Lemon Bars

If you are looking for a delicious summer recipe, then you should make these lemon bars.  They are SO good.  That is, if you like lemon.  They are originally from the Pioneer Woman.  I think they were one of the first things I ever "pinned" and I have been making them ever since (that was almost a year ago).

Creamy Lemon Crumb Squares

  Recipe:

1 ⅓ cup all-purpose flour
½ teaspoons salt

1 teaspoon baking powder

1 stick (1/2 cup) butter, slightly softened

1 cup brown sugar (lightly packed)

1 cup oats

1 can (14 ounce) sweetened condensed milk

½ cups lemon juice

zest of 1 lemon

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Mix butter and brown sugar until well combined.

Sift together flour, salt, and baking powder.

Add oats and flour to butter/sugar mixture and mix to combine.

Press half of oat crumb mixture into the bottom of an 8 x 11 inch pan. You can use a 9 x 13 pan; it will just be thinner.

Mix together condensed milk, lemon juice, and lemon zest. Spread onto the bottom layer of the crumb mixture. The other half of the crumb mixture mix and knead together with clean hands so that the butter that you added earlier gets incorporated then crumble on top of lemon layer but don’t press.

Bake for 20 to 25 minutes, or until golden brown.

Allow pan to sit on counter for 30 minutes after baking. Cut into squares and refrigerate for a couple of hours or until cool.

Serve cool. Makes around one dozen.

Visitors

Last week Dan's parents and Grandma came to visit us on their way up to Provo for Dan's sister's graduation @ BYU.  They stayed with us for a few days and we had a really fun time!

Upon arriving we took them to a restaurant we love called Anasazi Steakhouse (I think I've mentioned it before).  They serve delicious fondue (we tried cheese & chocolate) and meat you cook yourself on a hot stone.

Our lovely visitors at dinner.

Enjoying delicious Anasazi!

After dinner Dan's dad insisted we go to Nielsen's Frozen Custard (and yes, this was right after we had chocolate fondue).  Dan's dad loves Nielsen's.  I think he would go there every night if we let him.

The next day Dan's dad helped him in our yard (thank you!).  He is a master gardener and was able to help us properly plant our garden boxes.

We then went to this art village for lunch at the most delicious cafe with the most amazing chocolate cake (yes, more chocolate!).  There was also a chalk art festival going on in the village while we were there.

I liked this elephant one.

Chalk Art and lovely scenery.

We spent the rest of the day shopping and finding cute things for our house.  Thanks to Dan's Grandma we found this awesome patio set!  I will post pics later.  It looks fabulous in our newly finished yard.

In the morning the girls headed to Kneaders for french toast while the men had a business networking breakfast.  Then they were off to Provo.  We had a fun few days with them and always enjoy their visits.  We were especially happy Dan's grandma was able to make it for this trip too!

Easter

I'm gonna be honest, we really didn't do much for Easter this year.  It really snuck up on us!  I was too busy thinking about conference, finishing our backyard (pictures soon...), and our Vegas trip that I completely forgot to decorate (which is very unlike me).  Luckily I did not forget to buy Cadbury mini eggs.  I also bought myself a new skirt to wear and told Dan it was his Easter present to me.  I then decided to get Dan a game so he would have an Easter present too.  At church Dan and I sang in the choir and I took marshmallow bunnies to my nursery kids.  In nursery we also had the kids make popcorn trees with real popcorn, just like the song.  It turned out so cute!

That evening my brother & his wife & kids stopped by for the night on their way to Arizona.  It was fun to see them for a little bit and I finally got to meet my newest nephew, David!

David & me.

My nephew Jake told us all about how you can find owls in the desert at night.  So Dan took the 2 oldest boys out searching for owls once it got dark.  They had flashlights and wandered around our neighborhood apparently spotting some interesting "animals."  My nephew Ethan even claimed he saw a cheetah!  How awesome :).  It was so funny.  The next morning we spent some time at the park with the boys while their parents packed the car.  It was a fun quick visit!

Guess what else I did this week?  I tried Zumba!  A group of ladies in my ward go each week so I joined them and it was quite the workout.  I was really tired by the end, but had a lot of fun.  I did feel a little ridiculous because it felt like everyone around me knew all of the dances, but I'm sure it gets easier the more you go.  I am hoping to start going with them each week.

It was nice to have a long weekend, but I was back to work Tuesday.  I think only 31 school days left, then summer!

Vegas

This past weekend we enjoyed a little getaway in Vegas with our good friends, Lacey & Ryan.  Lacey was my roommate in college and we have stayed good friends ever since.  Luckily our husbands get along too!  We met up in Vegas and stayed at the Cancun Resort.  It is officially my new favorite place to stay in Vegas!  It is awesome!  The best part is no smoky filled casino!  It is a much more family friendly atmosphere.  It is not right on the strip, just a couple of miles south, which is fine by me!  I liked being in a quieter part of town.

At the Cancun!  The pool was amazing.  On the other side of that pyramid are water slides!

We got there Friday and spent the afternoon swimming.  That evening we went to an outdoor mall called Town Square where we ate at Claim Jumper (which was SO good) and then got my favorite frozen yogurt ever, Yogurtland!  I like it so much I even looked up how much it would cost to franchise one, just so I could have it in St. George.  Unfortunately my frozen yogurt shop owning dreams will have to wait for now.

Yogurtland! Seriously, the best!

Saturday morning we hit the Outlets and then headed to the Strip for some exploring.  Lacey had never really been there, so we had fun showing her around.

First stop: NY NY, just so Dan could play the giant claw game at their arcade.  Didn't win anything this time!

Next headed to Aria/Crystals where they have these cool twister things in the floor. 

Also at the Crystals, large pillars made of ice (and lots of shops we will probably never shop at)!

Lacey & me on the awesome Crystals stair case.  This mall has some of the  neatest architecture!

Flower garden @ the Crystals (the large flower is not real, fyi).

We then made the guys take a manly picture together by this dragon.

We of course couldn't miss the Bellagio fountains!

Love these gardens at the Bellagio.

Found this picture at the Bellagio.  It is made of flowers!

After Bellagio we made a stop at the m&m factory and then headed home to St. George where we played games and visited our favorite Mexican Restaurant.  We had such a blast with Lacey & Ryan and look forward to many more future trips w/ them!