Holiday Bruschetta

I was very pleased with how this turned out! Everyone loved it. Here is the recipe if you want to try it. I made it up so change it as you will.

Holiday Bruschetta

Ingredients

1 baguette

white onions

pears

fresh cranberries

brown sugar

sparkling cider

olive oil

balsamic vinegar

gorgonzola cheese

6-8 hours before you want to serve the bruschetta...

-thinly slice onions, put in a crock pot with a little oil and brown sugar

-slice pears, in a separate crock pot put pear slices, fresh cranberries, and sparkling cider

(if you don't have two crock pots you can cook the pears and cranberries on the stove, just cook it all until it gets bubbly and hot)

Before serving...

drain the liquid if there is a large amount in the onions or pear/cranberries

slice baguette into cracker size

toast both sides in the oven

brush olive oil on one side of the toast

sprinkle balsamic vinegar on the toast

place a small spoonful of onions on toast

place a small spoonful of cranberry/pear mixture

sprinkle gorgonzola cheese on top

if desired, sprinkle more balsamic vinegar on top

ENJOY!

Thanksgiving

Our first Thanksgiving together was perfect! We were in charge of appetizers and a dessert. We had so much fun staying up late cooking. We ate at the Hodgkinson's then visited my family later that night. We have so much to be thankful for. It was a great day spent with family.

The shrimp was a hit, mostly with the little girls!

Classic celery & cheese, deviled eggs, and the infamous holiday bruschetta

Ben's cranberry almond tart...delicious!

Happy Thanksgiving!

Anniversary Jazz Game

November 24, 2008 was our first date. Ben's work gave him amazing tickets. Well, his old boss, Jesse, was inspired. He called him last night and offered him tickets for the 24th! I almost cried. We had so much fun. It was more fun watching Jesse talk to EVERYONE around him than the game. He even got the Jazz Bear to propose to the girl in front of us. It was such a fun night...and much less awkward then our first date exactly a year ago.

Sushi Night

One Month

one month of

laughing

fun

cleaning

crying

talking

cooking

love

Baby Grace

Rick and Heather blessed Grace today. Her dress was a huge cloud of silk. She fell asleep while I was holding her. I fell in love with her even more today.

Hodgkinson Halloween Party

Wendy and Clark threw the best Halloween party. Everyone dressed up. We played fun Halloween games. We ate yummy Halloween food. It what a great night!

New Nephew

Jason and Meridith had their third little boy yesterday. Lawson J Bott. He's absolutely adorable. We're so excited for them!

Gifts

People were so generous in their gift giving. We got so many wonderful things that we need to make our house a home. Thank you!

Honeymoon

Our honeymoon started out with a night at the beautiful Grand America hotel in Salt Lake. I have always wanted to stay there so it was perfect.

The next morning we took the smallest airplane ever to Long Beach California. I was SO tired I slept the whole way there.

At about 1:00 we got on our ship, the Carnival Splendor. It was so exciting with all the people and food and fun. We were ready for some fun.

Our first day on the ship was a day at sea. We slept in then went and walked around the ship. We decided that we wanted a massage so we went to the spa. It was lots of fun. Nice and relaxing.

Ben was so excited when he saw "warm chocolate melting cake" on the dessert menu. He had it on his last Carnival cruise but only once. We were lucky enough to have it pretty much every night. It was delicious. I am going to try to make it for his birthday!

After each dinner when we would go back to our room we had a cute little animal towel friend.

We love sushi so we were excited to have a sushi bar on the ship. It wasn't the best ever but it was fun.

Our first stop was Puerto Vallarta. We took a tour of the city there and saw the beautiful land.

Our second stop was Mazatlan. We took a tour of the city here as well. We went to a tequila factory, the rain forest and the beach. It was another great day in warm Mexico!

At dinner one night our waiters did a nice little dance to apple bottom jeans. It was really fun to watch. Our waiter was really quiet so it was fun to see some personality come out.

Our last stop, and my favorite, was Cabo San Lucas. We took a cattermeran ride to a reef in the middle of the ocean and went snorkeling. It was so beautiful and so much fun! We saw some amazing fish under the water. Then on the way back we saw the cutest sea lions. It was such a fun day.

Our last day was a day at sea again. We relaxed and had lots of fun. Everything was absolutely perfect. I loved every minute of it. The ship was great, Mexico was great, but the best part was being with my husband for a whole week without anything to worry about.