Italy Photos

Leighton and I spent a dreamy spring break in Italy!

We made Firenze our home base and went on several day trips to:

Venice

Sienna

Lucca

Pisa

and went hiking in the ever-dreamy Cinque Terre National Park

Pictures can be found by following the link below:
https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.10154520195813513&type=1&l=7938d3a9df

French Cooking

Over the winter Mari decided to dive into the French culture and take a cooking class.  Each week the class focused on a different region and their different foods.

Week 1
tarte tatin
cheese fondue

Week 2: Brittany & Normandy
onion gratin
seared scallops with beurre blanc
fiery crêpes suzette à la Julie Child
It was crazy lighting the orange infused crêpes on fire!  The onion gratin was incredible!

Week 3: Northern France, Belgium
steak frites
glazed asparagus with a bearnaise sauce
tarte tatin
This was probably the third best steak I have had by sheer luck.   It was fun to make our own fries.  The bearnaise sauce was very temperamental but delicious on the steak.  Tarte tatin is the French version of an apple pie.  It is very easy because you take a puff pastry and put it over apples that you have cooked in butter and sugar for a while.

Week 4: Burgundy

This week was pretty technical I'd say.  The boeuf bourguignon we started a couple days in advance, but was well worth the trip to the liquor store to get Pinot Noir.  I was severely disappointed that they didn't card me though.  We made pomme purée with a ricer & homemade escargot!  It was much better than the escargot at La Caille.  We made it in shell and in mushroom caps which was my favorite.  I HIGHLY recommend Harmon's baguettes.  For dessert we made pears poached in red wine with marscapone cream filling.  Sadly I burnt the syrup that was supposed to go on top, which I think would have made the pears taste a lot better.

Week 5: Provence
Heading south was definitely my jam!  Roasted chicken with a lot of garlic served with olive tapenade, ratatouille, and tarte au citron!


Week 6: Southwest France, Aquitaine
Chateaubriand, Chateau potatoes, Apple, Pecan, & Blue Cheese Salad and crème brûlée.
The crème brûlée was out of this world and much easier to cook than expected!

I'm Not Throwing Away My Shot

West Lake STEM decided to make a music video to cheer our students on.

Enjoy my musical début!

Oh The Places You'll Go!

I just need to brag about my hubby a little bit!
About a month ago Leighton was prompted to start studying insurance.  He did so and got P&C license in less than two weeks!  He went to a local agency the next day who referred him to a friend who basically offered him a job on the spot!
Leighton has signed on as a producer with Insurance Network.  To do so he created his own company- CIA or Carroll Insurance Agency.  He absolutely adores the team and the company culture.   Since it is a network they sell different "brands" of insurance so he can help people get the best deal. He pops out of bed every morning excited to go and learn.  I am so proud of him for all that he is doing!  (If you haven't checked out his website verslapro.com you should!)
For this new job in Salt Lake we thought it fitting to find him a newer vehicle for his commute.
We are happy to introduce you to Luna Lovegood, our 2007 Toyota Prius.  Leighton loves having an electric car.  (I made him take this picture before it started snowing!)  We feel so very blessed to be led by the Lord.  I was nonchalantly looking on KSL cars one day when I found Luna.  That weekend we went to see her & then drove her home!

Sweethearts 5K

This weekend my hubby was a sweetheart and ran his first race with me.  We ran the Sweethearts 5k in Bountiful, Utah.  It thankfully wasn't snowing, raining, or windy, just a little chilly.  Leighton helped me set a stellar pace and I finished in 24:29, my fastest time yet.  I won my age division (hurray!) and hate to think how much better I might have done if I had actually trained for this race!

Mari with her first place teddy bear

2016 in Review

2016 in Review

Winter was filled with wonderful weather in Mesa Arizona.  We enjoyed the fresh citrus fruits and walking out on the canals behind our apartment.  In February we both started a project, going to Bike Saviour’s to rebuild our bikes.  It was a lot of work but very rewarding! 

Over spring break Mari went out to New York to stay with her brother Erik’s family.  She enjoyed spending time with Julie and Ezra, Isaac, and Ginny.  They had a ward member’s daughter Tenzin staying with them.  It was a lot of fun to be with family visiting!

In April we volunteered at a Special Olympics track event with the young men and young women.  We loved our time working with the youth.  In April we also went and visited one of Mari’s favorite places, the zoo.  We went in the afternoon and so a lot of animals that aren’t normally awake, like the lion!  

Leighton got his cooking on in April as we were very inspired by “The Great British Bakeoff.”

We trained all spring for the Iron Horse in the Durango-Silverton Colorado area.  Mari ended up getting very sick in the spring.  We finally got her to the right doctor and found out that she had whooping cough.  It was while she was still sick that we packed up our lives and moved to Kaysville, UT.

The end of May the Lindstrom’s cat, Kitty died which was very sad.

In June we went with some Davis cousins to Lagoon.  We had a blast riding all the rollercoasters, including the infamous “Cannibal.”  Mark and Mari thought they would be too scared, but they were tough enough and absolutely loved it!  We also went to visit Grandma Keeley with Mari’s sister Kirstin and Mom in June.  It was great to spend some time with family and take a break from remodeling the basement.

In July we went on a trip of a lifetime with the Lindstrom family.  We traveled to Sweden, Norway, and Denmark, places where the Lindstrom’s are from.  We were able to cruise the fjords in Norway, meet up with distant relatives, and have an incredible time.  Additionally Ma & Pa Lindstrom, along with Erik and Julie, joined us in Latvia to see where Mari served her mission.  After a day or two they left us and we continued, the two of us, exploring Lithuania, and then one of the highlights of the trip, Tallinn, Estonia.  We enjoyed spending time together, wandering around.

On our way home to the states we stopped in Miami Florida!  We rented a convertible and headed out to the Everglades to find alligators and manatees!  Leighton LOVED the fresh mango.

Mari started her new job in West Valley City at a junior high in August.  She completed a half marathon with her best friend the first of September.  They trained all summer and did very well.  

Mari killed her goal of a sub 2-hour half marathon running a 8:30 minute/mile pace.  She was 9^th for her age and finished 234 of 1062 overall.

We made a goal to visit more of Utah and started by visiting the Tracy Aviary in Salt Lake City.  We really were impressed by the site and loved this giant owl!

We were able to see the play “Mary Poppins” at the local high school and were totally blown away.

For Thanksgiving we went to Caldwell, Idaho to spend the weekend with Grandma Keeley.  We had a lovely time.

For our third anniversary we were able to go to the Oquirrh Mountain Temple and perform sealings in the same room in which we were sealed.  Time has flown!

Mari has started having girls’ nights with her pregnant besties from high school.  They went up to Logan and got a giant FH’zookie!

We have been teaching primary in our new ward.  We taught the 5-7 year olds.  They kept us on our toes!

We were blessed to be able to go down to Mesa for Christmas.  We loved spending time with Leighton’s family and our friends in Mesa. Mari really enjoyed the cute new kittens that were Christmas presents for Jill and Eric’s cute girls.