A piano bought, a raised garden put together, 2 walls painted!

We've been quite busy this month already and we're only half way there. To remember what we did already this month I thought I would jot it down in our blog. Recently I've been asked to sub as a pianist in our Relief Society quite regularly so we bought me a piano. It was such a good deal we just simply couldn't passed. Dan has been busy planning and cutting up wood and finally he got our raised garden all ready to go. We rented a truck and got the piano home and the soil for the garden. We also painted 2 walls and the accent color we chose turned out really great. We are loving it here in Seattle and Reena loves all the nature walks we take as the weather is getting really nice. Our next destination - Utah! For a visit that is.

Another Sunny Day in Seattle

So it was still sunny
So we went on a walk
In the wagon
And we went to the park
The small park over down the other hill
There are so many hills here
And it was sunny but she was so funny
Every time the wind comes she goes "I need to go inside"
And when the sun hits her eyes, she goes "I need my glasses"
So after 50 minutes of strolling around
And playing at that little park we came inside
But only so she can look for her glasses
She told me and made sure I stood in the garage
While she goes inside looking for her glasses
After about 5 minutes I came inside and asked her
'did you find your glasses?' and she came down all sad
and said "I can't find my glasses anywhere"
Thank goodness I was saved by that
So I could close the garage and pretend I forgot all about another walk

Reena's Fun day with Friend Isaac

It was a nice day also so I took Reena and her friend Isaac to the Bellevue Square kids play area that everyone has been talking about. The kids had so much fun they didn't want to leave. I had to bribe them with McDonalds ice cream.

Watching Wall-e before going to Bellevue Square. A good reason why I took them out so they don't just sit home and watch TV. Look how into it she is.



Look at that, I was able to get them both to say "cheese" at the same time. A rare blessing!

Fun day at the park

It was clear and sunny and so beautiful last Tuesday that several mothers from the ward and I got together and went to the big Crossroad park in Bellevue. Reena loved it and we played in the sun for 3 hours and even then I had to bribe her with fruits snacks for her to allow me to put her back in the car. We went shopping at Costco too that day which probably wasn't good because of all that time being outside and being with that many people and not having her hands washed and such got her sick this week (still working on the hand washing). But nontheless she was for sure the cutest kid around. She got compliments everywhere she went that day and it was too beautiful to not go places and take advantage of it. People said Seattle's summer is the reason they're sticking around because the wet winter is not very desirable. I'm so looking forward to the summer for this!

Getting ready to go to the park!

Carrying the heavy pinic basket of food!

Happy to be on the swing but not happy about mom taking pictures! She told me "Put it down mamma, no more taking pictures!"

So we took a picture together and it was better!

Sugar

Don't you just love that name? Sugar? Uhm yum yum. I love sugar. But I really have to watch my carbs intake and you know that is my weakness. Lately I've been craving so many sweets, hence why I love to bake. But I've been cutting the amount of sugar that recipes ask for in half and to my surprise, it really isn't bad. I think as Americans we have such a high intake of sugar and we just get so used to how sweet things are that if we were to offer a donut or a chocolate chip cookie to a foreigner, he would take 1 bite and not be able to eat the rest because of how sweet everything is. I made banana muffins today and I cut the sugar in half and it still tastes just as good. I also found this awesome fried bananas recipe that we absolutely love and it doesn't have a whole lot of sugar in it. Granted it is FRIED but fat isn't so much a concern for me right now as carb is so this recipe fits my diet. Enjoy! It is to die for.

Ingredients

* 6 tablespoons all-purpose flour
* 2 tablespoons sugar
* 1 egg, beaten
* 1/4 cup milk
* 1 pinch salt
* 4 medium bananas (the firmer they are, the better)
* peanut oil (for frying)

Directions
1
Mix together the flour, sugar, egg, milk and salt to make a smooth, paste-like batter.
2. Leave to rest for one hour.
3. Peel the bananas and slice each one in half lengthwise, then across into chunks about three inches long.
4. Dip the banana pieces into the batter and shallow fry in hot oil for a few minutes or until golden brown all over.
5.Drain quickly on a wire rack or paper towel, and serve warm.