Chef John

I went to a market last week and had some amazing soup. They said Chef John is the one to thank. He has a recipe book here worth checking out.

Family Skype

Dear Family,

I think we should have a weekly video-cast, where everyone that wants to can be in a family video conference. That way we can stay updated with each other. There is a version of Skype that allows conferencing with multiple computers. I suggest we do it Sundays at 6:30 MST (that would be, 5:30 Pacific and 7:30 Central). What do you all think?

27 weeks!!

our baby's first blanket...picked out by Alec and made together. Alec wants to bring him home from the hospital in it...we'll see.:)

best basic red sauce

This red sauce has a really great flavor. My ward mission leader in NE went to Italy on his mission and this is his recipe:

1-2 cloves fresh garlic, finely chopped

1 onion chopped

1 celery stalk finely chopped (I use two)

1 carrot finely grated ( grate it with the poky side which will add sweetness)

1 28 oz can chopped tomatoes

2 cans tomato sauce (no salt added)

1 can tomato paste

pour enough extra virgin olive oil to coat the bottom of the pan. saute garlic, onions, and celery together just until the onions start to turn clear. grate the carrot straight into the pan while the other veggies are cooking. At this point you can add whatever other veggies you want: eggplant, zucchini, mushrooms( added just before tomatoes so they don't get mushy), green yellow or red peppers ( i love yellow). You may need add more oil for the veggies. saute for a min or two then add tomatoes and simmer for at least an hour. you can also put it in the crockpot on low all day.

*you may want to add sugar especially if you add eggplant

just before serving you can also add fresh parmesan to the sauce and meatballs etc.

Power Peanut Butter Balls

These are a very satisfying snack. They can be made in a large batch and frozen in individual baggies for a quick grab on the way out the door.

1 1/3 cup dates pitted and chopped in food processor

1/2 cup dried cranberries or raisins

or 2 cups of any combo of dried fruit you have

1 cup combo of oatmeal chopped in blender to flour, wheat germ and ground flaxseed

3/4 cup (natural) peanut butter-no sugar added

Roll into balls.

Can roll in coconut flour or leave plain.

Yummy!

Christine's Graduation

Kate

So I was just looking at my posts and realized that there aren't any pictures of our little Kate! Sorry Kate!!!
Kate has got to be the easiest baby in the world!! She is so quick to smile and laugh and so laid back. She has learned to crawl so I am in the process of re baby-proofing the house. She is also having tons of fun experimenting new foods. Tonight she ate black beans and grilled tilapia with mango. She loved it!!

Here Mary is teaching Kate how to smile and say cheese for the camera.

I think Kate is a natural :0

Easter

We had an Easter egg hunt with some friends. The girls had a lot of fun dying easter eggs and hunting for Easter eggs. It was a ton of fun watching them. Then Sarah took Mary for a ride on Mary's trike.

Seasons in Des Moines

Lets just say you never know in Des Moines!! These first few pictures are of us at the zoo. It was a beautiful day!! The snow had finally melted and all we needed was a light sweater - that they soon took off.

The very next day we woke up to THIS!!!!! The girls were happy and I was in mourning!

Sister Kearns and Sister Andelin!!

So tonight Christine and I had to say our last goodbyes to Jessica. It was sad, but Jess said she is super thrilled and excited about what she called "the unknown". Jessica told Christine that she had been praying SO HARD all day long that Heavenly Father would prompt her to come and say goodbye, and He did! So here are the pictures of the final farewell!

here is Matt's letter from today-

hey family!!!!!how are you all? thanks for your letters, prayers, and for fasting for bernarda! javiera got baptised!!!!!it was way special and the spirit was way strong! a ton of her family came, who arent members!!!! bernarda is doing good. shes still smoking....only one a day, but still! i dont know whats gonna happen with her. we found some new investigators that are really awesome! one is joana, who is a mother who really wants to draw near unto god. she went to church and liked it alot!!!! also we found a young woman whos name is soledad. her brothers are baptised and less active. actually they never recieved the holy ghost either! also, we found another less active family that has 2 kids that arent baptised, so were gonna try to reactivate them all and baptise the kids. they have alot of desire to come back to church!!! so, ya! last night, i got a phone call from president may, and he told me that he has a special asignation for me. so tomorow, im gonna go meet my new new companion!!!!! so, im pretty excited to train a new misionary! elder quispe left to colina. but really! he has changed sooooo much!!! wowow! god has changed him so much! our last lesson last night was sooo powerful! he bore a powerful testimony that i didnt know he had! hes a great missionary! im so grateful for the trials that god has given me! i know that trials are the way that god tests us and tutors us. i have learned so much here in alberdi, i have changed so much too! i really hope i can become the missionary that god wants me to be! im really excited to still be here in alberdi! were gonna work way hard! carolina is gonna get baptised may 23, because her birthday is the 20th!
thats so amazing about joy! her blessing must have been soooo special! well, to answer a few of you questions, about aftershocks...weve had 230 plus aftershocks since the earthquake! some big some small...some you dont feel...but ya! its an adventure! i bet that Kristols parents are having ablast! hahaha well, i hope you all have a great week, i love you!
elder andelin

new blog

ok everyone. I am tired of our family not having a blog. especially after getting those pictures of dad and emily's dance this morning. I believe we are now all web-savvy enough to handle it so I hope I can count on each of you to post pictures and happenings in your life so we can all stay connected. I also think we should make it a private blog just for all our family/extended family. What do you all think?