Gabe and Elisa's Band Concert

Here are the pictures (and videos) of Gabe and Elisa's band concert, held on November 30th. It was fairly short (under an hour) and we could tell the kids are getting better and better as a band. We can never seem to sit in the right spot though. I had to zoom in real close to get pictures of Gabe. The last song or two was combined I believe, so I was able to get a picture of Elisa. When it was just her band playing, she was buried in the middle, and I could only see the top of her forehead.

 

Some pictures with dad, photo-bombed by Ian.

After the performance we went out to eat and Subway. I got a really good picture of Gabe eating!

Thanksgiving in Utah

For Thanksgiving, we went up to Utah to celebrate with family! As usual, our first stop was St. George. I didn't keep a log so I don't remember everything (sorry). We arrived late Monday night the 22nd. The next day was spent shopping while Erik golfed. I took all three kids. We went to lots of places... 5 Below and Ross for gifts for Aaliyah and Isabelle (and her siblings). Also on the list of places: Elisa's new favorite store--Frenzy. She found lots of things she wanted at that place! I bought some saltwater taffies and a couple of weird sodas to try. We also went to the mall to get some gifts at Bath & Body Works and Victoria's Secret. For dinner, we all went out to Irmita's Mexican restaurant:

I brought down a pumpkin roll I made the previous day. I guess people liked it since it was gone by the time we left for Salt Lake.

Elisa found a bunch of fun junk for herself at 5 Below. 

Elisa begged for these at Frenzy. I told her maybe for Christmas.

Elisa found her new favorite soda--Ramune sodas, I believe they are from Japan. She's been "collecting" them ever since.

Yummy dinner at Irmitas.

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Sodas (except the IBC) and saltwater taffies I bought at Frenzy.

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The next day, November 23, we packed up and drove to Cedar City to meet my dad and Michael for lunch. I called and ordered the pizza so it was ready when we arrived.

Yummy pizza!

Ian sure enjoyed the dessert pizza!

After lunch, we stopped at the storage center to help my dad unload junk from the storage unit into the van. So. Much. Junk. I'm glad we helped so my dad didn't have to do it all by himself. It wasn't like we had much else to do anyway. Michael didn't help. He has a bad back and a very low inclination to perform physical labor. Gabe helped a little bit, but most of the stuff was either too heavy or too fragile for him. Some of it was too heavy for me to lift. Erik and I brought things out of the storage unti while my dad found someplace to fit them in the truck. He almost lost the truck keys, since he piled stuff on top of his jacket, and the keys were in the pocket. Yeesh. 

Loading the van. I should have gotten a picture of the storage shed. There was still lots of stuff in there when we left.

After helping my dad, we headed up to Cedar Hills to Tootsie and Mark's house. Erik picked up cupcakes from Alisha's. Tootsie and Mark were busy remodeling their kitchen, but we didn't spend a whole lot of time there. My parents were living in the basement, so I spent a lot of time down there. I believe we had a sampling of several different grilled cheese sandwiches from Craving's Bistro. I don't know why I didn't take a picture of all the different sandwiches. I wasn't very good with taking pictures this trip!

 

Cupcakes. Yum!

Mark working on the vent pipe for their stove.

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The next day (Thanksgiving), we hung around in the morning at Tootsie's for a few hours in the morning before going up to Sandy for Thanksgiving dinner. Erik prepared his Frog Eye Acini salad in the basement kitchen where my parents lived. We spent the rest of the day at Erik's Aunt and Uncle's house in Sandy. Grandma and Grandpa and Makayla and Bryce came, and of course Isabelle and her family. Elisa was happy to see her second cousin! Also in attendance was Wendy and her husband (boyfriend??), Uncle Gary (obviously since it's his house), and Erik's cousin Joel. The kids had a great time and played well together. There was lots of yummy food to go around! After dinner, we just chatted (mostly with Bryce about movies) while we waited for Erik's aunt Nancy and her family to join us for dessert. She brought most of the pies. As full as we were, the pies were still as tempting as ever. They were very rich and sweet, but also quite delicious. I had a teeny sliver of each pie.

  

Can you spot the cat?

I made scrambled eggs for Ian for breakfast in the downstairs kitchen. He almost got photobombed by Georgie! 

Bryce and Makayla came!

Digging in!

The kid table

Cousin besties!

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The next day (Friday) the kids and my mom and I drove up to Lisa's in South Jordan for another Thanksgiving dinner. Tootsie had oddly vanished (I think to her bedroom), so there was no point in sticking around at her place. Her and Mark were supposed to eat with us, but oh well they missed out on a delicious meal. Erik smoked a turkey using Mark's smoker and met us at Lisa's a few hours after we had arrived. In those few hours, I made the rolls and helped prepare a few other dishes, most of which were leftovers from Thanksgiving dinner the previous day (Lisa and Eric's leftovers). The kids had a blast goofing off with each other! The smoked Turkey was the star of the meal, but the rolls weren't too far behind. They were precious and few enough that we didn't let the kids partake--they were allowed store bought rolls from the day before. Eric B's parents were there, but only his mom joined us for dinner. His dad and brother Aron hid out in the basement. My dad didn't even show for any Thanksgiving dinner, he was too busy loading the truck with garbage from their storage unit. At least we were able to see him in Cedar for a few hours otherwise we wouldn't have got to see him at all. Michael too. After dinner, we headed down the road not 10 minutes to my parent's new home that they were currently moving into. We didn't do much other than go through the house. It is a nice house with a few nice upgrades, but unfortunately has/had a couple issues too. It was fun to see their new house and the kids sure enjoyed exploring the house with each other. 

A goofy picture of the kids. Aiden is off screen, except his elbow. Elisa tried to be, but I got most of her face anyway. They took a few bites of their food and ran off.

Let's eat!

Grandma Julie and Grandpa Ron's new home in South Jordan

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The next day (Saturday the 26th we packed up from Tootsies. She randomly reappeared in the basement while I was making omelets. Tootsie, me, and my mom had some deep(ish) discussions about random topics that Gabe probably didn't need to hear, but he sure enjoyed listening and chiming in once in a while, all while playing with the kitties. We drove down to St. George, and I'm trying to recall what we did that evening, but nothing is coming to me. This is what happens when I don't take pictures, so much of what happened seemingly disappears. I *think* Makayla made us chicken enchiladas for dinner, but I could be confusing that with another time. I'm pretty sure we went to 1 hour of church the next morning. We drove home to Phoenix after church, and it was an uneventful drive thankfully. The other side of the freeway was backed up for miles and miles and miles near Mesquite (I think?) no thanks to the endless bridge construction. I'm glad we avoided that sort of traffic by leaving later in the evening when we came up. Anyway, a fun yet disjointed trip up to Utah!

 

Gabe enjoying the cats.

The drive home. Look at those cuties snoozing in the back!

Amy's Birthday Celebrations

On my birthday, Erik and I took all the kids to Arrowhead Grill. They do have kid's menus, after all! I had a buy one steak get one free coupon, which turned out to be a really good deal (at least $60 worth!). For appetizers, we ordered calamari--which the kids surprisingly ate--and artichoke hearts which we seem to order every time we go to Arrowhead Grill. For my main entree, I ordered the Delmonico steak and Erik ordered the 8 oz filet (I think!). As a side, Erik and I chose cauliflower with truffle oil and parmesan cheese sauce. Sorry, but after having this cauliflower dish, I realize that there is really no way to redeem cauliflower; it's pretty much gross in whatever state it's in. The kids ordered what they wanted from the kid's menu (mac and cheese for Ian, no surprise there). Everything was delicious as usual. They gave me a free butter cake at the end, which I shared with everyone:

   

After dinner we went home and I opened some gifts, mostly from Erik who ordered a few things from my Amazon wishlist. Sweet Ian was the only kid who gave me anything. He made me a card and taped some of his Halloween candy to it. One of the gifts from my wishlist was a sticker maker, which Gabe promptly opened (without asking) and the kids obsessed over it for the next week until all the cartridge was all used up.

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The birthday present that I looked forward to the most was another trip to Binkley's for dinner. They serve a multiple course tasting meal that changes every month or so. My favorite part is that they have a set menu, so I don't have to choose what to eat. Everything they make is amazing, so we are never disappointed. Unlike last time, they served our first course at the bar before seating us.

Virgin Pomegranate Margaritas complete with salt and seasoning around the rim of the glass

Salt and vinegar plantain (banana) chips and a dip of roasted garlic creme fraiche (French cream) with pomegranates on top, grilled Spanish chorizo on a stick, and kumquats stuffed with cashew butter and foie gras (pureed duck liver). Amy Binkley is in the background. She is the wine connoisseur, so we haven't really interacted with her much.

After we finished our appetizers and drinks at the bar, we were seated near the kitchen. Chef Binkley welcomed us, thanked us for visiting again, and gave me a birthday card.

Small bites (from left to right, front to back): Hirame (raw Japanese fish), pear and prosciutto, baby radish over goat butter (probably the only item that we also had the last time we went here), smoked salmon on a mini baked potato, roasted golden baby beet, pickled green mountain peach with aged gouda on top, butternut squash, kimchi date (we love their dates), steak tartare slider

On the half shell (left to right): west coast oysters (a tasty flavor of watermelon and cantaloupe), abalone, mussels, clams, and scallops in cucumber water with quince and avocado (we love their scallops too)

Roasted pineapple curry with pumpkin, white wild rice, baby carrots, and chili pepper. This was Erik's favorite vegetarian dish. The curry was so creamy and flavorful, and the pumpkin made it even better.

Meyer lemon cherry soda

White and black truffle potato (from the front going clockwise): white truffle whipped potatoes, black truffle gnocchi, white and black truffle potato leek soup. The gnocchi was the best we have ever had, much more flavorful and tender than any other gnocchi.

I cannot get the video to upload, click here for video.

Mountain rose apple shot (the rose scent was in the bubble) and crimson gold apple filled with apple butter mascarpone. It was of delicious no doubt, but of all the courses, I have to say that this was my least favorite. I guess I was expecting more than just a little apple.

Caramelized onion caramel pork rib over roasted chestnut puree and smoked chili oil. Erik's favorite meat dish. Chef Binkley has a gift for caramelizing pork with a nice crunch on the outside.

Corned beef and cabbage: corned wagyu beef cheek covered in mustard butter served over balsamic braised cabbage

Key lime infusion with rosemary, lavender, turmeric, ginger, coriander, fennel seed, anise, and lemon. This is a boiling hot herb tea that aids digestion; it was extra citrusy this time. Chef Binkley is walking around in the background of the video. He is always very nice.

Warm popcorn and honey milk (more like scalding hot) served with miso caramel popcorn (the miso just made it slightly salty)

Huckleberry Semifreddo (gelato/sorbet) served over white chocolate orange mousse with essence of orange blossom. We had been smelling the orange blossom for the previous few courses, and we finally realized that it was part of the dessert course.

For my birthday, they filled a balloon with liquid nitrogen, and it blew itself up.

They also gave me a candle to blow out. I let it sit for almost ten minutes before it burned out.