Holy Brownies!

I am so excited! I made the best brownies in the world today!
Here is the recipe...
1 cup MELTED butter
10 TBS cocoa (8 if the cocoa is new, trust me)
2 cups sugar
1 1/2 cup flour
4 eggs
1 tsp vanilla
Mix well... Put in 9x13 greased pan cook at 350 degrees for 35-40 minutes
Here is the frosting! It makes the brownies!!!!
1/2 cup butter
4TBS cocoa
Bring to a boil
In separate bowl combine
6TBS milk
1 tsp balsamic vinegar
Mix well
Add
1 lb powdered sugar and butter/cocoa mix
mix well
Pour over brownies... Will be runny but hardens as it cools.
Enjoy!
Please let me know how you like it and feel free to share this page with others if you like...
Have a super night!
Love you all!
Jaci

Four Years Ago, Today

Four years ago, today, I gave birth to my fourth child, Clara Joy LeCheminant. She came to us 6 1/2 weeks early. I call her my valentines present because I went into labor with her on Valentine's day.
I sit here today, not able to sleep. It's 2:56 in the morning... I have a lot of things going through my mind. I really hate nights like this. I hate not being able to sleep. I know Clara is going to be up and excited and I want to be up and excited with her. The biggest thing on my mind, how thankful to my father in heaven for my beautiful children!
This is going to be a short post tonight... I just wanted to update it because of the special day.
I will post again soon!
Jaci

A New Year... A New Start on Blogging

It is January. I am starting this blog again...
I am here with my sweet son, Zach watching Enchanted, the movie. I love this movie! It is one of my favorites. I love how happy it makes me...
So what's been going on???
My life, I retired from JetBlue. I earned lifetime benefits in December of 2009. In September 2010 I decided to retire. I was very ill and in a lot of pain. It was really hard for me to sit for six hours a day. I have to say, I miss it dearly! I knew I loved JetBlue, I just didn't realize how much until I didn't work there anymore. I honestly am thinking about going back.
So right now, I am staying home with my sweet Clara. I LOVE staying home with her. She keeps asking me when she can start school. I told her next year. I don't want her to start yet because I want to spend every minute I can with her.
Lynn is still working at Morgan Stanley. He is busy with his job. His back is so bad right now with three herniated disks that he hasn't been able to work at his other job, Home Depot. He can hardly sleep at night because of how bad his back is.
Krissi is turning eighteen on March 2nd. WOW, I can't believe she is going to be 18. She is such a beautiful person! She is a senior and is getting ready to go to College. The question is, which one... I guess she will go with the one with the best scholarship. She is looking at Utah State University, BYU, Anna Maria, and University of the Pacific. We are not too keen on the city of University of the Pacific. So that will probably be her last pick. Her singing is becoming more and more beautiful! She is taking from Larry Gee now. He is such a great vocal coach. She is getting ready to perform in a vocal competition in March. She is singing two very hard Arias. I know she can pull them off. Larry knows she can, also. Krissi has a lot of boys around. Infact, they are always around. She has fun hangning out with them but she really really likes one boy at the moment. He is a sweet boy and treats her really cute! He makes her happy and so that makes me happy!
Johnny is 15. He is loving high school. He is also taking voice lessons. His voice is amazing, also. Johnny is such a sweetheart! He is so easy going and happy. People tend to flock to Johnny. He has two girls that really like him. He isn't going to date until he is 16 in June. These girls are counting down the days.
Zach is 9 but will be turning 10 in two weeks. I can't believe how big he is getting. He has such a cute personality. He is connected at the hip to his best friend, Britton. They have a lot of fun. Zach just made his school play. I am so proud of him.
Clara is my little personality. She is my Joy Joy! She makes me so happy! She is so funny and has the cutest sense of humor you have ever seen. She is always cracking jokes. Her favorite word right now is coco butt. We have no idea how she got that word or heard it but everything is coco butt. She even named her bear Coco. We had to talk her in to not calling her bear coco butt. She just is so funny!
Well, that is all for now! I am tired and will write again soon!
Jaci

It's Been A LOOOOOOOOOOONG Time...

I know it has been a long time. A lot has happened in the past little while.

Christmas came and went... The kids loved it! Krissi got her letter jacket Johnny got an MP3 player. Zach got the Pixos he wanted and Clara got a baby... It was a great Christmas. The most wonderful thing at Christmas was the fact that we got to spend it with the family. Mom and Dad got home from their cruise. We had Christmas Eve over at their home. We had Clam Chowder. It was wonderful! We read the Christmas story in Luke and then went home. It was so neat. I love Christmas Eve. I think it is my favorite part of Christmas. On Christmas morning we woke up and saw what Santa brought. We then went over to mom and dad's to sing "Happy Birthday" to mom. It was so fun! It is a really neat tradition. The kids say that they love how things are backwards on Christmas... Cake for breakfast... Nothing like it!It's wonderful!
New Year's Eve was fun! we went to Lori's house. Lori's other best friend is Tracy Cromar Julian. Tracy and I grew up across the street from each other. She was like a sister to me growing up. Tracy and her family were at Lori's house also. It was so much fun to see her again. We had such a fun time! We played 80's Trivia. Can I just tell you that is one of the greatest games! It was surprising how much we didn't know...

Zach's birthday was on Feb 3. We decided to take him to Disneyland. It was his eighth birthday. Disneyland is doing a free birthday promotion so Zach, Clara and I got on the plane and flew to California. Robyn met us at the airport and we went to Disneyland. We had so much fun! Zach loved it! He and Clara got to go on every ride they wanted too. It was just a wonderful day all together!

On the 7th of February, Zach had a very important day! He became a member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Saints. He was baptized and confirmed. What a special day! We went to Joan's house after the baptism and had a lunch. So many of our dear friends and family members came. It was just a wonderful day!

Yesterday it was Clara's birthday... February 16th. She turned two. Clara is my little Valentine's present. I went in to labor with her on Valentine's day. She came 6 1/2 weeks early. She spent two weeks in NICU. She came home weighing a whopping 4lbs. Now, my little two year old is on the 98th percentile in BOTH weight and height. She has made up for it. She had a wonderful birthday. We went to Nonnie and Grandpa's to have cake and ice cream. She got such fun gifts. She got a huge teddy bear from my mom and dad. She got clothes from me and Converse high tops from Krissi. They are so cute on her.

So this brings me to today. Zach is sitting here asking me if he can have a corn dog for dinner... I guess I better go! I promise I won't stay away that long again. Love you all!

Can't Sleep

So it's almost 2am and I have a million things going through my mind.  I hate it when this happens because all I can do is toss and turn.  Then I start to fall asleep and noises get amplified and lights get more intense.  Am I the only person this happens too?

So it's the day before Thanksgiving.  I love Thanksgiving!  This one is going to be a little off because mom and dad are on a cruise.  It just doesn't seem the same without them.  

We are staying at their house right now because Lynn has been

 working on the plumbing at home.  We decided that it would go a lot faster if we weren't there.  That way he could take care of it all at once instead of a little here and a little there.  It has

 been so fun staying here.  We have decided that we need to trade houses with mom and dad when they get home...  Ok, so it's fun to dream!  We are moving home today.  It is a little sad but it is time.  I'm going to miss the hot tub.

Yesterday was the last day of school for Thanksgiving break.  I love having my kids home.  I a

m 

so excited that it is a long weekend.  It has been a crazy day.  Johnny stayed home.  I took Clara and him to the doctor's.  Clara broke out in hives from head to toe and Johnny has just not been himself.  He has been tired and sluggish.  Johnny is SO not like that.  He is my child that never stops.  Anyway,  so the diagnosis is... Are you ready for this one?  They think Johnny has mono. HOLY COW!  I was not expecting that one.  We got home for the doctor and I ran up to get Zach.  

After school, Zach and I went to the zoo with Erika and Justin.  It was so fun.  I only stayed 45 minutes and then left.  Erika brought the boys home a little later.  After the zoo, I went to get Krissi and came home and George came for her voice lessons.  I have to say, he still is my favorite singer!  He has the most incredible voice in the world.  You should hear it when Krissi and George sing " O Holy Night" together.  It is the most incredible thing.

So after George, Zach and I had Parent Teacher's Conference.  Zach is doing great!  

So that was my life today... Oh wait, I worked tonight.  So that is my day in a nutshell.  I had to write it down.  I need to sleep.  Now maybe I can stop thinking about my day because I wrote it down.  So GOODNIGHT...

By the way, how was your day? Mine was great!

Love you all!

Salt Lick, Pecan Pie, Lance Armstrong, Halloween and more...

These past few months have been a whirlwind. I have been told more than once by my dear sisters, Jenny and Joan, that I needed to update my blog.
I haven't meant it to be this long. I have been VERY busy!
What's been going on in the past couple of months... Well, Krissi andJohnny have not stopped going and in return that has made me not stop.
Krissi, as you know is on Skyline's drill team. She is loving it. I just didn't know how busy the moms are. I feel like I am always over at the school. Krissi has also decided to be in the school play. They are doing Beauty and The Beast. Krissi is a town person and a napkin. She is so excited. In addition to those two things she is still in voice lessons, and, along with Johnny, part of an amazing video that the church is putting out. It is called "A Brand New Year". The video is going to be put out for New Year's Eve. I am really glad they are doing that.
So this is Krissi's life. Wake up, be at school by 6am, go to play practice (except for Wednesdays, she has drill), come home, go to rehearsals for "A Brand New Year", do homework, go to bed, wake up and it all starts over.Johnny's schedule: Wake up go to school, come home, go to football, come home, "A Brand New Year", do homework, go to bed, wake up and start again.
So as you can see, they have been really busy. This has made me extremely busy.So you ask about Salt Lick... Nope, I didn't get the spelling wrong. Salt Lick is my ALL TIME favorite BBQ place. I only get it when I am in NYC at the Big Apple BBQ. The Brisket at Salt Lick is the best in the world. It seriously melts in your mouth. Two weeks ago, I had the opportunity to fly to Austin, Texas and work at the Lance Armstrong, Live Strong Challenge. As my co-workers and I were talking about where we should eat, it hit me that Salt Lick is from Austin. I got so excited! I told them about it. We tried to go there but when we pulled up to the place on the GPS it was the wrong place. I was so sad. So we had Tex Mex that night. The next day we went to the convention. We noticed a place next door to the convention hall called Iron Works BBQ. It smelled SO good! We went there for lunch. It was really good but still not as good as Salt Lick. I do have to say it came in a close second.
While I was checking out and paying for lunch I noticed pecan pie at the register. Pecan Pie is my favorite pie in the world next to Huckleberry. I saved it because I was full from the BBQ. When I got back to the hotel, I took a bite. I was in heaven! This pie was THE best pie in the world! I don't think I have ever tried anything like it.
The next day, we were able to go to Salt Lick. It was so fun. When we pulled up to the restaurant, we weren't sure we were in the right place. It is in the middle of nowhere about 40 minutes outside of Austin. We pulled in the driveway and there were two police officers directing traffic. The parking lot had to have at least 300 cars in it. There are three buildings to Salt Lick. Every one of them was filled to the max. There were at least 100 people waiting to be seated. All I can say is that I haven't seen anything like it before. It was really cool.
So we sat down. They brought us our food and my friends sat there and said "have you ever tried anything so good... ?". The loved it too! I was so excited the they loved it! It always worries me when I love something so much and talk something up so much and the people I am with end up saying "it is OK". I hate that! So this was a great night for me. Anyway, so I thought that if the BBQ was that good then there pecan pie had to be too. SO i ordered it. I went back to the hotel and took a bite. I was so sad! It wasn't even close to what I had had the night before. Luckily, I had only eaten a third of the one from Iron Works. I threw away the one from Salt Lick and ate the rest of Iron Works.
The rest of the week was great! I really enjoyed going out with the people I went out with. They were really fun. We ended the trip by going to a place called The Oasis. It overlooks Lake Travis. The view was beautiful! The food not so much. There is a house that sits on Lake Travis that is SO amazing and HUGE! I took a picture of it and the kids and Lynn didn't believe it was real. It was pretty funny.
On Monday, we got set to come home. The plane didn't leave until 5pm so we made a quick trip down to San Antonio. It was so cool. I go to go to The Alamo. I loved it! I love history. On the way home, we had one thing happen after another... I'm actually surprised we made it home that night. It was pretty funny. We almost missed our flight in both Austin and Long Beach.
So we got home and the week went on.
On Friday it was Halloween. It was such a fun day. We started the day by going to Zach's parade. It was neat. Krissi and Johnny got to go to it because they didn't have school. Zach was Annikin Skywalker. The kids all looked so cute! I love the Halloween parade. Both my mom and mother in law came. It meant a lot to Zach.
I came home and dropped the kids off. Johnny stayed home with Clara. Krissi had to be at the school because they were performing at Skyline's football game in Alpine. So I dropped her off there. I went to the Doctors and then went up to help out at Zach's school with their Halloween party.
We came home. I dropped Zach off and headed to Alpine to watch Krissi march. They performed "Thriller". It was fun to watch. They all dressed up as dead people and danced. They did a great job. I came home after the football game and headed out with the kids trick or treating. Johnny went as a 70's guy and Krissi went as a princess. I went as a rag doll. Zach stayed dressed as Annikin and Clara went as Marie from "The Aristocats". They all looked so cute!
We had so much fun. It was neat because Lynn actually got to come out with us.
Well, so that was my week in a nutshell. Pretty crazy! I keep telling myself that things are going to get slower. The play is over on the 22nd of November. "A Brand New Year" ends tomorrow night and football season is over in a few weeks.
One more cool thing that happened to me last month was that I got to meet Collin Raye. This was the second time I met him. He is such a great singer. He sings one of my favorite songs "Love Me"
We will see how it goes the next few months.
Well, I love you all! Goodnight!

Is there another Jaci LeCheminant?