Glimpse at us.

This week was all kinds of crazy!!! 

Six photo sessions in one week (three of them in one day), wedding preparation, and school wrapping up all total CRAZY CAM.

Yeah, I've been running around constantly and I'm still trying to catch up.

Anyway, in the midst of all the craziness, I still make sure to take time to enjoy life...

Hence the waffles and a little photo session for us.

I was craving Waffle Bliss all week so I looked up a recipe and decided to make my own. I really enjoy cooking and baking but don't always have the time to try new things, so I decided I'd make a little time and try something new. They turned out great, as far as I'm concerned, and I dressed them with peanut butter, crunchy cookie butter, syrup, whip cream, and strawberries (what wouldn't taste great with all those yummy toppings???)

Here's the recipe I followed:

copycat waffle love recipe

prep time: 4 hours

cook time: 5 minutes

yield: 10 waffles

serving size: 1 waffle

waffle love is an incredibly popular waffle truck in utah and now you can make their famous liege waffles from home!

ingredients

• 3/4 cup whole milk, scalded and cooled to warm milk
• 2 tablespoons water, warmed
• 1 1/2 teaspoons sugar
• 2 teaspoons instant yeast
• 2 large eggs, lightly whisked
• 1 cup unsalted butter, softened
• 3 tablespoons honey
• 3 tablespoons white sugar
• 3 teaspoons vanilla
• 2 cups bread flour
• 1 1/2-1 3/4 cups flour
• 2 cups belgian pearl sugar (we buy ours from orson gygi)

instructions

1. add the 1 1/2 teaspoons of sugar to the milk and water and add the yeast, stirring to combine. allow the yeast to proof, or get foamy and puffy.
2. in a large bowl, beat together the butter and sugars. add the eggs, honey and vanilla. stir together and add the yeast mixture. place in a standing mixer with the dough hook and add 2 cups of flour. mix until the dough is thoroughly incorporated, and add the remaining flour, cover with plastic wrap and allow to rest for up to 4 hours on the counter, or up to 24 hours covered with plastic wrap in the fridge. the dough will need to sit on the counter and come back to room temperature to use. then punch down and knead in the pearl sugar. separate into 8 to 10 balls and place on a hot, greased waffle iron. cook until golden brown and serve with biscoff, whipped cream and fresh berries.

notes

need to skimp on the rise time? no biggie, though you will lose some of that awesome flavor.

 Cec has been learning about photography and asked if she could take pictures of us! Of course I said, YES, because I believe you can never have too many pictures.

For her second photo shoot I'd say she did pretty dang good!

 We decided to capture our every day attire and every day life.

 If you know us, you know that I am often found with a plaid shirt around my waist...

 ...and Jeff in his favorite band t-shirts.

Jeff is always singing wherever he goes and plays the guitar any chance he gets. 

 We are always laughing and goofing around.

And we are just straight up goobers! So in capturing all of those things Cec did awesome!!!

Be prepared to see more, these are just a few!

Speaking of Cec, we have been wedding crafting (little last minute) all week as well and we are down to 12 DAYS!!! WHAT???? Where does time go???? Anyway, we are having an open house bridal shower that EVERYONE is invited to! We will just be giving her some last minute advise, embarrassing her with some sexy lingerie, and calming some last minute stressors! 

We hope to see you all there!

Tender mercies...I needed this :)

My little brother is truly amazing!!! Every week his letters bring me so much peace, joy, and tears. I am so proud of him and all of his hard work. He was always a giant, spiritually and physically, but it's incredible to see him growing even more. 

The church is true, the Lord knows and loves each one of us, our brother Jesus Christ atoned for us all, and families can be together forever. I am so grateful for my testimony and for the guidance it gives me, for the joy it brings me, and for the hope it provides me in my weaknesses. 

I know who I am, where I came from, where I'm going, who I can become, and who I want to be. I know that no matter how down I feel or how confused I am there is someone who understands perfectly. I love this life and the opportunity we have to share it with those we love. I hope this week's letter (like every letter we receive) touches you like it touches me. I love you Trev!

Week 26 ~ Etchojoa ~ Elder Hernandez

So this week.

This week was pretty eventful. It was the first time I rode a bike in the mission! I was so excited to ride a bike!! but like the first 5 minutes I realized that this bike wasn't one of Navy's bikes, it wasn't a nice bike nor was it a comfortable bike. The seat would move up and down, the crank was bent, the seat was broken plastic! haha fun day.By the end of the day my butt was bruised from all the pot holes in the dirt road, and i was drenched in sweat! I would just hear dad's voice telling the story of him riding bikes in his mission in Australia and how he would sweat and the members would have a towel waiting for him!! haha 

This week we taught Jose (the 80 year old man) and WOW! how he is ready for this gospel! he knows a lot already, he asked us if we believed in spirits. And we said yes, so he told us that he believes there is a place where the spirits go to rest! and we just smiled and told him that he is going to love everything we have to teach him! he is so cool! I can honestly say, for the first time, that I want to go and talk to him, I want to listen to him talk about his life. I feel a special bond with him! He is a Friend.

This week the old lady that I bore my testimony about grandpa to last week, her husband died the next morning, the day after I gave him a blessing and I just blessed him with the comfort he needed to go and told him that he can protect his family from the other side.  We helped a lot with his funeral, my companion gave a talk and after we had everyone wait outside while we changed him into his temple clothes and garments. My comp, President Ticona (of the branch) , and I changed him! They do things a little different here in Mexico. They don't embalm and they change him after the services. That was quite an experience for me, I've never done anything like that before. But it was really spiritual. 

This week was good we found a lot of new investigators from families of less actives.There are many members that have people in their family that aren't members!! So that's good work for us to do! Well I LOVE YOU ALL! and I just want you all to show your love for your friends and family, people you don't know, because we never know what's going on in their lives, we could be helpful without even knowing it. Or even we don't know how long we have here in this life! Show your love, there is no better time then now! LOVE You all!

Elder Horlacher

Busy bodies being BUSY!

This week was busy and but memorable nonetheless!

 My aunt received a special Volunteer award!

 To show our love and support we all gathered for the dinner and award ceremony!

The award couldn't have gone to a better recipient and I am so grateful to have her in my life!!!

 Then Thursday we went to the Plain White T's concert at the Sunbowl! It was so nice to enjoy the beautiful weather, listen to good music, and eat frozen yogurt, WIN WIN WIN!

My handsome date and the creepy photo bomber haha.

 Friday we did another assembly at Bloomington Hills Elementary. I SO love being able to go around to the schools and share an uplifting message in a fun and memorable way. 

 I LOVE SPRING and I've been putting fresh flowers all over my little house! My next yard plan is to plant a rose garden in my little backyard!

 Saturday was a crazy day of nonstop plans...practice, wedding pictures at the temple, kite festival, wedding reception! When I got home that night I zonked out in seconds!!! 

Well these next couple weeks are going to be insane but so worth it! Between school finals, Cecilee's wedding, girls camp prep, and the studio show I'm going to be running around like crazy person! However, these crazy times are wonderful and are memories I will cherish forever.

Gettin' Fresh!

We got our little family photo session pictures back and we are so excited to have some updated photos! 

Nina did a great job :)

I was contemplating whether to try to squeeze them in with our crazy schedules and I'm glad we did. 

I originally had two sessions booked so I could get a variety of photos, but we ended up only having time for one!

 I will follow him wherever he goes :)

This is my traditional Easter dress! I get one every year, ever since I was little.

  He sweetly asked me if we could take some with his baby (his Martin guitar) so that's exactly what we did.

He was too lazy to change his pants and although I wish he had, I love this picture of us! How did I get so lucky with such a handsome, sweet, loving man???

I was sick all week, so to get myself out of the funk I went on a shopping spree. Strange I know, but it worked and I started feeling so much better after. I couldn't decide between these two, so I sent pictures to Jeff, Mom, and Cec and they were all conflicting, so naturally I had to get both. Each were originally $50 and I got them both for $28 :) WIN!

Guess what I got this week...you guessed it, flowers for no reason! He was so excited to give me these unique red and yellow mini roses and I love them and his sweet sentiment.

 Friday night my mom hooked us up with tickets to PBR (Profession Bull Riding), and I loved it! We went with my dad and I was enthralled the whole time! That is one intense sport that is so fast paced and entertaining!

 Sydnee and my mom both worked so we had to harass them a little.

Dad with his favorite kids hahahaha just kidding! 

Sunday night we worked on wedding stuff, as usual! This time, we went around and took invitations around Ivins!

 I love learning new things, and I loved designing Cec's announcement! I think it turned out pretty cute :)

Temple insert!

 This morning after class I came home to see my rose bush bursting with beautiful roses, so I cut some off and have more fresh roses in my house. 

I grew these and that makes it so much better! 

However, I need to add gardening gloves to my shopping list (ouch).

I've been trying to catch up and stay caught up on our family home videos! So here is our little video on Brad's homecoming day! 

Did I mention I also had two photo sessions this last week between all the school, work, dance, and fun! It's been picking up a lot and I love it!

Anyway, I hope everyone has a wonderful week! I know I will, surrounded by all my fresh flowers and sweetheart!

Try Pine Easter Tribute (a little bit of everything)

Try outs. Pine Valley. Easter. Tribute.

This week was full of action, here it is!

 Snow Canyon had their cheer try outs this last week. 

 Wise advise :)

 I choreographed the individual routines for these three...and they all did amazing!

I also choreographed Lala's individual routines and she did amazing as well.

  Easter weekend was one to remember! We spent Friday night, Saturday, and Sunday morning up at the Dixie State University cabin with the Hauck family! Here is the dirt road that lead to the cabin...

 And here is the HUGE cabin we stayed in! Friday night we all arrived and played games.

 Saturday we woke up, watched the morning session of conference, then prepped for the annual family Easter party! Emme had a few pieces of candy (to say the least haha).

 It's just too hard to not give this cute face candy (and everyone thought the same thing cause she got A LOT of candy).

 She is so sweet and I love her so much! 

Amanda shared a story with me that I will cherish forever... After prayer every night Amanda asks Emme what she is grateful for, the usual answer is Elsa, Mommy, Daddy, Baby Hudson, with the occasional "Nana" and "Papa", but one night she said "Aunty Cam"!!! That warmed my heart so much! Amanda said that they hadn't been talking about me or anything so she said it all on her own. This little girl always knows when to give me a hug when I need it, or to pull me away to play when I'm feeling down, I feel that she and I have a special bond of love and she is always there to give love freely.

 While prepping for the party, we were treated to live music from Jeff! He is so talented and I love his passion.

 Amy helped by getting the kids Easter egg hunt all ready!

 Then everyone showed up and it was go time. Here are all the kids on the egg hunt!

 And here are all the adults on their egg hunt haha.

 After eating and visiting for a while, we all gathered for a big family picture! Pictures are a cherished possession that one day we will look back on and be so glad we took it.

 While everyone started to trickle out on their way home, we had some kite flying going on.

 Mom and Dad Hauck were the master kite flyers and they were anxious to teach us their ways.

This cute little family had fun flying kites also!

After kite flying it was time for our family walk!

Then Easter Egg dying and testimony meeting. It was such a wonderful day full of family and love!

 The next morning was Easter morning and this is what the Easter Bunny had for Emme, a new Elsa dress because hers was at it's end.

As soon as she saw it she said "Put on!" so that's what we did and my guess is she is still wearing it haha. 

 After our weekend up in Pine Valley, we headed to my family's Easter celebration at my Uncle Joe's house! This is all the Easter Egg hunters after we gathered all our loot (yes I still hunt).

 My grandma made her famous Easter Bunny cake that she has been making since my mom was a kid.

 Then this morning on our way to my grandpa's headstone placement, we stopped to get Sydnee's drivers permit which she finally passed! I'm not gonna lie, I had my doubts.

 We then had a beautiful tribute to my grandpa as they placed his custom headstone. We all shared special memories of grandpa and his presence was definitely felt.

The gorgeous surf board in waves, the plumerias, the pictures of my grandparents, the Los Angeles temple, and beautiful names and quotes are all a PERFECT tribute to my amazing grandpa!

It was an emotion and wonderful weekend that I will remember forever. I am so grateful for such an amazing family full of great examples. Life is beautiful and we need to treat it that way. Love a little deeper, think a little sweeter, hope a little lighter and you will see the beauty in this life!