Goodbye Intermountain

Well, I was laid off as an intake nurse for Intermountain Homecare. Yesterday was my last day. I had worked for this company for 11 years (the first 5 1/2 years for newborn ICU, the next 3 as a pediatric case manager for home care, and the last 2 1/2 as an intake nurse.) It feels so weird not to be employed there anymore! But...I am really looking forward to starting my new job. I will be a private duty respite nurse for my little niece Tabitha. She has spinal muscular atrophy(SMA) and will be a year old in a couple of weeks. I will just work 50 hours a month and they live 3 minutes away! :) And as for our diet...I think I would have quit by now if it wasn't for Richard's support. Thanks, Honey!

No meat, no dairy, no sugar, no happiness?

So Richard and I are doing a four-week diet. We started last Wednesday, so only three weeks left to go. Basically we eat nothing but whole grains, nuts, beans, fruits, vegetables, and minimally processed products made from those things, such as tofu, coconut milk, and extra virgin olive oil. The book we're using for the diet has recipes for every day of the four weeks. And the food is delicious! We're eating things we never knew existed like 5 grain tempeh--made out of things like soybeans, millet, brown rice, and oats. Have you ever heard of a grain called quinoa (grows in South America)? We love it! Here is the website for the diet: www.howhealthworks.com . I highly recommend reading the first couple chapters of the book, which is found online, because it is really interesting if for no other reason. Who would have ever thought that I, the must-have-meat-at-every-dinner-could-live-on-dairy-products-alone-and-dessert-is-the-fourth-food-group-queen would be a (temporary) VEGAN?! (Well, technically I'm not truly a vegan right now because I do eat 2 eggs a day. To make sure Bella is getting enough protein in her milk.) And, I am happy about it. I feel good!

Not a good place for a nap!

Bryndi refused to take her nap this afternoon. So I quit fighting it and thought, okay, at least I can put her to bed early tonight. Nope. She was sitting on the island in the kitchen, coloring, while I was making us a snack. Next thing I know I turned around and she was out cold. Sleeping right on the countertop!


Bryndi was sitting on the steps in the garage today when she started singing "I am a child of God". I've been wanting to catch this on video, and I'm so excited that I did!

Bryndi quotes

Playing with Bella today, Bryndi said; " I love you, Bella. You love me?"

Clapping her hands Bryndi said, "You clap hands Bella? Like this." (Shows Bella how.)

Later she said, "You have cute eyes Bella."

Bella's first ponytail!

Bubbles and birthday

Bella likes to suck on as many fingers as she can possibly fit in her mouth at one time. Usually 2 or 3, but she has managed on occasion to fit 4 fingers in there!

I think Bella is ready for a ponytail on the top of her head! What a sweetie :)

Bryndi loves this little playhouse at Grandma and Grandpa Winget's house. She was loving the bubble machine too.

Bryndi celebrated her 2nd birthday last week. She loves Finding Nemo, so I made her this fun cake.

She actually had 2 parties. One for family and one for a few friends. This is a picture of us trying to catch our daughter's hair on fire as she blows the candles out. I think it did get cinged a bit. Yikes!

This headband and shirt were among the presents she got. What a big girl!

Pics of the kitchen remodel

Before: These pics were taken 4 years ago when we remodeled the kitchen. After: Much more space since Richard turned our bar into an island on wheels. Now the dining room is opened up and we can pull out our table and have room for guests coming to dinner! Give us a call to schedule your dinner appointment :)

Sisters

I looked through the girls' pictures to find one with a similiar age and pose. Can you tell the sisters apart?

Yep, Bryndi had more hair as a baby. She was wearing ponytails on top of her head by about 3 months!

Bryndi loves her sister Bella!

Recipe of the day--Brownies!

I love to cook!! I want to share some of my favorite recipes with you. Tonight I made Old-Fashioned Buttermilk Fudge Brownies. You can substitue cocoa and oil for the unsweetened chocolate if you don't have any. You can find the directions on how much to use on the cocoa container. Here is the recipe:

Old-Fashioned Buttermilk Fudge Brownies

3/4 cup butter
4 oz unsweetened chocolate
2 cups sugar
3 eggs
1 Tbsp vanilla
1/2 cup buttermilk
1 1/2 cups flour plus 2 Tbsp flour, divided
1 1/2 cups semisweet chocolate chips

Preheat oven to 350°. In a large bowl, combine butter and chocolate and melt in the microwave on high at 1-minute intervals, stirring in between. Do not let mixture sizzle. When mixture is completely melted and smooth, immediately stir in sugar; continue stirring until smooth. Add eggs, one at a time. Stir in vanilla and buttermilk. Add 1 1/2 cups flour. In a small bowl, toss chocolate chips with remaining 2 Tbsp flour; add to batter. Pour into greased 9 x 13 baking dish and bake for 28 to 33 minutes, or until toothpick inserted into center has just a few fudgy crumbs. Let cool for 30 minutes. Dust with powdered sugar.

From Erin Renouf Mylroie, copied from BYU magazine summer 2007

But another favorite brownie recipe is definitely this one--A great way to sneak extra veggies in your diet. Nobody will know there is zucchini in there!

Zucchini Brownies

1/2 cup vegetable oil
1 1/2 cups white sugar
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
2 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 cup cocoa powder
1 1/2 teaspoons baking soda
1 teaspoon salt
2 cups shredded zucchini
1/2 cup chopped walnuts

Frosting:
6 Tbsp cocoa powder
1/4 cup margarine
2 cups confectioners' sugar
1/4 cup milk
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Grease and flour a 9x13 inch baking pan. In a large bowl, mix together the oil, sugar, zucchini, and 2 teaspoons vanilla until well blended. Combine the flour, 1/2 cup cocoa, baking soda and salt; stir into the sugar mixture. Fold in the walnuts. Spread evenly into the prepared pan. Bake for 25 to 30 minutes in the preheated oven, until brownies spring back when gently touched.

To make the frosting, melt together the 6 tablespoons of cocoa and margarine; blend together the confectioners' sugar, milk and 1/2 teaspoon vanilla. Spread over cooled brownies before cutting into squares.

© Printed from Allrecipes.com 10/25/2007 Submitted by: Marian

No using babies to do WHAT!?

My favorite companion from my mission is living in Nigeria. Her husband works for Exxon Mobil. Check out this sign she took a picture of. Yikes!

Richard is remodeling the kitchen today. I know. We just redid the kitchen four years ago, but the dining room was still too small to accomodate our table. It's been pushed up against the wall of the banister, which is a safety hazard if a little Bryndi decides to climb onto the table and nosedive off the banister down the stairs. So Richard is turning our counter into an island. It will be on wheels so we can scoot it out of the way and have more room for the table. I'm so lucky to have a handyman for a husband!