New Blog

I started a poetry blog. I used to write poetry all the time. This is motivation to do it again. If you're interested, follow me here.

Christmas letter for 2010

2010 with the Grahams!

This year has been quite the adventure for the Grahams! After a long and hard pregnancy, our first child Carson James Graham was born on May 21^st at 11:48 am after a long night of labor. I had no idea how much I was going to love that little baby the second he was in my arms. It was a very overwhelming feeling. Daddy was just thrilled and we were so grateful that he was born healthy and happyJ

Carson has been such a joy in our lives. Scott and I are completely spoiled because he sleeps about 9 hours straight every night, and then another 2, and has done this since he was 3 months old! He is a very happy baby and is starting to crawl everywhere and get into anything he can get his hands on, which keeps mom and dad on their toes! He started on solids about a month ago and absolutely LOVES peaches and pears, but will also eat green beans and sweet potatoes. He loves to eat!

Summer was full of walks and playing outside in the park with Carson and Sydney, while daddy was at work. We enjoyed the warmth and being able to take Carson out and about without worrying about the cold. Scott has really enjoyed his new job that he started in February. He is a Field Technician for Veracity Networks, and gets to set up phone and internet systems at all kinds of commercial and residential places. He really enjoys being able to go to new places and meet new people every day. We are grateful that he has a stable job with benefits that he loves so much. We are truly blessed!

We celebrated out 3 year anniversary in September by going up to Sundance and took a ride on the lift and hiked the trail to the waterfall. It was absolutely gorgeous, and we were grateful to have the entire day just the two of us thanks to my wonderful mother who watched Carson!

October brought Carson’s first Halloween, and he wore an adorable spotted puppy dog costume. No trick or treating this year, but we will be looking forward to that next year! We had a lot of fun with our friends Allen and Amanda Engebretsen making fancy caramel apples and watching Halloween movies.

November was yummy yummy yummy! Amanda and I had quite the adventure in the kitchen making our own Thanksgiving feast, which took an entire Saturday to prepare and completely wore us out. By the time we sat down to my Grammie’s beautiful china and had everything ready, we were laughing and crying and moaning from total exhaustion! But it was so yummy, and we were able to try a bunch of new recipes and we were very proud of them. We had Thanksgiving with Scott’s family at his Grandmother’s house and dessert at my Aunt and Uncle Merril’s house, which was so incredibly yummy and we ate way too much, as always!

Scott turned 25 in November and after a lot of saving, and contributions from family, Scott was given some money to buy a remote controlled helicopter, which he absolutely loves! He has had a lot of fun flying and crashing and fixing it, and is even working on improving it. I am married to such a smart man!

December has been fun thus far. We can’t believe that the Christmas season is already here! This was definitely the fastest year of our life, and we are sure it is because Carson has entered our lives and he is growing up so fast! This month we were able to cut down our own Christmas tree up the canyon east of Heber City with my family and our dog Sydney and we had such a blast! We truly had an ideal time and are so very excited to make that a tradition and do that every year! We are looking forward to all the other events coming up, including the Mormon Tabernacle Christmas Concert on the 16^th. We have already enjoyed the Festival of Trees and Christmas Around the World. We are so grateful for all our many blessings. We love this time of year and are so grateful for the birth of our Savior Jesus Christ and his sacrifice for us. I am so grateful for the knowledge that I have a Heavenly Father who loves me and who has provided a way for me to be with my family forever. I hope you remember the reason for the season and have a wonderful new year!

Merry Christmas,

Latissa, Scott, Carson and Sydney Graham

A friendly Thanksgiving

This year my best friend Amanda and I decided to do our own Thanksgiving. We thought it would be so fun to cook our own turkey, and try new recipes, since both of us just usually go to our parent's house, and so we miss out on that opportunity. We decided to go ALL OUT. Turkey, stuffing, candied yams, spinach bacon salad, potatoes and gravy, rolls, cranberry sauce, olives, etc. most of which was homemade and new recipes! Did I mention we made 3 pies as well? All this food, for 4 people. We took an entire Saturday to prepare and cook this feast. We got out my Grammie's china and broke out the Martenellis. By the time we actually sat down to eat, Manda and I were so exhausted we barely had energy to eat it! During the feast, maniacal laughs started coming from Manda, and tears and moaning soon followed. We both were laughing, moaning and crying as we fell out of our seats and crawled to the couch and floor, completely and utterly useless. The feast was spectacular, and we loved the new recipes we tried, but needless to say, we will not be attempting THAT again, unless we find more willing souls to help cook! Haha, it was an experience, and I can tell you now, that my gratitude for my mother has greatly increased!

Here are some of the recipes we followed. They were absolutely delicious! I encourage you to try them, even if you do not typically like stuffing or yams. These are winners!

MAPLE CANDIED YAMS

1 stick butter 4 or 5 large fresh yams or sweet potatoes 1/2 cup maple syrup 1/4 cup dark brown sugar 1 tsp. cinnamon OR 1 tsp. vanilla 1/4 tsp. freshly grated nutmeg 1/2 tsp. freshly grated ginger root 1/2 tsp. sea salt 2 to 2 1/2 cups mini marshmallows (optional) Preheat oven to 400°F. Peel yams or sweet potatoes (either may be used). Cut into 1 inch cubes or wedges. Butter a 9x13-inch baking dish generously. Arrange yams in baking dish. In a saucepan, melt butter, and stir sugar until dissolved over medium heat. Add 1/4 cup water and spices. Bring to a boil, add maple syrup; reduce heat to a simmer and cook for 2 minutes. Pour butter mixture over the yams, turning them over to coat well. Cover the yams tightly with aluminum foil and bake on center rack in oven, basting the potatoes with the butter syrup once or twice during the baking for about 45 minutes or until fork tender. Cooks Note: If adding mini-marshmallows, spread them evenly over the top of the potatoes at this time, and broil for 5-10 minutes or until lightly browned, otherwise proceed with next step. When the potatoes are done, remove foil. Bake on the upper third of the oven at 475°F until the syrup has thickened and the potatoes are just beginning to caramelize (about 2 minutes - but watch carefully and do not allow them to burn; if they are browning too quickly reduce oven temperature). Baste with additional butter before serving.

• 
  

• Cook Time:

  25 min

• Level:

  Easy

• Yield:

  12 muffins

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Apple and Onion Stuffin Muffins

Ingredients

• Recipe courtesy Rachael Ray
• 2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil, 2 turns of the pan
• 1 stick butter, softened
• 1 fresh bay leaf, available in produce department
• 4 ribs celery and greens, from the heart, chopped (save time and purchase celery already washed, trimmed and cut into sticks, this makes chopping fast work)
• 1 medium to large yellow skinned onion, chopped
• 3 McIntosh apples, quartered and chopped
• Salt and pepper
• 2 tablespoons poultry seasoning
• 1/4 cup chopped fresh parsley leaves
• 8 cups cubed stuffing mix (recommended: Pepperidge Farm)
• 2 to 3 cups chicken stock, available in paper containers on the soup aisle

Directions

Preheat oven to 375 degrees F.

Preheat a large skillet over medium high heat. Add extra-virgin olive oil to skillet and 4 tablespoons butter. When butter melts, add bay leaf and add the vegetables as you chop them, celery, onions then apples. Sprinkle the vegetables and apples with salt, pepper andpoultry seasoning. Cook 5 to 6 minutes to begin to soften vegetables and apples then add parsley and stuffing cubes to the pan and combine. Moisten the stuffing with chicken broth until all of the bread is soft but not wet.

Butter 12 muffin cups, 2 tins, liberally with remaining butter. Use an ice cream scoop to fill and mound up the stuffing in muffin tins. Remove the bay leaf as you scoop the stuffing when you come upon it. Bake until set and crisp on top, 10 to 15 minutes. Remove stuffin' muffins to a platter and serve hot or room temperature.

Maple Roasted Turkey with Sage Butter

Ingredients

• 1 sticks unsalted butter, softened to room temperature
• 1/4 bunch fresh sage, finely chopped
• Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper
• 1 (12 to 14-pound) fresh turkey, giblets, neck, and liver discarded
• 8 strips bacon
• 1/2 cup maple syrup
• 2 tablespoons hot water

Directions

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F and remove the top rack of the oven.

Put the butter and sage in a mixing bowl and mash with a fork or spoon until the sage is well incorporated. Season with salt and pepper.

Rinse the bird thoroughly inside and out with cold water, and pat dry with paper towels. Sprinkle the cavity and skin liberally with salt and pepper. Using your fingers, gently lift the skin from the turkey breast and slip the remaining seasoned butter under, massaging the breast meat as you go. Truss the bird by crossing the legs over one another and tying with a piece of kitchen twine. Shingle the bacon strips over the breast so it's totally covered. Put the turkey on a rack in a large roasting pan, cover the turkey with aluminium foil, and place in the oven.

In a small bowl, stir the maple syrup with 2 tablespoons of hot water to thin. Roast the turkey for 2 hours, basting with the mapleglaze every 30 minutes. Continue cooking until an instant-read thermometer inserted into the meaty part of the thigh registers 170 degrees F. The thigh juices will run clear when pricked with a knife, about 3 hours total (15 minutes per pound). About 1/2 hour before you think the turkey is done, remove the foil so that it can brown. When done take the turkey out of the oven and put the roasting pan on the stovetop. Transfer the turkey to a serving tray to rest at least 20 minutes before carving. Serve with Turkey Gravy

My dog Sydney

Sydney is an Australian Shepherd/Border Collie mix. She is the sweetest animal you will ever meet. I fell in love with her the second I saw her picture on the internet. She was in Cedar City, but when Scott and I saw her, we knew we had to get her. So he got in the car, almost right away, and picked her up from the animal shelter that night. I woke up to her cute little paws walking on the bed right next to me, and it was love at first sight. Most adorable thing I ever saw. See her as a baby here. Sydney became our first child at that point. We honestly treat her like a human, and I'm pretty sure she thinks she is. Some wonderful things about Sydney:

1. She loves everyone. Seriously. Even if your are clearly not a dog person and are not interested in her, she will do everything possible to get you to like her, and has succeeded more often then not with everyone she meets.
2. She is the softest and cutest cuddle bug. She loves to snuggle up with me when Scott leaves for work in the morning. I am never lonely.
3. She can open the door and come in when she is outside, and can shut the door. She is that smart.
4. We rarely have her on a leash, and we don't have a fenced yard, because she never runs away. She stays right by us when we take her on walks. She is completely obedient.
5. I have never had to tell her "no" to not chew on Carson's toys. She just knew they weren't hers from day one, even though they are constantly scattered all over the floor.
6. She looks after Carson like "Nanna" from Peter Pan. She comes to me if he starts crying and licks him or puts her paw on him to try to get him to stop crying. Any if I don't go right to Carson as soon as he starts crying, she looks at me like "Aren't you going to take care of him?" It's so cute.
7. She hardly ever barks. Only once when people come to the door, and then as soon as your in, she wants to be your best friend.
8. She licks you and cuddles you when you are sad or sick. She is really affected by your mood.
9. She looks after me and Carson when Scott leaves. Literally. She follows me everywhere.
10. She is very playful. Loves to be loved.
11. And when you want to just relax, she just relaxes with you. Very laid back.
12. She is very smart and learns tricks easily.
13. She chases deer and other animals out of our yard. She loves to guard her yard.
14. I used to be the ultimate cat person, but because of her, I am the ultimate dog person.

Sydney is my baby. She is a big part of our family. I hope she stays healthy and lives a long life, because I don't know how I will ever be able to let her go when the time comes. I have never met a dog like her. She has made my life so much better, and makes me happy when I am down. She loves me no matter what I do or say, or how I feel. She will always be there for me, waiting to be loved and to love me. How wonderful! We are truly blessed to have such a best friend :)

Come on guys, make a meal

Since this is my blog, and I can post whatever I want and not apologize, then I am going to post about Thanksgiving.


I know life gets busy, and I know cooking really is time consuming and a hassle a lot of the time, but if there are 2 holidays that a home-cooked meal is appropriate, it's Thanksgiving and Christmas. Seriously, I am appauled when I hear of people that decide not to cook and go out to a restaurant on these holidays. Ugh. It's just so disgusting and lazy. Come on, 2 days out of the whole year you can cook a wonderful, wholesome meal and involve others in the process, and enjoy the yummy smells in your home and decorations that just light up your home. You can gather family and friends around YOUR dinner table and reap the benefits of your hard work. It means so much more when you work for something, and you appreciate it so much more. You also teach your children the value of hard work, rather than saying, "Oh mommy and daddy don't want to have to cook this year, cause it just takes too much time and effort, so we are just going out to eat." If it's a matter of time, I believe you need to set aside the extra time needed to have a home-cooked meal. Take and extra day off work. Plan AHEAD. If it's effort, don't do it all on one day, and get the kids or friends or other family members involved. I believe that the trend of families just going out to eat is another manifestation of the decay of our society. Everything has to be right here, right now, with the least amount of effort so we can get back to our computer, cell phone, video game, etc. We say we never have TIME. But the truth is, we do, we just choose to fill that time with other things, that are probably not as important. I'm sorry to those of you who have gone out to eat instead of cooked on these holidays if I have offended you, but again, this is my opinion, and I do not apologize for it. I just really feel strongly about this, and I had to say something. I encourage you all to put in the effort, the time, and to really reap what you sow, and it will pay off, and you will feel accomplished, and your kids will remember it, and learn a valuable lesson from you, I promise. IT'S WORTH IT!!

Specials!

Just posted a new special on my massage blog if any of you are interested! Come follow me and see it here!

Follow my Massage blog for giveaways and discounts!

I posted a new blog on my Massage blog today. Come check it out, and if you follow it, there will be giveaways for massages and discounts on your birthday and Anniversary! And you just might learn something new. Head on over here now!

5 things for 5 months of Carson :)

1. Carson has been able to roll over from front to back and back to front for 2 months now!! He rolls all over the place, and is getting so close to crawling!
2. He is a champion sleeper. He sleeps at minimum 9 hours straight, then he wakes up and I feed him, then put him to bed for a couple more hours! He also take two 2 hour naps during the day without a fuss, and if he doesn't stay on this schedule he gets pretty fussy. He loves routine, and does not like to sleep anywhere but his crib!
3. He smiles all the time, and his laugh is the cutest thing I've ever heard! He is ticklish on his thighs, neck, tummy, and feet!!
4. He loves to stick his fingers in other people's mouths, especially while eating! SO funny! And I currently have to pump and the bottle feed, because from birth, he has sucked and sucking.
5. His favorite person in the whole world is mommy, but he is opening up to and having more and more fun with daddy recently. He absolutely LOVES his Grandma Young!!

There is so much more about Carson that I will blog about later! I kinda got this idea from Katrina. (thanks) It has been such a wonderful last 5 months, and I just adore the stage Carson is in right now! He lights up my world with hugs and kisses and smiles and joy. He is the best part of my life:) And I am so lucky to have such a wonderful husband who is such a great father. What a blessing!!

On another note, my massage business, Healing Power of Touch, is really starting to take off. I love my job. I started a blog. You can follow it at http://healingpoweroftouch.blogspot.com

Free

I had an amazing, freeing experience on Sunday. Haven't felt like that in a very, very long time. I felt like a kite in the wind, with revitalizing air all around me, and I was Latissa again, my spirit was free, and I was completely tranquil and happy. It felt, in a word, amazing.

I was on my parent's trampoline, gazing up at the sky. It was overcast, and the clouds were a beautiful blue/gray. The wind was perfect, just enough to kiss my cheeks. I was lying spread eagle, feeling so open and free. It felt as though my body and spirit were separate, that my spirit was in charge, and I no longer had this carnal body weighing me down. All depression, anxiety, worry, and negativity was swept away from me. I think that was the closest I've felt to how we will feel like when we are in heaven. I'm not sure why I had this experience, but I know I needed it, and words can't express how honored I am to have felt it, and I only pray I will have that experience again.

New Blog

I decided to start a new blog, Healing Power of Touch, which is the name of my massage business. I'm hoping it will bring more awareness of the benefits of massage therapy, and share my experiences. Hope you will follow me! http://healingpoweroftouch.blogspot.com/

The Beatles are back again

Our friends Amanda and Allen invited us to go to see Imagine at the Scera Shell outdoor amphitheater tonight. They are Beatles lookalikes and sing all their songs. They were uncannily close to the original Fab Four, both in vocals and looks. I LOVED IT! It was so fun to hear all those fabulous songs, and sing along to every one of them. So many families were there, and the kids were just so fun to watch. Anyway, after a really hard day, I ended up enjoying myself. Here is a picture I took of me and my bestie Amanda. I love her so much. Really. I am so blessed to have such a good, loyal, caring, funny friend who just knows me, and who I never get sick of being with. She is like a sister to me, and I don't know what I would do if she ever moved away. Seriously, I would probably bawl my eyes out, so if you are reading this Manda you better not! Friends are such a blessing, and I only hope to be as good a friend to others as they are to me. I recently have been working on improving myself, in many different aspects. I think we all reach a point in our lives where we are unsatisfied with ourselves, and know we can do/be better. I am at that point, and I have set goals, and am working on them. I've noticed a difference in the few things that I have done, like visiting teaching, and cooking, and praying, and trying to be a better friend, and I like the feeling I get when I help others. It really does feel so good. And so I will keep improving.

More recipes

I made this Easy Potato Soup recipe yesterday and my friend Amanda loved it, so I thought I would post it on here as well. It truly is so easy to make, and SO yummy!

Easy Potato Soup

2 T. Butter
1/2 Onion minced
1 Carrot Grated
1 T. Flour
4 Russet Potatoes peeled and cubed
2 Cups milk
1 Chicken Bouillon Cube dissolved in 1/4 cup hot milk
1/2 Cup Half and Half
1/2 tsp Salt
Pepper to taste
Cheddar cheese and Bacon crumbles to taste

Directions

In a 2 qt sauce pan, melt butter and saute onion and carrot until tender. Whisk in flour and cook for 1 min. Add potatoes, milk, chicken cube and cook for 20 min or until potatoes are very soft. Add the half and half, salt and pepper. Mix in bacon crumbles and grated cheese.

I LOVE this cake, and made it yesterday for fun, and for a ward dinner. Everyone loves this!! (Pretty sure it's not better than sex though..hahaha)

Better Than Sex Cake

1 box of German chocolate cake mix
1 tub of cool whip
1 package of chocolate chips
1 package of toffee chips (Heath bar)
1 can sweetened condensed milk
Caramel topping

Directions

Make cake mix, take out and let cool for 5 min.
Stab cake with back of mixing spoon making holes one inch apart all over cake. Pour sweetened condensed milk in holes and all over cake. Do the same with the caramel topping. Put cake in fridge to cool for 1 hour. Take out and put cool whip over top, then sprinkle chocolate chips and toffee chips all over cake. Store in fridge.

Enjoy!! I love both of these recipes!!

My Favorite Casserole

I had a few requests for this recipe that I made yesterday. It has been in the family for a long time, and out of all the casseroles I've had (which are many!) this is by far the yummiest!! I made it for a lady I visit teach and I'm giving it to her tonight. Hopefully she likes it!

Favorite Casserole

Ingredients
1 bag wide noodles
3 T oil
1 1/2 lbs Ground Beef
1/2 lbs hot sausage
2 Cups chopped green pepper
2 Cups chopped onion
1 Cup chopped celery
1 T. Salt
1/2 C. sliced olives
4 oz sliced mushrooms
1 C. hot water
1 can condensed tomato soup
1 can condensed mushroom soup
1 qt. jar spagetti sauce
1/2 lbs mozzerella cheese
Ketchup and mustard to taste

Directions
Cook noodles, drain. Heat oil in large skillet, add beef, sausage, peppers, onion, celery, and salt. Saute until brown. Drain fat.
Pour in large pot and stir in olives, mushrooms, soups, spaggetti sauce and water. Bring to boil then simmer 5 min. Mix in noodles. Cover and bake in a 350 degree oven for 25 minutes. Sprinkle mozzerella cheese over the casserole, then bake uncovered for 10 more minutes.

Enjoy! And tell me what you think!

Carson's Photo Shoot at 10 weeks

My good friend Chrissy Walker gave me a free photo shoot for my baby shower, and so we went and got these pictures taken of Carson a couple of weeks ago. We went to an orchard by her house in Orem. She did such a great job, and I swear, Carson could be a baby model. He is just so adorable and perfect looking!! Don't you think he could be a Gerber baby or something?

The last 2 months

Carson has been such a joy. Being a mommy has been the greatest thing that has ever happened to me. I just absolutely am in love with kissing my little man all day long. His smile just melts my heart. He is the sweetest thing in the world. Just over the last 2 weeks, he has become a pretty good sleeper, sleeping about 6 hours at night. He likes to sleep in his swing, but I am trying to get him to sleep in his crib. I think he likes the incline and the motion of the swing. Each little milestone that he reaches is just so exciting for me and Scott. When he discovered his hands for the first time, and sucked on his little thumb, it made me cry.It was the cutest thing I ever saw! And then when he smiled for the first time, oh my, I laughed and smiled with pure joy! I just can't believe he is mine, and I can have him forever. What an amazing gift God has given me. I hope Carson will always love me, because I know I will always, ALWAYS love him, unconditionally, and I hope I will be a good mom. I sure am trying my hardest! Here are some pictures over the last 2 months. Hope you enjoy!

Pictures of Carson's birth

Here are the pictures I promised of his birth. I would have gotten them on here sooner, but blogger wasn't working on my computer, so here they are now, almost 2 months later. These are just a few of my favs :)

Carson's blessing

Carson was blessed on the 4th of July, Independence day. How fun eh? A lot of our family on both sides came, and also friends. We had a luncheon afterwards at my parents house. It was so fun and such a beautiful day. THe blessing was just beautiful and it made me cry. I thought Carson would, but he was quite through the whole thing, and just a sweet little adorable baby the whole day. I just realized I don't have a picture of just him in his outfit, but here are some pictures from his big day. I will take a pic of just him and put it on soon.