Pizza Picnic at Castle Park

Just looking at these pictures, from a lovely night out with my little family last month, puts the biggest smile on my face. From the tasty pizza picnic, watching Adam love on Ava, goofing around with my sweet boy, and soaking in the last of the setting sun...what happiness is made of I tell ya. 

Tonight

Today we planned on picking a Christmas tree. Our first, real tree. Timing didn't quite work out...so Thursday's the day! I can barely wait. :)

Instead we went out for pizza. Our little family's night out on the town, it was bound to be perfect! Wellll...we were the only ones in the restaurant, which was actually quite awkward, and Brooks was bouncing all over our booth. I could just feel the servers' and cooks' eyes on us. Hopefully they have kids and understand, I thought. Between melt downs, he would try to climb over Adam to get out of the booth and refused to eat his "hoootttt" cheese pizza (which came to us warm, but cooled down rather fast). After taking Brooks outside to calm him down, Adam brought him back in and as soon as he started eating Ava decided to help herself to a leftover piece of crust on my plate, then proceed to take a giant bite with her two tiny teeth and choke. Luckily the piece of crust came right out, along with some throw up, right onto the ground. But she was not happy when Mama took that crust away...cue the water works, oh that girl is a drama queen. ;) My pizza was delicious, but Adam's spicy buffalo and blue cheese pizza was a doozy. We only stayed for about 30 minutes before I took Ava to feed her in the car while Adam paid our bill.  On our drive home, Adam and I just looked at each other and laughed. Our night out didn't turn out how we had hoped...but we were glad to be together and we were ready for a relaxing Family Home Evening before putting the littles to bed.

While Brooks did somersault after somersault and I held Ava, Adam read us two articles, "Christmas within You" and "My Christmas Letter", from this December's Ensign.  Both were so touching...and definitely reminded us that Christmas shouldn't revolve around the gifts or the tree, and that even though some nights are hard and certain things we plan may not turn out the way we had hoped, we are so blessed to have each other. And to have the chance to celebrate our Savior's birth.

After reading the articles, we sang Christmas hymns and let the children play with the Christmas lights that will soon adorn our front door and windows. Both of them were absolutely enchanted! Ava wanted to eat the blue ones, and Brooks liked finding the "ye-woe" ones, tapping them together, and saying "Cheers!". Since driving into Salt Lake City over the weekend, and seeing the twinkling trees up and down the streets, Brooks calls Christmas lights "bee-fulls" because I told him, "Aren't they beautiful!?" Goodness, I love this time of year.

Pat's BBQ

Pat's Barbecue in Salt Lake is, hands down, the best barbecue I've ever eaten. If you live near or ever visit the city, GO. We had an awesome evening there last night.  While listening to talented locals pluck their guitars and sing original songs, we ate creamed-corn, beef brisket, mouth-watering pork ribs, and got our fingers covered in Pat's signature barbecue sauces (that's mild bbq sauce I'm putting on my ribs, not mustard). I left there in a ribs coma.

Cheers to Pat's! We'll be back soon. :)

Johnny Rockets

Last night, with toe-tappin' music playing from the jukebox, we enjoyed our oreo milkshake and sweet potato fries.

We love you Johnny Rockets.

Justin's family & a little Dutch oven cooking

This weekend my brother Justin, his sweet wife Kristen, and their 5 kidlets stayed at our house for a night on their way home from a family get together with Kristen's family. It was a short visit, but we soaked up every bit while they were here! My brother has recently got into Dutch oven cooking so he offered to make dinner and dessert...and oh was it delicious! While the kids played inside and out in the backyard (Brooks was in cousin heaven...especially with Tyler! That boy can get him to laugh so hard:) Justin kept an eye on the chicken & potato main dish and the cherry chocolate cheesecake as they baked in the dutch ovens. When it was ready, we all gathered together to enjoy the fantastic meal. By the end of the night we were full and happy!  It definitely has me thinking of purchasing a couple Dutch ovens...awesome for camping and for emergency/food storage. :) 

They left Sunday morning and stopped by Temple Square in Salt Lake on their way home to St. George...it was an extra special stop because their 14-year wedding anniversary is coming up at the end of this month, and they were married in the Salt Lake Temple. :) Justin and Kristen are such a power couple, we love them and their kids! Can't wait 'til next time...

Roasted Coconut & Almond Hawaiian Pizza

Remember when I shared my recipe of the Chocolate Hazelnut Milkshake from Burgerville that reminded me of home in Washington?? Well, a couple of weeks ago I randomly remembered this pizzeria called Garlic Jim's that made the most incredible, unique Hawaiian pizza and I decided to give it a go in my own kitchen. It turned out pretty fantastic, if I do say so myself. The coconut and almonds add an unexpected sweetness and fantastic texture. :) I've made it for friends and family and each time it gets great reviews! 

In my book it's the perfect summer-time pizza...

ROASTED COCONUT & ALMOND HAWAIIAN PIZZA

Yields: One 12-inch pizza

pizza dough

flour for kneading/rolling dough

1 cup pizza sauce

2/3 lb shredded mozzarella cheese (I like my pizza really cheesy)

4 oz. canadian bacon

1 8-oz can pineapple tidbits, drained (diced fresh pineapple would be incredible too!)

1/2 cup shredded parmesan

1/2 cup raw almonds, coarsely chopped

1/4 cup shredded coconut, sweetened

** All of these measurements are what I used, but can be easily adjusted to personal preference 

Preheat oven to 425 degrees F.  Roll out dough on lightly floured surface and place on a 12-inch pizza stone, or parchment-lined 10x14-inch baking sheet for thinner crust. (In my case, using the Jiffy pizza crust mix that you can find in most grocery stores, I needed to bake the crust for about 2 minutes before adding any of the toppings). Spread the sauce evenly over the dough, and sprinkle half the mozzarella cheese on top. Lay out your canadian bacon, then the pineapple, followed by the parmesan and the rest of the mozzarella. Lastly, sprinkle the almonds and coconut on top. Bake for 10-12 minutes. If your oven runs hot, you may want to bake the pizza without the almonds and coconut for half the required time, take the pizza out of the oven, then add those two toppings and finish baking. Let it set a few minutes, then bon appetit! 

I'm sharing this over at Whipperberry...go see what other recipes, projects, and ideas people are sharing! :)

Bits & pieces of our Saturday night picnic

Eating outside and soaking up gorgeous weather with great friends...

pretty much guarantees a fabulous Saturday night. :)

Friday & Saturday in polaroids

{ polaroids created with this app }

Enjoying great food and beautiful weather with my favorite people...makes for a wonderful weekend indeed!

One of my favorite parts of the weekend was enjoying the cherry-topped VaNIElla cupcake from The Sweet Tooth Fairy. I put the cherry aside and proceeded to act like a teenager, showing off to my hot date by tying the cherry stem in a knot with my mouth...still got it. ;)

What was your favorite part of the weekend??

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Spiritual Health:
Read 2 Peter 1. Verse 2 stuck out to me..."Grace and peace be multiplied unto you through the knowledge of God, and of Jesus our Lord,"
Physical Health:
I'm back in it! :) Went to Boot Camp at the gym, bright and early this morning with Kira :)  I used half the weight she and the rest of the class used, and it still got me feeling the burn!

Little B's 2nd Birthday

Wednesday we had a wonderful day being together, just the 3 of us, for Brooks' birthday :) The day included...

breakfast at Kneaders in our PJs,

paper crowns for the birthday boy,

facetiming Grandma and Grandpa Stum,

birthday-suit action while playing with balloons from his party,

Brooks taking a looooooong 3 hour nap,

toy shopping,

going to McDonald's for dinner (and sneaking in some DQ),

watching The Lorax.

And in between all of that there was lots of dancing and plenty of tickle-fests.

So glad that we had a fun early birthday celebration and then enjoyed a simple, but oh-so sweet day. WE LOVE YOU LITTLE B!

Happy Birthday son :)