Monte's Birthday

7 years old on October 11th! We are so thrilled to be Monte's parents, and so proud of all he's done in that 7 years. We had a monkey party...his favorite song since he was 2 has been the Monkey and the Alligator song-so this party was a long time coming! Too bad we didn't have Croc, Emilie and Cam's 7 foot gator that we babysat while they were in Australia, he would've been a perfect prop! As always, Doug had fun with this cake. Although we had a pretty tough day, and lots of things went wrong, including the ear of the monkey falling off and sliding down the wall before collapsing on the floor in a mess of frosting.
Our top 7 things of this year were:
7 Spending time with G&G Higley, Wellington, and Grandma Fogelquist (but it's been over a year and it's time to visit again!)
6 Getting a new "fort bed"
5 Staying (mostly) healthy and only having minor procedures. (Although he's having a small eye surgery on Nov 11, so please keep him in your prayers)
4 Teasing his sister, and laughing as she "helps" him with everything. She likes to put food in his mouth, share her drinks, bring him toys (and drop them on his head), and try to drag him across the room to play with her. I just noticed that she's feeding him Nerds as he lays on the floor, excuse me!!
3 Being properly diagnosed by an Epiliptologist and treated by wonderful physicians at St. Louis Children's Hospital. She re-did his EEG's and completely changed his seizure medications. He's been completely removed off of two of them, and we weaned onto a small dose of a new, better medication. Now we've been slowly weaning him off of the final (old) medication. He will be completely off in January, but with every incremental dose change, we see so much more of our "Monte" back! He's come out of the fog he's been in, he's signing sentences again, trying more vocalizations, walking and standing more, and he's just so much more alert and aware. Hooray!! It's hard to summarize our feelings on this subject properly, so moving on...
2 Continuing to make great friends at school and spending his time in a regular 1st grade class. (Hence the reason we moved out here in the first place!) He's the king of the school, everyone knows his name, and they make him feel so special.
1 Monte is now nearly running in his walker! He is purposefully lifting both feet, one after another, and carefully placing them up and down...and he's doing it so fast! We took him to the school playground Saturday and were in awe at his speed and endurance. This is a first for him and we are so, so, so, so, so thrilled.



The hair is my favorite part.!

Piper can't take her eyes off the cake, but Monte is just thrilled to be with Daddy!

Elder Owen Lee Allphin

Our friend, the newly set apart Elder Owen Lee Allphin is headed this Wednesday for Romania via the MTC. We celebrated with his family this weekend, and my amazing husband prepared (at the very last minute, and in less than an hour, this cake tribute.

The first pictures are of Owen and his brother on the boat this summer...this is after landing a full flip. Very cool, very intimidating!

Looking majestic and serious... We are so excited for him and proud of him as well, he's an amazing young man.

My husband, the cake wizard...and lots of pics of the cake!

White Bread/Rolls/Cinnamon Rolls/Orange Rolls, Scones,and more

For anyone who has ever sent me a recipe chain letter, here are a few of my favorites. Yeah, I don't do those, sorry! I also promise to break all book, letter, and email chains. Sorry, but I'm providing these recipes to make you feel better.
Also, my great friend Amber has really yummy recipies are at http://www.wackyfam.com/
I recommend especially the broccoli soup, it's so easy and yummy, but they're all great.
Also at TasteofHome.com, you can type in a single ingredient and get a list of ideas to cook with it.

This is my favorite white bread, rolls and scones recipe. Basically we use it for everything! 1 batch makes 2 dozen rolls, I usually double it if I'm having company. I've changed a lot of things as I use it, this version now seems to be the best, at least where I live! I looked up pictures of all the different kinds of rolls online, it was fun to see the different versions! Cloverleaf anyone?

1 package active dry yeast (or 2 teaspoons)
1/4 cup warm water

1 cup milk, scalded (I use 1 cup water and 1/3 cup powdered milk from my food storage)
1/4 cup sugar
1/4 cup shortening
1 tsp salt
3 1/2 cups sifted all-purpose flour
1 egg

Soften yeast in warm water. Combine milk, sugar, shortening, and salt; cool to lukewarm. (I usually put the water, powdered milk, sugar and shortening in a saucepan and cook on the store to just before boiling, then cool in the fridge for about 20 minutes). Add 1 1/2 cups of flour; beat well. Beat in yeast and egg. Gradually add remaining flour to form soft dough, beating well. Place in greased bowl, turning once to grease surface. Cover and let rise in warm place till double (1 1/2 to 2 hours). Turn out on lightly floured surface and shape as desired. (Corkscrew, parker house, jiffy cloverlear, regular cloverleaf, cinnamon rolls, or bread loaves).
If making scones cut into squares or rectangles and fry on both sides in oil heated to 375 degrees.
If making rolls-Cover and let shaped rolls rise till double (30-45 minutes). Bake on greased baking sheet or in greased muffin pans in hot oven (400 degrees) for 12-15 minutes.

Raisin-Cinnamon Rolls
Divide roll recipe in half, roll each section into 16x8 inch rectangle. Combine 3/4 cup brown sugar, 6 tbsp. butter and 3 teaspoons cinnamon. Spread over dough. Sprinkle 3/4 cup raisins if desired. Roll lengthwise as for jelly roll. Seal edge; cut in 1-inch slices. (I use thread or dental floss to cut it). Place cut side down in greased pan, I use a cookie sheet. Cover; let rise till double (30-40 minutes). Bake in oven at 350 for 18 minutes. You may remove them from the pan when cooked, I leave them and slather on the frosting while still hot. Makes about 32 rolls.

Orange Rolls
Follow above Raisin-Cinnamon roll recipe, substitute 4 teaspoons grated orange peel for cinnamon and omin raisins. Add a bit of orange flavoring if desired.

Frosting Version #1
Add light cream to 2 cups sifted confectioner's sugar for spreading consistency. Add a dash of salt and 1 tsp. vanilla.

Frosting Verison #2 (my favorite, and my personal recipe)
3 tbsp butter
2 2/3 cups powdered sugar, sifted
1/8 cup Milk or light cream
1 1/2 tsp vanilla
2-6 tbsp. cream cheese

Cream butter and cream cheese together, gradually add about half the sugar, blending well. Beat in 2 tbsp cream/milk and vanilla. Gradually blend in remaining sugar. Add enough cream/milk to make of spreading consistency.

Sue's Honey Whole Wheat Bread Recipe

Sue Higley's Foolproof Whole Wheat Bread (My Mom!)
Makes 4 Loaves (*I usually cut the recipe in half and make two, also, a Bosch makes this process so simple)

2 tbsp dry yeast
1/2 cup warm water
5 cups hot tap water
2 tbsp. salt
2/3 cup oil
2/3 cup honey
12 cups whole wheat flour
Sprinkle yeast into 1/2 cup water. Let stand until dissolved. Combine hot water and 7 cups four. Add salt, oil, and honey, mix together until well blended. Add one cup flour to mixture, add yeast and mix well. Add 3-4 cups more flour. Knead for 10 minutes until dough begins to clean the side of the bowl. A stickier dough will cause a more moist bread. Oil hands. Divide dough into 4 parts. Mound into loaves and place in greased pans. Oil top of loaves for a soft crust. Cover loaves with a damp cloth. Let rise 1/3 in bulk for 35 minutes. Bake at 350 for 40-45 minutes. Remove from pans. Put on towel to cool. Brush tops with butter.
Makes great rolls too. For high altitudes (over 4000 feet) bake at 425 for 8 minutes and then 350 for 40 minutes.

The October Halloween Extravaganza

Ok, so I was surprised to learn that here in the 'bible belt,' lots of people refuse to celebrate Halloween. Something about the origins of the holiday being 'dark'. I pondered whether they'd ever looked up the origins of Valentines day... Anyway, there were a million local parties/activities for the evil Halloween celebrating people like us to attend! Here's a few highlights...we had so much fun and so much candy, we'll be eating it until Christmas! (Which incidently started on November 1st, as anyone who knows anything about Branson knows!)

We started with a field trip to a pumpkin patch, where Monte gave a new definition to the phrase "cowlick!" The mom and calf just loved Monte! Monte's favorite thing is the big sandbox with corn in it...

More Halloween Fun

We also went to Trick or Treating at one of the Outlet malls, then a LDS Church Trunk or Treat, creatively giving away all the candy my kids can't eat (or the stuff I just didn't want them to eat! Why do people hand out so much bubble gum?!?) Monte had a school party that I planned (we decorated Harvest Houses with candycorn, m&m's, pumpkins and ghosts), and we went to a party for Piper's playgroup also. We then went to a Zoo Spooktacular Event, where they turne the entire Zoo into a huge spook alley with Trick or Treat Booths. We were sad to find that we didn't get to see many animals. Just a few birds, snakes and gulp, spiders. Apparently the animals don't like Halloween either. Oh, the monkeys were eating pumpkins!

Whew! That was a lot of Halloween!
Here's a few fav pictures...

Carnival Fun

We really had fun at a local grocery store carnival, we bounced and slid, decorated and bowled pumpkins, ate cookies, got our faces painted, received candy, and went through a hay maze. (Then I showered. Hay itches!)

This was Piper's first opportunity to try out miniature golfing. She tried with the club, then decided that it was a silly way to do things....
So she picked up the ball, walked over to the hole and dropped it in. I think she's brilliant! But probably not a future golf fan.

Monte holding very still for face painting a pumpkin!

Now for the Halloween Costumes Read the lower Post First...it got mixed up!

Then came the second costumes ( both purchased out of previous year's clearance racks for very little, we love sales!)
Piper the Princess
and Monte the Knight in Shinning Armor.

We had so many parties to go to, we changed our costumes just for fun. The first time Piper was a BYU Cheerleader in honor of her Daddy, the Ricks College Cheerleader, (I was shocked to find a section of BYU Apparel at a local discount clothing store...I bought two!) and Monte is a University of Utah Basketball player (because we're so proud of our Uncle Cameron, our family's International BB Star!)

More Pumpkin Patch Fun

Ride um, grumpy cowboy!

Very cute...and her favorite new word is "Pumpkin!" She carries around her little pumpkins everywhere, and cooks them in her kitchen.

Love this smile...

Hay ride...and mommies hay fever didn't love it, but the kids did! This is Jennifer, one of Monte's assistants at school.

Activity Days

I've been involved in my favorite calling to date (but I always think that!). I'm over the 8-11 year old girls in our church, and we spend two hours together every Wednesday night learning skills. (Physical, spiritual, crafty, cooking, ect). It's so much fun! I organized a Modest Fashion Show called Modest is Hottest! Here's our final pic.

What We've Been Doing-Instead of Blogging!

So, we've been busy lately! Here's a few things we've been up to:

I've been learning to make honey whole wheat bread, rolls, cinamon rolls, and all thing with yeast!

Piper, Monte and friends explored the local dinosaur population.

Claire went waterskiing again!! While the rest of the family enjoyed the surprisingly warm Missouri lake water with swimming, boating, and tubing with our good friends the Allphins. Doug is still recovering from a grade 3 sprained ankle from playing softball on our Anniversary.