Thanksgiving

This year, we stayed in Vegas and Jared's family came to us.  His parents stayed with us and his sister and her family stayed down the street in a condo.

The family arrived on Wednesday (after I did some shopping) and we went to the pool.

Thursday we celebrated Thanksgiving by getting catering by Smith's Grocery Store.  They provided a turkey, mashed potatoes, broccoli and cheese casserole, cranberry sauce, gravy, and stuffing.  Amanda made rolls, I made fruit salad and raspberry jello salad, and Jared's dad made pies.

After dinner, we went to the Cactus Botanical Garden and Chocolate Factory.  They decorated the cactus garden with lights and it was surprisingly very beautiful.  The chocolate factory has a free self-guided tour where they give you free chocolate.  The chocolate is delightful.

On Friday, I had to work.  Jared took the niece and nephew to the park.

Friday was a relaxing day for the most part.  Playing the Wii, watching movies, and socializing.

Saturday, Jared and I both had to work.  After we got home, we had homemade pizza and played games.

Sunday, we all attended Sacrament Meeting together for church and then split up.  Jared's family went back to Utah and we went home and to work.

***Raspberry Jello Pudding Recipe***

1 small package raspberry jello

1 small package instant vanilla pudding 

1 small package tapioca pudding

3 cups water

Bring to a coil stirring constantly

Cool and fold in.

1 small container Cool Whip

1 1/2 cups thawed raspberries

Refrigerate until served

Jared's 28th Birthday

Jared turned 28 on Monday.

We started off with going to Chili's for dinner.  Jared got ribs and I got a caribbean salad.

Jared had no idea where we were staying the night (all he knew was that a hotel was involved) so we drove around while Jared was trying to guess where we were going.  We ended up staying at the Golden Nugget.

I got us cheesecake from the cheesecake factory and the same sparkling apple cider we had when we stayed at the Anniversary Inn, when we got married.  It was great to spend time just the two of us.  

For Jared's present, I got him the Nashville Band's Tribute for missionaries.

I wrapped his gift in a cereal box to make it look like the gift was larger than a cd.  Look at how happy he is.

Halloween

Jared and I were supposed to have our first similar day off.  It seems like I have had Monday/Tuesday off and Jared has had Wednesday/Thursday so we were excited to have the same day off.  However, I got called into work with another key holder being sick and I was the only one not working at that time with no kids.

Thankfully, my boss decided I was going to close early so I was out of there around 5:30 pm.  That meant I was able to make it to our trunk or treat with Jared.  We made homemade fudge and funfetti cookies and it seemed like it was a hit.  We had a number of moms taking fudge for their kids and eating it themselves.

Next year I am planning on actually dressing up and being a little bit more festive in decorations.

Here is the recipe for the Funfetti Cookies. (sorry, the fudge recipe is a special gift from an old roommate.  It is her secret family recipe, but she made an exception for my wedding present)

Ingredients
1 pkg. Funfetti cake mix
1/3 cup oil
2 eggs
1/2 can vanilla frosting
Sprinkles

Step 1
Heat oven to 375 degrees Fahrenheit   In large bowl, combine cake mix, oil and eggs; stir with spoon until thoroughly moistened.  Shape dough into 1-inch balls; place 2 inches apart on ungreased cookie sheets.  With bottom of glass dipped in flour, flatten to 1/4-inch thickness.

Step 2
Bake at 375 degrees for 6-8 minutes or until edges are light golden brown.  Cool 1 minute; remove from cookie sheets.

Step 3
Spread frosting over warm cookies.  Immediately sprinkle each with candy bits from frosting.  Let frosting set before storing.  Store in tightly covered container.

August/September Updates

We have now been living in Las Vegas for just over a month and it has been an adventure.  I just wanted to give a few updates about how life is going for us.  Who knows if any of these items will turn into a full post of it's own soon.

Jared
- He got a job doing catering for Cafe Rio.  He is a supervisor in training so whenever they feel like he is ready, he will be getting a promotion.
-School has started so Jared has been spending a lot of time doing homework.
-His friend, Scott, came to visit for a night on his road trip to Seattle and back to Florida.

Robin
-She had her 24th birthday
-The new job is going well.  Her favorite parts includes working birthday parties and playing with the children during down time.
-She will start a few online classes on Tuesday.  She will be taking accounting I and event management.
-She got new glasses.
-On her birthday, she found out she had the beginnings of an ulcer growing in her eye so she was put on meds and told to not wear contacts over the weekend.  (Update, my eye is now healed because of catching it early and doing a good job taking care of it over my 4 day weekend.)

showing off the new glasses.

Chicken Cordon Bleu Pasta

Tonight, I made dinner for Jared.  I made Chicken Cordon Bleu Pasta.  I found it on pinterest and got the recipe from a blog called Amy's Kitchen.  Here is the recipe and then our thoughts about it.

Chicken Cordon Bleu Pasta
Recipe courtesy of Amy from Amy's Kitchen.
Serves 6

1 lb. Pasta (penne is my favorite)
1 cup Chicken Breasts, cooked, and cubed. (we got chicken tenderloins and cut them before cooking them)
1 cup Ham, cooked and cubed (we got the salad topping cubes)
1 1/2 cups Milk
8 oz. Cream Cheese
2 Tbsp Dried Minced Onion
2 cups Swiss Cheese, shredded (we used mozzarella)
Salt
Pepper
Red Cayenne Pepper
1 Cup Panko Crumbs
1/2 cup Melted Butter

Bring a large pot of water to a boil over med-high heat.  Salt it and add the pasta; cook until al dente (about 11 minutes.)  Drain and return to the pot.  Add in the chicken and ham and toss to combine.

Preheat the broiler. (I preheated to 350)  In a medium saucepan, combine the milk, cream cheese and minced onion over low-medium heat.  Cook, stirring frequently, until it becomes a smooth texture (about 5 minutes.)  Stir into the pasta mixture.  Stir in the swiss cheese and season with salt, pepper, and red cayenne pepper to taste

Transfer pasta to a baking dish and top with panko crumbs.  Pour melted butter over crumbs and broil until browned.

*Jared and my thoughts.
We really liked it.  We had this with green beans and rolls.  The only change we talked about was to crush up corn flakes for the top instead of bread crumbs.  We felt like that would bring out the breaded flavor more.

The Big Move

Jared and I decided to move to Las Vegas.  

Jared wants to finish his education here.  His plan is to get his undergrad in Exercise Science and a minor in Addiction Studies.  He is currently going to College of Southern Nevada, but will transfer to UNLV as soon as he gets residency.

Because Robin has graduated college, she is able to go and focus on working.  However, she will take a class or two online from Blue Mountain Community College to add on minors to her degree.  The plan is to take classes in Hospitality and Business.

Robin was able to find a job in Las Vegas.  She was hired on the spot for Childs' Play as a shift leader.  The job posting was for a floor attendant so an immediate promotion was great.  I also currently have the knowledge that when a new location opens next spring, I will become a manager.  All of this was because of my degree and the fact that I worked at Disney World.

We were lucky enough to get a condo in a home owners association.  It is a two bedroom, two bathroom condo.  I will post pictures as soon as the apartment is situated.  the HOA is in a gated community with a pool and spa just outside our building.  Oh, the best part is. . .We have a washer and dryer.  I am so excited.

Summer Items

I need to catch us up for our summer activities.

Jared-
     Worked at Belmont Inn and Suites until early July.
     Made many trips to Las Vegas for job interviews and moving preparations.
     Moved our stuff in the moving van with the help of his dad.

Robin-
     Worked two jobs. Aquatic Assistant at South Jordan Fitness and Aquatic Center and Head Guard/Program Coordinator.
     Recieved a new job in Las Vegas.
     Made Dean's List for School
     Graduated in Recreational Management at BYU.
   
Together-
    Colin (Robin's brother) came to visit for a month.  He was coming for BYU football camp and stayed for fun.
     We went to Lagoon.
     We attended Jared's family reunion.

Here are a few pictures of everything.

Robin at Lagoon

Robin and Colin at Lagoon

Jared at Michael's Wedding Reception

Colin at the Tumbling Gym

Jared jumping into the foam pit

Jared stuck in the foam pit

Jared playing at the toy store.

Colin trying to be scary

Colin actually knows how to smile.  I didn't know that

Jared being a hula dancer

Wet, Wet, Dry at an event I held

Las Vegas

Las Vegas

Honeymoon (part 2)

In March, we went on our real honeymoon to Southern California.  We stayed at his family's vacation club, went to 6 Flags, Disneyland, Hollywood, and the Newport Beach LDS Temple. We also went to dinner at my cousins' house and saw Hunger Games.

Disneyland

Just inside the gates.

Jared and me in California Adventure.

On the Symphony Swings.

Tigger is one of Jared's favorite Disney characters.

Its a small world.

Newport Beach Temple

Observatory when you can see the skyline and Hollywood Sign.

Jared in front of the Hollywood sign.

 Getting his hands dirty.

My cousins live super close to the LA temple, so we went on the grounds.

Valentines Day

On Valentines Day, I ended up getting pretty sick.  Therefore, to keep things simple, Jared made me dinner and we ended up watching a movie here at the apartment.

I made this with some of the other women in Relief Society.

The pizza was shaped like a heart.  

The movie we ended up watching.

Honeymoon (round 1)

We had a mini-vacation when we first got married.  This involved staying at the Anniversary Inn in Salt Lake City.

The First Night we stayed in Tuscany.

The second night was Swiss Family Robinson

We spent some time in Salt Lake City.  We went around Temple Square. 

One of the best things was that Jared bought me a picture that he knew I really wanted.  This picture was one that my bishop back home painted.  

Pendleton Reception

The week after the wedding, we traveled to Pendleton to have another reception.  It was held at the Pendleton Art Center and it was wonderful. I am so happy with how everything looked.  The center pieces were different types of cakes.  This forced people to mingle to get whatever type of cake they wanted.  A few of the flavors were carrot, triple chocolate, carrot, strawberry, red velvet, german chocolate, and so on.

Above is my special two tier wedding cake that I really wanted.  It was super simple but beautiful.

We served punch, hot chocolate, and wassail.  

How everything looked just before starting.  Also, the staircase on the side had garland, lights, and spray painted pine cones.

Utah Reception

Jared and I had two receptions.  The first was in Utah, the day after the wedding.  We held it in a church building where a wonderful decorator transformed the gym.  We served hot chocolate and cinnamon rolls.  I thought everything turned out just wonderful.  Here are a few pictures.

Wedding Day

It has now been 7 months since we tied the knot, but we decided to go ahead and start our married life blog.  Yes, I have jumped on the bandwagon.  Oh well.

Jared and I were sealed in the Bountiful LDS Temple for time and all eternity on January 5th, 2012.

I just want to share a few pictures of our BEAUTIFUL day.  I am not joking.  It was 50 degrees on the mountain and January.  It looks like it could have been March.