cookies

Last week I made sugar cookies for ivy and my little cousin's to decorate. Seeing Ivy sit there and frost and decorate her cookie, made me realize just how old she is getting. I still cannot believe that she is old enough for these kinds of activities! Kip and I use to make sugar cookies for almost every holiday, but have struggled to find the "perfect" recipe. Well kip.... I think that I have found it! It comes from Martha of course. Here it is.

Makes 2 dozen

* 2 cups all-purpose flour
* 1/4 teaspoon salt
* 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
* 1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter
* 1 cup sugar
* 1 large egg, lightly beaten
* 2 tablespoons brandy, or milk
* 1/2 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
* Royal Icing for Sugar Cookies, optional

Directions

1. Whisk together flour, salt, and baking powder in a medium bowl. In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, cream butter and sugar; add dry ingredients, and mix until incorporated. With mixer running, add egg, brandy (or milk), and vanilla; mix until incorporated.
2. Transfer dough to a work surface. Shape into 2 discs, cover with plastic wrap, and refrigerate for at least 1 hour.
3. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line baking sheets with nonstick baking mats or parchment paper; set aside.
4. On a lightly floured work surface, roll out dough to 1/8-inch thickness. Cut into desired shapes, and transfer to prepared baking sheets, leaving an inch in between. Leftover dough can be rolled and cut once more. Bake until lightly golden, about 10 minutes; do not allow to brown. Transfer to wire racks to cool.

making me laugh!

Got this off of my cuzin's blog! Thanks Christen for giving us all a good laugh!

help!

OK! Calling all mommies with a toddler! I need some serious advice. My sweet little Ivy is causing some major baggage around my eyes. Why you ask?? Well.... I cannot get missy to sleep in her own room at night. Letting her cry it out for a couple days is not the issue. I just cannot find anything to put on her door, that she cannot figure out. I have tried two different kinds of those white round things that go over the door handle, but she can still open it! She is too smart. The only other thing that I can think of is turning around the lock, however...her door doesn't even have a lock, so we would need to get a new handle. Anyway, johnny and I have about had it with the sleepless nights. and to make matters worse, we only have a queen bed! So we would appreciate any suggestions:)

Thanks!

meet my new niece!

Now I can finally say that I have a little niece! Ellie Lynn was born this past Friday. Isn't she a doll!? She looks exactly like her older brother Parker. I am so jealous that I wasn't there when she was born:( Kevin and Tara, you BETTER come to Cali for thanksgiving so I can pinch her cutest little cheeks!

happiest place on earth!

Jamie, wiping her tears on her mom's skirt as we were leaving:( love that little girl!

she did great in the car!

Last week we took Ivy to Disneyland. We met up with my family as well as johnny's. It was a dream come true for missy! She was in heaven the whole time. I hardly took any pics at all, I know... suprise suprise! Sometimes I get too caught up in trying to capture amazing pics of Ivy to where I cannot actually enjoy myself. So, I just told myself that we would be coming back soon, and I could take more pics then:) Ivy got to see all of her fav princesses in a show, but couldn't get her picture with them because the wait was 1.5 hours....ridiculous! It was a little too crowded for comfort. We had so much fun, but I dont think we will ever go back on a friday. Sheesh! On saturday, we hung out with the Clark gang, and had a much needed relaxing day. Ivy had so much fun hanging around Jamie. These two are inseprable! We also went house hunting! No, we are not moving there yet... but maybe sometime in the near future, we just love love love looking at houses! Overall we had an awesome vacaton!

trees please!

Everyday, Ivy rolls out of bed and the first thing she wants is her sippy and yogart. Well today was an exception. She wanted tree's! What the!! Tree's I asked??? Yes Aim! I want tree's! I told her that we don't eat tree's for breakfest, but Johnny insisted that I give her what she wanted. So there I am at 8 a.m. steaming broccoli! I was about to throw up! Anything that is not breakfest food in the morning makes me sick! She totally ate it, and wanted MORE! I ended up steaming a million tree's for her. We sat there dying as she downed her tree's. Aleast she is getting her green's huh?

she loves to see the temple!

bobble head??
On Sunday we went down to Salt Lake for a filipino fireside that Johnny loves to attend after every confrence. In the middle of the fireside Ivy was being horrible, so I decided to take her outside to see the temple. Let me explain her obsession with temples. First of all, neither Johnny or I ever remember telling Ivy about the "temples." So about a month ago we were standing outside of the temple after at my cousins wedding, and she just starts saying " Aim! the temple, the temple, its beautiful! It was so sweet, even though we have no idea where she learned this. Ever since that day, she talks about the temple non-stop. Everyday when we pull out of our complex, she yells "the temple'!!! we are still trying to figure out what she see's that might look like a temple. She has done a good job of keeping the temple on our minds:) Anyway, I took her to the temple, but she was still in a horrible mood, so we walked on the ledges, pretending it was a balance beam...that's my girl:) But seriously look at her perfect little arms, I cannot wait to get her cute little buns in a leotard!

she looks at me!

So I figured out how to get some pictures of Ivy looking at ME! Putting her in something stationary where she cannot move! So a couple days ago she was being so funny as she was eating her breakfast, so I decided to get my camera out. I would tell her to do certain poses, and she totally listened to me! It was amazing! And... her reward for posing for me... a big ball of frozen cookie dough... like mother, like daugher. See Ivy it is worth it to look at me!