Tag . . .I'm It!

Tag! How To Play This Game of Tag. Post these rules on you blog. Answer these 15 questions about yourself on your blog. List: 3 joys, 3 fears, 3 goals, 3 current obsessions/collections, 3 random surprising facts. Tag 5 people at the end of your post by leaving their names. Let them know they are tagged by leaving a comment on their blog. Here it is...

Joys
1. Of Course Dave and Lauren are my greatest joys (also my greatest pains but we are focusing on joys here)
2. Friends - Being so far away from family is hard but having good friends really helps!
3. Trips home to visit family. They don't come often (once or twice a year if I am lucky) but we LOVE spending time with brother's and sister's, Grandma's and Grandpa's and cousins!

Fears
1. Lauren getting a serious illness. When I see pict. of sick kids I just can't imagine what it is like for the parents of that child and I hope I never find out.
2. Big roller coasters! I am a chicken - Disneyland rides are about as exciting as I like to get!
3. Spiders and cockroaches! I sometimes have nightmares about them - they really gross me out!

Goals
1. Learn to cook better. I love to cook but I would like to try new things.
2. Learn how to use my Photoshop program I got for my birthday 6 months ago!
3. De-clutter my house before our next baby is born.

Obsessions
1. Blogs - take up way too much of my time!
2. Reading! I love to read and poor Lauren is constantly asking me to put my book away.
3. My TV shows - AI, Dancing with the Stars, The Office (just to name a few).

Random Facts
1. I currently have 3 church callings (none of them are that hard).
2. My bedroom is currently the bedroom (bed, dresser), office (desk, bookshelves, computer, filing cabinet), music room (full size electric piano), storage room (boxes of Lauren's clothes, pictures, computer software, etc.) and recreation room (TV). I can't wait until we have a BIGGER house and my bedroom can just be a bedroom!!
3. I LOVE dill pickles. I love them so much that after I eat all the pickles I will then drink the pickle juice. In the summer our outdoor splash pool sells frozen pickle juice for .25 and Lauren and I (yes, I passed this love onto my daughter) will buy it and we love it! This summer I think we will be making our own pickle Popsicles!

Since I am not sure who has done this before - I tag anyone who wants to do it! Feel free to answer these questions yourself on your blog so we can all get to know you a little better!

Recipe

Here is the Cinnamon Roll recipe for anyone who wanted it. They are sooo good and sooo not good for you! Enjoy!

Mall-Type Cinnamon Rolls

¼ c. warm water
¼ c. butter, melted
½ (3.4 oz) pkg. instant vanilla pudding mix
1 c. warm milk
1 egg (room temperature)
1 Tbsp. white sugar
½ tsp. salt
4 c. bread flour
1 (.25 oz) pkg. active dry yeast
¼ c. butter, softened
1 c. brown sugar
4 tsp. ground cinnamon
¾ c. chopped pecans

Frosting:
1 (4oz) pkg. cream cheese, softened
¼ c. butter, softened
1 c. confectioners sugar
½ tsp. vanilla extract
1 ½ tsp. milk

In the pan of your bread machine, combine water, melted butter, vanilla pudding, warm milk, egg, 1 Tbsp. sugar, salt, bread flour, and yeast. Set machine to Dough cycle; press Start. When Dough cycle has finished, turn dough out onto a lightly floured surface and roll into a 17x10 inch rectangle. Spread with softened butter.
In a small bowl, stir together brown sugar, cinnamon, and pecans. Sprinkle brown sugar mixture over dough. Roll up dough, beginning with the long side. Slice into 16 one inch slices and place in 9x13 inch buttered pan. Let rise in a warm place until doubled, about 45 min. Meanwhile, preheat oven to 350 degrees. Bake in a preheated oven for 15-20 min. While rolls bake, make frosting. Remove rolls from oven and top with frosting.

Just a Note – my rolls took about 1 ½ hours to rise. I had them on top of a warm dryer but they still did not rise very fast (could have been my yeast). Also, as I was typing up this recipe I realized when I made the cinnamon rolls I put in the whole package of pudding, I didn’t remember to half it and they still tasted really good. So there you have it! They did take a little while to make since I think the dough cycle was 1 ½ hours and then they took 1 ½ hours to rise but they were well worth it!

First Came Love . . .

Then came marriage, then came Lauren in a baby carriage. An now we are excited to share that baby #2 will be joining our family next October! Some may already know this because they read a previous post where I talked about how excited I will be to have a husband who can walk again by the time this baby comes. But for those of you who only skim or look at the headings - and you know who you are - you now know. We are VERY excited to finally be adding to our family. It was not our plan to have 4 1/2 years between our children but over the last few years we have really learned that not everything happens on our time table. We have definitely learned a lot about trusting the Lord and His timetable and we couldn't be happier to finally have this new baby. Lauren is soooo excited to be a big sister and changes her mind almost daily about wanting a brother or a sister. I have loved having just Lauren and playing with her and doing so many fun, different things with her. Even though it wasn't what I had originally planned I have been lucky to have just had her for so long and we have really tried to focus on the advantages of just having one child for so long. Lauren and I have really been able to just play any time of the day because we didn't have to worry about a sibling needing a nap. And I now realize what a HUGE help Lauren will actually be to me when this new baby comes. She is so excited to help and she will actually be a help a lot of the time I think.
Now - I promise I will post more pictures from here on out. We have been to the park a lot in the last week (it is so nice to see temperatures in the 70's again) but of course I haven't gotten the camera out for any of these trips!

More Updates!

We have some GREAT news! Dave's surgery got pushed up six weeks! He will now be having surgery on May 8th. We are just so glad we don't have to sit around waiting an additional six weeks for his bone graft and he can get on with the healing process.

And for those of you wanting to make some yummy cinnamon rolls - those that I made over conference weekend were seriously the easiest, yummiest I have ever made. I am admitedly the worst bread maker. I love homemade bread and rolls but I admit that I just don't have the talent for it. But this recipe was so simple and the dough was so easy to work with that I highly recommend EVERYONE give them a try. Most of you in Iowa already have the recipe - it is in the newest ward cookbook (the one we did last year) and it is under breads and it is Camille Zirker's recipe for Cinnamon Rolls. You make the dough in a bread maker so it was seriously so simple. And if anyone else wants the recipe, just let me know and I will email it to you! So thanks Camille for a yummy cinnamon roll recipe. Dave is already been asking me when I am going to make them again!

Conference Weekend

We had a pretty good conference weekend. Of course it is always hard with a toddler running around and wanting to play the whole time but I think I did a pretty good job of finding things to keep her busy and we were able to listen to most of conference without interruption! Since we don't have cable (even if we did have cable we still wouldn't be able to get conference - it's Iowa for Pete's sake!) so we watched it on our laptop this year from the comfort of our own family room. We have done that before but the speakers on the laptop are pretty lame so Dave had me buy a new cord that hooked our laptop speakers into our Ipod speaker and wallah - we could listen to it from any room in our little 900 sq. foot house perfectly! Since our kitchen and family room are basically the same room Lauren and I were able to do a lot of fun stuff in the kitchen and still be able to see/hear all of conference. So conference weekend at our house consisted of us eating these -

And a little bit of this!

I am just posting this picture to give Dave a hard time. He had fallen asleep so I went and got the camera and took of picture of his conference experience. He was actually awake more than he was asleep (I think)! Lauren and I had fun making yummy things in the kitchen (we made cookies on Sunday too). But don't worry, we gave most of the cookies away! By the end of conference on Sunday though Lauren had had enough. She came up to me and asked to play and I told her not right now, I'm listening to conference and she replied, "Mom, turn that TV off, you've watched enough TV today!" Hmm, I wonder where she has heard that line before!!

And for an update on Dave - He is doing pretty well. We went and saw his surgeon today and he said things were looking good. He will keep taking IV antibiotics through his PICC for the next 4 weeks and he should have his next surgery in 4 or 5 weeks also. UPDATE -I just got a call from the surgeons office today and the earliest they can do Dave's next surgery isn't until June 19th! We are not thrilled with that news but don't have a lot of options either. Now we are really just praying that someone who is scheduled for surgery before him cancels and he can get bumped up and have the surgery sooner! The next surgery will consist of going back into his femur and doing another bone graft with donor bone mixed with his own bone marrow. We are really hopeful that with all the antibiotics packed into his leg right now and the 6 weeks of IV antibiotics will really kick this infection out of his leg for good and that the new, healthy bone can grow and we won't ever be doing this surgery again! We appreciate all the prayers and calls and emails about how Dave is doing. His surgeon said he would be on two crutches for about another 3 months after the surgery but that's okay, we can handle that! We just hope that by October he will be down to one crutch or a cane because that is when our new little baby will be arriving! That's right - I am finally pregnant with baby number two and I want to have a healthy husband who can walk and help me carry around our new little bundle of joy!

Return of Good TV!

Okay - I admit we watch too much TV at our house but in my defense, my husband just had surgery a couple of weeks ago and can't even walk so what else are we supposed to do? Since the writers strike ended we have been eagerly awaiting the return of some of our favorite shows and finally this Thurs. one of our favorites is back!

So for all you Office watchers out there - don't miss Thursday night!

Chicago, a Birthday, and Surgery

Last week was our spring break and Dave's parents came into town and we went over to Chicago for a couple of days. We had a lot of fun even though our trip was so short. The weather was PERFECT (we really lucked out) and we visited Shedd's Aquarium one day and went to Navy Pier the second day. The one night we were in Chicago I was able to see Wicked again with Dave's parents. It was GREAT and I still highly recommend it to anyone who hasn't seen it yet! For all you friends in AZ - my sis. just let me know that it is coming to Gammage in about a year and tickets go on sale this summer so check it out! Here are some of our pict. from Chicago.

Rare family photo at the aquarium

We even got to watch the Dolphin Show!

Lauren at Navy Pier

Lauren, Dave and Grandma Folsom at Navy Pier

I love this pict. of Lauren at Navy Pier

Chicago Skyline

After we got home Dave had his surgery on his leg! His surgery went well but unfortunatley we had to stay in the hospital longer than we had hoped. He needed a PICC for his IV meds. he has to take for the next 6 weeks and his surgery was Fri. afternoon and there is no PICC Team over the weekend so we had to stay until Mon. to get his PICC and then the Dr's couldn't decide what meds. they wanted him on until too late in the afternoon to get it all set up with Home Health so we got to stay another night. Needless to say he was very glad to come home yesterday afternoon after 4 nights in the hospital! He is doing pretty good - just very sore and tired. We live by the clock and the next dose of pain meds. So the plan is IV meds. for 6 weeks and then another surgery to do another bone graft and hopefully kick this blasted infection out of his bone for good!

While Dave was in the hospital we celebrated Lauren's 4th Birthday and Easter! She had a lot of fun since Grandma and Grandpa were here to play with her. They took her to Chucky Cheese's one day and to Build-A-Bear and the Children's Museum another day. She loved all her new toys and we are now learning how to ride a bike! Now I just need to find us a very flat stretch of cement so we can practice this whole riding a bike thing! She loves wearing her helmet though and was really bummed we didn't have knee pads and elbow pads too. Lauren's birthday was also Easter and after having spent all day at the hospital and making a birthday cake, the Easter Bunny was a little too tired to do a big egg hunt so instead all of Lauren's goodies were in her basket and she had to go on a little treasure hunt to find the basket. She had fun and she loves telling anyone who will listen that the bunny did not hide her eggs, he hid her whole basket!

Opening her new Barbie from Grandma

In her Easter Dress (thank you grandma!). I hung streamers for her birthday and she wouldn't come out from behind them for a decent photo!

Lauren and her birthday cake! She really wanted a purple Barbie Cake so here is the finished product. Not bad for just about 1 1/2 hours of total decorating time.

Update

Well - it looks like this is about to be our home away from home again. Those of you who live in Iowa will recognize it but for those of you who aren't lucky enough to live in Iowa, this is The University of Iowa Hospital and Clinics. Unfortunately Dave's leg started hurting again a couple of weeks ago and that is never a good sign. We have met with his surgeon and had x-ray's taken and it looks like the infection in his leg has come back AGAIN and they are going to go in and clean it out again. Of course this is very painful for Dave and he is very aware of how long it will take him to recouperate (having been through this so many times before) and start getting around again but we do consider ourselves very lucky to have such great Dr.'s so close and Dave has a great department at school who have told him to just take care of himself and they will cover the classes he teaches! And luckily last month he took and passed his major comps. so that is out of the way and he can work on his dissertation from home. So we are hopeful that he can stay on top of things from home and when he starts getting around better, he can start to go to campus more. Dave's parents were already planning on coming out to play with us this week for Spring Break so they are still coming and we are even going to go to Chicago for a couple of days still (Dave says the aquarium and museum's should have wheel chairs he can sit in and we can just push him around)! We are excited to go and see Chicago since all we have seen are the airports! Then he will have his surgery on Fri. and hopefully be home by Sunday. He would like to be home for Lauren's birthday and Easter! Luckily she will have her Grandparents here to play with her and keep her happy.
We will keep you posted on how everything turns out! We would really like to get this infection beat once and for all! We appreciate everyone's support and help - we are very lucky to have such good friends and family!

Speedy Typing

I saw this on someone else's blog and thought I would give it a try since I like to type. I think I did okay for only trying it a couple of times but it would have been nice to try to beat 90 words a minute! So check it out and see how fast you can type!

89 words

Speed test

P.S. I totally beat Dave - he got 60wpm (not bad).

Just Hanging Out

It has been so long since I updated our blog because we have just been hanging out - trying to survive the cold! February lived up to it's horrible reputation for being cold, snowy, and just plain miserable. But we have still managed to find some fun things to do this month. Of course there is always preschool!


This is Lauren and two of her little preschool buddies, Anna and Anne. The girls were my little "Chef's" and we made Peanut Butter and Jelly Muffins and Rice Crispy Treats. The girls loved wearing their Chef hat's and aprons.


After being stuck inside the house all day I was trying to find a way for Lauren to get rid of some of her pent up energy so I had her jump on my bed. She had fun but she is pretty timid - she does not like to jump high or be crazy but she jumped for awhile!


We have also gone to the North Liberty Rec. Center for the Friday Tot Swim. It is just $1 and they have lots of fun toys for the kids to play with and the kiddie part of the pool only gets to 3 feet deep. The kids have a great time playing with their friends and doing something different.


Some of the kids enjoying the fun swimming!

One night Lauren came up to me and asked me to play Pirates with her. We had a lot of fun and cut out swords and she had me draw a mustache and beard on her face and we spent the night looking for treasures! It is a lot of fun to see what fun things she comes up for us to do.

So there you have it - this is basically what we have been up to. Saturday we went down to Nauvoo and that was great. The temperature even made it to the mid 40's and so Lauren and I were playing at the playground while Dave was in the Temple. And of course we went and looked out at the frozen Mississippi River and talked about how cold and hard it must have been for the pioneers to leave their beautiful homes in Nauvoo and to walk off into the unknown. We love being in the Nauvoo Temple District and being able to visit there often.

We do have some fun things coming up this month - Spring Break is in two weeks, Yeah! Dave's parents are coming out to visit us for the week and we will be going to Chicago for a couple of days. We are really excited to go and see Chicago since all we have really seen of it so far are the airports! And Lauren turns 4 this month! I can't believe I am about to have a big 4 year old. She is soooo excited and can't wait for her Barbie cake and is constantly telling us things she wants for her birthday. And of course there is Easter too. Lauren's birthday is actually on Easter this year so that will be a really fun day for her. So hopefully we will have some better blogs coming up!