Sunday, March 30, 2014

Little Golfer - Baby Shower for Liz!

This weekend we showered Liz and her little baby boy with love! Jani hosted the shower, and oh my goodness her apartment was adorable! She set up the cutest decorations and party games. As per usual, I'll let the pictures speak for themselves :)

^SO CUTE^

^Mustaches are much cuter on paper, don't you agree?^




^The gifts & dessert - everyone's favorite part of a baby shower^




^Guessing how big Liz's bump is!^ 




^The winner was Mary Anne (Liz's sister)^ 


GIFTS! 

^Liz's old mission companion, made the cutest diaper cake!^ 

^With the most adorable onsie!^


^Mary Anne's gift!^


^Lane knew exactly what to get cause she's a new momma!^


^Nannette is another of Liz's old mission companions!^


^Lauren!^

^A cookie to match the onsie!^

^Lane's little girl, Avonlea was our favorite shower guest^ 

^SUCH a doll!^ 

^Morgan and her cute gifts!^

^Another mission companion, Carrie (I think!)!^

^Nursery Art I painted for Liz!^ 




^cute little Avonlea^

^The mission companions (minus Emily)^




^These two are going to be such cute parents! Nate is already proud of his little golfer!^



^Another shower game- pregnant golf!^ 





^Morgan won - cutest pregnant golfer and the best shot!^

^The Banking Crew (missing Emily, Whitney, Mani, Bree). I sure love these girls!^


^We love you Liz!!!^ 

Monday, March 24, 2014

Wrap-up of our Week




First another fun recipe for you all! I made this for dinner on Sunday, and it was a HIT! Super easy + delicious + used a lot of ingredients that were about to go bad = perfect. Plus Emy came over for dinner. Win! 


Ingredients:
10 ounces dry pasta (I used farfalle)
2 tablespoons butter
1/2 onion, chopped (I used green onions instead)
2 cloves garlic, minced
4 ounces chive and onion cream cheese (I used regular cream cheese)
1 cup sour cream 
1 cup whole milk, heavy cream or half-and-half (I used heavy cream)
1/2 cup shredded or grated Parmesan cheese
2 cups shredded mozzarella cheese (I used 1 cup of mozzarella, and 1 cup Parmesan)
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon black pepper
Pinch crushed red pepper flakes (optional)
1 - 1 1/2 cups chopped fresh spinach (I used kale)
2 cups cooked chicken (cubed or shredded)
1/2 cup fresh tomatoes, cut into large chunks (I used Roma tomatoes)
Fresh basil or parsley, for garnish (nope!)

Directions:
Preheat oven to 400 degrees.
Coat a medium casserole dish with non-stick spray. Cook pasta in salted, boiling water to al dente.  Drain and set aside. While pasta is cooking, heat butter in a medium saute pan set to medium heat.  Add in the onion and garlic.  Cook for 3 - 4 minutes to slightly soften veggies.  Do not brown.
Add in cream cheese and stir to melt.  Reduce heat to low.  Stir in sour cream, milk, Parmesan cheese, 1 cup of the mozzarella cheese, salt, black pepper and red pepper flakes (if using).  Stir until everything is well-combined and melted.  Turn off heat. Combine the pasta, chicken, spinach and tomatoes in a large bowl.Add in the sauce and gently stir to coat. Pour into the prepared baking dish.  Top with the remaining mozzarella/Parmesan.Bake uncovered for about 20 -25 minutes ... or until casserole is bubbly and beginning to brown. Top with basil or parsley for garnish. Enjoy!! 

Then on Monday we had another scrumptious dinner with our friends in honor of St. Patrick's! I didn't get too many pictures, and they don't begin to do justice to how cute it was, but it was such a fun evening. Thank you Morgan and Adam for having us over!!



^Lauren is the Queen of Sugar Cookies. I can't believe how adorable they are!^

^Jani & Lauren^ 

^Yummy dessert table!^

^Camille and Liz!^

^Sam & Cat!^

^Bree and Taylor^

^The O'Brien's hosting!^ 

Our week was pretty busy after that. So we were definitely looking forward to the weekend! We escaped to the Peterson's cabin in Midway with Mani & Richard and Mckenna & Spencer. It was seriously just what the doctor ordered - lots of joking, around the world pool, foozball tournaments (Spen & Ken were the champs), Mario Kart, lots of yummy food (oreos obviously), and just relaxing! It was so fun, and again I was overwhelmed by how great the family I joined is! After our stay in Midway, we returned to Provo Saturday night to eat at Black Sheep Cafe and to see the We Are the Strike concert at The Velour! Both were so incredible - check it! 

^ Our view when we woke up in Midway - it was barely snowing, but luckily it melted off quickly ^

^There was a big field (I think it used to be part of a golf course) but it was filled with thistles... I thought it was pretty :) 

^ I just might miss these majestic mountains. (Now how's that for an alliteration!)^ 

^The Peterson sibs/cousins. Without the mustaches we make a pretty attractive group ;) ^ 

^Our delicious and beautiful bison burger & rosemary fries!^ 

^Blurry concert selfie!^ 


^Reminder for next time - turn on the flash! :) ^ 

^ They are seriously insanely talented. If you're looking for a funky/big band/pop/ Michael Buble meets Maroon 5 sound check out "We are The Strike" on facebook and their website here. If you click the music link you can listen to their whole EP!  My favorite is track 3... or track 2. I promise you won't be disappointed. These boys have mad skills! ^ 

Not pictured - Sunday night we went over to Bryce & Ariel's house to watch FROZEN! Oh man. Such a great movie & totally worth the hype. 

And that concludes our adventures this week! :)