Tips for the Perfect Fried Rice

I'm a big Chinese food lover, actually all Asian-type food lover, and one of my favorite is fried rice. I found a link giving tips and tricks for making the perfect fried rice that I thought I'd share. It's found on one of my favorite food blogs, Steamy Kitchen. This is a great recipe for Shrimp Fried Rice and some tips for the perfect fried rice. Enjoy!

It's Genetics

Can you guess who these people are? Those of you who know my brother or have seen Evan as a little boy should have no trouble guessing. Have you guessed...... ?


















The little boy in this picture is my Dad. Isn't it just an uncanny resemblance? It is for me. I can totally see the face of my little brother, his son, and both of my sons in the face of my Father as a little boy.



















Here's a great picture of my Dad in a bowl. :-) Isn't this a great pic? Again I can see a bit of my children, all three of them, in the face of this adorable little baby.



















This is a picture of my Grandfather, my Father's Father, as a boy. I'm not sure his age in this picture but his smile is the smile of my Father and the smile of my children.













I saved the best for last. Here's a picture of my Great-Grandmother, my Father's Father's Mother, (does that make sense?). Her name is Lillian and she's second from the right (standing with a white blouse on). I can actually see myself in her face. She has the face of all my sisters, it seems to be in the nose and mouth.

It's all about genetics. Makes me wonder what else I've inherited from my ancestors.... more than just looks? Good looks of course.

Update Alert: Evan's a Trooper

Evan has been such a trooper! We met with the surgeon on March 3 and he said, definitely, Evan needs surgery and scheduled him for surgery on March 5. Evan had a lot of fractures along his cheek bone and orbital bones and needed to have the bones set and re-formed. One large break needed a plate and screws to reset and hold in place. Additionally, Evan needed a temporary implant put in place to hold and support the smaller fractures while they healed.


He had the surgery on March 5 and is doing great. He's really been a trooper and has been in good spirits. We expect him to be fully healed in six weeks. He's actually planning to play baseball this Spring/Summer! We're glad he won't let this injury keep him from doing the sport he loves.

Isn't this just the cutest picture? Even with his black eye Evan's a little heart breaker.

Thank you to everyone for their kind words and calls to Evan!

A Good Day and a Bad Day

This is a tale of two days....

February 27, 2009 was a GOOD day. My little Tori celebrated her 13th birthday and it was a good day, a great day. Tori has grown into such an amazing young woman; she's talented, smart, beautiful, and fun loving. Todd and I are so grateful to have her in our lives.













I would like to take credit for this cake but I can't. I did attempt to make her a homemade birthday cake, in fact I made her a 13 layer cake from a recipe I found on the Bakerella blog site. Unfortunately, my attempt to make the cake didn't turn out, the cake looked terrible and didn't taste so hot, so I bought her a cake.




















Beautiful Tori lighting her candles.














































After cake and candy and Xbox 360 Rock Band, the gang headed to the park. She had a great day hanging out with her friends. Happy Birthday my sweet Tori!

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February 28, 2009 was a BAD day. Well, it actually started as a beautiful day, nice and warm and beautiful. Evan and a few friends decided to go to the park to play some baseball. Unfortunately, the day ended badly for us all. Poor little Evan took a baseball bat to the face! We spent five hours in the ER and were very, very grateful that his injury resulted in only a broken orbital bone (his cheek bone). I say only because it could have been so much worse!












This is my sweet Evan the day after on March 1. The picture does not truly show the purple color under his eye.













Here's Evan today.... again this picture does not do justice to the variety of colors under his eye and down his face. Poor guy. We meet with a facial specialist tomorrow to determine if he needs surgery. We're praying that he won't.

So, we had a Good Day, my sweet Tori's birthday, and a Bad Day, my dear Evan's injury. It goes to show that you need to be thankful for all your good days 'cause you never now what tomorrow will bring!

Weekend in the Mountains

Last weekend we received an invite from some good friends of ours to spend the night at their cabin in the mountains. We love visiting their cabin because it's in a gorgeous spot in the Wasatch mountains, it's a beautiful, comfortable cabin, and they are very gracious hosts. While there the kids had some fun times sledding in the plentiful snow.













I know this picture is a little blurry but had to post it to show Evan just before he "bites the snow" and crashes into a tree. Fun times, huh Evan?!



















Cool picture of Tori weaving her way through the trees and loving the snow.












After sledding through the trees we made our way to a road near the cabin that had been closed for the enjoyment of sledders and crazy people in general. Fun times!













Way to get some great air Tori!













Here's a very sexy man on a four-wheeler.... my husband. We used the four-wheelers to haul the kids up to the top of the hill after sledding down. Now, I have to say, back in my day we had to get to the top the old fashioned way ... by walking! Kids these days don't know how good they got it.







































































The ending of a beautiful, cold, snowy day and catching a ride with my hot, firefighter husband. Thanks to the our special friends for inviting us to their beautiful cabin and letting us enjoy their home, cozy fire, four-wheelers, sleds, great snow, and wonderful friendship.

New Baby on the Way!

I have a new little baby niece on the way! My little sis, Lillian, is due to have a new baby girl any minute now and we're SO EXCITED! Our thoughts and prayers go out to Lillian during this time... because we all know labor and delivery is TOUGH! Hang in there Lilly. Hang in there Matt. I know Jackson will love his new little sis. We love you guys.
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Update: Lillian had a beautiful little girl at 6:12 pm ET on February 17. She is 7lbs 12 ounces and 20 inches long, very healthy and beautiful. Her name is Elise Hoyt. Her Daddy says she has light brown hair, cute little red lips, tiny nose, and dark eyes, and beautiful. Congratulations Lillian and Matt!

For My Husband on Valentines Day

For the 15 years we've been married.....

1. I love that you love the beach as much as I do... actually more than I do.
2. I love that you understand how much I love to read.
3. Thanks for seeing all those "chic" flicks with me over the years.
4. I love that you remember so many things and that I can rely on you to remind me because I'm so very forgetful... yet you'll forget where you've placed your keys.
5. I love that you enjoy skiing with me even though I don't like moguls... or black diamond runs.
6. You're amazing to always do the dishes.
7. Even better... thank you for doing the laundry, vacuuming, sweeping, making beds.... all that you do for us and our home.
8. I love that you manage our money so well.
9. I love that you've never called in sick to work.
10. Thank you for putting up with all my crazy, wonderful family.
11. I'm so grateful to know that you'll never leave me.
12. I love that you love our children and that you are such a good Dad.
13. It's amazing that you support my religious beliefs and have made it an important part of your life also.
14. I love that you put up with my crazy moods and constant activities and love of travel.
15. Most of all... I love that you love me!