So it's only been a couple of weeks and I'm updating our blog!! Don't get too excited, though :)...it's not because anything super exciting has been going on...just the normal stuff.

FUN STUFF has been going to Alpine for a cousins/aunt get-together two Saturdays ago. It was really fun...there was tons of good fun and lots of catching up. Two cousins from out-of-state came aka Mackenzie and Cecilie! Our next get-together will probably be in June when Cecilie gets married.

EXCITING NEWS is that we finally got a new freezer!!!! YAHOO!! We've gone through three old ones in the last year, and we were finally able to buy a brand new one. If this one dies I think I will cry. It's big and it's beautiful, and in June we're going to buy half a cow from Tim's sister's husband's dad (twice removed..hahaha) to put in it. I bought a whole bunch of new ice cream to test out the freezer's freezing-ness. It works great! The ice cream is as hard as a rock!!

Last week Tim took a box of ice cream out of the old freezer (we hadn't even opened it yet), and it had shrunk! The block of ice cream wasn't even touching the sides of the box. I'd say it was about 7/8 the size it had been to begin with. I told Tim maybe we should stick a head in the old freezer and start a shrunken-head business on the side.

More exciting news is that I found my checkbook after two weeks of it missing. The last place I could remember having it was at church, and I couldn't figure out why somebody would have stolen it at church....but then I found it in a "very safe place" at home. I think I'm losing my mind.

One other thing that is SO exciting is that while I was in Alpine for the cousin's party I stopped at Kohler's and found my all-time-favorite-juju-cinnamon-bears made by Farley's. WAHOOOOO!! A pound of those made me about as happy as getting a new freezer. I'm easy to please.

FAVORITE WEB SITE of the day is http://www.bountifulbaskets.org/. You can get about $50 worth of produce for $16.50 every two weeks. They have sites all around AZ, UT, ID, and WA. If you haven't heard of it, you should go to the webpage. We LOVE it. It's all run by volunteers...everybody just takes turns helping unload semi's of produce and sorting it out into baskets for people to come and pick up. The last time I did it, I got:

• 2 big bunches of swiss chard,
• 1 huge head of green leaf lettuce
• 9 small bananas
• 5 lb. bag potatoes
• 4 lemons
• 4 oranges
• 6 apples
• 1 qt. strawberries
• 2 big bunches asparagus
• 1 lb. bag baby carrots
• 6 small cucumbers
• 1 big bunch broccoli

It's almost always stuff that I would normally buy. There are always one or two things that I've never tried, or don't hardly ever buy...but it's kind of fun to see what you'll get. Then I just plan my menus around the stuff that I got. It's usually pretty fresh produce, too...only once or twice have I had something that I HAD to eat right away. The only problem is that there are only 100 spaces at each "site" where you can pick up the produce, so if you don't get online RIGHT when the availability opens (which for Cache Valley is every other Monday at noon), then you don't get a basket.....like today. I was at a friend's at noon and totally forgot about it. Bummer.

FUNNY QUOTE of the week is from Sonora, "I'm a vampire. The only way you can kill me is to SQUEEZE my guts out. And they taste like money."

RANDOM happenings were that last Friday when Tim and I went to the temple, we saw his parents eating in the cafeteria there. We were able to eat with them and then go through a session with them! Dinner and a movie with the parental figures! It was great!

RECIPE of the week is one I got from one of Tim's co-workers. It sounds weird, but it was a major hit with Tim's family. (Warren refuses to eat it, but we won't hold that against him) We had with dinner yesterday:

Darek's Yummy Carrot Souffle

1 lb. carrots, peeled and sliced

1/2 c. melted butter (none of this namby pamby margarine)

3 eggs

1 c. sugar

3 TBS flour

1 tsp. baking powder

1 tsp. vanilla

Boil carrots in salted water until tender. Drain. Blend carrots and melted butter in blender until smooth. In large mixing bowl, add all ingredients together and mix well. Spoon into lightly greased 8x8 casserole dish. Bake at 350 for 45 minutes or until firm or puffed. Serve hot. (Or cold is good, too)

SAD NEWS is that it's almost time to start running again. I can't be my lazy self and roll over when the alarm clock goes off. I have to suck it up and meet my running friends to get back into shape!! Tim has actually gotten a membership to Planet Fitness. I think he's gone twice now...wahoo! We all have room for improvement, I guess. I'm actually not sad to start running...I think it will feel so good. If only it weren't stillso cold and dark at 6 a.m.

OTHER SAD NEWS...Macey fell down the stairs yesterday at Grandma's house...hardwood. Not good. Luckily, she seemed fine after just a few minutes, and today I can't find any lasting bruises or goose eggs. That thump-thump-waaaa sound is enough to make everyone's heart stop. She's quite the tough little thing. Except when it comes to hanging around two-year-olds. I don't know whether it's the constant following her around and taking toys from her, or trying to pull her pigtails out, or bumping into her and knocking her down, but two-year-olds terrify her to no end. Pretty soon she'll be one, so hopefully she gets over it!

Everyone else is just plugging along. Our favorite book of the season is Pinkalicious. Sonora has it memorized. Here is a video clip of her and Tim reading it.