Pictures from the week.

We see rainbows here all the time. We haven't had a "real" rain like the deluge we would get in Jaco. I'm sure our San Jose skies do know how produce those and we will

Our little one loudly protesting time out.
This is what I got as soon as he realized he was being photographed.

Aiden, another budding photographer of ours, took this shot of Landon and I. Not too shabby. One of my FAVORITE things about our new home is this. Around the corner we have a yummy bread store. I get to practice my Spanish all the time. Today Dallin and I headed there all by ourselves. Quite nice, huh Dallin?
Their hot chocolate and "croissant with ham and cheese" inside are our favorites. I have to stay away from the croissant "figure" itivly speaking. (Anyone get that? Stay away- to keep my figure, hee, hee...he. Ahem.)

When you walk in you grab a tray and tongs then pick your selections. On the whole the bread {pan in Spanish} is pretty good. It tends to be a bit more dry than we are used to. We don't buy cookies in Costa Rica anymore because they are always "crispy" and we like chewy. The one and only cookie we bought here we thought they burnt it, but no, that is how they all are. :)These are filled with cream cheese and jam. We have yet to try these but they posed for me so well I had to take a picture. {the price is about 80 cents)
This is our favorite selection case. Soft, squishy bread found here.


I had to throw this one in. Paige made a paper version of the Mayflower for school and decided it made a great hat. Love that stance.
We don't have any decorations in this home of ours. Last week I decided it was about time we got some. I bought 11x14 sized poster board and we went at it on Family Night, creating our own art. I really liked what Dallin did here, I wish I would have stopped him. He ended up painting the entire board black. He saved it by making it his version of Starry Night.
Troy designed some sort of eyeball. I'm sure a psychologist would have a field day with him.

We attached tape to the back and hung our precious artwork. I'm hoping that in a few weeks they won't care if I start over on the other side. What do you think?
Our youngest two did their own works of art and of course I had to hang them. {watercolors of course}

CREATE...

This is just beautiful.

For the friends of mine who don't belong to the same church as I do, this is a talk by one of our apostles. It was directed specifically to women and our desire to "create".

I have many creative friends. This is for you! And to the friends that don't think they are "creative". This is especially for you.

Enjoy.




I told you it was a gorgeous piece. I can’t leave without talking about what that talk inspires in me.

I remember a time in my life, B.K. {before kids} when a photographer buddy of mine (Tamera Graybill) and I used to take off every Sunday late afternoon, cameras in hand, and drive. We would find the most gorgeous scenery to capture on “film”. I wasn’t the scenery type back then, I enjoyed photographing little rug rats more. I didn’t see the “challenge” in a subject that did exactly what you wanted it to.
However, it was majestic.

In the calmness of the moments before we pushed our shutter buttons a testimony of gratitude for God’s creations were born and reborn every time.

I do believe we are all born like Him, in the sense we feel joy when we create. We desire to “create” things that didn’t exist before. That can be a smile we’ve created on someone else’s face, a photograph of one of the most beautiful sunrises (like my friend Teri just captured) or a child that just arrived into a waiting family.

There is fulfillment in creating.

Tamera, I wish you were here to head out with me. I’ve decided to start our tradition again.

Bourbon Chicken...without the Bourbon!

Bourbon Chicken
adapted from Blog Chef

Ingredients:
2lb boneless skinless chicken breasts
4 tablespoons oil (for pan-frying)
cornstarch (for dusting)

Sauce:
1 garlic clove (minced)
¼ teaspoon ginger (I used ground ginger)
1/2 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes ( I use Cheyenne pepper and 1/2 what it calls for )
¼ cup apple juice
1/3 cup light brown sugar
2 tablespoon of your favorite jam ( I use raspberry)
1 tablespoon cider vinegar
½ cup water
1/3 cup soy sauce

Cut chicken breasts into bite-sized pieces, and if you choose lightly dust with cornstarch. Heat oil in your wok (or saucepan) and fry chicken bits in batches until lightly browned. Drain on paper towels and set aside.

In a bowl combine all sauce ingredients. Pour into wok and bring to a boil. Add chicken bits back to the pan, reduce the heat and simmer for 10 minutes. Serve with rice.

That's it!! So yummy and very, very easy! This is one of my top 10, delish. Always turns out.

Enjoy!

Would You Like Syrup with That?

Thanks Shelly! I guess I should have posted our favorite syrup recipe with the pancakes.

That is, if I didn't have 2 little guys pulling on my arms to pry me away from my computer while trying to write my last post, I might have thought of that. :)

Here is our Syrup Recipe:

Simple Maple Syrup

1 cup of boiling water
1 cup of white sugar
1 cup of brown sugar
½ teaspoon of maple flavored extract
½ teaspoon of butter flavoring

Boil water in a saucepan, add sugars and stir until dissolved. Remove from heat and stir in maple flavoring and butter. Serve warm.