Friday, March 5, 2010

Standing at the entrance of the park.
The landscaping at the park was just gorgeous. I love tulips.
I can't remember what this flower is called but the colors were so beautiful. Taylor now wants to make our landscaping look better.

Disneyland!


My parents, my sister and her family, and her in-laws went to Disneyland on Tuesday and Wednesday. We decided to get season passes since we live here. The kids had a blast. This is our group.

Paige's Blessing Day!





Paige was blessed on Sunday, February 28th. We were able to have a lot of family come out for it which was very special. My parents, Taylor's parents, my sister and her family, my grandma, aunt, uncle and some really close friends of Taylor's family all came out. It was fun to have everyone here. Taylor's blessing was wonderful. My friend offered to right it down for me and I thought it was great to be able to go back someday and read it.

Thursday, February 18, 2010

Grown up Mac and Cheese

I have been meaning to try this recipe for a long time. I watched the episode and thought it looked delicious. I bought all the ingredients last week and tried it last night. It was great. You gotta try this recipe. The bacon and basil adds a lot of flavor to it.

Ingredients

  • 4 ounces thick-sliced bacon
  • Vegetable oil
  • Kosher salt
  • 2 cups elbow macaroni or cavatappi
  • 1 1/2 cups milk
  • 2 tablespoons unsalted butter
  • 2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
  • 4 ounces Gruyere cheese, grated
  • 3 ounces extra-sharp Cheddar, grated
  • 2 ounces blue cheese, such as Roquefort, crumbled
  • 1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
  • Pinch nutmeg
  • 2 slices white sandwich bread, crusts removed
  • 2 tablespoons freshly chopped basil leaves

Directions

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F.

Place a baking rack on a sheet pan and arrange the bacon in 1 layer on the baking rack. Bake for 15 to 20 minutes, until the bacon is crisp. Remove the pan carefully from the oven - there will be hot grease in the pan! Transfer the bacon to a plate lined with paper towels and crumble when it is cool enough to handle.

Drizzle oil into a large pot of boiling salted water. Add the macaroni and cook according to the directions on the package, 6 to 8 minutes. Drain well.

Meanwhile, heat the milk in a small saucepan, but don't boil it. Melt the butter in a medium pot and add the flour. Cook over low heat for 2 minutes, stirring with a whisk. While whisking, add the hot milk and cook for a minute or 2 more, until thickened and smooth. Off the heat, add the Gruyere, Cheddar, blue cheese, 1 teaspoon salt, pepper, and nutmeg. Add the cooked macaroni and crumbled bacon and stir well. Pour into 2 individual size gratin dishes.

Place the bread slices in a food processor fitted with a steel blade and pulse until you have coarse crumbs. Add the basil and pulse to combine. Sprinkle the bread crumb mixture over the top of the pasta. Bake for 35 to 40 minutes, or until the sauce is bubbly and the macaroni is browned on the top.

Thursday, February 11, 2010

Paige's 1st day of church

We only went to sacrament her first day. She was very good. She didn't make a peep. This Sunday we will be attending all of church and hopefully she can survive Junior and Senior Primary. Her dress was a little big. She is still in NB clothes and I don't want to buy a dress that she wears twice. So she will have to make due with what she has.

They love their baby sister


They love their baby sister so much. They ask to hold her all the time and kiss her to death. Preston is very sweet with her. Callie is going to be a good mom.

Sunday, January 31, 2010

Special Delivery!

On Friday night the kids were playing outside and a car pulled up. Callie thought it was the pizza delivery guy. We were pleasantly surprised to see this get out of the car. It was a delivery from BNSF Operations group who Taylor isn't even a part of. We thought it was so nice. It was delicious fruit and some pineapple dipped in chocolate. It was the best. We already ate it all. Callie and Preston love fruit.

Sunday, January 24, 2010

Paige Pictures







California Snow Storm


Any guesses where Taylor's mom is from...(Jeopardy theme sony playing) What is Texas...is correct. His parents came a week ago Saturday and it rained everyday they were here until yesterday. They came last January and it rained most of the time they were here as well. I think they have decided not to come in January again.

Preston is not as daring as Callie. He wouldn't let Taylor put him down in the snow.


Callie loves to play in the snow. She always wants to throw a snowball at Taylor and make a snow angel. I don't know where she gets those ideas but when we asked her she said she saw it on Caliou.



Recent California Weather


Taylor's parents came to visit this week and help while we had the baby. Pictures on the drive up to Lake Arrowhead overlooking San Bernardino. There was several feet of snow. Thank you for your help this week Tommy and Connie we had a great time and hope you can come back for the baby blessing. After a week long of rain and snow finally on Saturday the sun came out. This is a picture from our drive way looking at Big Bear. We tried to drive up to Big Bear and Forest Falls but the highway patrol still had the roads shut down due to downed power lines and trees.
Many of you have probably heard about the wet weather this last week in California. Well- it was really wet. We recieved a years worth of moisture in one week. On Friday we woke up to 3-4 inches of snow. This picture was taken within 10 miles of our house up a canyon where they got several feet of snow. We live at 2400 feet so it is not uncommon for a "skiff" of snow every year but this was unusual. So- to all of our friends in UT, ID, and WY we got to enjoy the snow just not the months long of cold weather. California really does have it all- snow, beaches, deseret, mountains...oh ya and Taylor frequently reminds me high taxes.

Friday, January 22, 2010

Taylor's Birthday






We celebrated Taylor's Birthday on Sunday since I was going to be at the hospital on his birthday. I bought a really yummy lemon cake at this place in Redlands called Martha Greene's. He got some gifts and it was a nice day. Callie and Preston have loved having their grandparents here. They have worn out their Papa. They have been really great.

Her 1st day at home



Callie and Preston meet their new baby sister!






Taylor's mom gave me a beautiful bouquet of flowers at the hospital. Callie and Preston did not get to meet Paige until Wednesday afternoon. The hospital doesn't allow children under 18 to visit. Callie was not happy about that. She kept saying that she wasn't sick and she saw Preston when he was born. Callie is very helpful, too much in fact, and loves her baby sister so much. She is always asking to hold her. Preston so far hasn't shown any jealousy towards her. I hope that he doesn't.

More baby Paige






I forgot to mention in the last post that Paige was born on January 18th, one day before Taylor's birthday. Callie was born the day before my birthday. I thought it was kind of cool. In one of the pictures some good friends stopped by th hospital to see the baby.

Baby Paige is here!






I went in on Monday morning for a c-section. Paige Ashley Harrington was born at 7:45 a.m. and was 6 pounds 12 ounces and 18.5 inches long. She is a small baby. Callie and Preston were 8 pound babies. We went home Wednesday afternoon on a very rainy day in southern California. Taylor's parents came and were expecting warm, sunny weather. Instead we have been drowning here. And then this morning we woke up to a few inches of snow. I think they are ready to go back to Texas.

Friday, January 1, 2010


While we were in Texas, Callie was over at her cousins and she learned how to ride a bike without training wheels. Her cousins who are 5 and 3 just learned and so her Aunt Carrie helped her learn. This is a video of Callie in our neighborhood on New Years Day. When we were driving home from Texas Callie kept asking if Taylor could take her training wheels off. She is doing such a good job. I was very impressed.

Thursday, December 31, 2009

Christmas!



We stayed at Taylor's sister's house and they had a cute plate and cup that said just for Santa. They put cookies and milk out on Christmas Eve and were so excited the next morning to see them eaten.

White Christmas in Texas!





It was so fun to have a white Christmas when we are so used to warm, sunny California. These are pictures Christmas Eve outside Taylor's parents house.