A story of rice krispie treats and a Tres Leches cake

A few Sundays ago, it was my turn to teach the 8-11 CTR class (I take turns with another girl since its a crazy, enormous class). The lesson was on Nephi's vision of the tree of life and the iron rod. I don't know about you, but the most exciting part of church when I was little (and, lets be honest, to this day) is when someone brings treats. So when I'm the teacher, I make it a point to bring treats.

So what kind of treat fits in with the tree of life?

A tree of rice krispie treats, that's what.

This was not mine. Mine was lopsided and dried out. Also it had M&Ms in it (you know, fruit that is desirable above all else).

So I brought all my lesson stuff to church on Sunday, and I put the Rice Krispie Treat Tree in the church kitchen, and I went into Sacrament meeting. I came back out at the end to get my stuff...and the tree was gone. Just snatched off the plate. The entire thing. Gone.

Not gonna lie, I was pretty mad. The funny thing was, once I told my class what had happened, it actually bonded us together against the treat thief, and we had an awesome first lesson.

The rest of church passed, and I kind of got over it (the entire ward's anger on my behalf helped). I didn't think too much about it until a few days later when I heard a knock on my door. I opened it to find four older boys from the ward accompanied by the scout master holding a cake in a box from Eatzi's and a cookie that said "I'm sorry"

It was well received.

The boys looked super nervous, so I hugged them all and told them this cake was way better than dried out rice krispie treats.

Jamie agreed.

A new addiction, albeit a wholesome one

Confession: I always thought people who regularly made their own bread were a little weird. Really? You can't afford an $.88 loaf of bread?

Until one day last week when we ran out of bread in the morning, and (not feeling a trip to the store) I thought to myself, I have lots of assorted flours in the pantry, why not just for fun?

Holy. Freaking. Cow.

I cannot overstate how good this bread is. It is the holy grail of whole wheat bread recipes. McKay loves it for his sandwiches. Tyler and Jamie love it for their toast in the morning. And I love it for its soft, chewy, delicious with honey and butter self.

You guys, I'm not kidding when I say I do not want to buy bread ever again. I have joined with the weirdos and I don't care.

Here's the recipe:

Honey Whole Wheat Bread

Now the only thing left to do is to try it out with my friend Melissa's heavenly looking Vanilla Bean Honey Butter.

It's probably a good thing I've started running again.

As long as we're delving into ancient history

McKay and I took a three day trip into Dallas last August (I know, we live in Dallas. But you can't walk leisurely around the arts district at midnight with a then three year old and one year old.) Our awesome friends took our babies for a few days, and we had an AWESOME time.

All mine

Sushi!

Ohhhh, sore feet after walking miles around downtown after dinner in four inch heels. These shoes were not made for walking.

Recovered. Why is this underlined?

This was so fun to see our city like normal, non-parent people, and also just to get away from responsibility for a few days. Thanks Dallas! Seriously, what's with the underlining?

A rebuttal

So Sebastian DID like one of our dinners last week, as well he should, because it was freaking delicious

Internet, meet Buffalo Club Sandwich:

Yum.

Big Night Out

McKay and I PAID a babysitter for the first time ever (shocking, I know!) McKay sent me on a scavenger hunt all over north Dallas to find out where we were going for our anniversary.

(in rush hour, mind you...I was on the edge of my seat as we crept forward in bumper to bumper traffic) Eventually, we arrived at our destination:

The Melting Pot!

I've been wanting to go for years now. I was so so excited.

So delicious. So full. I didn't feel hungry until two days later.

Assistant Bakers

Leftover fondant from the wedding cakes plus cornstarch, a rolling pin and cookie cutters, and voila! A happy three year old! Tyler happily ignored the rest of the cookie cutters and made haunted houses over and over. He is an October baby, after all...

"Mom, stop taking pictures."

"Mom, put this fondant in your hand

and come play with me!"

Ladies and gentlemen...

I hold in my hand:

A double double...in Texas.

Om nom nom.

Can they live side by side peacefully? I don't know if our freezer can handle this.

Texas State Fair

You can't live in Dallas and not go to the Texas State Fair! McKay and I took the babies a few weeks ago, and we had a fabulous time:

A nice lady by the entrance gave us coupons to get in for $1 each (instead of $15!), so we had lots of extra spending money to try fun fried foods, like Fried Frito Pie, Fried Lemonade, and Fried Smores.

We had a good time, even though a sheep ate Tyler's paper cup at the petting zoo.

Cruise!

Well, we're settled in here in Plano, Christmas is over, we're off from the cruise, and I (McKay) am officially in the job hunt. As most of you know, I just graduated from BYU in Advertising, and am now looking for market research or advertising work in Dallas. I would be remiss if I didn't put in a good plug here: IF YOU KNOW ANYONE IN THESE FIELDS IN THE DALLAS AREA, PLEASE LET ME KNOW :-)

Whew! That has been the story of my week, so I'll write about more fun things. We just got back from our cruise to Mexico. Whoo! Went to Progreso and Cozumel for a 5 day cruise in celebration of my graduating last month. Took a lot of pictures- here are some of the highlights.

Katie was afraid of crossing the gangplank.

Bye Galveston!

We did the elegant night, where we met the captain. He was a very odd man.

Managed not to starve.

Went to some great shows. When Katie managed to stay up late (ya know, past 7 or so), she even came with me! A full day on the boat is tiring when you're trying to grow a little baby in your tummy...

Got attacked by towel animals every day. This one kind of scared Katie.

We stopped first in Progreso, where we decided to go to the Mayan ruins of Uxmal. I could have spent all day here. They were just spectacular. We climbed the ruins till we could climb no more (and because the bus was leaving).

Me playing on the Ballcourt. They had to get a 4-9 pound ball into that hoop using only their heads, hips, and shoulders. Good thing I didn't play for real- the losers (or one of them) would be executed.

These guys were all over the place.

I can't say enough about this place or show enough pictures. How well preserved these ruins are and how detailed they are is just amazing. I was suddenly incredibly jealous of the "Book of Mormon Cruise" my parents are on, exploring some more of these sites.

In Cozumel, we rented a little 3 wheel scooter that gave us access to the whole island. Don't we look hot?

First we found a quiet little beach and did some great snorkeling on the coral there.

Then we hit the road to check out some more beaches. The whole back side of the island is just quiet, white sandy beaches.

We found this great spot of "swiss cheese" volcano rock that formed all sorts of caves and coves. The effect was really cool when the waves crash against the rock.

The water was just gorgeous all the way around the island.

Back on the boat, we unfortunately crossed through a cold front the last day approaching Galveston. I couldn't resist capturing some of the waves as we cut through the choppy water. Than goodness for Dramamine!

It was a fun trip. Nice to get away for a little bit, but it was fun to come home to Tyler, who had probably just written us off altogether. BIG thanks to Marie and David and Mom and Dad for taking care of him while we were gone.