What do you think of yourself?!?

Loved this quote so I had to share it! I think no matter who we are or what our circumstance, life can be hard sometimes and we can be hard on ourselves! This is a beautiful reminder how you need to LOVE you, have hope, and listen to your heart...

“What You Think of You” Life, in this world, can be hard on anyone. We hear and see things that are discouraging, even disheartening, and at times we may feel dismayed about the state of the world and the condition of our own lives. Yes, life can be hard. But within us, deep down in our heart of hearts, resides a sense of robust hope and sweet expectation that can lift us out of life’s fog to see clearly who we are and our capacities. We lift the fog every time we count our blessings, every time we are kind toward others, every time we seriously ponder life’s purposes. We lift life’s fog as we pause to listen to our heart. Each one of us is here for a reason, a purpose that may sometimes get lost in life’s heartaches and disappointments. Who are you really? Why are you here at this time and this place? What can you do to make a difference in someone’s life? How can you truly look into your heart? “What you think of you is what finally matters,” wrote one observer. “When you look in the bathroom mirror in the morning, the court is open for business. And you are the jury and the judge on the case.”1 Thinking of yourself as someone capable and worthy of good things sets positive change into motion. Quietly, your heart begins to change. You then begin to see and think and feel that your life can be good—despite life’s heartaches. Listen to that small voice in your heart that whispers to you the power to change, the potential for happiness, and the peace of mind that comes from knowing that what you think of you matters. From Music and the Spoken Word, Mormon Tabernacle Choir Broadcast August 21st, 2011 (I put a pic of Sydney because I find countless pics of the girlies on my phone! Love that they are always taking pics of themselves... shows what they think of themselves, right?!? ;-) )

Tasty Treats

Well I should be cleaning my house right now... but instead I am dreaming of these lovely treats we have made recently. So much for getting back to healthy eating- ha. All things in moderation, right?!?

Super easy recipe and SOO yummy. I replaced half the butter with half butter flavored shortening... Why? It was suggested by many reviewers on Allrecipe where I got the recipe and one of my favorite cookie recipes uses butter flavored shortening... so that's why. :-) The only other thing I changed in the recipe is adding extra white chocolate chips. The cookies turned out amazing! As you can see they are puffy crispy outside with a nice soft inside... gooey chocolate and crunchy nuts.

White Chocolate Macadamia Nut Cookies

Ingredients

• 1 cup butter, softened
• 3/4 cup packed light brown sugar
• 1/2 cup white sugar
• 2 eggs
• 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1/2 teaspoon almond extract
• 2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1 cup coarsely chopped macadamia nuts
• 1 cup coarsely chopped white chocolate

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C).
2. In a large bowl, cream together the butter, brown sugar, and white sugar until smooth. Beat in the eggs, one at a time, then stir in the vanilla and almond extracts. Combine the flour, baking soda, and salt; gradually stir into the creamed mixture. Mix in the macadamia nuts and white chocolate. Drop dough by teaspoonfuls onto ungreased cookie sheets.
3. Bake for 10 minutes in the preheated oven, or until golden brown.

Next up: Roy's is one of our favorite places to get a molten lava cake.... Almost crispy on the outside- not doughy- and all gooey melty on the inside. They serve their's with a raspberry sauce and vanilla bean ice cream- YUMMY! The recipe below is definitely the best recipe we've tried in our efforts to duplicate the molten lava cakes. I need to find some souffle rings I guess but ramekins work fine too. Make sure to use quality chocolate and ingredients AND refrigerate the batter OVERNIGHT!

Roys Hot Chocolate Melting Souffle

1 cup sugar 3 tbsp. cornstarch 4 eggs plus 4 egg yolks 12 tbsp. butter 8 oz. semisweet dark chocolate (make sure to use a good quality)

PREPARATION: In a mixing bowl, combine sugar and cornstarch. In a separate bowl, mix eggs and yolks together. In a saucepan, bring butter to a simmer, then add the chocolate. Mix until the chocolate is smooth and begins to simmer along the edges. Combine this chocolate mixture with the sugar and cornstarch and mix thoroughly. Add eggs and mix at low speed until sugar is dissolved and mixture is smooth. Refrigerate overnight in a bowl.

Preheat oven to 375º. Line 4 metal soufflé rings with parchment paper and coat with non-stick spray. On a baking sheet, place each ring on a square of parchment paper. Fill 2/3 of each ring with the filling. Bake for 28-30 minutes. Remove the baking sheet. While holding each mold with tongs, slide a metal spatula underneath and transfer to a plate. Gently lift the mold off, remove the paper and serve with ice cream.

BAH! Where did summer go!?!

I guess all good things MUST come to an end... but man! This summer flew!! I am so behind blogging it's sad. But here are some of the things that filled our summer...

One of the highlights was definitely being in Utah with family! Didn't matter where we were or what we were doing it was just so so great to be together. Miss you guys! Allie is going through withdrawls without all her cute cousins her age... a shout out to Evie! Can't wait for you to visit soon! :-)

Just the little things with family were so much fun.

Colby scored big time when Zach gave him a sweet skateboard helmet and pads AND one on one lessons. Colby was in heaven.

The weather was AMAZING! So fun. And Grandma always had lots of surprises in store... from a mile long slip and slide to water balloons... games and crafts! The kids were quite content just hanging out there all day.

And how lucky were the girlies!?! They got to spend an entire week at Grandma's after Mom and Dad, Colby and Allie drove home!! They sewed matching outfits and had a week jam packed full of fun... from a parade to doing pottery to the Farmer's Market... Thanksgiving Point... making and taking treats to the elderly... swimming a few times... lots of treats and out to lunch... can't list them all. They had the time of their lives!

We just LOVED being together all summer. Yes we had a few squabbles here and there but we are so blessed that our kiddos LOVE playing together- they get along great most of the time and it's so fun watching them... they were particularly goofy and silly this night at Grandma's... too much sugar and past bedtime probably?!?

We stayed in Provo this year for Mia's soccer camp, instead of our usual Park City and actually loved Provo! We hiked to 3 waterfalls and had fun at Seven Peaks, Trafalga, Bean Musuem, etc etc. Lots to do... and loved visiting G&G D too in Provo...

No one celebrates the Fourth like Utah! We had a great time at the golf course and festivities... the fireworks were incredible as always... and LOVED being with my family for the whole afternoon/night! What a way to celebrate.

Havasu. We can't forget you. So much fun. Zach and Roxy we miss you!!!

The kids did not get enough time on the water even though we were going 24-7. Loved every minute.

What did we do in down time back in 118 degree AZ?!? Head indoors! Pottery was a fun mommy daughter date...

Extreme's Skateboard Park/Jump Zone was super fun!

And Mia did have to head outdoors for 2 soccer camps- one at BYU and one here in AZ. She LOVED them and learned a lot... had a great time. She was spoiled at BYU to have Auna (her cousin who is on the BYU Women's Soccer team) as her coach at the camp. She adores Auna.

And off to the beach! Coronado we love you. We miss you. We will return soon. We LOVED having Chris and Abby with us in Cali- so so much fun. I will post on it soon because it was one of the funnest family vacations we have ever had...

Allie was surprisingly not frustrated by the sand that was in every crack and crevice of her body at the beach- ha! She loved it and so did the rest of the kids...

San Diego was incredible... We had been once before but really explored this time. SO MUCH TO DO! SO BEAUTIFUL! So fun. We hit up the San Diego Zoo...

Do I fit in with the surfer chics of Cali?!? ha. Picked up a new hat while we were there...

On our drive home...

Back to the heat- we ate lots of popsicles...

Braved the heat here and there to play outside!

And oh we can't forget the girlies Musical Theatre Camp! It's On! They had a blast and did awesome- it was a fabulous experience... Colby also did a football camp, the girlies took a 2 week cooking class, they played with friends lots, did swim lessons, girlies took gymnastics, Colby and Sydney did Speech Lessons... it was just a great summer. That went way too fast!

But we really are grateful for summer! The long days together made for great quality time together... We did a lot of fun things and are grateful that Ger works so hard so we can travel as a family.

Crazy I have 3 kids in school all day! Colby in all day Kindergarten, Mia in 2nd, and Sydney in 4th! Here's the traditional 1st day of school pic. Hopefully I can do better at catching up everything - just for the sake of the blog books I print... but there's our 2011 Summer in Review. :-)

SYd's BoAtInG ParTy!

Sydney is 9! WAHOO! It was her year for a friend party so she chose....

BOATING! We gave her a million options and were THRILLED that she chose boating. SO SO FUN! Had lots of snacks after school, painted toe nails, changed into matching swimsuits... and hit Lake Saguaro.

And yes I could cry right now because I somehow managed to forget my camera. BAH! I took a bazillion on my iPhone so they are not great but still show the fun that we had.

Ger and I were SHOCKED that all the girls except 1 got out on the EZ Ski. WOW! Brave and confident girls. They loved it and all did so great. We were totally impressed.

The girlies were hilarious- everytime we switched skiiers it was a race to the back of the boat to jump off. Back flips, cannon balls, dives, front flips... very entertaining! They must have jumped in and out at least 20 times. Giggling and laughing...

Such cute girls! The night couldn't have been better- great weather, smooth water, and not many other boats at all. YAY!

I love when girls can just be themselves- laugh, talk...

and be silly!

We enjoyed lots of drinks and treats and snacks...

and hit up the beach!

Syd picked out their swimsuits- so stinkin adorable. I loved that she picked a different color for herself!

We feel so blessed that she has such a great group of friends from such great families. Makes all the difference to be around such wonderful influences. Sweet girls that are so fun!

DOUBLE TUBES! They could hardly wait for them to get blown up!

Really, I can't believe how excited they were about everything- some of these girls had never done this stuff and they weren't scared at all- just thrilled to be doing everything!

Girls gone wild! Sorry that's probably not an appropriate term, but Gerron and I were laughing hysterically in the boat. The girlies were laughing, screaming, yelling, standing up, waving their arms, motioning for Ger to drive faster, and even jumping from tube to tube.

Then we busted out the Fun Foam. It's actually just bath soap you find in the soap section at Walmart. They were hilarious- they made party hats and then just got crazy and sprayed it all over... everywhere. I told them they were so clean they didn't need baths!

Ta da! What great party hats!

They even game planned and all started spraying Gerron as he was on the deck wrapping up ropes. ha!

All good things must come to an end. They could have stayed literally another 2 hours and still not have wanted to go home! We will definitely have to do this again. Gerron and I had just about as much fun as the girls. Loved seeing them having such a great time. They were all so grateful afterwards! And spoiled Sydney with such fun things. We headed back and opened gifts and ate pizza and sent them home with Ger's incredible Oreo Mud Pie, this time made with Mint Oreo's. Yum! Fun fun night... so blessed to have incredible friends!