the most wonderful time of the year....

i love this time of year... we have been so busy enjoying it that we havnet blogged for awhile... here is what we have been up to...

making one of my favorites with my brother... chocolate malts! yummy....

halloween donuts with grandparents....

we had our 3rd wedding anniversary...

it fell on a sunday... so i made this... one of brents favorites... torta di pasta (gatta love food network and my personal favorite Giada De Laurentiis)

.... and for desert... baked apples with vanilla ice cream on top... grandma clarks specialty...

girls camp...

putting up the christmas tree... we have been waiting a whole year to put this up, we bought everything on sale last year after christmas and wanted to have a hot pink and blue decorated white tree... next year we are thinking black and white!

thanksgiving...

of course i didnt take one picture (but marla did)... but we were in mesa to celebrate with family!!!

oh... and best of all... yes... we found out we are having a boy! we are both so very excited and cant wait....

this is the first thing i bought, but gap just emailed me and said, "we regret to inform you that we no longer have this item in stock and will be refunding you the full amount" i was so bummed out.... i loved this vest and it was only 9.99... uggg....

we hope everyone had a wonderful thanksgiving! and happy holidays!

nuts...

happy halloween!!!

mutual:halloween:too much eating... (cake, candy, donuts, chocolate, jello, apples.. more candy)

the winner of the jello eating contest we had... all the kids had to race to see who could eat the jello fastest... with a straw... she beat everyone!!!

as long as i can remember we would always have the "donut on the string" game for ward halloween parties... you have to eat it before it falls on the ground.... i love it... such a great game to watch...

bobbing for apples... i thought i could get out of this one... but i guess i was wrong... so i said, if i am going, i am gonna get an apple... i dunked my whole head in... but i got one!!!

here are some more apple winners!!!

happy halloween!!!

hes home.....

october 23rd 2007... panama to atlanta georgia to phoenix... flight 27... arrival time 6:34pm.... here are the shoes that he went out with... the "originals" and now they have come home with them....
no longer elder alex clark... yeah, we are so excited that he is home... his flight was delayed a couple hours, so every half hour we were checking flight information... and luckily he didnt come in too much later than his original time... which was 5:53pm...

chocoflan...

so good.... another mexican recipe that i want to remember and share... last month when my visiting teachers were over, we got talking about chocoflan and i mentioned that i want to know how to make it... it is so goood! so... we got together last night and hermana sotelo taught us how to make chocoflan... ( the bottom half of the cake/flan is chocolate cake and the top layer is flan)

• chocolate cake mix, any kind, whatever you prefer... then mix it according to the directions on the box. set aside.


• next the flan mixture: 4 large eggs or 5 small eggs, 1 can of leche clavel (evaporated milk), 1 can lechera (sweetened condensed milk), 1 box of media crema or 1/2 bar of cream cheese (whichever you prefer), 1 tsp of vanilla. mix in blender until smooth.


• "grease" a bundt pan with caramel or dulce de leche, (that is what i used) and then pour in about half the cake mix, then about 4 cups of the flan mixture.


• next you will place the bundt pan in another 8x8 or 9x9 pan that has hot water it in, "bano maria"... then place all of this in the oven at 350 F or 180 C for the time that is indicated on the cake box for bundt cake... probably about 30 to 35 mins.


• when you take the cake out, immediately take the bundt pan out of the bano maria and put it in a ice cold bath to chill the flan as soon as possible. when it is cool enough, place in refrigerator to cool faster. next flip out the cake on a platter and there it is. (dont leave the cake in the pan too long or it wont come out of the pan clean) finish cooling for a few more hours in the refrigerator, until completely cooled, before serving.


• eat!!!

we love our visitors....

we had so much fun while our family was here... (top: right after church, bottom: marlas favorite soda shop) thanks so much for coming guys, it was so fun! i cant wait to do it again sometime!!! love you all!!! (thanks for the pictures shauna)

girl or boy????

well, i had my 18 week doctors appointment today... and as she was doing the ultrasound we got a perfect view... she, my doctor, said..."these are the legs... this is the "pompis" (translation: gluteus maximus) and this is the pubic area..." well, in that area we were hoping to see something that would give us a clue.... there was nothing... so brent says, "parece que es nina, verdad?" and she says, "well, i cant tell you either way, i am just not sure"...

so... brent thinks it is a girl, but..... says that he is not the doctor... i still dont know, but loved watching, once again, the baby move around and squirm... i swear one time he/she was waving at us... i love ultrasounds... i told brent i want to buy a machine so we could just take a look whenever we wanted.... and he said, "ok, tom cruise"....

so long story short... we are still not sure... but so very happy that the baby is healthy and happy kicking around...

... when in rome...

no i am not trying to quote "anchorman"....

we have adopted a few "customs" here in mexico..... when we go to the grocery store, and if we buy pineapples, we pull off the green top part before we buy it... it weighs less, and then you pay less... haha... you can always find a few green tops without their pineapple bottoms... it always makes me laugh...