Missionary Dinner

I admire this man who takes his calling so very seriously. I can only imagine the different stresses he has juggling work, young mens president and our family. And yet he does and relates so well to the youth, even if it entails spending your Friday night planning an activity. Doug currently has approximately 6-7 boys that have just graduated from high school. He would love to see each and every one of them go out and serve missions. Therefore, he organized a "Mission" night and had 4 leaders come over with different foods from where they served. Everyone that knows Doug, KNOWS that he can make some pretty mean eggrolls. As I helped him prepare the ingredients I couldn't help but smile at the giddiness he had remaking the food he ate for a solid 2 years. Elder Clouse's (aka Som Kit's) Process:

Ingredients: cabbage, shredded carrots, bean sprouts, cooked ground pork, vermicelli asian noodles, a dozen eggs, salt, pepper, and oyster sauce.

Using spring roll wraps, putting just the right amount and wrapping them into desired form. Because the recipe is so large it normally yields 80 Thai Spring rolls.

It wouldn't be right if we didn't add sticky rice as a side dish. The best part you can mold it into balls in your hands and eat with your bare fingers. Yummy!

Watching the boiling vegetable oil, very very carefully.

These eggrolls have a serious technique, if not followed properly you can end up with an unpleasant result (not to mention the smell of burned grease in your home).

Luckily, that wasn't the case and we ended up with some delicious golden brown authentic Thai eggrolls (yes, they are as good as they look)

Note: Preparations began approximately 3 hours before the actual guests arrived. I personally like to have the kitchen rid of grease or any dishes (not too shocking eh?) I was also anxious to see what the other leaders had on their "menus."

Our spread included a Peruvian seafood dish, black beans and rice (Guatemalan style) and the best good old fashioned Omaha, NE steaks.

My cute friend Tiffany (I love this photo of you!)

Allen and Talin

Doug was thrilled with the turnout and the food asortment was fabulous.

Bishop Brown, Adam, baby Nash, Ashton, and Reese

Brother Meeker, James, Talin, Rockan, Bishop Brown, Allen and Doug

We finished up dinner and the young men had their "Missionary Training" class. We were strongly advised to take the children downstairs to play.

The boys watched Toy Story 2, while we sat and chatted amongst ourselves (coffee talk style)

Weston, Luke, Hershal, and Bo

Baby Nash just sat in his momma's arms as cute as can be. Quite a success if I do say so myself!

Five For Friday

1. It seems as though I have been slacking on my daily posts. I used to be so disciplined to sit at the computer to blog, but between keeping up on my house, car issues, and running the kids to x,y,z, it seems blogging has taken a back burner. It's not that I wanted it to, it just happened. So, I am happy to report, I am back sometimes more than others, but here. I have been keeping up with American Idol and following it religiously each week. I was both surprised and disappointed last night. Michael Johns being voted off last night was such a bummer. It was definitely one of the few times that I disagreed with Simon. I thought he sang "Dreamer" awesome. But, who am I?

2. Doug and I have been watching Good Eats and other cooking shows lately. Good Eats in particular is interesting because he gives you science back ground as to what ingredients make things taste better. Does anyone watch this show? We learned that much of it depends on the mixer. (it turns out my non-kitchen aid mixer really can be important) Who knew? Anyways, Doug's mom makes seriously the best cookies. We have experimented with these on numerous occasions and like her bread we have FINALLY mastered the Dorothy recipe. The unfortunate thing is we end up eating the entire batch in one sitting. This can be dangerous!

3. Last week Taylor got her hair cut. The funny thing was her only request was a trim with layers. Sara ended up cutting about 5 inches off and I can't believe how much easier her hair is to do. There is just something about long hair that becomes heavy and flat. Here she is modeling her new do and outfit I bought her (for $13!).

4. After 64 days of being without my car, it is now parked in my garage!! I can't tell you the euphoria I had driving it today. The best was the reaction from my kids. When Luke climbed in for the first car he proclaimed, "I LOVE THIS CAR" When my kids got off the bus they both came running in screaming, "OUR CAR IS BACK, OUR CAR IS BACK!" If anything good came out of this it was to be a more cautious driver and to appreciate the simple things we have and often take for granted. (aka a nice car!) Many thanks to our friends (Wirthlin's) who helped me by lending me their car and being my taxi driver (Gordon's). I don't know how I would have done it without you!!

5. In honor of #4 we met up with the Gordon's at Tiago's for dinner. It seems like it has been forever since we went out just as couples to eat. After a rough week, it was exactly what I needed.