I know I just barely posted...

but I just found this cute idea & thought I better type it down before & forgot. Check this out! Cute!! :O)

What's for Dinner?

I experimented tonight with dinner, and it turned out DEE-licious! I have been wanting to make a pasta dish with chicken & sun dried tomatoes for a while. I found a recipe online & tweaked it a little bit. It was so yummy, very quick & easy, and made TONS! I think I will try to freeze some, since Cory, Madison & I are the only ones who will eat it. Here is the recipe, in case you are interested. I am not much of a measurer when it comes to cooking, so some of the amounts are approximate, so just start out with some, then add some more if it needs it :o)...

3/4 LB. Pasta (I used mini farfalle (bow ties), but penne or fettuccine would also work)

2 Chicken Breasts; cut into strips/chunks & seasoned with salt & pepper

2 T. Olive Oil

2-3 Cloves of Garlic
1/4 C. White Cooking Wine

6-8 Sun Dried Tomatoes; reconstituted (boil a cup or so of water & pour over them. Let sit until soft) & coarsely chopped

1 can Chicken Broth

1/2-3/4 C. Half & Half

1/4 C. chopped Fresh Basil

Juice from 1 Lemon

Put a pot of salted water on to boil for the pasta. Meanwhile, heat the oil in a skillet or saute pan over high heat. Add the chicken & cook until golden. Add garlic & cook for 1 minute more. Remove chicken from pan & set aside. Reduce heat to medium & add wine to skillet. Stir with a wooden spoon to loosen any caramelized bits that may be stuck to the bottom of the pan. Cook until the wine has almost completely evaporated. (Keep an eye on your water. When it boils, add the pasta & cook until al dente (about 10 mins).) Back to the skillet... Add the tomatoes, chicken broth & half & half. Simmer for 5 minutes. Add basil & lemon juice. Drain pasta; toss together pasta, sauce & chicken, warming chicken over the heat if needed. Et Voila!! (Oh, and you should definitely put a little grated Parmesan or Romano cheese on top!)

It seems like a lot more ingredients & instructions than it really is. Let me know if you try the recipe out! Bon Apetite!

Fun in the Sun!

Sept. 11-13, we went to Lake Powell with all of Cory's family (except one bro-in-law, and of course Tyson, who is on a mission).

We camped on the beach, which I will never do again. Next time I will be getting a hotel room, the others can join me if they like. I have never been a huge camping fan, but camping in the sand just adds insult to injury, really!

I LOVE spending time at the lake and on the boat however, and I FINALLY got up on the knee board!! Yay me! It was so fun!!! I have tried a couple of other times without sucess, so I was very pleased with myself. Of course, I have NO upper body strength, so my ride was not super long, and I was miserably sore for days after, but totally worth it!

The kids had a great time too, and even though I had to bribe them all to ride in the tubes, they had a blast (much to their surprise!). Next time I think we may have to break out the kiddie skis and give that a shot. Although, I have a feeling it will cost me a lot more than $2 per kid! :o)

Yipee for Lake Powell!!

Boutique & Gift Show

This month I will be participating in the Oh Sweet Sadie! gift shows. They run Sept. 19-20 & Sept. 26-27. Click on the pic above for locations & more info. If you are in the Salt Lake area, please come by & say HI!! I will be selling my awesome watches & I think it will be lots of fun. Really, come by and visit me, I will be bored there all alone!

The first day of Freedom...I mean school!

waiting...

...and waiting...

...and even more waiting!

Today is the first day of school!! The kids got up at 6:45 because they were so excited. They were ready to go by 7:45, so they only had an hour to sit around and whine about how bored they were, and "mom is it time to go YET?". Finally, the blessed moment arrived. I took a quick picture or two, hustled them into the car (only had to turn around once to get my checkbook for lunch money) and they were off!


Now, what to do? I have sufficiently wasted nearly an hour of my "free time" reading blogs, and generally messing around online, so I think it is time to get down to business. I will have a full day of straightening my bedroom, possibly washing some dishes, making watch bands, and there is a slight chance I will even get dressed! I have paid my dues with years of crying babies, dirty diapers, and terrible twos, and now I finally get to enjoy the reward....7 hours of quiet time, 5 days a week!! WOOHOO!! :o) I really do love my kids, and I may even miss them now and then, but a little peace and quiet will be much appreciated. Hooray for school!

Crazy Cannon Girls' Weekend Extravaganza in San Diego!!

The second annual Cannon Girls' Extravaganza took place in San Diego last weekend! We had a blast!! We stayed at a very nice hotel in Del Mar. We did lots of shopping, eating, chatting & shell hunting on the beach. I am a little retarded at the whole picture uploading thing on blogger, so all the pictures are out of order. Oh well, at least you can see what a fun time we had! The other girls took lots of pictures too, so I will post them as well as soon as I get them. (Ha, Ha! I am the first one to post!!)

Saturday, hanging out on Coronado Beach.

Lunch at Coronado. YUM!

Hotel Del Coronado (thanks abi)...so cool!

View from Coronado Bay Bridge

Sunday, lunch at the Hard Rock Cafe in La Jolla.

Seashell hunting on "Shell Beach", La Jolla

Shell Beach, La Jolla

Lookout wall for Seal Rock, La Jolla

San Diego Temple...it's a castle!

It was so fun! :o) We had a great trip & I can't wait until next year! Thanks mom, for everything! PLICKETY PLOW!

This Summer in Pictures

Here is the summer-in-review with lots of pictures. The summer started off with Madison's 10th birthday on the last day of school- May 22nd. She had a fun party with her friends and got lots of great presents.



Andrew's 6th birthday was on June 10th. He had a party with friends as well. The string on his pinata broke after only a few whacks, so Cory decided to throw it up into the air a few times, and let it break open when it hit the ground. The kids didn't care how the pinata broke, just that they got to enjoy the goodies inside!

On June 14th, we went to Salt Lake for a family reunion and a trip to Hogle Zoo.

On July 7th, we went to Sand Hollow Reservoir with some friends. Here is a picture of me desperately trying to knee board. I WILL figure it out one of these days. We will take another trip to Lake Powell next month, and I will give it another shot then. Keep your fingers crossed for me! ;)

Zachary's 8th birthday was on July 21st. He opted for a family party with dinner at Winger's (his favorite, mostly because of the "all-you-can-eat" popcorn!) and then a round of bowling afterward. We had a lot of fun, and everyone enjoyed a good laugh at my "granny bowling".

The crowning event of the summer was Zachary's baptism on August 2nd. It was a lovely day with lots of family, good food & fun. We are so pleased with Zachary for getting baptized!

Now, summer has nearly come to a close. School starts on the 14th (just one more week!). With all the kids in school full-time now, I just don't know what I will do with myself! I am sure I will be able to keep myself busy. The kids are excited about their teachers for the year and I know it will be a great school year for them all.