INTRODUCING COOKIE DOUGH CUPCAKES

A couple of weeks ago at our RS opening social, I had the pleasure of being introduced to this yummy little treat. She is called a Cookie Dough Cupcake and she is DELICIOUS! I searched the internet for her everywhere and found a close second on Picky Palate.

I made a batch last night for our RS munch and mingle and let's just say I could have called in sick and eaten every last one by myself.

I made regular size and minis and they were all delicious! The only part I regret is using store bought cream cheese frosting, which is NEVER as tasty as homemade.

Make. Eat. Enjoy.

MUST READ!!!

I just finished reading The Hunger Games last night and to say I am obsessed is a serious understatement. I heard about this book from a bunch of different people but had NO IDEA how amazing it would be. I could not put it down for two days, except to feed my child and husband and to care for their needs of course!
It was sort like a Shannon Hale book but I felt like I was reading Harry Potter again. I can't really explain it. All I can say is READ it!

LUCKILY, it is the first in a trilogy so I will be picking up the second tomorrow and will have another one to look forward too when the third is released.

REALLY???

I was looking at our England pictures and cannot even believe that I forgot to post this one. This happened at our first campsite and I never saw anything like it for the rest of the trip.

The picture is sort of blurry so sorry if it is hard to see what is taking place here. This nice older couple (I don't know that they were nice but they looked nice) set their tent up on top of their car and slept in it. REALLY??? Who knew that was even a option? How did the tent not brake? Or fall off? Also, notice the ladder. This was obviously not the first time they had done this.

The real reason this picture might be blurry is because I had to take it so quick that I didn't have time to check to see how it looked. AND... I might have been laughing really hard while I took it.

HOW CAN I FREEZE TIME???

Sterling Henry is at the cutest stage right now. He is so much fun. He has this adorable smile on his face all day long and we LOVE it! We go on walks all the time and I love to watch how people react to him because he is such a happy little baby. He can get a reaction out of just about anyone!

He loves to stand and cruise on furniture. One of his favorite things to hold onto is the toilet seat. This door is usually closed for that very reason!
I can't imagine anyplace I would rather be than home with this little man all day!

What do these cute things have in common???

They were all made by me! After a LONG break, I am back sewing and loving it. The apple and pear thing is an apron. It was my first sewing project that wasn't a quilt. It was a LOT of fun. The other two are baby quilts.

I was going to attempt a Halloween costume for Sterling Henry but after I priced it at 60.00 bucks for the whole thing, I think I will be buying one at Old Navy!

STERLING HENRY IS HAPPY TO ANNOUNCE...

that he is going to have a little brother!

ENGLAND PART 3

The best part about our trip to England was that there were no interruptions. No TV. No internet. Not phones. It was wonderful. We were together all day everyday and WE LOVED IT. I realize this was not reality but it was fun for two weeks.

This will be the last group of pictures, so I hope you enjoy!

The Peak District was another area that I was pumped to go to. (Thank you Jane Austen!) Little did I know that we would stumble on the exact spot where both the new and old Pride and Prejudice were filmed. The EXACT area where Elizabeth stood. I was a little nervous climbing up to this area so Sterling posed for the picture. (The peaks were pretty intense and it was windy.)


Next we headed to Chatsworth. This is where they filmed Pemberly in the new Pride and Prejudice and they think that Chatsworth is what inspired Jane Austen's Pemberly.



The floors were just as cute in real life.


They have the bust of Mr. Darcy from the movie.


The gardens were beautiful. We walked all around them for a long time. Sterling Henry was sitting on the grass and I was throwing bread to these ducks so they would come close to him. It was really cute until one the the monsters BIT HIS TOE! I seriously wanted to kick it but decided to console my frightened child instead. NEVER AGAIN DUCKS!!!


We stayed in the town where Shakespeare was buried and went to the church the next day. It was pretty cool to see his grave. (Sterling Henry was really into it if you can't tell.)


This was a cute street close to the Shakespeare church.

Next we went to Warwick. This is as close as we got. It was an awesome castle but had been turned into a super expensive kind of dungeon and dragons theme park for kids, so we only took a picture from the outside. We don't feel cheated one bit!


Blenheim Palace was our next stop. This was the birthplace of Winston Churchill.

The next day we went to LONDON. We left London to the end for good reason. We knew we would wear ourselves out and wanted to do that last. The first place we headed was the British Museum. This was probably one of my favorites places we went. It was packed full of such amazing things like the Rosetta Stone and the Elgin Marbles, the beautiful sculptures from the Parthenon in Athens.

The place was also packed for a Egyptian paintings and statutes and even had a mummy of Cleopatra (a Cleopatra, not the Cleopatra). I was completely blown away by how much they had.


We also went to the British Library where I was able to see Jane Austen's personal journals and some of her correspondences and the British National Gallery. Trafalgar square was pretty exciting also. Here is Sterling with the huge monument they have for Lord Nelson.


I loved seeing Big Ben.


The next day we went to the Tower of London. The Tower had so many interesting parts. Seeing the Crown Jewels were a definite highlight.

A bridge next to the tower.


One of the coolest things we did in London was climb to the top of the St. Pauls's Cathedral. It almost killed me but it was worth it. From the top we could see all of London.


Westminster was everything I had hoped it would be. I loved it. We went to a service and really enjoyed it... plus it was free that way!


On the last day we went to the Kew Gardens. They were really beautiful and it was nice to be out of the city.

Our last site we saw was Hampton Court. I thought that Hampton Court was beautiful. It was interesting to see parts from the real Tudor world. Who knew they ate so well???


The gardens there were the most pristine gardens we saw on the trip. I loved them. They were so organized and well kept.

I am sad our trip is over but will never forget all the fabulous memories that we made. Sterling starts work on Tuesday so we are ready to start real life again.

I am almost 20 weeks along and we will find out what we are having this week. This pregnancy has gone by so fast. We are looking forward to being home for a while and getting ready for number 2.

ENGLAND PART 2

I know I am putting a lot of pictures up but we saw so many amazing things.

One of the places that Sterling really wanted to go was Portsmouth. We spent most of the day there and LOVED it.

Here is Sterling in front of the HMS Victory. This was the ship that Lord Nelson commanded the British fleet from during the battle of Trafalgar.


Here is the actual spot where Admiral Lord Nelson died. Little Sterling Henry had had enough by this point which is why he looks like he does in this picture!

Sterling in front of some of Lord Nelson's personal items. This whole museum was pretty much centered around Lord Nelson. Sterling was in heaven.


Some of you may not know that we camped while we were in England. I was not sure how this was going to work out but I LOVED it. We rented a car so we could go all over. Here is a picture of our favorite campsite.

This is the Winchester Cathedral. This cathedral was absolutely amazing. They had some really interesting things inside.


I wasn't super familiar with the fact that so many people have been buried inside these cathedrals. It makes sense but I had no idea. Luckily for me, Jane Austen was buried here so we got to see her grave.


After the Winchester Cathedral, we headed over to the Salisbury Cathedral which was very close. This cathedral was very beautiful as well. It has the tallest spire in England.


Stonehenge was our next spot. This is such a huge tourist spot, there were people everywhere. We took pictures outside the fence since we could see it just fine and you couldn't get much closer even if you payed to go in. They used to let people touch the stones and climb on them, but not anymore.

The next day we went to Stourhead, which is a great mansion home and garden. We didn't tour the house but walked all around the gardens.

Bath was another city that I was super excited to go to. It exceeded all my expectations. I LOVED it. We went to the Great Bath which was unbelievable. This Great Bath was part of a Roman spa complex that was not discovered until the 1870s. The water comes from a natural hot spring. The whole thing was remarkable.


Bath has a beautiful Abbey. Sterling got to climb to the tower. Here is the view he got from the top looking down. It kind of freaked him out being so high in a tower built in the 1450's, especially when he learned that the stone roof he was standing on hundreds of feet above the nave was only 8 inches thick.


Next we headed to the long awaited Stoke-on-Trent. I was really looking forward to getting some china while we were there. Spode went bankrupt last year, but luckily for us, Portmeirion is still going strong. (They actually bought out the Spode company but won't be in production till next year.) We were in the factory store for over three hours! I had the time of my life. Luckily Sterling had helped his mom bring back a bunch of Spode and Portmeirion so he helped me pick out two different patterns. He really is the best.

He even carried it all on the plane in two different carry-ons for me. Everything made it home safe!


That night it was raining like crazy so we stayed in this cute little B&B. The couple who ran it were the sweetest people. They had just recently been to Salt Lake City to visit an old friend who joined our church years ago and moved over there. It was fun talking with them. Plus, Debbie, the B&B hostess, made us the BEST English breakfast the next day.
Stay tuned for the rest of our pictures. (Yes, there are more!!!)

ENGLAND PART 1

We had the most fabulous time in England. We rented a car and drove all over. We got there on Wednesday morning early and set off towards Canterbury. On the way we went to Leeds Castle. This was my first time going to a real castle and I LOVED it. Leeds is completely surrounded by a lake and it made it seem magical.



Our little family enjoying our first day together in England.

The next day we headed to Canterbury Cathedral. I was completely taken back by how beautiful this Cathedral was.

This is the site where Thomas Becket was killed in the cathedral by King Henry II's cronies. Sterling Henry's stroller reflected big time by the flash. (Try not to hurt your eyes!)

The stained glass windows in the Cathedral were amazing.


After the Canterbury Cathedral, we saw St. Martin's Church, which is the oldest church in England dating back to the Roman period.

That night we headed to Dover and walked the white cliffs. They were amazing. The view was so beautiful.


The next day we went to Dover Castle. Dover is right on the coast so it was very fortified. It had more of a wartime castle feel. This was the chapel which had been built inside. I love the idea of each castle having its own chapel. It really makes it feel like a little city. We also loved the history of the place. The church here dated back to the Saxon period, being built around 1000 A.D. The light house next to the church was built by the Romans who would light fires in the top to guide ships to the harbor.

The view was beautiful with it being right on the coast.

Next we stopped by Deal Castle and snapped this pic.


The next day we went to Hastings to see where the Battle of Hasting had taken place. The audio tour was very good. We walked around the entire battlefield.


This is Battle Abbey. It was built by William the Conqueror on the site of his victory.


After Hastings, we headed to Brighton. Brighton was one of the cities that I was really excited to go to. It was different than I imagined but very fun. We went to the pier and walked around. It is a huge resort area so there was great people watching.


The Royal Pavilion was right down the street.


After Brighton we went to Petworth, which is a big mansion home. It was too late to tour the house but the gardens were beautiful.


There was a big lake behind it where there were lots of geese. Sterling Henry really liked the geese. He has never been so close to birds. I love this picture of my two cute boys!

That is Part 1. Stay tuned for the rest. Sterling is in Texas for the BYU game so I have nothing to do but watch my adorable baby, clean, and blog!