Shelley and Casey's Visit

 Wednesday night, my twin sister and her husband flew in for a visit! They're lucky they made it from the airport to our house alive, considering I was driving in the rain, at midnight, with my 5 year old glasses. I was literally pressed against the wheel, squinting into the glare while trying to assure them I could drive this road with my eyes closed. I guess I wasn't too far off.

The next morning we headed to Palmyra and were able to do a temple session at 11am thanks to Tiff and Denyse who watched Collin for me all day! What a blessing. Palmyra would have been awful with him running around. Instead, we had the whole day to ourselves! After the temple, we did the Joseph Smith Farm tour and walked around the Sacred Grove.

 Then we went to the Hill Cumorah and finished with the E.B. Grandin Building. All the tours were great and we had our tour guides all to ourselves, but the Book of Mormon publishing tour was a doozy. We got a nice, old man who loved to talk. And talk he did! Bless his heart, I don't know how he has a voice after a day of giving tours. We had worked up quite an appetite with all that listening, so we had to stop into Mark's Pizza for dinner. Casey made the executive decision to skip the large, and go straight to the sheet pizza! Good choice Casey.

 The next morning, we drove to the American side of Niagara Falls. BRRR! It was a bit nipply out! From where we parked and had to walk, we were misted with the icy spray of the falls and Collin couldn't even stand to be in his stroller. I had to hold him most of the way. I felt bad when I saw other people's kids bundled up so much their arms were sticking straight out and poor Collin only had on one coat and no hat (he wouldn't let me put the hood on). So while Casey and Shelley did the Maid of the Mist, Collin and I hung out in the visitor's center and he ran in the warmth to his heart's content. I was amused when a Oriental lady stopped to watch him and jabber in Chinese (who knows, maybe that's the language he speaks!) and then pulled out her camera and started talking pictures! She was just ticked pink by him and it gave me the giggles. What on earth is she going to do with those pictures?!

 Well, I just had to show them Wegmans (or Wedge-mans, as Shelley said it). So we stopped in for some sub sandwiches and took them to the dental school to have lunch with Travis, then show them around. When we were done eating, the table was saturated with oil that had leaked through the wrapping. Indicator of a good lunch! When we got home, I sent them off to see a movie, and Collin and I took naps! Thanks to the babysitting swap, we were able to eat Duffs without the screamer and get some Turkey Hill icecream to take home for dessert. (Casey served his mission in Pennsylvania and remembered loving Turkey Hill)

Saturday morning we tackled Kirtland. I had been once before with the YW for youth conference, but it was Trav's first time. The trees were so bright and gorgeous. Not at all captured by this lame picture.

I had brought the video camera and the second I pulled it out, the battery went dead! Humprf! So with the other camera battery flashing, this is the little video I got of our trip. Not too exciting, but at the end you can see the pretty trees in the distance.

 At the LDS visitor's center, we watched a movie about the church history in Kirtland, then took a tour showing us the Newel K. Whitney Store, Whitney home, Ashery, and Sawmill.

 We had some time to kill in the Community of Christ visitor's center before the tour, so Collin got to play dress up...

 By now, it was after 3pm and this kid had not taken a nap, so he was less than pleasant while touring the Kirtland Temple. Shelley pulled off the stickers we had to wear while on the tour and put them on Collin's eyes to amuse him. He loved it and it gave us the giggles. 

 While looking at these pictures, I realized I most definitely have a stomach! I hope everyone is happy now! :) I haven't done any of the {pregnancy pictures} I did with Collin, so here is Duff at a little over 6 months!

 We ended with the Issac Morley Farm tour and learned that this is where Emma birthed her twins that died and was subsequently given the Murdock twins to raise.

 On the farm tour, Collin FINALLY fell asleep, so we didn't want to wake him when we got dinner afterward. We thought he'd continue sleeping until we got home, so our solution was to bring the whole carseat into the restaurant! Hey, we'll never see these people again, right? We thought we were pretty creative, but then, not even 10 minutes later the stinker woke up! And he didn't fall back asleep on the car ride home. We were gone over 12 hours and he slept a total of 30 minutes. What gives?

 I'm so glad they didn't have to leave until Sunday afternoon, so they were able to come to church with us! It was fun to introduce them to our friends in the ward, and especially to introduce her as my {twin} and get the surprised looks. We might as well have been telling them that Casey and Travis were twins!

 They also had the misfortune of sitting through my Gospel Doctrine lesson. I thought they would make me really nervous, but what really got me shaking, was when people kept coming in the door until there were no more seats left! Seriously, people were coming in, then having to leave because there was no where to sit. I thought I was going to have a heart attack. Again, what gives? I don't think I'll be handing out jolly ranchers again. This calling is going to put me in an early grave.

After church, they had just enough time to eat, before having to go to the airport. Trav has been begging for this dinner since Tiffany made it for us months ago, and he finally got it!  It's a bit involved, but very tasty. And I only set the fire alarm off twice, heating up the oil. Oops. I'll put the recipe at the end of the post if anyone wants to try it. Warning: it makes a ton! I'm glad I borrowed Tiff's wok, because none of my other pans would have been big enough.

Just because this pic had no other logical place to go, I put it at the end. Shelley got a kick out of Collin when she opened the fridge door and he pulled out a gogurt and she let him have it. She said his face lit up and he did a little {happy dance} jig right then and there, then bolted to the living room and backed into his "throne", all ready to eat his favorite thing in the world. She made his day. He loved having Aunt Shelley and Uncle Casey around. It was not fun taking them to the airport. Time really does go by too fast. I'm so glad they were able to make the trip out here. It meant a lot and we loved every second. How wonderful to not only have siblings, but to have a twin! She is a lot of fun and a great sister. Casey's not too bad himself :) Thanks for coming to the Buff you guys!

Kung Pao Spaghetti

Kung Pao Sauce

1 ½ cups chicken stock

2 Tbs cornstarch

¾ cup soy sauce

½ cup dry sherry

3 Tbs red chili paste with garlic

¼ cup sugar

2 Tbs red wine vinegar

2 Tbs asian toasted sesame oil



For the Pasta

1 pound dry spaghetti

½ cup plus two Tbs olive oil

1 pound boneless, skinless chcken breasts, cut into ¾ inch cubes

20 whole Chinese dried red chili peppers

1 cup unsalted roasted peanuts

¼ cup minced garlic

3 cups coarsely chopped scallions (3/4 inch pieces)

Egg White-Cornstarch mixture


2 egg whites

2 Tbs cornstarch

½ tsp salt


To Make the Kung Pao Sauce:

In a medium saucepan, whisk together the chicken stock and cornstarch until the cornstarch has fully dissolved. Stir in all the remaining sauce ingredients and bring to a boil over medium-high heat. Reduce the heat and simmer until the sauce is thick enough to coat the back of a spoon, 15 to 20 minutes. Set aside.


To Make the Egg White-Cornstarch Mixture:

In a mixing bowl, use a small whisk to stir together the egg whites, cornstarch, and salt until thoroughly blended; take care, however, not to beat them into a froth. Set aside.


Pasta:

Bring large pot of salted water to a rapid boil. Add the pasta and cook until al dente, 8-9 minutes.

Meanwhile, in a large, nonstick frying pan over high heat, heat the olive oil for about 1 minute. Add the chicken pieces to the egg white-cornstarch mixture and toss to coat them. Taking great care to avoid splattering, add the coated chicken to the pan and cook like a solid pancake until the egg mixture sets; then, using a large spatula, carefully flip the chicken pieces over together and, with a wooden spoon, gently separate the pieces.

Carefully stir the Chinese peppers and roasted peanuts into the pan. As soon as they darken in color, after no more than 1 minute, stir in the garlic and scallions. Once the garlic begins to brown, after no more than 30 seconds, add the Kung Pao Sauce and toss and stir to coat the ingredients.

When the pasta is ready, drain it well and in a large mixing bowl, toss it thoroughly with the sauce.
Delish!