LIVESTRONG!!

On July 13, 2008 we were in San Jose for the LIVESTRONG Challenge to help raise money for the Lance Armstrong Foundation and Cancer research.

This is me, Mike, my mom Linda, my aunt Leslie, and my cousin Sariah

getting ready to start our adventure

Me and Mike with the SWEET bikes that we rented. When we returned them to the rental shop, Mike told the guy that his was a really nice bike and the guy said he could buy it for "only" $5500. Mine would have been $4300. We said no thanks but we would love to rent from them again next time we were in San Jose.
Mike, me and my mom. She is the reason we do this each year! She is an amazing woman and I am glad to have her in my life!! She is a four and half year SURVIVOR of breast cancer.
This is our entire team "The Sanpete Sprockets"

There is Mike, me, Linda, Jim Smith, Sam Smith, Lindsey Smith, Leslie, Sariah

Sequoia National Park

On our way to San Jose for our bike ride we stopped at the Sequoia National Park. It was AMAZING!! There are no words to describe those trees! I was amazed at there size. My neck got soar looking at them all day long. Also when you got close to them their smell was heavenly! We had a great time and hope to go back sometime and do some of the hikes.

This is Tunnel Rock. Mike and I are on top and my aunt Leslie and cousin Sariah are underneath.

This is my dad, me and Mike. We got a great view of this rock so we stopped, I can't remember the name of the rock-sorry. It was a little smokey because of the fires but not too bad.

This is one of the first trees that we stopped at. I was TOTALLY blown away by their size!!









This is a great picture because it shows the great size of the trees. That is me in front of the tree and the "little" trees that surround it were all very normal sized trees. It was so beautiful here! I would totally suggest going if you get the chance!!

Veggies from our garden

This is a picture of some Green beans, Peas, corn and a cucumber from our garden. It was all VERY tasty!! The corn was not really a success, but we have heard that not a lot of people have success with corn in Las Vegas for some reason, but we will try again next year!




These are some of the carrots that we pulled from our garden. This single one was the largest that we had pulled to date of the picture, we have had one larger since. They are extra tasty!!
These are some tomatoes from the garden. We have had a lot of the yellow pear tomatoes and they are tasty to snack on during the day. We have not had a lot of luck with the red tomatoes because something keeps eating them as soon as they start to turn red, same with our strawberries. It is really sad because I want to eat a fresh BLT on my homemade bread. We were able to have them one time and we still have a few green tomatoes so maybe we can get to them before our little "friend".

Chocolate Cheesecake

I have had several requests for this recipe so here it is!! It does come with a warning though!!
DANGER! Habit forming and high in pound packing calories. This fabulous dessert is rich and delectable!!

The crust that I use is different from the one on the recipe because I don't like the nuts in the crust but I will provide both recipes so you can decide for yourselves!

Crust recipe I use:
1 cup butter
2 cups flour
1/2 cup powdered sugar

Cream butter; add flour and sugar. Blend with a fork. Press into 9x13 inch pan. Bake at 350 for 20 minutes. Let cool completely. (this crust is thicker so you could half it if you don't like it so thick.)

Crust recipe I don't use
1/2 cup butter
1/2 cup chopped nuts (almonds, pecan, or walnuts work best)
1 cup flour

Combine all ingredients and press into 9x13 inch pan. Bake at 350 for 13-15 minutes. Cool completely.

1st layer
8 oz cream cheese at room temperature
1 cup powdered sugar
12 oz whipped topping

Mix cream cheese and powdered sugar together. Fold in whipped topping. Spread on cooled crust, then apply pudding payer.

2nd layer
2 3oz boxes instant chocolate pudding mix
3 cups milk

Make this layer first so the pudding can set up and the crust can cool. Mix 2 boxes of pudding with 3 cups milk. Let pudding set-up before spreading on the cream cheese mixture.

3rd layer
Top with remaining whipped topping.

Drizzle
Melt together 1 oz unsweetened chocolate and 1 teaspoon butter or water in microwave; 20-30 seconds at a time. Stir each time. Chocolate drizzle should be syrupy in consistency. Drizzle over the top of whipped topping layer. Chill whole pan for 3 hours. (For the top I just grate a chocolate bar over the top, it is easier)

I found this recipe online and it is by Momma Mia

Tyler's 5th birthday!

Tyler turned five years old on May 31st. We had a great party at our house. We had everyone over and had lunch. My parents, sister, niece and nephew were able to make it down from Utah, my aunt Shannon and her family came over from Summerlin, and Mikes family came over. We had bbq turkey, baked beans, potato salad and homemade root beer for lunch. It was GREAT!!

Mike and I bought the kids water guns for their party favors and they had a water gun fight for about two hours I think. They were definitely a hit!! Mike got in on the action of the water gun fight too. There was one time I was helping my nephew Ethan fill his gun and my niece Oceia thought it was funny to start squirting me so after I got Ethan out of the way I threw the water from the bucket on her. My sister got a picture as I was getting ready to throw and as you can see from the pic- Ethan was squirting me too. The kids started playing along the side of the house so Ken, Shannon's husband, decided to get the hose and spray all of them while he had them cornered. After we had cake and ice cream and opened presents most of the family had to leave so we said goodbye. Emily, Adam and Ethan hung around for a little while and started playing in the sand box. Oceia and Ethan buried Adam, then Adam, Ethan and myself buried Oceia, at least what we could. Then Mike buried Adam again, that is the picture of just Adam's head. Adam thought it was great. We had a great time celebrating Tyler's b-day and look forward to the next party!! Thanks to everyone for coming!!

LIVESTRONG CHALLENGE

Mike and I are getting ready to do our second annual LIVESTRONG Challenge. We are really excited!! This year we will be going to San Jose California on July 13th. We each need to raise $250 to participate in the ride. If any of you are interested in helping out, every dollar helps, you can go to one of these web sites and make a donation.

http://sanjose08.livestrong.org/*/kristytilton or http://sanjose08.livestrong.org/*/miketilton

* $10 provides information packets to 16 cancer survivors to offer support, inspiration and hope.

* $50 provides 35 people cancer survivorship information, worksheets to organize their fight against cancer and support, inspiration and hope from other cancer survivors.

* $155 provides a cancer survivor one-on-one direct support through the LIVESTRONG SurvivorCare program.

* $250 provides LIVESTRONG Survivorship Notebooks to 27 cancer survivors.
Please support me as I make a difference in the cancer fight through my participation in the LIVESTRONG Challenge.

Thank you in advance for your help with raising money for cancer research!!

Baked Macaroni and Cheddar

I tried another new recipe last week. I found this one in my April 2008 Rachael Ray magazine on page 88.

1 large bunch broccoli, cut into bite-sized florets and stalks peeled and
cut into 1/2 inch cubes
1 pound whole wheat elbow pasta
2 1/2 TBSP butter
1/2 cup finely chopped shallots (about 3)
3 TBSP flour
3 1/2 cup low-fat milk
3 TBSP cornstarch
12 Oz cheddar cheese, cut into small cubes
6 TBSP grated Parmesan cheese
salt and pepper
1 clove garlic, smashed
3 TBSP bread crumbs

1. Fill a large pot with enough water to reach a depth of 2 inches and bring to a boil. Add the broccoli and cook for 1 minute; drain and rinse with clod water. Grease a 9x13 baking dish and add the broccoli in an even layer.
2. Fill the same pot with water and salt and bring to a boil. Add the pasta and cook until al dente; drain
3. Position a rack in the upper third of the oven and preheat to 400 degrees. In the same pot, melt 2 TBSP butter over medium heat. Add shallots and cook, stirring, until softened, 3 to 4 minutes. Stir in the flour for 1 minute. Whisk in 1 cup milk until thickened, then whisk in 1 cup more. Whisk the cornstarch into the remaining 1 1/2 cups milk, then whisk into the pot. Simmer, whisking, until the sauce thickens, 2 to 3 minutes. Lower the heat and stir in the cheddar and 4 TBSP Parmesan. Season with salt and pepper, then stir in the pasta. Spoon the mixture over the broccoli.
4. In a small heatproof bowl, combine the garlic and remaining 1/2 TBSP butter; microwave on high until melted, about 20 seconds. Stir in bread crumbs, the remaining 2 TBSP Parmesan and 1/4 teaspoon each slat and pepper. Discard the garlic, the sprinkle the bread crumbs mixture on the pasta. Bake until golden, about 15 minutes. Let cool slightly before serving.

I thought this was really good although next time I make it I will not put quite as many shallots in it, I thought it was a little onioney. It was also very good left-over