Mom and Me Portrait Session

When Kyrie was 6 months old, I took her to Sears and we did a mommy and me portrait session. I loved the experience so much that I decided I wanted to do a mommy and me session with all my children when they are six months old. The pictures you see below were taken at the Target Portrait studio.

Sorry No Pictures Still

I discovered this week on Tuesday that my camera was permanently dead when I tried to take pictures of Kyrie at the George Eccles Dinosaur park in Ogden. Kyrie had a lot of fun at the park. She was a little weary of the dinosaurs at first, until we explained that they were just pretend. It was really cute when we went to leave. I told her to say "see ya later" to the dinosaurs (I did the asl sign for "see ya later," because I'm working on teaching her sign language). She was confused by the sign and said "I love you dinosaurs!" instead.

Hopefully we'll get a new camera in about 2 1/2 weeks... I'll try and upload some pictures from my cell phone this week in the meanwhile.

Definition of Chocolate Seizing

I had a few people ask me what it means if my chocolate seizes. Here's the definition/explanation.

Seizing is ... when the chocolate you are melting suddenly becomes grainy and firms up, looking like a dull, thick paste. Chocolate is composed of fine, dry particles (cocoa and sugar) and fat (cocoa butter). When you melt chocolate, a few drops of water or even steam will moisten the dry particles and cause them to stick together and form a dull, dry, grainy mass, called seizing.

Comments About the Brownies

I made the brownies that I posted the recipe for my brother-in-law Conner's mission farewell open house. I was told that they are "just like heaven." So feel free to make them at home! Here's the recipe & the link for the website I found the recipe at. Thanks for all the compliments!

Yummy Chocolate Mint Brownies

http://www.tasteofhome.com/Recipes/Chocolate-Mint-Brownies

Chocolate Mint Brownies

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One of the best things about this recipe is the brownies get moister if you leave them in the refrigerator a day or two. The problem at our house is no one can leave them alone for that long!

SERVINGS: 72

CATEGORY: Dessert

METHOD: Baked

TIME: Prep: 20 min. Bake: 30 min. + cooling

Ingredients:

• 1/2 cup butter, softened
• 1 cup sugar
• 4 eggs
• 1 can (16 ounces) chocolate syrup
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1 cup all-purpose flour
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• FILLING:
• 1/2 cup butter, softened
• 2 cups confectioners' sugar
• 1 tablespoon water
• 1/2 teaspoon mint extract
• 3 drops green food coloring
• TOPPING:
• 1 package (10 ounces) mint chocolate chips
• 1/2 cup plus 1 tablespoon butter, cubed

Directions:

In a large mixing bowl, cream butter and sugar. Add eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition. Beat in syrup and vanilla. Add flour and salt; mix well. Pour into a greased 13-in. x 9-in. baking pan. Bake at 350° for 30 minutes (top of brownies will still appear wet). Cool on a wire rack.
For filling, in a small mixing bowl, cream butter and confectioners' sugar; add the water, extract and food coloring until blended. Spread over cooled brownies. Refrigerate until set.
For topping, melt chocolate chips and butter. Cool for 30 minutes, stirring occasionally. Spread over filling. Chill. Cut into bars. Store in refrigerator. Yield: 5-6 dozen.

Help! My Chocolate Seized!!

I have added a link for how to smooth seized chocolate. It is:
http://www.ehow.com/how_114484_smooth-seized-chocolate.html ;
for those of you who have ever had a crisis like mine. I attempted to make the coveted & delicious double crunchers for my dear husband, and I ruined 4 batches of the chocolate sauce because the chocolate seized! But I recently looked up how to repair it, for those who were wondering ;-).

Kyrie's Hair after Hot Rollers

I set Kyrie's hair today just for fun with hot rollers. Look how pretty her hair is! I only wish I could've taken a front shot, but she was dressed inappropriately.

Sorry No Pictures

Mine & Aaron's camera broke about 2 weeks ago (it still takes pictures, but doesn't display them, so I'm hesitant to use it... what did I ever do before digital).

Some news around the Trost household... My family came to visit recently. My mom flew in on the 20th, and my dad and sister arrived on the 25th. We had great fun together. Lindsay has returned to BYU, and my family and I went to the zoo together and to Discovery Gateway.

On August 29th, Aaron & I headed up to Cherry Hills campground to camp at the Swenson family reunion. Aaron's family has been going to Cherry Hills on Labor Day weekend for over 30 years. Unfortunately, we had to break camp on the 31st of September, because my mother-in-laws tent was blown over by the wind, and my tent collapsed with me & Ally in it (kind of scary).

Aaron went and got 2 of his wisdom teeth out yesterday. He participated in a research study, but fortunately he didn't get the placebo.

Another Milestone for Ally

Ally's top two teeth finally cut through the gums yesterday!