Christmas parties and goodies

Here are some pics of our ward Christmas party. Jannika, Kaylee and Ashlyn were angels (they are Kyle's sister Megan's kids). They loved their part. Everything went well with the Nativity, much to the joy of the primary president (me)! Megan is my secretary and she really jumped on the project of making most of the costumes. She is great at it! Thanks, Megan!

Here are some of the goodies we made to take to our friends. The top picture is a chocolate bundt cake that is super easy to make.

1 chocolate cake mix

1 small vanilla instant pudding

1 C water

1/2 C vegetable oil

Mix. Grease bundt pan and coat with sugar. Pour batter in and bake at 350 for 40 minutes.

Poppy Seed Bundt Cake

1 yellow cake mix

1 small vanilla instant pudding

1 C water

1/2 C vegetable oil

2 Tbsp poppy seeds

1 tsp almond extract

Mix. Grease bundt pan and coat with cinnamon/sugar. Pour batter in and bake at 350 for 40 minutes.

(I actually like the poppy seed one better. It is a really quick and yummy dessert so I try to have the ingredients on hand.)

Soft Sugar Cookies

1 C butter or margarine

2 C sugar

2 eggs

1 C sour cream
1 tsp vanilla

1/2 tsp soda

4 tsp baking powder

4 1/2 C flour

1/2 tsp salt

Cream butter and sugar. Add eggs and beat well. Add the rest of the ingredients. (Best if refrigerated for a while). Roll out on well-floured surface and cut into shapes. Bake at 350 for 14 to 17 minutes.

Easy Yummy Frosting

1/2 C shortening

1/2 C butter

1 tsp vanilla

4 C powdered sugar

2 Tbsp milk

Mix shortening and butter. Add remaining ingredients. Can be used to frost cookies and can be used to decorate with a decorating bag and tips.

This is the only frosting recipe I use! It is soooo good.

One more fun thing I make during the holidays is yogurt pretzels. Just take almond bark and melt it in the microwave. Dip pretzels in and put on a tin foil covered cookie sheet. Enjoy!

It's Beginning To Look a Lot Like...

Well, for those of you in Utah (and probably other places too) you know it's beginning to look a little too much like Christmas! The snow is pretty but the temperatures are CRAZY! On the news last night I noticed on their little weather map that it was 28 degrees in Logan and 18 in Price! I thought we moved away from Logan to get out of the freezing weather! I just don't like to be cold. It seems like I am always wearing a sweatshirt even inside my house. I seem to be a few degrees colder than other people too. Maybe I got that trait from my dad who wears at least 2 shirts at all times even in the hottest part of the summer! (I am not quite that extreme!) Oh, well, we did have a lot of fun making a snowman. Kirsten thinks that the word for snow is snowman and she asks if she can walk in the snowman every day! It was also fun to put up our Christmas tree and some other decorations. I love white Christmas lights and snowflakes, they are my favorite! I am also excited to do some holiday baking. Yeah!

And... I also have some news for those of you who don't know that I am even expecting...We are having baby number 3 in April and I had my first ultrasound a few weeks ago. We found out that we are having a GIRL! We are very excited and Jannika has been saying all along that we were going to get another sister before we got a brother. Maybe she is right when she says she knows everything :) I will post a picture of me and my baby bump at a later date.

Hooray!!!

Hooray, I am done doing Jacqueline's wedding cake! I have been stressing about it all month. I tried several different fondant recipes because I really wanted to learn how to do it and I didn't want to spend all the money on the ready made kind. I had several failures for every success but I finally found a good recipe, thanks to my sister, Fawn, and it worked out! I also need to post pictures of Jannika and Kaylee being flower girls (since my batteries ran out on my camera right after I took pics of the cake). They were sooooo cute. Jacqueline is Kyle's step-sister and her wedding was very nice. I loved how she picked red, black and white as her colors. Congrats, Jax!

It was also Kirsten's birthday on the 28th. She is 2 years old! She loved her new outfit from Grandma Gayle and also her Dora doll and princess camera. She is getting so big and definitely shows us that she is 2 some days!