The Kehl Family Times

Never Give Up!

2012-01-21T10:19:00.001-07:00

This is a great quote to live by.

The Best Low Calorie Fiber Cookies Ever

2012-01-21T10:04:00.002-07:00

If you are anything like me...I gotta have a yummy chocolate treat after a meal. These cookies do the trick! They are so simple to make and very yummy! They only are 100 calories and have 8-9 grams of fiber and you only need 3 ingredients.

1 box of Fiber One Cereal ( honey squares)
3 cups milk chocolate chips or 1 king size symphony bar
1/2 Tbp butter flavored Crisco ( this helps make the chocolate smooth)

Add chocolate chips and Crisco into a microwaveable bowl ( big enough to add the box of cereal once chocolate is melted). Put in microwave for 40 seconds. Stir till chocolate is melted and then add box of cereal.

Use a 1/4 cup measuring cup to scoop into cookies and place them on parchment paper. Let the cookies cool for 30 minutes.

Enjoy!!

Motivation

2012-01-20T15:16:00.001-07:00

What an accomplishment!

2012-01-20T12:04:00.001-07:00

Looking back and seeing where I was to where I am now..I realize how rewarding it is to accomplish something so big!!

I have lost over 83 lbs since having Allie. I went from a size 16/18 to a size 6. It is hard to believe and I'm amazed by what you can accomplish with HARD WORK and DEDICATION!!

The "after" picture was actually taken 4 months after having Allie and I had already had lost 20 lbs. However, I didn't have any pictures of me at that weight because I would not allow anyone to take pictures of me then.

I now can say out loud " I'm proud of what I have accomplished!!" I'm so happy to see that I can be an example to my children by showing them that they can accomplish anything they set their minds on accomplishing.

It has been a long journey. I admit there were times I wanted to give up..but I never did. I'm still going strong and I know I will reach my goals this year.

Yes, that is right 2012 will be my YEAR! I will complete a full marathon, achieve my goal weight and continue to live a healthy lifestyle~

Before


After

Big Milestones

2012-01-20T11:45:00.000-07:00

Allie is officially potty trained, exactly 3 weeks after her 3rd birthday. It all started with telling her the diaper fairy is coming to take all the diapers away and that seemed to the trick. We told her she is now big enough to wear "princess underwear." We have been trying the potty training off and on the past 6 months, however; she had no desire to sit on the potty until she actually had the diapers taken away and experienced the feel of having to sit in it.

So, I must admit she had accidents in her underwear the first couple of days and then she thought "I don't like the feeling of having to feel the mess in my pants." It only took 2 days and then she got it, she knew the feeling of what it feels like to need to go potty..and now it's almost been 1 month since then..she tells us each time she needs to go and has woken up with dry underwear. What a proud mommy I am. It was so stressful going through it, now looking back on it..I think I made it stressful. I have learned a lot on how to do it next time with Mason.

One other big thing that has happened is that Mason had surgery yesterday at Primary Children's' hospital. Mason had to have a Penile Detorsion. It was something he was born with and now that he was old enough to go under anesthesia he had to go in and have it taken care of. It is a hard age because he doesn't understand what is going on. He had to go without food and water from the night before at midnight until after his surgery, which was scheduled at 10:45 am and wasn't even taken in until 11:45 am that next day. My poor little guy did such a great job.
It was so funny to see him interact with the nurses and doctors. Mason has this bubbly personality and was loved by all the staff at the hospital. The surgery lasted about an 1 hour and he was back to his normal self shortly after. I am so happy it was a success. He was able to come home 3 hours later and is now recovering from the ordeal. Being a parent now, I think it is so hard to see our little ones go through such pain. I can't even begin to imagine the pain my parents went through 11 years ago when I had go through a bone marrow transplant. That is something I never would want to have to go through as a parent. I am grateful for my wonderful parents and all the love and support they were during that time in my life. They are an inspiration to me on how to handle a sick kid.

Mason is headed up to primary children's hospital

Getting his scrubs on to go into surgery

Mason happy as a clam

Mason letting the nurse listen to his lungs

Mason thinking "So, let's get this over with!"

Mason getting taken into the operating room in a wagon

Christmas Lights at Temple Square

2011-12-13T16:48:00.001-07:00

Temple Square Christmas Lights

Grandma TT, Taylor, Mia, Bryson, Bo,Allie, Tate and Papa

Mason and Mommy

The Nativity

Temple Square

The Kehl Family

Last night we went to Jason's Deli down at Gateway to eat dinner with my parents and my brothers and sisters in law and their kids. After dinner we took Trax up to Temple Square to see the beautiful Christmas lights! What a fun tradition it is to see the temple grounds all lite up!

Homemade Play Dough

2011-12-09T14:58:00.001-07:00

Homemade Play Dough

(makes about 2.5 Cups)

1 1/2 cups of flour
3/4 cups of salt
1 1/2 cups water
1 TB vegetable oil
1/2 TB cream of tarter
*food coloring - I use the liquid kind

Mix all of the ingredients into a saucepan. Add the food coloring to yourliking. - Children can help with this step

Adults only -
Set your stove top to medium-low (about a 2.5 on a glass top stove). Stand bythe pan and stir occasionally. When the batter look is gone and the ingredientsstart staying together when you stir (5-8 minutes), remove the pan from theheat. Lay out some wax paper and scoop play dough onto the wax paper. I canusually start kneading right away, but make sure that you check the doughfor heat - you don't want to burn yourself!
Once the dough has been kneaded into a nice texture, place in an airtightcontainer or zip lock. The snack sized zip locks work beautifully.

Christmas Traditions

2011-12-08T08:47:00.001-07:00

I love this time of year, a time where traditions begin. Some of the great memories of growing up were the traditions around the Holiday season. My parents did a fantastic job creating traditions. My dad took us to see the lights every year, we would all pile in the car and drive around for HOURS, to see all the Christmas lights. We visited Christmas Tree Lane and Storybook Lane in the avenues for years.

We also had a tradition to go to Trolley Square and have dinner and then would go Christmas shopping for our siblings, it was something that we always looked forward to. I would love to carry on this tradition in some way when my kids are older and can pick out their own gifts for each other!

Since I now have a family of my own. Tim and I have started a few of our own traditions since being married. We have gone to see the "Festival of Lights" down in Spanish fork for the past 4 years, it's been a fun thing to do to drive down there and see the fun Christmas lights as we listen to Christmas music. We took the kids down there on Monday for family night and it is that much more fun now that the kids are getting a little older and see their eyes light up watching all the lights!

Every year my family has a annual Tate dinner for my siblings birthdays. We meet at a restaurant and then head off to temple square with my parents, my brothers and sister and their kids. Then Santa comes to my parents house. It's something fun that we started since having our own kids.

Another fun thing that we have done as a family is going to Hogle Zoo to see the Zoo lights. This is always fun for the kids.

Our beautiful Christmas Tree

Decorating for the Holidays!

It seems like each weekend night between our kids birthdays and all the Christmas parties we have a fun filled December! Here to wishing you all a wonderful Christmas Season!

Homemade Creamy Dreamy Fudge

2011-12-05T13:11:00.001-07:00

Creamy Dreamy Fudge~

4 C sugar

1 can evaporated milk

1 C butter

2 large Hershey Chocolate Candy Bars

1 12 oz package milk chocolate chips

1 7 oz jar marshmallow cream

1. Put the sugar, milk and butter into a largesauce pan.

2. Stir it all togetherover medium high heat. Bring it to a boil while you continue stirring. Once themixture has reached a "hard boil" (this means it keeps boiling, evenwhile you are stirring) continue cooking for 5 minutes while you stir.

3. Remove the pan from the heat. Stir in theHershey Chocolate Bars, Chocolate Chips and Marshmallow Cream. Mix it well sothat all the ingredients are well combined.

4. Pour the fudge into a buttered 9x13 pan.

5. Let the fudge set and cool for about 1hour. After it has cooled down you can cover the pan with plastic wrap andstore it in the fridge. It also freezes really well.