A recipe and a tree...

We finally got our tree up today!! This year we bought a fake tree... this is my first time with a fake tree, so it will take some getting used to. I told Jon that I will have to buy some pine scented candles to make it seem real. But it does look really pretty! I just love sitting in a dimly lit house with candles flickering and tree lights shimmering. It is so peaceful!

Here is the recipe that I found for Cranberry Bliss Bars. It is by Todd Wilbur.

Cake:
1 c.(2 sticks)butter, softened
1 1/4 c. light brown sugar, packed
3 eggs
1 1/2 t. vanilla
1 t. ginger
1/4 t. salt
1 1/2 c. all-purpose flour
3/4 c. diced dried cranberries
6 oz. white chocolate, cut into chunks

Frosting:
4 oz. cream cheese, softened
3 c. powdered sugar
4 t. lemon juice
1/2 t. vanilla

1/4 c. diced dried cranberries

Drizzled Icing:
1/2 c. powdered sugar
1 T. milk
2 t. vegetable shortening

1. Preheat oven to 350F

2. Make cake by beating butter and brown sugar together with an electric mixer until smooth. Add eggs, vanilla, ginger, and salt and beat well. Gradually mix in flour until smooth. Mix 3/4 c. diced dried cranberries and white chocolate into the batter by hand. Pour batter into a well-greased 9x13 baking pan. Use a spatula to spread the batter evenly across the pan. Bake for 35 to 40 minutes or until cake is light brown on the edges. Allow cake to cool.

3. Make frosting by combining softened cream cheese, 3 c. powdered sugar, lemon juice and vanilla in a medium bowl with an electric mixer until smooth. When the cake has cooled, use a spatula to spread the frosting over the top of the cake.

4. Sprinkle 1/4 c. diced dried cranberries over the frosting on the cake.

5. Whisk together the Drizzled Icing ingredients. Drizzle icing over the cranberries in a sweeping motion or use a pastry bag with a fine tip to drizzle frosting across the top of the cake.

6. Allow cake to sit for several hours, then slice the cake lengthwise(the long way) through the middle. Slice the cake across the width three times making a total of eight rectangular slices. Slice each of those rectangles diagonally creating 16 triangular slices.
Makes 16 bars.

PS- If I make them again, I think that I would use less powdered sugar in the frosting. I added more lemon in mine, because the frosting was so sweet from the powdered sugar that you couldn't taste the lemon at all. Mine was done in less than 35 minutes too, so just keep your eye on it. Also, I think that you could use craisins instead of plain cranberries and it would be fine. Let me know if you try them, and what you think.:)

A Starbucks treat

At our house we love Starbucks, and especially this time of year. I love the Gingerbread Latte, Gingerbread Macadamia Nut Biscotti, and the Cranberry Bliss Bar!! As if we didn't have a hard enough times during the holidays with tempting and yummy foods, Starbucks has to bring out all of my favorites! Well, this year I got a little worried when the Gingerbread Latte came out in Danville, but the Cranberry Bliss Bar was nowhere to be found. I even asked the manager if they would be getting it. She had no idea what I was even talking about. I was so sad, that I knew I had to do something. I began searching for a recipe for Starbucks Cranberry Bliss Bars. I found one and decided to give it a try. My thought was that if I could never get a Cranberry Bliss Bar here in Danville, at least I could make them. Tonight our old Sunday school class had a Christmas party and we were invited. I had the perfect opportunity to try out my new recipe. I was a little dissapointed by them... my white chocolate melted into the bars instead of staying in solid chunks and they didn't seem as moist... but I am also my own worst critic, especially in the kitchen. Jon says that they tasted better than Starbucks. That's a pretty good compliment from a non-dessert kind of guy. I am still not convinced, but it was fun to try. I may try them again and tweak the recipe a bit.:) If you have never tried the ones at Starbucks, you really should go and get one!!

Go Navy! Beat Army!

Happy (day after) Thanksgiving!

Happy Thanksgiving everyone!! We have been waiting to share our exciting news until after we had a chance to surprise our families! As you can guess by the picture, we are expecting Baby Uyboco #2, or as Jon called him/her Baby U2.:) I am currently 10 weeks pregnant with a due date of June 26. Eliana is so excited about having a baby brother or sister and she assures us that she knows all about taking care of a baby, so she will be able to feed the baby, hold the baby, and play with the baby. She found out the day that we had our ultrasound, which was this past Tuesday. It was so neat to have her there to see the first glimpse of her little brother/sister moving around inside Mommy.

God is so good to us. He has blessed us with a wonderful family, awesome friends, and now two children!! We love you all!

Eliana's Royal Tea Party

This past Saturday we celebrated Eliana's 3rd birthday with family and friends. Eliana loves the movie Gigi, God's Little Princess and acts out the tea party that Gigi has with her friend Frances at home all the time. She also loves princesses, so we thought we would combine the two for her party. We threw her a princess tea party. It was really fun to plan and decorate and it all came together so nicely. Eliana had a few of her little friends from church over. They came dressed as princesses. You will see in the pictures one little girl not dressed up. She told us that she was dressed up as Cinderella in her rags!:) There were tea sandwiches, tea(pink lemonade), and cupcakes to eat. My Mom was here and did an awesome job on the cupcakes!! I got the crazy idea to make princess castles, like you would a gingerbread house, even though it had nothing to do with a tea party. We had a blast doing that, and the girls really enjoyed it. I am not sure if it was the candy that they got to eat, or the castles, but they seemed really happy.:) One of my favorite memories from the party is when "Cinderella in rags" told all the little girls that she would read them Eliana's new Gigi book that she had received. It was so cute to see all 4 girls snuggled up on the couch together, listening to a 1st grader do an amazing job reading the story to them.:) We had a great day! Wish you had been here to share it with us too!!

DISGUSTING!!!

For those of you who have either lived in or been to Hawaii, you know that we have some weird bugs there. From the centipedes and millipedes to the creepiest creature in all creation, the many sizes, shapes, and colors of cockroaches! Yuck!! But, seriously, I have never in my life seen more strange bugs than here in Virginia! My first introduction to one of their fine creatures was last year after we had just moved in. I was taking a shower and what do I see crawling on the ground towards me but an inch long skinny thing with long hairy looking legs sticking out on all sides, really too many legs to count. My first thought was centipede, from my many years in Hawaii, but then I thought, "Could there really be centipedes in Virginia?" Thankfully a good dousing of water washed that creepy fellow away. Icky!! When the weather started warming up again we discovered another creepy Virginia bug. This one looks like a giant ant. At first I thought it was the queen ant, but then we saw several of them and knew they all couldn't be the queen. This thing has three distinct body parts like an ant, but each part is literally pearl sized. It's huge! And the weirdest part, it is bright red in color! Jon tried to kill one and it had a really tough exoskeleton! EW! I am feeling all icky just talking about these things, but I have one more to go. Today while running on the treadmill, I spotted something strange on the floor. It was about 3 inches long and brown. I was trying to figure out what toy Eliana had brought downstairs with her that looked like that, when I noticed that it was moving. It looked like a cross between a caterpillar, worm, and centipede. I was in the middle of my run, so I decided to watch it a little more to see what it would do. But, it just kept moving closer and closer to where Eliana was watching a movie. I tried to sound nonchalant as I told her to climb up in her chair to watch the movie because there was a bug on the floor. She got right up there and just watched her movie. I knew I had to do something to get rid of the creepy thing, so I stopped the treadmill and ran upstairs to find a jar or something to trap it under. That way it could stay trapped and Jon could take care of it when he came home. Poor Eliana, the minute I ran upstairs to get a jar, she started screaming thinking the bug was going to get her. I got a jar as fast as I could and trapped that creepy thing under it. I then found some bean bag things from a game we have and put those on top of the jar, just to make sure that thing could not get out. Eliana's words to Jon when he got home, "Daddy, you have to go downstairs and take care of that creepy bug!" He threw it out in the road and hopefully it is dead and will not find its way back into our house. I took a picture of it trapped under the jar. I wish that I had pictures of the other grotesque bugs that I mentioned. They are truly unique and truly disgusting!!! I love God's creation... but sometimes wonder why the bugs and why so creepy!!

A little China doll

Last night was the Fall Festival at our church. Jon and I are not really all that into Halloween or dressing up, but when I saw this adorable outfit that Eliana's California Grandpa had brought her from China, the wheels in my head started turning. I got really excited to put the whole look together, and then wished I had thought of it sooner to have more accessories to really play it up. Eliana was so excited to be dressing up as a "Chinese girl" as she called it. She wanted to know if I was going to dress up as a Chinese girl too, even though I wasn't Chinese.:) I told her I wasn't because I didn't have an outfit. She received many compliments and definitely stood out in her one of a kind costume. It was a fun night, and we didn't even end up with that much candy, much to my relief. I was jokingly telling people that I was going to put a sign on Eliana that said, "No candy please." Half way through the night she said to me, "Mommy, you forgot to put a sign on me.":) Was she gloating or just being observant?!:)

Starting early...

I just had to share something cute about Eliana that one of her Sunday school teachers shared with me the other day. She said that every time they do a craft in Sunday school, they let the children choose what color paper they want to use. Well Eliana always checks out her outfit and what color she is wearing and then picks the paper that is the same color so that it will match. I try to show her how things go together, but hadn't realized just how much she was paying attention to me.:) I will have to pay close attention to her Sunday school craft this Sunday and see if she color coordinates again.:)

All I can say is...

I am so glad that we have such a patient cat!! As I was making dinner I heard Eliana chatting away with Maka. I didn't think anything of it until I took a peek in the living room. Poor Maka was just sitting in the sun minding her own business as Eliana layered her with one thing after another. As if there weren't enough things covering her, Eliana decided that Maka needed a blanket as well. Maka just sat there the whole time. She even stayed under the blanket for another 5 minutes or so. What a sweet and patient cat!!

A Surprise Visit

We had a fun weekend with our surprise visitor all the way from San Diego. Mike, Jon's brother for those of you who don't know, was in D.C. for some military business, and made the 4 hour drive to come see us. We had a good time just hanging out and catching up. Eliana had a good time being spoiled by her Uncle Mike. Thanks for the visit, Mike! We can't wait for Christmas!!:)

A must-see movie

Jon and I were able to go on a double-date tonight with some friends to see the movie "Fireproof." If you have not heard of this movie or seen it, you need to!! It is a really good movie, and also a real tear-jerker! They confront some very intense marriage issues and show how God is in the midst of all of them. What a great God-honoring movie!! I am so glad that I saw it, even if I did cry my way through it!! I would strongly recommend it to both my married and unmarried friends!! It's so cool that such a God centered movie is showing in theatres across America!

Do we have a budding actress in our midst?

In the past couple of weeks, we have heard Eliana dramatically exclaim, "Now I will never be a princess" or "Now I will never be a big girl" and several other phrases that have started with that very dramatic, "Now I will never...". We have wondered where it was coming from and just figured it was some stage she was going through. She would make the phrase acting all sad and exasperated, and then a few minutes later she would be fine.

Well, tonight we discovered the culprit! In the mornings when I run, Eliana gets to pick a movie to watch and lately her favorite has been "Gigi, God's Little Princess." I am usually on the treadmill with my ipod on and so I don't pay that much attention to the movie that she is watching. Tonight we decided to sit down and watch this particular Gigi movie with Eliana. The character Gigi thinks that she needs some sort of royal thing to do in order to be a better princess, so her and her best friend sign up for ballet. Only her first day of practice goes horribly and she comes home very discouraged. She goes straight to her room and hides under her covers loudly exclaiming, "Now I will never be a princess!" I almost fell off the couch laughing when I heard it and made the connection. But the real thing that made both Jon and I shake our head in wonder, was later on in her playroom when she acted out that entire part of the movie, including the part where her Dad comes in to talk to her. She had Jon come in and talk to her about how upset she was and why. I wish that we would've had the video camera handy! She has interacted with movies before but never have we seen her reenact one!:) It was so cute!! And now we know why there is all the drama behind her "Now I will never..." exclamations!

A little Aloha in Danville?!

Jon and I decided early in our marriage that for our Anniversary gifts each year, we would follow the reccommended gifts. It has been both fun and challenging to see how to use thier suggestions and get something we know the other person would like. This year for our 4th Anniversary I think that I got my favorite gift by far!! The suggestion was "fruit and flowers" or the other was some kind of fabric, think. I was wondering which way Jon would go and what I would get. He totally surprised me by getting me 2 Plumeria plants! The company that he used start a cutting growing right when you order it and ship it to you when it has firmly rooted. I was so surprised to see 2 flowers even growing on the white/yellow Plumeria plant when it arrived. We bought pots and the right soil and got ready to try and keep them alive. I have not been blessed with a green thumb and neither has Jon, but we were going to give it a try for these special plants.

Why are they so special, you ask? Well, besides the fact that they grow all over Hawaii in all different colors and smell amazing, there are two other things that make them extremely special to us. When we got married in Hawaii, I wanted a very simple wedding that reflected our love for Hawaii. We ended up using Plumeria's for our flowers. My bridesmaids all had Plumeria bouquets and a Plumeria in their hair. It was so simple and pretty and perfect!:) The Plumeria that we used is probably one of the heartiest kinds and it was white with a yellow center. They each have a specific name, but I can't remember it. After we got married we decided that we wanted to have a little garden outside of our tiny condo. We bought 4 different Plumeria cuttings and had started growing them. There was a white/yellow one, rainbow one, red one, and gold one. Unfortunately Jon got his orders to Afghanistan and I had to leave my Plumeria's behind with a kind neighbor who loved plants. I truly grieved over having to leave them. They were like my babies. I know it's silly, but that is how I felt.

So you can imagine just how special it was for Jon to find those Plumeria's and get them for me! We have a white/yellow one and a rainbow one. Our white/yellow one has been blooming for us all summer, and the picture is of the latest blossoms. They may be the last we see until next year as we have to bring them inside soon. The rainbow one hasn't flowered yet, but hopefully next year. We had to leave a part of our hearts in Hawaii when we so hastily moved, but having these beautiful plants is such a delight. Now we just have to keep them alive!!:)

Just some pictures...

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Getting into the game...

Well, the Uyboco's have finally decided to join this crazy blogging phenomena. We have many friends that are already blogging and we have enjoyed keeping updated on their lives through that. Hopefully this will be a better way that we can stay in touch with our friends and family.

We just completed one full year of living here in Danville, Virginia. We have a great church that we are a part of, and Jon and I just started teaching a 4th-5th grade Sunday School class which we are really enjoying. Eliana loves her Sunday school class and is even doing Awana's on Sunday nights. She is a Puggle, for those of you familiar with Awana's. She loves wearing her cute little platypus shirt, but we think her real favorite thing about Puggle's is the snack that she gets each week.:) We are very thankful for the church that God directed us to and the friends He has give us here.

Jon is working at ABB in South Boston, which is about a 45 minute commute each day. I keep busy with Eliana and with my new hobby, running. Jon encouraged me to try running the summer he came home from Afghanistan. I didn't think that I could do it, because I had never, ever been a runner and actually hated running or maybe it was just the thought of running that I hated... anyways, he found me a running program and now I am hooked! Jon and I recently ran with the Nike Human Race 10K while on vacation in the Outer Banks. That was really cool! I now have my sites set on my first half-marathon.( Thanks Emily for the awesome inspiration!!) Hopefully we will become a running family. Eliana loves to pretend that she is running while I am on the treadmill. She has an old watch that she puts on her arm as her "i-pod" and presses it to start it. She will run for a while and then stop and tell me she has run 2 miles or 4 or whatever number pops into her head. Then she will start to do her interpretation of my stretches. It is so cute!!:)

Well, that is a brief update of our family. I have some big examples to follow in this blogging business with my faithful blogging friends, Emily, Kate, and Kimi. I hope that I can keep up with you guys!!:)