Sugar High

Last night for Young Women's we had a Dessert Cooking Class. We made 3 quick and easy no-bake desserts (in one hour) that are all really yummy, so I thought I would share the recepies.

(If you have never had Almond Bark Drop Cookies, you have to make them. They are rediculously good!)

1. Almond Bark Drop Cookies
INGREDIENTS
1 pound Almond Bark
½ cup Crunchy Peanut Butter
1 cup peanuts
2 1/2 cups crisp rice cereal
1 cup miniature marshmallows
DIRECTIONS
In a microwave oven, melt the Almond Bark and peanut butter; stir until well blended. Fold in the peanuts, crisp rice cereal, and marshmallows. Drop by heaping spoonfuls onto waxed paper lined baking sheets.
Chill until set. Store in refrigerator.

2. Peanut Butter Fudge
INGREDIENTS
4 cups white sugar
1 cup milk
1 (7 ounce) jar marshmallow creme
2 2/3 cups peanut butter
Chocolate, if desired
DIRECTIONS
Boil milk and sugar in a medium saucepan for three minutes over medium-high heat. Remove from heat, and immediately stir in the marshmallow creme and peanut butter.
Pour and spread into a greased jelly roll pan. Melt chocolate and drizzle on top. Cool completely before cutting into squares and serving.

3. Puppy Chow
INGREDIENTS
1/4 cup butter
1/2 cup creamy peanut butter
1 cup semisweet chocolate chips
1 tsp vanilla
9 cups crispy corn or rice cereal squares (chex)
1 ½ cups powdered sugar
DIRECTIONS
Melt the peanut butter with the butter (or margarine) and the chocolate chips. Stir in vanilla until smooth. Pour over the cereal and stir until well coated.
Pour into 2-gal food-storage plastic bag. Add the powdered sugar, seal bag, and shake to coat. Spread onto waxed paper to cool about 30 min. Store in airtight container in refrigerator.

Corn on the Cob, Sand, and Dead Fish...

What more could you want from a trip to the lake?? Makenna got to experience all of these things for the first time this past weekend. We went to my parent's house to celebrate my brother Morgan's 17th Birthday, and Makenna had so much fun playing with her cousins.

First, she played in the baby pool, which I thought would be cleaner than the lake. Well, that may have been the case, but then Ben brought his dead pet fish in, which he had been carrying around the whole evening.Here is Ben with his fish in hand! Eventually we separated Ben from his beloved fish, but not until after lots of tears and protests.

After playing in the pool, Makenna enjoyed some corn on the cob with her cousins. She absolutely LOVED it!

The sand came into play when I left Makenna with her Grandma so that I could go in the boat for a little while. As we pulled away from the beach, I could see Makenna sitting on the beach with a big handful of sand to her mouth. When I came back, she was covered in sand, and it was all over her face and mouth. I should've taken a picture, but I was too busy giving Makenna a bath in the sink!

Happy Birthday Morgan!

Our Anniversary

4 - The number of years that John and I have been married.

3 - The number of states that we have lived in since we have been married:

Utah

Washington

(This picture was actually taken in Oregon, but since we lived just over the Columbia river from Oregon, it still counts!)

Nebraska

(I don't really have any "Nebraska" pictures, but here is a cute picture of Makenna with her Great-Grandpa Bailey, who she gets to see much more often now that we live in NE.)

2 - The number of "moons" we have been on since we have been married:

1 Honeymoon to Jamaica, and 1 Babymoon to Hawaii

(All of our Honeymoon pictures were on good old-fashioned film, so you just get to see some pictures from our Babymoon.)

1 - The number of beautiful babies we have brought into our family since we have been married.

Here is a video of Makenna crawling!!! (sorry no sound)

It is hard to believe that John and I have been married for 4 years already. I feel so lucky to have such a smart, funny, good-looking husband to hold my hand. Thanks for bringing so much joy into my life. I love you John!