My enabler

I had such a great time with Julie and Liza at lunch today, but Ainsley was the only one who'd let me take her picture for the daily photo. So far she's the only person in the family who doesn't audibly groan when my camera comes out. She's a little more passive-aggressive—she just makes silly bug-eye faces at me. I caught her off guard here, in all her Flashdance glory.

Quote of the day

Ellie to Ainsley: "No, I don't want to play that—Duck Duck Goose is for preschoolers."

A day late

No cameras are allowed at Pioneer Theatre, so I didn't get my daily photo yesterday, but we enjoyed the play. Shakespeare is definitely meant to be seen, not just read. Thanks for the tickets Ralph and Judy! I'm not sure who had more fun, us or the kids, who had Grandma all to themselves—thanks Mom! And even though we didn't get nearly enough time to talk, we loved going with Pete and Becca.

To tired to be decisive

The beauty of posting the daily photo here is that, if I want to, I can actually post more than one. It doesn't happen often, but I did two fun things in the same day...

First, lunch with Amy and Char—it's been way too long!


And pedicures with the YW:

I still don't have any really artistic shots, but at least I'm taking photos again!

Proud mom

Joey finished Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire today. I know that I was at least in high school, and maybe even college before I finished a 734-page book. He's eight. Thank you J.K. Rowling.

It's family night

I've got it easy tonight.

Anniversary dinner

That last photo was not the photo of the day, since I obviously didn't take it, and it obviously didn't happen yesterday. As I pulled out my camera to take this shot, Rob predicted that fully one-third of my daily photos will be of food. What can I say? I have a simple life, and not very many willing subjects.

This chicken is one of our favorites. I got the recipe from Jen Brewer, and it's super easy. Just mix 12 oz. Homemade brand Chili sauce and 16 oz. Bernstein's Restaurant Recipe Italian salad dressing in a gallon size freezer ziplock bag and marinate the chicken overnight (that's enough marinate for about 8 breasts). Then have your husband grill it. And don't ever learn to grill, because then it won't be quite as easy. :)

13 years of bliss

Rob's update today on facebook said he is "fondly remembering this day, thirteen years ago when he was so sick he could barely stand up. And he got married."

I'm just glad he didn't take it as a really bad omen and back out. I still love him the most.

Daily Photo

I've toyed with the idea of a daily photo before, but couldn't handle the commitment. Then for my birthday photo scrooge did the unbelievable and gave me the digital SLR I've been coveting. I'm so excited about my new D90 that I'm going to give the daily photo a shot. I love the idea of capturing the day-to-day aspects of our life and not just the events that I usually photograph. And I want to be a better photographer, which takes practice. For now I'll post my photos here, maybe I'll join Davy over at aminus3.com or the 365 project on flickr sometime. 

Valentine boxes

I'm breaking my long blog silence just for you, Care. Robbie had a great idea for a creative valentines box for school, and Joey decided to forego his idea of a flushing toilet box in favor of this:



Joey is just starting the fourth book in the Harry Potter series, and Robbie recently finished the Eragon series.



The boxes were pretty easy to make—they're lightbulb boxes that open on top, so the top becomes the front cover of the book. We painted the boxes the background color, photocopied the cover and spine, and glued it on. We glued white cardstock on three sides to look like pages. We added a bookplate sticker inside the box that says "This book belongs in the home library of: ____________." The boys plan on keeping these boxes to stash their stuff afterward.

New traditions

For the past few years our New Year's Eve tradition has been easy—we just show up at the Stringham's for fondue and fun. This year I'm in Young Women's and we had a pizza and root beer party with the YM at church, while Rob went to the Utah v. Gonzaga basketball game, so we missed the party (not that we've ever stayed 'til midnight—we're lame that way). The kids all got to come to the ward with me, and they were in seventh heaven. Afterward we came home and watched an iMovie of about 780 photos plus short video clips from 2008. I will never scrapbook again! (It's been so long I may have forgotten how anyway...) It was really fun to review our year—even Photo Scrooge made it through without too many complaints. I'm hoping this is the start of a new tradition on New Year's Eve. The kids want to make root beer floats part of the tradition. Which will make it easy for me to get a jump-start on my perpetual resolution to lose weight in January, since root beer floats don't tempt me in the least. 

Happy New Year!

Michael David Riley

Welcome to the family. Sushi? Give it to Mikey...he'll eat anything.

Christmas evening

What could possibly be better than being princess-cheerleaders?!!! Great-grandma Clayton knows how to make these girls happy!

Christmas afternoon

Traditions at the Backman family christmas party include cooked-to-death beef, Ginny's rainbow jello, enacting the nativity, receiving books as gifts and Grandpa sharing his testimony. This year Mary and Joseph both had red hair, and a couple of the angels were cheering for the U.

Christmas morning

We had a great christmas morning. I mostly shot video, so I don't have many photos, but we had my mom & dad and grandma over to watch the kids open presents, and Rob's parents and Jake joined us for Rob's famous ebleskiver breakfast. There were only minor injuries playing the new air hockey table. Good times.

Marsh party

Riley party

I am old

You know you're old when a sleepover doesn't sound like fun. Yet, except for the lack of sleep, the YW christmas party was fun. We had to cancel our trip downtown to see the lights because of the massive snowstorm, but we had a yummy dinner, exchanged white elephant gifts, played "The Sassy Experience" and watched an awesome slideshow/movie summarizing the year. I got to go home and sleep in my own bed for a few hours before heading back for a waffle breakfast. We don't have many young women, but they are stellar. And I feel so lucky to work with some of my favorite people in the ward.

School program

Photo (and holiday) Scrooge thinks this school time should be spent learning math and science, but the kids love it.

Better late than never

We usually celebrate Riley family birthdays on the second Sunday of each month, but we've skipped a couple of months, so Ainsley is finally getting her party. She didn't seem to mind extending the fun into December.

Book Nerds

Robbie was thrilled last week when he was chosen to be the student who introduced author Brandon Mull at today's assembly. Robbie devoured the Fablehaven series and The Candy Shop War and told me I'd love it too—he was right. I read the Fablehaven books this past week, expecting a mediocre Harry Potter knockoff, but after the first book I was hooked. The plot kept me turning pages, the dialogue kept me smiling and the characters came to life. And I loved the discussion questions at the end—there are some good issues to get kids (and adults) thinking and talking. Yep, Robbie takes after me...he's a book nerd. Now our only dilemna is who gets to read book four first!

Super-power Brownies

I've posted this recipe already, but since I've decided to change my format to 6x6" (so I can either make cards or put recipes in a smaller binder), I'm posting it again. 


I made these last night for Family Home Evening, and they served as inspiration for Robbie's homework assignment to write a short story. Check it out, it's awesome:

What if my mom’s brownies gave you powers? 

By Robbie Marsh 

“Brownies!” Joey shouted.
“Yippie!” I exclaimed. They were fresh out of the oven. I immediately asked for one. Joey wanted a brownie too. They had a mouth-watering smell, and they tasted scrumptious. All I could do was think of the taste. Just looking at these brownies makes you feel like you’re starving. I closed my eyes, thinking of the brownies. Why, they were so good, they could make you fly or…
The moment I thought of ‘fly’ I hit my head on something. I opened my eyes wondering were I was. I looked down. There, was the kitchen, all of it. Maybe I was imagining things, but it was a birds-eye view. I could see the oven, sink, stove, pantry, dishwasher, and best of all, the brownie platter. I could see Joey’s fingers sparkle a flash. I instantly knew it was lightning. I thought a moment, and my eyes grew wide. I had been thinking about what Joey just did. I wondered if I could fly at…BONK! I felt it immediately. The wall. Sizzle. It rushed past me. Another miss.
“Stop it Joey!” I called to him.
“No! I’m a super-villain now, and you can’t stop me from taking over the world!” he shouted back. He didn’t know yet. I had the element of surprise on my side. Sure, he can throw lightning. I just have to fly at the speed of light to save Mom and get back here. As soon as you can blink I’d accomplished this and had a plan.
“Why don’t you eat another brownie to become stronger Joey?” I asked
“Good point” he said. So he ate another brownie, and evilly laughed. He tried to hit me with lightning but he couldn’t. I took the last brownie so he wouldn’t get his power again. I lost mine. So if you ever ask for a brownie, make sure my Mom didn’t bake it.

Joey was initially quite upset at being cast as the super-villian, but since then he has embraced this role, and he really does want to rule the world. ;)

Let the parties begin

Rob had class, so it was just me and the kids at the ward christmas breakfast. They had a great family bluegrass band for the entertainment, but Santa was the highlight for the kids. This may be the last year that Robbie will fit on his lap (or want to sit on it).

Beware of the doghouse

Photo Scrooge apparantly has a great christmas present for me, even though the new kitchen was supposed to be it for the next five years. He knows I'm not into jewelry, so maybe it's something "truly nice, like a gym membership."

Spinach Parmesan Soup

Last night I took this soup to Enrichment, and had several requests for the recipe, so I'm ending my long break from recipe posts (and from cooking, for that matter). I love this soup. It is delicious, and sophisticated enough to serve company, but so easy I'll even make it for lunch on a cold day. Don't cheat and try to fix it with dried onions or garlic or "fake" Parmesan cheese. I recommend the fresh shredded Parmigiano Reggiano from Costco. Mmmm!

O Christmas Tree

Thankful for: family

We managed a decent family photo last year on Thanksgiving:

And one the year before, also on Thanksgiving:

We completely dropped the ball this year, but had a great day anyway. I'm so thankful for my family. I love spending time with them, and coming home to them when we're apart. I'm thankful for our extended family and the chance to spend time with them—this weekend we had a great time with Rob's family in St. George, and even got to meet our Atlanta cousins for the first time. 

"A happy family is but an earlier heaven." ~George Bernard Shaw

Thankful for: my faith

"...thy faith hath made thee whole."  ~Mark 5:34

This pretty much sums up how I feel about the gospel of Jesus Christ. It has made me whole. I'm grateful for knowledge of God's plan, and I feel his love in my life. I hope to be "an example of the believers," especially to my own kids, so they'll develop their own faith and the joy that comes with it.

Thankful for: books

"A house without books is like a room without windows."  ~Heinrich Mann

It's no secret that I love to read. I consider it a strength and a weakness. After a very productive and busy couple of months remodeling, I've retreated to one of my favorite places, book-land.  As Rob and the kids will attest, when I'm there, I might as well be in another country. I like to think that I return a better person, relaxed and (if it's a really good book) even inspired. And they don't have much right to complain—luckily, they love book-land as much as I do!

Thankful for: things

I know, I know. Life is not about things. I'm thankful for them anyway. Here's an incomplete list of the little things I appreciate:

my running shoes • toilet paper • method pink grapefruit hand soap • audiobooks • costco • the office • my library card • lucky jeans • automatic garage door openers • light • brownies • my mac • target • our furnace • my bed • mountains • fresh fruit • my camera • lockers • a new pantry • colors • my marked-up scriptures • cereal • disposable diapers & wipes • fleece • rice bags • wait wait don't tell me • fireplaces • turtlenecks • toenail polish • aveeno lip balm • cardstock • my ipod • extra gum • rei • dansko shoes • christmas cards

"First things first, but not necessarily in that order." ~Doctor Who