I have twins! (do I need any other excuse for being a bad blogger...)

Sitting up in the chairThanksgiving trying to get them to smile for the cameraGrandma Jami tendingStacie tendingTeague & Taya's Great-Grandma & Grandpa Peterson

The babies turn 3 months old this week. Time goes so fast with them. I've already put away their premie/newborn outfits and they are filling out the 0-3's really well now. They have both found their smiles (although I've yet to capture it on camera) and, as you can see, have gained a lot of weight and are so healthy. Both our families have been so supportive of us and have helped us out so much. My mom has flown in to see them and help me out, Jami has made regular trips down from Rigby and stayed with us, Rod & Staci come over for visits or babysitting duty, Stacie flew in over Thanksgiving to see them. Its been such a perfect time of life, its everything I hoped it would be!

I am looking forward to our first Christmas together even though they are a little young to understand what an exciting time of year it is. Santa is bringing a boatload of stuff for them anyways.

As for blessing them, we aren't sure when we are going to do it. With it being such a nasty flu season we've been really careful about taking them out, they are too little to be catching that stuff. So, we'll see.

New Beginnings...


Taya Lee Jones, Sept 17th 9:57pm
Teague D. Jones, Sept 17th 9:59pm


Ok, this is an epistal I realize. I am writing this more for me than anything, like a journal so I can have some of the best moments in life documented. So, I won't be offended if you skip the reading and just look at the pictures, they pretty much say it all anyways!

Last Thursday I went from this, to this! (pic above)What an exciting week its been. My mom and I headed down for a 'routine' doctor visit and he was a little quiet when he was ultrasounding me because we weren't getting good fetal breathing on the monitor. That, plus all the swelling, the rapidly raising blood pressure, steady contractions (although I didn't know I was having contractions) and in his opinion, the extra precaution to take with IVF babies since they were worked for so hard, so instead of the usual, looks like another 2 weeks...he said go across the street to the hospital, they'll be waiting for you. We were prepared to talk him into delivering me the following Monday, I just didn't think I had it in me to last clear to 38 weeks, instead, it was going to happen at 36 and a half weeks. We made it pretty close to full term, it was a miracle it all went so good.

So, of course, it completely spooked me that it was happening that night about 10pm. And my mom got pretty nervous. I called Coby and spooked him, I'm pretty sure he wasn't expecting me to say that I was at the hospital and he needed to wrap up at work because babies were coming. He finished up some stuff and got to the hospital about 5pm. They admitted me at 3pm. Once I got hooked up to everything I calmed down quite a bit. I think my mom kept getting more and more nervous. They gave me a magnesium drip that makes you not feel very good. The babies looked good on the monitors at that point and I was showing steady contractions, a lot of which I couldn't really feel (but I few I could, bless those women that have babies naturally.)

Everything was going good, so Coby left to go get some dinner and he was gone for a while, he'd went to the mall to buy shoes. (Actually, he went shopping everyday we were in the hospital for a break) It was funny, I guess we all deal with stress differently. He came back ready to go and a lot more relaxed. My mom, Jami & Bob and Rod & Staci were there to wish us well as I was wheeled out to deliver. They took me into the O.R. at 9pm. Our nice Dr. Sumpion stayed in the hallway with Coby while they gave me the epidural (which, in my opinion didn't hurt). They got me laid down and I was pretty sleepy and out of it from that point on. Coby was up on my side of the curtain, pretty sure he didn't dare watch for fear of getting sick, but at 9:57pm when the doctors and nurse all started talking excitedly that Baby A is coming out bum first, he couldn't help but jump up and watch. All I felt was a big pressure relief, no pain, and could here a screaming baby. They brought her up for me to see, she was blue and had blood and white stuff on her and was really loud. They started to take Coby back with her while they cleaned her up and the doctor said wait, Baby #2 is right here, and at 9:59 he was born. He looked and sounded just like her. I think its always a relief when a baby is born when you hear them screaming. Coby then left to the nursery where they were cleaned up and where our family could watch through the glass window. My mom was mad because she thought the nurses were too rough with them cleaning them up. One was crying and Rod made a rocking motion with his arms for Coby to pick the baby up, but he didn't dare pick her up so he held her hand. I of course missed those moments because I was being sewn back up. The whole thing took less than an hour. They wheeled me back to our huge labor and delivery room and I was alone for a little bit. Soon, my mom came in and was really relieved that I was ok. Coby wheeled the babies in with everyone following him. I'm a little foggy on the rest of it, I think we just took turns holding the babies. Everyone left around 11:30, my mom headed home at 1:30am.

As for me, they had a hard time that first few days getting my temperature up to normal, I would drop as low as 94 degrees. And, my blood pressure was all over the place, super low to fairly high. As for the babies, they were perfect. They laid oxygen by Taya while cleaning her up and that is all that had to be done for them. They were born very healthy.

We enjoyed visits from family and friends over the next few days and enjoyed our time together as a new little family in the mornings and evenings when everyone went home.

Here is a picture of our Candlelight Dinner that the Layton hospital does for new parents. It was so cute. They brought the babies in from the nursery at the same time our dinner arrived and we made it through our meal about half way before the babies decided it was dinner time for them too. It was our first family dinner.

I was in the hospital Thurs thru Monday. On Sunday I was pretty scared about having to go home. I felt like I was just starting to figure out how to take care of them in that environment and was pretty sure I wasn't ready to do it on my own yet. But, Monday came and we were discharged and headed home. Here is the babies in their car seats for their first ride. My mom drove Coby's work van home for us so he could drive the babies and me home.

Now, its a week later (I can't believe my babies are a week old!) and we still marvel at how cute they are. Teague has the cutest expressions on his face, he has big eyes. Taya is still so little! Through all the days at the hospital until now we still can't believe how small she is. She is so precious. Grandpa Rod is sure proud of her.

They are good babies. The first night home I was up pretty much all night with them, but we let them sleep all day (lesson #1 learned). Ever since they've been pretty good to sleep at night. We're only up 3 or 4 times a night for feedings, so we are actually getting decent sleep. (wish us luck that it continues). So, anyways, I could blog all day long about them, its been the greatest experience in our lives to have them here. And, having two is definitely a lot of work, but we wouldn't want it any other way. Twins rock! So, from this point forward this blog probably needs renamed to Teague & Taya since I'm sure that's mainly the focus from here on out!

As for who they look like, I'm happy to say that we see a little bit of my dad in Teague and we think Taya looks alot like my sister did when she was a baby. Her hair is fairly light colored. I think they both have Coby's lips. Everyone (including us still) can't believe how little she is. She's so petite featured with long skinny legs and long fingers and narrow feet (she obviously didn't get the Jones' feet!). She must get the fine bones from my mom, Grandmother Curlock and Grandma Jami.

July is about history...


Well, we've just about made it through July. This summer seems to be going by so fast, but they all do. Its my favorite time of year. I love all that goes on in the summer with all the rodeos and celebrations and family stuff. I like the heat pretty good too, except I don't do real well in it this year.

Coby's been gone a lot rodeoing and working, for the most part he should be back to rodeoing on the weekends again instead of all this through the week stuff. I'm pretty easy to track down since I'm home ALL THE TIME. Working from home is great and all, but sometimes its nice to have an excuse to go to town. And I don't mean Tremonton town. My mom is on her way back to Utah next week, so that will give me someone to hang out with. Lewis (my dog) is great company and all, but I get tired of the one sided conversation, but it is nice that he agrees with everything I say.

Jami and Amanda threw Sunee and me a combined baby shower last week at Grandma Peterson's house. It was fun. We were given some nice things for our babies and had fun hanging out with Coby & Riley's aunt's and cousins. We are both pretty close to being ready for the babies to come, they were hoping to have their little boy on the 24th but it didn't happen. She's pretty close so he could come at anytime. I sure wish I was that far along! I've reached the stage of constant swelling up and if something is on the ground or the floor I have to really want to pick it up since bending over is getting tough! I have lots of kicking and turning going on in my belly right now. Funny though when they are moving around I tell Coby to hurry and feel, but when he puts his hand on my belly they stop instantly. Maybe they are shy. So, he's figured out if he wants to feel them kick he pokes my belly a little and they'll kick at him.

I've been pretty busy with my own work, I'm an Independant Contractor for three companies right now so its been good. I'll probably cut back to one once the babies come, I want to slow work down, not be ramping up.

Sorry this has kind of been a boring post. I can't think of anything exciting to blog about today. Life is good and being bored isn't always a bad thing...

JUNE Birthday's, Family Visits, Weddings & Showers

We've had such a crazy month that I got behind on my blogging! First off, it was Coby's 35th birthday on June 17th!!! Holy cow, luckily for him he's aging gracefully and still as handsome as ever. We didn't do any big celebration for it, just some presents and his much requested ice cream cake.

Stacie and my mom have been in town for a couple weeks, Stacie has headed back to Texas for her 4th of July rodeo run. Mom is staying up here for the summer. We had a great time together, its not very often you get us all in the same place at once. It was fun and we'll all be back together again this fall once the babies are here. We stayed super busy while they were here, we spent quite a bit of time in SF, came to Tremonton a little too. Stacie bought a barrel horse from me so we all went to a jackpot in Preston and did a little baby shopping. Wow, who knew baby stuff was so expensive!

I had a nice baby shower thrown for me this month too, it was so fun to get together with old friends and everyone was so generous with their cute little pink and blue outfits and blankets. It's a big help to us to have so many nice things given to us. There again, who knew baby stuff was so expensive!

The crazy amount of rain we've had this month sure kept this pregnant lady comfortable. The couple of hot days we had I seemed to swell up a lot, so I consider myself lucky to have got another good month behind me. So far this whole being pregnant thing hasn't been too tough. Seeing all the baby gifts really makes things seem real that we'll be parents here in just a couple more short months! Time is going by really fast right now since we are so busy and that is good!

Bryson and Kristen tied the knot last week and we had a good time visiting with family during it. They had a nice wedding dinner and ended up moving the wedding indoors because of the rain the next day. They say rain on your wedding day means good luck, so even though things didn't go quite as planned for them, they'll have a great marriage. They looked beautiful together and it all worked out great. This family picture documents me at 6 months pregnant!

This week and the next few weeks Coby is on the rodeo trail, I'm just going to hit and miss a few with him. Fighting huge crowds and having no where to sit at rodeos is no fun as I found out at Lehi's rodeo last Saturday night. I ended up sitting in the stairwell and the committee people were nice enough not to evict me from my 'seat'. He was up in the slack at Oakley last night and 6 hours of slack sitting in bleachers was not real comfortable, never mind the ride home. I ended up sleeping on the way home, and I know that isn't smart since Coby isn't much of a late night driver. That was always my shift. Not this year I guess!

Oh Boy....

Well, after the 'big' ultrasound yesterday we found out that the doctor's initial findings were wrong, we were surprised with a girl and A BOY! So, looks like we get one of each! At 16 weeks he was sure it was two girls, and at 19 weeks he again confirmed baby A was a girl, but baby B that is up high was transverse, looking down and he couldn't get a clear shot to verify it. I didn't really think anything of it, then when we went in yesterday the tech wiggled my belly around until she got a good picture of it, and sure enough, its definitely a boy! We're really excited and it will be fun to raise one of each. He is really wiggly in there, it took a long time to get all the pictures because he's so active. Its funny watching them push each other around in there trying to get the space they want. Its going to be pretty cramped for them here soon! Everything appeared to be healthy and where it needed to be with no concerns. Now its time to start a list of boy names...

Coby's Bum Ankle

Last weekend while practicing Coby had a fresh horse buck and he twisted his foot in the stirrup and tore the ligaments in his ankle. It swelled and bruised up pretty bad. We took him in for x-rays to make sure nothing was broken. We probably looked pretty funny with the pregnant lady helping her limping husband into the doctor's office! He got some crutches to get around on after that for a few days, but is walking pretty good now. In fact, he even rode tonight, so it must be healing fast. He still has an occasional limp, especially if he steps on something and twists it a little. I understand the ankle stuff all too well, I know how hard it is to get them feeling really stable again. Hopefully, its going to be strong enough he can start entering some rodeos in a few weeks. Time will tell.

Memorial Day

For Memorial Day weekend this year, we didn't have any jackpots or rodeos to go to in, well I don't know how long. Years and years, that's for sure. This year we spent Saturday working in our yard and the horses and that evening Cort and Amanda and the kids came over for a little hot dog fry. We were going to go out and do some more work, but we got a major rain storm that kept us inside all night. It was a crazy rainstorm, we don't get rain like that in Utah very often. The next day after church it started raining again, so we quickly packed our bags and headed up to Rigby and stayed with Jami & Bob. Cort & Amanda were up there too, and we had a fun stay. The weather was decent, so Monday the guys did some roof work on their outdoor dining area. I sat in the sun watching and before I realized it, had really sunburned my legs and especially the tops of my feet. Ouch!! I think I'm sunburning easier than usual this year. It was a nice little get away and a lot more fun that sitting and watching it rain here!

This month has went by fast and here towards the end we're doing a little celebrating. My mom's birthday was on the 20th, so we'll do something fun for it when they get here next week. Haggon (Staci Sue's son) graduates High School, which is a neat and monumental time of life. He also comes and mows my lawn for me which is nice. This coming weekend we are headed up to Ryker & Stacy's to help them produce their first Team Roping at their arena. Should be a good and busy weekend. Coby is shaking the dust off his ropes and I'm shaking the dust off my secretary skills. We go in for the 'big' ultrasound tomorrow to make sure the babies are really girls and that they are growing ok. It will be Coby's first chance to see them moving around in there. So far all he's seen are the blurry still shots. It will be fun for him to see them.

Baby Bump

Well, as you can see, my belly is growing. Unfortunately, so is my butt. Maybe its so I don't get too front heavy and fall forward.

These are before and after pic's of our remodeled back bathroom. The before pictures don't do it much justice just to how scary that little room was. The floor pretty much had to come out completely before we could even tile it, and the little vanity was barely thigh high and the sink was all chipped and broken. Now its a cute little room.

Its been a crazy week, I'm officially on my last day of work today. Supposedly, signed contracts are coming in today for a buy out but its hard believe because that's what we've been told for 2 months now. I'll still be doing a little contract work for them. Not sure exactly how its going to work out, so we'll see. We've got 3 horses we are actively working on selling and its been a full time job just fielding calls on them and putting videos together to send out. We've had great response so maybe we'll get them moved soon. In fact, we have two people coming to look at the same horse this weekend. Not sure how that's going to work out! Guess first one to write the check gets him! Its pretty hard to sell barrel horses when the barrel racer is under strict 'no riding' rules. I've never had to sell horses like this before, usually I'm the one getting on a horse to tune it or show it. Now, I get to stand at the fence and watch. Here a couple pic's of the cute horses we're selling. I don't have one of Charley, but he looks just like Kinney. Cute, huh!

The results are in....


Since we never gave our blog address out to many people to get many votes, I am combining these results with results from my office.


Overall Votes:


10% Girl/Girl
50% Boy/Girl
40% Boy/Boy


I have the exciting "unofficial" results from the doctor, Girl/Girl! So, in this vote, majority loses! I have the 'big' ultrasound in a couple weeks and they'll confirm. The doc was quite sure, so shopping for little girls has begun! I realize why so many people were for sure that they would be boys, no one in Coby's family has produced girls yet and he has no sisters. The only thing I can say bad about this situation is Coby might expect me to go through this again one day to try for a little bull dogger. As for now, we'll start with these two and see how it goes.


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This week I am posting a really good dinner recipe. I adapted it from a cooking show to include/exclude stuff we like.


Steph's Cheesesteaks


Meat:
1 lb. flank steak (or some sort of steak)
1/2 c red wine vinegar
1 lime, zested and juiced
1/4 c. chopped cilantro
1 TBSP hot sauce
1 tsp Worcestershire
salt & pepper


Combine all this and let sit for a half hour or so while prepping other stuff. After it marinates for a bit, pan fry the meat, then slice on the bias into 1/4" strips.


Cheese Sauce:
1 TBSP butter
3 TBSP flour
1 chipotle chili in adobo, chopped (2 if you like a lot of kick)
1 1/2 c. cream
1 c. grated cheddar cheese


Melt butter in sauce pot. Add flour & chipotle, stir to combine (makes a roux). Add heavy cream slowly, stirring. Add in cheese and stir until melted. Let sit on low until ready to build sandwich.


Other ingredients:
1 sliced avocado
Gyro bread (round greek bread located at the deli counter in the grocery)
more cilantro & lime


Build the Sandwich:

In a warm pan with a little butter, warm the gyro bread. Then put some of the meat on it, be generous with the cheese sauce, add some avocado slices and more cilantro. Maybe squeeze a little extra lime on it too. Serve with homemade french fries or potato chips. Yum!


Now, if you like grilled onion and/or red bell pepper you could add that to the sandwich, it could also be built on a hoagie roll, but we love sandwiches on the soft gyro bread. Happy cooking.

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Here are some old pictures of the ImPRA finals I just found while cleaning up my work computer. We both won the round and averages that night.

HEDGE YOUR BETS

Ok, anyone want to weigh in what they think we're having?

Baby A: boy/girl

Baby B: boy/girl

Post a comment and I'll tally them up and show results in a week or so!


Other stuff going on, ummmm, in my last post I was saying I didn't think I was showing that much. This week, I'm definitely showing! My belly started really sticking out and its hopeless to try and do my regular pants up now. Thank goodness for long shirts to hide my elastic bands and un-done zippers! But by hell I'm in a pair of Wranglers and my cowboy boots today (nice office attire, huh? I told you my wardrobe was shrinking!) Probaby dumb since my ankles have started swelling. Hope I can get my boots off tonight...

My work has been really hectic, I've been full time in the office for about 3 weeks now (no telecommuting). They laid-off just about the whole company and production has been shut down at all facilities across the country. Here at corporate we are down to 7 of us (at one time there were 130), so I've been involved in all sorts of stuff I wouldn't normally do. They are close to finalizing negotiation to split the company and merge with two more stable ones, if that goes through I'll be the Project Manager on both buy outs as well as 1 of only 2 of us here that know how to programmatically extract data out of our mainframe. Its way busy for me, but its nice because it makes the time go fast. Luckily, I've felt up to the challenge too. A month ago I'd have never had the stamina to work at this pace!

It sounds like Stacie has put an offer in on a really nice house in Texas pretty close to where she is living right now. Sounds like you can find good horse property and houses in TX a lot easier than in UT. Hopefully she gets it bought, she's been looking for a while now. My mom and John will be back up in Utah here in a couple weeks for a stay, they've got some Senior Pro's in NV.

I need to post some picture's and a couple awesome recipes I run across, I'll try to do that this weekend.

The 2nd Trimester is here!

I made it. It was touch and go for a while there. I was starting to be convinced this was going to be the longest 9 months of my entire life. I was unconscience a good part of the 1st trimester, because all I did or felt like doing was sleep! I couldn't even get up and shower and do my hair without having to stop for a nap afterward. And on the days I'd go into the office, I would have to take a long nap in the sick room or in my car and I could barely make it home before heading straight to bed to sleep 14 or 15 hours straight. I swear I have never been so tired in all my life! And cooking dinner for Coby, that was rare. I couldn't stand raw ingredients or the smell of food cooking (in fact, I still don't dare cook with onion or garlic). I couldn't even browse a cookbook without getting nauseated. But, the good news is I have emerged from my winter slumber and I have new energy and am finally feeling great! I haven't felt like napping and I've been up and going and even cooking again! So, maybe all the books and magazines are right, you do get a renewed sense of energy and the nausea goes aways with the second trimester. Now THIS is much more like it!

And, for those of you that haven't seen me since becoming preggers, I am sporting a little baby bump. Coby thinks its so cute to see me with a belly. I keep thinking that any day I'm just going to wake up and look 8 months pregnant, I would think I'd be getting big since there are two little babies in there to poke out. But, depending on what I'm wearing, I don't really show that much yet. I have had to switch to longer, looser shirts so I can cover my pants button and zipper since I can't do them up anymore. I am prepared for when I can't squeeze into my jeans any longer though. When my mom was here visiting a couple weeks ago her, my Aunt Ann and I went maternity shopping, so I'm prepared for that day that nothing fits. We had so much fun shopping and laughed our butts off at how I looked in all the frocks. They even had a fake baby belly you could strap on to get the full effect of how 'materal' you soon look and we had a great laugh over it. Next big shopping trip will be for the babies. Two of this, two of that, two, two, two!

Other fun stuff going on, we just about have our back bathroom remodeled, I'll post some before and after pictures soon. Its been a long project for Coby since I haven't been much help with it. Something about adhesives and paint and toxic stuff not being good for the babies. With spring finally springing in Tremonton we have lots of work to do in the yard, and we have a spot ready for a garden. Normally, I'm not into the whole garden thing, but since I'm not riding this year, we figured it would be a good excuse for me to go outside and give me a project to work on. My mom doesn't think its such a good idea, since I really probably will be huge by the time the major weeding and harvesting needs done and I might be able to get down, but may not get back up! So, this summer if I am lost, check the garden first. We've been working on some of the horses and they are sure starting to look better. Coby rides every chance he gets, which hasn't been much with his crazy work schedule lately. Rodeo season is right around the corner so that is always good incentive to get them in shape.

Other fun stuff, we've had some fun family visits. Ryker and Stacy and the kids have come and stayed a few times and we went to dinner with Riley and Suni the other night. Like I mentioned before, my mom flew up for a few days and we spent some time in S.F. visiting the Sorensen's which was fun. They are so excited about the babies and hope they have some of my dad's funny personality in them. My mom and John will be spending a good part of the summer in Utah this year which we are appreciative of. I'm sure we'll need a helping hand and all the support we can get!

We have a great year ahead of us with lots of fun stuff in store. We are looking forward to weddings (Bryson & Kristen) and wedding receptions (Riley & Suni), preparing and shopping for the babies and getting them here, a few parties and baby showers and visits from family & friends (Jodi & Stacie are coming to UT this summer), and as always RODEO SEASON!

The Bread Blogger

Ok, so I'm not the best at keeping up on my blog. I have found something else that seems to take up the little bit of spare time I spend on the computer--Facebook. Its been so fun getting hooked up with old friends on it. Wow, its amazing who can find you! Good thing?? Maybe not always, there are some people out there that you just really would prefer to leave in the past. But, all in all its been fun. See, I'm on a computer approximately 8 hours a day for work, so I have a hard time wanting to sit down at my computer to blog for entertainment when I do this sort of stuff all day everyday, blah, blah, blah. But, here to the new and awesome post!

This post is dedicated to a little something I've been trying to figure out. HOW TO BAKE BREAD. Its been fun, I'm striving for fabulous artisan type bread with crusty crust on the outside and chewy, dense middles, and of course yummy sourdoughs. So far, I haven't quite acheived that texture and consistency, but hey, its bread, its edible, so how bad can it be. I found a couple cool blogs for out bread bakers that make artisan bread sound like any idiot could bake it. http://www.thefreshloaf.com/ is a good one, really more than a person needs to know about baking bread.

The second part, the sourdough part, has been more successful. Jami (my mother-in-law), knows quite a bit about 'sourdough starts', so she helped me get one going. Its been pretty fun to mess with. If you don't know what a 'start' (the Mary Jane magazine calls it Mother) is, its so simple. Take a glass or plastic bowl, 2 cups flour, 2 cups water, couple TBSP of sugar and cover with a towel and leave on your counter for a few days. Stir once in a while. It will get bubbly and yeasty smelling, just like sourdough. It can last indefinitely. To slow it down I put it in the fridge after a few days. Ok, so Coby requested Sourdough Pancakes like his mom used to make, she couldn't exactly remember her recipe so I went online and found an old Cowboy site that had a stellar recipe. Its so awesome I'm posting it here for you all to try. We were a little skeptical at first, but loved it! I made a little adaption to it the berry part of the recipe, to make more of a sauce, but you can use whole berries if you prefer.

Sourdough Pancakes w/SourCream & Berries

Originated: Pampa, TX circa 1910

2 cups Starter (let this 'grow' for 5 or 6 days before using, so plan this recipe ahead)

1 Egg

2 TBSP Oil

1/4 Flour

1 tsp salt

1 tsp baking soda

2 TBSP sugar

Blend well, have a thin pancake-like batter texture. Cook hotcakes on a hot griddle (or a cast iron pan if you have one).

Berry Topping

1-2 cups of mixed berries

3 TBSP rasberry or grape jam

3 TBSP sugar

3/4 cup cold water mixed with TBSP of cornstarch

In a sauce pan, heat berries, sugar and jam. In a cup blend the water and cornstarch (to remove lumps). Once berries are warm, stir in the thickener and cook over med-low heat. Once it starts to gel up, you can adjust the sweetness with more sugar or add a little grape juice (or red wine even works). Its actually really hard to mess up.

Then, serve with a dollop of sour cream and a couple spoonfuls of berry sauce and of course, bacon or sausage! MMMMMMM!

Its cheap and easy and if you are feeding a large crowd its easy to adjust the size of the recipe. They've turned out everytime I've made them--proof that they are foolproof!

So, that's it for now! Stay posted to my blog, I'll have some really fun and exciting stuff to post soon! Happy Cooking!

Stacies update

What a start to the 2009 year. I have already put $1400 in my truck to make it run smoother. 2008 was a great year, nothing major happened-that I can remember. I had a a great year at the rodeos. I made all the year end finals I was a member of. I have two horses to rodeo on, and I am going to team rope more often-heeling. Mom bought my head horse so I am forced to heel steers. I went a USTRC in Waco and heeled for the first time this year. No money won, but my end was not the problem. I love my new school. It seems to be a good change. I still have the famous grulla horse Artie, he is retired and 25+. He just gets fed and hangs out at the Hoover ranch. I have my dunn horse Scooter I bought in 2000, who is 15 now. He works great every time. I bought a paint horse I call Hildago in 07. I spend alot of time on him, but it is paying off. I have won several checks on and hope to have him 100% finished by this summer. He has a huge motor and you have to get him super tired before you rope. I like my dunn horse cause you can lope a few circles and be ready to go. T-bones my blue heeler is 16 this year. She gets around alright, her hips seem to be her problem. Once she is up she loves to go. She rides in the back seat to every rodeo. I have to help her in and out of the the truck and trailer. She even has a handicap ramp for trailer. She is mostly deaf and blind so I have to watch her closely. Things are great here in Texas. I love the weather and dont miss the snow. They cancel school here if it is below 25-so funny. People freak when they hear the words "cold front". So different then Utah.

Its A Wikipedia Life

This is a VERY important link for everyone to review:

http://en/wikipedia.org/wiki/Days_Of_Our_Lives

I love Wikipedia. It is so fun and you can learn so much. Like, I learned a proficient explanation what I do for a living:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Business_Analyst

And, of course, I was able to learn interesting things about 'my show'. Days is a family tradition, passed on from my Grandmother Curlock & my mom, down to me and Stacie. We all still watch it. We've been there through the good storylines and the bad. That's what good fans do. If you aren't already a Days' fan, then jump on the bandwagon. Its the best way to spend a morning-waking up, Tivo-ing Days, and drinking Hot Apple Cider (since I've quit coffee and green tea). And, that way you can skip the commercials so you watch it in half the time. (P.S. Coby is standing over my shoulder MAKING me type this: HE HATES DAYS AND REFUSES TO WATCH IT)

I encourage you all to take a look at www.wikipedia.org and have fun surfing the online Encyclopedia! I'll post more interesting links here later!

Since its cold and snowy out and not much going on, here's a couple pic's from our trip to TX last May for Jodi's wedding. This is the bridemaids & bride at the rehearsal dinner/party. The other pic is Laurel and Trish getting Jodi laced into her dress.

It amazes me how I can sit at my computer for 8 hours a day working keeping my creativity alive, but when I sit down to work on this blog I can't seem to come up with anything interesting to write about! So, I took a break and went and watched Coby through the sliding glass door. He was turning all the horses out so they can run and play for a few hours. The sun's shining today and its nice and warm here at the window. Outside I can hear the roads are crunchy with ice, its probably only in the teens. That means its an indoor day for me. Its always such a kick to watch the horses after they've been stalled up for a while. They love it, they roll and run and play and eventually find one to pick on (today it's Cort's colt). They get around good in the deep snow. They can race back to the bottom of the arena and burn around the turn and they never seem to hurt themselves. I feel like I've been stalled up for a while too, I don't spend much time out in the deep freeze. I think if I were to go tearing through the snow and run my butt off I would most likely 1. hurt myself 2. definitely regret it in tomorrow 3. hurt myself. I've worked very hard at getting this out of shape. It doesn't just happen overnight. That's what I get for not riding this winter. Riding in the winter keeps you in pretty good shape because everything takes twice as long in the snow and cold. I just haven't had it in me this year to get out there yet. I think my horses needed a break from me anyways. They are all young horses and I trained on them pretty hard this year. It seems like they come back more solid after a break so the time off shouldn't hurt them any. Coby's horses were due for a break too. They are getting a little age on them and he hauled them hard this summer. They all look good, just really hairy because we didn't blanket this year. So, today, we'll just let them play and save the real exercise for another day!