The best brownies ever.

Last Sunday I was itching for a good brownie. I did some recipie searching and discovered the best brownie recipie I have ever tried.

You should try it too! 

The Best Brownies

2 sticks of butter

2 1/4 cups of sugar
4 large eggs 
1 tablespoon vanilla
1 1/4 cups of cocoa powder
1/2 teaspoon salt

 

1 teaspoon baking powder
1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
2 cups chocolate chips 

Grease a 9x13 in. pan. and preheat the oven to 350º.
Mix together the butter and sugar in a microwave safe bowl. Heat in the microwave, stirring about every 30 seconds, until the mixture is bubbly and smooth (you can also do it on the stove top if you want). Add in the eggs and vanilla and beat until smooth. Mix together the cocoa powder, salt, baking powder, and flour and add to the butter mixture, mixing until smooth. Stir in the chocolate chips. Pour the batter into the pan. Bake for about 28 minutes. 

Love ya!!

What Child is This?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kHZMa-MtjSU

I sang this song (click on the link) for a Luncheon at the MTC for all full-time employees, as well as at our ward Christmas dinner. I thought I would share it with you. It's one of my favorite Christmas songs. :)
The recording cuts off before the last few notes/words, but I didn't want to record again, so...yeah.

Merry Christmas!

Clayton office jam

Alas, Taycee also felt slighted...

Honky Tonk Christmas

No need to feel left out!

ELFSPANOL

Try reloading your page if it doesn't play

Hunter talk

Hunter was asked to speak in church yesterday. He did a great job! I was a little worried because you never know what's going to come out of his mouth. His topic was Jesus Christ and how to put Christ in Christmas.

Fancy schmancy

Chris had a big formal Christmas Party for work.  So we put on our fanciest attire got a baby sitter and headed out. It was a fun evening and we busted out some killer dance moves on the dance floor. Which was impressive considering the height of my heels. :)

It's Beginning To Look A lot Like Christmas !

It's really beginning to look a lot like Christmas around our house. The home teachers put up Christmas lights for us outside on Saturday...

And we took care of the inside. :)

Visitors Welcome!!

Ho Ho Ho

Ayla met Santa for the first time yesterday. As you can see, she was less than thrilled about it.

P.S. This blog seems like it's becoming the DeLong Family blog. I think it's time to hear from the rest of you! Especially Hunter. And Jenny. And Jill. SLACKERS!

Too Early For Bed

We try not to let Ayla sleep between 6-8pm because it's too late for a nap and too early for bed, and if she does sleep between those hours then she's almost certainly awake until midnight.

Sometimes, though, it is really hard to keep her awake.

Boy Name

I really hope this baby is a girl, because I am pretty sure we will never find a boy name we both like!

I had a dream last night that we had a boy and didn't have a name for him until his baby blessing, and then Evan surprised me by announcing in the blessing that the name he would be known by is Adam Lehi Noah David DeLong. Hahaha. What the?

Nightmare on Tinamous Road

Nightmare on Tinamous Road

It was a dark, cold, late night. The wind was howling outside, and you could feel death in the air. Katie slowly and cautiously made her way upstairs to the bedroom. Each step she took sent shivers down her spine. The shadows on the wall seemed to be grabbing for her. She held her iPad close for protection. Finally she reached the bedroom door. "Will I be safe inside?" She asked herself silently. Not knowing what else to do, she opened the bedroom door trying to mask her fears.  She could hear running water in the bathroom but was unsure of what this could mean. As she made her way across the room, she tried reassuring herself that everything would be OK. In her head, she started singing her favorite hymn. And then the unthinkable happened. He struck without warning. His ferocious ROAR seemed to suck the life from her body causing her to wonder if this could possibly be a Death Eater. She quickly brought the iPad to her face for protection, but she knew that nothing could protect her from the ugly fate that surely awaited. Then, a thought rushed passed her mind leaving behind a ray of hope. She remembered that she was married, and that her husband was probably in the bedroom with her. In fact, the Death Eater attacking, had a handsome face and a mustache just like her husbands. The reality of her situation sunk in quickly. In deed it was her husband, and she would live to see another day.

The End.

ayla cruising

She has been doing this pretty well for a couple weeks now so i thought i had better document it.

Hawaii 2013

Here are some favorite pics from our Hawaii trip...

Sitting on the beach at Waimea Beach

Sunset at Waikiki Beach

Polynesion Cultural Center

Hawaii Temple

Waimea Gardens and Falls

Jenny, this tree is for you!

Battleship Missouri

Hanauma Bay - Good snorkeling

Segways in Waikiki

Proof

Here are a few pics from our 12-week appointment. I'm 13 weeks along today and baby is supposedly about 3 inches long :) A little pea-pod.

New Animated Gif

The DeLong Family
(Wait five seconds for it to start...)

Moab Trip with Kaden and Taycee October 2013

We went on a Moab Trip over Fall Break with Taycee and Kaden and Hunter.  Mark's family came as well.   Bryce and Colleen came down to go jeeping and loaned us Haylee for a couple of days.  There were too many trails to choose from.  But we did Chicken Corners, Dellenbaugh Tunnel/Secret Spire and Rainbow Terrace.  It was a good variety.  But for the record, I wouldn't do Rainbow Terrace again. The third day we hiked around Arches for a half day.  Here are some pics of the trip.

 Collecting Rocks

Kaden going for a ride. 

                    Kaden driving the Razer we rented for the trip.  Grandma decided to put a helmet on!            

Taycee's turn.... 

Gorgeous scenery!

First day we went to Chicken Corners.  You can walk all the way around this ledge to a big open area.         

 

                                                     "Secret Spire"

Pic with Mark's fam. 

Hunter, Haylee, Ella by Secret Spire

Arches National Park 

Fun making a picture in the sand while others hiked. 

Truck decided to quit working the last day.  So we're very thankful that it finally started and we were able to make it home.  Now it is stuck in the driveway and needs to be towed to a repair shop. :(

O

Our weekend in Boise

It all started with our sweet hot air balloon ride. 

Then we put Ayla to work cleaning the blinds to get ready for conference...

We had our fair share of walks on the green belt. Ayla enjoyed the very bouncy ride.

 

Us girls!

And we found dinner in the river! We feel so blessed that Heather and Evan live right next to the greenbelt.

Maybe someday we can all live in a house on the river.