Andrew is going to China!!

Andrew (handsome young brute on the far left): 17 years old, a swimmer, a big brother, a great son, a senior in high school, I could go on and on and on about Drew.

This year he is taking a CHINESE class. He has been yearning to learn Chinese for quite some time now. He even "Google translated" his name and cut it out of vinyl to put on his bedroom wall last year. He is the proud owner of a Chinese Book of Mormon (although he cannot read it quite yet).

His Chinese teacher - who is an American who grew up in Hong Kong, is taking a group of people on a 2 week tour of China in June 2012. Andrew is on the list to go!! We are so excited beyond belief what a great opportunity this is for Drew. He has had a desire to go to China for a while now, and now he has an opportunity to go.

The trip is $3,000.00.

If you also remember - this is the time of year his swim team does their swim-a-thon to raise money for this years swim team and all the meets they go to and equipment they buy. Well, Andrew's swim money has been donated by an anonymous donor - so that is covered.

So, we are asking for generous donations to GET ANDREW TO CHINA! Carl and I are going to save every penny we can to put toward this trip for him. This is a once in a lifetime opportunity for Andrew and we want to make it happen! We are asking for money donations. Any amount will help! You can donate to Andrew's CHINA fund by:

1. You can mail a check to us (email us for our address - cvhacking@yahoo.com)

2. We can take credit cards. Just call us (we have SQUARE on Carl's iPod).

3. You can send a payment to Vickie's PayPal account: ywbooks@yahoo.com

We know this is a HUGE expense for our family - but we want to make it happen for Andrew. And I think we can with everyone's help.

In the case that - for some unforeseen reason - Drew doesn't go on this trip, all money already donated will be applied to his first semester of college (at BYU-I), and/or to his mission fund. So either way, the money donated will go to Andrew - 100% of it.

If you want to see/hear first hand how excited Drew is to go on this trip, give him a call. You'll be able to tell within seconds of asking him about it.

Thank you friends and family for your generous donations to get ANDREW TO CHINA!!!

A House Without a Mom

A house without a mom can be devastating. I totally understand why God made women - so children can have moms, and husband's can have wife's. There are so many things that mom's do that no one else does - or even attempts.

This past weekend, I had a booth at the Utah County Fair selling lemonade - The Lemonade Stand. Basically I was gone from Wednesday afternoon to Saturday night about midnight. Needless to say - my house suffered terribly while I was gone. Even though I am still in the process of cleaning it, I did get my kitchen done....this morning.

Here is what I came home to late Saturday night:

Here is my clean kitchen as of Thursday morning (after numerous loads of dishes and keeping up with the everyday messes of life):

I think I can go on with life now that I have a clean kitchen. (If you know me at all, you'd know I can't do anything unless my bed is made and my kitchen is clean.) The rest of the house - well it will have to wait.....until all my kids have moved out.

BYU - I bleed *blue*

Saw this on FB and had to share:

A BYU fan, a U of U fan, and a USU fan are climbing a mountain and arguing about who loves their team the most. The U of U fan insists that he is most loyal and then yells, "This is for the U!" and jumps off the mountain. Not to be out done, The BYU fan next professes his love for his team. He screams,"This is for the Cougars!" and pushes the USU fan off the mountain...

Internet coming to LDS Meetinghouses

Finally! We all knew it would come eventually. But by the end of 2011?!? YAY! You can read articles about the internet being available in 85% of LDS Meetinghouses by the end of 2011 here, and here. I can't wait until we can pay tithing online - oh, you know it's coming, too. Just a matter of time. Think of how much time this would save the ward clerks? Love modern technology - and how the church is keeping up, if not ahead.

Chocolate Molten Lava Cake

I love Chocolate Molten Lava Cake - always have. If you have never had it - it is a soft chocolate cake with a gooey fudge center. To me, it is like having hot fudge sauce in the middle of my chocolate cake. Yummy!! I always serve it with fresh whipped cream (use the real stuff - none of that Cool Whip stuff!)

I have not, however, always loved every recipe I have tried making it from. Well, yesterday, I FINALLY found the perfect recipe for it while browsing the internet. I made it - and WOW! My kids gobbled it up. There were even a few tears shed over *not* getting the last bite. This one is a keeper! You can find the recipe here. If you need a step by step tutorial, that is here.

My tweeking of the recipe (if you know me - I am always changing something in a recipe):

*Instead of the 4 squares of semi-sweet chocolate, I used 1/2 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips.

*Using the chips - I only had to microwave the chocolate and butter about 50 seconds.

*I cooked mine in two 5" round pans (2" high) for 14 minutes. I only used 2 pans (since they are a little bigger) instead of the 4 custard cups suggested in the recipe. Each pan was enough for 2 people to share.

*I did not invert mine onto a plate. I ate it right out of the pan.

Now - go make a sweet, sweet, heavenly dessert right now! Go!!