HAPPY BIRTHDAY!

Happy Birthday Mom! We hope you had a nice day and hope that you realize how many people care about you. Even though we are all in different places I hope you realize that those memories we have of you and the lovely birthday celebrations will never be forgotten. So have a happy year and know what we all love you!

Spring break at Zions

A big thank you to the Brimleys and Rolo for

wearing Bauer out while we were gone!

Katelyn holding up a huge rock.

We hiked to Emerald Pools, a really beautiful waterfall.

Jake and Kelli met us at Weeping Rock, the day

after we spent a really fun day together in St. George.

Did you know that Jake is now a tennis player?

Gary and Lori standing in front of the Virgin River.

It was still pretty chilly!

You can tell by Katelyn's smile how

much fun she was having. She loves a

good trip and really enjoys hiking.

Chummy Katelyn and "little brother" Riley!

Guess who won!?

This may not seem like such a big deal to some, but in the Serafine house we all know what this means. I'm proud to say that team Jake, Kelli and Riley beat Mom and Dad last Sunday evening. The losers have to buy the winners slurpees this weekend in St George. The funny thing is Riley and I tried to talk Jake out of several correct answers. The game winning question was "What was the nickname of the web that is the same name as the mascot of the University of Minnesota?" (this came from 1991) Any guesses?

Flat Bread (this one is for you Allison)

I made flat bread for dinner tonight so decided to post about it. Here it is.

I used Rhodes white bread. Take out as many loaves as you want to make. I usually just make one to feed our little family. I put the loaf on a plate and cover it with plastic wrap that I spray with vegetable cooking spray. Then I let it thaw. You don't have to let it rise, just thaw all the way through, but you can let it rise. I just take it out in the morning and forget about it until I start making dinner.


Mix together the spices. I usually make a big batch of this and just keep it in a spice jar so it is ready to use the next time I make it. Mix together 1 tsp basil, 1 tsp oregano, 1/2 tsp garlic salt, 1/2 tsp salt, and 1/4 tsp pepper. I never use all of this in one loaf. I would say I use about half. It just depends how much spice you want in it.


When the dough is thawed I knead it a few times and then sprinkle the spices on top. Then I knead the spices into the dough.


This is how it looks when I am done kneading it. Then I let it rest about 10 min.


After the dough has rested I use my hands and stretch the dough into a round circle. Kind of like pizza dough. Place on a greased baking sheet. Then brush the top all over with a light layer of olive oil (you don't want any puddles of olive oil, just enough to cover the dough all over) Then you are ready to bake. Oven to 375 and bake 10 min. After 10 min, remove from oven and brush again all over with olive oil. Put back in oven and bake another 10 min.


All done! You can serve with olive oil to dip, or we just rip it and eat it plain.

What I have been up to..

I thought I should update you all on what I have been doing. As you may all know I am doing my student teaching in a preschool and that has kept me extremly busy. I have been planning center and lesson plans. I have to teach 6 times and I have taught 3 times already. So far I have taught on the postman, I am special and ladybugs. I know that sounds very exciting!! Believe me I been working hard planning, gathering and actually teaching lessons. You wouldn't believe how intimidating to get up in front of a group of children and sing silly songs with them. A week or so ago I spent a saturday night making ladybug matching cards. Next week I have to teach a couple of lessons on spring and I have not even started planning. If you have any ideas please let me know as I should get started on that soon. I just have a few more weeks and so much to do. I apologize now if you call me and I don't answer I will probably be making something creative for the children.

recipe time

Hello all. Allison, I'll post some pictures of our house. Now that our bathrooms our done, I feel we can finally put pictures up. And you're right, the house is partly yours, anyway. : ) And I also agree that we could use some more posts, so here's one:

This is a recipe (and maybe you can use this one, Kelli : ) ) that Matt and I love. I discovered it one day in a cookbook we have called Cheap, Fast, Good. You may already have a tortilla soup recipe, but this one is so good! I think it rivals Cafe Rio's soup, and my changes are in blue.

Super Saver Tortilla Soup
2/3 pound boneless, skinless, chicken breasts
2 teaspoons olive oil
1 small onion (we leave this out)
1/2 teaspoon ground cumin
1/2 teaspoon chili powder
3 cups pork broth
1 cup chicken stock (Rather than using 3 cups pork broth and 1 cup chicken stock, I use 2 cups beef broth and 2 cups of chicken broth, made from water and bullion cubes.)
1 cup bottled salsa (I use part salsa and part petite diced tomatoes, and it turns out really well.)
Cream Cheese (I put a heaping spoonful of cream cheese in the pot, and it makes it less watery and a little more creamy.)

4 ounces tortilla strips
1/4 cup sour cream
1/4 cup shredded cheese
Guacamole (this just makes everything better)

Heat oil in a 4 1/2 quart soup pan over medium heat. Peel the onion and finely chop it, adding it to the pot as you chop. Cut the chicken into bite-size pieces, adding them to the pot as you cut. Add cumin and chili powder.
Add the pork broth and chicken stock and raise the heat to high. Add the salsa. Cover the pot and cook until the soup is steaming hot, about 6 minutes.
To serve, ladle the soup into four bowls and garnish with crushed tortilla strips, 1 tablespoon sour cream, and 1 tablespoon cheese.
Sometimes I'll put the chicken in the crockpot earlier in the day and when I get home I shred it, and it usually shreds pretty easily. I think the chicken is better shredded than in cubes. It's more like Cafe Rio. : )

Ultra Marathon Man

So, I think people need to start posting more. I get on like every other day and am very disappointed to see nothing new. Brad & Matt, I'd like to see more of you homes. Especially Matt, because it's my home too. Mandy, would you like to teach me over the blog how to make your flat bread? Stacy, since you are crafty maybe you could teach me to be crafty as well? Were you born with your talent? Kelli and Jake need to start a blog of their own and fill us in on the new stuff. And for the rest of you, write something.
This blog is going to be about a book I just read called "Ultra Marathon Man" It is written by Dean Karnazes and he shares his story about becoming an ultra marathon runner. The man is nuts. Please read the book becuase I'm sure you will all agree. One night he started running and ran 30 miles, yes 30! (I think it's gross that he hadn't picked up running shoes in 15 years and can just run 30 miles). His biggest feat yet is running 226.2 miles. You guys have heard about those relay races where they follow in vans and they do intervals of 5 miles at a time? Well, Dean joined as his own team and ran 100 miles to the starting line and then another 26.2 miles after. He is going to attempt 300 miles very soon. He has a website: ultramarathonman.com. Might I suggest watching the video of him on David Letterman. Good stuff. My new motto is "If Dean can do it, I can do it" or "Dean wouldn't stop now!" This book has changed my running life.
Well, I've got to go to class, so I hope all of you have a wonderful day!

Recipes

Does anyone have a good crockpot recipe? I need to start cooking. Make is simple please :)

hard to believe it's been 17 years since Mom and Dad let Matt and I stay home from church so they could go to the hospital to have you

and we all know what happened in the NBA that day. happy birthday from Jane and the rest of us.



Magic lost to the Suns 121-105 in Phoenix. Shaq had 20 points. Danny Ainge had 13 for the Suns.

Guy's I'm famous :)

Hey folks, how's everyone doing? Why hasn't anyone posted for a while? Oh well, I'll share my news. So, I've been on a BYU football player kick recently and many of you know that I adore Mckay Jacobson. He's great, and one day, I will meet him. On saturday I went to the BYU U of U game, I was on the 11th row and got to sit right next to several collegiate football players such as, Chambers, Logan, Heaps and my new best friend Ross Apo. We high fived them all and kind of made a fuss but left them alone. Then on Monday for FHE we took cookies to the BYU testing center and gave them to people who had just taken a test. This is a really fun activity, even though it sounds totally lame. One of the people we gave a cookie to was Ross Apo, I recognized him from the game and he was wearing BYU football apparel so I asked if we could take a picture! He agreed. When I got home, I added him as a friend on Facebook and tagged him in the picture, which he commented on! It was great. It wasn't until later that I found out he is 17, graduated early from high school and has two children...Oops!