Weekly Family Photo #8

Good News Tuesday

Last night we returned from a week in Lake Powell.  Glorious, stunning Lake Powell.  That place makes for lots of good news!

1. We got lots of family time.  All of TJ's family was there, which doesn't often happen, so it was fun to have time that we could play games and boat and dote on all the grandbabies.

2. We got in the double surf run.  This was a first-time deal and it was pretty exciting.  :)  Thankfully Kipp is a wicked good surfer.

3. Reed has stunningly beautiful eyes.  They are so, so blue.  I am always trying to capture their hue in a picture and it just seems so impossible.   BUT last week I think we finally got them.   Don't these just blow your mind?  

4. We were able to go in to church in Page while we were at the lake.  In all my frenzy for packing for family pictures (more about those later), I entirely spaced packing church clothes.  So, Sunday morning we put on our nice jeans and headed to church, where not a single person commented or even looked at us for not being in "Sunday best."  TJ and I both had a fantastic experience at church and left feeling so uplifted.  That ward was just oozing love and understanding and kindness and friendship.  It was so enlightening to be there.  We were so grateful we could go and meet, albeit briefly, those amazing people that taught us great messages in three short hours (far more by their actions than by their formal lessons).

5. Family pictures!  We got new Morris family pictures (it had been two years) and boy was it a hassle!  But we got them.  And they're going to be so beautiful I can hardly wait to see them.

6. On our drives TJ and I made a conscientious decision that we'd discuss our goals and how we're doing to plan.  It was a great conversation.  We were able to cover a lot of ground, discussing where we want to be, wins we've had, and also areas we're struggling.  It was great to meet as a couple and talk about improvement and dreams and what we want to work on together.

Weekly Family Photo #7

Monster Cookie Bars

There are probably no less than a gajillion recipes for monster cookie bars online, but over the past couple months I've been playing around with one my sister gave me and we think it's practically perfect.  For us.  Hopefully it will be for you too.


One time I cooked these too long and it was terribly disappointing.  In an attempt to try to help you avoid the same, I took the batch I made last week out of the oven and straight to the table for pictures.

See how the edges are just barely starting to brown?  And do you see my shoelace in the bottom left hand corner?  This is almost as good as an I Spy book.

Here they are raw, spread out in the pan.  I just use my hands to mash them down and fill the pan.  It doesn't have to be perfect.

Monster Cookie Bars

Yield: one cookie sheet 

Adapted from my sister, Holly

INGREDIENTS

• 1 cup packed brown sugar 
• 1 cup granulated sugar
• 1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, softened
• 1 1/2 cups creamy peanut butter*
• 3 large eggs
• 1 tablespoon vanilla extract
• 1 1/2 cups quick oats**
• 3 cups old fashioned rolled oats**
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1 cup mini M&Ms
• 2 cups mini chocolate chips (we use semi-sweet)

DIRECTIONS

1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees and line a cookie sheet with parchment paper.
2. Grind your oats to flour (I just put them in our all-powerful blender and let it run until it's all ground).
3. In a large bowl, combine the brown sugar, granulated sugar, peanut butter, and butter.  Beat with a hand mixer on medium for two minutes, until it's fluffy.
4. Add the eggs and vanilla extract.  Blend together.
5. Add in the salt, baking soda, oats, chocolate chips, and M&Ms.  If your beaters are strong enough, mix this whole batch with that, otherwise grab your rubber spatula and start stirring.  Stir until well combined.
6. Spread the mixture on your lined/greased cookie sheet.
7. Bake 16-18 minutes.  The edges will be very lightly browned and the middle will still look a bit underdone, but it will finish baking as it cools.

The recipe I was given says to let them cool for at least an hour so they can firm up, but...I usually last about 15 minutes and then we cut into them and get chocolate all over our faces while we eat a quarter of the pan warm.  I recommend that route.

NOTE: as usual, we freeze these.  They're great.  TJ likes them straight from the freezer to his mouth but I usually set mine out for 20 minutes or throw it in the microwave.  

*Recently I've found Earth Balance Coconut Peanut Butter and we're pretty in love with it.  (It's cheaper in our grocery store than on Amazon, but now you know what it looks like).  It's extra great in this recipe because their 16 ounce jar is the exact amount you need, so you can just empty it out without fiddling with a measuring cup covered in peanut butter.  And...now that I typed that I realize you could just use any peanut butter jar that comes in 16 ounces.  :) I've used other kinds and they're good, but this coconut one is our favorite. 

**If you want this to be gluten free be sure you're using gluten free oats.


Recipe adapted from my sister: I blended the oats, changed the butter to be unsalted and added salt,, and changed the amounts of M&Ms and chocolate chips.  

Good News Tuesday

I felt so heavy and dark yesterday thinking about the tragedy in Las Vegas Sunday.  It was a welcome relief when I woke up I read Janssen's post and felt a bit of light come in.  And just a few minutes ago I read Shawni's post and felt that light grow a little bit more.

It seems the world gets darker and darker.  But there is so much good in the world.  Sometimes it seems we get so bogged down by the news and the negative and the sadness and the weight it all brings: I want to be better about turning to the light and seeking out the good.  

For many years I've thought it would be so refreshing if, in contrast to the news channels (Darren Hardy refers to CNN as "Constantly Negative News") there was a good news channel.  Or a good news-paper.  In some small way I think I can do that here: Good News Tuesday.  I'm going to give it a whirl.  As I've been thinking this morning I've come up with a handful of good things that are happening in my world.  They probably haven't even reached your world, as they're super small things, but hopefully you've got a few things you can think of too.

1. Barbecued banana peppers stuffed with string cheese.  TJ's fabulous cousin, Julianne, brought cheese stuffed banana peppers to a family reunion a few years ago.  I fell in love and likely ate half the plate.  Sadly, they don't carry banana peppers at Harmon's (my favorite store in all the land), so Julianne gave us four banana pepper plants this spring so we could grow our own.  

This is Julianne (meeting Reed).  There should be a halo over her head: she's an angel.

And then this happened:

This pregnant deer moved in to our yard and ate every one of those plants to the ground.  SO, I had to source some new banana peppers and I found them!  The farm just a mile down the road has them and, after trial and error, I can now pretty accurately choose the ones that are actually banana peppers.  So, we've been eating banana peppers stuffed with string cheese and they're always amazing.

2. Last weekend was General Conference, one of our favorite weekends all year.  Our church leaders had so many words of counsel and encouragement and wisdom; TJ and I both came away with several things to think about and work on.  Sometimes it's so helpful to pause and look at the bigger picture and reevaluate where you're at in life, and General Conference helps us do that.  As a bonus, Reed slept through about 85% of it, so we were even able to listen mostly uninterrupted.  He did wake up to hear our favorite speaker.  Here's TJ introducing Reed to Elder Holland:

3. There are few things TJ loves more than teaching.  Last night a niece needed help with math and he spent an hour and a half on the phone with her, using FaceTime and picture messages to help her prepare for her test today.  He loved it.  

4. This should maybe be 3b but yesterday TJ went to lunch with a professor he had at BYU.  This gentleman is an adjunct professor at BYU Salt Lake, which is something TJ would love to get into.  TJ arranged the lunch to find out how he started teaching, how he got in at BYU, pros and cons of teaching, etc.  In a totally unexpected - but entirely welcome - move, the professor invited TJ to come team teach with him for the rest of the semester!  TJ is so excited and I am positively thrilled to see him so happy.  He's planning to watch the class next week and, if all goes well, start teaching the following week.  What a fantastic opportunity.

5. Fresh raspberries.  Our raspberries have done better this year than the past five years combined.  Whenever TJ is on the barbecue he walks over to check on them when he's waiting for the food to cook.  So last night - while our 17 turkey burgers were cooking - he walked over and found there were more raspberries ready!  They haven't yet gotten old.  

6. Reed is just so cute.  He's laughing more and more, which is just about the most fun thing we've ever experienced.  :)  He's also getting really good at holding his toes and he doesn't yet roll, so we feel like we're in a pretty great spot.  

What are some of the great things going on in your world right now?  I hope that you can feel more light as you seek it out!

Weekly Family Photo #6

Weekly Family Photo #5