble. Almost all of the songs from the movie were retained (we did miss "I Love to Laugh" and "Stay Awake") and some new ones were added, plus an expanded storyline. But one of our favorite scenes was the tap number, "Step in Time" where Bert defies gravity near the end of the scene. Amazing! Here it is below with an intro by the composer of the new music. Enjoy! (The grand finale is spectacular!)

Yes...You are seeing double...........

Have you all seen this incredible video of one person singing a Michael Jackson medley? This guy, Sam Tsui and his arranger, Kurt Schneider are both incredibly talented!



Here he is again in a video of "Don't Stop Believing," that song made popular again on "Glee." So fun to listen to!

That Phenomenal BYU/OU Game!

Here we are at the A-MAZING brand new Cowboys stadium waiting for the game to start.



And now, inside the stadium! Note the BYU across the end zone! So cool to have the Cougars in Texas playing in the "8th Wonder of the World!"

We could not believe the size of that screen (from the 20 yard line to the other 20 yard line--maybe 180 feet?)! And the HD clarity was unbelievable!



But of course, the most unbelievable thing of all was the way the Cougars played the game. Yes, there were several mistakes on both sides, but the way the team held the Sooners back when it really counted and wouldn't allow any more points was beyond belief. Way to go, Cougars!





Chris was so excited that he lost his voice and he and Sarah were so glad that they came up to witness the historical win.



Note the final score and the shot of Bronco hugging the OU coach. Now that's a sight to behold!

We especially enjoyed attending the special fireside the night before. We had planned to go all along, but then Chris was crushed when he found out we had to have separate tickets for the event. Chris got the bright idea for Evan to use his position to get us in and in fact, Evan knows all those Stake Presidents (It was Pres. David Blake of Carrolton--a native Houstonian who Kathy and I know--and his sister is in our ward). So he just had to email him and we were told when to be at the stake office entrance.

Well, we were nearly the first ones there! It was a thrill to sit up so close to the players and their families and to hear their talks and testimonies. My favorite part was when they all sang "Army of Helaman" with such gusto. And then Coach Mendenhall's wife spoke and then the Coach spoke. So great! He told a great story about running out of gas in a desolate area on his motorcycle and waiting for 45 min. for the first car to come by--which went out of its way to pass him by because, as he said, "I didn't look like who I am." (He was dressed in leather pants with a Harley Davidson leather jacket on and probably looked formidable.) A great lesson to always represent a follower of Christ.

Afterward, Chris had several players sign a special photo (alongside all the other 12-year-olds with footballs to sign, as Sarah pointed out!) and then we watched them load into the bus and we went off to eat at The Cheesecake Factory.

Then the crowning event was winning that game in one of the most exciting nail-biters I've ever seen. That sea of crimson that so outnumbered us at first, disappeared in seconds and Cougar fans stayed late into the night to cheer and sing and revel in the glory of the moment. We were all glad we went!

RISE AND SHOUT THE COUGARS ARE OUT.....!

Paper Roses

You might have to be a bit older to understand the title reference (a Marie Osmond song from the 70's), but I just saw the coolest and easiest way ever to make roses to adorn a package or a card or another craft. I found it via The Shabby Nest linked to Creature Comforts here:

http://creaturecomforts.typepad.com/my_weblog/2008/06/tutorial-tuesda.html

Pretty easy, huh?



Do a grouping of different size flowers and make a little bouquet on a package. So fancy and easy!

Posts to come soon on the amazing BYU vs OU game in the phenomenal Cowboy stadium (that screen is about 180 feet long!) Go Cougars! 14 to 13! We beat OU #3!

Fun Mummy Cookies!

I know it's too early for Halloween, but Katie has to do a spot for enrichment on Halloween treats and I love finding cute things to do, so I'm sharing this video. I plan to make these for Evan's office this year since they always have a treat-sharing day on Halloween.

http://www.howdini.com/howdini-video-10469657.html

It's entitled " How to Make Easy Halloween Cookies" and shows Mummy and Spider Cookies demos on Howdini.

(And, as usual, I wanted to embed this video in the post but the site wouldn't let me or I didn't know how. Any tutorials would be appreciated.)

Hidden Springs Nielsen Family Reunion!

We had a great Nielsen family reunion at the Hidden Springs Lodge in Altamont, Utah (pop. 178 as of 2000 census). There were 104 people present (out of 160 possible) and we had a great time eating, playing, swimming, hiking, canoeing, biking, rock-climbing and just visiting with each other. Ross turned 89 on August 12 and Evan had created a huge timeline documenting all the highlights of the admirable lives of two very exemplary individuals, Ross and Louise Nielsen, his parents.

"A great time was had by all!"

More pics to follow!

Bachelor Couples:Where are they now?

Hey, this is a post for Katie since I don't know if Sarah still keeps up with the Bachelor.
(and yes, this is mindless TV but we love it, don't we? Actually it is starting to get old...)

Go to this site to find out which couples are still together (hint--not many)

http://tv.yahoo.com/blog/stars-of-the-bachelor-and-the-bachelorette-where-are-they-now--471

I just thought it interesting how few of these "perfect matches" have made it in the real world.
I guess it's really true as Wes sings so badly to Jillian "Love don't come easy!"

Do Re Mi in a train station?

I found this on another blog and loved it.

Wouldn't it be nice if we could do a happy dance like this and make the world a better place?

Don't pay for things you don't need!

Go to the article below to learn some great ways to avoid extra fees and save money!

http://shine.yahoo.com/channel/life/stop-paying-for-things-you-dont-need-485026/

(Once again, I've forgotten how to make that link live....Help!)

Oh What Do You Do in the Summertime?

Zipline constructing!

Burger flipping!



Ball rolling!









Sparkler waving!









Swimming and "dive swimming!"

Outside breakfasting!

Pasta and Pickles

Here is the recipe I tried last night with all our garden produce; Farfalle with Zucchini. We used fresh cherry tomatoes, zucchini, onions and basil from our garden and thyme and chives from a friend's. Great summer flavors from "Pioneer Woman."









Here are the pickles Evan and I made with our abundance of cucumbers. What do you think? Dill on the right and sweet on the left.......So tasty!

Create! Believe!

Have you seen this message yet?

What a beautiful video it is!

I'm working on my seminary parent meeting and I'd seen this before, but there are so many wonderful short messages from the apostles I wanted to share this one with y'all. In my meeting, I'm going to use the one on the Book of Mormon, "A Book with a Promise" by Elder Christensen. It's a short, sweet testimony of the power of the Book of Mormon. So good!



Share these with friends and family to show just who we are and what we believe!

Looks like a tasty treat

I thought this was cute.

Ingredients:
- Lime Sherbet
- Vanilla ice cream or Pineapple sherbet
- Red/Pink-colored sherbet…I couldn’t find this, so I bought Raspberry/Pineapple/Orange swirl sherbet, mixed it up with red food coloring and it was perfect!
- Mini chocolate chips

Directions:
1. For each flavor, you’ll let the sherbet/ice cream soften for a few minutes before using. The red sherbet should be mixed with the mini chocolate chips.
2. Use a round springform pan. You may want to line the bottom of the pan with wax paper or parchment paper if you plan to transfer the entire “pie” to another dish before serving. I served the slices on plates straight out of the freezer, so I didn’t line the pan. It’s actually cuter sliced!
3. Starting with lime, spread a ring of sherbet around the edge of the springform pan – about 2 inches high (or taller if you want!), and about 1-2 inches wide from the outside edge of the pan.
4. Put pan in freezer to harden lime layer.
5. Repeat step 3 with the vanilla, but make the layer much thinner – maybe 1/2 inch. Use a butter knife to flatten the top, even-ing out the lime with the vanilla. Put pan in freezer to harden again.
6. Repeat step 3 with the red/chocolate chip sherbet. Fill the rest of the pan, then use a butter knife to flatten the top. Freeze!
7. When it’s time to eat, run a knife around the edge of the pan before popping off the outside of the springform pan. Use a nice thin-blade knife to slice.

A funny tip…I served the watermelon pie on paper plates, but wanted to take a nice picture for this post, so I put my own slice on a real dish. It melted SO FAST on the real dish. I couldn’t even get a picture fast enough before it was a soggy mess! Even though paper plates aren’t as cute, the sherbet hardly melted at all. Go with paper!

found via makeandtakes

Fourth of July Hamburgers!

Here are the cute hamburger cupcakes Sarah and I made for the Fourth of July picnic.
They turned out so cute and really tasty! I won the "Most Original" prize and a cupcake stand.





Fun in the pool! Max is a little fish! We swam and swam until our toes and fingers were pruny!

Happy Father's Day!

This is what Evan's Father's Day looked like!

He had his stake presidency meeting and we had home teachers come and we also went home teaching, but we did get to have a little celebration with presents and ice cream. Evan has been a great dad and we can always look to him as an example of a good, righteous, wise father and priesthood bearer. We love you, Evan!

(Look at that cute shirt and tie gift bag idea I got online. The caption reads "Have a TIE-rrific Father's Day!" on the pocket.)

(btw, Evan loved the BYU plate and cute letter-in-a-frame and the Seinfeld game. He's studying up for a tournament this weekend!)

Kids Say the Darndest Things!

One time when Max was visiting us here in Tyler, he was chowing down on some Cheetos. All of a sudden and without any warning, he started crying uncontrollably and I asked, "What happened?" Through his tears and as he held up a Cheeto-stained finger, Max exclaimed, "I ate my finger!"


(I just came across this as I was going through some seminary records where I asked the parents of the kids for some cute and funny things that their kids did as little children. Luckily, I had recorded this little incident with Max which reaffirms the charge to "write it down" and "keep a journal." I'm so glad I wrote that down. I've been trying to remember what happened there for the longest time, and now I know!)

Hamburger cupcakes

Mom, I thought you might like this. They are cute.

Ohh...The Wonder of a Child

Here's darling little Cooper--just one year old!
(Don't you love the comfort just two little fingers can provide?)



And I love watching Max (3 years old) discover the world....





What precious grandchildren we have!

Biggest Yard Sale in America

Here is an interesting article on a yardsale that stretches from Ohio to Alabama on a single road!
It reminds me of that stretch of road we drove on on the way home from Nauvoo and Branson--yard sales along the whole way for miles! Think of all the treasures (and all the junk!)

http://www.parade.com/news/2009/05/the-biggest-yard-sale-in-america.html

Flying Squirrel Frenzy!

Lost in Austen

I discovered a wonderful British film for all Jane Austen (specifically Pride and Prejudice) fans called Lost in Austen.

It's the story of a young, modern-day British woman, Amanda Price, who is totally obsessed with the characters of Pride and Prejudice and reads the book constantly. She finds herself transported magically back to the Bennet household (you'll see how) and the plot thickens as she causes the story as we know it to twist and turn in different, surprising ways. What fun! You have to get past the initial scene in modern-day London where it is difficult to understand those thick British accents, but if you hold on you will be rewarded for your patience (that is, if you even have patience for this story--this post is not for some of you).

Anyway, here is some info on the film which was an English TV series first with a fun clip:

www.lostinausten.com

I just got it on Netflix. The music and scenery are beautiful as well and there are some funny references to the PBS series with Colin Firth.

They're back.....

Fireflies! They're back!

Evan and I were thrilled to discover very late last night that our firefly phenomenon in the back yard has returned.

It was a cool, dry evening (late--after 1 am!) and I just wondered if we had any fireflies yet. When I stepped outside our bedroom door, the night was unusually brilliant due to a bright half- moon. Taking a moment for my eyes to adjust, I then noticed tiny flashes of light in the trees. At first I thought it may be shooting stars, but could there be so many at one time? Nope! It definitely was fireflies as I noticed one rogue lightening bug on the deck. Mostly they were in the trees, instantly lighting up the night. Truly a magical scene of wonder and awe--evidence of the amazing creations of a Heavenly Father who loves us and provides us with a world full of light (literally!) and beauty.

Now I wonder about the science and the conditions where fireflies best flourish.

Go here to learn more: http://www.dnr.state.wi.us/org/caer/ce/eek/critter/insect/firefly.htm

or to wikipedia here: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Firefly

Be prepared to be "enlightened!"

Darling Teacher Gift ideas for Future Reference

I thought you creative girls would love to store these teacher gift ideas away for the time when your kids go to school. This whole blog site has great gift ideas, but I really love these teacher gifts ideas today so I'm sharing them with you!

The kid picture embroidered is my fave but I also love the crayon initial too. Such creative people in the blog world!

Go to this site: http://creativeholidaygiftideas.blogspot.com

Decorating on a Dime

I thought you all might be interested in this video, especially you, Katie since you are recovering a dining room chair, which highlights inexpensive design ideas. There are probably better ones out there, but this was good practice for me to add a video to my post (although Chris did have to help me. Maybe next time I can do it on my own!)

Also, Kathy wants you all to guess where Michael might go on his mission. Guess a country and a state on her blog which is: tweety-rospo-show.blogspot.com

Visit msnbc.com for Breaking News, World News, and News about the Economy

Big-E and Nana Create BIG Surprise for Max and Cooper!

Dear Max,

We are so glad you are coming to our house later this week. Big-E has been busy creating a new SANDBOX for you to play in. Nana went to the store to buy you some fun toys for the sand. And we have a new swing set.

We can't wait to see you!

Love,
Big-E and Nana

House FINALLY Gets Fresh Paint

I thought you might want to see what a new coat of PAINT looks like at the house. The changes are happening slowly -- so many other things to do and so little time -- but I fully expect to finish painting the outside of the house before it gets too hot this summer.

First, the 11 year old house needs a good cleaning with the power washer.



There is certainly a BIG difference between white paint and NEW white paint.


A freshly painted ceiling fan and light fixture.



That's me - getting lots of ladder time.

Night at the Movies

Friday night we saw an interesting movie, The Soloist, with Robert Downey, Jr. and Jamie Fox. You probably already know the story line: Downey plays an L.A. columnist, Steve Lopez, looking for a story and happens upon a homeless, mentally-ill man, Jamie Fox, playing a two-stringed violin. The columnist is intrigued with Ayers, the homeless man after he mentions that he attended Julliard. The story tells how Lopez pursues Ayers for his column and even tries to help him, although his ex-wife, who happens to be his current editor at the paper, accuses Lopez of exploiting Ayers for the sake of his column. It is a true story and the music is beautiful. There is some language, but it's not excessive and the scenes of the L.A. ghetto and its sad population of the down and out are so realistic and tragic. I really want to read the book entitled The Soloist: a Lost Dream, an Unlikely Friendship, and the Redemptive Power of Music.

Here is the website for the trailer: http://www.soloistmovie.com/

It was vastly different from the movie we saw last week, 17 Again, but I liked that one too-- although it seemed more of a made-for-TV movie.

Here's the link for that one: http://17againmovie.com/

pack your bags

The Legend of the Dogwood

Here is a picture of the little pink dogwood we planted recently. I love dogwoods! Their blooms seem to welcome the spring season and they last for quite some time. The blossoms flutter and dance in the breeze and the limbs of the trees are so graceful. Our trees have now leafed out, but I'm so glad that spring is finally here.

I also love this little "Legend of the Dogwood'" that suggests the symbolism of the tree and its blossoms and reminds us at Easter time of The Savior and His Atonement so that we might live with Him again. Here we have "The Legend of the Dogwood..."

In Jesus' time, the dogwood grew
To a stately size and a lovely hue.

'Twas strong & firm, its branches interwoven
For the cross of Christ, its timbers were chosen.

Seeing the distress at this use of their wood
Christ made a promise which still holds good:

"Never again shall the dogwood grow
Large enough to be used so

Slender & twisted, it shall be
With blossoms like the cross for all to see.

As blood stains the petals marked in brown
The blossom's center wears a thorny crown.

All who see it will remember me
Crucified on a cross from the dogwood tree.

Cherished and protected this tree shall be
A reminder to all of my agony."