Good Cookin' and Influenza

Sweet and Sour Chicken from the kitchen of Sarah

Well, to start with I thought it would be fun to share one of my favorite recipes. Everyone loves good food and this is one of my favorites. It's a sweet and sour chicken and every single person in our family will eat it. I have some that say it's a little time-consuming but it's so worth it! It takes me about thirty minutes to throw it together and then it takes 30 minutes to cook. So while it's cooking I make my vegatables and rice.

Sweet and Sour Chicken

4 Boneless, Skinless Chicken Breasts
1 egg
Cornstarch to coat chicken
Vegatable Oil for cooking

Sauce (bring the following to a biol and cook until thickened. Continually stir so that it doesn't burn! Don't worry if it doesn't thicken up much. It will in the oven when it bakes.)

1 1/2 cup sugar
1 cup apple cider vinegar
2 TBSP soy sauce
1/4 cup ketchup
1 TBSP cornstarch


First defrost the chicken. Then cut it into small cubes. Take a large ziploc bag and crack an egg in it. Put all the chicken in the bag with the egg and close it. Roll the chicken aournd so it gets coated by the egg. Then pour cornstarch in the bag (enough to coat all the chicken), close the bag, and roll the chicken aournd again to coat it. In the meantime, heat a skillet of vegatable oil. Pour your coated chicken in the heated oil and brown all pieces, tunring occasionally. while your chicken is browning, make your sauce listed aboce. Then put all your browned chicken in an oven-safe baking dish (I usr a 9x13) and pour sauce over it. Bake entire dish for 30 minutes @ 350 degrees. Serve with steamed stirfy mix and white rice. Yummy!

Secondly, it's been a long week! All the kids have been sick but Liz seemed especially bad and it hit all at once. I was worried and so I ran her to the doctor and they ran a test. She had influenza! SO, a shot later we left the office and headed to get antibiotics. I felt so bad for her! Here she is when we got back from the doctor - totally tuckered out!!!! The only risk is that it could become pnuemonia and that's what the medicine is for. So hopefully it runs it's coarse quickly! We want to be better!!!

Valentine's Day and Cross-Country Skiing

Well, for starters I've always said that Paul outdoes himself when it comes to holidays and for Valentine's Day he thought that it would be fun to go cross-country skiing. Neither one of us had ever been and now I think that I have a new favorite sport!!!! It was SO fun and I can't wait to go again. It was a great workout and being outside to enjoy all the amazing scenery was great. We went up to the mountains and I loved just being away from everything for the day. We went with some friends from work and they were so much fun. Below that I posted a pic of Carter that I just thought was funny. After that is a pic of my WHOLE family (minus the brother on a mission). I just recently ran into some old friends who asked to see pics of my whole family so here they are!

Paul and Sarah after a 5.5 mile loop around the lake!

Our group for skiing! So fun! We spent the whole day laughing!

Carter sporting his new hat. Is he happy, sad, or kinda mad?!

My whole family this last summer. My hair is lots longer now and my kids have grown quite a bit but you get the general idea!

Just Another Glorious Day

I never have anything very momentous to post but I just had some cute pics of the kids and thought I'd sahre. I also included pics of cugar cookies that they decorated. I LOVE sugar cookies and I LOVE Valentine's Day so it was the best of both worlds. My mom is great at doing fun activities with the kids and so she called and told me to bring them up to decorate and just have fun. I was nice to get out of the house on a cold day! Thanks mom!

Pre-Decorated (but still oh so good!)

Post - Decorated. My mom makes the best cookies!

My Dad came over and he and Carter are best buds. He was making Carter laugh (who has applesaace all over his face!).

I call Lizzie my "Purpleicious Princess" and she loves it! Here she is for some snowtime fun in her purple hat and jacket!

And Kate is our "Pinkalicious Princess" and she adores this hat. We don't know why cuz it's really pretty crazy! But she makes it look cute!

My New Venture

SO, Paul got me a new camera a while back and I've been taking a class at BYU-Idaho to see if I could be any good. Here's my recent attempts at photos and photoshop. I think it's so fun and I'm hoping to get better. I think I have a new favorite pasttime!

A leaf in my yard. I blurred the background color for more emphasis.
I'm sure some of you are saying, "How'd she take this?" The beauty of a self timer. It worked!

My gorgeous Kate

Liz and her "Fairbanks Smile" (classic in Paul's family! They all have this smile) I love her eyes in this pic!

Our Bottomless Pit

Anyone who knows Carter knows he LOVES to eat...and eat...and eat! Here he is enjoying some lunch!

Open Wide (Like he needs to be told!)

My fanastic brother with Carter. Daniel also happens to be a fantastic uncle!

Lizzie producing some pretty sad puppy eyes!

Kate told me that she needed some reading glasses like mommy and so we headed to the dollar store for a pair. Here she is sporting them. She looks like an old lady! She only wore them a couple times and then gave them to me and said they were for mommies!

Sometimes Life is Just So Hard

I just love this picture of Carter! He can produce the most pathetic faces and tears! And his cry is just as bad! He was tired and ready for bed and had just had it! I should have been comforting him, but his face was just so cute that I had to take a picture!

Things That Changed Me in 2008

I thought before January was over I would reflect on the past year in light of the new one! When I think back over 2008, there were actually quote a few things that made it one of the most amazing years ever for me. Some of them are completely my own obsessions, some are life0-changing, some are historical, and some have altered my life forever. So here's looking at 2008 to welcome 2009!!!!

The most amazing part of this year was having Carter, my third child and first boy!

The Twilight Movie came out in November and I loved it! Totally obsessed! Released on DVD this year on March 21st. Mark your calendars!

I started and finished the Twilight series in June and July. I'll never be the same!

President Thomas S. Monson became out new prophet and filled his first assignment as he dedicated the Rexburg Temple. How amazing!

President Gordon B. Hinckley passed away. A beloved prophet who saw me though most of my teens and will always be the "prophet I remember".

Barak Obama was elected the first African-American president of the United States in history. I feel honored to witness history in the making.

The Rexburg Idaho Temple was completed and dedicated in February. We are so blessed!

I got totally caught up in American Idol and loved David Archuleta. Too bad he didn't win!

Those are just a few of the things that seemed to fill my life this past year. A few other things include my new love of "Greek" (a TV sitcom), Albertson's chocolate chip cookies, and my new love of photography. All in all this year has been unforgettable and I can't wait to make this year even better!