SOUPS ON!

I really enjoy soup. When the weather is cool I like to have it for lunch or dinner.
Paul, he really isn't a "soup guy". The kids will eat it (they eat pretty much anything!)
So, Paul had a meeting on Wed. and we were having cloudy weather, the temp stayed under 90 that day. I thought oh boy its soup weather!
I put together some stuff in the crock pot and liked what I came up with, so I wanted to share.
By the way, the next day Paul ate for lunch the next day and really liked it :)
Here is what we had:

Place3 boneless skinless chicken breast in crock pot and sprinkle with pepper and garlic powder.
Half bag of large bag of frozen chopped broccoli
1 family size can of cream of chicken soup

I cooked on low for 6 hrs then took out the chicken and shredded it up. Put the chicken and one can of evaporated milk in the crock pot. At this point I put the crock on warm because it was almost dinner time.
Then I went to the stove and made a basic white sauce. equal parts butter and flour cooked together then add as much milk as you need to make the consistence you want. It thickens as it cooks. (this is how gravy is made) Then I added shredded cheddar cheese to the mixture and poured it all in the crock and stirred. At this point, you decide how thick you want it. Add more milk if you like or leave it thick and creamy.
We ate it thick like a chowder.

I made homemade rolls to go with it. I have a wonderfully talented friend, Fawn, who taught me how to make them. My are not as great has hers, but are really good. Paul still thinks Fawns are the best ever! (we even made "butt" rolls in her honor).
We miss Fawn and her family they moved this summer, but we are grateful for the wonderful bread recipe she left behind!
I hope this all made since, it was such a nice dinner, I wanted to share. As you can tell, I am all about semi-homemade, so it was supper easy.
If you try my concoction, I mean recipe, let me know what you think.

Another Birthday Boy

August is a busy month for us.
Today Brayden turns 11! He is growing-up so fast. He also started middle school this year.
Brayden has a really good sense of humor and catches on to jokes really well.
He is very social and has many friends from school and church. We are very blessed to have Brayden in our family. Brayden has a great way of dealing with Lainey and is sometimes the only one that can get her to calm down!
He earned his Arrow of Light in cub scouts this week and we are very proud of him.
He really loves doing scouting I am sure that he will be an Eagle Scout, because he has decided now to be one. We love the way Brayden works hard to accomplish his goals.
Happy Birthday Bray!!! We love you!!!

Am I getting old?

Today I officially become a parent of a Teen Ager!
Camden turns 13 today. Where did all the time go? O.k., if I am honest, sometimes it didn't feel all that fast, but I still remember the day he was born like it happened yesterday.
We have been so blessed to have Cam in our family. He has such a great spirit about him, and is a lot of fun to be around. We are so proud of the things he has accomplished. We love how seriously he takes his responsibilities at church as he helps pass the sacrament each week, and as the Deacon Quorum President. He has been a good example to his brother and sisters. He is gaining a wonderful knowledge of the scriptures always remembering the lessons he is taught from them.
We admire Camden's desire to always choose the right and stand up for his beliefs.
We look forward to continuing to watch him grow!
Happy Birthday Camden, We Love you!!!!!

Lots and Lots and Lots of news to share

So July came and went with out a post, I know!
My stupid (of course I mean wonderful, dont want to jinx myself!) Computer went down, like, 3 times. Then last time I was in the middle of composing an awesome post to share when it DIED.
So now I have it back, and I want to share whats been happening. Hope you are with me for the ride, a lot happens in a month!!!!
The kids went back to school on July 17th. Every one seems to like it. Cam is in 8th grade, Bray is in 6th grade, which means that they attend the same middle school together and even have Theater Art together. Cam is in the Fall play, it is a murder mystery, and all he has shared with me is that he plays some guy in it! (he is a wealth of info). Bray is in a small one act right before the big performance. He says he doesnt like the play much, but is excited to have a part.
Ry is in the 4th grade and loves her teacher. She is still great about coming home and doing her homework, and sharing all the events of her day.
Lainey has started going to preschool twice a week to help with her speech. She loves it! It is a small class of only 5 students. She wishes that she could go every day!
We also stayed busy with scouts, church, and getting ready for school.

Now some really exciting news! In July, we also purchased a home!!!! WooHoo!
We are so excited to be in our own home. We were looking for a while and thought that we would not find one that suited us. My friend Sharon recommended that I give her Realtor a call.
I gave Yvette a call and told her all that we were looking for and even emailed her some homes I found on line. She did some looking and then found some other homes. We met one afternoon and went looking she took us to a home that she had not seen before and had been available since Jan. We found out that they needed to sale to beat foreclosing. I expected to see a really beat-up home in a mess. We walked in and were very surprised! It was beautiful home with the 4 bedrooms we were looking for, a laundry room and a very nice kitchen. It was built in 2006. It also has a bonus room upstairs and the master is down stairs. There is also a nice patio out back with a balcony upstairs off the the bonus room. I kept waiting for the catch. There wasnt one! We prayed about it and decided it was the home for us. The inspection went well and we were on our way, the other realtor wasnt as easy to work with, so we closed a little later than expected, but on July 9th we signed all the papers, and the home is ours!!!!
We are still in the same ward, and have several other members who live closer to us now.
The kids are not in the same school boundaries, but I am keeping them in their same schools at least this year, so Cam can finish middle school in the same school, then we'll decide later what to do next year.
I told you this would be long! Here are some before pictures of our home, and I'll post some "after" a little later.


This is the kitchen. We had to buy a fridge,
but the other appliances were in great shape.
This is the Laundry room








This is the Family Room built-ins
and fire place. this is the jetted tub in the master bathroom