Tulip Festival, Thanksgiving Point

We haven't tried out our new camera much since we got it in December for Christmas. Finally summer found its way to Utah and we can finally test out our camera now. We went to Thanksgiving Point with Mark and Callie to take pictures of the tulips. It was a beautiful, perfect day for pictures and John got some good ones. Here are a few of my favorites. Sad some of them aren't very clear when uploaded onto blogspot.

How can anyone question God's existence when there's beauty like this?

~~Simple Food, Big Love~~

I love food! I wish I had more time to cook.

Last night John and I were watching Alton Brown's Good Eats. His overnight cinnamon rolls were just too enticing. So I made some this afternoon. I did some things differently so it only took a couple hours. For example, I let the dough rise in the oven with a boiling pot of water. It only took 30 minutes for the dough to be ready. I think it turned out pretty good. I ate three of them all at once, unfrosted though. I don't like the frosting.

Aren't they pretty?!
I put some orange zest in the cream cheese frosting. It added a nice little touch. John told me not to make desserts to go along with his INSANITY work-out. So I haven't made any dessert for months. I guess a splurge once in a LONG while should be okay.

The following are some of the food I ate last week. I wish I could eat Chinese everyday.

Steamed dumplings with soup inside

Mapo TofuChayote melon and egg stir-fry

Tea Eggs: my favorite breakfast :-) I used Barley Tea to keep my Word of Wisdom :-)I don't have a pre-shelled picture. So I borrowed one from my favorite Chinese cooing blog :-)

My major complaint at this stage of pregnancy is that I can't eat as much as I want. I eat a tiny portion and I'm full and I never gets hungry again. I need to get this baby out so I have more space for my food :-)

Mother is another word for faith, hope and love!

I've always loved my mother and appreciated everything she's done for me. But I've never appreciated her so much until I'm about to become a mother myself.

I'm grateful for the values she's infused in me since I was a kid;
I'm grateful for her example of being kind, virtuous, hard-working, selfless, and wise;
I'm grateful for her high expectations on me and her faith in me;
I'm grateful for her good example of being a good daughter to her parents and in-laws;
I'm grateful that she was always home with a delicious meal when I came back from school;
I'm grateful that she truly understood the meaning of womanhood and motherhood and prepared me for it;
I'm grateful for all the sacrifices she's made to make me who I am today.

On this special day, I so wish I could be home with her to cook her a meal and show her how much I love and appreciate her.

I also feel so blessed to have John's mom in our lives. She's already been a great example for me in so many different ways. I'm sure John feels the same about his mom as I about mine.

Happy Mother's Day, Moms!


My Mother's Day plant :-)

First Weekend in May

This weekend feels REALLY long, which is so awesome!! Who complains about a longer weekend?! It's long because it stared on Thursday when we went up to Park City again to enjoy more hot tubs. We made a nice Sweedish Meatball dinner, enjoyed the hot tub, played some pool, and enjoyed the King-size comfy bed in the Marriott Resort. Mark and Callie treated us to Einstein's bagels in the morning. My blueberry bagel with Mango Peach cream cheese was divine :-) John also enjoyed his cranberry one.

On Saturday, we watched Iron Man 2 at I-Max and it was really good. Then Mark and Callie made us a Dutch Oven dinner and dessert, which was so delicious. This is my first Dutch oven experience. It was very cool.

Then we played some croquet and "lasso golf". It was the 1st time I played these games.

Maybe it was beginner's luck, or maybe she's a natural, but Sherry beat us all at croquet.

Weekend Recap: Show and Tell

The Marriott Resort, Park City

We had a fun weekend. Our friends Mark and Callie invited us to Park City to spend the weekend at the Mountain Side Marriott Resort where their family has a time-share. It was so awesome. We got snowed on when we were in the hot tub :-) But we still had so much fun. We'll miss them as they leave for their adventures in China :-(

OK, show and tell time :-)

This is the view from our room.

We went to a very nice restaurant for dinner. The Philly Cheeseburger and sweet potato fries are the best, and of course my favorite hot wings.

We even made smores for dessert :-)

And then comes the hot tub time!


We got so snowed on in the tub. It's so steamy it's very cool.

John has to make coffee for breakfast. It took him a while to figure out how to get the coffee machine going. I think he added too much water to the coffee mix. We enjoyed smelling coffee for breakfast :-)

Callie made Danish. They were so yummy.

The Tree of Shoes in Park City. I wish I had some shoes to throw.

We enjoyed playing a new card game. The guys were winners.

Recreating Callie and Mark's engagement picture :-) Notice Mark's white socks. I don't know the details. All I know is that it's all John's fault.

We had some fun taking pictures in the lobby with John's fancy camera :-)

Thanks, Mark and Callie! We had a blast and we should do this again every year!!