OK, guys, so I am slowly getting caught up with all the fun that has taken place in the last month or so. I am sorry to say that this post won’t have any pictures. I just wanted to get this recorded before I forgot. So Jonathan and I went to Dallas for several things. We wanted to surprise my Mom as sort of a payback for the elaborate scheme we had last August to surprise my Dad with a visit for his birthday. We couldn’t leave her out of the fun. It ended up working out really well too. Our flight got in after 11 at night so Dad couldn’t use a simple excuse to come and pick us up from the airport. I mean how often do you have to go do your missionary visits from 11 to 12. Anyway, we came up with another story. My Dad told my Mom that he was called into work due to a server that had been causing problems the last few weeks. Mom had no reason not to believe him as this would not be the first time he got called in late at night for something along those lines. Dad quickly came out to DFW airport to pick up Jonathan and I after our 2 and 1/2 hour flight. We drove home and once arriving there we quietly snuck in the door after my Dad. (My Mom was upstairs) My Dad asked my Mom for a band-aid for his “cut finger.” My Mom came down stairs and started into the living room to check out my Dad’s finger. Of course Jonathan and I were sitting on the couch. My Mom did a double take at us and then about died. She didn’t know whether to jump up and down or to slap my Dad for not telling her we would be in town so she could clean up the house, bath the dog, and put sheets on the bed. We all laughed about it since Jonathan and I aren’t really that worried about any of the above. Anyway, so my Dad wanting to get this on film had Michael run down stairs and get the camera ready so we could get the look on Mom’s face. So we did get that. Unfortunately I do not have a copy so I can’t post it.
So, that was a really great start to a wonderful trip to Dallas. Friday we went to the Dallas temple with my grandparents and parents. It was really great to be able to go through a session there seeing as how I had only been there for baptisms before. I especially loved spending the time with my Grandparents. That was our first time going to the temple with them. And I have to say it was just as wonderful as I hoped it would be! To sum up the rest we got to go shopping, had an awesome Memorial Day barbecue, and played with our nieces. Oh, also, there were two more really great things that happened while we were there. We got to see Michael getting ordained as an Elder! Jonathan was really excited because he got to be a part of the circle. I can’t believe my little brother is old enough to be an Elder, but I guess I am not 18 anymore. He is getting ready to go on his mission. He has not yet sent in his papers, but we are all anxious to know where he will end up going once he does. Furthermore, I got to see my good friend Colette from high school. I hadn’t seen her in oh, 5 or 6 years. So that really was great! Anyway, so that pretty much sums up the vacation.

In further news I have news that Cindy, my cousin, is getting married!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Blake proposed to her last week and I couldn’t be more excited. I have seen the impact Blake has had on Cindy’s life and I can’t imagine someone better suited for her. I can only imagine she has had the same effect on him. Anyway, furthermore, guess who her maid of honor is? Yeah, that would be me!!!!! I am so excited. Anyway, it is going to be great, and I couldn’t be happier for Cindy. I have never seen her so happy with anyone!!

Also my friend Tami was able to go the the Temple yesterday on her birthday!  That was such a wonderful experience. She looked so happy!  Jonathan and I were happy we were able to be a part of her special day!

Well I am going to conclude today’s post. More updates later. Again, sorry no pictures. I am trying to get better about that.

Hey everyone!  Jonathan and I have a roast recipe that we actually got from a friend.  We make it every once in a while, but it is to die for.  I thought we should post it so everyone could try it out and enjoy!  As a sidenote, we do not have amounts for each ingredient because we just throw stuff in there.  I will try to help with that as much as possible. 

Hawaiian Roast

ingredients:

one medium sized roast
one onion
a few red potatoes
button mushrooms
garlic
pineapple juice
Malibu coconut rum
applesauce
pineapple rings
rosemary
thyme
salt
pepper

How to put it all together:
Usually what we do is put the roast in the crock pot then fill it about 2/3s of the way with pineapple juice.  Then we will pour in maybe a cup or two of rum.  Mostly we just let it pour for about 15-20 seconds.  (Don’t worry, since you will be cooking it all day most of the alcohol cooks out.)  Then you cube the onion, potatoes, mushrooms and chop up your garlic.  Add those to the roast.  Then we sprinkle the fresh rosemary and thyme on the top and a little in the juice.  We Salt and Pepper it about the same.  After that we cover what’s still not covered by juice with applesauce.  Top that with some pineapple rings.  Set your crock-pot to low and let it cook all day long.  I usually do all of this at about breakfast and it is definitely ready by dinner.  When dinner comes I take out the potatoes and mash them up into mashed potatoes.  We make a gravy out of the sauce and toast a little hawaiian bread.  Voila, dinner is served! 

Ok, I hate to say it, but not much other than school has happened since we last posted. Finally we were able to get out and do a little offroading! Here are some pictures:

See guys, even the desert can be beautiful!!

Isn’t our Beast awesome! This part of the trail was great because the temperature dropped about 10 degrees. It would have been perfect were it not for the awful flies. I would say that we all got eaten alive, but they didn’t actually bite us. I think we just got annoyed to death. That is the best part of a picture. You see this and think, oh, what a beautiful and pleasant trip. You don’t know about the flies. I love pictures. But seriously, it was a good time, despite the flies.

This is Martinez Cabin. The black and white gives it a bit of an eerie look, but it really is cool. This is an old cabin that belonged to the lead miner. I don’t have a picture of it, but across the way there is a tiny little cabin that used to have the workers bunks. If you have an offroad vehicle it is definitely worth a trip. I would just suggest doing it before or after the fly infestation of the season.

Oh no. Jonathan is falling. I have to save him…ok…so we are weird. But we had fun so what’s the big deal… What’s funnier is that later…

I had to save not only my husband, but also my friend Anthony…

These are our wonderful friends Anthony and Tami.

This was Jonathan’s favorite part. It was a steam powered engine. I thought Tami and I were going to have to give up our seats so he could load it up and take it home.

Here are a few more pictures of the different parts of the area…

This was probably the most exciting part of our trip. It’s a rattlesnake! Yeah so we were going to explore the old mine, but our better judgement told us this was a bad idea seeing as how we would have had to step over the rattlesnake in order to get into the mine. Anyway, we decided to cut our hike short. It was pretty interesting to see a rattlesnake in the wild though!

Last but not least, this is proof that I owe my life to Tami Mauro. She saved me from a mountain. Thank goodness she has been working out, or she would never have been able to do it. Thanks Tami!!!