Raymond Family Olympics

To celebrate the start of the Olympics, we had one of our own!

All of my in-law's were in town for a week and

we needed a good way to expend some energy in the kids!

I didn't get enough pictures of the events since I was leading the events.

I had the three teenage nieces decorate a banner that said,

"Raymond Family Olympics"

Instead of Olympic rings, we had Olympic hearts!

I made medals for every child that was there.

We cut them out, laminated them, and added red yarn for the necklace.

Click here for the Word file.

All you have to do is change your family name in the document
and print it out on cardstock.

You will need to trace the hearts with a marker once printed.
Here is the order of the colors (From left to right):
Blue - Yellow - Black - Green - Red

We started the evening with a BBQ from grill master Jon (my husband).

Here are the 4 events that we had:

1. Obstacle Course

3 cartwheels or rolls

army crawl under the rope (about 6 feet long)

zig zag aroundthe fruit trees

sprint back to the finish 

Whomever has the fastest time, wins

2. Water balloon toss

Secure 6 paper plates to trees to be used at targets

Every athlete gets 3 balloons and can throw at any target 

Whomever hits the most targets, wins 

3. Team water balloon toss

Everyone gets a partner and a towel

Each athlete grabs one end of the towel

A balloon is placed in the center

On the count of 3, they make the balloon fly in the air

The last team to have a balloon that hasn't popped, wins

4. Archery

Grandpa set this up since we have a bow and arrow for the grandkids

  

 This is one of our athletes receiving his medal

All of our athletes showing off their medals.

  Everyone had such a good time!

You could make any activity that you have space for.

These are just what we did.

15 Minute Time Limit

Since I was born I have had a fascination with all things computer.

I should have gone to school to be a computer tech.

There was one particular element of the computer that has enchanted me since it was created.

THE INTERNET

I have been "online" since the early '90's.

My father was a computer genius. He knew how to do everything with a computer.

I remember being in High School and using the dial-up connection

my Dad had installed to get into chat rooms.

Chat rooms at 14 years old?? What was I thinking??

I remember one day someone found out I was a member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints and felt that they needed to "bible bash" with me and tell me how my religion was wrong. I also remember a lot of perverted men that were online trying to chat with me. I was still in High School. It is crazy to think back on how much time I spent in chat rooms. Doing nothing but talking to complete strangers.

My sister told me a story a year ago that I never knew. Back in my "chat room" days, my Dad would get on the phone (where our dial-up was connected) and he would make a noise so the internet would crash and I wouldn't be online anymore.

I remember getting so annoyed that the internet wasn't working.

Thank goodness for my amazing Dad!

Who knows what would have happened if I could stay online as long as I wanted.

Most of you probably don't remember dial-up, but it was connected to your home phone line.

As long as someone was online, no phone calls could come through.

Once High School was done and I headed off to college, I received a flyer on my windshield advertising this website called "collegeclub.com".

I joined immediately!

I made all of these "friends" and had new groups to join. I believe that I was a member of a "recipe a day" group.

It was a great time for me, or so I thought.

How sad that I had to use the internet to make friends and join groups.

I had friends in college, sure. But I had a lot of online friends.

And for some reason, that felt important to me.

In 1999, I got a job at Nu Skin Enterprises .

I was a switch board operator.

I would answer phone calls that came into the company and transfer them to the receptionist or the employee they were asking for.

We had about 7 phone consoles that we could choose from to sit at.

Only 2 of them had computers that we could use.

I remember ALWAYS wanting to be at the cubicle that had a computer.

I did a lot of mindless internet searching in the 6 years I had that job.

It is now 2012 and I still love being online.

I have a 6 month old daughter that is the love of my life, next to my husband.

Every morning I feed Kyla, lay her on the ground to play with her toys, and get online.

I check my gmail account first.

Then I look at Facebook for a while.

Finally, I open up Pinterest and hang out there for an hour or so.

Then I feed my daughter again and jump online to see what I've missed in the past little while.

Every day I do this.

My computer is always on so I can stay updated on everything.

After I "pin" something that I think is super cool on Pinterest, I refresh my screen 4 or 6 times to see how many people have pinned it themselves.

I get disappointed when no one does.

I constantly refresh my Facebook page so I can make sure I catch EVERYONE'S status updates.

It seems so important to me to know that he ate at Cafe Rio and feels full from too much food.

Or she is tired of being single but is dealing with it.

I HAVE to know if everyone wanted Professor Umbridge dead more then Voldemort

and I need to keep up with all the vintage photo's that everyone uploads through Instagram.

(By the way, I think those are crap. We're not in the 70's anymore and I don't need my pictures looking brown and orange.)

 

WHY do I do this?? I ask myself often lately.

Because I am addicted to the internet.

Honestly, that is not a good thing.

I have wasted HOURS of my life sitting in front of a computer.

Last week, I put my daughter down on the floor to roll around, giving her "tummy time" and I jumped online to stay in the know of everything. A while later, I looked over to see how she was doing and she was up on her knees, looking like she wanted to crawl, then she flopped on her side.

How long has she been doing that without me knowing???

How many things have I missed already in her 6 months of life because I'm too attached to my computer?

I don't want my daughter to think back on her childhood and remember Mommy always on a computer or always texting.

I WANT TO BE A PART OF HER LIFE!!!

Last night a thought came to me.

You need to have a time limit on the computer.

I have a digital timer that I am going to put next to my computer.

Whenever I sit down in front of it, I will start the timer.

15 min is all I am allowing myself.

Once the timer goes off, I will shut down my computer and do something worthwhile.

I can check back a few hours later, but not all day long!

I DON'T constantly need to be on the computer.

I am not learning anything of great importance by sitting in front of this machine for hours.

There are so many other things I could be doing;

• Cleaning the house
• Doing laundry
• Sewing a new dress of Kyla or myself
• Crocheting a new pattern
• Reading my scriptures
• Playing the piano
• Making an amazing dinner for my hard working husband
• Being a better Mom to my daughter
• Etc, etc, etc.

15 minutes....that is MORE then sufficient.

Birthday Calendar

A few years ago, Jon and I made this for my mother-in-law.

It is a GREAT present for Oma's and Grandma's.

It will help you keep track of the many birthdays in the family!

We bought the main block, wood letters, wood rectangles, stars, and ribbon at Micheal's in Provo.

Here is how we made it.

~We took yellow paint and watered it down slightly so you

could still see the wood grain through the paint.

~We spray painted the block letters with 3 or 4 coats of silver

and two coats of clear glossy spray paint.

~We spray painted the little blocks with 2 coats of silver and

I wrote the abbreviated months with a black Sharpie.

~We used a hot glue gun to attach the ribbon to the back.

As for the length of the ribbon, it will depend on how many

birthdays you have and how many family members are still having kids.

~Add a picture hanger to the top.

~We wrote the date and names on the stars with a silver paint pen.

~Then attached them to the ribbon with velcro circles in numerical order.

That way, if a new baby is born or someone gets married, you can easily move the stars around.

~Here is a close up look at the stars.

 It took us around 8 hours to finish the entire thing.

But now my mother-in-law will always know who's birthday is just around the corner!

Blueberry Cream Cheese Turnovers with Lemon Glaze

Okay friends, I decided the other day that I wanted to make a yummy dessert. This popped into my head and it was a hit! They are turned out DELICIOUS!

Blueberry Cream Cheese Turnovers with Lemon Glaze

- 2 containers of crescent roll dough (the pre-made kind that when you open the package it pops and scares you!)
- 4 oz Cream Cheese
- 3 TBSP Sugar
- 1 tsp Vanilla
- 2 pinches Salt
- Blueberries (you could also use strawberries, raspberries, peaches, etc)

1. Open package of crescent dough and carefully roll triangles out.
2. Use your fingers to stretch the dough into a good triangle shape (be careful to not rip the dough)
3. Whip cream cheese, sugar, vanilla, and salt until smooth.
4. Place 1 TBSP of cream cheese mixture onto the bottom crescent triangle and spread evenly across entire surface, but not to the edge of the dough.
Note: Don't place cream cheese mixture on all crescent triangles. Half will be used for the top of the turnover.
5. Put blueberries on cream cheese and press them into the cream cheese mixture.
6. Sprinkle a little bit of sugar onto blueberries.

7. Take the top crescent triangles and place them on top of the bottom crescent triangles.
8. Pinch the sides all around the triangles making sure that no cream cheese is leaking out.
You can use the tip of a fork to pinch the dough together if you want.

 9.  Bake at 350 for 18 min or until golden brown.

10. Let cool for 2-3 min then drizzle with lemon glaze, recipe to follow.

Lemon Glaze
- 1 cup powdered sugar
- 1-2 TBSP Lemon Juice
- 1-2 tsp Milk

1. Mix powdered sugar and lemon juice together (Make sure that you start with 1 TBSP of lemon juice and add more depending upon how much lemon flavor you want).
2. Add milk 1 tsp at a time until you have a thin glaze.
3. Place turnovers onto cooling rack.
4. Use a spoon to drizzle glaze over turnover.

These are best eaten warm. The cream cheese will solidify when it cools down. But if you want to save some for later, then once they are cooled to room temperature, wrap individually in plastic wrap and place in freezer. Reheat in toaster oven for a few min.

I hope that you enjoy it as much as we did!

Barn Cake

Last Friday was our Blue and Gold Banquet for the Scouts in our church group.

Every year we have a cake auction and the proceeds go to the Scouting program.

This year I made a Barn Cake.

I found the idea on Betty Crocker email that I received last year.

It took a long time to put it together, but it was a blast to decorate!

Here is what it looked like.

We took twinkies, covered them in frosting and dipped them into shredded wheat.

That is our hay bales on the left hand side.

Teriyaki Chicken

My sister-in-law made this years ago at a family function.

I have modified the recipe just a little bit.

It is one of Jon's favorite meals.

Teriyaki Chicken

Prep: 5 min

Cook: 15-20 min

• 2 Chicken Breasts
• 1/2 - 3/4 cup Flour
• 2 TBSP Olive Oil
• 2 TBSP Butter
• 2 TBSP Cavender's All Purpose Greek Seasoning
• 2-3 TBSP Aji-Mirin (rice wine)
• 3 TBSP Soy Sauce
• 2 cups Chicken Broth
• No salt is needed due to the Cavender's and Soy Sauce

 1. Heat oil in skillet on medium heat.

2. Cut chicken into bite sized pieces.

3. Put chicken into flour and stir to coat

 4. Shake excess flour off of chicken and put into skillet.

5. Add pats of butter to skillet and stir.

 6. Sprinkle Cavender's onto chicken.

I found the small container at the local grocery store for $4.

I found the bigger container at Wal-Mart for $5!!

 7. Brown chicken.

 8. Add Aji-Mirin and Soy sauce and stir.

I included a picture so you could see what the Aji-Mirin bottle looks like.

 9. Add Chicken Broth and bring to boil.

10. Lower heat to medium-low and let simmer for 10 min uncovered,

or until desired thickness is achieved.

 Serve with mashed potatoes or rice.

You can eat it by itself or on top of your side.

This is a favorite recipe in my family and I make it once every two weeks and sometimes more.  It is very easy and so delicious! Let me know if you try it and how you liked it.

Treasure Chest Cake

In 2011 I made a cake for our church's Blue and Gold Banquet.  It was so much fun to make and the scouts loved it!  The instructions are extremely detailed.  I wanted them to be easily understood by anyone.

 

Supplies needed:

·         9x5 bread loaf pan, 2 if you have them

·         2 boxes of cake mix, whatever flavor you want

·         5 wooden dowels, or chopsticks

·         1 piece of cardboard, about 20”x20”

·         1 piece of cardboard, to be cut to fit under lid of treasure chest

·         Tinfoil to wrap around cardboard under lid of treasure chest

·         Candies that you want to put into treasure chest

·         Ingredients for buttercream icing, listed below

1)      Mix both boxes of cake mix, per instructions on the box.

2)     Grease bottom of loaf pan(s) with cooking spray like pam, line bottom of pan with wax paper, then spray again and coat spray with light coating of flour.

3)     Add 4 cups of cake batter to one loaf pan (for base of treasure chest) and 2 cups of cake batter to other loaf pan (for treasure chest lid).

4)     Bake for 50-60 min @ 325^o  (check loaf pan with only 2 cups of batter in it after 20-30 min for doneness.

5)     Let cake cool for at least 30 min before taking out of pan, cool completely on wire rack before icing.

Buttercream Icing (Double icing if icing a larger cake, but one batch should be enough for this cake):

½ cup Crisco (no substitutes)

½ cup butter

1 tsp clear flavoring extract (vanilla, almond, butter, etc) Clear flavoring keeps the icing bright white, but since you don’t need a bright white, you can use regular vanilla or almond extract.

4 cups powdered sugar (approx. 1 lb)

2 TBSP milk

*Cocoa powder to taste and color

Cream butter and shortening with electric mixer (Bosch, Kitchen Aid, etc.). Add vanilla. Gradually add sugar, one cup at a time, beating well on medium speed. Scrape sides and bottom of bowl often. When all sugar has been mixed in, icing will appear dry. Add milk and beat at medium speed until light and fluffy. Put ¼ of icing in a separate bowl. To the ¾ of icing still in mixer bowl, add cocoa powder to taste and color. I recommend 3 TBSP. *You will need to add more milk as well so that the icing isn’t too dry. If you don’t, it will tear your cake up when you ice it. Add 1 tsp of milk at a time until it is nice and fluffy. ¼ icing that you put in a separate bowl, add yellow coloring until it reaches color of the gold bars on the cake. Keep icing covered with a damp cloth until ready to use. If you have leftover icing, keep refrigerated in an airtight container, this icing can be stored 2 weeks. You will need to let come to room temperature before you can use it. I recommend making the icing while the cakes are cooling.

·         Take largest piece of cardboard and cover with treasure chest paper. I did a image search on Google for "treasure chest" and found the one that is on there. I had to use 4 pieces of paper to cover the entire piece of cardboard. Tape paper to cardboard, then cover with plastic wrap. Make sure that the paper and cardboard are completely covered with plastic wrap. If they are not, then the grease from the icing and the cake will seep onto it and it won’t look very appealing.

·         Take the smallest piece of cardboard and place the top of the treasure chest cake on it. Trace the base of the cake and put cake back on cooling rack. Cut cardboard out to size of lid. Make three holes in the back of the lid and two in the front (that don’t go all the way through the cardboard), evenly spaced out for the dowels to go through. Put cardboard on piece of paper and copy outline and where the holes are. Make sure that the holes are big enough for the dowel to go through, but not too big that they don’t drag a bit.

·         Cover with tinfoil and poke dowels through holes on the back of the lid and make sure that no spare pieces of tinfoil are loose. It wouldn’t be fun to chew on a piece of tinfoil :p

·         Larger cake, level with a serrated knife. Run a serrated knife back and forth in a sawing motion to remove crown of cake (or curved part). Enjoy snacking on the round part you just cut off.

·         Put a little bit of icing on the large decorated piece of cardboard, where you want to put the cake. The icing will act as glue so the cake isn’t sliding around.

·         Place cake on icing, push down gently, and make sure it is secure.

·         Put a little bit of icing on the small tinfoil covered piece of cardboard and place small cake on top of it and make sure it is secure.

·         Take a cake decorating spatula, or straight edged butter knife, and ice both cakes with brown icing. Let iced cake sit for 10-25 min so icing will dry a little bit.

·         Once they are both iced, you will want to take the piece of paper that you copied the outline of the lid and lay it on top of the bottom cake. Make sure that you put it on centered. Push dowels in where the holes are. You will want to take the dowels that are in the back of the cake out and cut them to be only 1 ½ inches higher than the cake. You can cut the front dowels shorter, depending on the angle of the lid that you want.

·         Once dowels are cut and ready, paint the front dowels with brown food coloring, so they are hidden. Once food coloring is dry, push back into cake. Make sure that pointed part of dowel is sticking up, so it will go through the lid of the cake easier.

·         Put the lid on the cake. This may take two people. Have one person carefully hold the lid while the second person guides the cake to where the dowels are. If you are holding the lid, make sure that you are holding it the angle you want your lid to be at, so when you put the dowels through it the lid of the cake will be open. The second person can slightly adjust the dowels while they are in the cake so they fit according to the holes in the lid. First focus on getting the back three dowels in, then you can align the front two dowels. Now you will realize why you didn’t cut these holes all the way through. If you did, the lid will fall and you wouldn’t have a chest. With the front holes only halfway cut out, you still have a support to hold the cake open.

·         The rest is easy now!

·         Touch up fingerprints or indents from putting the lid on the cake with the brown icing.

·         Take yellow icing and put in decorating bag. Put a flat tip on bag and pipe the yellow brackets on cake, from front to back.

o   If you don’t have a decorating bag, put some icing in the corner of a Ziploc bag. Twist top of bag so icing doesn’t explode out and hold on to the twist. Cut a medium sized hole and pipe the yellow bracket. The bigger the hole, the faster the icing will come out. You may want to cut just a small hole and see how it comes out. If it’s too small, cut it a little bit bigger.

o   I did three strands across for each bracket, then two on top of those three.

·         If using decorating bag, put star tip #21 on bag and pipe stars all along bracket. Then do star border on bottom of lid and top of chest part of cake.

o   If you don’t have a decorating bag, then put yellow icing into new Ziploc bag and cut very small hole and pipe small holes all along bracket. Then do a nice border on bottom of lid and top of chest part of cake.

·         Now the fun part, decorate the cake with the candies that you bought. Put them wherever you want to. If you are making a pile of candy on the ground in front of the cake, use the leftover brown or yellow icing as glue and stick the candy and coins into it.

·         You can also use brown sugar for sand around the treasure chest. Just be careful that it doesn’t blow everywhere if you have to move the cake.