Apple Spice Muffins

We love our new juicer!  We have spent the last week making all sorts of combination juices, fresh fruits and vegetables, mmmm!  But I was feeling a little bad about the amount of pulp in the catcher that wasn't getting used.  So I found some recipes.  Here is one I made today. 

Started by juicing about 6 apples.  Nothing beats fresh apple juice!

Collect the pulp.  You need 1 1/2 c. for the recipe I used.

In our house, it helps if you have some really cute helpers.

1 1/2 c. unbleached flour

1 1/2 c. apple pulp

1/4 c. apple juice

1/2 c. whole-wheat flour

2/3 c. honey

2 tsp. baking powder

1/4 tsp salt

1/4 tsp cinnamon

1/2 c. skim milk

2 egg whites.

Mix until moist.  Bake at 400 degrees for 20-25 min.

And here they are!  So yummy!

They were a big hit with the kiddos, they gobbled them up!  

I'm excited to try more recipes, both for juice and for using the pulp.  

White Sands National Monument

Last weekend we took a trip up to White Sands.  It was a perfect day with the clouds.  It had rained off and on down our was for over a week, so the temperatures weren't as hot, and the sand a few inches down was damp and cool.  

It was very easy to find Toothless.

The sand is nice and soft, you can walk barefoot in it all day.

 

Lyla's Sand Angel.

The clouds and sun made such a beautiful across the dunes!

Who needs snow?  Grab a sled and come on down!

Doggie got a little hot, so after a big drink of water...

we buried him in the sand!  Ha ha!  He didn't stay there though, even though it's cooler under there.  We had to go home and all take a shower to get all the sand off.  Toothless stood up out of the sand pile and shook it all off in less than 3 seconds!  Good doggie.  

After a fun afternoon, it was time for a nap!  

Our Puppy

Our own little "Deadly Night Fury", we named him Toothless.  This little guy was born on Christmas Eve, and came to live with us at 8 weeks old.  We quickly fell in love!

He loves to try and sleep in/on/under the kids blankets and toys.

Toothless loves to sleep on his back.

His ears not quite standing all the way up.

Toothless' first camping trip.  He's going to be a good camping buddy!

Chillin' (or chewin') with his cousin Sasha.

He did very well on our long car ride, but he didn't like the rumble strips on the road!

Beautiful Doggie!  6 months old now, and just keeps growing!

Graduation

Logan graduated Preschool this week!

They had a little ceremony where the kids were able to do a procession and collect their certificate for completing the year.  During the year, the kids learned a nursery rhyme each month.  They recited all of these at the ceremony.  Logan did a pretty good job.  He would recite these nursery rhymes to me each month as they were learning them in class.  The class also sang a couple songs, if you could call it that.  People here don't seem to be very musically inclined and when your teacher can hardly carry a tune, you can't expect the class to learn to sing.  I heard them sing a handful of songs throughout the months and almost all of them, with the exception of "It's a small world" and maybe one other, were sung to the same tune, "Farajaka."

Logan is very excited to be done with preschool and moving on to Kindergarten.

Happy Birthday Baby Girl!

I can't believe my little girl is growing up so fast! We celebrated Lyla's birthday last week. Here she is opening up the package from Grandma and Grandpa. The first thing Lyla saw was the "poppies!" and she was sooo excited about them! She loves Strawberry Shortcake lately, and was very excited to see the really big Strawberry Shortcake doll. She didn't put it down all evening, and slept with it that night. It was the first thing she picked up the next morning and even wanted to take her with to take her brother to school.
A book and movie to go along with the dolly. We have read the story at least once a day since she got it, and watched the movie at least 3 times. I love when my kids really get excited about their presents.
Opening presents.
Lyla's friend came over to help celebrate, and the kids had a lot of fun together.
Time for cake!

"Happy Birthday to you, Happy Birthday to you..."

Happy Birthday Baby Girl! We love you!!!

Our Big Move

The past two months have been a whirlwind adventure, but I think I am finally ready to sit down and update the blog!

On October 12, 2011 Sean graduated AIT. A few hours later he was on an airplane headed for home! A big Thank You to American Airlines, too. Not only were they the ONLY airline that could get him home that night, but they bumped him up to first class for serving in the military. The kids were very excited to see their daddy when they woke up in the morning.
No rest for Sean though. The following week was packed full of things to do. Packers came on Friday and packed everything in one day. We learned we were going to be way over our weight limit and had to make some quick decisions on what to leave behind and give away. We have seen the benefits of doing so. The prophets teach us to live simply, and we have really grown to appreciate and understand that teaching.

Sean spent time fixing a couple cars (he just had to fix SOMETHING, he'd been away from it for 4 months!), we were able to get together with our friends, and finish up last minute things before we left Utah.

Every time I packed a box/bin, Lewis would climb up and sit on it.

It was very hard to say goodbye to family and friends. We miss each of you and can't wait to come back and see you all!
The following Tuesday, the movers came to pick up all of our stuff. Sean's mom was able to fly in from France that afternoon and we were able to spend a fun evening with family. The following morning we loaded our van and trailer and were off.

Logan and Lyla's friends from next door were very sweet and gave the kids some gifts to open and play with during the long car ride. They had a lot of fun with the toys.
On our way down, we took a small detour to Four Corner National Monument.

The drive was long, with many stops for the kiddos (not easy when you are driving through New Mexico, there just aren't that many places to stop!), but we made it! Upon arriving at Fort Bliss, we knew our house would not be ready for a little while, so we checked into the hotel on post. This is where we lived for 3 weeks until our house was ready.