Lamb and Lemons

Happy Belated Easter! This week is a blur. We attempted our Easter Week activities again this year and it went pretty well. We weren't able to visit a Cathedral but did most of the other activities. Sometimes we just did them at dinner. It really helped to make the week more meaningful. I tried making Matzo Ball soup this year for Passover. Curtis and I both loved it. Jonah, Isaac and Lucy tolerated it and Daniel would not touch the Matzo. We really enjoyed watching "The Prince of Egypt." I had forgotten how great that soundtrack is.

I went running somewhere in there and my knee was SUPER sore but after a lot of icing and a soak in the hot tub it felt much better. I'll try running agin tomorrow and hopefully everything will be fine. Curtis and I also spent the better part of two days digging in our yard. We replaced two drain pipes, put in some plants and unloaded a yard of mulch. Oh and it was in the upper 80's. Arghh. The good news? I thought to wear my swim suit for a lot of it and my awkward tan lines are fading.

We were supposed to go camping Thursday thru Saturday but decided against it due to the fire ban. What's camping without a fire? Instead of bunch of our friends decided to do a progressive camping party and we had fun activities planned for 2 days. Including foil dinners over a fire, lots of guitar and singing, egg hunts for the kiddos, watching "Tangled," kayaking (which the Turners opted out of because dude we needed naps),swimming and eating Crawfish.



Sunday we were sort of toast right from the start. But it turned out to be a great day. I had planned to sing in the ward choir and singing always puts me in a good mood. I was also asked to speak in church yesterday. Usually I get pretty nervous but I think this week was so crazy I just didn't have time. I also actually wrote my talk on Monday so I wasn't freaking out on Saturday night. Score 1 for not procrastinating. :) I'm actually really glad I was asked to speak because it gave me the chance to ponder the atonement and resurrection of Christ. I was also sitting up on the stand during church so I was really able to listen to the meeting while Curtis wrestled with the kids. :O

As for Easter Dinner, we have been making lamb for several years now and it has become a tradition that I love! I personally don't love the gamey taste of lamb but found a recipe that we all really like. I didn't get a picture but I'll post the recipe. I also made a lemon curd cake this year. It turned out okay but I will try making a few changes next year. I hope everyone else had a wonderful Easter. LY

Easter Lamb Chops

1/4 cup brown sugar
2 tsp ground ginger
2 tsp dried tarragon
1 tsp ground cinnamon
1 tsp ground black pepper
1 tsp garlic salt
4 lamb chops

In a medium bowl mix sugar and spices. Rub lamb chops and refrigerate at least one hour. Mine were in for about 5 hours and the flavor was so good. Grill on med high heat for about 5 minutes on each side. Brush grill lightly with oil (I forgot to do this and some of them were sticking quite a bit).

We quadrupled this recipe since we had invited two families over. One of my friends brought over a beautiful ham with pineapple and it was a perfect amount of food. Oooh and I also made Pear and Blue Cheese Salad from my sister's awesome cooking site. It was a pretty big salad and every bit was gone. Yumma.

Here's the link to the Lemon Curd cake. When I make it next time I think I will just use a white cake mix for the cake part and top it with fresh raspberries instead of frozen blueberries. :)

PS: I am making these next year for sure. Cool huh?

So many reasons I love this pic

1. No shirt, standard fare here 2. Completely immersed in "Diary of Wimpy Kid" 3. His brother did the make-up (it took a LOT of convincing to get him to wash it off before bedtime)

I'm not emotionally prepared for sunscreen

It's getting hot here. Not. Ready. It was 89F at Jonah's lacrosse game on Saturday. I couldn't bring myself to lather up with sunscreen. But I can't complain about the flowers. They make me so happy.

Last week was so busy. I found myself getting really crabby and noticed a few things that helped. Thought I would share.

1) I'm always a little annoyed with my kids' school. Their policies drive me crazy and I feel completely marginalized. ie: I have no voice there. I pulled out my Texas journal (which is pretty dang lean) and typed for an hour. Wow. Total therapy. I felt so much better after... and no harm done! (Reminds me of a great Deep Thought - see it at the bottome if you're interested.)

2) My awesome friend Jen is trying to get me running. I have never been a runner and the idea of running a marathon has literally no appeal. I don't feel the need to accomplish that feat... but! running is so convenient, especially here where there are miles of nice paved trails. And Lucy loves to ride in the burly while I run. She just reads books and chats with me (Never had that before-with the boys I was always that frazzled mom pushing an empty stroller while her children run wild!) Oh and running is cheap and 30 minutes is a great workout. Soooo, I'm giving it a whirl. I'll be singing a different tune when the heat really sets in but so far I love it. The plan is to run 2 or 3 times during the week and then do a longer run with girlfriends on Saturday mornings. I CANNOT believe how much easier it is to run when you are talking with friends. My knees were really sore the first day but everytime I go it gets better. I have a history of getting really excited about things like this and pooping out a month later so here's to staying power!

3) Getting together with friends. I know it's lame because dang! I'm in my thirties, but sometimes I find myself being really insecure about inviting friends to get together. I know that's part of why I didn't like it here for so long. I mean, it's uncomfortable to be vulnerable and sometimes you get denied but it's worth it to keep trying. Worth it to connect with people and build friendships.

And now for that Deep Thought:

Sometimes when I feel like killing someone, I do a little trick to calm myself down. I'll go over to the persons house and ring the doorbell. When the person comes to the door, I'm gone, but you know what I've left on the porch? A jack-o-lantern with a knife stuck in the side of its head with a note that says "You." After that I usually feel a lot better, and no harm done.