Our Dango Daikazoku Adventure

A couple weeks ago I went to Phoenix to visit my brother Mike, his wife Erin and their cute little Myka. While we were there, Erin took us to an Asian Supermarket called Lee Lee's. I wished Shaylie had been there with me because they had some amazing things. My mom wanted to buy her some Dangos since she's been completely gaga over them for months now. We didn't exactly know what Dangos are but we knew from the Internet that they are Japanese dumplings made out of rice flour that are either boiled or fried with many different kinds of sauces or fillings. We explained the best we could to the clerk and he directed us a couple different kinds. Shaylie was so excited when I came home with some Dangos to try. 

The first attempt were frozen premade Sesame Dumplings which were meant to be boiled for 5-6 minutes. They turned out rather disgusting looking but the sauce inside tasted kind of sweet and peanutty. Shaylie was the only one brave enough to actually put one in her mouth. 

 First, she put maple syrup on it and took a small bite.

 She was not very impressed. It tasted gooey and slimey.

 Then it got stuck in her expander and she gagged in sink. 

   Needless to say, the entire plate of those ended up in the trash. Definitely not the right Dangos. 

 The next morning I promised to make the fried kind before school because she did not want to go to school hating her beloved dangos. So I got up extra early and tried to decipher the lovely packaging. I think the direction were written in Korean, but at least there were pictures.

I mixed up the dough and fried them up. These were looking much more appetizing.

 After dunking them in sugar and putting them on the skewers, they looked just like the Dangos of Shaylie's dreams. 

 I woke her up about 6:00 am to try the final product. 

 Sleepy but happy with the yumminess. 

I'm glad we finally figured it out. She got to go to school and tell all her friends about the Dango adventure we had. Luckily for me, I won't be able to get to the Asian supermarket everyday so these will just be a special treat.

Another Year of Wedded Bliss! :)

Scott and I celebrated our 18th wedding anniversary on August 8th. It's gone by in a flash. I'm lucky to be married to my very best friend in the world. He spoiled me on my birthday this year and got me tickets to the Shakespearean Festival. We took the trip as part of our Anniversary celebration. I always love going to the plays there. This year we saw Pride and Prejudice and Much Ado about Nothing.

 The Green Show was fun even though we got a little wet. The raindrops came down in big fat drops and scared us a little bit since we were going to an outdoor show later, but it cleared up just in time.

Aren't we cute? Scott's still in stripes.  :D 

 The view from our seats. We hadn't ever been to the Adams theater in all the years we've been to the Festival so this was a treat. We were right up front and had a great time!

The rest of the Gallery...the VIP seats right up front had seat cushions, water bottles and a little care package on each seat. The show was fun, one of the best I've seen but they always are. We had a good time catching up as a couple and spending some alone time. Can't wait to do it again!

Shaylie Turns 10!

My Shaylie has been completely obsessed with all things Asian for the past few months. She loves to read Manga comic books, and watch Anime shows online. She has been taking Kung Fu and has been teaching herself to speak Japanese. Half the time I don't know what she is saying to me, but she bows at the end which always makes me smile. So it came as no surprise that she wanted an Asian themed birthday when she turned 10 on August 14th! It was a blast putting this party together for the my girl.

We started the party by learning some Origami folding. The girls were really good at it. We also made paper lanterns, which I did not get any pictures of, but they turned out really cute. Shaylie has several hanging in her bedroom now.

Her cake had the traditional yin yang, her name (sort of) in Chinese, and Japanese dongos. It was fun to make and tasted delish!

Our candy Sushi was a big hit and the kids went through it so fast! I could have made twice as much.

The Chinese Take-out box favors had some Japanese candy, and toys inside.

One of her favorite gifts was her Kimono "pajamas." She already had the hat. 

Shaylie and all her cute friends! Thanks for coming to our party girls! It was a blast!

Someday I will blog again....

but that day is NOT today!

2010 Family Fotos

A sampling of our fun new family photos! More to come soon! Thanks to Annette at LittleGemsPhoto.com for making us look so good!

Catching Up

You would think that in 6 weeks of our busy lives that I would have lots to post about....but I don't. I have been busy, busy, busy with all the normal activities of our lives. I wanted to mention a few highlights however to hopefully get me back into the blogging spirit.

Taylor turned 14 and went to her first Stake Youth Dance. She was so excited when she left but by the time she got back, I think some of that had turned to disappointment. She saw some kids from other wards that she knew but no one asked her to dance. Weirdly, I'm okay with that. I think as time goes by she'll enjoy them more, but if  the boys around never realize what a gem she is until she's out of high school, I'm okay with that too! She performed in her school theater class production and in the school Talent Show! She rocked a hip-hop dance with her friend Shaylee! She's been spending a lot of time in Holden this summer already so far and she has soccer camps and girls camp and tryouts coming up before long.

Shaylie has just finished 4th grade! I can't believe next year will be her last year of Elementary School. She is struggling to find friends to play with this summer. She found out her new teacher will be Mr. Porter. I hope she can find some good friends in his class next year. She is still loving Kung-fu and will compete in the Utah Summer Games on June 26th in Cedar. She's looking forward to this. She performed her Basic Form at her school talent show too. We've decided that this summer I'm going to give Shaylie cooking lessons. She hasn't done much cooking up until now, but I swear Taylor was cooking before age 10..at least a few things, like eggs and ramen. So the lessons have already begun. She's doing great so far! I look forward to the day when I can hand all the cooking duties over to my girls. :)

Scott has been busy with work as usual but he's managed to be at all the girls activities and performances. I'm so glad he's a dad that is involved with his kids. He's been running a lot lately and is doing about 3 miles now on the treadmill. There are always plans with trains...I think he is going to move the layout from his train room to a friends house in Ephraim and he'll begin building his layout in earnest....this plan includes storage shelves for me, so I'm happy! He only has one train show that I know of this summer, in Fillmore over the 4th of July.

I'm also busy as can be...or is it busy as a bee?...anyway...I started my Master's Classes which I am enjoying very much aside from the papers I have to write, but even those might be okay once I get going. I got my first official Student Loan. :(  Classes and my three church callings are keeping me on a strict and stressful schedule. (Yes, that's 3 callings: RS Secretary, Camp Director and Activities Committee.) I was told that if you want something done to ask the busiest person you know! They didn't mention that you better ask quick since it doesn't take too long for the meltdown to begin. :) I love to serve, but we all have our limits. I have a two week institute coming up, and aside from the girls activities mentioned above and camp, I am also in charge of my family's reunion this summer. :[ I would like to enjoy some fun, carefree summer days at some point this year. It's a dream of mine.

I guess I know now why I haven't been posting. I've been afraid that I would come over as complaining which I don't mean to do. I have been dealing okay...I am still waiting for the enjoying to kick in. I'm hoping that we'll get some blog-worthy moments in the next few weeks. I'll be on Facebook in the meantime. Thanks for catching up with us!

A Birthday Celebration

For Taylor's Birthday Dinner, she wanted to go to Olive Garden. We had a good time, but we were bummed to find out from the waiter that they don't do the fun cake dessert anymore. In fact, he told us that they can't even sing now!! I guess people complained, if you can believe that!! Boo to the Bad Apples! Anyway, our server was really nice and spoiled us anyway...he got us a deal on our drinks, and he brought Taylor TWO Andes mints at the end of the meal!

 Looking so GROWN UP!

 Dad & Shaylie bonking heads!

 All Better Now!

 Me and My Girl

 Love this picture. I can't believe how grown up my baby is!!

 Silliness abounds whenever Dad gets his way!

 Yummy!!

 After dinner, we went to Krave. A fun place, but $15 bucks for 3 yogurts was a little steep for me. Birthdays are worth a little splurge though!

 Taylor with her Mini-Cake and present. (I neglected to get her a cake or present since I mistakenly thought she wouldn't care if we waited until her friend party on Friday...my bad! I ran to WalMart and got a little sump'n sump'n!)

 New Jammies! Yay!

Love you Taylor Girl! Hope your day was as awesome as you are!!