Move forward with Faith

I just finished setting up a blog where I will write down and share my experiences, thoughts and feelings on our journey of healing from our loss. I named it "Move Forward with Faith". Faith having two meanings... my daughter Faith, and obviously my faith in God.

It's for anyone and everyone who wants to read it. I hope it does some good.

The blog is a work in progress. I want to make it really special, bright and fun, but I wanted to hurry also so I can start recording things while they are fresh on my mind. :)

Grieving

I don’t know what to say except, please be patient with me for a little bit, while I am having an incredibly hard time dealing with the devastating loss of my baby Mikkie while vacationing at Bear Lake.

Many people have reached out with love and have asked how they can help. We are extremely grateful for everyone’s generosity, and it has truly made this burden we carry much lighter. Family, friends and people I’ve never met before. There are so many good people out there. To you and all those who are understanding, I am forever grateful to you. Thank you.
If you would like to help with the unexpected medical and funeral expenses, Tim’s friend has helped set up the donation button on the top right of my blog, or you can donate to the “Mikayla Harper Donations” at Zions Bank. We’d greatly appreciate anything you would be able to donate, no matter how small.

I’m still in shock, and things are still slowly sinking in, so I will be posting more about the trip and most likely this tragedy soon, until then, here’s a beautiful obituary for Mikayla that Tim’s sister put together.

Our sweet Mikayla Lynn Harper (Mikkie), born November 10th, 2008, left her earthly family to return to her Father in Heaven on August 14th, 2010, after a tragic accident while vacationing with her family.

Mikkie is survived by her parents, Tim and Laura Harper, and sister, Faith. In addition, she is survived by grandparents, Bruce and Terri Harper (formerly of Tooele) and Lyle and Tina Jessee (of Riverton), great-grandparents and many aunts, uncles, and cousins. Her great grandmother Lucille Harper and great grandfather Clayton Wilbur were among those who welcomed Mikkie to her heavenly home.

Mikkie had a special, sweet little spirit and brought joy and laughter to all those who knew her. She loved watching and playing with her older sister Faith and her cousins.

If you would like to join in support of the Harper family, a viewing will be held on Tuesday, August 17th, from 6 to 8 p.m. at the Broomhead Mortuary at 12590 S. 2200 W., Riverton. Another viewing will be held at the LDS Meetinghouse located at 13400 S. 2700 W., Riverton on Wednesday, August 18th at 10 a.m., followed by funeral services at 11 a.m. Interment will be in the Riverton city cemetery.

In lieu of flowers, if you would like to help, a trust fund has been set up to help cover unexpected medical and funeral expenses at Zion’s Bank under Mikayla Harper Donations.

We are deeply saddened by the loss of her presence while we remain apart from her. We love you. Until we meet again sweet Mikkie…

Healthy and Hearty Quinoa Stew

I had never heard of Quinoa (keen-wah) until last year, my cousin and aunt brought a fruit salad with that in it. I loved that they were these mini balls (shocker) and had to get some. Well I got some about a few months ago, but haven't used it until now when I was browsin through recipes and saw THIS yummy one from Picky Palate. Tried it, loved it, keepin' it.

We loved it even more knowing how healthy it is! We need a lot of healthy stuff around here to keep the pesky viruses away.

We were excited to be able to use carrots and squash from our own garden! That zucchini is the only one we got, we have no idea what we're doing wrong, everything else is growing great.

Healthy and Hearty Chicken Quinoa Stew

2 Tablespoons extra virgin olive oil

1 large onion, chopped

5 stalks celery, chopped

4 large carrots, peeled and sliced

2 Cups sweet pepper, chopped (I get the big bag from Costco, love them!)

1 large zucchini, quartered and sliced

64 oz chicken broth

15 oz can diced tomatoes

5 medium Yukon Gold potatoes, scrubbed and cubed into 1 inch pieces

3 Cups cooked quinoa

4 medium boneless skinless chicken breasts, cooked, shredded and lightly seasoned with salt and pepper

2 Tablespoons Dijon Mustard

1 Tablespoon Hot Sauce, I used Cholula

Kosher Salt, fresh cracked black pepper and Lawry’s Garlic Salt with Parsley to taste

1 1/2 Cups fresh parsley, chopped

1. Heat oil in a large pot over medium heat. Saute onion, celery, carrots, peppers and zucchini until softened, about 5 minutes. Stir in chicken broth and tomatoes and potatoes. Increase heat to high just until broth starts to boil. Reduce to medium high and cook potatoes for 10 minutes or until fork tender. Reduce heat to low and stir in quinoa, chicken, dijon mustard, hot sauce and season to taste w/ salt, pepper and Lawry’s. Stir in fresh parsley and simmer until ready to serve.

8-10 servings

Sweet BBQ Chicken Kabobs

Got this recipe from Kraft, one of my favorite places, and they were fantastic! I loved the flavor! Perfect for all those summer bbq's!

1 lb. boneless skinless chicken breasts cut into 1 1/2 inch pieces

2 cups fresh pineapple chunks 1 1/2 inch

1 each red and green pepper cut into 1 1/2 inch pieces

1/2 cup Barbecue sauce

3 T. frozen orange juice concentrate, thawed

Heat grill to Medium-high heat.

Thread chicken alternately with pineapple and peppers onto skewers.

Mix barbecue sauce and orange juice concentrate; brush half on evenly onto kabobs.

Gril 8-10 minutes or until chicken is done, turning and brushing occasionally with remaining sauce.

Enjoy! :)

Billy to Bob

Inside story here..... Mikkie's hair was getting really long, mostly in the back so it looked like a mullet, like this:

Being a hair stylist it drove my sister nuts :) I was only holding on to it cuz of the cute curl, but it was looking kinda funny, at least we got some good laughs from it. :) So.... point, Tammy started calling her Billy Ray.......cuz of the mullet.......As much as I liked the curl, I wasn't too fond of the new nickname. :) So it was time to chop chop.

Tam was achin' her achy breaky heart to chop it off.

Bye bye Billy Ray.

Hello Bob. :) Of course we didn't nickname her Bob, but that's what the cut is.

What a stinkin' cutie! She did so good!

We got Faith's hair cut also. It hasn't been cut since the accident. :) She found scissors somewhere and butchered her bangs last November...RIGHT after her first hair cut.

She's not getting anywhere near scissors this time. :)

Monthly Goal Review for July

Goal for July: Faith and I learn how to swim.

Rating: ★★★★☆ 4 stars

let's pretend I was aiming for a silhouette picture, ok. :)

I finally made it a point to get my rear in gear and learn how to swim. It was easier than I thought. Maybe cuz I didn't have to be in the dreaded deep end; but anyways, can I get a round of applause?! ;) Big feat for this scaredy chikin me.

My aunt was kind enough to show me and Faith the ropes and had us swimming in no time. Well, me at least, Faith is working on it. She did so great though, I was so proud of her! When we first went to a pool this summer, she sat on the benches the whole time, she was pretty nervous. Night and day difference to last week- she wasn't clinging all over me and went down the kiddie slide all by herself.....a couple million times. :)

LDS Blog Train!

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No-bake Chocolate Butterscotch mini cheesecakes

Cheesecake. Is. The. Best. That's all there is to it! When I saw these pretty lil things -cheesecake AND mini- I just had to try them.

Found them HERE. Hers are much more prettier than mine, but they tasted great and that's all that matters, right?! :)

I've never played with powdered gelatin before, so of course it didn't set up as I'd hoped, but practice makes perfect and now I know what to do and what NOT to do for next time. This recipe requires a bit more work, but is worth it. Anything for cheesecake!

She used a mini cheesecake pan like this.....FUN! Of course I had to go get one. :) The only place I could find one around here was at Sur la Table at Gateway Mall.

Chocolate Butterscotch No-Bake Cheesecake

Makes 16 mini 2 inch cheesecakes or one 8 inch cheesecake.

Crusts

1 1/2 cup crushed graham cracker

1/4 cup packed light brown sugar

7 tablespoon unsalted butter(melted)

Instructions:

1. Combine graham cracker crumbs with sugar. (I didn't have graham crackers, so I used the graham cracker pie crusts that I had and just mixed it with the butter- it was actually easier cuz they were already crumbs!)2. Add melted butter and blend until combined.3. Press into pan. Set aside

Cheesecake

¼ cup water

1 tablespoon powdered gelatin

2 ¼ cups heavy cream

1 pound cream cheese, softened

2/3 sugar

1/2 teaspoon coarse salt

1/3 cup Whoppers, pulverize

¼ cup chocolate chips

¼ butterscotch chips

2 tablespoon fresh lemon juice

Instructions:

1. Bring 1 inch of water to a simmer in the bottom of a double boiler. Sprinkle water over gelatin and let stand for 5 minutes.

2. Using a spatula scrape the softened gelatin and place it into the top of the double boiler. Set it over simmering water and heat until the mixture becomes liquid. Remove from heat and set aside.

3. Crush Whoppers in a Ziploc or place Whoppers in a food processor and pulse for 5 times with 2 second intervals. Set aside.

4. Heat chocolate in the microwave for 10-20 seconds (times vary from microwave to microwavel) or until melted. Whisk to make sure all pieces are melted. Set aside.

5. Place butterscotch chips and 1 tablespoon of heavy cream in a small bowl and heat in microwave for 10-20 seconds or until melted. Whisk to combine. Set aside.

6. Beat heavy cream until medium peaks form. Set aside.

7. Add cream cheese, sugar, salt, vanilla powder, lemon juice to a bowl and beat with a paddle attachment until smooth (approximately 3-5 mins). If you do not have a stand mixer or a paddle attachment a hand beater will work as well, but will take twice as long to achieve a smooth consistency.

8.. Add a ½ cup of cream mixture to the gelatin and fold with a rubber spatula. Return the gelatin mixture to the remaining cream cheese mixture and fold together.

9. Fold in crushed Whoppers until combined. Gently add butterscotch and chocolate sauce by drizzling sauce into mixture and folding only until mixture shows streaks of butterscrotch and chocolate sauce. * Do not over mix or your cheesecake will be brown in color, rather than streaked.*

10. Fill chosen pan with a slight mound at the center, as the cheesecake will become slightly sunken at the center.11. Refrigerate for at least 6 hours to set or overnight for best results.12. Remove from refrigerator and smooth top to level with edge. Serve with whipping cream and garnish with whopper.

Raspberry baby lattice pies

Yup, another recipe! :) I go through phases between cooking, crafting, design and nothing....right now it's cooking and nothing. Don't feel like doin' a thing most days. :)

Wanted to try these cute lil mini pies. Pie is my favorite! Besides cupcakes, I'm not really a cake fan. She used peanut butter and jelly, but I prefer my PB&J to stay on my sandwiches, not in my pie :) So, I used raspberry pie filling. Not only are they tasty, but so stinkin' cute! I love mini things.

[please pray that I can get a camera! :)]

My strips were a little long, but you get the idea. It’s the over under effect! Once you are done, use a knife to cut off the excess dough and it will look like the next picture. Brush lightly with egg wash.

Raspberry Baby Lattice Pies

1 roll Pillsbury pie dough

1 can of Raspberry pie filling

1 egg white whisked with 1 teaspoon water for egg wash

Sugar Crystals for sprinkling on top if desired

2 Tablespoons powdered sugar

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Unroll pie crust onto a lightly floured surface. Use a 2 1/2 inch round cutter to cut out circles in dough (I used a random little cup that worked great). Lightly press dough rounds into greased mini muffin tin. Roll remaining scraps of dough to an even thickness then use a sharp knife to cut thin 1/8 inch strips to create the lattice topping. Set aside.

2. With spoon, drop a heaping teaspoon into each of the pie crusts. (i did a heaping teaspoon and after done baking it oozed out on top, so I'd fill only about halfway). Using the pie strips, form the lattice top. See pictures above for help. Cut excess dough from edges and brush tops lightly with the egg wash, sprinkle with sugar crystals (optional) and bake for 25-30 minutes or until nice and golden brown.

3. Remove and with the tip of a knife, loosen edges where jam has oozed out. Carefully remove from pan after 5 minutes with the help of the knife and let cool. Dust with powdered sugar and serve with ice cream!

Baby Shower!!

We had a baby shower for my sister on Saturday finally!! Only a couple more weeks til my cute lil niece will be here, YAY! I couldn't be more excited for them!

Here's the GORGEOUS mom-to-be!

For the invitations we didn't want to spend too much money or time but wanted to do something cute, we finally found this super cute idea in one of her card-making idea books for a diaper invite. Between 2 of us, felt for the diapers, scrapbook paper, heart stickers and safety pins, didn't cost much at all!

Please excuse this beyond horrible picture, (remember the sad death of my camera?!) doesn't do these cute lil things justice at all! :(

I, along with a few others, helped on the food end while my SIL and cousin did the decorations and did a AWESOME job! Everything was super cute!

I made some raspberry lemonade that I found somewhere online and a yummy fruit dip I got from my SIL, thanks Lisa!

And thanks to my SIL Marcie, we were able to have fantastic pictures from the shower!

Aren't those decorations just too cute for words? Especially that lil elephant!

We did a raffle for people who brought diapers and/or wipes and some fun prizes!

BEST RASPBERRY LEMONADE

The Punch

Ingredients:

1 can frozen pina colada concentrate, thawed (Bacardi makes a good one)

1 can frozen orange pineapple juice concentrate, thawed

4 liters of diet lemon-lime soda (That’s two 2-Liters for the mathematically challenged.)

1 bag of pebble ice (You can buy it at Sonic Drive-In or at most grocery stores in the deli or meat departments.)

1 bag of frozen raspberries

And now for the directions:

*Pour the thawed concentrates into your punchbowl and stir.

*Use one of the empty cans and fill it with water four times and add it to the mixture. Stir.

*Add your diet soda to the mixture. (You can use regular sugar-filled soda if you want, but I think it gets too sweet and you will also feel guilty when you fill your glass for the sixteenth time. Which you WILL.)

*Next, add about half your bag of pebble ice.

(NOTE: Please do not insult The Punch by using crappy ice cubes from your freezer. The Punch will hate you forever.) (ANOTHER NOTE: Please do not screw up the order and add the ice before the soda. You will get an ugly foam at the top of your punch bowl.) (ONE MORE NOTE: I’m sorry if it seems like I’m micro-managing this recipe. It’s just that I have already suffered bad punch experiences so that you won’t have to. I micro-manage because I care.) Let’s see….where were we? Oh, yes. We’re ready for the crowning ingredient…

*Add your frozen raspberries to the top.

Viola! You have just created the Mona Lisa of Punch!

Your punch should be a lovely dark yellow at the bottom of your punch bowl, light lemony yellow in middle, almost white on the top, and then bright magenta on the very, very top! So pretty!

And then, when you start serving the punch with a ladle, it all mixes together and becomes this dreamy pink color.

And then, when you lift the punch bowl to your lips when it is almost gone to swallow the last few drops of punch, it is an even darker pink because the raspberries have really mixed in.

And then, when you pass out on the floor because you tipped the punch bowl too far and lost your balance, falling backward to the floor with the punch bowl hitting you square in the jaw—you will see lots of lovely yellow stars and magenta raspberries floating above your head.

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Bit-o-honey fruit dip

8 oz. cream cheese

½ cup brown sugar

¼ cup sugar

1 tsp. vanilla

English Toffee Bits (Skor)

Directions:

Beat cream cheese, sugars, and vanilla together. Stir in Skor bits.

We got an AMAZING turn-out! Thanks to everyone who came to help support and celebrate with the mom-to-be!

Transformation

It doesn't take me long to get sick of my hair and ready for a new 'do. My roots were way grown out, my hair looked fried n dead, and it's when I got into the blasted pony-tail routine that made me want change pronto. :)

Meet Frumpy.

Meet Spunky!

The thing that shocks people the most? I didn't even flinch when I saw all that hair on the floor; I was ready for a good whack! :)

I'm LOVIN' the change, cut, color, and how EASY peasy and quick it is to fix! I can literally get out of bed, rub pomade on my head and 10 seconds later I'm ready!

Now, that's what I'm talking about....finally able to beat or at least tie with my hubby in getting ready! ;)

WoO hOo for nEw 'Do'S!!

gOt cHiKiN Blogiversary!

So I didn't even realize it's been the one year mark until I got a comment on one of my posts wishing me a happy blogiversary....really, did I forget? It was 2 days ago, so.....to celebrate I'm going to share some of my favorite CHIKIN recipes! :)

Crockpot Italian Chicken

2 pkgs dry Italian mix

3 cans crm chik soup

6-8 chik breasts

Cook on med-high for 4-6 hours.

add 1 cup sour cream the last hour

Eat on rice or (my favorite) fettuccine noodles!

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Chicken Roll-ups

2 cans (8 oz. each) refrigerated crescent dinner rolls

Pull apart each triangle and shape each one into a circle-there should be 16 if you use 2 cans, 8 if you use 1 can of rolls.

Filling:

-4 oz. Cream cheese (softened so it’s creamy when mixed)

-poultry seasoning (I use Spike) add as much or little as you like…I used about 3-4 T

-chicken- 1 can of chicken… or about 1-2 frozen breasts

-2 T butter-softend NOT melted….or it will be too greasy and makes it difficult to keep it closed.

Mix, then put about 1 T of mixture onto each dough circle. Wrap edges around chicken mix and pinch together, make sure none of the mix is falling out. Roll each roll-up into butter, then roll into crumbs. ( I used saltine crackers. You can use bread crumbs, or cornflakes. Just put in blender till finely blended.

Sauce:

a can of cream of chicken soup, add ½ can water, heat up and pour over roll-ups!

Bake at 350 degrees for about 20 min. or until golden brown.

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Orange and Honey Glazed Chicken Breasts

4 boneless skinless chicken breast halves (4-6 oz each)

Glaze

3 T frozen orange juice concentrate, thawed

2 teaspoons honey

1 T roasted garlic olive oil (I just put some minced garlic in with olive oil)

Pinch ground cinnamon

pinch ground cayenne pepper

Stuffing

1/4 cup currants (I have NO idea what those are, so all this time I've just been substituting it with black beans....that's what the pic looks like it has anyways and it tastes just fine.:)

1 T frozen orange juice concentrate, thawed

1/4 c minced onion

1/4 chopped green olives (didn't have them, so just used black olives)

3 T fresh bread crumbs

1 teaspoon honey

1 teaspoon roasted garlic olive oil

1/8 teaspoon ground cinnamon

pinch ground cayenne pepper

salt and pepper to taste

Preheat oven to 450 degrees. Line a 13x9x2 inch baking pan with foil, dull side toward food.

Cut a deep pocket in each chicken breast half; set aside.

Combine glaze ingredients in a small bowl, set aside. For stuffing, combine currants and 1 T orange juice concentrate in a medium bowl. Add remaining stuffing ingredients.

Stuff each chicken breast half with one-fourth of the stuffing mixture. Flatten breast halves with hand to make uniform in thickness. sprinkle with salt and pepper.

Place stuffed chicken breasts in foil lined pan. Cover with another sheet of foil, dull side facing toward food.

Bake 15 min. uncover. Brush with glaze, continue baking 8 to 12 min. longer, brushing with glaze after 4 min. until chicken is tender and juices run clear or meat thermometer reads 170 F.

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Chicken Lettuce Wraps

Chicken filling

3 T oil

2 boneless skinless chicken breasts

1 c water chestnuts 1 can-chopped finely

3 T chopped onions

1 t minced garlic

4-5 iceberg lettuce leaves

Cook chicken in oil. Dice or shred it, put in pan. Add onions, garlic and water chestnuts. ADD 2 t vinegar, 2 T soy sauce and 2 T sugar. Place about 1/2 cup on each lettuce leaf. Roll up.

Dipping sauce

2 t. rice wine vinegar

2 T. soy sauce

1/4 cup sugar

1/2 cup water

2 T ketchup

1 T lemon juice

1/8 t sesame oil or regular oil

1 T mustard

2 t garlic chipotle sauce *optional*

For sauce- dissolve sugar in water in small bowl. Add soy sauce, vinegar, ketchup, lemon juice and oil. Mix and refrigerate. Dip lettuce rolls in sauce and enjoy!

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Chicken Cordon Bleu Roll-ups

Take chicken breast, roll in butter, wrap swiss cheese around chicken, then ham around the cheese.

Spray with canola oil. Roll in bread crumbs (blend Stauffer's bread crumbs-same stuff used for stuffing). spray again so crumbs stick well.

Mix 1 cup sour cream, 1 can cream chicken soup plus a little water to thin just a bit. Pour a dallop on each piece. Bake at 375 degrees for about 45 min.

You should try every one of these, they're quite tasty! Enjoy! :)

Monthly Goal Review for June

Goal: Give even more time to my kids; study and find better ways to teach them and have Faith memorize the alphabet.

Rating: ★★★☆☆ 3.5 stars

Even though Faith already had her alphabet memorized, I don't feel like I did too well with this month, oh well. Here's a list of things I tried with the girls:

* Playdough-FAIL (fun to play with, NOT fun to get off floor)

* Bubbles- WIN (although they dump it out more than blowing the bubbles :S)

* Sprinkler toy hooked up to our hose- FAIL. My girls do NOT like water in their face, mostly Faith, but let me tell you it did not sound like a good time when I turned that "fun" sprinkler on.

* Dyed pasta shells to put on string- FAIL. Maybe I didn't do it right, but the food coloring wasn't sticking to the pasta and BIG MISTAKE...I left it on the counter. That + turning my head for a few minutes= MESS.

* Helping mom cook- WIN. Faith LOVES to help, she is a great helper! I just have to watch her carefully cuz she's pretty speedy to grab that egg and crunch it all in the bowl. ;)

* Zoo- WIN! They both loved the zoo! The baby elephant was our favorite. That, the long white-tailed monkeys and the gorilla were the most entertaining, everything else might as well have been dead. Did you know they're building a big Polar Bear exhibit that'll open in 2012? That is when I will get a season pass, I can't get enough of their cute fuzzy faces!!! :)

There's still so much more to do with them, so really this goal is not over and will never be over, I love spending time with my little girls! They are sweet as can be and so fun to be with, they make me laugh and smile all the time!

If any of you have some fun ideas you like to do with your kids, I'd love to hear them! It gets tiring for my brain sometimes trying to come up with things to do. :)

Old Glory Digi kit!

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This past week and half have been uber crazy-busy!! With being sick, driving all over the valley, having guests over and celebrating a holiday, life is keepin me goin! I feel like I can finally sit down and breathe....I better not speak too soon. :)

As you probably gathered in my previous post, I LOVE Independence day!! Here's to our beautiful flag, "Old Glory" that represents courage, peace and freedom. May we all remember the great sacrifices that were selflessly made to make it possible for us to enjoy so many freedoms we have today, they did not come at a cheap price!

Free for personal use only.

HOPE YOU LIKE IT! :)

Happy Independence Day!

I love this holiday!

I love the weather..

I love the food...

I love the colors....

I love the festivities...

I LOVE the fireworks! They are my favorite! This year they put music to them and let me just say I got the CHILLS! Not just cuz it was abnormally chilly for this time of year, but the words of the songs are just so inspiring and it makes me so grateful for our country and so grateful that our loving God guided and inspired all the brave individuals who helped make our country what it is today!

With the permission of my brother, Dale i made a slideshow to his inspiring, powerful, gonna-give-you-goosebumps Patriotic Medley. I rushed a bit to get it done (still not on time) but hope you like it.