wedding cake

Heather and I got to do our 3rd wedding cake today!! We were so excited to try something new but at the same time it was also very trying. Lets just say that we learned some very valuable lessons with this cake that I think we can only grow from...problems with the dowels and this was our first square wedding cake.
All in all I feel it turned out pretty darn good! I just hope it holds up well and that the cake tastes yummy....(it always does anyways...cake is cake!!)

Don't you just love the color?! the theme was lemon and limes.

I love this picture...this always happens...right after we feel good about the cake we both pull out our cameras and start taking picture after picture until we both have about 50 each on both our cameras. I also love this picture cause Heather looks so darn cute with her pregnancy belly :)

Heather, thanks for being a great friend and going on this adventure in cakes with me!

I love this stuff

Spicy Artichoke dip

1 can artichoke hearts (quartered)
1 small can roasted green chilies (I have wanted to try jalapenos but haven't yet)
1 8oz cream cheese (that is room temp)
1 cup mayo
1 cup grated Parmesan

Mix all together and put into a 8 inch dish. I usually use my Corningware stone dish.
Bake in preheated 375 degree oven for 20 minutes or until the top bubbles and it is browned on top. Serve with tortilla chips or with sliced baguette bread. MMMM...I may have to go make this tonight.
Great at potlucks, a great appetizer for your next get together, and just a great snack!

Update

We have found the missing shirt :)
So after looking under the couch again, in every room again, and took some of the suggestions and looked in the fridge,in the sheets and other places...it was found.......

where you ask? thanks to Kristen for her idea. I had already looked under the couch cushions many times....that was the last place I saw it so I decided to look again. But this time I REMOVED the cushions and there it was packed in a ball BEHIND the cushions and not UNDER the cushion....who would have thought!

Thanks Kristen for making me look again :)

Nolan is very happy to have his shirt back too! lol.

Mystery of the missing shirt

Help me out....

Yesterday while out and about I had to wait for a prescription for Gabe to be filled. So the half hour was spent looking at kids clothes. We are trying to get as much winter clothes out of the way while we can.
Anyways, I got Gabe a nice long sleeve shirt with a basketball on it which he loved. Then for Nolan I got him a long sleeve shirt which I knew he would go nuts for....it has a dinosaur on the front of it. and since our Portland trip, he just loves Dinos!

Came home, showed the boys the loot and both of them totally excited, especially Nolan.

James came home, went to go find the shirt......no where to be found.

I have looked everywhere.............
Drawers
tubs
the garbage
outside
behind doors
yada yada yada

Does anyone have any idea where this shirt could have walked off to?! Seriously?! Very frustrating.

So,PLEASE give me one place to go look that you may think it could be or that I have NOT looked yet.

what to do with all of your zucchini and blueberries

After buying one of those huge things of blueberries from Costco and buying too many zucchini from the Winco I found that I needed to use the two pretty darn quick. So this is what I came up with.

Zucchini Blueberry Muffins

3 eggs, lightly beaten
1 cup vegetable oil
3 teaspoons vanilla extract
1cup brown sugar

1 1/4 cup white sugar
2 cups shredded zucchini
1 1/2 c whole wheat flour

1 1/2 c all purpose flour

1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon baking soda
1 tablespoon ground cinnamon
1 pint fresh blueberries

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line muffin tray with liners.
In a large bowl, beat together the eggs, oil, vanilla, and sugars. Fold in the zucchini. Beat in the flours, salt, baking powder, baking soda, and cinnamon. Gently fold in the blueberries. Transfer to the muffin cups. Makes approximately 24, maybe a bit more

Bake 20-25 minutes in the preheated oven, or until a toothpick inserted in the middle comes out clean.

how many times.

0- times Nolan got up last night since it was his first night in his big boy bed. A surprise to us, we weren't planning it for another month, but he was determined to sleep in it last night!

7- times Gabe got up because he was sick with a mystery virus and gagging and crying and his throat hurt. All of this before midnight.

3-times James got up with me to help with Gabe even though he had to work the next morning...thanks James :)

1- time I kicked a plastic bowling pin with my pinky toe, on my way to Gabe's room, I thought I may say some not so nice words.....I may have, it was the middle of the night and don't recall much.

20- things I had to wash by hand because they wouldn't fit in the dishwasher...how do we have that many dirty dishes?! One of my least favorite things to do....ugh.

45- minutes I got to talk to an old friend on the phone. Deanna was the one who let me take the discussions at her house. I should talk to her more often, it has been 2 years! Can't wait to meet up with her for lunch (wanna come Tara?!)

2- number of brownies I ate yesterday and then felt guilty, I threw the other two away.

5- days till Heather and my next wedding cake! It is going to be super super cute and fun, can't wait!!!

3- favorite toys that Gabe had to pose with for the next picture. It was all his idea, he set them up and yelled for me to get the camera.

we are back

We are back!!

We took our summer trip for the year to Portland. I loved every minute of it even though we had our rough moments.

1st day, we drove to Erin and Matt's and enjoyed a game of cards while the boys came out of the room over 20 times! what were we thinking not bringing a pack and play for nolan?!?

2nd day, we went to to Lincoln city (after reading some blogs, it seems that we were there at the same time as others!) we enjoyed the cold weather, the boys loved rolling in the sand and playing in the water. I enjoyed the shopping and the beautiful drive back.

3rd day, we went to the zoo. The dinosaur exhibit was there and Gabe HAD to go. It was so funny because he wouldn't turn his back to the dinos. It was hard to take a picture of him because of this because he would always make sure he had an eye on them, he thought they would get him. He did actually love it, and as disappointed to leave. Nolan loved it too and I was so happy at how well he did, his favorite were the zebras I think.

4th and 5th day were laid back with swimming, feeding horses and jumping on the trampoline at Rachel and Mikes. With the 105 heat, we were too motivated to do too much!

Here are the pictures
Gabe at the beach

Finally a somewhat good picture of the two of us

Why didn't I put my hood down? Doesn't matter, the boys werent looking anyways

James and his little bro Matt

Gabe was showing his enjoyment in the car ride, while Matt had to lay down in the back seat so he wouldn't get sick

At the zoo, Gabe was so funny, he was ready to take off running if they came after him.
This one was so darn cool, the TRex was full size (some were only half size) and it looked so life like. The roar was very loud, but it was all of our favorites in the end
Nolan was in awe with the sea lionsAt TGIFridays
Nolans sleeping position in the morning
The face we saw too much of from Nolan. With only 15 minutes naps, and staying up too late, we had a lot of crying and screaming.

But nothing that a yummy freezer burned Popsicle wouldn't fix! lol.

Ended the trip on a good note, Nolan's highlight was the horses and feeding them. Well we are back now and enjoyed our time.

We were happy to get home, until our first night back when Gabe got really sick with a mystery virus and now we are dealing with that.

James and I are going back to go see Jack Johnson later this week in good ol Scappoose. I love it over there.

A song we love

James and I usually only watch the first few weeks of American Idol each year and we kinda just fizzle out. Well, this last season a guy named Josiah Leming caught our eye (I am sure people remember him, he was the kid living out of his car) Well, we found that he has a ton of videos on Youtube. We love to listen the the Grace Kelly song the best and we loved that he posted a full rendition of the song which is by Mika (sorry, you have to turn our player off at the bottom of the page)

recipe

Chipotle Pork Tenderloin

Ingredients

1 teaspoon onion powder
1 teaspoon garlic powder
3 tablespoons chipotle chile powder
1 1/2 teaspoons salt
4 tablespoons brown sugar
2 (3/4 pound) pork tenderloins

Directions

Preheat grill for medium-high heat.
In a large resealable plastic bag, combine the onion powder, garlic powder, chipotle chile powder, salt, and brown sugar. Place tenderloins in bag and shake, coating meat evenly. Refrigerate for 10 to 15 minutes.
Lightly oil grill grate, and arrange meat on grate. Cook for 20 minutes, turning meat every 5 minutes. Remove from grill, let stand for 5 to 10 minutes before slicing.

I made this the other night (thanks to good ol Allrecipes) It had the perfect amount of spice with sweet. I let the tenderloins sit about 6 hours in the fridge with the rub on. I also decreased the amount of the chili powder by a teaspoon so it wouldn't be too hot. I will definately make this again, it was really good the next day right out of the fridge....you know....it would probably be great in a sandwich! I will remember that for next time :)

Portland

I love Portland

Things I love about it?

FAMILY that is there (Matt and Erin, and Mike and Rachel)

The ZOO

The Views

SCAPPOOSE

SUNSHINE PIZZA in Scappoose

The weather

The shopping

How close it is to the beach

This is our first trip this year to Portland......sad huh? So now that we are going, I am going to savour ever moment there. It took a lot of negotiating and long talks to figure out the best time to go. I can't wait!!

out of the mouths of the boys

Two nights ago:

James had just left to go on a ride along with Doug and Gabe was already down for bed but Nolan was fighting it a bit...he was wearing a cute pair of footie pjs with dogs and firetrucks on them. I had him on my lap when he started letting out some "toots" (sorry if this is TMI for some...and if so, stop reading)

After letting a few big ones go, he kept looking at me and laughing.

Me: did you toot?!?!

Nolan: no (laughing)

Me:did mommy toot?!?! (by the way, I never do)

Nolan: no! (still laughing)

Nolan: (thinking) ....Doggy toot! (pointing to a dog on his pjs) uh huh uh huh uh huh



I guess we have already taught him to pass blame, lol.



Last week:

I found a few VHS tapes in the garage and decided to go through them. I found a few episodes of Seinfeld, Dawsons creek, CSI. I also found my tape from when I was preggo with Gabe, it was my ultrasound tape. So I put it on and Gabe was fascinated with it. He kept saying "Thats me! I am moving my arm!!" "Look how cute I am!" He watched the whole thing and was just in awe.


A few hours later it was time to wake James up (he was on nights) So Gabe was telling James all about the tape, saying "I used to listen to you guys talk when I was in mommies belly" and "I used to be funny in mommies belly."

And then he said, "And when it was time to come out, I told the doctors I was ready and I climbed out mommies throat!"..................................Gabe was very proud of himself for making this statement.

James and I quickly changed the subject and are in the process of figuring out what exactly to say. Any ideas of what to say?!?

cherry cupcake cake

Another quick week in the Sautter house! Here is a brief overview.

James strained his hamstring, leaving us worried.

We had a really fun game night with yummy treats and great company

I signed Gabe up for his very first round of swim lessons (please cross your fingers that he will actually go in the water!!)

James and I took Gabe on an adventure to the movie theatre to see Alvin and Chipmunks. We even took the bus to get there. He had a blast and as you can see...James was thoroughly thrilled too........

James went back on days...hooray!

My 2nd cousin, Danika came to visit for wedding. I got to spend 2 days catching up after almost 10 years. She is fantastic and a lot of fun. We have a lot in common and really enjoyed her stay and I think Gabe and Nolan are going to really really miss her!! She was even nice enought to help me out with the cake. She helped with the fondant and putting it together....Thanks Danika! (Randi...your next to come back and visit!!)

And then the last part of the week I got to make a birthday cake for my niece.

Here is the picture of the dress my sister in law gave me to go by, see the pink gingham and cute little cherries? isn't she super cute too?!

And here is the finished product:

THIS fantastic lady helped me out with the cake and made these super cute cards for the cake...my handwriting is awful and I would have only ruined the cake if I would have tried writing on it. I called her up last minute and she was so nice to help me out....thank you thank you thank you!!!!!

Here is the birthday girl on the big day! Happy Birthday Abigail!

Other than that, we had a very busy but very fun weekend. Next week I get to join the swim lesson mommies down at the pool and I am very nervous to see the outcome of the first day of swim lessons.....Don't get me wrong, I am hoping for the best and only hope that Gabe doesn't FREAK out too much. Here is to a fantastic 2 weeks of swim lessons! woohoo!