HERE'S THE "WHITE ELEPHANT"

Here's a picture of the inside of the box. Now you can plainly see what the accordion really looks like. (Thanks Paul for the correct guess!) Note the straps, they go over your arms and you can then play this instrument while on the go or just hold it on your lap and play. I don't have an instruction book or anything, as it is rather old. I guess I'll need to get one and figure out how to play it. It makes some great sounds. By the way it is also known as a "squeeze box".

THANKSGIVING IN UTAH

We were grateful to be able to spend the Thanksgiving holiday with Brian, Paul, Marissa and Audrey. (Taffy is on Brian's lap) We ate lots of yummy turkey and good food, played games, did a little shopping but mostly we just played with Audrey. What could be better than that? Audrey is 9 months old and is very active, she is also very determined. I'll bet she'll be walking by Christmas, so we'd better watch out. My shopping list this year has toys at the top of it!!

GUESS THE WHITE ELEPHANT?

Ok, so last night was my work Christmas party. Gary and I had a great time. We always have this game where everyone brings a "white elephant" and we do a gift exchange. This is what I ended up with. I actually stole it from someone, just because I thought it would be fun to have one of these. Can you guess what it is? This one looks pretty old but it is still usable and is quite the oddity. Before I show what's inside I thought it might be fun to ask fellow bloggers to figure it out. Here are your clues: It probably weighs about 40 lbs. It is approx 17" H, 22" W, 7" D.
It was made in a Europeon country and its kind originated around the 1820's.

8 THINGS- my niece Ruth tagged me.

This is hard I hope I can come up with 8 things!!

8 TV Shows on my DVR
1. Don't watch much anymore, rent older shows from Blockbuster online.
2. Gilmore Girls
3. Amazing Stories (this was a series in the 80's produced by Steven Spielberg)
4. Happy Days
5. The Office
6. Green Acres
7. The Beverly Hillbillies
8. Supermarket Sweep

8 Favorite Restaurants
1. Pei Wei (not sure of the spelling here)
2. Phil's Barbeque (yeah for San Diego)
3. Casa Orozco
4. Cafe Rio
5. Scomas by the Bay
6. The mexican restaurant in Old Town San Diego
7. Melo's Pizza
8. La Virage

8 Singers/Bands
1. James Taylor
2. Paul McCartney
3. Fleetwood Mac
4. Abba
5. Elton John
6. Heart
7. Shania Twain
8. Beatles

8 Books I have read
1. Twilight
2. New Moon
3. Eclipse
4. Breaking Dawn
5. Mother Earth, Father Sky
6. If Life were easy, it wouldn't be hard
7. Under the Rainbow
8. Mary, Martha and Me

8 Things that happened yesterday
1. Wait, I don't know if I can remember that far back!
2. I worked a long day.
3. Shopped at Mervyn's one last time b4 they close(mostly ghetto clothes left)
4. Watched "The Princess Bride" movie (love it)
5. Had a wonderful chicken salad for lunch.
6. Blogged
7. Fell asleep on the couch again!
8. Got adjusted.

8 Things I'm looking forward to
1. Seeing Audrey next week.
2. Seeing Marissa, Paul and Brian for Thanksgiving.
3. Seeing Mandy and Christmas
4. Spending time with Family at Christmas
5. Christmas Parties
6. Sleep ( I love to look forward to sleeping)
7. Having Gratitude
8. Spending more time with Audrey

8 Things I wish for
1. To be Healthy
2. To be out of debt
3. To be happy
4. More chocolate and less guilt
5. Spend more time with Gary
6. Spend more time with my kids
7. All play and no work! Just kidding.
8. Peace

FAMILY TRADITIONS

BUTTERMILK PIE
2 unbaked pie shells (smaller size 8" works better)
1 1/2 sticks of butter (melted)
6 eggs
1/2 cup flour
2 1/2 cups sugar
1 cup buttermilk
1 Tablespoon vanilla
Beat eggs, add sugar, flour and mix. Then add buttermilk, melted butter and vanilla. Mix well. Pour into pie shells and bake in preheated oven at 325 for about 1 hour.

This time of year we enjoy pies. One of our family favorites is this simple buttermilk pie. It is similar to custard pie but sweeter and buttery. I've not met anyone yet who doesn't like it!!

7 RANDOM THINGS ABOUT ME

1. I was named after my mom. She said she couldn't think of another name at the time.

2. My favorite thing to buy is NEW SHOES.

3. My favorite age for kids is 18 months.

4. I rarely pay full price for anything. (I love a good clearance sale)

5. I enjoy baking (especially breads and cookies)

6. I like to read a good mystery novel.

7. I collect bunny stuff.

OK NOW I TAG -
Marissa, Tiffany, Ruth and Miriam

BAKING 101

Here is first in a series of recipes. I'll start off simple and basic. I always have leftover ripe bananas and this recipe is from Sunset magazine. It is the best!!

Whole Wheat Banana Bread
1/2 butter or margarine, melted
1 cup sugar
2 eggs, lightly beaten
1 cup each mashed ripe banana (about 3 bananas) and all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 cup whole wheat flour
1/3 cup hot water
1/2 cup chopped walnuts (optional)

In a large bowl, combine butter and sugar, then mix in beaten eggs and banana, blending until smooth. In a separate bowl, stir together all-purpose flour, salt, baking soda and whole wheat flour until thoroughly blended. Add dry ingredients to banana mixture alternately with hot water. Do not over mix. Stir in chopped nuts if desired. Spoon batter into a greased 9x5 loaf pan. Bake in preheated 325 oven (300 for glass pan) for about 1 hour and 10 minutes or until bread begins to pull away from sides of pan and a wooden pick comes out clean. Let cool in pan for 10 minutes; then turn out onto a rack to cool completely. Makes 1 loaf.

SADIE THE PEST

Meet our dog Sadie. She is an Irish Setter and drives us crazy at times. She has way more energy than I ever imagined a dog could have. She carries this blanket around in her mouth and sucks and chews on it. She can open doors, cupboards and drawers when she gets bored. So needless to say when we are not home we have to keep her caged up. (She actually likes being in her cage) If we take her out for walks daily it helps, so she is incentive for us to stay in shape. One day I went out to get the mail and she had locked me out of the house. I guess she jumped up on the door and hit the deadbolt just right!! We hope to breed her someday. Anyone know of a good stud?

Luau's and Moo moo's

Whats a moo moo?

OK so last night was our Ward adult party. We had a Luau theme and I borrowed and wore this dress that belongs to my mother. For those of you who don't know, I believe its called a moo moo. I guess that is because it is rather loose fitting and large. It was very comfortable, I could eat lots of the delicious food that was there without feeling like I had to suck in my belly or undo my pants. That was nice!! I thought looked pretty good on me too. (surprise) It was fun to wear just this once, but I don't think I will be starting a trend. So mom I guess you'll get your dress back! By the way we had roast pig, teriyaki chicken, rice, chop suey, lots of salads, rolls and many yummy desserts. The best part was the wonderful dances that were done by lots of the ward members. Check out Gary wearing a lava lava and doing a Somoan chant/dance with the high priest group. He said he has some bruises on his thighs from slapping them so hard in this dance and his throat was a little sore from yelling.

HAPPY HALLOWEEN

Here's something fun and delicious to make with your pumpkin instead of carving it!

MEAL IN A PUMPKIN

1 6 to 8 inch pumpkin
1 onion minced
1 lb ground beef
1 lb sausage
1 large can stewed tomatoes (not drained)
1 can sliced water chestnuts
1 tsp. italian seasoning
3 cups cooked rice
1 cup grated monterey jack cheese
1 cup grated cheddar cheese

Cook and brown meat; drain fat and add onion, stewed tomatoes, water chestnuts and seasoning. Simmer for 10 minutes. Clean out insides of pumpkin, only cut off top. Put pumpkin in large baking dish. Layer the meat mixture, rice and cheeses, about 3 layers each. Put top back on and cook 1 hour at 350 or until pumpkin is tender.

I had the wonderful opportunity a couple of weeks ago to travel to Utah to visit my little granddaughter Audrey. In my opinion she just gets more and more cute each day. Marissa made this little hat for her. Audrey spends more time taking it off and she looks so happy here. She loves it when Mommy is holding her!!

Hannah, Sarah and JT Andrews took over Sadie's cage. They seem happier in it than Sadie ever is. You won't find Sadie in there, she exited very quickly once they got in!

Mandy, Miriam and I had fun making homemade pizzas and playing lots of games on our recent visit to San Marcos. The Andrews family is always known for their good food and lots and lots of games to play. We rarely get any sleep while we are there!

San Diego Temple

A few weeks ago we went to visit family in Southern California and took a little trip down to the temple in San Diego. It is the most beautiful of all the temples (in my opinion). My sister-in-law Marlyce and two my nieces Sarah and Miriam joined us. It was a great afternoon.

I've been tagged

Before I had even started this blog, Tiffany tagged me.

What's inside my purse:

I have a small purse/organizer that doesn't hold much so I have lots of little things in it such as money(not much), many things of chapstick/lip gloss/lipstick, pictures of Audrey, throat lozenges, mints, cell phone, credit cards, library card, Gary's business cards, pen, small container of advil, picture of Christ and Pres Hinckley, temple pic, letter from Mandy from girls camp years ago, gift cards with not much $ left on them

Welcome to my blog!!

Well here it is, I've finally joined the world of blogging! I am planning to post some of my hobbies and interests here. In response to some family members who enjoy my cooking abilities, I will share some recipes that I have made over the years that we have enjoyed.
Thanks to Tiffany for inspiring me to get this started and for Marissa for helping me as I am not so computer savvy!