The Kandells: February 2008

Thursday, February 28, 2008

Adyson's Room Before and After

Look at what My interior designer Caitlin, (her blog link is on my list) did this to Adyson's room at our new place...
BEFORE CAITLIN

AFTER CAITLIN

First ANNUAL Dessert Night

Our Dessert Night last night was so much fun, thanks to everyone who came and ate. We still have tons of leftovers so if you get a sweet tooth swing back by and I will load you up a plate of cake, cupcakes, doughnuts ....whatever you like. Except the Trifle, Eric and Ady finished that off today. It was such a success we may make it a February tradition.

The chocolate fountain station, with cookie dough balls, pretzels, marshmellows, rice krispie treats and fruit to dip

This cute kids station was a creation of Meagan from the Sweet Tooth Fairy, it was cute favor boxes the kids could color and put stickers on then fill up with sweet from the candy jars on the counter and while they were creating they could munch on the cute cupcake ice cream cones in the middle of the table.

More Sweets

Maxine ????

Don't lie, mothers out there with sons, you have either thought about or actually dressed up your son as a girl....right?? This was actually Ady's idea, but I did help. SHe is always dressing up as a princess and she wanted Max to get in on the fun too. ANd MAx didnt seem to mind.

Happy Valentine's Day

Today at the Kandell house we are celebrating Valentine's in a less traditional way. You see, usually Eric and I use Valentines as a good excuse to completely pamper ourselves, you know.. couples massage, nice dinner, gifts. But, since we just got back form a week of pampering ourselves in Hawaii, it seems a little too much to do that again tonight. So, instead me and the kids have made some Valentines for Daddy, we got a heart shaped pizza from Papa Murphy's and we are exchanging cards. It might not sound like the perfect Valentines date but I think it will be. Plus Adyson is like over the top excited to give daddy her card she worked on today. We love you Eric! Happy Valentines!

I totally forgot to give Eric this card this morning, so he could wear the little badge saying " I'd be lost without my wife" to work. Bummer.

Home Again...

We got home yesterday from Hawaii, and it was sad to leave such a perfect trip but I am so happy to my little Macky again. I really missed him. We had such a wonderful trip and it was so good to get away from this yucky snow and be together. We are thinking next year, same time same place but we are bringing Max. Thanks Maui for being just what we needed!

Today In Maui....

Today we took a 4 hour Voyage on the Kai Kanani, it's a big katamaran that takes out groups to do snorkeling. It was a lot of fun. Originally we were going to use the babysitting service at the hotel but then we heard kids can go out on the snorkel tour so we brought Ady along. We left at 9 am and went out to Molokini and snorkeled the beautiful reefs and saw all the other colored fish, then we did some whale watching (there were tons of whales jumping right out of the water) and then we headed back towards the Wialea shore for more snorkeling with a colony of sea turtles, they were HUGE!!!

Me and Adyson on the hammack suspended over the water aboard the Kai Kanani

Eric and Ady wrestling on the hammack

This is their kids version of snorkeling, Ady sits on this little boat that has a little window in the bottom she can through down into the water to see fish, and she can have one of us hold on and kick her around, this way only her legs are in the water, everyone there could believe for a 2 year old how brave she was, she was nervous at first then started to like looking for fish and Daddy swimming under her.

Ady getting a good look at the reef

We walked down these steps of the boat right into the deep blue, it was about 50-80 feet deep where we snorkeled, but the visibility was perfect

Eric and Ady enjoying a perfect day of sailing and whale watching.

Maui Trip - First days

We have been having an unbelieveable time in Maui. We do really miss our little brother and sweet baby Max. This is our first time leaving Max overnight but we know he is happy and well taken care of by Grandma Smoot and Lauren and Keven Burns. We deciede to leave Max home so we coulod take full advantage of our days without having to have baby naps every 2 hours.
We have been staying at the BEAUTIFUL Four Seasons in Maui (Wailea). It is fabulous, not only beautiful and luxurious but very family friendly. Usually at nice hotels you feel shunned for having kids but not here. They completely cater to children and do everything to make things easier on you with kids. Even their fabulous 4 star restaurants are welcoming to kids. It's really the best of all worlds.
So far we have had pool and beach time. Lounging under the cabanas by the pool, the spa, yummy food, a Luau (that ady even danced on stage at)It has been so relaxing and so fun. We cant think of one thing to complain about, even Eric has been totally relaxed here. I am totally sad the trip is already half over, but I will be DYING to see Max by Wednesday.

Oh and by the way Kathryn McFee from American Idol was in the elevator with me, Eric and Adyson yesterday and Jessica Simpson and Tony Romo are also here at the hotel.

Aloha.....

Good-bye this....(photos taken out our back door just 3 days ago on Sunday)

And HELLO this..... our destination for the next 6 days. MAUI!!

I am taking my camera cord and OF COURSE Eric will be taking his laptop so I will post from Hawaii

Dessert Night February 23rd.

I am hoping these invitations will be in the mail this week, but I wanted to post it on my blog as a kind of save the date. On February 23rd, Eric and I will be hosting a Dessert Night at our house and we hope everyone can come! We will have tons of different sweets and desserts so it should be a yummy night. If you don't think I have your mailing address and you would like to come please email me at hailey@thekandells.com. Hope to see everyone there!

Diamond in the Rough...

Usually one weekend night we brave the crowds and take the kids out to dinner. Usually the wait it what is bad not the kids, so this past Friday we decided to explore our new town and look for somewhere new to eat. Well, everything looked so crowded so we just kept driving all the way to Orem (like 15 mins away) and we saw this little Mexican Dive on state street and decided to give it a try. When we went in I almost told Eric I wanted to go because none of the menu was in English and it actually looked like little dive you would find in Mexico, but usually those are the best places to eat so we stayed. We ordered and sat down and the waitress comes to our table with a huge morter and pestle made out of volcanic rock (shown in above picture) and with salsa, avocados, salt and pepper, seasonings and made us fresh guacamole at our table with the ingredients we chose. It was so good. And so was the rest of the food, it was much more authentic than most of the other Mexican restaurants in the area. We totally loved it. WE totally recommend it, except I cant remember what it is called, but I believe it was "El Gallo Giro" ..... I think.

My Favorite Cheesecake Recipe

Last weekend we had some friends over for an Sunday dinner and I made the favorite Cheesecake which I haven't in quite awhile and I was reminded why it is my favorite... Try it, you will be pleasantly surprised at how easy it really is. It is (of course) a Williams Sonoma recipe, they are like my favorite books! Oh and for sure use a springform pan the first time I didn't and lets just say it wasn't as pretty as the one I made on Sunday (pictured)

Williams Sonoma Dessert's Baked Cheesecake Recipe
1 1/4 cups graham cracker crumbs
1/4 cup sugar
1/3 cup butter, melted
3 (8 ounce) packages cream cheese, softened
1 cup sugar
3 large eggs
1/2 cup sour cream
2 tablespoons lemon juice
1 tablespoon vanilla (or 2 teaspoons vanilla and 1 teaspoon almond extract which is what I use)
1 cup sour cream
3 tablespoons sugar
2 cups fresh berries (garnish)
Combine graham cracker crumbs, sugar, and butter; press mixture into the bottom of a 10" springform pan; set aside.
Blend cream cheese and sugar together (in a food processor or with a medium-speed electric mixer) until smooth; add eggs one at a time, blending well after each addition; add sour cream, lemon juice, and vanilla; blend well; pour filling over the crust and spread evenly.
Lay a sheet of aluminum foil that has been bent up slightly to form a "foil tent" over the top of pan and not touching cheesecake (this is to prevent overbrowning) then bake at 350° for 1 hour and 15 minutes (remove foil tent after 50-55 minutes) or until top is set.
Combine sour cream and sugar; remove cheesecake from oven and immediately spread sour cream mixture over its top; return cheesecake to oven for 5 minutes to set topping; remove from oven.
Cool cheesecake on wire rack; cover and refrigerate to chill thoroughly.
Just before serving remove sides of springform pan and transfer cheesecake to serving platter; garnish cheesecake with berries (we like cut up strawberries, blackberries, raspberries and blueberries, with a little sugar dusted on top) and serve.