For example: "What made your child laugh today?" ,"What is your current goodnight ritual with your child?" "What do you love most about your child right now?" and, "When your child is being quiet, ask what she/he is thinking about. Write it down verbatim." This magazine is really cute, check it out online, or check your local library for it before subscribing, I found that my library checks out magazines for up to three weeks-which means fewer piles of periodicals to throw away, and, it's free!
I feel like inviting people over for dinner, JUST so I have an excuse to make this cake! I call it my Secret Lover because I sneak back to get some throughout the day until it's gone-and I may or may not dream of it too!
Here's the recipe:
1 pkg. chocolate fudge cake mix
1 pkg. (3.9) instant chocolate pudding mix
4 large eggs
1 cup sour cream
1/2 cup water
1/2 cup vegetable oil
1 1/2 cups semisweet chocolate chips
Grease a bundt pan and dust with flour. Mix all ingredients-chocolate chips last-it'll be quite thick. Bake at 350 for 45-50 minutes. Cool for about 20 minutes and invert onto a plate. Add frosting after it cools:
Frosting: microwave 3 cups Cool Whip and 1 pkg (8 squares) Baker's semi-sweet Baking chocolate(or the equivalent amount of chocolate chips). Stir frequently until chocolate is melted and let it set slightly. Spoon onto cake and it's ready!
Upon serving, microwave each piece of cake for about 15 seconds and the chocolate will get all gooey. Add raspberries if desired. Share if necessary.
As this is my first attempt at a blog and the only news many of you have had since, well, my last Christmas letter, I'll summarize the last little bit of our lives. . .
For the last two years we've been living in Redondo Beach, California where we enjoyed the weather, our ward, the beach-pretty much everything but the traffic and the cost of living. We were really getting anxious for a move as we were living in an 800 square foot house and we knew that unless we started dealing crack we wouldn't be able to afford to buy a home in the area. (we had to opt out of dealing because the local "ice cream man" ran the area where we lived and our Bishop was a police officer-it wouldn't have looked good!) Brett started job hunting and started work at ATK Thiokol in September of 2006.
ATK is out at Promontory Point in Utah, if you know your history you'll know it was there that the two railroads met; nothing has happened there since, believe me! We chose to move to Brigham City which was the fastest commute for Brett and a charming little city which we will admit, we'd only stopped to buy Big Gulps and gas in on our way down from Logan when we lived there before. We found a perfect home which was to be finished just when we needed to be in and now we're getting settled and making it our own. We love the rural area-the sound of the passing trains is a welcome change from the infernal sirens. The open fields and towering mountains are a much prettier sight than the parking garage of the mall, and we have horses, ponies, and chickens just down the road-you really can't beat that!
Our kids are growing up fast and we are so in love with their funny little personalities. Anna is a 3 1/2 year old little devil, but I realize that my frustration with her is because she is as stubborn and strong-willed as I am (Mom, I think we got this from you). Anna started preschool this year and loves coming home and showing me up by singing songs I don't know yet and showing me projects that she made with her buddies. Quinn is almost 16 months old now and he's a great big teddy bear who hugs and snuggles and then gets down and dumps all of the food out of the pantry. He is getting good at making messes but I can't get mad at him because he just smiles his magic smile and poof-my frustration dissolves (Quinn inherited his smile from Brett and yep, it works for him too!)
Anyway, that's my fam. More later. . .
