Cottage Cheese and Chocolate Cookies

I have no picture to support this post...but personally I think the visual interpretations are far better.
So Blake left out of town this morning - early. Too early to wake up, loud enough leaving for Clayton to get out of bed and find his way to the kitchen (6:30 am). By 7:00, as I'm waking up I hear Clayton in the kitchen kinda talking and singing to himself. I peek around the corner and find him at the kitchen table. In one hand, a spoon to feed himself cottage cheese right out of the container, in the other, chocolate cookies the HT's brought by last night with their message.
What would you do? The look on Clayton's face at that moment was unforgettable, a look of pure indulgence, secrecy, and fear all in one expression. I couldn't do anything else but sweep him up in my arms and kiss his chocolate crumbly face and be grateful there are eggs and milk in chocolate cookies! Thank you Bill Cosby.

Bentley Family Visits the Roundhouse

We had a great time up in Pinetop at the Roundhouse Resort. It was a great week with all the Bentley's and then a few days at the end with just our little clan. The kids were able to see two snow storms and play in the snow everyday. It was nice to get away and enjoy a little snowboarding, swimming, cocoa, and games. It gave us a taste of how fun May 2010 will be! =)

p.s. I post this also as a subtle hint...we'd like to see the contrast of vacations...does anybody have some Hawaii vacation pictures? This is the snow angel that "won" me new couches!
Blake and "Claytina." We borrowed a bag of snow clothes from some friends of ours and this is the only one that fit Clayton. All week he protested wearing it until we finally convinced him there was "blue" on the coat.

STS DAY

Happy Birthday Uncle Seth!

We hope you have a great day and good luck on your test!

We are honoring our rights today by celebrating...

National STS Day!

Love-the Bentleys

National Holiday!

Andrea and I were talking about the fact that we now celebrate Martin Luther King Jr. Day but fail to really celebrate the birthdays of our founding Fathers. The first tragedy was when they combined both days into one. This not only reduces the number of free days from school or work but combining them is a bit lazy don't you think? I believe that MLK was a great man but he gets his own holiday...really? I bring this up for two reasons. First, I am at school and it is President's Day and it stinks like poo! I actually had a Visual Optics test today. Also, as an American citizen it is your right to celebrate national holidays. So, in light of this fact, on February 24th you have the right to celebrate the national holiday of Seth T. Salima's birth! Take the day off, go see a movie, or just do nothing but relax. Remember, you are an American and YOU HAVE THE RIGHT!


This message is endorsed by Seth T. Salima and is sponsered by the Right to Celebrate Foundation.

Happy Valentine's Day!

We just wanted to tell everyone "we love you!" We hope everyone is having a great day. Can't wait to see everyone, we miss you terribly!

Treasure Hunt

So I had to post this fun little piece of our lives. Morgan has a hobby. It's something she's done for sometime now and lately she has perfected it to an art. She is a professional "treasure keeper!" Some other terms commonly used to describe this pastime are "pack rat"..."hoarder"..."collector"...or "saver." She is either going to someday be on Oprah, like that lady who had rooms and rooms of "treasures" so much that there is no place left to sleep or eat, or maybe she'll be on the antique roadshow!

Actually it's really quite cute. She loves little things...receipts, rubber bands, rocks, eraser heads, charms, beads. etc... She can play with these for hours and they often make messes. We got really tired of cleaning them up, so we made her a treasure box and she is allowed to own and play only with treasures that fit into this box.

So today, we sent her to take a nap. I just went in and checked on her and the picture is what I found. She is wearing the dress mom and dad gave her for her birthday. Not the one we had her wear to church today. She wanted to wear this one because it has pockets and she was very excited about what she could take to church in the pockets, but I didn't let her because it's raining and she needed to dress warmer. So she is asleep with her little hands in the pockets and yep...filled with "treasures." I had to check and pulled them out to snap a picture. I just love these little moments...Being a mom is the funnest thing - it's the best treasure!

love you all! one pocket's worth

she fell asleep with her hands in her pockets!

Homemade Tortillas

HI everyone. Some girls in my ward and I got together to learn how to make homemade tortillas. They are so good! Here is the recipe. I thought they would be hard to make but they are actually very easy. Love you guys!  Enjoy.

Jenny's Homemade Tortillas

3 1/2 cup flour 

(you can mix by using 1 3/4 cup white flour and 1 3/4 cup whole wheat or corn)
1/2 cup shortening
1 tsp baking soda
1 tsp salt
1 1/4 c boiling water
1 tsp sugar (optional)

Sift dry ingredients together
add shortening and using either fork, pasty cutter, or hand mix until small crumbs form
add warm water a little at a time and mix until the dough is moist but not sticky and elastic. I don't use all the water.
Cover with warm, wet cloth or place dough on small plate and cover with the bowl you mixed it in and let 'rest' for 20 minutes.
Divide into small balls and roll out using flour. If using corn flour - place balls between saran wrap and roll out without flour. White flour or half-whole-wheat can just be rolled out. Roll very thin, almost see-through. While rolling one, place a thick bottomed pan or griddle to warm on medium. Place tortilla on it to cook turning over every 20 seconds or so. You may need to lower or raise temperature to fit your stove. To keep warm, lay a towel on your counter and wrap tortillas up in the towel till ready to eat. Makes 12 large tortillas or 18 small ones.

Morgan's 5th Birthday

Happy 5th Birthday to Morgan! Okay - I'm posting a ton of pictures!!! It was such a fun birthday and we wish that you could have been here too...so we wanted to share it with you. Thank you for the sweet gifts for Morgan. My three favorite comments from Morgan:
1. As she is opening Lara and Tyler's gift "Awe...bless their hearts"
2. Planning who was coming to her birthday party "Vea - he can come even though he's a boy"
3. With Grandpa- Grandpa "Morgan I hear you're having a girl party - I guess I can't come"
Morgan as she's stroking grandpa's face "Well you can come."

Love you all!

Check out who's leading the freeze dance game!

Yep - that's right! Blake is too! Love you babe! =)
Cute friends!

Mom helped make 11 pairs of flip flops!

She's 5!

Clayton loved every minute of it!

Flip flop cake...Martha eat your heart out!

With Grandma Joyce!

Birthday morning - Morgan gave her first talk in primary on her b-day.

Birthday breakfast

Our traditional signs

10K - London's Run

Here are a few pics from the London's Run last weekend. It was so much fun! We ran around Schnepf farms, which was way cool because it is beautiful out there and there was a lot of great scenery along the run. My favorite part was the BEST cheering section before the finish line - I wish I would have had a camera to snap a picture of them! Also - I have never eaten oranges that tasted better. Right when you go through the finish line and give them your badge, they had a table with fruit - bread - Gatorade -etc. I downed about 6 oranges slices on no time! The massage wasn't bad either! It was a great morning and I'm already looking forward to the next race!

My cheerleaders
Me and Becca right after the run...I'm a tomatoe face!

AHHHH!

Thanks for coming Mom and Dad!

Goals and Challenges

If you want to email me (or post them in the comments) your athletic goals and weight lose goals I would be glad to post them. I wish everyone good luck in this competition and once we have decided the goal date, I will post it with our lists. Love you all