.::still blinking::.

Does this happen to Baby Jesus at your house?

Gentry went Christmas shopping for me with JJ on Saturday. I guess JJ was looking at the pajamas and Gentry brought this over to him and said, “These are for boobs. This is cute.”

Have I mentioned Gentry’s current obsession with boobs. I have them and he doesn’t. Same with JJ, I guess. We have been talking a lot about privacy and how he doesn’t see me when I am naked. But he and I got all cuddly on the couch the other day to read Christmas stories and he announced, “My head is on your boob!” Well, lets change positions than.

I guess this is just the beginning. Boys are so not like girls.

What you cannot see in this picture is that he had a hicky on his cheek. I thought that would be a hilarious thing to have in all our wedding pictures. I still find it rather hilarious and he still groans when I bring it up.

Love you babe.

He likes to be Tarzan at night and run around like a wild man in his underwear. We let him. This night he was a star-wrangling Tarzan!

This year we have been doing an Advent Calendar. We read of slip of paper with an activity on it and Gentry gets a small candy. The activities vary, but on Wednesday we went to Temple Square, in downtown Salt Lake to look at the Christmas lights.



I have not been to see this in several years, but I really thought the nativity scene set in the reflecting pool was so pretty.

As we were leaving we asked Gentry if he liked going to see the lights. He said that he didn’t like the lights, but that he did like looking at the big statue of Cheesus. He is referring to the large statue they have of Jesus in one of the visitor centers. He cracks us up.

I was tagged. And now you are too. If I didn’t tag you and you want to participate. I tag you as well.

5 Things I was doing 10 years ago…
1.) Dating my first boyfriend.
2.) Camp outs in the living room of Davis 302. I love you girls.
3.) Very little studying.
4.) Hanging in the library a lot, but not studying.
5.) Learning to be independent.

5 Things on my “To-Do” list today…
1.) Vacuum
2.) Deposit my economic stimulus check. Yes, I JUST got my tax return.
3.) Sew a tree skirt.
4.) Fold the mountain of laundry in the hall.
5.) Shave.

5 Snacks I enjoy…
1.) Almonds
2.) Tea with small amounts of milk
3.) Sushi
4.) Fruit
5.) Celery

5 Things I’d do if I were a Millionaire…
1.) Pay off debt + mortgage.
2.) Buy a house for my mom or have her be my nanny and travel with me.
3.) Spend months of the year living else where. Italy. Japan. South Central Panguitch. Ely.
4.) Buy a highlander.
5.) Get more education.

5 Places I’ve Lived…
1.) Logan.
2.) South Jordan.
3.) Bryce Canyon.
4.) Herriman.
5.) JJ’s grandparents house.

5 Jobs I’ve Had
1.) Caterer.
2.) Grocery Checker.
3.) Graphic Artist/Marketer.
4.) Cow Girl. I swear. I should put some pictures up here.
5.) Personal Escort. I have only ever had one client.

5 People I tag
1.) Mary, she likes her privacy
2.) Boogie the dog
3.) Aubrey Jeppson, mother of Macie
4.) Katrina
5.) Annie
6.) Tiffany

Here is a recipe I get asked about quite a bit. It is for caramels that I make once and year and usually share with others at Christmas time. They take three hours to make that that is not including cooling, cutting and wrapping. So you really have to be serious about this. Also, this is a Martha Stewart recipe, she never does things the easy way.

If you received some of these last year I substituted light corn syrup for some kind of brown rice syrup, it is an earthy product and made them much less sweet, but a lot more rich. I think I was going to try half corn syrup this year and half rice syrup. Also, heavy cream is not terribly expensive at Costco and I think you have a little left over to drink. You know JJ is standing here with his face on the spout of the cream waiting for me to get finished.

Golden Caramels
4 cup heavy cream
1 cup sweetened condensed milk
4 cup light corn syrup
4 cup sugar
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 pound (2 sticks) unsalted butter, cut into 16 peices
1 Tablespoon + 1 teaspoon vanilla extract

1- Spray a cookie sheet with cooking spry. In a 2-quart saucepan, combine cream and sweetened condensed milk; set aside.
2- In a large saucepan (really large), combine corn syrup, 1 cup of water, sugar and salt. Clip on a candy thermometer. Over high heat, cook until sugar is dissolved, stirring with a wooden spoon, 8-12 minutes. Brush down sides of pan with a pastry brush dipped in water to remove sugar crystals
3- Stop stirring, reduce heat to medium, and bring to a boil. Cook without stirring until temperature reaches 250 degrees (45-60 minutes). Meanwhile, cook cream mixture over low heat until it is just warm. Do not boil. When sugar reaches 250 degrees, slowly stir in butter and warmed cream mixture, keeping mixture boiling at all times. Stirring constantly, cook over medium heat until thermometer reaches 244 degrees, 55-75 minutes. Stir in vanilla. Immediately pour into prepared pan without scraping pot. Let stand uncovered at room temperature for 24 hours without moving.
4- To cut, spray large cutting board with vegetable oil. Unmold caramels and cut. Wrap in cellophane or waxed paper.

Yum. If you want me to send you a few of these I totally will. Comment and leave your address and I will send you a couple. You will think you have died. If you live by me and are my friend in real life, not fake internet life, you will probably get some anyway. If you are my friend in internet standard time, comment and I will send you some.

Love,
Makayla

I made a cake last night for Aubrey’s birthday. It was loosely based on Better Than Sex cake, I would call it Better Than Fruity Sex Cake.

Here is how it went down:

1 cake mix + all the stuff that goes in a cake mix
1 package of strawberry jello
1 can of sweetened condensed milk
1 tub of frosting to match corresponding cake mix

1- Make the cake. When finished, cool completely.
2- Give toddler a chopstick and have him poke lots and lots of holes in the cake.
3- Make jello and pour over the cake. Put in fridge and allow 4 hours to set up.
4- Pour can of sweetened condensed milk over cake and allow half hour to soak in.
5- Frost. Sing Happy Birthday and Serve.

I hope your arteries appreciate this as much as mine did.

Here are some photos I took over the Thanksgiving weekend. I love the cuteness of these kids and the gorgeous light that made everything glow in this house.

Also, aren’t my Aunt Adele and her granddaughter Kate so precious. I mean seriously. These photos make my heart swoon and my eyes a little teary.

And do you see Jonas smiling with his eyes, I swear he is about to break out the jazz fingers.

I made this hot chocolate today and it made me glad that I did not have cocoa mix at my house. You should try it, you will thank me and your husband will too.

Look how cute my boys are.

We are home. We only fought once and only on the way home and it was because JJ doesn’t read my mind (the nerve).

I will write more as I took lots and lots of photos. I need to fill your little eyes with the perfect perfection that is my life and not yours. HAHAHAHAHAHAHAH. (stop evil laugh here).

That last part was for my sister Kateka, that is really the name we call her although not her real name. She and I don’t like reading blogs about perfect people and the same crap over and over.

Also, do you stay up at night worrying about your money or lack there of. My inner worrying alarm wakes me up pretty regularly at 3am to worry. We are fine. Seriously. But still I must worry. And it really disrupts with my hot, hot dreams about Daniel Craig. Or Hugh Jackman. Sometimes both. I wish.