The Kron Family

Happy 100th Birthday Arizona

2012-02-15T20:41:00.000-08:00

In honor of the 100th anniversary of Arizona becoming the 48th state, here are 100 things we love about Arizona. (in no particular order).

1. The sunsets
2. The blue sky
3. Wallace and Ladmo
4. Ample parking
5. Wide freeways
6. Camelback mountain
7. Arizona State University
8. Desert landscaping
9. Fake grass
10. Palm trees
11. Wearing flip flops in January
12. How excited the weatherman gets when it rains
13. Sedona
14. Dateland (the best roadside bathrooms on the I-8)
15. Seeing snow on the superstition mountains after a storm
16. Haboobs (just the word not the storm)
17. Point Hilton at Tapatio Cliffs (where we got married)
18. The Coffee Shop at Agritopia
19. Chandler Regional Hospital (where our children were born)
20. Indian Fry Bread
21. Queen Creek Olive Mill
22. Ostrich Festival
23. That If you wanted to, you could go snow skiing in the mountains and party in Mexico in the same day.
24. Thinking 60 degrees is freezing
25. Being a zonie in San Diego during the summer
26. Spring Training
27. Roadrunners
28. Oregano's
29. That traffic is not that bad (Ami wrote this one, he obviously does not have my commute)
30. Hole 16 at The Waste Management Open
31. That the Cardinals actually made it to a Super Bowl (maybe they'll win it sometime in the next 100 years)
32. Humble Pie
33. Scottsdale Fashion Square
34. The women at Scottsdale Fashion Square (yes also Ami's and yes, I gave him a hard time about it)
35. Walking into air conditioning when it is 115 degrees outside
36. Walking out of the air conditioning when I'm freezing in a restaurant
37. Wearing shorts in December
38. The mid century historical houses in the Willo District
39. The cost of living
40. Four Peaks (the mountain)
41. Four Peaks (the brewery)
42. Hoover Dam (so what that we share it with Nevada)
43. The 45 minute flight to Vegas
44. AJ's Fine Foods
45. El Chorro Lodge
46. Toyko House
47. The mole sauce at Rancho de Tia Rosa
48. Tamales during Christmas Time
49. Mac and Gaydos
50. PF Chang's Rock n'Roll Marathon
51. That Arizona's birthday is on Valentine's Day and Ami's 1/2 Birthday
52. The Saguaro Cactus
53. The Hyatt at Gainey Ranch (the best place for a summer staycation)
54. Club Rio (RIP)
55. That Bill and Ted were "supposedly" from San Dimas, but the movie was filmed here.
56. Golfland/Sunsplash
57. Monument Valley
58. Gin Blossoms
59. DJ's Bagels in Fountain Hills
60. The Jerky Store in Parker
61. How Show Low got it's name
62. Salt River Canyon
63. Montezuma's Castle
64. The Bells of Arcosanti
65. The old west--think Wyatt Earp and Doc Holiday
66. Plateaus
67. Sunset Pointe
68. Frank Lloyd Wright
69. Gammage Auditorium
70. That we don't do daylige ht savings time
71. Prescott Courthouse and Whisky Row
72. The Outlet Shops at Anthem
73. That the Apollo Astronauts trained in Arizona for the moon mission
74. The 75 mph speed limit on the I-10 (you have to slow down to 70 in California)
75. Tempe Town Lake
76. The Grand Canyon (you have to see it at least once)
77. Standing on a corner in Winslow, AZ (still need to do this one)
78. Wrigley Mansion
79. Postino
80. The Farm at South Mountain
81. That the lights on South Mountain spell love
82. Old Town Scottsdale
83. Payson
84. That the streets are straight
85. Our friends and family
86. The Four Corners
87. Houseboating on Lake Powell (ok--still need to do this too)
88. Snow in the desert
89. There is always a gas station around the corner
90. Papago Park
91. Pat Tillman
92. Fiesta Bowl
93. The Phoenix Zoo
94. John McCain (ok we are reaching a little, but we are almost to 100)
95. Y95 and KZZP
96. Cine Capri (the original one, but the new ones are cool too)
97. Slide Rock
98. Grand Canyon Railway
99. Eating outside on Thanksgiving Day
100. The fact that we could actually name 100 great things about Arizona

Happy 100th Birthday Arizona!

Grandpa turns 90!

2012-02-06T21:07:00.000-08:00

Happy 90th Birthday Raymond Wilson Darling

90 candles on the cake and Grandpa blew them all out

It was a family reunion as well. Dad, Grandpa, Aunt Linda, and Uncle Jim.

And all of the Darling Cousins.

Its not easy to get 4 generations together for a group picture

Kelly & Bryan with their Grandpa.

We love you Grandpa.

Project 2012

2012-02-06T20:38:00.000-08:00

The Kron Household is undergoing a makeover this year and one of our first projects was to do away of the palm tree theme in our front room. First up--recover the bistro set chairs. All it took was a trip to the fabric store and a new staple gun.

Out with the old

and in with the new

Lots more projects to come.

2011 Year in Review

2011-12-20T21:19:00.000-08:00

A look back at 2011:

The year started off with fireworks

And our family of 3

But someone special was going to join us very soon.

Brady Samuel joined us on March 25th and our family was complete.

Chloe loves having a little brother.

Chloe and Brady flew on an airplane to Minnesota to visit Great Grandma Arlene and had fun playing with the all the Cousins.

Joel (oldest Great-Grandson) and Brady (youngest Great-Grandson -at the time) with Great Grandma.

Chloe having fun with Joel.

Ami's Brother, Kfir, Graduated from ASU and moved to LA with his girlfriend Melissa.

Kelly's brother, Bryan, got married in Maine at Casey's Parents Home. Bryan and Casey continue to live in Denver with their dogs Walter and Olivia.

As a family we traveled to San Diego and Los Angeles

Brady relaxing on the beach while Daddy and Chloe play on the beach in San Diego.

In LA at the ASU / UCLA Football game.

Our team had a new logo

and next year we will have a new coach.

Chloe rode a horse for the first time and a camel too.

Brady started standing and I'm sure will be walking before we know it.

It was quite a year.

Here's hoping that 2012 brings us continued health, happiness, and perhaps a little more sleep.

Kron Family Pictures 2011

2011-12-16T20:28:00.000-08:00

All photos by Melissa Young

Taken 11/21/2011

Chloe 2 and a half years old
Brady 8 months old

We're Andy's Toys!

2011-12-16T20:06:00.000-08:00

Our Toy Story Halloween. Mrs. Potato Head, Buzz, Rex, and Jessie

all ready to hand out candy to trick or treaters.

Our Little Pumpkins!

2011-11-07T21:34:00.000-08:00

That was then.....

Chloe's 1st Halloween.

This is now--Brady's 1st Halloween!

Trying to get a pic of these two together was the biggest Halloween Trick of all.

But their smiles are the best treat ever.

Finally out of their school Halloween outfits and ready for Trick or Treaters.

Brady as Buzz and Chloe as Jessie!

Happy Halloween 2011!

Sailor Meets Country Girl

2011-10-16T22:09:00.000-07:00

We traveled across the country on a whirlwind 2 night trip, traveled through 2 states, but were able to see Bryan and Casey become husband and wife. The wedding was in Maine. After learning that there are no direct flights to get to Maine from Phoenix, we decided to take a direct flight to Boston, spend the night and then drive the rest of the way to Belfast, Maine. We had about 14 hours in Boston (which included sleeping), but we were determined to see some of the historic town.

The view of Boston Harbor from our Hotel Room--not too bad for an airport hotel.

Let the Lobsterfest begin--If we were going to spend 48 in New England--you bet we were eating lobster for everymeal.

First Meal--Whole lobster, stuffed with shrimp, rice, and other yummy stuff.

Next Oysters at the Union Oyster House--which claims to be the oldest restaurant in the country. Thomas Jefferson and John Adams probably ate oysters right were I was sitting. Next we walked around, ate canolis from Mike's Pastry and had a beer in a very old bar.

The next day we woke up at 6am, we wanted to continue our lobsterfest with lobster benedicts at the hotel restuarant, but we were still on AZ time and it felt like 3am and to be honest, we were still full from the night before. So it was off to the rental car place to start our roadtrip to Maine.

After 4 hours, and 25 bucks in toll fees, we finally made it to Maine.

We continued our lobsterfest with lobster rolls in Belfast, Maine.

And then we finally made it to the wedding.

The setting was something right our of Martha Stewart's Garden Wedding Guide.

Canoe used to serve beverages.

Sunflower garden backdrop

All you can eat lobster and veggies from Casey's parents garden.

Ami ate 5 lobsters. Kelly ate just 2.

Congrats to Bryan and Casey! We couldn't be happier for the two of you!!!

Making a Difference One Step at a Time.

2011-09-15T22:52:00.000-07:00

One of our goals for the year was to do something charitable. After much searching I think we have found our projects.

Kelly is participating with Team in Training to train for the PF Chang's Rock n'Roll 1/2 Marathon and raise $1500 for the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society and Ami has gotten involved with Junior Achievement and will be teaching 3rd graders all about cities for 5 weeks.

We both got involved through our work. UnitedHealthcare is a National Sponsor of Team in Training and Kelly is participating with her client Shamrock Foods as a way of combining healthy living and giving back to society and Ami learned about Junior Achievement from an email at work and hopes it is an organization he can be a part of for a longer period of time. We'll see after he stands up in a room of 3rd graders, if he still feels the same way.

If you'd like to make a contribution to my Team and Training Fund--or just check out how my training is going--you can click on the icon below.

Escaping the Heat!

2011-09-10T21:00:00.000-07:00

Crystal Pier

Pacific Beach~San Diego

August 4-7, 2011

The right view from our seaside cottage.

and our view to the left.

Usually we like to stay out on the pier and sleep over the ocean, but this year we visited in peak season and they only had availability in the upstairs unit right on the boardwalk. This is the view from our balcony.

The sounds of the ocean are putting Chloe to sleep.

Time for beach fun with our tent and umbrella.

Brady loved the shade.

Chloe having fun with Mommy.

And even more fun with Daddy.

We joined the Brewster Family at a concert in the park in Point Loma. Chloe loved showing off her dance moves.

And she loved running with Abigail.

And they both loved spinning

Round and Round

Day 2--more beach time fun!

Chloe loved the turtles at Sea World--but she kept asking "Where's Nemo, Where's Nemo?"

No Nemo here--just some lazy sea lions.

Mommy and Brady at the Sea Lion and Walrus Show.

We finally found Nemo!

Time for Shamu

Family Portrait.

We had lots of fun!

Brady and Chloe going for a seaside ride.

Our last stop before we hit the road home--Burgers at Hodads!

And French Fries of course.

We can't wait to go back next year!

NKOTBSB

2011-08-28T18:22:00.000-07:00

The year was 1990.... My best friend Jenn and I begged and then dragged our mom's to Compton Terrace in the heat of the summer to see a certain boy band from Boston. Now 21 years later, OMG...did I just say 21 years. Jenn and I reunited for New Kids (or old men) on the Block and Backstreet Boys.

Sibling Play Time

2011-08-12T20:41:00.000-07:00

Chloe is enjoying teaching Brady lots of things including how to play with his toys!

Shuck the Huskers

2011-07-17T15:45:00.000-07:00

Ok--I'm going back in time with this post. I had hoped to scan many more pictures than I actually did while on maternity leave, but I did manage to find these gems. The quality is horrible and I'm sure these are from a disposable camera, but they have survived in a box for 15 years. Can you read the score board? Yes, it is the infamous Nebraska Shut out 19-0, our last glory days for ASU fans and our undefeated season from 1996. Here's hoping this season brings us memories like this!

I do believe this was the last time that the goal posts came down in Sun Devil Stadium and were paraded through campus and down Mill Ave. Both Ami and I used to have a piece of the field goal net, but that is long gone I'm sure in our many moves.

Double Trouble

2011-07-11T21:40:00.000-07:00

It may be like pushing a house, but this really is the best stroller ever. Here we are enjoying a hot summer's eve at the zoo. This is Brady's first time in a forward facing stroller. He loved sitting up next to his big sister.

The Great Phoenix Haboob of 2011

2011-07-08T21:12:00.000-07:00

How could I not blog about the Great Haboob of 2011. Where were you on July 5, 2011? We were snug in our nice comfy house completely unaware that a 5000 foot wall of dust was rolling into the valley.

We knew some sort of storm was coming, so we took in the outside chairs, locked up the spa cover, and took down the hammock, but we had no idea that this was going on outside until we watched the news. In the morning, our cars and house were covered in a layer and are still covered in a layer of dust.

There are some awesome pictures and time lapses being posted. I could just watch it all day. If you weren't snug in your house like we were it was probably quite scary.

Alex the Cat

2011-06-25T21:26:00.000-07:00

It has been a long time since I've posted any pictures of my 1st baby, Alex. He has become second fiddle to the other babies that now share his space, but he still loves all their stuff and continues to think it is his. Here are some recent and not so recent pics of our furry little baby.

He is always getting into something and Chloe does not like it when he lays on or in her stuff. It seems that all we ever say is "No No Alex!" So much so that Chloe has picked up this phrase as well.

He just wants to be part of the family and eat at the table with the rest of us.

He tried to sneak a ride in Ami's backpack

and in one of Kelly's bags.

Graduation Celebration

2011-06-03T13:05:00.000-07:00

It was a proud day for the Kron Family as Kfir finally walked across the stage to receive his college degree (well he actually received an empty display case, but we are confident the diploma will arrive in the mail shortly).

The dean of the college gave an inspirational speech, I wish I could tell you more but unlike this guy below--we did not take notes.

Family Picture Time!

Kfir with his girlfiend Melissa--both are now ready for their next journey in life--a move to So. Cal. where Melissa will go to law school and Kfir will start his career in the film industry.

With Uncle Jacob and Savta Elizabeth.

With a proud Mom and Dad.

Hell Yeah!!!

A royal couple kiss!

We were honored to host a graduation party for Kfir--The wall boasted a trip down memory lane showing Kfir's 25 year journey.

I also was so excited to have this custom cake made in honor of Kfir! We also summoned our friend Eric to create some custom wine labels. (If you are easily offended just look at the pictures, don't read the fine print).

With all this graduation talk, Ami and I were forced to remember how long ago we graduated. Here is a little trip down memory lane. In fact these pictures were taken in BD (Before Digital). I scanned them in some time ago.

Ami and Kfir

4 Friends: us with Jan and Jeff--and yes we are still friends.

Ami and Kelly--Class of 1999.

Mother's Day in Minnesota

2011-06-03T12:25:00.000-07:00

5 days, 4 nights, 3 hour flight, 2 kids under 2, and 1 stressed out Mommy. It was a good thing that I planned this trip before Brady was born as I had extreme anxiety about traveling to Minnesota as the trip got closer and closer. It was a family reunion to visit Grandma for Mother's Day. Well it wasn't the entire family, but alot of us. It just all worked out with me being on maternity leave and having a free flight to use on Southwest, with my mom, Aunt Marlene, and Erica all planning to go to Minnesota at the end of May--we all collaborated and surprised Grandma with a visit. To let her know we were coming, we all sent cards to her on her birthday (about a month before Mother's Day) with the message that we would see her soon. Unfortunately, Ami couldn't make the trip since he has a big presentation at work at the end of May to prepare for. So with my mom's help, Chloe took her 2nd airplane ride and Brady, who was 6 weeks old, took his 1st.

I'm sad to report that there are no pictures from the airplane or airport, with a stoller, 2 carseats, a toddler, and infant, there was simply no time to snap some pictures. I was forced to accept the reality that I was "THAT FAMILY" you know the one who takes 30 minutes to go through security. The carseat would not fit through the x-ray machine, so both had to be manually inspected. Luckily they didn't make Chloe walk through the scanner by herself, but as my mom carried her through--she beeped (forgot to take off a necklace), then I had to take Brady out of the wrap I was carrying him in, but as I carried him through--I beeped (cell phone was still in pocket). Then my breast milk had to be inspected as well as my camera bag. I put all the chargers (cell phone, camera, portable DVD player, ipod, etc) all in the bag and they told me it was too many electronics in one space so they had to check out what all the wires are. Next we just had to board the plane. We learned that car seats have to go by the window--bummer as I wanted the window in case I had to nurse Brady, but luckily he slept most of the flight. Chloe was great thanks to new flashcards, stickers, and the portable DVD player loaded with Elmo.

Once we arrived, we met Aunt Marlene and Katy picked up an awesome mini van and were on our way to Grandmas. Mom, Aunt Marlene and Katy stayed with Grandma and me and the kids stayed with Jenny and Dan. I figured that they had the most kid friendly accomodations and they luckily had room for us. Thanks to the GPS we took about at 40 minute drive through the countryside and finally arrived at the Wilmot house.

The next day Joel and Noah had school, so there was time for the young ones to play--Chloe and Caleb went for a walk and discovered dandilions, ducks, and some dog poo. The also played in the back yard with only a few tantrums to report

That afternoon we were off to St. Paul to visit the children's museum. I had read about it Parents magazine in an article listing the top 10 children's museums in the country.

"Do you know the muffin man?"

Jenny and Chloe playing with puzzles

Chloe had fun playin' with the boys!

Giant Bubbles--Chloe's dream come true.

Chloe loved watching Elmo on her little DVD player. She had a hard time sharing with her cousin Caleb.

The littles--Easton and Brady

Gilmore Family Craft Day--Sarah and Aunt Beth making magazine bowls.

Brady meets Great Grandma Arlene

Cutie Pie Braelyn.

The Arizona Cousins--Kelly and Chloe and Erica and Braelyn

Chloe loved dancing with Noah.

The Gilmore Family re-united.

The Gilmore-Wilmot-Boyer Familys: Dan, Caleb, Noah, Jean, Joel, Grandma Arlene, Jim, Jenny, Jackie, Dan and Easton.

The Gilmore-Mahoney Family (minus a few), Marlene, Grandma, and Katy.

The Gilmore, Darling-Senior, Kron Family-Teresa, Brady, Grandma, Kelly and Chloe

The Gilmore, Henning, Risvedt, Castro Family- Braelyn, Erica, Grandma, Beth, Joaquin, Sarah, and Doug.

All the cousins with kids (minus Matt and Radley who couldn't make the trip from Florida)

The 3 little ones-Easton, Brady, and Braelyn.

Great Grandma with the oldest and youngest great grandsons-Joel and Brady.

The Wilmot garage was like an amusement park.

Chloe loved riding in the wagon with Joel pedaling on the tractor.

The Wilmot House

and their cute little mailboxes!

It was bittersweet to leave. I really wish we all didn't live so spread out, it was great to see all our little ones together.

The Mommy Transformation

2011-05-26T11:01:00.000-07:00

2 years ago today I became a mother and now I am a mommy to 2 precious little miracles. When Chloe was born I started a Mommy Blog--but I never really kept up with it, but kept the entries (maybe one day for my mommy book). I wrote this on August 4, 2009.

The Mommy Transformation

Before I had a baby, I was convinced there there was some sort of "switch" that happened when people became moms. Maybe a hormone that is secreted during the birthing process or some sort of pheromone that the baby gives off. I mean how else could my once boob flashing, skinny dipping, shot making girlfriends become church going, bunko playing, cookie exchange party planning, coupon clippers. Not that there is anything wrong with that. But I just couldn't understand how one human could drastically change your life like that. I never read about it in any of the pregnancy books, my doctor never talked to me about trading in my push up bras for nursing bras or how I would want to trade in happy hour for an hour of watching my baby smile. And then.......

It just happened. I had a baby and she became the best thing I have ever done, my best friend, my beautiful baby girl. The first night in the hospital, I lied awake holding her in my arms and thought-THANK GOD PREGNANCY IS OVER!! Seriously I did think that-but I also thought that this wasn't so bad-being awake at 2:30am watching a perfect baby sleep, imagining what she would become, and how (at least for the first few years) she would be completely dependant on me and that my most important job was to love her.

This is how I became a mom and my life changed forever.

I've learned alot since I wrote this and probably the biggest lesson I've learned is how much a mother loves her child. I have alot more appreciation for my mom and feel like I should apologize profusely for all the times I was a horrible daughter, but I'm sure I'll get my fair share of attitude from Chloe one day. I've also learned patience, gratitude, and how to get through the day with little or no sleep (thank you starbucks). I am thankful that I have a wonderful husband to share this experience with and know that he has grown as a person since becoming a daddy. I thank him for always rescuing me when I need it.

Happy 2nd Birthday Chloe.

Visit Chloe's Blog for more birthday pictures.

Human Cocoon

2011-05-23T10:22:00.000-07:00

I'm not sure what is going on here--but I cocooned myself on the couch--I'm sure after a sleepless night rocking Brady in his bouncy chair. It was so nice of Ami to capture this moment. At least Alex kept me company.

Frogs Here, Frogs There

2011-05-18T22:46:00.000-07:00

Frogs where jumping everywhere!

This year we had a very small passover celebration. The fun began at Chloe's School where we were invited to sit in on their class seder.

It was so cute to see all the kids with their little seder plates singing songs while the JCC Director told them the story of Passover. Chloe ate lots of matzah that week and still asks for it. She also made her very own seder plate, Elijah's cup, and matzah cover.

Then at our house we had a very short kid friendly seder thanks to http://www.diyseder.com/ where I created a special Haggadah for Chloe which included songs and coloring pages. I made use of my plastic passover cups and bowls I bought on clearance at Target last year and learned how to hard boil eggs (tough I know) as well as made an awesome Coq Au Vin chicken dish that you literally just through into a baking dish and toss in the oven (recipe to come). Next year I will have to copy my friend Nicole's idea and make masks of the plagues for everyone to wear

Brady slept through most of the seder and Chloe had fun running around singing the Frog Song and opening gifts.

Eat your heart out Magnum P.I.

2011-05-02T21:36:00.000-07:00

We celebrated our friend Neil's 30th Birthday with a mustache party.

The whole family got in on the fun...well almost, Chloe spent her first evening with a real babysitter, the daughter of a woman who works at her school (yes, I was a nervous wreck--but I hid my nerves behind my mustache).

I even made mustache cupcakes for the occasion!

Brady may just be a few weeks old, but on this night--he was just "one of the guys!"

The men and their staches.

All the ladies (and Brady).

Pose down anyone...don't ask, I have no idea--I was just asked to take pictures.

Brady finally found a mustache that fits him a little better. Poor little man--I hope he doesn't have mustache nightmares.

Another one bites the dust... Goodbye Marisa!

2011-05-02T21:08:00.000-07:00

It started with a phone call 3 days before Brady was born. We learned that our friend Marisa Johnson who had cystic fibrosis had made the decision to stop her treatments and leave the hospital where she has spent the majority of the past year. We didn't know what this meant and were given the impression that she didn't have much time left. Her family had arranged an open house for people to come see her but it was going to be 2 days after Brady was to be born and I knew I would still be in the hospital. We quickly reached out and arranged to see her the day before Brady was born. She looked beautiful and was her happy, smiley self-It was hard to believe she was sick as the only indicator was the oxygen that she was hooked up to. I think seeing her gave us a false sense of her time left and on April 6th we got word that she passed away. I went to lunch with my girlfriend Chrissy and we were actually talking about Marisa at about the exact time that she passed. We all knew this day would come as the average lifespan of someone with CF is the mid 30's. Marisa was 33. She was truly a ray of sunshine in this world and it seemed fitting that both the day she died and the day of her funeral were cold rainy days. The world lost some of its sunshine and even mother nature was mourning her loss.

At the memorial service, guest were asked to write down a memory to share with the family. The one that quickly came to mind was in 2007 when I ran my first marathon. Marisa was there at mile 25 and when she saw me she started running with me and encouraging me to keep going. At the time it was just another friend cheering me on. But she gave me her breath that day and reflecting back it means so much as breathing for her was not an easy thing sometimes.

She planned her own memorial service and it was full of laughter and tears. Marisa joked while planning if it would be inappropriate to play the song "Another one bites the dust" by Queen--sure enough it played at the end of a video of her life. This poem was also recited at her memorial service and it was an honor to know someone who truly lived her dash for everyone but herself.

The Dash

I read of a man who stood to speak at the funeral of a friend. He referred to the dates on her tombstone from the beginning...to the end. He noted that first came her date of birth and spoke the following date with tears, but he said what mattered most of all was the dash between those years. For that dash represents all the time that she spent alive on earth and now only those who loved her know what that little line is worth. For it matters not, how much we own; the cars...the house...the cash. What matters is how we live and love
and how we spend our dash. So think about this long and hard…are there things you'd like to change? For you never know how much time is left,that can still be rearranged. If we could just slow down enough to consider what's true and real, and always try to understand the way other people feel. And be less quick to anger, and show appreciation more and love the people in our lives like we've never loved before. If we treat each other with respect, and more often wear a smile... remembering that this special dash might only last a little while. So, when your eulogy is being read with your life's actions to rehash, would you be proud of the things they say about how you spent your dash?

By Linda Ellis

Marisa enjoying herself at just one of our many ASU tailgate party's.

They grow up so fast.

2011-04-04T15:24:00.000-07:00

Brady and Chloe had a visit from Andon and Avery. They were so good holding baby Brady and they brought Chloe some presents while their mom and one of my best friends January brought us dinner and the most delicious cookies I have ever eaten--Please Jan, I must have the recipe-or better yet, can you make me more? =)

It just seems like yesterday that Andon and Avery were little toddlers running around and now they seem like grown ups. I found these pictures on our computer of little Andon and Avery in 2004 when they were just a couple of months old.

Daddy in training.

What I was probably thinking at the time: "So precious-I'm glad its not mine" but now I am so happy to have two little munckins of my own. I treasure this baby stage-it goes by so quickly.

Our Family of Four

2011-03-29T17:24:00.000-07:00

One of the sweetest things about welcoming a new baby boy is learning how you fit together...

The way his sleepy weight fills your arms so perfectly and how that place where neck and shoulder meet suddenly seems made for him to snuggle his head into. But even more than that, it's discovering just how beautifully he fits into your life-how there was always a place right in the heart of your family just waiting for this precious boy to come and fill it with so much love.

It is hard to believe that Brady is only 4 days old. We feel as if I have known him forever.

Our first glimpse of Brady in the operating room.

Our family of four. Chloe enjoyed meeting her new baby brother.

She made a card for him and brought him gifts which included a green football and a monkey blanket.

Bringing Brady home.

Hello Sparky!

2011-03-09T19:56:00.000-08:00

Chloe went to three ASU Basketball games this year and had a great time watching the spirit squad, Sparky, and the basketball team.

With Daddy in front of his freshman dorm. Will Chloe live their one day?

Chloe loves to watch Sparky, but this is as close as she likes to get to the real Sparky.

A pre-game meal at the Taco Shop before the game enjoying chips and a quesadilla.

Are we winning?

Probably not.....

Last Night Out

2011-03-06T12:30:00.000-08:00

Less than 3 weeks to go before we become a family of 4. We enjoyed one last night out with friends at a tapas restaurant in Scottsdale. Only because my grandma requested it--we took a photo. So here I am 9 months pregnant--Am I glowing?

Football Pops

2011-02-15T19:53:00.000-08:00

My latest obsession is with cake pops. Here are the ones I made for Superbowl XV. I predicted the winner as they were made with green cake for Green Bay! Check out the superbowl sweets from the cake pop queen herself at http://www.bakerella.com/. I have alot of room for improvement.

I am going to a tea party at my friend Shelly's house on Saturday. She has become quite crafty lately and I want to impress her with by making either cupcakes or pops. You can check out her blog HERE

These ones might be out of my league, but they are super cute.

I also want to try to make puppy pops for Chloe's birthday

New Year's Resolutions

2011-02-06T04:02:00.000-08:00

I know it is February, but Ami and I did make several resolutions this year. It was actually a very nice formal event. We had dinner at Fleming's (without the muchkin--thank you parent's night out), and each wrote down our resolutions and then we revealed and discussed them over dinner. Resolutions are really like goals for the year and I know the first step to achieving them is to write them down. So here are a few of our resolutions:

Kelly: Sew at least one project a month- I'm actually on target for this one. January's project was to recover the cradle bumper for our baby boy and February's project is to make a shirt dress out of Ami's old work shirt for Chloe. I have half of the project cut out and it is only Feb 6th

Ami: Many of Ami's goals were financial. We now have our own financial planner who is only an email away. We've set up Chloe's 529 College Fund and Ami's goal was to set one up for the baby as well. He also wants to set up our "emergency" fund--which is half way done---I see the paper work still sitting on the desk--but at least he has the paper work and it is half way filled out.

Kelly: My next goal is to remember birthday's and anniversary's of our family, friends. I am so embarressed that I am so horrible at this. I often remember way to late to send a card or do anything special and then the other half of me sometimes remembers too early, buys a card and then forgets to send it. Since I am up at 4am on a Sunday--I thought I would be productive and I actually started making a master list. I also think I'm going to honor this resolution by sending people all the cards I've purchased for whatever event and send it to them--no matter how late it is. So if you graduated 2 years ago and get a card now--It's from me...better late than never.

Ami: Ami's next resolution was to do something charitable. I asked him if he meant finanically, like a donation, or like volunteering. He said either. We both always have good intentions every year on this, but it seems like the last few years have been crazy. But this is a good one I think we both should do.

Kelly: I've already written about this next resolution---Meal Planning. So far so good--we have only had one night that we completely failed and went back to our old ways of being frustrated about what to have for dinner--so we ordered a pizza--but one night in one month is not bad.

I know we have more--but I can't think of them right now and these seem like enough to me. Wish us luck!

If at first you don't succeed...

2011-01-25T20:59:00.000-08:00

I think part of good meal planning is using things you already have to create meals. Sometimes you want to eat something, but you don't have all the ingredients. You then rush off to the strore and spend $50 on everything, cook your great meal and then are left with food that goes to waste. Before we do a big grocery shopping trip, I'm trying to use all the food we have. We did a great job of this last week, but still have a pantry of random 1/2 filled boxes of pasta and other misc items.

So today when I made us fresh carrot apple juice with my handy dandy Jack LaLanne Power Juicer I decided to try to use the carrot pulp to make some muffins. Juicing has made me think about composting as well, as there always is alot of pulp left over, but I just don't think I'm ready to be that "earthy" yet. The other recommendation is to use the pulp for baking. I had about 2 cups of carrot pulp and remembered that I had some oat bran in the pantry that needed to be used up--so today's recipe is Carrot oat bran muffins and I already had all the incredients.

Preparation time: 17 minutes
Baking time: 25 minutes

3/4 cup oat bran
1/2 cup whole wheat flour
3/4 cup all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon ground allspice
1/4 cup honey
1 cup fat-free milk
1 egg
1/4 cup vegetable oil
2/3 cup packed, shredded carrots

Preheat the oven to 375°F, and line 9 tins of a standard muffin pan with muffin papers. In a mixing bowl, combine oat bran, flours, baking powder, baking soda, cinnamon, and allspice. In a small mixing bowl, blend honey, milk, egg, and vegetable oil together. Slowly add wet ingredients to dry ingredients, stirring until dry ingredients are moistened. Stir in shredded carrots. Fill each muffin paper with 3 heaping tablespoons of batter. Bake for approximately 25 minutes until muffins are golden and baked through.

Yield: 9 muffins
Serving size: 1 muffin

Nutrition Facts
Per Serving:
Calories: 188
Carbohydrate: 27 g
Protein: 5 g
Fat: 7 g
Saturated fat: 2 g
Sodium: 220 mg
Fiber: 2 g

They smelled great, looked great, and tasted like hockey pucks....I tried to make the recipe a little healthier and substituted applesauce for the oil, but didn't expect them to taste so bad--Then I started to think that maybe it was because I used the leftover carrot pulp from the juice instead of regular grated carrot. Maybe all the "good" part of the carrot was juiced and just the flavorless fiberous part is what is left in the pulp.

So I tried another recipe I had from Cooking Light and this time had much better results

This is not my picture--it is from the Cooking Light website, but mine looked just like this with the beautiful strands of carrot and zucchini showing.

This time I used the food processor to grate the carrots, zucchini, and apple and only subsituted splenda for the sugar and I used whole milk instead of the buttermilk--the outcome was a delicious, sorta healthy bread or cake.

Garden Harvest Cake

Ingredients

4.5 ounces all-purpose flour (1 cup)
3/4 cup sugar
2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup grated peeled Granny Smith apple (about 1 medium)
1/2 cup grated carrot (about 1 medium)
1/2 cup shredded zucchini
1/4 cup chopped walnuts, toasted
1/4 cup canola oil
1/4 cup nonfat buttermilk
2 large eggs
Cooking spray

Preparation

1. Preheat oven to 350°.

2. Weigh or lightly spoon flour into a dry measuring cup; level with a knife. Combine flour and the next 4 ingredients (through salt) in a large bowl, stirring with a whisk. Add grated apple, grated carrot, shredded zucchini, and walnuts to flour mixture; toss well. Combine canola oil, buttermilk, and eggs in a small bowl, stirring with a whisk. Add egg mixture to flour mixture, stirring just until combined. Spoon batter into an 8 x 4–inch loaf pan coated with cooking spray. Bake at 350° for 50 minutes or until a wooden pick inserted in the center comes out clean. Cool 10 minutes in pan on a wire rack; remove cake from pan. Cool completely on wire rack before slicing.

Nutritional Information

Calories:223
Fat:9.7g (sat 1g,mono 4.4g,poly 3.6g)
Protein:3.8g
Carbohydrate:31.4g
Fiber:1.3g
Cholesterol:47mg
Iron:1.2mg
Sodium:233mg
Calcium:30mg

1-1-11

2011-01-17T21:13:00.000-08:00

What a great date to start the new year! We welcomed 2011 with some friends, food, and fireworks!

A new year called for a new culinary adventure--a new twist on the cupcake--the cake pop. Inspired by the new book that Santa brought me. Mine were red velvet cake pops with golden sprinkles! Yummy Yummy in our tummies!

We had other appetizers to snack on. Who says the Disney channel is just for kids--I was inspired to make the caprese kabobs from Tasty Time with ZeFronk.

Nicole made these beautiful Glittering Holiday Cookies.

New Year's was also a great excuse to try a couple more Brie en Croute recipes. Both were delicious! We tried one with just apricot jam and brie, the other with rosemary and pecans!

It was a cold night--all the girls huddled inside and while the boys braved the cold and stood around the fire.

It was the first year that fireworks were legal in Arizona.

Our backyard was lit up like the forth of July.

The guys set off quite a few before the nervous mamas inside made them stop. Yes--I definately felt like a mom cancelling all the fun--but all I could imagine was our backyard going up in flames or Ami's face being blown off. We'll save the rest for the 4th of July!

2011 will be an important year for us as we welcome our baby boy into our family. It will be a year of big adjustment, but much excitement.

New Years Resolution: Day 1

2011-01-02T21:34:00.000-08:00

One of my New Year's Resolution is to be better at meal planning. This topic is often a source of frustration for Ami and I as meal planning requires...well...planning. There are many times when we get home from work and we have no idea what food (or lack of it) we have in the house. Since Chloe was born we have been really reduced the amount we order out or go out and often one of us has to stop at the store on the way home to pick things up--by the time we both get home from work, get Chloe fed, bathed, and put to bed---it is often 8:00pm before we can sit down and eat. We both also have reduced our usual workout routines--this time is now filled with the before mentioned--Chloe dinner, bath, bed routine and I just can't get myself to pick her up from one day care only to drop her off at another day care at the gym--so the only time we can really get a work out in is if we wake up really early (which is just not happening) or we have to go late (which really doesn't happen either because one of us is starving or too full to go).

So this is the reasoning for my New Year's Resolution and I am staring today. We have salmon, shrimp, meatballs, and chicken thighs in the freezer--so that is the start of the meal planning. We also have a pantry full of food that I want to clean out so I'm going to try and use what we have this week and try not to have to stop at the store for very much. Tomorrow I would like to go to Yoga at 7:30pm (which is usually our dinner time), so I thought a crock pot meal would be best. This way dinner is done by the time I get home and I can eat early with Chloe, and Ami can eat later.

Monday's Dinner: Slow cooker chipotle lime chicken thighs served with rice

I wanted to use the chicken thighs and decided on this recipe as we had most of the ingredients. I had to make a few substitutions--we did not have canned tomato sauce so I used marinara sauce instead and we are not making the Jamaican Rice--but will mix some thyme, cilantro and scallions into the rice.

I'm proud to say that dinner is prepared and in the fridge, just waiting for me to drop it in the crock pot before I leave to work. I'm sure it will be edible, I just hope it tastes good.

It never rains in Southern California

2011-01-02T15:30:00.000-08:00

Tony! Toni! Tone! obviously did not spend alot of time in Southern California, because it didn't stop raining while we were there. When we planned and booked a family vacation to celebrate Ami's Dad's 70th Birthday, we didn't realize we would be visiting during a Seattle like downpour producing record breaking rainfall. But we made the best of a wet situation and we LOVED the house we rented in north Hollywood.

It was a 3 bedroom, 2 1/2 bathroom 1900 square foot house and was perfect for Ami to fit us all. I think our new way to travel will be to rent a house using http://www.homeaway.com/ or http://www.vrbo.com/. It is just such a comfortable way to travel especially with kids who need room to run around. The full kitchen allowed us to eat breakfast and some dinners at home.

The first stop on our trip was to Canter's Deli were we enjoyed hot soup and yummy sandwiches.

We then decided to try and stay indoors and took a trip to the Natural History Museum.

We celebrated Henry's birthday at the Hummus Bar and Grill with some of his old friends from his Los Angeles Days.

And we took a trip to Lucky Strike and bowled a couple of games.

Chloe loved cheering everyone on

Has is stopped raining yet? I want to play outside.

Happy Birthday Dad! Cheers to you!

As you can see Chloe enjoyed the whole trip except the car ride home.

Are we home yet?

My Year in Status

2010-12-12T20:21:00.000-08:00

What a great facebook application---it takes all your posts and randomly selects them and puts them together. What a great representation of the year. Starts with a guilty working mom moment and ends with pregnancy insomnia.

Happy Hanukkah!

2010-12-10T20:45:00.000-08:00

Adventures in Puff Pastry

2010-12-05T14:05:00.000-08:00

My recent adventures in puff pastry all began with searching for a unique, easy to make dessert for Thanksgiving. I decided to try a recipe from my favoite cookbook--Great Food Fast from the Martha Stewart Every Day Food Collection. The Rustic Apple Tart was simple and delicious. I even sliced the apples thin with our mandolin without cutting my finger open. It was light and crisp and gave us the taste of fall without 4 sticks of butter and whip cream.

I used frozen puff pastry and since 2 sheets come in one package, we decided to try another recipe from the same cookbook--this was more savory and topped with mushrooms, onions, spinach, and goat cheese. I am not sure why the directions for this one were different than the apple as it had me pre-back the pastry before putting the toppings on--I assume so that the pastry did not get soggy, but the pastry puffed up real big in the middle--I guess that is how it gets its name. It was still good, but I thought it was missing something--a drizzle of a sauce or something like that. The apple one looked just like the picture, the mushroom one--not so much.

I was then inspired to bring something different to a friend's holiday party and sometimes you need an excuse like that to try something completely different. I attempted the Holiday Brie en Croute recipe from Pepperidge Farm. Once again--looked nothing like the picture--do you see my attempt of a decorative Christmas Tree on the top, but it was delicious and everyone at the party loved it.

Gobble Gobble

2010-12-02T20:16:00.000-08:00

We didn't take many pictures this Thanksgiving, but we did manage to take a few of our guest of honor.

Our turkey--felt it was a little dry this year--we did not brine it as last year it was so much trouble, but we may have to go back to the overnight soaking process. We instead stuffed a mixture of ricotta cheese, chive, and turkey bacon under the skin--sounded interesting when I read the recipe, but I don't think it did much for the bird.

Our "other" turkey--the tradional appetizer turkey--I love the addition of the green onion feathers this year!

Sneak Peak

2010-11-26T19:50:00.000-08:00

I normally wouldn't give everyone a sneak peak, but Shutterfly has an offer for a FREE $25 gift card if I post this. But you'll have to wait and check your snail mail box to view the inside of the card.

Joy And Magic Christmas 5x7 folded card

Make a statement with Shutterfly Christmas photo cards.

View the entire collection of cards.

Halloween Re-cap!

2010-11-19T21:00:00.000-08:00

I can't believe I almost forgot to blog about Halloween 2010! Here is the holiday in pictures:

Our Jack-o-Lantern

Last year I hit the after Halloween clearance sales, found some light up pumpkins and a spooky spider and web.

Skulls from our Pirate Party a few years back now make great halloween decorations for our front porch. Next year we will have candy corn lights to put up.

You don't need a reason to make cupcakes, but a holiday seems to motivate me a little more. Here is Mr. Bones--Thank you Hello Cupcake for making me feel like Martha Stewart. The "bones" are made from white melting chocolate.

Spooky Eyes cupcakes---My own creation.

Chloe was a cute lady bug, but Mommy and Daddy's costumes really needed some advance planning. Some wigs and a pirate hat just didn't cut it.

Chloe watching her friends have fun. She is probably wondering where all the other little girls are.

Evil Kenevil (aka Gavin) and two giraffes (Lexsen and Collin) playing while Chloe looks on.

When the sun went down, Chloe and Lexsen enjoyed sorting the candy into different containers and every once in a while actually gave some to the trick or treaters. We learned our lesson: We only bought 2 bags of candy and ran out by 6:30pm. While I ran to Target to buy more, Ami handed out some packets of olive oil, some ritz crackers and who knows what else from our pantry.

Vegas...Elmo's World?

2010-11-19T20:32:00.000-08:00

Our lives have definately changed: Ami has traded in pictures with vegas showgirls for pictures with Elmo on the strip . I know he did it for Chloe --what a great dad!

I just saved myself 20 bucks!

2010-11-19T20:18:00.000-08:00

sweWith Ami in Vegas for a guys weekend of watching sports (at least that is why he told me he was going), I decided to finally tackle some of the million projects on my list---and those projects do not include cleaning the house. If Ami is enjoying himself in vegas, I'm not spending the weekend cleaning.

First on the list---shorten my maternity jeans keeping the orignial hem. It is no secret that I am vertically challenged and unless I can find petite or short sized pants, they all need to be hemmed (this goes for Ami too). If fact this is one of the main reasons I bought the sewing machine, I figured if I could learn how to hem it would pay for itself in the long run. My first attempt was with some maternity jeans. I figured that if I screwed up royally, it wouldn't matter as I only have to wear them a few months. But I actually think they turned out ok--can you tell which pant leg is hemmed and which is not? I know, I know--the shorter pant leg, but you can't really tell as the hems look the same. It is not the most perfect job and it was very difficult going over the seems, but if someone is looking that closely at the bottom of my pants to notice, then I think they are the one with issues not me. Many of the instructions I found online said to use the zipper foot--but I did not feel like trying to figure out how to change the foot and figure out how to hem the jeans, so I just used the regular foot. There were lots of instructions online, but I basically used the directions from this site:

http://www.daciaray.com/?p=38 I did cut off the access as I had to shorten them quite a bit. Overall, a job well done I think--we'll see if Ami lets me do it on a pair of his jeans.

Our Growing Family!

2010-11-12T20:16:00.000-08:00

The word is out, our family is growing. Baby Boy Kron will be joining us in late March 2011. We are so excited and are preparing our hearts and home for this new little man.

Of course he already has his own blog: http://www.kronbaby2.blogspot.com/. It seems only fair that if Chloe has one, he should too. You can read all about how we first found out about him, the preparation for his nursery, and all his developments.

Boo at the Zoo!

2010-10-31T21:50:00.000-07:00

We celebrated my birthday with our new Zoo Membership (Thank You Mom & Ken) at Boo at the Zoo.

Looks just like a real elephant!

We are still beginners at this whole parent thing--we brought the jogging stroller and no tire pump and had a flat tire the whole day. But it was OK--Chloe liked the view of the animals much better on Daddy's shoulders.

Watching all the animals eat pumpkins makes Boo at the Zoo so much fun!

Chloe was not impressed with the goats at the petting zoo.

But liked going through the hay maze with Grandma T.

Off to see more animals!

Fall Family Photos

2010-10-27T22:35:00.000-07:00

FaOur fall family photo shoot started out great- A beautiful fall morning with temperatures in the 70's.

We dressed in our ASU best and headed down to the grounds around ASU's Gammage Auditorium for the start of our shoot.

What these smiles hide is that 5 minutes after we arrived at the location and met the photographer, we locked our keys in the car. We had to call someone to come and open our car door.

Yes, Chloe was shocked when she learned that her snacks, change of chlothes and favorite stuffed doggie were locked in the car.

It took about an hour for the help to come.

Needless to say--we took alot of photos in our ASU gear.

Finally, the car was unlocked. $85.00 later, new outfits and one favorite doggie were found.

By this time, both the temperature and Chloe's temper were heating up.

Of course, she smiles as we are walking from one place to another.

Play time with Mommy & Daddy!

Yes, we are the mean parents who dressed our baby girl up in her halloween costume for pictures.

But she was cute as a bug and it was all worth it. Check out Chloe's blog for more pics of Chloe. I promise to post them soon.

Photos by Melissa Young. http://www.melissayoungphotography.com/ She did such a great job of capturing this time in our life--pouty faces and all.

Great Food Fast

2010-10-03T21:28:00.000-07:00

Call it a new hobby or a passion for good food...Ami and I have discovered that cooking at home is both affordable and delicious. We have so many cook books and cooking magazines, that I decided we needed to start with one and just work our way through it--Julie & Julia Style.

First up is Great Food Fast from the Kitchens of Martha Stewart Living--The book has 250 recipes all with nutritional information and prep times (which is good because I don't know how many times I have started a recipe only to discover something needs to marinate overnight or simmer for 2 hours). The book is sorted by seasons and has salads, soups, entrees, pastas, side dishes and deserts.

So far we have tried

Crisp Goat Cheese Salad
Sauted Chicken in Mustard-Cream Sauce
Shrimp Pad Thai
Chili-Rubbed Salmon
Roasted New Potatoes with Shallots
and Grilled Vegetarian Tostadas (See Below--I love it when your dish looks just like it does in the picture--So ok--we added alot more cheese, don't tell Martha)

We are looking forward to trying the Chocolate Sandwiches (yes I said Chocolate Sandwich), Pork Quesadillas, Beef and Orange Stir Fry, and the Tortilla and Black Bean Pie.

I wanna be a Macho Man

2010-10-03T20:37:00.000-07:00

Meet some of Ami's fellow fantasy football freaks.

Breakfast with Sparky

2010-09-17T20:15:00.000-07:00

We recently joined Sun Devil Generations which is a divsion of the ASU Alumni Association to nuture little Sun Devils in hope that they become big Sun Devils.

The first event that we attended was a Grandparents Brunch with Sparky. It was a reunion of sorts as these former "band parents" are all now proud grandparents of little "devils" Bryar was on flagline with me and Jeff was on the drumline with Ami. If you would have told us 13 years ago that we would all be married, still be friends, and all have kids within a year of each other--well who would've believed it.

Breakfast was much nicer than I thought it would be. It was held inside the University Club and they even had football games playing.

Our meet and greet with Sparky didn't go so well. But Chloe did like her stuffed Sparky, so the hope is still there.

Gavin, Chloe, and Lexsen chillin' on the steps of Old Main.

Again--Chloe is all smiles when Daddy is around.

Sun Devil Family! Chloe with Grandma T and Grandpa Ken.

Happy Rosh Hashanah!

2010-09-12T13:06:00.000-07:00

Once again the Jewish New Year is upon us. It is time for Raisin Challah Bread, Honey Cake, and everything else to wish us a sweet new year. Chloe attended her first children's service at Temple Emanuel where we heard the story of Shamoni the Shofar and were entertained by the junior choir.

Daddy and Daughter are all smiles!

Welcome Baby Braelyn

2010-09-12T13:00:00.000-07:00

On August 16th, my cousin Erica and her husband Joaquin welcomed their new baby into the world. They did not find out the sex ahead of time, so it was really exciting to get the middle of the night text with the news...It's a Girl.

Welcome Braelyn Elizabeth! It is so nice to have another girl in the family.

Chloe got to meet her new cousin when she was only one week old. It is amazing how in one year you forget how small newborns are.

We have often been in the discussion of what degree of cousins you are to your cousins kids and what the cousins kids are to each other. After extensive discussion and research, I think I have it figured out.

Erica is my cousin. Braelyn is Erica's daughter and my first cousin once removed and Braelyn is Chloe's second cousin. If Kfir or Bryan have kids, Chloe will have her own 1st cousins.

The proud parents.

D-Backs Then and Now

2010-08-28T22:02:00.000-07:00

Then: July 30, 2009

Now: August 2, 2010

Cayenne Chocolate Minis

2010-08-28T21:44:00.000-07:00

My first attempt with Chocolate Ganache. Cayenne Chocolate Mini Cupcakes with a Lime Jelly Belly. It was the perfect cupcake for our friend John's Hatch Chili Roasting Potluck Dinner. They were nice and chocolatey with a little bit of fire at the end of the bite. I just added 1 1/2 teaspoons of chili powder, 1/4 teaspoon of all-spice, and 1/4 teaspoon of cinnamon to a basic chocolate cake recipe. As for the ganache, super easy thanks to my friends at Hello Cupcake!

I Scream for Ice Cream---Cupcakes?

2010-08-28T21:31:00.000-07:00

As some of you may know, since I am now a mom, I am working hard to try and develop some Mom skills-the sewing has seemed to hit a standstill at the moment, but I've had a couple of opportunities to practice the cupcake baking skillset. When our friends Aaron and Cassie invited us over for a BBQ and asked us to bring dessert--I knew just what to make: Cookies and Cream Ice Cream Cone Cupakes.

They are much easier than I thought. You fill the cones with the batter and cook--just make sure to only fill half way.

I then layered the cake cone filled with cupcake with an Oreo cookie, and a mini chocolate cupcake-all held together with Cookies and Cream buttercream.

Now it is just a test of the frosting skills to make it look like a soft-serve cone.

The before and after.

We (yes we--Ami helped alot) then had to create a special carrying mechanism as the cone cakes were too tall to fit into my cupcake carrier.

Time to enjoy.

Chloe is still undecided on cupcakes, but I know one day she will love them.

Mmmm...Skillet Lasagna

2010-08-28T20:54:00.000-07:00

We are very lucky to have several good friends who are excellent cooks--I cannot take credit for this recipe and literally stole it from our friends Jon and Nicole's Blog. Thanks Nicole--it turned out great, easy and ready in exactly 30 minutes. This one is definately a keeper. Keep 'em coming!

Skillet Lasagna

Serves 4 to 6

A skillet with a tight-fitting lid works best for this recipe.

1 - 26-ounce can tomato sauce
2 cups water
1 tablespoon olive oil
Table salt
3 medium garlic cloves, minced
1/8 teaspoon red pepper flakes
1 lb ground beef
8-10 curly-edged lasagna noodles, broken into 2-inch lengths
1/2 cup Parmesan cheese, grated, plus extra for serving
3/4 cup mozzarella cheese, shredded
Ground black pepper
1 cup ricotta cheese
3 tablespoons chopped fresh basil leaves

While meat cooks, chop garlic, break up pasta.

1. Heat the oil in a 12-inch nonstick skillet over medium heat until shimmering. Add the ground meat and cook, breaking apart the meat, until no longer pink, about 4 minutes. Stir in the garlic and red pepper flakes, salt and pepper and cook until fragrant, about 30 seconds.

2. Scatter the pasta over the meat. Pour the tomato sauce and 2 cups water Cover and bring to a simmer. Reduce the heat to medium-low and simmer, stirring occasionally, until the pasta is tender, about 20 minutes.

3. Remove the skillet from the heat and stir in 1/2 cup mozzarella and all but 2 tablespoons of the Parmesan. Season with salt and pepper to taste. Dot with heaping tablespoons of the ricotta, and remainder of mozzarella and cover, and let stand off the heat for 5 minutes. Sprinkle with the basil and the remaining 2 tablespoons Parmesan. Serve.

Family Photo Album

2010-08-11T21:14:00.000-07:00

Ami, Bryan, Casey, Greg, Linda, Ken, Teresa, Grandpa, Loraine, Kelly, & Chloe

Summer Roadtrip: Part Three-San Juan Skyway and Telluride

2010-08-11T21:06:00.000-07:00

From Durango, we hit the road to see what all the buzz regarding this scenic drive was all about. This loop was about 5 hours total and 233 miles.

The road from Silverton to Ouray was especially beautiful, winding through the mountain passes. We will not be taking this drive in the winter.

We stopped to stretch our legs at the look out at the Idarado Mine, an old gold mine near Ouray. Right here there was a five mile mining tunnel through the mountains that went to Telluride. It was crazy to think that we were only 5 miles away from our destination, but it would take us another hour and a half to wind our way through the mountains to get there.

Finally made it to Telluride--our first look at the Ski Resort in the Summer--Here is the Coonskin Run--we've stayed at the base of this run for many years on our ski trips.

First stop was lunch and some beers at Smugglers.

Next a trip up the Gondola to the "See Forever" Run. It was amazing to see all the ski runs turned hiking trails. If we were a little better prepared, we could've hiked a bit, but we were in flip flops and didn't bring alot of supplies with us to wander the mountain.

So instead we found a grassy area and took Chloe out of the back pack to wonder around.

At Mountain Village and at the base of lift four. So green and beautiful.

Back on the Gondola, ready to head back to town.

Summer Roadtrip: Part 2-Andrew's Lake and Silverton, Colorado

2010-08-01T21:23:00.000-07:00

Aunt Linda and Uncle Greg's house in Durango served as our home base for two amazing day trips in Southwestern, Colorado.

First up was a hike at Andrew's Lake, a beautifual Alpine Lake with amazing views.

Chloe's 1st hike--we started with the stroller

But quickly ditched it for the baby backpack.

We met some furry friends along the way.

Time for some photos at our turn around point.

The Family:Linda, Greg, Teresa, Ken, Bryan, Casey, Ami, Kelly, and Chloe

Now onto Silverton for lunch.

Granda and Loraine took the train and met us there. They had quite the adventure, the coal engine train started a fire that had to be put out by helicopter.

Our Lunch Stop.

Seems like all the historic mining towns had a saloon, opera house, and brothel.

Check out the sign--this one was owned by Madam Jew Fanny!

Summer Roadtrip: Part 1-Arizona

2010-07-28T22:20:00.000-07:00

Durango or Bust!

Our summer roadtrip began with a stop at Sunset Point to stretch our legs, enjoy the family restroom, eat some applesauce, and take in the great view.

After a quick "sleepless" (I'm sorry to the room next to us--screaming baby all night--need I say more)overnight stay in Flagstaff we hit the east bound I-40. So many local sights to see--it was between "Standin' on the corner in Winslow, Arizona" or "Experiencing the Impact" at Meteor Crater.

We chose Meteor Crater.

Wow--it's a big hole in the ground, but it is the best preserved meteorite crater ON EARTH, right here in our own Arizona backyard. As cheesy as it sounds, I'm glad we checked it off the list. Sometimes we want to travel to far off places and don't even pay attention to what we have close by--next on the "list" is Tombstone--but I think we'll go when it is not 100 degrees outside.

Photography by Ami

Next stop was Window Rock-The Capital of the Navajo Nation and home to free roaming cows.

Memorial for the WWII Navajo Code Talkers.

Window Rock is was just featured in Phoenix Magazine as a must see place in AZ. Since it was only 16 miles out of our way and located right on the NM/AZ border we thought we would stop. It was much smaller than we thought it would be--we were thinking Sedona sized mountain, but it was definately a holiday card worthy picture.

On the road again. Desination: Aunt Linda and Uncle Greg's House in Durango, Colorado.

Stay tuned for Summer Roadtrip: Part 2-Colorado

Fabulous 4th!

2010-07-28T21:25:00.000-07:00

This year's 4th of July was spent on holiday in Sunny Palm Springs with two other families who didn't seem to mind waking up at 5:00am, going to bed at 10:00pm, adjusting meal times around nap schedules or the constant disposal of dirty diapers. Yes they are great friends, but they also have toddlers of their own.

Chloe was a middle child, being 2 months younger than Jake and 2 months older than Noah.

Noah, Chloe, & Jake

Our mid-century Palm Springs Vacation Home with resort style pool.

There was lots of eating,

Lots of swimming,

And lots of Mommies!

For the rest of the happenings of the trip check out Nicole's blog post-- she said it all.

Under the Sea & Chino Bandido

2010-07-09T21:07:00.000-07:00

When you wake up at 5:30am on the weekends, one day can feel like two days. We spent the morning at the new aquarium and then went to lunch at another valley Triple D (Diners, Drive-ins, and Dives--for you non food network junkies) eatery-Chino Bandido--a combination chinese mexican food place--and we were home by 12:30pm just in time for a nap.

Chloe with Nemo and Family!

The aquarium was great for kids and had lots of touching pools.

The aquarium was fun for grown-ups too!

I think this picture looks as if Chloe is in Space.

Celebrating Father's Day!

2010-07-07T22:17:00.000-07:00

Happy Father's Day to a wonderful husband and dad.

We enjoyed a wonderful breakfast out with the family at the Queen Creek Olive Mill.

Don't all Dads get Bongo drums for Father's Day?

Fun Time!

And I cooked Ami's Choice for Dinner. One of our favorite Rick Bayless Recipes from Mexican Everyday

Mushroom and Spinach Enchiladas with a Tomatillo Sauce!

Sedona Girls Get-a-way

2010-06-28T22:42:00.000-07:00

I took a long overdue overnight trip with some great friends to one of our state's treasures: Sedona.

We took our time and made a stop to visit Arcosanti. I only knew it as the place that makes amazing wind chimes, but it is so much more. It is an experimental city and urban laboratory in the high desert and has been under construction since 1970. When complete, Arcosanti will house 5000 people, demonstrating ways to improve urban conditions and lessen our destructive impact on the earth. Its large, compact structures and large-scale solar greenhouses will occupy only 25 acres of a 4060 acre land preserve, keeping the natural countryside in close proximity to urban dwellers.

We all agreed that we would like to go back and take the full tour and learn more about what it is all about.

Next on our stop--the red rocks of Sedona. We went to escape the Phoenix heat, but it was not much cooler in sedona at about 95-100 degrees.

We must have worn too many matching outfits while on Flagline together at ASU--we just had to wear matching pink jeep t-shirts during our Pink Jeep Tour.

We had a great tour of the red rock formations including the Bart and Lisa Simpson Rocks.

And a 700 year old year old Sinaguan cliff dwelling.

An annual tradition has begun!

Recycled Darling Designs

2010-06-17T22:43:00.000-07:00

My first major sewing project was to take one of Ami's old work shirts and transform it into a shirt dress for Chloe. Once again I failed with my before pictures, but it was one standard blue button down shirt for the dress material and I used one ugly print shirt from our costume bin for the waist band.

I wanted to add the lace trim to the bottom--but I think I learned my lesson--$4 for a role of the lace trim and it only covered the arms. My goal with sewing is to reuse fabrics and not buy new all the time. By the time you buy all the fancy fabric it costs just as much as in the store.

Don't get me wrong--this shirt is rough--un-even seams and other blemishes, but overall not too bad. I have one more "old" shirt from Ami to make into another dress, I hope it turns out just as cute.

And no--I'm not a sewing diva--I simply followed the instructions from Made.

Adding another project to the list....

2010-06-01T22:44:00.000-07:00

From Handmade Beginnings

Chloe just loves to put items inside of other items....so I think this will be my next project. It is from a new book that is out called Handmade Beginnings and this is a free tutorial on the website. I also vowing to reuse fabrics from old clothes instead of spending my money on new fabrics which just give me another expensive hobby. However I did learn from my mom to check the reminent (did I spell that right) section of JoAnn's because they go on sale often and you can find some great scaps for projects --so I did by 3 new fabrics that will be great for this project.

What about my other projects....Shirt Dress....Play Kitchen for Chloe? Guess what --the shirt dress is done and I will post pics soon. As for the kitchen--It doesn't need to be ready until December so I have some time with that one.

Magazine Bowl Tutorial

2010-05-24T22:12:00.000-07:00

After racking up miles from a trip to Israel and Europe on an airline we never fly, I was faced with the choice of letting my miles expire or using them to purchase magazine subscriptions. Since we now receive every magazine from Consumer Reports to Wine Spectator, I thought that I needed to find a way to recycle or upcycle them. Hence the birth of the Magazine Bowl. Ok, I didn't invent this art form, but making them does make me feel like an artist (or at least a craft blogger). So here is my stab at a tutorial.

All you need to start is a magazine, scotch tape (I use the kind that says for gift wrapping, because it is very clear), a glue stick, and a container of mod podge. Since I have so many magazines, I like to color coordinate my bowls, but multi-colored bowls are just as nice. Monthly magazines work the best. Weekly mags like Entertainment Weekly and Sports Illustrated have very thin pages.

Start with one page and fold it in half length wise and the fold it in half again.

I unfold the second fold and then take the edge to the center crease and keep folding in half that way. I do this so the final fold doesn't have a bunch of lose edges that you have to tape together.

Your final foled page can be as thick or thin as you want. I think the bowls turn out more "bowl" shape instead of "pot" shaped if you use a very thin folded strip. Secure the loose end with a glue stick or clear tape. I've used both and both work just fine.

You will need alot of these strips. This is the very time consuming part of the magazine bowl. So pop in a movie and start folding away.

Once you have all your folded strips, take the clear tape and tape the edges together to form really long strips. You will start rolling the strips into a coil.

Keep rolling until you have a large rolled flat circle of magazine strips. Next you will make form the bowl. To do this you will start to separate the strips until you have the shape of the bowl you desire. With each flat circle you could make a taller, skinny bowl that is more shaped like a vase or a shallow, wide bowl. The possibilities are endless.

Finally seal your bowl with a couple coats of pod modge and you have yourself a unique "up-cycled" bowl to throw your keys in, put hair ties in, or give as a special handcrafted gift.

Buy Fresh, Buy Local

2010-05-20T21:08:00.000-07:00

One "perk" of having a baby is that we don't just get to wake up early during the week, we get to wake up early on the weekends too. We took advantage of the situation and visited the

Downtown Phoenix Public Market.

We purchased heirloom tomoatoes, a crazy looking cucumber and garlic scapes. We had no idea what a garlic scape was but the farmer had a sign that said "This week only" so it seemed like a once in a lifetime opportunity. Turns out scapes are the flower stems that garlic plants produce before the bulbs mature. Growers often remove the scapes to push the plant’s energy toward bigger bulbs, and when harvested while they are young and tender, the scapes are delicious.

Our whole lunch this day was grilled cheese with heirloom tomato and cucumber salad on the side---every item was from a local grower, baker, or cheese monger.

The blog entry Ami was supposed to write

2010-05-07T23:55:00.000-07:00

But he never got around to it....so here is Ami's Blog in the words I thought he would write.

I don't mean to stereotype people from the south but........

Ahhh....the joys of home rental home ownership....There is nothing like buying picking out a toilet that you think your brother would be happy shitting in.

We picked one with a top flush-a-bility rating.

Some dude at work, "Hey Ami, do you want tickets to Wrestlemania"

Yeah....Kelly and the baby spent this Sunday afternoon folding clothes and watching chick flicks.

I don't think he had much fun. Here is Ami with Hulk Hogan and Macho Man Randy Savage????

Quite an impressive stage though....

When custom T-shirts go wrong....have a beer and wear it anyway.

Backyard Paradise

2010-05-07T23:22:00.000-07:00

Five years ago we planted two sticks. One stick grew to be tall and skinny and the other short and fat (and leans a little to the left), but their trunks grew equally stong and finally their purpose in life was realized. They were planted to hold a hammock.

Thank you sissoo trees for fulfilling our backyard dreams.

We now have a hammock stand for sale if anyone is interested...

Dualing Sewing Machines

2010-05-05T21:08:00.000-07:00

In the words of my mother, "Kelly, I never thought in a million years we'd be sitting across from each other sewing." But that is exactly what we were doing. I have been wanting to buy a sewing machine for the simple fact that Ami and I need almost every pair of pants hemmed due to our being vertically challenged and all, so I finally broke down and bought my very own sewing machine. My 8th grade home ec. skills did not come rushing back at me all at once so I started to play around with the machine when my mom came over to work on Chloe's Playhouse project. She also only has an 8th grade home ec. sewing education so we were cracking up at this scene. We didn't quite finish the playhouse, but made alot of progress. I even sewed stuffed felt carrots for Chloe to pick.

Here is the front of the playhouse. I just love the flowers in the window sill. Chloe will be able to pick flowers to give to mommy (or to put in her mouth).

I even managed to sew a bib with the help of Homemade by Jill's bib tutorial

I used some fabric I picked up to practice on and used an old towel for the backside. It is a rough job, especially since I decided to use the fancy zig zag stitch instead of just a straight one. But is does the job a bib needs to do and I recycled one of my million old towels that I keep just in case the toilet overflows or something...this is a much better use. Not too bad for someone who only sewed scrunchies in 8th grade.

My first major project will be to sew Chloe a shirt dress out of one of Ami's old work shirts.

Please support us as we join AA.

2010-04-28T22:19:00.000-07:00

With this new purchase we seriously need to join AA (Appliance Anonymous).

Here's a rundown of what we own:

Juicer (see above)

Ice Cream Maker

Kitchen Aid Mixer

Panini Press/Griddle

Ice Tea Maker

Rice Cooker

Pressure Cooker

Large Crock Pot

Small Crock Pot

Coffee Maker

Espresso Machine

Toaster

Baby Food Maker

Blender

Hand Mixer

Immersion Blender

Electric Knife

Food Processor

Small Food Processor

Citrus Juice

Wine Fridge

Microwave

Next Blog Entry--we will take a look at all the electronic we own.....

6th Annual Pat's Run

2010-04-25T19:56:00.000-07:00

We are proud to have been participants of Pat's Run since it first started 6 years ago with only 4000 participants (OK--I missed last year--I was 7 months pregnant, but Ami has done it every year). This year's race had 28,000 participants. It was great to see so many people come out to support the memory of Pat Tillman and raise money for the Pat Tillman Foundation. Our friends Jon and Nicole and their son Noah (who is about 2 months younger than Chloe) came out for the weekend. Here we are with Chloe and Noah in their BOB Strollers.

The Girls and two little guys-Me, Chloe, Noah, Nicole, Katleen, Bryar, and Lexsen.

On your mark, get set, Go!

Noah needed some pre-race nutrition.

Our Sun Devil Family at the finish line.

Mow my lawn.

2010-04-18T20:16:00.000-07:00

Before:

After:

Before:

After:

Before:

After:

We now have grass in our back yard, so that Chloe can run around and play. It requires no watering, no mowing, no weed pulling and really feels like the real thing.

Finger Lickin' Good

2010-04-18T17:52:00.000-07:00

We are really taking advantage of the festivals around the valley this year. First the Ostrich Festival, then the Tempe Festival of the Arts, and now the AZ BBQ Festival. BBQ teams from all over competed in a BBQ contest that was open to the public. Many of the teams had samples to share (for a fee of course).

And for dessert: Cookie Dough Stuffed Jalepeno Poppers wrapped in bacon--Yum!

Project Update

2010-03-30T21:49:00.000-07:00

Remember this heap of felt

It is looking more and more like a playhouse.

This side has apples that Chloe will be able to pick.

This side will have more animals when it is finished--a frog, lady bug, and butterflys, and maybe even a worm. I think we'll add a window too.

This is front door. The mail box will open so that Chloe can pass things through. The flower box below the window will also have flowers that she'll be able to pick.

This is Chloe's Garden. Chloe will be able to pick the lettuce leave and corn cobs. We'll be adding carrots and a basket to put all the veggies in. We'll be adding some leaves to the tree and words to the sign.

Thank you mom for your sewing skills--I can't wait to finish this.

And thank you to Homemade by Jill for giving me the inspiration.

Sleeping Over the Ocean

2010-03-26T21:10:00.000-07:00

For three years now we have spent a wonderful March weekend at Crystal Pier in San Diego. This weekend was our first trip with Chloe. We saw a whole new side of San Diego, the 5am-7am side. Our sleeping in days are definately over. But the fog rolling in on the beach was an amazing site. We took wonderful walks on the beach, enjoyed a Champagne sunset, and visiting with good friends on the beach.

I think Noah enjoyed our new beach tent more than Chloe did. Noah took a nap in it, Chloe just pee'd in it.

Mommas,Babies, and Bob Stollers--totally the in "in" thing.

Two babies, two sinks.

Happy Family!

Before we headed home--we stopped for an impromptu picnic in Ocean Beach. 2 Burgers and 1 order of onion rings from Hodads and one sleeping baby in the baby carrier. It is a good thing we didn't see the Diners, Drive In and Dives Episode or we would have ordered a bacon burger and milkshake too. Check out the video link below and you'll want a milkshake too.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yQ103cMl35o

It is always a good time at O'Shea's!

2010-03-24T20:56:00.000-07:00

And at the Kron's too.

Since we pretty much home bound most of the time with Chloe--we are becoming quite good cooks--maybe my dream of Kron's Kitchen Cooking Show isn't that far off.

Guinness-Braised Beef Brisket

We took a slow cooker recipe and amended it for our pressure cooker.

I omited the water and used 1/4 cup beef broth with 1/2 cup of Guinness. The flavor of the sauce was amazing. Next time I'll prepare a little more and try it in the slow cooker. We paired it with steamed cabbage and had a great St. Patty's Day feast.

2 cups water

1 cup chopped onion

1 cup chopped celery

1 cup Guinness stout

2/3 cup packed brown sugar

1/4 cup tomato paste

1/4 cup chopped fresh dill or1 tablespoon dried dill

1 can (14 1/2 ounce) beef broth

6 blackpeppercorns

2 whole cloves

1 (3 pound) cured corned beef brisket

Just throw everything in the pot and cook--so easy.

Can't wait for next year!

Cubs vs. Angels

2010-03-24T20:30:00.000-07:00

Springtime in Phoenix means Spring Training.

Cubs vs. Angels

All prepared for our day in the sun.

Rally Monkey Time!

8-7 Cubbies Win!

The 5 Best Wine Blogs

2010-03-24T18:38:00.000-07:00

Some guy wrote an article in some magazine once about the best wine blogs that you are probably not reading--and I've been holding on to the single page that I ripped out of the magazine since fall 2007. It's time to clear the clutter don't you think....

Anyways, I want to check these out....

http://brooklynguyloveswine.blogspot.com/

http://goodwineunder20.blogspot.com/

http://www.wineterroirs.com/

http://www.foodandwine.com/blogs/tasting-room

http://www.pinotblogger.com/

And they say there is no culture in PHX

2010-03-22T22:47:00.000-07:00

We are trying to make more of an effort to take advantage of all the wonderful things our own backyard has to offer. And by back yard, I mean the state of Arizona. The 22nd Annual Chandler Ostrich Festival was not to be missed (except for the first 21 years of its existance).

Our good friends Bryar, Greg and Lexsen.

We've come a long way--from College Roomies to Mommies.

Enjoying the Ostrich Races

And Cowboy Stunts.

Chloe enjoyed the petting zoo.

It was a hard choice between the deep fried Cookie Dough and the deep fried S'more-the S'more won.

See you next year Ostrich Festival.

A beautiful, courageous heroine, an all powerful king,a loyal cousin, and a villian who gets foiled by his own evil plans.

2010-03-22T22:10:00.000-07:00

Being that we are creating a Jewish Home for Chloe--we thought it was important to celebrate her 1st Purim.

Purim fell on February 27-28th this year. Purim is the celebration of the Book of Esther in the Bible.

How is Purim Celebrated?

By making cookies called hamentashen

I thought ours turned out just like the picture.

And dressing up in silly costumes (now you see why we enjoy this holiday so much)

Don't laugh at Mom's Yoga Mask--she spent all her time making the Princess Leia Ear Buns that there was no time for her own costume. Just of the sacrifices of being the Mom.

This is our most desperate hour. Help me, Obi-Wan Kenobi. You're my only hope.

The Story of Purim

Once upon a time, between the destruction of the First Temple and the building of the Second Temple, the Jews were almost destroyed. In the city of Shushan, Vashti, the Queen of Persia, refuses to obey the order of the King of Persia, Ahasuerus, to appear before his guests. The King then searches the country for a new queen. From among hundreds of applicants, Esther, cousin of Mordechai the Jew, is chosen. The King's Prime Minister was an evil man named Haman. Haman, a descendant of the tribe of Amalek, hates the Jews and decides to kill them. He convinces King Ahasuerus to issue an edict which orders the destruction of all Jews in the land. Mordechai pleads with Esther to save the Jewish people by talking to the King. At the risk of her own life, Esther appears before the King without being summoned by him. She reveals her own Jewish identity to the King and reveals Haman's evil plans. The King is outraged at Haman, and he issues a decree to make Haman the victim of his own infamous plot. Haman and his sons are killed, and the Jews are saved.

Kron Family Winter Vacation

2010-03-10T13:26:00.000-08:00

Enjoying the view from the top of "The Ridge" located right above the Stagecoach Lodge at Heavenly Ski Resort in South Lake Tahoe. We spent a fabulous 5 days there.

Hitting the slopes for the first time in 2 years!

Time to get our drink on.

And our eat on.

Day 2 of skiing.

Hmmmm...Should we ski California or Nevada today?

Cali it is.

Instead of skiing a 3rd day, we decided to head to Zephyr Cove and take a back country snow mobile tour.

Ami drove--I enjoyed!

Chloe's first Gondola ride.

She is smiling because it is warm inside the gondola.

Another breathtaking view of Lake Tahoe.

Daddy with his little snow angel.

We had a wonderful trip and can't wait to visit Lake Tahoe again.

Lake Tahoe is Heavenly

2010-03-01T19:56:00.000-08:00

More pictures from the Kron Family Winter Vacation to come......

Those Who Cook Together, Eat Together

2010-02-27T17:56:00.000-08:00

The Menu for our 3rd Anniversary Dinner

2-17-2010

Buttenut Squash Soup

Herb Roasted Lamb Chops

Roasted Asparagus

Molten Chocolate Cake with Peanut Butter Filling

2003 Silver Oak Alexander Valley Cabernet Sauvignon

Party Time--Excellent!

2010-02-20T12:39:00.000-08:00

A few years ago a blog entry with Party Time as the title would have very different content--Now that we have a munchkin of our own, we have been added to the birthday party circuit.

First up was Emma's 1st Birthday party--

Emma's Mom, Carrie did a great job with a cute cupcake theme. I took lots of notes and may have to borrow Carrie's giant cupcake pan for Chloe's 1st B-Day Party.

The following week was Gavin's 2nd Birthday.

Gavin's B-Day was a goldfish theme complete with a custom Goldfish Pinata.

Audrey did such as awesome job with the theme--I'm envious of her taste and talent. Check out all the details at her blog: http://www.myfinefamily.blogspot.com/

Chloe and Gavin--sharing secrets already =)

The Projects

2010-01-31T13:45:00.000-08:00

I will turn this

Into this

vintagesongbird.blogspot.com

And this heap of felt

Into this

etsy.com/shop/missprettypretty

Olio Nuovo--Festival of the New Oil

2010-01-31T12:50:00.000-08:00

We are trying to get out and about as much as possible and explore our local Arizona treasures. It always seems like we spend so much time trying to travel elsewhere when there is so much we haven't seen in our own back yard. The Queen Creek Olive Mill is one of these treasures. It is located just about 10 miles east of us, but we felt like we had taken a drive to the country. We took a tour and have a whole new appreciation of EVOO. We found a nice table underneath the patio next to a heater (yes--I know we live in AZ and it was 60 degrees, but there was a windchill and it felt like 55) where we enjoyed enjoyed lunch at their Tuscan inspired eatery called Del Piero, paired with a glass of red wine and a wonderful cake made with Blood Orange Olive Oil. We then proceeded to purchase $97.00 worth of Olive Oils, tepanade, nuts, and balsamic vinegar.

Good Eats in PHX

2010-01-24T19:59:00.000-08:00

Yum, Yum....There are some great places to eat in Phoenix, and one of favorite areas is 16th Street and Bethany Home Road. Right next to the burnt down location of Richardsons--is Luci's Healthy Marketplace: 1/2 coffee bar, 1/2 grocery store, and 1/2 restaurant--Ok I know that is too many 1/2's, but you get the point. We haven't been down in that area since the Richardson's Fire--and there is literally a whole in the building where Richardson's used to be. Some how Luci's survived and I'm glad it did. For lunch we ordered the Naughty Nurse and the Dirty Doctor--don't get too excited--they are just sandwich's. But they were amazing. We found ourselves an empty table at the end of the salad dressing aisle--next to the cash registers and diagnol from the vitamins (I told you it was 1/2 grocery store). Parking sucked--but it made us feel as if we lived in LA or San Fran where you have to park around the corner behind some building and hope that you don't get a ticket. Overall 5 stars--great little hangout with awesome food and an urban feel.