But we sure do like to see McKinley sing the song.
McKinley's Mischief
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| From 02-14-09 |
RAH! RAH! RAH! GO COUGARS!
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| From 02-14-09 |
On our way to the park McKinley (always wearing her backpack) is yelling "Guys!" to the boys so they wait up. She is thrilled to be outdoors and on her way anywhere.
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| From 02-14-09 |
This is what I found when I came upstairs after working on the water issues we had in our basement. She is the worst climber we have had so far. I attribute it to the wonderful example the boys set for her all the time. She had spread three nearly empty bowls of cereal all over the table, so I pulled out the camera and she said "cheese!". I would like to see her pose in her cheerleading outfit in this stance - it looks just like school pictures!
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| From 02-14-09 |
We had to pull the swing out of the laundry room because of the water and McKinley wanted to try out the "rocka". A few minutes later I wondered why she was so quiet and this is what I found.
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| From 02-14-09 |
Thanks to our neighbor who brings the kids treats pretty regularly, McKinley got to enjoy this cupcake. She calls it a "cooka" which is also a cookie. She has an amazing vocabulary, especially compared to Jefferson at this age.
A few of my favorites are
"Dinner!" which she always calls out in the same intonation I use to call everyone to the table.
"Hey!" it sounds like a really offended, heeeey! when the boys steal her binky or take what she is playing with.
"Are you?" which is her word for binky, though she now says binky too. We would always say, "Where are you binky?" looking for it cause she throws it behind her bed, so she assumed it was an are you.
"JJ" this is her word for herself and any pictures she sees of anyone.
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| From 02-14-09 |
McKinley loves accessories - hats, shoes, backpacks, you name it. She loves to get all dressed in the morning, backpack included, and then say, "Go?" at the front door. This is what she sees Lincoln do every day, so she is trying to join in the adventure. This picture is her living her dream for an hour or so on a day that was a little warmer. I feel bad for the kids cause usually I go out with them in the winter and play in the snow every now and then. This year I have not been so nice. Sorry kids! The older boys will play with Jefferson out there, but poor McKinley has been cooped up with me all winter.
Visit to Temple Square
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| From 02-14-09 |
We enjoyed a visit to the Church History Museum with our friends the Elggrens, followed by a walk (or should I say run) around Temple Square. In the picture we have Audrey, Truman, Lincoln, Will and Jefferson. McKinley and little Harrison are in the stroller behaving themselves. At the museum they had the equivalent of a new born care area in the hospital and the kids played doctor to the babies for at least an hour. Apparently they think doctors do a lot of diaper and onesie changing. It was really fun to watch and now Truman wants to be a doctor when he grows up instead of a clown, an improvement I think.
Visits from Russian Grandparents
On Jan 26th my parents came to visit for a few days. For some reason we never remember to photograph much of these occasions, but we sure do enjoy them! We got to celebrate Libbi's birthday at the sledding hill followed by a bday dinner with Grandma and Grandpa Doxey and the Murri's.
Mom and Dad left that Friday, but Dad came back the day Brian headed to Cancun, so it was nice to have him and the girls around over the weekend. I got to play some games, or should I say win some games, against Dad, watch movies in the basement and we even got a baby sitter so we could do dinner and a movie in Provo once Brian was home. Thanks for the visit and we miss you already! 
Bacon Explosion
I (Brian) am having a fun time making food for the EQ party tonight. I thought it would be fun to blog the experience. Here are some pictures and instructions if you want to be a little crazy. Be careful, you will love this more than you hate the 2 lbs you will gain from it.
Needs:
2lb bacon
2lb Sausage
BBQ Sauce
BBQ Seasoning
Artichoke Hearts (Optional)
Stuffed Olives (Optional)
Step 1:
Weave bacon pieces together as shown here. It should usually take about 10 pieces of
bacon to make a square weave. I did this by laying each of the 5 vertical pieces side by side and then added the horizontal row piece by piece. I would fold back the vertical pieces in turn to get the weave.
Sprinkle with BBQ Seasoning once done.
Step 2:
Smash Sausages together into one big ball. Spread the sausage onto the bacon and out to the sides of the weaved square.
Cut up Artichoke, Olives, or grate cheese and put on top of the Sausage Layer.
Step 3:
Cook the remaining bacon you didn't use in the weave. Dice it up and put it on top of the sausage layer as well.
Drizzle BBQ sauce.
Step 4:
This is rolled up in two parts. First roll up the sausage layer from back to front. Squeeze the sausage ends to keep the good stuff inside. Second, roll the bacon around your just made sausage roll going from forward to back. Pinch the ends to keep it all inside.
Step 5:
Garnish if you want. We do this so we can tell which one is which when we get it out of our smoker. Here are the 3 rolls we made: Artichoke, Olive and Cheese.
Step 6: Crock Pot/Smoke
Smoking it is a lot more fun than crock potting it. The reasons aren't quite clear but it is true. I smoke ours any where from 2 to 3 hours depending on how thick the meat is or how many I have in there. I use hickory chips.
If you don't have a smoker then it will fit in your crock pot. Just jam it in there. This isn't pretty food. Just really good.
Like all crock pot food you can do it forever. There is enough grease in the bacon and sausage so very little water is needed. Just keep the lid on and let it go for at least 2.5 hours. The longer you can keep it in there, the better.
Step 7:
Look at it. Look how cool it is. Then take pictures of it.
Step 8:
Cut it up like a yule log and eat it. If you like BBQ sauce then go for it as well. I don't think it needs it.