Creamy Artichoke Chicken with a twist

Last night I made a new recipe from this cook book!

 

Actually, it was two different recipes I morphed together. It was delicious! All my boys ate every bite of it. I wish I'd made more!

 

If you have this FABULOUS book I got the recipe's from page 85 and 87.

 

 

In the crock pot I added:

 

1 can of cream of chicken soup

I can of chicken broth

1/2 C of milk

3 chicken bouillon cubes

1/2 oinion diced up

1 clove of garlic diced up

salt

pepper

and mixed it all together.

 

I then Added 3 chicken breasts ( I should of added more!)

and a 14oz drained bottle of artichoke hearts. I sprinkled a generous amount of Parmesan cheese on top.

 

I cooked on high for 6 hours.

My kitchen smelled divine!

 

I cooked white rice and then placed some chicken, artichoke and sauce on top. YUM! And easy!

Downtown Disney and 5 months old

 On Saturday we took a break from the parks and hung out at the hotel for most f the day swimming and playing in the game room. Later that evening we headed to Downtown Disney to walk around, shop and eat dinner.
It was beautifully decorated and fun walking around. The weather was great, as you can see were all wearing shorts in December!

 Our favorite store, by far, was the Lego Store. Outside and in are several huge Lego creations. My favorite is, of course, Belle!

 Marceline's Confectionery is a fun candy and chocolate store. We bought several yummy treats there for dessert. Carmel and chocolate covered pretzels and apples, fudge, suckers and much more!

 On Saturday was also Little P's 5 month birthday! HAPPY BIRTHDAY PRESTON!! He's such a wonderful addition to our family. Always happy, always smiling. His new smile is with his tongue hanging out. Too cute!

DISNEYLAND!!!

 We have been wanting, desperately, to go back to Disneyland for sometime now. We decided we'd go right after Thanksgiving, but before the Christmas rush.

We headed to California for an entire week, which included going to Disneyland for 4 awesome days!

We went on everything, and it wasn't very busy either! We rode every ride, several times. Watched every parade, light show, movie and fireworks displays that both parks offered. It was incredible! It was so fun.

My mom and Bill met us at Disneyland and made the trip so much better having grandparents to share in these incredible family memories.

 I, of course, was super excited to go to Disneyland. But, I was even more excited to take Nathan. He just loves Mickey Mouse so much. I knew he'd have fun, but wasn't sure how he'd react to seeing a real Mickey Mouse. A life size Mickey. Some kids cry. Not Nathan! He ran right over to him and hugged him. That moment made my entire trip. Everything else was just bonus!

 We found several new (new to us!) hidden Mickey's around the park's. Can you find this one?

It's on the caterpillar ride in the Bug's life area. Cool!

 We scored these FREE buttons that say it's their first visit to Disneyland. The other boys received free buttons with other sayings on them too.

 Another fun activity we did a lot of on this trip was pin trading. We bought lanyards and cheap, dumb Disney pins.  We then traded them with Disney employees in both parks and collected some really rare, cool pins!

 Brigham, my 4 year old's, favorite ride was "the upside down ride", otherwise known as California Screamin'.

Nathan, my 3 year old's, favorite ride was Tower of Terror!!

Both boys went on everything!!! It was awesome! 42" is the magical number!

 My trickster, conniving, mean husband lied to me about going on this terrible, frightful ride. I HATE Ferris wheels, especially the ones that swing!! Everyone got in line to go, but me and my mom. All of a sudden the crowd of people waiting to go on the ride started chanting "Lori, Lori, Lori...!!!!" Then different people kept yelling out that I should go on the ride, it'll be fun, it's not scary...So I went. Peer pressure! Once I was on the ride I realized it was the swinging car and not the one that stays still. I screamed, and yelled. Then cried. All the boys were trying to comfort me, even cute Nathan and Brigs!

 While the fam was standing in line I ran to buy a snack. I ran out of hands to hold the 2 cokes, and 2 turkey legs I purchased...Those were dang good legs! Totally worth the $9.00 each!

 

 Yes, my family is so large we took up the entire car of many rides while wandering around the different parks!

 We would get Fast Passes for rides, we took advantage of single rider lines and always asked for a baby switch pass. That helped to cut down on wait times to the popular rides.

It was great weather, great memories, great company, great time. I am so glad we went. Can't wait to go again!

Pants

I keep going back and forth with this "wearing pants to church on Sunday" non-sense. I read different articles and posts on facebook and want to write a blog about it.  Then I think I don't want to involve myself and give the issue more ammunition.

(for those reads that have no idea what the heck I am talking about, this is it in a nutshell. Some Woman rights activists within the LDS Church think that because men hold the priesthood they have better roles in our church than women do.  They feel there are gender disparities that need to be addressed, and they need to be addressed now. Therefore, the protest is for women to wear pants at church on Sunday to show their support and feelings.)

But, here I am on the evening of it all. I wonder if anyone in my ward will wear pants, besides all the men. I think not. I hope not.

To me, it is super disrespectful to protest during church, particularly during Sacrament meeting. This protest would be occurring during a time where I go once a week and partake of the sacrament and remember the covenants that I've made with Christ.

If you feel so strongly about something, great. But, there is a time and place for it. And Church is never the time, nor the place. Why would anyone want to cause contention at church, especially with what's been happening lately to our country and with other people around the world.

If anyone has listened to the General Authorities of the Church in General Confernce, you will hear them constantly praise and adore the Sisters of this Church.  But when they speak to the brethren, it is more calls to action and occasionally rebuke for the things that they need to improve.  Priesthood, while it is authority from God to act in his name, is a principle founded upon service.  It is not something that sets the person on some higher plain religiously.  A priesthood holder cannot give himself a blessing, or perform ordinances to himself.  It must be done to another person.  Anyone who is familiar with the Priesthood has to understand THIS principle.  And besides, anyone who has been around enough knows who really has the power in any family or ward, it is the Sisters!!!

I would consider myself a very independent, strong, powerful woman. I can do anything...with the Lord's help. The priesthood is such an awesome blessing in my life and something that I am so thankful for.

But I don't think that I need to hold the priesthood in order to be a righteous daughter of my Heavenly Father, and enjoy his blessings.  And if the priesthood is not available, I know that my prayer for a sick child, a hurt friend, or for whatever other reason, is just as powerful coming from me than a priesthood holder. I am thankful for that knowledge.  However, if the priesthood is available, I would love the service that these men could provide in my life, as well.

My testimony of the church of Jesus Christ is simple, but strong. I know the church is true. I know my Savior died for me. I know I have a loving Heavenly Father and Mother who love me unconditionally. I know the Book of Mormon IS the Word of God. I know there is a living prophet to guide me and help me in my everyday life.