A Name

For the past 4 months or so Summer has been coming up with all kinds of names for babies. Her most favorite and most frequent one is Chera. Some of the others are Serena, Elizabeth, and then there are those that are bizarre and I don't really even know how to pronounce them back to her.

I am not quite sure what has sparked this interest in baby names, however, it is interesting. She comes to me almost every day suggesting several different names that we could use to name "our baby". She prays for a baby brother or sister daily, and she has been talking about her brother Scott a lot lately.

Well, unfortunately there is no baby yet. I think she is realizing that she doesn't have a sibling and she really wants one. As parents I think we can learn a lot from our children. Summer is just as much of an example to me as I am to her. She is a great example of persistence and hope to me.

Summer reminds me that we can't give up hope. We have to be persistent and work at something. She also reminds me of how much energy and joy children have. I think I need to be more like a kid sometimes. Just carefree and relaxed.

As I mentioned, she has been talking about Scott a lot lately. She tells me that she wishes he can come back to our house someday. She says that she knows her wish will come true. The great thing about it is that she is right. That is the good news of the gospel. We will see him again. Just not right now.

It will be interesting to know what she remembers when she is older. I hope she keeps talking about Scott, because it might help her hold on to those memories. It intrigues me to think of what kinds of memories she will talk about, and reminisce about. I sure hope they are good ones. I have some great memories from my childhood, and I only hope to help her create her own.

I am so lucky to have such a wonderful daughter who makes life interesting, and happy. It will be so amazing when she finally gets the opportunity to have another sibling at home. It makes me smile just thinking of it. Someday.

Vancouver 2010 Olympics

Philip has been anticipating the Vancouver 2010 Olympics since we met. I remember him bragging that they would be in his hometown when we got married almost 6 years ago. He has reminded me almost every year since. I am quite surprised that he did not plan a trip there for the occasion.

However, he did want to party for the opening ceremonies. So, we put up the flags, decorated, and made some good food.

Don't worry, I did not forget the American flag. How could I?

It was actually quite fun. We made our version of Poutine which I am sure was not nearly as good as the original. I don't think the gravy was hot enough because the cheese didn't melt.

One of our fellow Canadian friends made nanaimo bars. We also had purogies, and mini quiche. It was really fun, and we enjoyed our Houston version of the 2010 olympic opening ceremonies.

We were also super excited and happy when Alexandre Bilodeau won Canada's first gold in their home olympic games.

This next week should be interesting, and we look forward to watching more.

Valentines Ravioli!

This morning Summer and I stayed home from church because she is a little sick. I made her breakfast in bed with heart pancakes. That cheered her up quite a bit. Sometimes it is not necessarily restful day of getting better with a four year old because they don't really rest.

For dinner I decided to try making home made pink heart shaped ravioli for dinner. I thought it was good. Summer even helped me pinch the edges closed.

Summer enjoying her pasta.

It was fun to make, and now I know I can make ravioli with whatever kind of filling I want.

So, if you want to try it out here is the recipe I used for the dough, and my own combination for the filling.

Ravioli From Scratch

Filling:

1 lb ground turkey

1 large handful of fresh spinach chopped

1/4 cup chopped fresh basil

1-2 diced roma tomatoes

1 cup fine grated italian style cheese blend

1 tsp Herbs de Province (Italian seasoning will work fine)

1 tsp Garlic salt

Dough: Found at http://www.recipezaar.com/Ravioli-Dough-and-Choice-of-4-Fillings-59359DOUGH

• 3 cups flour
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 2 eggs
• 1/2 cup water

First brown the ground turkey, garlic salt, and Herbs de Province. Add chopped spinach and basil. Cook another 5 minutes or until spinach has wilted up. Let cool.

After the meat mixture is cooled add the grated cheese, and diced tomatoes. Set aside and make your ravioli dough.

After I made my filling I followed the steps below.

MAKING THE RAVIOLI DOUGH: Sift flour and salt together.

• 1. 9

     Place flour mixture on a board, making a well in the center of the flour.

  2. 10

     Drop eggs into the flour well, using your hand or a fork, break the yolks and beat eggs slightly.

  3. 11

     Combine the eggs and flour together, gradually adding enough warm water to make a stiff dough.

  4. 12

     Knead dough well, until smooth; cover the dough and let it rest for 15 minutes.

  5. 13

     Cut dough in half and roll each half of the dough out on a floured board, into a very thin sheet (about 1/16 to 1/8 inch thick).

  6. 14

     FILLING THE RAVIOLI: Drop about 1 to 1 1/2 teaspoonfuls of filling about 1 1/2 inches apart all along the dough.

  7. 15

     When the sheet of dough is fully dotted with dabs of filling mixture, cover filling with other sheet of dough.

  8. 16

     Using your fingers, gently press dough between each dab of filling to seal it.

  9. 17

     Cut ravioli into squares with a (zig-zag edged) pastry cutter, or very sharp knife.

  10. 18

      DRYING THE RAVIOLI: Allow ravioli to dry for one hour before cooking.

  11. 19

      COOKING THE RAVIOLI: Drop ravioli into 6 to 8 quarts of boiling, salted water and cook for about 10 to 15 minutes, or until dough is tender.

  12. 20

      Remove cooked ravioli from pot carefully with a skimmer or a large slotted spoon, and drain well.

  13. 21

      Place drained ravioli on a serving platter in layers, alternating layers with your favorite sauce and a sprinkling of grated cheese between each ravioli layer.

  14. 22

      Serve hot.

Andrea Bocelli and Mormon Tabernacle Choir

Quote

YouTube - Andrea Bocelli & The Mormon Tabernacle Choir - The Lord's Prayer (2009)

This is simply magnificent. I have always loved Andrea Bocelli, and it is great to hear him with the Mormon Tabernacle Choir.

Houston Rockets Game

Here in Houston our place is surrounded by sports teams. We have been lucky enough to score a few different tickets to these games over the last three years. Wow! We have been here for three years now.

Anyhow, I had a Relief Society activity this week that I wanted to go to. It just so happened that Philip was also given tickets to the Rockets game for the same night. He and his co-worker who also happens to be in our ward decided to take the girls for a game night.

It worked out perfect because we were able to go to the activity and the girls enjoyed the late night with their dads and each other. Here they are enjoying their cotton candy and the spirit a good game brings.

I handed Philip the camera and insisted he take a few pictures of their night. So he even got one of himself. Apparently the game was great, and went into triple overtime. So the girls were even more excited that they got to stay up later.

Daddy daughter dates are the best. Seriously I love that Phil takes Summer on these special outings. She really looks forward to them and talks about them for some time afterword.

Ringing in the New Year!!

Well, we had a pretty uneventful New Years Eve. The only thing that was of interest or concern rather was Summer enjoying the New Years.

Summer decided to ring in the New Year by chopping off her hair. What a wonderful way to celebrate huh. Yeah right! Actually I am lucky that it was not that bad.

During dinner I looked at Summer as her hair brushed her neck. I noticed a rather fresh cut in her hair and it was much shorter than the last. Immediately I knew she had cut it. I told her to turn her head and that is how we confirmed it. She didn't want to admit it at first, however, after realizing that she would get into far more trouble by lying she confessed. The poor 4 year old probably thought that she made a marvelous change in her play salon. I asked her where the hair was that she cut, and she directed me to her garbage can in her bathroom.

Seriously we are so lucky that it was only this much. Unfortunately I will never ever forget the day that I did the same thing only way worse and to my cousins hair. I was at her house playing, and I suppose we were playing salon or something. Well, I decided it would be glamorous to cut my cousin's ponytail off. I can't quite remember if it was up half way or if it was a full ponytail. All I remember was her mom coming home. I am pretty sure we both got in loads of trouble from that. I felt so bad, and it still haunts me to this day.

Luckily Hair does grow back, but for some unfortunate children who decide to cut their own hair it really stinks. I have seen some pretty bad self haircuts, but I still don't think they top cutting a ponytail off.

Cupcake Fun

Last night we got to babysit some of Summer's little friends. She was so excited for them to come over and asked all day long if they were coming yet. When the time finally arrived she was even more happy.

For Christmas Summer got this cupcake maker from my mom that makes enough frosting and cake batter for one cupcake at a time. It is perfect for them to make a fun treat. She has been hoping for some friends to come make cupcakes with her ever since she got it.

It was quite messy because we made some of the frosting too runny. Then, while frosting Summer's cupcake we put the cupcake on the spinner thing wrong and her cupcake toppled over a few times getting frosting everywhere.

Each took their own turn pouring their packet of batter in the bowl and mixing it while the others cooked theirs in the microwave.

They all had fun, and I am glad that I only had to make three cupcakes and not 24.