La Familia Latorre

Capes for Christmas

2012-01-31T00:08:00.004-06:00

So these capes really didn't make it in time for Christmas. I decided less stress was better than trying to frantically finish them Christmas Eve. But originally, I had meant them to be Christmas presents along with their princess dresses. To be truthful, I still haven't finished them completely, I have some hand sewing still to do.
Side view. The sewing pattern I used, McCalls 4703, isn't even meant to be a costume. It's more a fancy dress cape and capelet pattern. But I lengthened the capes out to floor length so that they could wear them longer and because really, doesn't everybody want to dress in a floor length velvet cape at some point in their life???!? If I had one, I'd probably wear it to go grocery shopping. Hee. Hee. Wouldn't that be fun.

Isabel doesn't much care for her cape. I bribed her with chocolate to put it on. But they've warmed up to their aprons, so I'm sure the cape will eventually get good use.
Back view and you can see the fullness in Isabel's.
Silly faces. I love these two crazy girls.
Elena LOVES her cape. Remember how she doesn't wear her princess dress? Well, the cape is a whole different story.
As soon as I showed it to her she put it on and in great melodramatic fashion whisked it around herself, and said in a scary voice, "I'm Mother Gothel, and I'm stealing the baby!" Above, you can see her as Mother Gothel singing to the golden flower. She insisted on this picture.
She also pretends to be Belle, because Belle wears a cape in Beauty and the Beast. Good times. I think they turned out great. They're exactly what I pictured when I first saw the $5 velvet curtains at a garage sale last summer. :) Makes me happy to have something I pictured when I first saw the fabric come to life. Too bad they ended up being a bit more than $5 as I couldn't resist the 6 yards (each!) of trim and then of course I had to botch it by cutting out a piece wrong on each. That cost a pretty penny because real velvet at JoAnns, even with a 50% off coupon, is not cheap. Errr..... But I love them (maybe more than my kids) so it's all okay. :)

29 photos

2012-01-28T20:24:00.010-06:00

Yeah, I know, 29 photos is a lot. But it's that or do our taxes or proofread Leo's thesis.

I went with the photos.

I know that nobody really cares to see all these photos except my in-laws. So these are for you Martha and Orlando.

Anyway, it was a beautiful sunny day the other day, and Elena was dancing and wanted me to take photos.

So I did.

Plus, I think I was putting off doing the dishes. It was a win-win.

In other news, I'm going to the RootsTech Conference this week. That should be good. Not that I have any of the fancy gadgets that they're talking about. Oh well, maybe someday.

Elena's been really sweet this past week. She always wants to surprise us by cleaning up her room and she is constantly coloring, cutting and gluing, and giving me the results.

Classic.

Isabel has actually been rather helpful of late too.

She's mostly her crazy self though.

This is Sebastian upset because he didn't want me taking photos anymore.

He was really mad by then.

But tickles helped.

Elena dancing.

This was her crazy dance. As you can see, she changed her clothes to the dress, because that was better for dancing. I think Pumped Up Kicks was playing.

Sebastian was dancing too. That boy loves to dance.

And eventually Ana came home from school and I convinced her to let me take her picture to show off her new glasses. Thanks Uncle Derek and Aunt Brooke!!!

Latest Project

2012-01-19T22:26:00.005-06:00

I have nothing to really write, but I'm kind of tired of my blog only having photos. So story of my life right now, I feel great in the morning, alright in the afternoon, tired by dinnertime, and throwing up at bedtime.

I was tickling Isabel.

Silly picture of Sebastian, but I do so love his big brown eyes.

He was hiding from me.

Sebastian's way too big. Good thing I have another baby coming soon.

And more tickling.

Peering into the camera.

Normal Sebastian.

Goofy smile Sebastian. And yes, he found a marker earlier that morning and I never bothered to wipe it away.

And here's my latest project. I finished one on Monday, and made the other on Wednesday. I thought they were so cute. But the girls could care less about them.

I had to bribe them just to get them to put it on for the picture.

Now, should I go sew for an hour? Or work on homework for an hour? ---Yes, I still have one class I'm taking, but I only have to attend one more time because the professor gave me a different syllabus and assignments since I've already had his much more in depth class on the same subject.

Christmas Princess Dresses

2012-01-14T20:41:00.002-06:00

I made these dresses for Christmas for Elena and Isabel.

Isabel wears hers almost every day. So I guess she likes it. :)

Elena doesn't wear hers as much, but only because the neckline is indecently low. I put some fabric there just for these pictures, but now I need to hand sew it in permanently.

The back laces up--that was so easy to do, and it's actually quite easy for them to get on and off for dress up, I just have to tie the bow for them.

Getting them to cooperate for pictures is not my idea of fun.

Sleeping Beauty

And she woke up! The end.

A Study of Isabel

2012-01-13T20:18:00.004-06:00

FYI: Steampunk

2012-01-12T00:02:00.007-06:00

This post is for my sisters. I referenced Steampunk and none of them knew what I was talking about. Yes, I know I might be out there a little bit, but really, for their own sakes, they should be enlightened. I really have no good reason for them to be enlightened, but I wanted to blog and nothing else popped into my head.

So Steampunk is all the rage in the costuming world right now. I ran into it years ago looking at, you guessed it, historical costuming blogs and such. Yeah, I know it's not historical at all, but people who like to make costumes, like to make costumes. It's kind of taken over the ever popular Renaissance faires and the like.

For instance, there is currently 7 women's Renaissance patterns on sale from Simplicity and 5 Steampunk patterns, the picture above being one of them.

Steampunk is basically Victorian clothing based with an added twist of sic-fi and gothic, especially the explorer/mad scientist/Jules Verne type of thing. So you get things like this, a top hat with a bit of gadgetry added on.

Or this. Pretty nifty looking, I think.

And yes, I just stole all these pictures from somewhere and failed to credit the sources. But please take it as a compliment. This was a simple one, but I like it.

As I discovered at my first and only ever attended Renaissance Faire, people dress in psycho

things. I had to shield my eyes and Steampunk is no different. Beware if you google Steampunk.

And of course, there are people who choose to Steampunk their weddings. I always thought themed weddings were odd. I mean really??? What will your grandkids think? But here's the link to see what the rest of the wedding looked like, if you're interested.

And as Steampunk has become more and more popular, there are now Steampunk fairies, and Steampunk Renaissance outfits, and on and on.

Neat wings though.

And Steampunk home decor.

And even a Steampunk Vespa. And really that about exhausts all I wanted to say about Steampunk. And yes, I think people are extremely odd, but then given a good reason, (or even a not very good reason) I would any day dress up in a fancy historical costume, especially if I could wear a cool hat. And on that note, here's the latest three patterns I bought.

Old vintage maternity ones. I'll be pregnant over the summer this time, and most of my maternity clothes are winter ones. I don't know why. Plus, most of my maternity dresses are size S from back when I had Elena. Yeah, anybody want those? I certainly won't fit them. And practically half of the maternity clothes that I do have, I have to layer shirts to wear them, and in the hot summer, that really stinks. So I was thinking of making some cute, light, vintage maternity dresses. I'm kind of stuck with that anyway, because none of the major pattern retailers (Simplicity, McCalls, etc) have maternity patterns anymore. Errr... Or in the one of two they do sell they're the basic style of maternity tops I could buy at Ross for $5 without having to spend the time sewing. Or on the other hand, cut so low, I'd still have to layer. So how about view A above with a Peter Pan collar to update the look--still look vintage but less 1970's.

Or View A here in a cute cotton print?

This is my favorite (View A) because I think it will look not look vintage at all. But I have 8 billion sewing projects started and I've been doing nothing all day the last two weeks besides sleeping and trying not to vomit, so we'll see how far I get. Plus, I told myself I would stop sewing and catch-up my photo albums. But really---sewing is far more enticing. Plus, these maternity dresses really appeal because I won't have to worry about fit much at all. Just widen the shoulders and lengthen the dress a bit. I think I can handle that. So now I'm off to bed. Buenas noches.

Finally!

2012-01-09T01:19:00.000-06:00

See this sad face on Ruth? It's because I neglected to post about these costumes for soooo long!

Back when I had little to do and not very many sewing projects of my own, I offered to sew for my sister and her family pirate costumes. More specifically, a corset for her. That was actually the main goal.

Little did I know that I would be in school, sewing other things for my other sisters all spring, and making my own kids little gnome outfits. But somehow, I managed. However, my husband has since extracted from me (unwillingly) that I will never, ever do sewing projects for family members again. Sorry family, you're all left to your own devices now. It had something to do with the fact that I stress out way more when I'm sewing things for other people than I do when I sew things for my own little family. Hmmmm....I can't deny that.

Anyway, Ruth makes an adorable piratee lass.

And that coat that Sterling is wearing, well it contains 6 1/2 yards of fabric. That's insane. And the buttons on it cost more than the whole rest of the outfit all combined. It was not pleasant because I lined it but that's not in the directions and I really had no clue what I was doing. And the hemming job is terrible---but don't you just love it??!!? I do.

In the end, Lindsay didn't get her corset in time for Halloween. But I think it's pure awesomeness (if I do say so myself) more than makes up for it's lateness. Besides she can wear it for years to come.

Lindsay was being a bit silly.

This is her scary pirate look.

And more sillines. Maybe she had too much rum.

Arizona

2012-01-08T00:29:00.005-06:00

After Christmas we headed down to Arizona. Lovely country that it is. :) For my sister Amy's wedding. And believe it or not, I have absolutely no pictures of her wedding. You can see my sister's blog here, for us bowling though. Leo and I pretty much rocked at bowling. Okay, we didn't rock quite as much as Megan or Derek, but we were up there. Anyway, it was a great time. Leo said it was the most relaxing time we've had in a long, long time. Maybe cause the weather was in the 70's, maybe cause we swam all day everyday. I don't know, but it was great. I was doubly lucky because I got to hang out with all my siblings. Except Amy, she was a bit busy with wedding prep.

So I only got out my camera once, when Lindsay asked me to take a photo of her family. So here it is. Lindsay, Sterling and little Ruthy.

Elena was in heaven.

Ummm.... the sauna stayed past capacity the whole time.

Andrea, Tim and Harriet.

Four-person-jump.

The pre-jump picture.

Myles, Danica, Katelyn and Ana do have a bit of the oldest-child competitive streak. I think their ball game turned a bit vicious with hair-pulling and the like. Crazy kids.

Elena and Leo.

And Sebastian. He was pretty content to sit on my lap on the top step of the sauna playing with the toy trucks for four days straight. The sauna was too hot for me and well, I was too wimpy for the pool, even if it was a little heated.

Derek, Brooke, Gideon and Karlee.

Christmas and other things

2012-01-08T00:07:00.005-06:00

This whole post goes backwards. But at least I'm posting after almost a month absence. This is Sebastian on Christmas morning at my parents' house. Andrea's family and our family spent all of Christmas Eve and Christmas there. We stayed till Monday actually. It was nice. I read a book.

So I only took a couple photos on Christmas. Oh well, it was a good Christmas. You'll just have to take my word for it.

Coming out to the tree.

Christmas Eve and the kids' new pajamas.

Andrea's kids and mine.

Elena liked hers. The bottoms are silky.

Ana one random day in December.

Elena, singing away as usual and insisting I take pictures of her. I wish she would turn and smile for me once in a while.

And the bow afterwards.

Sebastian and Leo, so cute!!! I love my boys.

And my kids and my other kids (the neighbors). At least it feels that way sometimes--in a good way. My kids are dying for them to get back from Virginia.

Ana at her school symphony concert. She's playing the violin, and don't feel bad if you can't see her. I can't either.

But here she is in full view, playing a solo piece. Brave girl. She was a bit nervous and rushed the end a bit but all in all did great! I was very impressed.

And yes, that's my catch-up from December. It was insanely busy, mostly with school, but I got A's in my classes and I'm only taking one credit this semester (instead of 7 like last semester) because really, morning sickness has really taken a toll this time round. And yes, I'm two months pregnant. :) If you hadn't noticed.

More potos

2011-12-08T02:08:00.000-06:00

Just so you know the beaver's still around.

Watching tv.

Summer Time Re-visited

2011-12-04T23:56:00.007-06:00

Elena and her best friend Candace.

Climbing trees.

Playing in the neighbor's pool--the highlight of every summer day.

What a crazy bunch of kids we have between our two houses.

Eating goldfish.

Sebastian out for the afternoon.

My friend, Natalie, just emailed me all of these. I couldn't help but post them.

I forgot.

2011-11-21T19:37:00.002-06:00

Leo took me on a date that he planned himself for our 8th Anniversary. We went to the Springville Museum of Art and then out for Mongolian BBQ. Delicious. And the museum was great! Because of this:

RUSSIAN

The Museum houses the largest public collection of 20th-century Russian and Soviet art in the western United States. These remarkable works, mostly in the Soviet Impressionist and Soviet Realist styles, deal with political, social and economic aspects of the former USSR.

I love Russian Impressionist works. I've loved them since before I met Leo and I was on a date with another guy going to art galleries in Scottsdale. I saw them and fell in love. And actually the picture above, was one of my favorites in the whole museum.

Also, we're not moving yet. Hopefully next spring, Leo will have a job and we'll move then. I was just thinking about the future. That's all.

And Ana went to the BYU football game on Saturday night with a friend. Lucky ducky.

That's it. Chao.

Autumn Leaves

2011-11-20T22:40:00.003-06:00

Kids and leaves are fun. And my husband is sweet. He planned a date and took me to the Springville Museum of Art and then out for Mongolian BBQ. Delicious!

Rock Canyon and kids

2011-11-13T23:12:00.006-06:00

Last week walking home from church I enjoyed this lovely view.

I love the mountains.

I really hope we'll end some place by mountains--I would miss them so much. Sniff.

I mean really, our street looks like it ends right in the mountains. I love it.

And here's my crazy kids and the boys I babysit.

I think my kids are going to miss them like crazy when we move. They're practically siblings, we spend so much time together. Sniff. Sniff.

Religious Art

2011-11-03T18:19:00.005-05:00

I've never been a huge fan of religious art. Not at all. But all that changed today at the BYU bookstore when I came across these by J. Kirk Richards. I would hang these in my house any day. Seriously, if I had an extra hundred bucks lying around I'd be so tempted to buy the one above. I like his work that much.

Well, maybe not. It is a bit depressing-the one above though is not at all depressing.

And this one, well, I like it too. So go see his website and look at Narratives of Christ and they'll be one called The Holy Family, that's actually the one I would buy, out of the ones at the bookstore anyway. And look at the In the House of Caiaphas. I love it. Really. It reminds me of Picasso's Guernica but with the gospel. Fascinating. I don't think it will make it to a Relief Society room though. Hee. Hee.
Click HERE

Asleep

2011-11-02T22:18:00.001-05:00

Elena and Isabel were watching a movie and then just Elena was watching.

So sweet. But really she's crazy. Trust me.

18th Century Stays

2011-11-02T15:42:00.006-05:00

I made this for my sister Lindsay for her Halloween costume--she was a pirate--but I didn't get it to her in time. Surprisingly, it wasn't too hard to sew. I broke a pair of sissors cutting the heavy duty cable ties that I used for the boning though.

My friend Natalie's Halloween

2011-10-31T00:19:00.001-05:00

We took photos together on Saturday. So I decided to post her family's pictures as well, because their costumes are amazing too.

Joshua is a king, Candace the queen, and Luke and Levi their knights in shining armor.

Natalie made all their costumes too, except this one. (More of a time issue, than anything else.)

This is the first major project she's sewn, and yes, I lead her down the path to join me in my addiction.

I don't know what our husbands thought of our late night visits asking each other questions on our various projects at the time.

Or for that matter, what the neighborhood thought of us setting up our sewing machines out on our shared front lawn and sewing constantly while our kids rode their bikes all around on our driveways.

And let me tell you, the cleanliness of our houses decreased drastically. But it was all worth it right? Happy Halloween! (And yes, Ana wasn't in costume for these ones, but just wait, we have something planned...)

A very difficult subject to photograph

2011-10-29T23:42:00.011-05:00

Gnomes are a hard subject to photograph. I mean, they're pretty industrious.

I guess they have to be--living in the woods and all.

Picking berries and mushrooms and whatnot.

Sometimes they get a little annoyed when you interrupt their work.

And given the chance they can be a bit mischievous, stealing hats and playing pranks.

And other times just getting them all to look in the same direction, well....

it's nearly impossible.

They don't like being in the lime light either, so they try to slip off back into the woods.

And sometimes they just crack under the pressure.

They just really don't like being disturbed.

But, occasionally, if you catch one by themselves, they might be patient for a few shots.

Just a few.

So be quick.

And always offer Halloween candy. It might at least get one to smile. (And yes, I made every costume from top to bottom. And they won best costume at our ward Halloween party--that's two in row, but who's counting?)

My parents inspired me, by the way. They took a trip to Norway this summer and they were there over Norway's National Day. Hence, lots of pictures of cool costumes. Can you tell Sebastian's costume is based off of this Sami's outfit?

And with the girls, I went for the traditional Norwegian bunad. Yes, that's what it's called. But gnomes are cute, so they still stayed gnomes anyway. I bought all the ribbon off of Etsy--yeah, for Etsy!

Sebastian

2011-10-29T21:36:00.000-05:00

Birthday Girl

2011-10-28T21:25:00.003-05:00

Elena wanted a spooky Halloween cake this year. I was happy to oblige, because this was so simple.

I can't believe she's five!!!

She's doesn't know how to react she was so excited.

I'd say that's a pretty happy little girl.

Yes, I bought a Barbie from 1995. But it was less expensive than the ones in the stores now, and way prettier.

Bike stuff. She loves it!

I love birthdays!

Go Cougars!

2011-10-15T19:26:00.003-05:00

I had my friend take some family photos of us around the BYU campus before the weather turns really cold.

It turned out how all family photos do with more than two children.

Kids crying, people blinking, whining, whining, whining.

But she didn't take enough for me to photoshop our heads to pretend that we have an absolutely darling family that always looks at the photographer and smiles.

Oh well. I promised Leo it would be low-key and it was.

Someday I'll pressure him into a really nice family photo again.

But that wasn't this time.

And maybe won't be for a while.

But at least the girls love their BYU shirts and were thrilled to get them.

Sebastian even recognized the logo and tried to say BY.... (it trailed off after that). Sweet, my kids all know where their loyalties should lie already. Sorry USU--I loved you, but you're not the Y.

The first glimpse of Halloween

2011-10-14T20:13:00.005-05:00

Ana had a Halloween party tonight and so she got to dress up in her costume. (Good thing, now I've gotten some practice with the makeup.) I thought she looked awesome so I snapped a couple photos.

She chose to be a mime a long time ago. I thought it was a cool idea. And yes, I did sew some it. I made the pants because I really didn't want to spend time shopping for all black pants on sale, and most of the ones we were looking at had stripes down the side or some other thing on it. But Ana would say the best part is her new Converse shoes--she bought them herself from money she's earned babysitting. Sweet.

Colombian Panderos

2011-10-11T21:36:00.001-05:00

So I'm an idiot. I just spent 35 mins looking for this post on my blog, only to realize I had never typed in the recipe, and so I had never published this post. All the pictures were on the draft, saved away for future publishing that never happened for over a year--it was Aug 2010 when I first made this.

Anyway, here's the recipe for Colombian Panderos compliments of "Secrets of Colombian Cooking" by Patricia McCausland-Gallo.

1 3/4 c sweet cassava starch (look for Tapioca starch)

1/3 c sugar

1/4 c grated panela

1 tsp baking powder

1/8 tsp salt

1 egg

2 Tbls Aguardiente (or really Anise extract if you want the alcohol free version)

4 Tbls shortening

1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Mix all the dry ingredients. Then add the rest and mix.

Grating panela.

Grated panela.

2. The dough should look shiny but if you can't roll it out into a log, then add more starch. Cut into 1 inch squares and press down with fork.

Bake for 15 mins, they should look pale on top and lightly golden on the bottom.

Enjoy--well, if you're my husband enjoy, it took a while to grow on me. I don't really like licorice flavored things, and in a cookie that's just weird, but after eating several, I started to like them.

Our House in the Middle of Our Street

2011-10-09T21:12:00.004-05:00

This is my favorite house ever. Maybe because it had a heated garage and that's essential for survival in North Dakota. Anyway, I loved this house that I spent high school in.

This is the sad remains after the flood in Minot this summer. The water was up to the eaves. It hasn't even been started to be cleaned up yet.

(Thanks Fifields for the photos!) So sad. I remember playing Sardines on graduation night and hiding with Thomas N. in the saddle compartment of the horse trailer. And Kayli getting a black eye from Josh A. that night too. And Dolly climbing that tree that used to be there. And Jonathan falling in the nasty dead river behind the house. And going bridge jumping with Wyatt and Matt into the Mouse River at 3 AM, and walking home from high school through Oak Park during the freezing cold winter--I will never recover--and Thomas breaking his foot, and Wyatt coming home with the police car trailing him, and Wyatt coming home in a police car, and never hitting the fire hydrant while backing out, and well, too many ands to write here tonight....Good times.

Epiphany

2011-10-02T22:39:00.006-05:00

Today I had an epiphany. Nursing totally prepared me for Genealogy work. Seriously. Can you read this?

I can.

I can read this too.

Yes. Nursing was useful.

Baking with Pears

2011-10-02T22:39:00.004-05:00

I bought a big box of pears to can, then I decided I didn't have time to can, but the pears needed to be eaten quickly, so I spent my time baking instead. Yes, I am a genius.

Yum, tonight's dessert. Super easy too.

Ginger Pear Galette

1/2 of 17.3 oz package of frozen puff pastry sheets, thawed

1 egg white lightly beaten

2 tbls flour

2 tbls sugar

2 tbls brown sugar

1 tbls finely chopped crystallized ginger

1 tsp shredded lemon peel

2 tbls butter

3 large pears, peeled and thinly sliced

1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Line baking sheet with parchment paper. On lightly floured surface, unroll pastry sheet, roll out to 14x11 inches, trim to 12x10 inches, and place on baking sheet. Brush edges with egg white. Cut trimmings to 1/2 in strips and press on edges of rectangle to form rims. Brush those edges with egg whites.

2. In a small bowl mix flour, sugar, brown sugar, crystallized ginger, and lemon peel. Cut in butter.

3. Sprinkle half of mixture onto pastry, add pears, then sprinkle on the rest of the mixture. Bake for 15 to 18 minutes till pastry is golden and pear tender. Serve warm with vanilla ice cream.

It was very, very good.

This picture doesn't make this look very appetizing, but I stink at making pretty pie crust edges and then I burnt the topping that was supposed to go on it, realized how awful it tasted after I had already spread it on, and then I scraped it off again. So this pie went through a lot before I took this photo. But trust me, it is delicious!!!!! Here's the recipe:

Fresh Pear and Cranberry Pie

8 cups sliced unpeeled pears

1 c fresh cranberries (or frozen)

1/4 c sugar

3 tbls cornstarch

2 tbls apple cider or water

1/4 tsp nutmeg

1 tbls sugar

2 tbls carmel-flavored ice cream topping

And your favorite pie crust recipe--mine's from Joy of Baking, here.

1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Prepare pie crust in pie pan per your own directions. Then arrange 4 cups of pears in the bottom. Sprinkle with 1/4 c cranberries. Top with remaining pears. In small bowl stir together 1/4 c sugar, cornstarch, cider, and nutmeg; drizzle over pears. Cover loosely with foil.

2. Bake for forty minutes. Remove foil, spindle with 1 tbls of sugar, bake for an additional 30-35 minutes.

3. Meanwhile, in small saucepan combine remaining 1/2 c cranberries with 2 tbls carmel topping. Bring to boiling, reduce heat and boil bently for 1 minute. (This is where I ran into problems. I used dulce de leche instead of the carmel topping and it's thick and wouldn't boil, just burned. Ruff.)

4. Spoon cranberry mixture over hot pie, cool slightly and eat with vanilla ice cream, and additional carmel topping.

Really, Leo and I LOVED this pie. But then, we're kind of pie fans, apple pie is both of our's favorite.

And last, but not least:

Dulce de Leche Bread Pudding with Glazed Pears

Ana LOVED this and Elena loved the bread pudding part minus the pears. The rest of us like it too. Sorry no picture. I forgot.

7 cups cubed French bread-10 ounces (any hard crusty bread will do)

6 eggs lightly beaten

2 cups milk

1 c dulce de leche or butterscotch or carmel ice cream topping. (Go for the dulce de leche--it's way better.)

1/2 c brown sugar

1/2 tsp cinnamon

1/2 tsp vanilla

1. Okay, this recipe was for individual ramekins, but I don't own any, but it fit quite nicely in my 9x13 pan, although it wasn't quite cooked in the center. I would lower the heat and cook longer next time. Anyway, you're supposed to put the bread in 8 8-10 oz. ramekins.

2. In large bowl combine the rest of the ingredients, mix till smooth on a low speed and then pour over the bread.

3. Chill in the fridge for at least one hour. (Anyone know why this would be necessary? I don't.)

4. Bake at 350 degrees for 40-45 mins, or until knife inserted comes out clean. Oops, I forgot to check, hence my unbaked center. Oh, if you are cooking this in ramekins your supposed to put them in a roasting pan half filled with boiling water.

5. Serve warm with Brown Butter Glazed Pears.

Brown Butter Glazed Pears

In large skillet melt 1/4 c butter on med-low heat. Continue heating till butter turns light golden brown. Stir in 1/2 c brown sugar. Cook and stir for 2 mins. Add 1/4 c dulce de leche. and 1 tsp vanilla. Stir in 3 cups of peeled and sliced pears. Cook over low heat for about 5 mins, till pears are tender.

All these recipes are from my favorite, "Ultimate Desserts" from Better Homes and Gardens.

Autumn in Provo Canyon

2011-10-02T20:52:00.007-05:00

Today we decided to picnic up Provo Canyon and see the beautiful colors. I think we may have come a tad early. But it was still beautiful.

Trying to do close-ups..

Yeah...I know, why did I post this picture? I don't know.

Ana was our lovely photographer. I had a picture of her on here, and then it disappeared...hmmmm....I'm trying out ScribeFire. I can't use Live Writer, because it's Windows only. Not even with my new Crossover Mac program that I run RootsMagic on. I'm not really converted. It won't let me upload pictures from my desktop--just the web. Lamesauce. And only one at a time. Unless I'm doing something wrong. It did let me change the size of that first photo, but I lost the resolution in the process. Lame again.

Isabel was playing with the rainbow trout we were having for dinner, before we cooked it. (It was still in the packaging.) This is how her conversation went: "Oh, fish! You are my best friend!" etc. etc. Then Leo asked, "Should we eat your best friend?" Isabel, after pausing to think, "Okay, let's eat my best friend."

Elena got a new pixie cut. I love it!!! She hates it!!! She cried and said she didn't want to look like me. Or like a boy. We tried to tell her she looks like Rapunzel after she got her hair cut, but she wasn't buying that.

Leo looking muy guapo.

And that's all.

P.S. Elder Bednar's talk on Family History was my favorite, and the one about having kids. The end. Again.

Shhhh....don't tell my girls.

2011-09-27T02:27:00.006-05:00

Remember how I can never make up my mind about anything? Yes, well, I'm once again asking for opinions to help me make up my mind. I'm planning on making Elena and Isabel dress-up clothes for Christmas (I know, I know, that's all I ever do is sew--but really, I loved dress-up clothes as a kid, and still do in fact. And they play with the ones they do have all the time.) So what dresses do you think I should concentrate my efforts into? Bear in mind that I have a limited amount of time, money, and most of my fabric I have stashed is DI curtains, bedsheets, etc.

Now this dress, I love, from Sense and Sensibility, and I plan on making it someday for a nice church dress, (when I can afford fabric instead of my DI tablecloths and curtains) but that doesn't mean I can't make it as a dress-up dress too right?

I love these ones, but they look pretty time intensive. Plus I'd have to find something to puff out that skirt.

These are costume patterns so they shouldn't be too hard, right? I would have loved this dress as a girl.

I really think this is at the top of my list right now. It's got kind of a Rapunzel look--that's what Isabel say's she wants, a Rapunzel dress. There are actual Rapunzel dresses, but personally I think her dress is kind of blah.

Adorable, but given my constraints of time and money, this might have to wait a bit. (Not too long though, Elena will be out of it's sizing in a year or two).

Same idea but the working girl version. Again, not likely to make the cut this time I'm thinking.

This might be perfect, except that I don't think I have any appropriate fabric. I bought mostly fancy odds and ends. It certainly would be nice because of the easiness of it all.

I am definitely going to make a cape. (Another thing I secretly crave to wear everyday--how would that look, me out at Macy's in a long burgundy velvet cape doing my grocery shopping?) It will be easy to make and fast. Plus my neighbor, Natalie just made a gorgeous cape for her little boy Joshua--he's going to be King Arthur--the one in the top right-hand corner in the picture below. And my girls were going crazy for their own.

I bought some black velvet curtains at a garage sale this summer for four dollars and if I have enough of it, I think that's what I'll use. So my question on this one is, should I make the first Mccall's pattern or the second Simplicity one? I love that white cape in the Simplicity pattern, I just don't think I'll have enough fabric of the black velvet. I do have these gold curtains that might work and I may have enough, but it's really, really light-weight material. Hmmm....

So, no telling my kids, alright? And give me your opinion. I'm almost finished Lindsay's and Sterling's costumes, and then I only have all of my kids' costumes to sew, so I'm almost ready to start sewing these? Right?? Ha. I will start cutting the pattern pieces out though while I'm at my girls' gym class.

Oh, and my other question is, should I make these easy to get into and out of--using velcro, or should I just keep the buttons or zippers like the patterns call for?

Crazy kids.

2011-09-26T15:50:00.002-05:00

Sorry, some of these are fuzzy--it wasn't the best lighting. But yes, this is what my family has been up to lately. Otherwise, I've been frantically trying to finish homework and sewing costumes. Leo and Ana finished their soccer season. And that's all the update I have today.

Bummer.

2011-09-18T23:23:00.006-05:00

Ah, Isabel. What more can I say about this crazy duckie? Tonight she was in a jumping mood and had to take flying leaps where ever she went, which was often on something high.

Elena and Josh (our neighbor) climbing trees.

Isabel doing what all of my kids and Natalie's (my neighbor) kids love doing the most. Digging in the dirt.

Josh in his most stellar tree-climbing-footwear. He never takes his boots off.

Elena in the pose that she planned herself.

Levi, another of Natalie's kids.

Sebastian, the kid that Levi most likes to pick on.

Luke--yes, I know he's in a girl's pirate costume, but Natalie wasn't opposed and I wanted to see how it turned out. This is actually Ruth's Halloween costume. Pretty sweet, eh?

Josh and Isabel hard at work scrubbing the tables. Best money I ever spent on kids toys was buying two buckets and a couple of bars of Zote soap. The kids will scrub down the patio, the playhouse, the trampoline, the picnic tables, and even the trees for hours while singing, "It's a hardness life for us! It's a hardness life for us!" They've never quite got down the hard-knock life for some reason. And it sounds like a broken record because that's the only part of the song they know.

The best part is that sometimes Isabel (who always plays the mean step-mother) says "Get to work!!!" in the most awesome mean voice ever. I had it on my camera videotaped, but then for some reason iPhoto didn't upload the videos and then I deleted everything on the camera before I realized that. Trust me, you missed out. That's why this is a bummer.

This is from two weeks ago at Ruth's baby blessing (or afterward anyway). Wyatt brought his car to jump it--til it broke anyway.

Sad to see this picture after last night's horrendous loss to U of U, but all those cousins are cute anyway. Too bad Orrin and Karlee weren't there.

And this was a fruit tart I made a long time ago. Leo loved it, I liked it alright, and the kids weren't interested.

The recipe is here on Joy of Baking.

As for me, I've been busy sewing and studying. I led my neighbor, Natalie, astray down dark paths. She is now sewing costumes for all her kids. (Hey Mom, I also taught her to make bread!) I now have solidly in mind what costumes I'm making for my own kids this Halloween. Yes, I know I'm insane, but I am sewing one for each of my kids--it should be really simple though. I was encouraged by how easy that baby pirate costume was. These should be similar.

And that's it. Buenas noches.

Albuquerque

2011-09-12T00:40:00.023-05:00

Okay, I know I already said the Houston house was our favorite house, and it still is. But Albuquerque deserved it's own post because #1 I want to live in Albuquerque, I don't want to live in Houston. And #2 I love the style of NM houses so much. Pueblo style isn't my favorite, but it's up there on my top 5 favorites. Spanish Revival style, well, that would be my absolute favorite style of houses. Neither of these are that, but you see more of those in California anyway. We both really liked these two houses.

Albuquerque #1--Leo's favorite. Modern Pueblo. Neat entrance. Very cool.

Leo's favorite room (of course because it's almost entirely windows.) It needs a little updating, but I like the windows too.

Umm, this would be my favorite part. I love the patio.

Another view of the gorgeous patio.

I also love the ceilings.

Again, love the ceilings and the space and the light. Needs new carpet. A nice tan carpet. And just because, here's two pictures that would be my favorites for this room, above the fire place.

Yes, both John Singer Sargent. I've kind of been on a kick lately of loving all his paintings. They're so varied, everything from camping in the Rockies to Morocco to Parisian society to Venetian landscapes and on and on. I love that at times his paintings are impressionist and other times more realistic, and sometimes in between. Anyway, back to the house.

And the kitchen needs updating but not bad. 4 bedroom, 3 bath, 2896 sq ft on .38 acres for $300,000.

Second house: Traditional Pueblo, my favorite.

I love that it feels like you stepped back in time going in. Oh, and I would take down those awful abstract atrocities and you guessed it, put up some John Singer Sargent paintings.

Yes, I really did post 5 more Sargent paintings. I put them under the room I'd put them in. Maybe that's a bit much, but this house lends itself so exactly to them. You could hang these much more romantic paintings and they would fit perfectly with the character of the house. Can't you just imagine them hanging here and there, some smaller and others quite large. Okay, I really wouldn't hang 5 Sargent's in my house, I would try for more of a mixture of artists, but really, his paintings are lovely.

I love how this house is so fun and different (okay, it's probably not all that different from a lot of other houses in NM but it's different from all the house in IL or ND or UT even.)

Gorgeous kitchen. I love the space and the cabinets.

Sweet.

My favorite part. How could you not love living there? Okay, I know it's not all that kid friendly, but really, have you seen Albuquerque backyards? They're just dirt and desert anyway, at least this looks cool and refreshing. The kids can go play at the park. That's what parks are for, right?

Heaven.

Again, love the earthiness of it all, and the feeling of stepping back in time.

By the way, this is the only painting I think doesn't exactly match the room, but it's late, so I need to get to bed and stop looking.

And the bedroom has a lot of light too.

It's a 5 bedroom 3 bath, 3717 sq ft on 1 acre for $275,000. Now I better go to bed while visions of houses in Albuquerque dance in my head.

Wishful Thinking

2011-09-11T23:30:00.006-05:00

Leo and I spent an hour wistfully dreaming about someday actually being grown-ups. You know, having a job, owning a house, that sort of a thing. We first started out practical, looking at rental houses in places where he's applied for jobs over the last month or two, but I led him astray and we started looking at ones for sale. (Really, it's because there aren't that many rental houses on the market with 4 bedrooms--how am I ever going to go back to a three bedroom house?!?!??!)

Drumroll-- this house was the winner. Seriously, I love the outside of it, so much personality and I love the colors and lot. Once we saw this house, it kind of killed the joy of looking because nothing else quite compared.

Umm, built in bookshelves??? How can you not love it? And the tile, I actually love that too.

Leo and I were both drooling when we saw this room. I LOVE the wood paneling, and the simplicity of it. I hate all the new houses with all their stupid, weird corners and angles and nooks and crannies. This is simple and elegant, without being ostentatious. Ahh, the first thing I would do would be to take down that hideous big screen tv and put up a painting (this is day-dreaming remember--I have all the money in the world.)

This (A Stream over Rocks; Stream in Val d'Aosta) by John Singer Sargent pretty much fits the bill. Leo and I even picked out the painting together.

Leo's favorite part was the windows. I have to say, I adore all that light too. It's a 4 bedroom 2 1/2 bath, 2604 sq ft for $244,500 on 1.27 Acres in Houston Texas. Yeah, Texas, not my first choice of places to move, but who knows what life will bring. We also looked at housing in Bakersfield CA, Farmington NM, Laramie WY, Williston ND, Los Alamos NM, and Albuquerque NM.
So where in the world will the Latorre's end up next?

Jake's Over the Top

2011-09-03T01:53:00.004-05:00

On the way home from my parents' house, we stopped in Ogden (well, first we stopped at Smith and Edward's but I've already blogged about the awesomeness of that store) for Jake's Over the Top.

These are the best shakes ever. No, really. EVER. Of course, from what I've heard, this original restaurant in Ogden makes them better than the chain stores.

I can't verify that as I've never been to one of the franchises. Just the original. I used to ride my bike here when I was in middle school, in fact.

The beauty of it is that you can mix whatever you want in, and they have fresh local fruit when it's in season.

Ana got mint Oreo, Leo got fresh peach and chocolate chip, the little girls ordered plain Oreo, and I ordered my usual: fresh strawberry, fresh raspberry, blackberry, and chocolate chip. It's divine.

They also make some good cheesy fries.

The shakes used to come in two sizes, Junior and Regular, and the junior was more than I could finish in one sitting. Seriously, it was more than a pint of ice-cream. But they've changed it now and the junior is more manageable. (I preferred the insanely huge ones though.)

Ahhh, delicious.

Hiking to the Wind Caves

2011-09-02T01:25:00.006-05:00

We took the opportunity while we vacationing at my parents' house to hike to the Wind Caves up Logan Canyon. I've always wanted to do that hike since I was in college and never had the chance before.

It was great! The kids were the best they've ever been (no whining or crying, Elena walked almost the whole way up, and Isabel walked almost the whole way down.)

Leo loved it. He doesn't love me taking photos of him though. Too bad.

Ana thought the caves were cool too.

Ah, we made it with two sleeping kids.

The caves are pretty neat, I have to say.

Asleep.

Elena exploring.

Don't jump Ana!

Isabel, Isabel. Crazy chica.

Hiking down.

Beautiful Logan Canyon.

Birthdays and Horses

2011-09-01T00:11:00.001-05:00

Because of these two kiddos birthday, we all got together to celebrate and well, ride horses. We also made a lot of noise! (Seriously--Megan brought noisemakers and it was deafening.)

Megan and Jared smooching.

Elena insisted that she be allowed to ride with Isabel and Dad leading them around.

Okay, I just liked this picture of Leo.

Sebastian did not want to get off.

Jack, Sebastian , and Devaney. And yes, even though Jack and Devaney are 8 months younger than Sebastian, they both are bigger and weigh more. My son is a shrimp.

Leo with his scruffy mustache he's been growing out (Tim's growing one too.) I think staches are a no go in the future. Too bad BYU doesn't allow goatees. Ruff.

Oh, I just can't get enough of those big brown eyes!

Elena was nursing an injured toe, so she sat with Aunt Lindsay Ann quite a bit.

Isabel, otherwise known as monkey-girl.

The three Jacks: Jack Rasmussen, Jack Rasmussen, and Sebastian Jack.

Sebastian cheesing for the camera. And yes, I realize that's oodles of pictures. Lo siento.

With the Grandparents

2011-08-30T23:53:00.000-05:00

Elena and Grandma

Ana and Grandpa

Yeah, Ana was Grandpa's helper the whole time with the irrigation and horses.

The same skirt again

2011-08-29T23:41:00.001-05:00

I made this skirt before in Chicago, but if you recall, I didn't know how pattern sizing worked, and since this is a wrap around skirt, that created some issues. I loved that skirt though, so I finally got around to making it again. I used tissue linen this time and it's a little stiffer than the last linen I used, and I don't like that quite as well. Oh well, at least it actually wraps around me.

And with my awesome hat. I've had that hat for over a year but no purple anything to wear it with. I saw this shirt at Target recently and jumped on it. Just so I could wear me hat. Sweet!

I just realized that none of these pictures really show the skirt on the side it wraps. Oh well.

Ahh, I love my honey.

Sledding in August

2011-08-28T23:05:00.003-05:00

Irrigation ditch surfing. What more can I say?

Cassidy

Hailey--every day my girls ask if they can go back to Grandma's and play with Cassie and Hailey. Fun times.

An Unfortunate Series of Events on Horseback

2011-08-21T11:23:00.009-05:00

We've been on vacation at my parent's house. It's been fabulous. Fresh veggies from the garden, grilled steak, chocolate tarts (yes, I made another one--I'm addicted), and horseback riding.

Dad took Leo, Ana, Elena and me on a horseback ride up Logan Canyon on Saturday morning.

Since we're not experienced riders, and the horses are pretty young, it was only going to be a short ride.

It was beautiful. I can't believe how green everything is this year.

But then something startled Rio (with Dad and Ana on board) and he took about two five feet jumps. Dad said he lost the reins after the first jump, and then with Ana behind him, he couldn't manage to stay in the saddle. Poor Dad, he was still limping from when the horse rolled over him up in Canada. Rio took off running down the hill.

When Rio jumped it startled Casper, who Leo was riding, and he hopped a bit and then spun around and almost ran into my horse. Casper jumped to the side to avoid hitting our horse, and Leo came off.

I was on Smokey with Elena sitting in front of me, and my horse startled along with the other two, but I managed to rein him in, but then when Casper almost ran into us, he started again and almost spun us into a bush off the side of the trail. I was coming off anyway so I managed to slide off and keep my feet and I tried to grab Elena but Casper was still twisting away and I missed her so she hit the ground flat on her back and scraped it up some.

So yeah, all of us lost our seats and our horses took off, but lucky they didn't run far, and Rio came right back up to the trail so Ana caught him, and Dad caught the other two, while I tried to calm down Elena, and took a look at Leo.

As you can see, Leo caught the worst of it. His head hit a rock and gashed it open a bit. I think it could have used a stitch or two, but he didn't want to bother so I just washed up his head.

He's a good cowboy though, he got right back on. Elena, however, walked a ways before she would get back on. Rio kept acting jumpy for most of the way down. But Elena said her favorite thing she's done at Grandma's is ride horses, so I guess she wasn't too scared. Fun times.

La Cucaracha

2011-08-20T22:05:00.002-05:00

Well, projects, I don't know 18? 19? done. Skirts and shirts for Elena and Isabel. I was just going to sew the skirts, but Elena demanded the shirts as well, and truth be told, it didn't take much to convince me.

Plus all the white fabric I had left over from another project. The lace I bought at a thrift store, and the skirts themselves are made from old bedsheets I bought from the same thrift store. So really I only bought the ribbon new. That's pretty stellar, if you ask me.

There's eighty-billion pictures here, but I love seeing the girls spin around so happily. So sweet.

Ana's Skirt

2011-08-18T22:01:00.001-05:00

Another project done. It was fun and easy too. And Ana likes it. So all's good in the world.

The Queen of Hearts made some tarts....

2011-08-17T21:45:00.001-05:00

On Sunday I made a Raspberry Truffle Tart. It was heavenly. One of the best things I've ever made. One of the best things I've ever eaten. Seriously. It was that good.

So good in fact that I made another one the next day. Yumm..... (We had friends over both nights to help eat it.)

Anyway, it was super easy. The first day I made it with a graham cracker crust and the second day I made it with the biscotti crust like the recipe actually calls for. I definitely recommend the biscotti crust. I mean it was good with the graham cracker crust, but even better with the biscotti. Here's the link to the recipe.

Another project and pictures

2011-08-12T21:04:00.008-05:00

Elena being sweet.

Ahhh.....

Cheesy face, Sebastian.

Sebastian learned to say "no" this week. Leo was singing him a lullaby before putting him to bed, and Sebastian started saying, 'No! No! No! No!......" He also learned "duck" and "jump."

Seriously, his cheesy smile cracks me up.

Ana looking cute.

Isabel asleep after church.

Isabel after eating cookies and with her typical attitude.

And this is a random project that was thrown into my other ones. I made a skirt for Ana years ago in Chicago, but I made it with denim fabric, so it wasn't right for the style of skirt. So, she never wore it. I don't blame her either. It really wasn't very cute. She suggested I make it into an apron, and so I did. Worked out well too.

Isabel trying to get in the picture. What a loony.

Projects 11, 12, 13 (and sort of 14, 15, 16, 17, and 18)

2011-08-12T19:50:00.011-05:00

Last month, just before the reunion, I made some caps for my kids. I had actually planned on making them for quite some time. I had seen some wool fabric at the DI thriftstore, and snatched it up with this project already in mind.

Plus, my girls sang "Seize the Day," for their reunion karaoke song, and they needed some Newsies caps.

Every child should dress like Newsie. Even my neighbor agreed. She made some for her kids after she saw mine.

That movie is classic.

This is random, but guess who I always thought was the cutest Newsie? (Somebody on the web nicely drew the arrows already in for me.) Ummm, yeah, see the guy in the lower left hand corner with the black hair, brown eyes, and nicely tanned skin, umm yeah. That's who I thought was hot when I was 14. Remind you of anyone? Hee. Hee.

Of course, Christian Bale isn't bad either. He actually had won me over even earlier.

With Treasure Island when I was 9 and Christian Bale was 14.

Yep, I've always thought Christin Bale was good looking, since I was nine. That's a little weird actually.

Sebastian didn't like being in the pictures.

The girls not cooperating.

Sebastian not cooperating.

ahhhh.....cute....

Elena looking stellar in my scarf.

and now back to the story. The wool fabric I bought from DI was too thick and after I had made three almost complete hats with it, I couldn't sew through the final seam with my sewing machine. So those were scratched.

and so I started over sewing two from pink fabric I already had in my statch. Only those I made too small. Isabel barely fits the bigger one.

This is the wool one, I still like it the best. But you can't tell that the hat really isn't sewn together. Ruff.

So then I went back to the store later, bought more fabric and finally, five hats later finished the three hats for the kids.

all three the night before the reunion and a Spanish test the next day. Yeah.

But don't they look cute?

and I spilled water on the keyboard during the time I wrote this and the "a" key and a few others aren't working. So I have to paste in every a. I'm an idiot. But another proect (yes that's another key not working, but I'm not going to bother copying it) done.

Random

2011-08-12T19:44:00.002-05:00

Ana has been taking the kids riding on her bike. Elena sits in front of Ana. Sebastian sits in the baby seat behind Ana, and Isabel sits between the baby seat and Ana's bike seat. I really need to get a picture of that, but this is Leo's interpretation. After he drew it, Leo said, "The number of kids on that bike has no relation to the number of kids we are going to have." Thanks for clearing that up, sweetie.

Fernando

2011-08-07T03:49:00.003-05:00

I was thinking about baby names the other day and so I suggested to Leo that we should name our future, (still imaginary) son Fernando, so we could sing him this song.

And much to my shock, Leo was all for it. He said he's always liked that name. (But he hates his own name Leonardo....hmmm). Anyway, I will be much more careful the next time I joke about names.

Avoiding the Issue

2011-08-01T23:53:00.006-05:00

I'm being absolutely terrible right now, and I'm not studying for my test tomorrow. But today I bought a lamp online (ours had an accident--one of many--and it was no longer functional) and I was desperate for a new one--yes I hate the dark! And well, I found this awesome punctured metal one from India that Leo laughed at when he saw it because he said it was so me. And then I couldn't help myself, I went from that to looking at rugs to coverlets and ended up in Nirvana.

Yes, truly Nirvana. I mean look at that headboard--I've never yet found a bed I seriously coveted, but this, well, this one ties with the one below for full-out coveting.

If it wasn't only available in chocolate or white, Leo would be very surprised to find a new bed somehow showing up at our house.

But, really do you see this interior?!??! I LOVE every single piece of it. Heaven. Ahhh....
And I love this one too. And every other single item for sale at this store. Seriously. Well, maybe not the paper maché deer antlers, but everything else. Anyway the store is called West Elm.
It is now my forever favorite store. And it's actually rather reasonable in it's prices. That coffee table was made for me. I love it!
And these vases?!?? They should be in my bedroom, immediately.
Again, how could you not love this room. It's so zen-like. My own personal style of zen anyway. Well with that, I really do have to study stupid subjunctive tense. Blah. I'll just keep reminding myself of happy thoughts of browsing West Elm.

Friday Night Fun

2011-07-31T17:48:00.004-05:00

I forgot to mention that on Friday night, Leo and I went on another date with my sister Andrea and her husband Tim. We went to Lagoon again with the bounce-back promotion. It was awesome. We went on all the big rides, although we missed the old 1920's roller coaster which is freaky because I always think it's going to fall apart under me.

I do have to admit that on Wicked I closed my eyes till we were past that big drop. After that it was really fun.

But as always, the best ride at Lagoon is the Tidal Wave. It's classic. What else need I say?Well, maybe that we went on it three times in a row at the end just before the park closed and we were yelling like maniacs in competition with a bunch of 13 yr old boys across from us, and that Leo yelled like Tarzan and Tim yelled doing that Arab tongue thing, and well, it was pretty hilarious. On the last time, we sat with those boys and one shouted out, "YES!! We have Tarzan!!!" Needless to say we were laughing hysterically. Good times.

Saturday Night Disappointment

2011-07-31T17:29:00.004-05:00

Leo and I went to the Real Salt Lake game on Saturday against Columbus Crew. It was terrible, Columbus Crew scored two goals on Real in the first 10 minutes and that was pretty much the game. Sniff. Sniff. Not only that, but Real played awful the first half, like they were already kicked. The second half they rallied and that was better. I definitely need to go to another game, so I can watch them win next time. :)

But oh well, the reason we went was because I needed a cultural experience for my Spanish class. And sitting with the Barra Real counted as a cultural experience. Sah-weet!
It was not as noisy or boisterous as normal due to the awful game, but the band still played the whole time. Maybe baseball would be more exciting if they had a band play with a trumpet the whole time. Probably not though.

It was fun. And probably for the best that I didn't end up having a hoarse voice from shouting "¡Olé, Olé, Olé! the whole time because they stunk so there was no need to shout.
Just kidding, I wish I had had a hoarse voice and that Real Salt had won. Real Salt Lake till Death! (As many of the shirts said. Hee. Hee.)

And last of all, Lagoon

2011-07-30T01:45:00.001-05:00

We stayed till it closed, but this little guy collapsed soon after this picture was taken and slept the rest of the night.
Elena was going strong though.
She went on this ride with Leo and loved it!

The kids loved this one as well.

Andrea and Tim.
Sebastian did not like any rides except one.

Devaney--so cute!

This was not the ride Sebastian liked.

This was the only ride Sebastian liked--he went on it three times.

Elena loved all the rides, but Isabel was not so enthusiastic. Ana we hardly saw as she was off with her cousins. Good times.

A few of the families

2011-07-29T01:39:00.001-05:00

EVERYONE!!! Wowsers.
Mi hermano.
Mi hermana.
Mi hermana también.
Mi hermano también.
Y yo y mi familia.I know I didn't get everyone's family, but I'm sure by the time we pass around photos I will have.

Hiking at Cascade Springs

2011-07-28T01:22:00.003-05:00

More Reunion Photos in no particular order

2011-07-27T01:01:00.006-05:00

The two Karaoke pictures I have. Sad but true. But I'm sure you can guess at the quality of entertainment we had, just from these two photos. As soon as I get the chance, I'll upload some videos.

Running races--Elena and Isabel refused to participate, ornery critters.
Isabel es loca.
Lots of running pictures.

Trouble makers.

Our playwrights and actors.
The "Castle" or amphitheater was the highlight for many of the kids, and they spent all day there.

Random pictures, but oh well, more to come.

Reunion Time!

2011-07-24T23:57:00.006-05:00

The first day of our Rasmussen reunion we spent at the Provo CLAS Ropes course. It was a blast! Here's me on a thirty foot swing.
Here's Leo about to leap from a 30 ft. pole. He did that twice. He was trying to grab the ring you can sort of see in the trees. He managed to the second time. Ethan and Tim caught the ring too. And a couple of kids cried, good times. Cassidy and Hailey went off no problem, that was amazing. And Megan, well Megan, had to yell down that she was still tough despite the long time it took her to jump. And yes, I jumped too, I just went quickly before I could even look down too long. My knees were shaking though.
Here's Andrea on the swing.
And Tim on the swing. And the climbing wall that a couple people climbed. Here's Wyatt on the four hundred foot long zip cord as well. That was my favorite! Sweet! By the end Derek was going and Ethan was throwing footballs to him as he went. Typical.
Lindsay spent her time on the ground, something about being nine months pregnant. Excuses, excuses.
Ana on the swing. Almost all the little kids went on the swing, we just didn't pull them up to thirty feet. And most went on the zip cord too.
Trying to balance all of us on a log.
Grandpa, Devaney and Sebastian.
I think this was everyone's least favorite activity. It wasn't easy.
Trying to catch the rope with out getting off the planks.
And of course, someone has to end up with stitches. This actually happened to Cowen on Tuesday when we were playing at a splash park.

Last Saturday

2011-07-18T22:55:00.011-05:00

And I leave the children the long, long days to be merry in in a thousand ways, and the Night, and the trail of the Milky Way to wonder at.... ~Williston Fish, "A Last Will," 1898

Childhood is the most beautiful of all life's seasons. ~Author Unknown

Sweet childish days, that were as long

As twenty days are now.

~William Wordsworth, "To a Butterfly"

There is a garden in every childhood, an enchanted place where colors are brighter, the air softer, and the morning more fragrant than ever again. ~Elizabeth Lawrence

Summer afternoon - summer afternoon; to me those have always been the two most beautiful words in the English language. ~Henry James

Just for fun

2011-07-16T12:07:00.002-05:00

Para mi clase de español

2011-07-12T22:33:00.011-05:00

What I do in Spanish Class

2011-07-09T23:32:00.003-05:00

We watch Youtube videos.

Here's the best one yet. Que Hora Es? It's the Mexican Soap Opera for people who took three weeks of Spanish in the 4th grade. Seriously.

And here's the 2nd part.

Don't you feel edified? Here's another favorite of mine.

And Leo and I laughed so, sooo hard watching this one.

Yes, can't you see my professor uses our time well? Not that I'm complaining.

Untitled from Kami Latorre on Vimeo.

And this is a rather long video, and not that interesting. I was simply trying out my awesome, new-to-me camcorder!!! Our old camcorder died and so I convinced Leo to let me get a new one, and then two days later our camera broke. So guess what's coming in the mail??? But guess what else? We won't be going to Canada this summer because instead I bought a new camcorder and camera. Bad timing, or rather, good timing, because at least we had some money on hand to be able to buy new ones. Anyway, the rest of the money intended for the trip will now be put towards a new van next spring--can you believe it?!??!?! Once we have another kid, our family won't fit in a minivan anymore. So sad, I love my minivan. But, because Ana's older and our other kids are all in carseats, she doesn't fit between them. So not much we can do there. Well, I must go study Spanish--for reals, not just watching Youtube videos. Chao, amigos!

The 4th of July!

2011-07-05T22:28:00.010-05:00

Cooling off on the 4th of July--So this post is incredibly long--but I don't have the time or patience to break it up today. Lo siento, pero necisito practicar español. And my camera just broke, it won't take pictures using the flash, which seriously limits my picture taking.

Cassidy had a fabulous Tangled birthday party. But she was nice enough to sing Happy Birthday to Isabel too.

Isabel blowing out her birthday candles.

Ana and Danica took care of "Maximus" who gave horse rides to all the little kids.

Elena getting ready to hit the piñata.

Ana had to help Isabel to hit it.

After Cassidy's party, we headed to Grandpa and Grandma's for irrigation fun! Yes, that really is a highlight of our 4th of July weekend.

Leo splashing all the little kids.

Sebastian loved it.

Ana proved to be a valuable frisbee player (originally they started out playing soccer.)

Jack-Jack

This is a game called, "Squish Casssidy."

Where the horses roll for a dust bath it makes a nice sand box too.

Dust bath anyone?

The hazards of playing Ultimate Frisbee in a pasture.

Myles putting on the moves.

Leo disgusted that I'm taking his picture. But I can't help it, I mean he has his shirt off, it's amazing I didn't take 30 pictures. Hee. Hee.

Nice place to chill.

Our neighbors.

Ultimate frisbee in the pasture--so popular they played it on Saturday and Monday. We also went to the Hyrum parade on Monday, which I liked better than Provo's because they hand out candy.

Isabel was super excited to open her presents--a Tinkerbell nightgown and a Princess nightgown. She loves them!

The sad cake I made her on the spur of the moment at Grandma's. A little kid managed to grab a handful before I snapped a picture.

Isabel liked it though.

Elena being silly.

We did fireworks on Sunday night--thanks Lindsay and Sterling!

Elena enjoyed it, but Isabel hid her head the entire time.

I love kids and sparklers. So fun.

Sebastian playing in all the spent matches.

Happy 4th of July!

Oh, and as a side note, I finished project #10. Nothing exciting, just new bibs. I hate store bought bibs, they're too little and thin. It's easy enough to make your own with terry cloth and bias tape. So I did.

Stewart's Falls and a Few Staples

2011-06-26T15:58:00.009-05:00

Yesterday, we hiked to Stewart Falls. It was lovely! The day was perfect for it. And with all the spring run off, the falls were huge. Stewart Falls are up American Fork canyon, right next to Sundance and Apsen Grove and where we'll be camping this summer during our family reunion.

There were several large trees on the trail, which were fun to navigate under and/or over.

Beautiful views.

Pretty flowers.

Like I said, it was lovely.

The trail was pretty heavily packed though, which was good and bad. At least we were able to get our picture together a couple of times.

Getting close to the falls. It's about a 3.6 mile round trip, but it isn't very hard.

Sebastian and me.

Up on a ledge.

Looking down on the remains of the snow pack.

Ana was trying to convince us to let her go in the snow tunnel, but we said no.

Down on the snow. We ate lunch here.

Heading back.

And this is Elena before her accident. Yes, this is the spot where the staples come in. Leo was carrying her and Sebastian, and he twisted his ankle on a rock and fell--we had been trying to walk quickly as the kids were tired by that time. Anyway, he managed to not fall on top of her, but her head hit a rock and it gouged out quite a bit. Luckily, we were almost back--I did have a first aid kit in our backpack, but nothing big enough to staunch that much blood.

So I held her head while I carried her the rest of the way down. My hands didn't look too bloody by the time this picture was taken. But still, it's macabre to have your hands covered in blood. I cleaned her wound when we got home (and Leo's scraped knee) and then took her to urgent care where she had three staples put in. She was very calm through the whole thing. I was impressed. It was kind of fun to clean it all up, I liked wound care a lot when I was nursing.

It was a beautiful day with gorgeous scenery, and a little excitement never hurts anyone--well not for long anyway.

Carlina e Isabel

2011-06-21T22:27:00.005-05:00

Don't you think Isabel and her great-grandmother look incredibly similar? How did that skip so many generations?

Projects 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, and 9!!! DONE!!!!!!

2011-06-19T23:41:00.005-05:00

YAHOOO!!!! I am DONE with projects 4, 5, 6,7, 8, an 9!!! That's right--I've been working on these off and on for 5 1/2 months. (That tells you how bad of a seamstress I am).

But here it is, my (semi) authentic late 1840's Round Dress, made for the pioneer trek my sister is going with the teenage girls in her church. I used the 114 Laughing Moon 1840's-1852 Round Dress pattern, View A. This dress actually came together fairly easily. I did redo the neckline, as I thought it was a bit high in the front and was choking me. Maybe that was period correct but I knew my sister Megan would care more about comfort than authenticity.

Also, the sleeves were huge on her when I made them the same size as the bodice. I ended up taking them off again, after they had been completely finished, and cutting them down 5 sizes smaller, and now they fit perfectly. Also with the mancherons (sleeve caps), the pattern said they could be unlined, and I had left them unlined the first time, but that was horrible--they were floppy and lacked the body necessary to keep their shape. When I made the sleeves the second time, I added the lining, and they look great. Oh, and I cut the armscyes a little larger, for mobility. Another small note, the bodice fit my sister perfectly when I first made a mock up of it, but by the time she tried it on today, she had lost oodles of weight and it's now a bit loose. Ruff. Okay, I know, I really am happy for my sister.

This was the corded bonnet I made. The bonnets were actually my favorite part of these costumes to make, and I think they turned out the best. I used the Timely Tresses Lucy Amelia Sunbonnet pattern. So fun, I'm definitely going to make some sunbonnets for my little girls. I used cooking twine for the cording. I think slat bonnets would have been more in keeping with the late 1840's as corded sunbonnets came out early 1850's, but really, slat bonnets are ugly, and corded bonnets are pretty. No contest. See why I say these are semi-authentic? Plus, there's no way under the sun that I was ever going to sew these by hands. I had no problems following the Timely Tresses pattern. Now for my niece's dress. I actually used the exact same pattern for this dress (the Laughing Moon 114) but I used View B--with the fan-fronted bodice. This bodice was a PAIN! It wasn't that it was that big of a deal making it, even the fan-front. That was easy. But the pattern itself seems to have some issues. There was about 3-4 inches of extra fabric in length on the bodice overlay--and yes, I realize it was supposed to have a little fullness and whatnot, but it looked ridiculous. I wish I had taken a picture. Plus, I found this lady, who also made this version who had many problems, and then this lady as well, (this one doesn't discuss those problems in her blog, that was in another forum). So I think, it was more of a pattern problem than a sewing problem; well, also I had to do a SBA or in actuality a no-bust-adjustment which didn't help matters. I ended up unpicking the seams along the fan-front, cutting open the entire overlay above the fan, taking off a couple of inches, sewing it back together, and then adding a few more lines of gathering to cover the seam, and then hand stitching the overlay pieces back together. It was not fun.

The sleeves were easy and lovely though. I used just the mancheron part with tucks. That took me quite a while and a few Youtube videos to figure out. But once I got it, it came together fast.
Did I mention that I love these bonnets?
Now, I read that to get the 1840's shape you needed at least two petticoats--most women wore 4-5 at that time, including a corded one. But even the poorest of the poor had two--cloth was cheap. I used some bed sheets from the DI (a local thrift store) to make up two petticoats each for Danica and Megan. I used Elizabeth Stewart Clark's free pattern linked here for the petticoat, and it was a breeze.

For the drawers, I used the Simplicity 9769, which are historically accurate. Which means, they're split, as in not sewn together to aid in using the bathroom when you're wearing 6 petticoats. I didn't realize this when I started making them, and as I suspected, my sister was not a fan. So they became not-split drawers. Also, I added and elastic waist, per my sister's request. And as humiliating as it is to admit this, I started making these before my sewing class and before I understood how sizing on patterns work, so the pattern I made for my sister was a size 12, which in pattern terms is no where close to the size 12 clothing size I thought it was. So that was a mess. Oops. Danica's turned out all right though.Megan, in her completed outfit.
Danica, in her completed outfit. Danica's dress was a bit fancy for a trekking, but really, when I was 12 I would have wanted the prettiest dress--who cares about it being more a Sunday church dress rather than a work dress when you're only getting one, right??!?Megan, Danica, and Devaney. Megan bought the dress for Devaney off of Etsy, since I'm taking some classes now and already had way to many things to do to have time to sew another dress. It's really cute; Devaney looks darling.
Ahhh, cute. Overall, I am very happy with how they turned out. I wish I had choose a brighter pattern for Megan's fabric, but at the time, I was trying to get at least a semi-authentic looking pattern, and I didn't want to err on the side of being loud--so I erred on the side of being too bland instead. Sorry, Megs. That's the only major thing I would have changed. Anyway, I hope Megan and Danica like them, because that's most important, right? Myles liked them apparently, because he asked me to make him an outfit next. Sorry Myles, my schedule is full up, maybe next year. Megan was, I think, a bit overwhelmed by my overly ambitious costumes. I know she didn't expect all that, and she probably won't even wear all the petticoats and stuff. But I couldn't really help myself--it was fun! And I love the details. Like petticoats. Anyway, beware if you ever ask me to make costumes, I really can't help myself. There should be like AA type group for this.
Oh, I did make aprons for them too. I used Butterick 5509. They were simple, and again I used bed sheets from the thrift store for them.

And just in case you want to make your own Mormon Pioneer Trek clothes, or Dickens Faire, or Victorian clothes, here's a few links I found especially useful, or well, just fun to sit and wistfully dream about making dresses that look that good and then wearing them.

Buns and Baskets

Dressing the 1840's

The Sewing Academy

The dress that inspired me

Eye Candy Dresses--seriously, check out her 1700's gowns. Gorgeous.

I can also safely say that I could pick out 1830's-1850's dresses fairly accurately now. Fun stuff. . And I have to say that I am NEVER going to sew a dress like that again when I don't have the person next door to try it on every five minutes or a dress form. I really want a dress form. And a serger. But you know, little by little. And now good night. Only 488 projects left to go.

2011-06-15T22:06:00.005-05:00

Oh my goodness! I love this boy! So much that he's starving. Just kidding. He just had a check up at the doctor's today though, and he's at 1.25% for weight. The doctor gave me a list of high calorie food to feed him. Whatever, the boy's fine.
Me. Sewing. NONSTOP FOR MONTHS!!!!
Ana's Daddy-Daughter Date for Activity Days.
They had dinner (each girl had to cook part of it) and then they learned about manners, and also the foxtrot.
At one of Ana's softball games. Her team is pretty terrible. I think Grandma should come down and take over coaching.
Ah, sweet.
Daddy and Sebas.
Elena directed this photo. And I quote, "I'm going to lay on the grass and kick my legs, and you take the photo, Mom."
What a little cutie. I never get tired of hugging that boy.
Ana's new hair cut. I let her do what she wanted. She wouldn't let me get a good picture. You should have seen the faces she was making in the other photos. Craziness.
Isabel is about the craziest girl out there. She has more attitude in her little finger than I have in my whole body. And she'd definitely Colombiana--you should see the way she swings her hips around when she's dressed like a princess.
Big brown eyes are irresistible.
And this is the cheesey face he makes whenever he notices the camera.
We finished off a watermelon today and Elena promptly told me, "Mom, you need to go to Macy's and buy another watermelon." Alrighty, then.
Yum.
Isabel.
Elena and Candace, best friends forever, except for when Elena's screaming, "I'm never going to play with you again!" And when Candace doesn't get her way and she goes off crying and sulking to her mom or me, "Elena's not being nice!" Sweet, eh?
Elena with a stick. That stick caused a lot of tears that day.
Ana showing off her smurf outfit, oh, I mean softball outfit.
Leo gave me an early Christmas present--new knives. I'm not quite used to sharp knives. My old favorite knife was from a ND garage sale that my mom bought me before I went to college. It was from the Berthold Co-op. Ummm, yeah. I had amazingly terrible knives, and then the block fell apart, so it was time to upgrade. Too bad my finger paid for it.

The end.

Yesterday's Hike to the Living Room

2011-06-05T23:25:00.002-05:00

Yesterday we went to Salt Lake City. Yeehaw! I went because I had a homework assignment to do--three hours of research at the Family History Library. I went through scores of books and some microfilm from Colombia. And I found nothing. But that's what I was expecting, so no worries.

While I was at the library, the kids and Leo hiked up to the Living Room (an old quarry site). Only they didn't make it to the quarry, but they still had lots of fun.

I kind of wish I had been with them instead of researching. Blah.

Pretty views, eh?

My little mountain goats climb pretty well, don't they?

I have to give all the credit to Ana for these photos, I hired her as my photographer for the trip. Except Elena took this one.
Typical Isabel.
An Isabel quote from the trail: "Look, Dad! That guy is naked!!!" Said in a very loud voice in front of another hiker who wasn't wearing a shirt. The girl with him laughed and told the guy, "I told you to keep your shirt on." Hee. Hee.
Another funny Isabel story: We were at Sportsman Warehouse the other day and while walking in, we passed an older guy and lady getting onto their Harley Davidson, with all their black leather clothes, etc. Well, Isabel yelled to me, "Look Mom! A motorcycle!" which caught the people's attention. When she saw them looking, she nonchalantly waved and said, "Hey guys." They laughed and waved back. Who can resist a two year old in pigtails and pink cowboy boots?

This is project #24 of my remaining 497. I have all the pieces now for my denim quilt, and I have the back.
This was Ana's hair this morning. I tried to convince her to keep it in ringlets, but she refused. It was pretty anyway. And that's it. Ta ta.