Tea for Two

To celebrate Mckenzie's March 19 birthday, she and I went to High Tea at Gardner Village. We had a wonderful time trying on fancy hats, eating tea sandwiches and cake, and drinking pink hot chocolate. She is the epitome of cutie-patootie!

Aunt Donna's Birthday Cake

Michael and I just returned (today) from visiting with family in Henderson. It was warm, filling (we ate out everyday; sometimes twice a day - yikes), and just plain fun. Michael golfed, I shopped, we played games late into the night, saw Cirque du Soleil Love and attended a session at the Las Vegas Temple. And with all that - three additional highlights come to mind: 1) my cousin's adorable 10-month-old, Jake. The child seriously could not stop smiling; 2) The largest cat in the world - Tiger; and my attempt to bake a cake for Aunt Donna's birthday. While my aunt, uncle, mom and Michael golfed, I worked on a cake - a red velvet cake with chocolate ganache and fresh strawberries. I burnt the first cake because I didn't set the timer right and fell asleep on the couch. Not to worry. I threw that cake away and made a white chocolate bundt cake with ganache and fresh strawberries. Burnt that one too! In my defense, I didn't notice until it was too late that the top oven was a convection variety and it requires a little more oven-savvy than I apparently possess. Plus the eggs that went into the cake were definitely suspect. So the questions begs - do I try a third time? Naw, I know when I'm beat - thank goodness for the chocolate chocolate chip cake at Nothing Bundt Cake down the street. I love you Aunt Donna!  

Higher Standard - New LDS Business

Hello friends and family,

Haven't posted for a while because I've been so busy working on a business plan for Higher Standard, a personalized matchmaking service for LDS singles. We launch in 10 days! Soon you'll be able to check out the website at www.myhigherstandard.com and watch for my YouTube video too - all the details will be there! Wish me luck. 

Sledding Pics

It's A Hard Knock Life For Us

Well... not really. Last Friday, Michael and I got to take some of our children and grandchildren to stay in one of the Brighton Chalets (right next door to the ski resort thank you very much). Our "little snow house" as Carter called it could sleep about 20 people. Upstairs there was one private room - for us, of course. And then everybody else packed into beds that lined the walls upstairs. Carly referred to it as the Orphanage. We had a great time watching movies, playing table tennis and board games, eating (oh-the-eating) and then sledding the next day. Everybody loved Michael's Herman Munster boots. They're leftover from his ice fishing days. I hope we can do this every year Miss Hannigan!

The 3-C Highway & Counting

My Mother, Aunt Donna, Uncle Len and Uncle Joe have a favorite family ritual. It's called the 3-C Highway. Whenever my aunt and uncles (Ohio and Oregon, respectively) come to Utah to visit they make that pilgrimage. The thing is - what started out as 3-C is now 5-C. Let me explain: It's a day-trip that starts by driving north on Highway 89 through Willard to pick up some fresh cherries at one of the many rural fruit stands along the way. Then the caravan drives into Brigham City to visit the little-known, but World Famous Idle Isle for chocolate - Rum Balls, to be exact. From there, the group heads through Sardine Canyon to the Gossner Cheese Factory for squeeky cheese (fresh cheese curds) and that's how the 3-C's came to be. Recently these foodies added "cookies" from Pepperidge Farms and "Creamies" ice cream - both factory outlets outside of Logan. I've always wanted to go too, but have never been on this fun, family mini-adventure.

Michael and I decided to give 3 of the 5 C's a try. The original plan was to go to the Logan Temple, enjoy some of the 3-C treats, stay the night in town, hit Hardware Ranch on the way home and then stop and take my mom to dinner for V-Day. Plans change, as they do, but we still had a wonderful time in the northern part of the Great State of Utah. We did purchase cheese, cookies and chocolates, rode on a sleigh among the elk (over 500 of them) and took Mom to dinner. The important part is that we love spending time together. It seems that no matter what we do or where we go...we want to experience it together. Thanks Michael for a wonderful, sweet Valentine's weekend. I love you!

I'm Married to a Honker

I love my husband..even his quirks are adorable (yes, we're still newlyweds). Right now he has a little head cold and I noticed the other day that he honks when he blows his nose. Now the interesting thing about his nose honking is that 10 years ago when I was in Hannover, Germany at CeBit, with the State of Utah, I heard a lot of honking. Every morning and every evening, I would ride the train 30-plus kilometers to reach the trade show area and you could hear these very sweet, German people honking left and right. It always made me smile. After nine days in Germany, I traveled by train to Zurich, through the Alps and eventually to Rome. After a very short trip to Italy, I hopped back on the train headed to Munich and wouldn't you know it? As soon as I reached Germany, I heard someone honking on the train. And, since Michael has a fair amount of German blood in his veins -- my theory stands. Germans are adorable!