Wednesday, November 10, 2010

Two Months and Counting

Its hard to believe that Liam is now two months old. I have been meaning to make a post since his official two-month old day, but have been too busy entertaining Liam to have time for computers. Here's what we've been up to...

Halloween Party at Grandma and Grandpa Thompson's


Every year, my parents host a murder mystery dinner.
This year, the theme was mobsters. Ryan came up with
the idea for Liam's costume- our loot. The whole costume was about $2.50 to make. We used his pajamas that don't separate the legs. At the craft store, we picked up the felt and the fabric paint. Some hot glue and a couple safety pins later we had a costume. Though he looks like he is being tortured in this picture, he's actually just upset that he's wearing clothes at all. This kid loves to be bare.


Here's a picture of the whole crew at the party.













While in Cannonville, we decided to take Liam out hiking. Here is a picture of Ryan and Liam walking through Willis Creek.









Golden Spike National Historic Site and ETK Rockets

Can anyone tell me what picture is on the Utah quarter? If you said two trains and a spike, you are correct. Out of all the amazing places in Utah, the historic site of the completion of the transcontinental railroad was selected. Don't get me wrong. I think it is a very important place, but how many people in Utah can actually say they have been there? Well, we decided to drive on over to Promontory Point and check it out for ourselves.


We started off with a tour of the train engines. Even though the originals were scrapped, it is still interesting to see the replicas. If you want to see them actually running on the tracks, go during the summer season. (You can save $2.00 on admission if you go in the winter though..yay.)We then checked out the visitors center where there is a short film on the history of the railroads. Since Liam was still hungry, we decided to watch another film. We ended up with our own private viewing of "The Great Train Robbery," a film done in 1902. You can check it out at http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-7949193416885414135# .

We finally made our way out in the rain to the famous site. Don't ask why we are posed so weird.

If you want to know more about the national historic site, check out the official website http://www.nps.gov/gosp/index.htm .





We then took a little side road to the ATK rocket exhibit.








My Above Average Baby

Every mom thinks their child is above average, but really, Liam is...
At his 2 month visit, Liam weighed in at 15 lbs 5 oz (99th Percentile) and measured 24 inches long. The doctor says he is the size of an average 4 month old. Yesterday, the banker asked if he wanted a sucker. He was so confused when I said Liam was only two months old. Like a good mom, I ate the sucker for him.

Wednesday, October 27, 2010

Attempting to Blog Without Ryan

As some of you may have noticed, every blog post on our last attempt and on this one has been undertaken by my wonderful husband. I, personally, avoided blogging because for some reason I put it in a category with scrap booking and crafts. Not that those hobbies aren't great. I just have never had the patience for either. So, here we go! This is my first attempt. I do not promise anything eloquent or profound, but it IS something yummy.

Besides sitting around talking to each other all day (as seen in the earlier post), Liam and I have started trying out new recipes. Our most recent experiment is Apple Pudding Cake. The recipe was given to my mom by her friend and then passed on to me. We didn't have the original sauce recipe, so this is one modified from a Better Homes cookbook.

What you need:

Cake Ingredients
1/2 C oil
1 1/2 C sugar
2 eggs
4 C grated apples
2 C flour
2 tsp. baking soda
1 tsp. salt
1/2 tsp. nutmeg
1 C chopped nuts

Sauce Ingredients
1/2 C (1 stick) butter (I used margarine and it was just fine)
3/4 C packed brown sugar
2 Tbsp. light corn syrup
1 tsp. vanilla
Whip Cream (optional...though really a must!)

Mix the oil and the sugar until well blended. Beat in the eggs for a couple of minutes. Add the grated apples. In a separate bowl, combine the flour, soda, salt, nutmeg, and cinnamon. Gradually stir the dry ingredients into the apple mixture. Add nuts if desired.

It should look something like this...




Bake at 350 degrees for 40 minutes.






When the cake has about 5 minutes left, start making your sauce.

Bring butter, brown sugar and corn syrup to a boil in a saucepan whisking occasionally. Lower to a medium heat and continue a light boil for a few minutes. Remove from heat and stir in the vanilla.

In the original recipe, the sauce is dumped over each individual slice of cake. (The cake is good even without the sauce.) The following is my modification.

Dump the sauce onto over the top of your cake while both are still hot. Let rest for 10-15 minutes or until the sauce has fully soaked into the cake.

Presentation note: If you are going to serve the cake right away, you can 1 1/2 times the sauce. Save the extra sauce until serving. Pour a little sauce onto a plate, place a piece of cake in the center, and top with whip cream.

Yummy! Thanks, Mom, for the great recipe!





Soon to come on our blog..... cloth diapers and homemade wipes.

Sunday, October 24, 2010

Hey... we're BLOGGERS... for real this time... hopefully...

A year and a half ago we attempted to enter the blogosphere because I was required to start one for a writing class. After two postings, it died. Despite this, we have apparently had a few faithful fans who checked weekly for updates and we are sorry to have disappointed you for so long. Hopefully we can make it up to you as we unveil version 2.0. Some of the exciting things you can look forward to include updates on our latest White House addition, Liam, our amazing spontaneous adventures, unrivaled design undertakings, and maybe even a recipe or two.

As a preview of the exciting things to come, Rosa Lee held a private interview with Liam to discover his views on the complexities of life as a baby living in the White House. His most compelling statements are in the first 40 seconds.