Out With a Bang!

The last weeks of December of been filled with excitement and fun for the Glassford family. We have been working hard to send 2008 go out with a bang. We went on a cruise to the Caribbean December 14-21 and lots of fun doing things like this....


Leaving the port of Miami, Florida (Evan is really excited, honestly).

Getting ready to go rock climbing.... on a cruise ship!

Going ice skating.... on a cruise ship!

Going surfing ..... on a cruise ship!

Enjoying Christmas in Puerto Rico! Absolutely gorgeous weather and a beautiful park for the Cruise ship tourists to enjoy.

More on our cruise, the beautiful islands we visited, and the fun times we had at a later time. Back to my original subject, which is sending 2008 out with a bang! Upon our return from our fabulous vacation we came home to this.....

We came home to Christmas and lots and lots of lovely Utah snow. It was a shock for us to land in cold and snowy Utah clothed only in flip-flops and t-shirts but we were still happy to be home and looking forward to Christmas. The kids only received one present this year because we planned to have out present be the cruise (the fabulous cruise); even with just one present the kids had a great Christmas.

Evan was excited because he got the one X-box 360 game he was asking for over the last two months.

Tori loved her present also and was still sporting her lovely hairstyle from our visit to the island of St. Maarten.

We were thrilled to have Spencer home with us; he enjoyed his present also.

My present was to have my hot husband cook breakfast for me and the kids. I love it! Isn't it an awesome sight to see a handsome guy with an apron on?

After breakfast, we went outside to enjoy the snow. Don't know why exactly.... 'cause it was cold... brrrrrrr.

So, you would think all of this is enough to say we are seeing 2008 go out with a bang... but wait... I'm not done yet. A few days after Christmas, Spencer had to have an emergency to surgery to have his appendix removed.

Thank heavens he made it through just fine and is recovering nicely.

To top things off, we all went skiing today at beautiful Sundance ski resort to celebrate the last day of the year.

It was a beautiful day up there. The perfect way to end the year; the Glassford's have done their best to say goodbye to 2008. Out with a bang! Happy New Year to all our family and friends. May 2009 be everything you hope for and we wish you all the best.

Merry Christmas

We're back from the Caribbean and want to wish all our family and friends a very Merry Christmas. While we stay cozy in our home away from the 20 degree temperatures and foot of snow, we'll be dreaming of our Caribbean vacation.

We'll be dreaming of our feet on the soft sands of St. Thomas island....















Catching the waves in the warm Caribbean seas....

and enjoying the sunset on the fabulous boat, Freedom of the Seas.

Merry Christmas from the Glassfords!

Bon Voyage!

We're escaping the cold and headed to the Caribbean! The Glassford family is going on vacation and we leave tomorrow.... AND I'm so stinkin' excited! We decided a few years ago that our kids have just to much dang stuff and it's become almost a chore to figure out what to get them each Christmas, because like I said, they have to much dang stuff. So, we decided instead of presents we would go on a family cruise..... and we're leaving tomorrow!

Christmas Recipe Idea

My cousin-in-law (is that a correct term?) has this great recipe blog I love to visit. Right now she's got this great recipe for Homemade Marshmallows. A great idea to make for Christmas and, IF you're good enough to actually make the marshmallows look appetizing, it's a great idea to give to the neighbors along with her homemade hot cocoa recipe.

Here's a picture of how her marshmallows turned out.... soooo cute... along with the recipe and link to her blog. Her name is Janet Eyring and her blog is called Recipes and More Check it out!

Homemade Marshmallows & Peeps
Ingredients:
2 1/2 tablespoons unflavored gelatin
1 1/2 cups granulated sugar

1 cup light corn syrup
1/4 teaspoon salt
2 tablespoons pure vanilla extract
Powdered sugar (for dusting)

Method:

Combine gelatin and 1/2 cup cold water in the bowl of an electric mixer with whisk attachment. Let it stand 30 minutes. Combine granulated sugar, corn syrup, salt and 1/2 cup of water in a small heavy saucepan; place over low heat and stir until sugar has dissolved. Wash down sides of pan with a wet pastry brush to dissolve sugar crystals.
Clip on a candy thermometer; raise heat to high. Cook syrup without stirring until it reaches 244 degrees (firm-ball stage). Immediately remove pan from heat. With mixer on low speed, slowly and carefully pour syrup into the softened gelatin. Increase speed to high; beat until mixture is very thick and white and has almost tripled in volume, about 15 minutes. Add vanilla; beat to incorporate. Generously dust an 8 x 12-inch glass baking pan with confectioners' sugar. Pour marshmallow mixture into pan. Dust with confectioners' sugar; let stand overnight, uncovered, to dry out. Cut marshmallows with sprayed and dusted cookie cutters for fun shapes. Lightly dust remaining sides with powdered sugar. Store in an airtight container up to 2 weeks.

Thankful for Thanksgiving

I didn't forget Thanksgiving. My dancing elves post may have distracted me from the wonderful Thanksgiving holiday for a moment but not for long. I absolutely love Thanksgiving. To me it's a holiday that is centered on family and being grateful for all that I have in my life, which is A LOT. I love my husband, my children, my parents, my sisters and brother, my extended family, wonderful friends, and so much more.

We had a great Thanksgiving holiday at my home where we hosted dinner for Mom and Dad, Glen and his family, Kayce and her family, Rebecca, and Carol. I loved every minute of the chaos and house full of kids. I was able to get several pictures of the event but I'm posting my favorite one below.

Can you guess why this is my favorite? ......... It totally makes me laugh.......... Do you see Evan just digging in to that big ol' turkey leg. That is a priceless picture and one that Evan is going to be so mad at me for posting.

Another favorite thing about Thanksgiving is the PIES!!!!

We had all sorts of pies to gorge ourselves with this year. We had the traditional pumpkin pie (thanks Kayce!), yummy chocolate cream pie (thanks Mom!), and delicious pumpkin cheesecake. The pumpkin cheesecake is something I make every year because of all the requests. All year long, all I hear is "Marcy when ya making that yummy pumpkin cheesecake?" I just blush from all the praise I recieve. (you all know I'm just being silly, right?)

Seriously, I can't take the credit for this yummy cheesecake. I wish I could. I got the recipe for this cheesecake from Libby's Pumpkin website, http://www.verybestbaking.com/default.aspx. It has some yummy, yummy recipes. Here's the recipe for the Pumpkin Cheesecake, give it a try.

PUMPKIN CHEESECAKE

Ingredients:
CRUST
1 1/2 cups graham cracker crumbs
1/3 cup butter or margarine, melted
1/4 cup granulated sugar

CHEESECAKE
3 packages (8 oz. each) cream cheese, softened
1 cup granulated sugar
1/4 cup packed light brown sugar
2 large eggs
1 can (15 oz.) LIBBY'S® 100% Pure Pumpkin
2/3 cup (5 fl.-oz can) NESTLÉ® CARNATION® Evaporated Milk
2 tablespoons cornstarch
1 1/4 teaspoons ground cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg

TOPPING
1 container (16 oz.) sour cream, at room temperature
1/3 cup granulated sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Directions:PREHEAT oven to 350° F.FOR CRUST: COMBINE graham cracker crumbs, butter and granulated sugar in medium bowl. Press onto bottom and 1 inch up side of 9-inch springform pan. Bake for 6 to 8 minutes (do not allow to brown). Cool on wire rack for 10 minutes.FOR CHEESECAKE: BEAT cream cheese, granulated sugar and brown sugar in large mixer bowl until fluffy. Beat in eggs, pumpkin and evaporated milk. Add cornstarch, cinnamon and nutmeg; beat well. Pour into crust.BAKE for 55 to 60 minutes or until edge is set but center still moves slightly.FOR TOPPING: COMBINE sour cream, granulated sugar and vanilla extract in small bowl; mix well. Spread over surface of warm cheesecake. Bake for 5 minutes. Cool on wire rack. Refrigerate for several hours or overnight. Remove side of springform pan.

We're excited for Christmas!

Send your own ElfYourself eCards

New West Knifeworks giveaway!

Check out this giveaway at one of my new favorite websites....

100 Miles in 30 Days!

So, I have to share..... I did it! I set a goal for myself to run 100 miles in 30 days through the website MapMyRun and I did it! Well, honestly, it wasn't ALL running, some of it was walking and some of it was using the elliptical machine at my gym. But still... I'm dang happy I accomplished this goal. My exercise routine has been building over the years and I've been able to run a couple 5k races and enjoyed the many benefits of exercise. So, when I found this 100 Miles in 30 Days challenge on MapMyRun I thought I would take the challenge. Check out the challenge here....













Using MapMyRun has been a helpful tool to motivate me and map my runs through the city I live in. It's a great way to figure out how many miles it is from your home to a certain point and then back again.

Tori and I have doing a run through the city, with me running or walking and her riding a bike. It's been a nice way to enjoy the fresh air and have some great chats. I'm really not a big runner; not someone who plans to run a marathon anytime soon. But, again, the excerise itself is actually something I enjoy.

So, I challenge you all to give this a try; 100 Miles in 30 Days! Come on, I know you can! It's really not as tough as you think.

Bakerella Blogger

I just discovered this blog that I'm loving, Bakerella. I've always loved to bake even as a little girl; I think I baked my first cake from scratch at age 8. My Mom actually bought me those cake molds, my favorite was cookie monster, that I would spend all day working on to bake and then frost. My love for baking has been with me ever since. Unfortunately, life is much to busy for me to spend the time I want on baking so I don't do it as much as I would like. When I do bake I always include my children; I love baking with them. All three of my kids can bake a mean chocolate chip cookie

One of the reasons I love Bakerella is that it's got some quick, fun, yummy ideas for making little cake or cookie balls. Click on this picture to go to all her Bite-Size Sweet & Easy Recipes. Those Red-Velvet Cake Balls look yuuuummmmmyyyy. Enjoy!

Our Halloween ... better late than never

I know I'm a little late but I wanted to share some of our Halloween pictures ... at least before Thanksgiving.














Tori's pride and joy... her carving of WICKED in her pumpkin. Pretty dang good huh?


Here's a slide show of our fun Halloween party at Kayce's house with plenty of food and lots of talking. Spencer and Evan got into the fun by giving me their best "Uncle Rico" posses. Fun times!

Pregnancy and Motherhood in 2008

I just have to say that I'm very thankful I'm done having children. Not that I don't love my three amazing kids because I do. A LOT! I'm just saying this because of all the things pregnant mothers must avoid eating now just takes away the one true pleasure of being pregnant, which is being able to eat whatever you want, when you want. Isn't that what every woman secretly looks forward to when being pregnant? Well, it was for me.

I've had many conversations with my sisters about this and hear them talk about the foods they must avoid. In fact, I have a sister who's currently expecting in February and I just feel down right sorry for her. Back in the day, a long, long time ago, when I was pregnant I ate a lot of things that would just make pregnant women now days just gasp in fright. I ate things like hot dogs, albacore tuna fish, raw cookie dough.... yes, yes it's true.... you pregnant women out there don't run away screaming. I even enjoyed eating alfalfa sprouts and ate them quite frequently with my lunch meat sandwiches. I know you're all shocked and dismayed and find it hard to believe my children turned out healthy and normal. At least you would think that if you followed the exacting guidelines on foods to avoid when you're pregnant.

Don't believe me? Take a look at this article, http://www.webmd.com/baby/features/foods-to-avoid-when-youre-pregnant. I don't mean to make light of the wonderful advances in medicine. I'm just saying.... I'm glad I was able to eat alfalfa sprouts with out having to worry. That's my two cents on pregnancy and motherhood in 2008. :-)

Nina Shoes

The shoes I purchased at our Gardner Village shopping trip. Love them! .... just had to share. Nina Shoes

2008 Blogger Ornament Exchange

My sister Lilly has this link on her blog and I think it's a fun idea. If you're interested in participating just click on the picture. Christmas is just 2 months away! Yikes!

Annual Gardner Village Shopping Trip

Our fun annual event has come and gone. I'm sad it's over but it was so dang fun while it lasted, which wasn't long enough. Every year the Clawson sisters try to meet for some shopping, conversation, and good food (of course) at Gardner Village. I don't think we've yet been able to get ALL of the sisters together for the event but we sure try. Now that Mom is living back in Utah she has been attending with us to make things even more fun! This year it was just me, Kayce, Carol, and Mom that were able to go. Some amazing, wonderful year we will have all the sisters attending along with our one sister-in-law. In the meantime, those that do attend will be sure to shop and eat for those who can't attend.

No, this is not four sisters and a Mom. ha ha This is three lovely sisters and a lovely Mom posing with a friendly Gardner Village witch.

Me with two amazing sisters. I love you guys!






















Always the good sport. Kayce enjoying her doughnut at the bakery, one of our most favorite shops. Along with the restaurant and the candy store.






















So, they have this shoe shop at Gardner Village.... yes, I did buy shoes. mmmmm hmmmmm and hallelujah.


















Me and Kayce. (Luv U!)


















I just love this picture. Mom is smiling! It was a beautiful day.

Chicago

I recently had the opportunity to attend a conference in Chicago. What a beautiful city. While there I had a chance to go on a tour of the city by boat on the Chicago river then out to Lake Michigan. Lake Michigan is incredible and just huge! It really looked like the ocean to me with waves and no opposite shoreline visible. The tour of the city highlighted the beautiful architecture of the city. It was great! Also, while I was there, I got a chance to walk down Michigan avenue and windowshop; shops that were way, way out of my price range. I was also able to visit a fire department and get my hot husband his very own, authentic Chicago fire department t-shirt. It really was a fun visit of the city, oh, and the conference was great also. :-)

So of course I have to start the pictures with food and eating. We ate at so many fun and yummy restaurants while there, it was great! While in Chicago we had the famous Chicago deep dish style pizza, we had a famous Chicago hot dog, and we went to Greek town and had authentic Gyro's. All good stuff.

Here's a picture of our famous deep dish pizza. This pizza is to die for I tell ya! It was basically crust and then swimming with tons, and tons of mozzarella cheese with a little sauce. So, so good.

Here's the start of our tour of the Chicago river. Behind me is the river and the boat we went on. The hotel I stayed at is right across the street.






















One of the buildings we floated by going on our boat tour. Two incredible round buildings.. and very tall.



















This huge building fills an entire city block and has it's own fire and police departments. It houses 30,000+ employees.




















Out of Lake Michigan looking at the Chicago skyline. Doesn't it look like an ocean? Pretty dang cool.





















This is the inside of the government building. Can you guess what it's designed to look like? huh? Not able to guess? It's designed to look like an American flag. The picture doesn't do justice but it really is super cool.






















On the top of the Sears tower.... freaking way up high. Had a hard time keeping my lunch down standing so close to the window there. Yikes!


















I was able to visit this 100 year old fire house right in the heart of downtown Chicago. The guys there were very nice and I was able to get an official fire dept. t-shirt for Todd.

I should have gotten pictures of me drooling over the shoes in the stores on Michigan Avenue and other great clothing items. If you get a chance to visit Chicago take a walk down Michigan Avenue.... loved the shoes. :-)