The desert "blossoms as a rose"

ANNOUNCING the very FIRST zucchini, and vegetable,

to come from the Dopp Arizona garden!  :)

Ok, so it may not be a big deal to many of you, but we are pretty excited to finally have a garden that is our very own.  We may not get very much out of this garden, but it has been a great experience for us.  We planted everything from seed and have loved to see things grow. Growing up, I never really appreciated the gardening that we did as a family.  There is something so very therapeutic about getting your hands dirty and working the soil.  Hopefully this is the first of many succesful gardening adventures!

Hope you are all enjoying your own gardens!

Bountiful Baskets

There's this really great thing that's come to town.  I send some ladies money on Monday, they scout around for the best deals for produce, then they buy it, put it in a truck and ship it to me.  I get to go to the park or pavilion or wherever, and pick up my "Bountiful Basket" on Saturday.  I get loads of produce for $15!  I have only done it a couple of times but it is way fun!  We have eaten stuff I never would buy because it was too expensive.  My challenge now is to not let any of it go bad.  So, Sunday for dinner we have wonderful sweet corn, green salad, artichokes with hollandaise sauce, etc.  I ended up with 2 big jicamas I didn't really know what to do with. 

So, I did some research.  I know you're all dying to know about jicama, so here goes.

They are high in fiber and vitamin C.  They are low calorie and low fat.  They are also called a mexican potato, but are related to turnips and legumes.  You can eat them raw, chopped up in a salad, or cooked. 

I tried the cooking tonight.  I peeled and "julienned" them then sauteed them with some olive oil and spices for awhile.  When they were looking quite transparent, I put them on a cookie sheet and broiled them until they were nicely browned.  Then I sprinkled them with my favorite seasoning of all time, Canadian Steak, and wa-la! they looked great and tasted super.  Kind of like fries but with a little more crunch and a lot more diabetic friendly than potatoes.

If you want to try out Bountiful Baskets, they have a great website that tells you all you need to know!  Just do a search.  It's fast, fun, and easy.

MOM

Payday!

Parenting is not always a party, whatever stage of it you're in.  One one hand, there's Angie with the new baby, trying to catch her breath when little Grace latches on,  a little crazy from lack of sleep.  Then there's Chelsea who just can't seem to fit a growing baby inside and deals with the pains of enlarging and all that entails. Megan is planning a move to who knows where as she is getting closer to the "balloon" stage.  Then there's Heather, blindsided by an ectopic pregnancy and a near death experience who is left wondering, where from here?  And Rachel, who is not only chasing around her almost walking Will, but now has a wild child of a puppy and she's left refereeing all day.  Matt and Kim are at that blessed stage where they are looking at everybody else and planning, "Let's not do it that way", or, "This might work??"

We have all had some hard times.  Dad and I have had a few things come along in our days that we pray you all will never have to deal with.  You know about all of those because you were there.  Everything from visits to the hospital to visits to jail, unexpected flights home from Nebraska and weddings in a day, legs twisted the wrong way, testimonies shaken up and all kinds of sweet surprises. Then there's the smaller stuff, which is no less stressful, like watching Em, Braden and Sam struggling to salvage their grades when we take them out of school for a week just before it ends. 

But then there are those days that you can stand up and shout out, "Woo-Hoo!"  I have the greatest kids in the world and I love them so much and I am so priveleged to be their mom!"  We had a few of those days last week. 

Thanks, Jordan and Brent and lovely wives and hilarious children.  The meals were wonderful, the accomodations divine (love the tarp - I only wish I could have watched you get it up in those trees!), the company the best and the entertainers (all of our children) were in rare form.  My favorite was overhearing little Ben tell his big sister, Leila in the tent after her carrying on, "That's enough, Leila!" 

I am so proud of you.  And I tell my friends not to worry about their kids collecting papers in their lockers, or not turning things in on time.  I tell them not to lose hope because....

My boys graduated!!!!  Jordan is now an official M.D. and Brent can add to his previous title of MBA, an MHA.  

Congratulations, my wonderful sons!  YOU DID IT!!!!

So you want to be an Eddington?

(Re-posted from here.)

There are a few things you should probably know beforehand.

First - musical talent is not required.  This is a widespread myth.  Sure, it wins you major brownie points and admiration (especially while singing around the piano), but just ask the manly in-laws.  If you are an otherwise excellent person, not having musical abilities will not be a deal-breaker.

You know what is a deal-breaker?  High-maintenance lifestyle.  If you are the type of girl who spends $100 every six weeks on a hair appointment 100 miles away, I can tell you right now, you and I will not understand each other.

Also not required: snow sport skills, water sport skills, nunchuck skills, or video game skills.  Phew!
Boggle skills are good, just as long as you don't beat me.

Definitely required: hard work.  I am not joking about this.
Your mother may not have birthed you for the sole purpose of watching you work. (Lucky you!)
Your family may not have spent every single Saturday working together - out in the yard, in the house, painting, growing a garden, feeding animals - in addition to daily chores.  You may not have lived in a house with SEVEN bathrooms, nine bedrooms and no maid.  But hey. You can always learn.

Not appreciated: inappropriate humor.  I know, I know, many of you think Meet the Fockers and Superstar and Dumb and Dumber are hilarious.  But you know what?  We turn it off.  We're funny enough without it.  I bet you are too.

Another thing you should know is that we are serious about our Toyotas.  Oh, how we love Toyotas!
The last four cars my Dad's bought for himself have been Avalons.  Three families now have Siennas.  I fantasized about Priuses before all the celebrities bought them.  And I am telling you, my next car will be a Scion xB.  Yes, I know they are ugly.  Yes, I still want one real bad.

Other things we are serious about:
Cutco
Dan in Real Life
BYU football
BYU everything (But don't worry, we're not all crazy anti-U.  There are plenty of U graduates among us.)
parties
parties with food
parties with ice cream
parties with homemade rootbeer
Muppets from Space
Saturday morning pancakes
homemade syrup
music

 ... and I think that about covers it.

Any questions?

"There are good people everywhere"

I have moved a lot in my life. Some of the moves I don't even remember. The ones I do remember, I didn't appreciate so much at the time.  We were always moving, it seemed, because Dad went to school, finished school, got a new job, or ouf family just out-grew our house.  I really have never lived anywhere for more than about 5 years- even now.  Every time I would be upset about leaving friends Mom would always say to me, "There are good people everywhere."

My sweetheart and I are now at a place that I never thought we'd be. School is done, residency will be done in a year, and we can literally go anywhere for a job. We actually get to pick!!  Or we could just stay here in AZ, too.  The last couple weeks have been looking all over in the "West" for jobs hoping to find the right fit for us and somehow be closer to family.  What we are finding, though, is there are so many options. It is kind of overwhelming thinking that we might actually settle somewhere.  What does that mean?  Settle?!? Does such a thing exist?  It is a little scary to have that responsibility.

But I hold fast to that wisdom from Mom. Once again she is absolutely right.  There are good people everywhere.  I have met good, great, wonderful, fantastic people all over the world.  I have faith in people.  And I have faith that we'll be sent to the people that we need to be with.  I know the Lord will guide our family to the place we are supposed to be.  I dont' know that we'll settle there, but I do know that I am thankful that I don't have to be the One in charge of that. 

There ARE good people EVERYWHERE.  Thanks to all those people who have blessed me and made my life what it is. I will be eternally thankful.

Mother's Day

In the past, I have grown to HATE Mother's day.  My mother has everything and then more, so I stress over what to buy her.  My mother-in-law, on the other hand never uses anything I buy her.  It just sits on a shelf until the day she will REALLY need it.  So that's a waste of energy.  Then I go to church where speakers tout the many wonderful things their mothers do, then they hand you a booklet you are supposed to read that further propagates the myth of the perfect angel mother.  And I go home really depressed.  Then my husband tells me to sit there and watch my children do dinner, etc., and they are anything but thrilled by the "slave" role that has been put upon them.  Not that they don't love their mother.  They do.  And I love mine.

Happily, I have more recently learned to enjoy Mother's Day.  It has taken me years.  I have learned to not expect a thing, nor buy into the "slave" thing, to smile when people talk about their angel mothers and know that they really are, deep down, just like me.  They are not superwomen any more than I am.  But our kids love us anyway.

Yesterday, I had a wonderful surprise.  For our monthly family meeting (via Skype), our kids shared one favorite memory with us (Keith just had a birthday last week).  It was short and sweet, and except for Kiana and Sam who did not really follow the no tears rule, just a delight for their dad and I.  As we were musing later, we thought about our wonderful children, and just what OUR favorite memory with them might be.  I need to think about them a little more, but they will be forthcoming! 

Happy Mother's Day to you all!  Love, MOM

Cinco de Mayo

It was so wonderful to be with you all last week for Matt's wedding!  What fun times!
In honor of Cinco de Mayo this week, I thought it would be fun if we each posted our favorite Mexican dishes/recipes.  I have a couple favorites. I decided to post the recipe for those chimichangas that I made at Mom's last week, as well as a crock pot fajita recipe that I have been asked about a lot. 

Hope you all have a fantastic week!

Chimichangas
2-4 chicken breasts cooked and shredded/cut up
1 1/2 cups salsa
16 oz can black beans
1 envelope taco seasoning
Approx. 16 oz flour tortillas (10 inch)
16 oz. cheese cut into strips

Cook chicken, shred. In skillet combine black beans salsa and taco seasoning.  Smash black beans with potato masher. (refried beans can be substituted in place of black beans). Add chicken and mix well.  Warm tortillas.  For each chimichanga place small amount of chicken and bean mixture in center of tortilla, then add strip of cheese and wrap.  Place on greased cookie sheet and cook at 425 degrees for 20 minutes or 375 degrees for 35 minutes.   Can be frozen and will last 6 months in the freezer. 

Crock Pot Chicken Fajitas
1 small bottle fat free Italian dressing
1/3 cup lemon juice
4-6 chicken breasts
1 large green pepper chopped
1 large red pepper chopped
1 medium onion

Place all ingredients in a crock pot and cook slowly for 2-3 hours or until chicken is done.  Shred chicken before serving.  Serve in tortillas with cheese and sour cream.  

This recipe is easy to stretch.  I like to add a lot more veggies (3-4 peppers) and a little less chicken.  Just make how you think you'll like it best.  It's super-easy and yummy.