I’ve Switched

Dear Cherry Lane Diaries friends,

I’ve switched my blog from WordPress to Blogspot, because WordPress just keeps getting worse by the minute. Please go to this link to read my latest post. It’s been a long time since I’ve posted, but this recipe is worth the wait. Click HERE

Thanks,

Luhi

http://cherrylanediaries.blogspot.com/2012/06/savory-thai-noodles-as-easy-to-make-as.html

The Prader-Willi Sydrome Fitness Fun-Raiser

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Many of you don’t know this, but our beautiful daughter, Lily, has a genetic disorder called Prader-Willi Syndrome.

For brief description about the syndrome, please visit this link.

To donate to the Utah Prader-Willi Syndrome Association, please visit this other link.

On Saturday, friends and family of PWS kids gathered together for a Fitness Fun-Raiser to get donations for the association. People came in droves…

Big sister and her soccer friends…

Grandpas…

Grandmas…

Moms…

Dads…

And friends. Here is what we did:

We had a mini walk-a-thon…

People donated and signed donation cards that lined the walk-a-thon path.

At the end of the walk, we released balloons in honor of each PWS kid.

There was balloon tier there twisting all kinds of fun creations for the kids.

There was face painting.

We even had a pregnant belly painted.

Miss Lehi came and honored each PWS kid by giving them a medal.

The fire department came to visit, and the kids got to climb on the fire truck.

We had a celebrity sing to us and…

And a dance-a-thon.

(This is one Prader-Willi kid that knows how to “get down.”)

There were carnival games for the kids.

They won tickets and…

…got to claim prizes.

We also had an excellent (and healthy) meal.

We’d like to thank Lisa Thornton and Delores Baker for planning the whole event.

All of the volunteer staff for their time and effort.

Miss Lehi for her time and genuine concern for our dear Prader-Willi kids.

The fire department for their trucks that are part of every kid’s dreams.

And all of our sponsors.

A few last photos.

You Know, That Whole Pinhole Method Sucks, Right? Best Annular Solar Eclipse Party Ever

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We tried the whole pinhole thing. Lame. Watching a tiny dot just wasn’t doing it for me. Lucky for us…

we got a phone call from our friend Kathryn Ellison. She invited us up to their party where…

our other friend, Sarah Hedengren, had an awesome pair of…

 

welding masks. It’s the perfect way to watch an eclipse. We watched the eclipse while…

 

 kids played and…

the adults had conversation.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The Only Day Each Year That I Can Get My Kids To Cheerfully Do Yard Work

When Fauneil heard about the volunteer clean-up at Utah Lake State Park, we jumped right on it. Our kids were sooooo excited.

It was a beautiful day on the lake.

They fed us donuts and OJ, which the kids loved...

gave us t-shirts...

and wristbands...

and goggles.

They gathered together all 500 of us for instructions and then...

we gathered our tools and got to work.

We hauled sticks...

cleaned out gutters...

scraped and sanded the rust off of bbq grills...

and painted them.

This is the before.

This is the after. Don't they look great?

After the work, they had owls and falcons for the kids to see and...

KFC for lunch. Of course, McCann didn't want KFC; he wanted McDonalds.

Since it was his birthday, we took the kids to McDonalds on the way home. (Fauneil and I ate the KFC.)

Oh, I forgot to mention that we met my cousins while we were there. The Purcells were taking over.

I also saw my long time friend, Billy. Last time I saw him was in 1994 in Hawaii. Great to catch up.

It was a fantastic day. We got to teach our kids about work AND have fun. Can't get any better than that. (And the photographers got plenty of photos of us. I think we'll make the newsletter.)

Spring: Lily And I Went For A Walk, the Other Day, And This Is What We Saw.

 

 

 

 

 

What To Do With Your Leftover Easter Eggs Part II: The Secret To Perfect Potato Salad

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INGREDIENTS:

12 medium sized potoatoes

2 teaspoons salt

18 hard boiled eggs

3 cups mayonaise

salt and pepper to taste

In this photo with Lily and McCann are my friends Lynn and Christine McGhie. Lynn is a great cook, and he told me the secret to perfect potato salad. When I asked him why his tasted better than any other, he leaned over to me and said, "The secret is in the eggs and the salt. I use lots and lots of eggs and lots and lots of salt." A week later, we had a friend over from New Zealand. Her potato salad was just as good. When I asked her secret, she told me the same thing, so I figured Lynn must have been right. That's when I tested their theory to come up with this formula.

I use one potato per person and 2 eggs per potato, except...

This is my beautiful wife. She doesn't like that many eggs, so I only use 1 1/2 eggs per potato if she will be eating.

I add two teaspoons of salt to the water that I boil the potatoes in, and I also salt to taste at the end. Here we go with the recipe.

Peel and wash 12 medium sized potatoes.

 

Cut the potatoes into small 1 inch cubes and boil them with 2 teaspoons of salt until they are soft and can be easily pierced with a fork.

 

While potatoes are boiling, peel and rinse 18 hard boiled eggs, then slice them into four sections lengthwise, then...

 

cut them in half, like this. Now...

 

pile all the chopped eggs in a large bowl.

 

When the potatoes are done, strain them and...

 

add them to the chopped eggs. Also, add 3 cups mayonnaise.

 

Mix it all together and salt and pepper to taste. There. You now have perfect potato salad. Eat and enjoy.

What To Cook With Your Leftover Easter Eggs (Double Pork Breakfast Sandwich)

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INGREDIENTS:

2 hard boiled eggs peeled and chopped

1 tablespoon butter

2 tablespoons flour

1 1/4 cup milk

Salt and pepper

1/3 cup frozen spinach (thawed)

1 tablespoon cream cheese (I use the 1/3 fat cream cheese to be healthier)

3-4 slices of ham (lunch meat)

1/4 cup cooked breakfast sausage

1/2 an English Muffin, toasted

Chop up two hard boiled eggs. Set aside.

In a small pot, over medium heat, melt one tablespoon of butter.

Whisk in two tablespoons of flour until it forms a paste.

Now whisk in 1 1/4 cups milk until thickened.

Stir in the chopped hard boiled eggs. Salt and pepper to taste and set aside.

Cook a packet of breakfast sausage, drain off fat and set aside.

In microwave, heat 1/3 cup frozen spinach and 1 tablespoon cream cheese until hot (about one minute to a minute and a half). Once hot. Mix together and set aside.

In microwave, heat 3-4 slices of ham (lunch meat) until hot (about 20 seconds). Set aside.

Toast and butter an English muffin.

Place ham on English Muffin.

Scoop on the spinach/cream cheese mixture.

Scoop on a 1/4 cup of the cooked breakfast sausage.

Pour on egg/white sauce mixture, eat and enjoy.

A Cherry Lane Easter Egg Hunt

DYING THE EGGS

Mom made herself a cup of homemade hot chocolate and then we started dying Easter eggs.

HIDING THE EGGS

HUNTING THE EGGS

EATING THE EGGS

I Visit A Toxic Wasteland, So I Can Have Something To Blog About

I haven't had anything interesting enough to blog about, so I visited a wasteland to make my life a little more intriguing. Okay, that isn't true, but I did visit a toxic wasteland. Why, you may ask. Well...

It all started with this car. You see, I have been buying and selling cars through my brother who is a partner at a car dealership. It has been a great way to make extra cash. Anyway, I bought this car, which needed new door handles. I thought, "Why should I spend a load of money on these parts when I can just go to a junk yard and get the same thing for cheap?"

So I end up here. Not quite what I expected. They have you bring your own tools and strip whatever parts you want for practically nothing...but there is another price to pay. More about that later. First, let me show you some of the interesting things I saw at the junk yard.

Granola bars. There was a half-eaten one, but I wasn't in a spot where I could get a picture of it. (Anyone hungry?)

Luggage.

Clothes. Including that nice pair of boxer shorts you see there. If you look at the top center of the picture, you will see a half drunk bottle of Gatorade.

Text books.

Medications. Anyone have a stuffy nose? I can rub this generic Vicks on you. I'm sure it's fine.

Okay. Now let me talk about the price I had to pay to get parts cheap. First off, I needed that door handle up there (where you see the red arrow). Yep, that one from the top car that is teetering dangerously atop of the car below it. I had to climb the mountain of cars to get what I needed. (My wife is going to so kill me when she reads this.)

The second door handle was on the black car buried under this pile (see the red arrow). I had to climb over and under broken cars to get to what I needed.

Once I got there, I had to squeeze into this small space, and work in VERY cramped quarters.

By the time I was done my hands were a little bloody. I thought, "This is soooo not worth it. I would rather pay 700% more."

I then heard about junk yards like this one that have the cars lined up in neat rows and not piled on top of each other like the last place, but it still was not worth it. I guess this was a lesson learned and an adventure. I'm never doing it again, though.