the grovers

Summer Asparagus Orzo

2008-08-15T22:24:00.000-07:00

Ash, thanks for having us all over! It was so great to see all of you...and your little families!!

- here is the recipe for the pasta salad- enjoy!

Summer Asparagus Orzo

8 ounces uncooked orzo (buy in pasta isle)

1 pound asparagus spears, cut into 2 inch-long slices ( snap off rough ends before slicing)

1 cup frozen green peas, thawed

3 ounces Parmesan cheese

1/2 teaspoon salt

3 tablespoons fresh lemon juice

2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil

1/2 cup thinly sliced fresh basil leaves ( about 10)

1. Cook orzo according to package directions. When 3 minutes of cooking time remain, add asparagus. Cook for 1 minute, then add peas for the final 2 minutes.

2. Meanwhile, use a vegetable peeler to make 12 curls of Parmesan. Grate remaining cheese and set aside.

3. Combine salt, lemon juice, and olive oil; whisk together. Toss orzo in lemon juice mixture; stir in grated cheese and basil. Serve warm or at room temperature with Parmesan curls. Garnish with additional basil leaves, if desired.

makes 6, one cup servings

okay, don’t tip over….it’s a new post

2007-11-29T07:42:00.001-08:00

Although blogging, obviously, is my passion in life, it’s been a while! :) Here are some of the happenings over the last little while....

* Jane broke her little leg- SO sad!! And hallelujah that it’s better!

* We started having official FHE night with Jane. She is demonstrating taking care of others with her baby- she is such a little mother. It is so funny to listen to her talk to her babies, she will say, “oh my little darling” and “don’t be sad.” She’s a nice mom ☺

* We got to watch Marcus play a lot of football. He is so flipping good! He just got 1st team all-region and 1st team all-state! And he is such a great kid, I’m so proud of him!

* Jane loved Halloween more than we could have imagined possible for a tiny 1 year old. She was, and still is obsessed with witches and wonders where they all went. We did lots of fun Halloween-y things during October- it was great. This is Jane on our walk home after a neighbor's Halloween party.

* Jane and I just got back from Philadelphia visiting Scott and Banna and then Boston to visit Kenley and Kristin. We had such a great visit! Jane LOVED all of her cousins, almost to the point of danger, I spent A LOT of my time protecting the babies from her affection :) This is Jane with Cora, and us in the Subway downtown Boston.

This year, we have been especially grateful to have Jane. Our life has been more stressful than normal and she is such a source of joy for Brandon and I. We have also been so overwhelmed by the love and support from all of our dear friends and family! Thank you and we love you!

jim and pam, will it happen this season??

2007-09-15T21:03:00.001-07:00

our summer of swimming comes to an end

2007-09-11T19:24:00.000-07:00

We are excited for fall but sad to be done swimming. We had so much fun at the pool this summer. I’m happy to say (and my mom will be happy to hear) that Jane is the newest fish in the family.

Why meg loves swimming:
-It seems clean, all the kids look like they just got out of the bath the whole time they are swimming- and that happens to be one of my very MOST favorite things. I know however, that swimming in public pools happens to be somewhat dirty! It doesn’t stop us!
-I can practice my mean backstroke, which I’ll have you know that I legitimately beat my Dad and both of my older brothers in a race doing that very stroke! Legitimately.
-You can catch rays.
-It is the only sensible option for playing outside when it is super HOT.
-It wears kids plum out. After a couple hours at the pool they are good and ready to eat and have a nice long nap.
-We usually splurge and buy a treat out of the vending machine to share!
-It’s just fun, I’m not going to lie.

*In the first picture, Jane is holding onto the side all by herself. She LOVES doing that. The streaker picture is strictly to show off tan lines. Tan lines from swimming of course ☺

the summer scene

2007-08-02T19:07:00.001-07:00

these are photos I took from my garden and flower pots
......i love gardening!!

our little cheezer

2007-08-02T14:27:00.000-07:00

Well, I guess I took a mini vacation from our little blog. We have been busy playing and traveling this summer! It has been such a fun time in Jane’s little life. Her personality really does seem larger than what her little body should be able to contain!
She’s spunky!

now you know a celebrity- you're welcome :)

2007-03-02T13:43:00.000-08:00

Well it’s official, I have been selected to be on the show Good Things Utah each morning as a co-host. Oh wait, that's not true. Actually, my neighbor invited me to go on the set to support our other neighbor with her Olive Oil Dessert Cookbook. She made yummy cookies for the recipe segment on the show. I was really surprised, the set looks much larger on TV but it’s actually pretty small, they move things around during the commercials to make room. Although the show can be a bit cheesy, it was really fun to go! The ladies were super sweet and luckily, I wasn’t shy about getting pictures! Reagan's my favorite! Although I'm not going to become a co-host, I'm still celebrity-ish because I was on TV! Isn't that true?

"you gotta relax to make the crank call" Brian Regan

2007-03-01T14:52:00.000-08:00

 If you are one of the many that have reported a possible prank phone call coming from my phone number, I may have found the culprit. If your phone rings and you see that it is me calling, it may just be me (meg) so of course pick up. However, you may be falling for a huge prank simply by answering. Risky. You’ll know immediately because you’ll either hear a friendly hello (from me) or mostly just heavy breathing, a little yelling and you might make out a “hey!” or “hi!” but in a much younger voice. Monica seems to be the offender’s most popular choice. In my estimation this is either due to her magnetic personality or to the fact that she is so gullible! Ha Ha -love you Ronna!

favorite things

2007-02-19T14:53:00.000-08:00

Just some of our favorite things about Jane

1. How she squeezes you so tightly when you say “big hug.”
2. How she scrunches up her little nose when she laughs.
3. How she sucks her thumb and holds her ear.
4. That she always has toe jam.
5. How she gets an outie belly button after she’s eaten a lot.
6. The moments she lets us snuggle with her.
7. How she says “no, no, no, no” very sadly when we take something away from her and "thank you" when we give it back (we're so bad)
8. How she loves yogurt and would eat it for every meal if we gave her the choice.
9. That she drinks vigorously like Napoleon Dynamite, not just sometimes, but every time she takes a drink- she is so thirsty!!
10. How she so dutifully says “pooh-pooh” when there’s a problem ☺ but then quickly tries to get away so we can’t change her.
11. When she bounces on the couch and says “jumpin, jumpin, jumpin.”
12. That she is so affectionate.
13. That she loves burritos and will eat them just as much as her mom (a lot).
14. When we call her to come….."Janie”, she’ll yell back “Naynie” and then not come.
15. That she is so chubby and yummy to kiss!!!

she's one!

2007-01-26T20:38:00.000-08:00

Happy Birthday Jane

For Jane’s birthday, we took her to dinner at the Spaghetti Factory...where she was naughty, we sang to her... while she danced, and we helped her open some fun presents...which she loved! Then she got to eat her very own cake (made by her aunt Emmie) at Nana and Grandpa Grover’s house.

What a celebration, what a year, what a beautiful girl!! We could not possibly love her more!

it's a wonderful life!

2007-01-18T08:10:00.000-08:00

Brandon, Jane and I enjoyed a very memorable Christmas! It was so exciting because we had Janie with us this year! Even though she was only 10 months when the festivities began, we had such a great time shopping for her, taking her to see Santa, singing Christmas songs, watching The Grinch (which she loved) and listening to her say "HO HO HO" when asked "Janie, what does Santa say?" It was so nice because we were able to spend time with a lot of our family and great friends. We loved hearing from so many of you and loved the pictures you sent. Thank you so much for remembering us and being a part of our lives. We have so many wonderful people surrounding us and feel so blessed! I'm pretty sure that next year will be our big year to send Christmas cards! Thanks again for remembering us! We love you!

she walks!

2007-01-17T19:45:00.000-08:00

So Janie took her first steps last week
(Mon, January 8)

While smiling her biggest smile, Jane very cautiously wobbled away from her dad- seven whole steps in a row! For the first couple of days, she needed time to muster up courage before she would venture out on her feet. Now that she's comfy walking, she's really enjoying the new view and loves the attention she gets all day from her mama as she wanders from one end of the house to the other. It's so fun to see such a tiny (short especially) thing sauntering around with her little thumb in her mouth, and to hear a "woah!" each time she almost falls. Yea Janie!

welcome

2007-01-17T15:52:00.000-08:00

hey! we're so glad you came!

now that we have a tiny one...jane,
our life is full of exciting details
that we would love to share with you!