Christian and Stephanie Nielson

I have been following this story since August and have grown to love this family even though I do not know them. Their names are Stephanie & Christian Nielson and they need your prayers. They were in a plane crash on August 16th and both have severe burns. You can read about their story here:

http://www.azcentral.com/news/articles/2008/10/26/20081026sisters1026a1.html

Stephanie's blog is http://www.nieniedialogues.blogspot.com/
Her sister Jane updates their progress on her blog at http://blog.cjanerun.com/

She is an amazing woman and example.

A Little Pick Me Up

My sister-in-law posted the funniest song on her blog! It is definately worth your time to check it out.

Just click on the link below:
http://ac-and-kids.blogspot.com/2008/10/my-favorite-things.html

Enjoy!

Taco Pizza

Because of my aversion to tomatoes, I only put them on half of the pizza! :)

I was craving taco pizza today so I went online and found a recipe and made it for dinner tonight. It was a hit...delicious! So, here's the recipe:

I used my own dough recipe:

CRUSTY PIZZA DOUGH

1 package active dry yeast
1 cup warm water
1/2 tsp. salt
2 tsp. olive oil
2 1/2 - 3 cups all-purpose flour (I use 2 cups whole wheat, 1 cup all-purpose flour)
1 Tablespoon cornmeal


Dissolve yeast in very warm water in mixer bowl. Add salt, olive oil, and flour. Mix well. Knead . Place dough in a greased bowl, cover, and let rise for about 1 hour (until double in size). Punch down. Brush 14 inch pizza pan with oil and sprinkle with cornmeal. Roll dough out and press against bottom of pan forming a collar around edge to hold toppings.


TACO PIZZA
Base:
2/3 cup taco sauce
2/3 cup pizza sauce
1/4 cup re-fried beans
1 package taco meat seasoning
1 lb ground beef (I used fat free ground turkey)
1 - 1/2 cups mozzarella cheese (I used more than that!)


Topping (after baking):
shredded cheddar cheese
shredded lettuce
chopped tomato
sliced black olives
sliced green onion
sour cream (I did not use sour cream)


Brown beef in skillet. Drain. Mix in packet of taco seasoning and water as per the instructions on the packet. Mix taco sauce, pizza sauce, and re-fried beans together and spread on pizza dough. Put a layer of mozzarella cheese over sauce. Place taco meat over cheese and then another layer of mozzarella cheese over meat. Bake at 480 degrees for 11-15 minutes.


Once out of the oven, cut pizza and top with shredded lettuce, tomatoes, gr. onion, olives, cheddar cheese, and sour cream.


I served it with all fruit smoothies...

Enjoy!

Piano Recital

Saturday night Taylor and Carter had their piano recital. It was Carter's first one! They played a duet together and Taylor played one with another student.

Taylor & Carter practicing before the recital...

Their Performances...

Mall Mascarade

For the Young Men and Young Women's activity last night, they had what they call a mall mascarade. This is how it works, the kids arrive at the mall, are divided into groups (each group had an adult with them), and given a list of people they are supposed to find (whom are disguised). When they find the person, they have to get their signature. I was one of the lucky ones who got to get all dressed up...

It was so funny...especially when Taylor's group found me! The look on her face was priceless. If only I'd had a picture of that. The mall security guard kept an eye on me most of the night...I think he was suspicious!

Lauren's Pumpkin

A bit under the weather...

I couldn't find Carter today and then realized he was curled up on the couch asleep....turns out he is sick. Hopefully he feels better tomorrow so he can go to school as I have a friend visiting from out of town and we are supposed to go to lunch!

Does it really matter?

Sometimes, I get so busy and wrapped up in the things that I feel I have to get done that I don't enjoy the things that really matter. I have been following a blog of a stranger actually, who lost her little boy, at the age of one, in June. Today, when I went to her blog at http://dbkunz.blogspot.com/ I read this:

"Now that I am 3 months out I can see the changes in my life since Daxton's passing. I yell at my kids less, my house isn't always clean (but I have more time to do it) but it isn't number one, I don't run as many errands, and the day to day things are more precious to me. I have more compassion for those who are suffering from any trial or circumstance in their life. While I didn't consider myself less than compassionate, I now have a new understanding of grief, trials, growing, and increasing faith from life changing events or just the "average" trial in a person's life."

Although I have not met this family, I have learned many things from her. I am grateful for the reminder...as I am witnessing how quickly children grow and I want to look back and feel like I focused and put my energy into the things that are most important to me...

Lake Austin

Last Friday, Dave and I spent the evening on Lake Austin with some friends and then had Mexican at Chuy's (an Austin favorite). I love being out on the lake...it's like a different world. We had a great time! Although at one point, Dean almost flipped the boat but hey, it happens, right? Thanks Aleece & Dean for inviting us!

~The Matheny's, Park's, & Wilcox's~

Dave used to work right down by this bridge. He had a great view.

~Halli & Joy~

Darrell even did a little skiing.

Thank you Grandma Matheny!!!

Dave's mom is very talented and has made us some very beautiful quilts through the years. For our birthdays this year she made us all a T.V. quilt! Dave lucked out since his birthday is in January so he got his first....

Lauren got hers last February...it's a dog quilt.

Taylor and Carter got theirs while we were in Oregon in August...

This is the back of Carter's quilt.

And I got mine on my birthday! Yippee!!!!

Doesn't she do beautiful work? Thank you Grandma! We LOVE them and will treasure and use them for years to come.

Another Year Older and Hopefully Wiser...

Today I am 35 years old! Here are some things you may not know about me...

My mom had placenta previa and spent two months on bedrest while pregnant with me. Since they lived 90 miles from the doctor/hospital, she had to live with her in-laws during that time. I was born one month early in Lander, Wyoming.

~Grandpa & Grandma Cline and Me~

I have the BEST mom EVER!! When I was 5 years old she was diagnosed with Multiple Sclerosis. She continued to take care of her family and taught me to always endure to the end. She is my hero and who I admire most in this world. ~My Mom & Me~

I have two older brothers. Needless to say, I was a bit spoiled!

~John, Halli, & Chad~

When I was four years old, I would only wear one pair of underwear and my mom would wash them out by hand every night! (I told you she is the best mom ever!) Not to mention she made me special meals for years because I was so picky.

The famous nasty panties! (I was playing in the lake...)

When I was little I cheered at the basketball games with the cheerleaders (sometimes football games too).

My Grandma Cline made me a doll cake every year for my birthday.

My oldest friend is Anna Marie Smiley (now Roberts)...our parents still live across the street from eachother. She is one year younger than me and we've known eachother our entire lives...
~Halli, Anna Marie, Tally~

We were headed to swim lessons (no, I didn't forget to wear pants...that's my swim suit! I think it looks great with the socks! LOL)

I was extremely picky about the way things felt. For several years I would only wear dresses or skirts and wanted everything super tight. My mom used to say, "You're going to have stomach problems when you get older" because I wore everything so tight and would cinch my belts so tight they left bruises.

I was the flower girl at a wedding and refused to wear my church shoes...I wore snow boots! :)

I had braces for three years and had headgear and all that stuff (obviously I needed them). Don't you just love the bangs...I had really long hair until 7th grade when I got the worst hair cut ever!

I took piano and dancing lessons (tap, ballet, jazz, & gymnastics) for 10 years...

I was very close to my Grandma Cline. I spent many Friday nights with her and we would always get Kentucky Fried Chicken for dinner! She passed away when I was 17 from Lymphoma. I wear her wedding ring on my right hand and every time I look at it, I smile. I miss her. ~Grandma Cline & Halli~

One of my favorite things to do is water ski although I haven't gotten to do it in years!

In high school I was on the swim team and a diver.

I graduated from high school in 1992.

~Stephanie, Jody, Halli, Robin, Jennifer~

I attended Ricks college in Idaho and then went on to BYU where I graduated with an elementary education degree. Taylor was 7 months old so I decided not to work but to stay home with her.

~My room mates...Cori, Robin, Halli, Jennifer, Teresa~

I got married when I was 20 years old to my best friend.

I've had two hernia surgeries...one when I was 12 years old and one 6 weeks after I delivered Taylor. My parents took us to Las Vegas when I was 6 months pregnant with Taylor and during that trip, my second hernia showed up...

~Halli, Dave, & Halli's Parents~

I had my first baby when I was 23 years old. I've always wanted to be a mom.

I love my family and friends and hope I have another GREAT 35 years!

Another Party....

On Thursday we celebrated Carter's birthday with our family. We went to dinner at Texas Roadhouse and then came home and opened presents and had cake. On Saturday he had a friend party at Austin's Park and Pizza. They played laser tag, arcade games, and rode go-carts.

Taylor did the rock climbing wall and made it all the way to the top!

Can you tell who the sweet tooth in our family is?

Halli & Katrina (Dave's sister)

Dave's sister and her family moved back to Killeen Texas (about an hour from us) in August! We love having them close!