Sledding with Grandpa

Grandpa was so excited to take the kids sledding that he went out and bought new sleds! (My question was "Where are the old sleds?" But I think poor Grandpa is getting older because he couldn't remember what happened to them . . .) But this is a favorite memory for me because Grandpa turned into a little boy in all the excitement!


Nick was less than thrilled so I told him to at least have one turn down the hill and then he could go inside. Six or seven tries later, he was still giving it a go. Unfortunately, the whining did not subside.


Can you believe how blue the sky was???


Ashlee and Grandpa making snow angels. This is one of my most favorite photos because it shows what a good sport Grandpa was to really get down and play with the kids. Either that or he was just so tired by this point that he couldn't get up!


Grandma came out and decided to join the fun! So did the neighbor's dog. This dog had a bad habit of standing directly in your path when you wanted to go down the hill. On top of that, it was deaf so you couldn't get it to move unless you got up off your sled, walked halfway down the hill, and physically removed the dumb mutt.

Catching Up Part 2

More pix from over Christmas break. I got to catch up with old high school friends (Trudy, Emily and Julie) while enjoying the yumminess that is Cafe Rio. It took me 3 tries to finally realize what all the hype was about--you MUST get the shredded pork, whether it's in a burrito or on a salad AND their green ranch sauce. It blows Qdoba and Chipotle right out of the water!


This was at an indoor amusement park called Jungle Jim's. It was cool because there are rides for the older kids and the younger kids and if you couldn't tell, Nick thoroughly enjoyed himself.


We had a great time there with Auntie Natalie, Uncle Aaron, adorable little cousins Braden and Tyler, Auntie Sarah and Uncle Brandon.


My sister Sarah and me after we tried to get movie tickets to Enchanted but all the seats were already sold out so we went and saw it over at that really cool outdoor Gateway mall instead. Utah has got some seriously cool destinations.


Jere's brother Josh and his wife Andrea blessed their sweet new baby Elsie while we were there. This is Ashlee meeting her new cousin for the first time. Ashlee LOVES babies!

Just Catching Up a Little

I've been such a blog slacker lately, that I have to catch up on about four months of events and such. So I'm really sorry, but all my descriptions are going to have to be extremely brief. This photo was taken at Thanksgiving and includes 3 of my sisters and their families. I couldn't believe Kelsie was as tall as I was!


Enjoying the golf cart with cousins Sammy and Kylie just after Thanksgiving. The kids LOVE riding on this thing and we all had a really fun but very short break.


Our family Christmas photo. I'm glad the picture didn't also capture all the whining and complaining the kids were doing during this session.


Nick and Ashlee with cousin Tyler after we arrived for Christmas break (this was taken just before they used the bed as a trampoline.)


Ashlee opening yet another Ponyville toy at Grandma and Grandpa's house over Christmas. She has already made her gift list for her birthday in October that includes even more Ponyville toys . . . sigh!

Saying Goodbye to Yet ANOTHER Honda!

OK, so I know you're all dying from shock because I am actually posting again. Because I've been out of the blog scene for quite some time, I have a ton to catch up on. This post will feel familiar to a post I did about 6 months ago when we said goodbye to my Honda Accord. Well, last November, we had to say goodbye to Jere's Accord as well. Most people would say we are just having a lot of bad luck, but both times have turned out to be blessings because in both cases, our insurance company paid for replacement cars that were newer, nicer and had much less mileage on them than our poor Accords.

This car we replaced with a 1996 Honda Odyssey that only has 100,000 miles on it (as opposed to our old 1992, two-door, that had over 200,000 miles on it.) So yes, I have finally entered the realm of mini-vans and quite frankly, I've enjoyed it quite a bit. Now when any of you come to visit, I no longer have to request that you squish in the back between the kids' carseats. And now if more than one of you come to visit at a time, I will be able to pick you all up in just one vehicle. Fabulous!

Ashlee's Art Blog

Ashlee has a blog where she can post her latest drawings. Check it out when you get a minute!
http://www.ashlee-raquel.blogspot.com/ OR click on the Ashlee's Art Blog link to the left.

A New Ashlee!

Ashlee got a really cute haircut about 3 weeks ago. On the way to the salon, she was in a bad mood and kept telling me that she didn't want to cut her hair, that she wanted long hair forever. I kept thinking it was going to be a bad experience and kept bracing myself for tears and chaos in general. When we got there, I found a picture of a short bob and showed it to her. I asked her if she liked it and she suddenly said, "Yep. I think I want that one." I handed her over to the hairdresser and waited patiently in the waiting area. Not long after, I got a child that I didn't even recognize! AND, Ashlee was very happy with it (phew!) So happy, that she spent quite some time in front of the mirror when we got home admiring what a pretty girl she was.

Some REALLY Good Recipes

OK, so I haven't posted in a really long time and I actually shouldn't be taking the time to post right now either, but I have found some recipes that are so easy to make and taste good, too. I love to make dinner in my crockpot, basically because it doesn't require me to stick around, so here are the recipes from Recipezaar that I think you should try:

Crock Pot Chicken with Black Beans and Cream Cheese
4-5 frozen chicken breasts
1 (15.5 oz.) can black beans, drained
1 (15 oz.) can corn, drained
1 (15 oz.) jar salsa, any kind
1 (8 oz.) package cream cheese (or low-fat kind if you're trying to stick to your diet)

1. Put 4-5 frozen (yes, frozen) boneless chicken breasts into crock pot.
2. Add black beans, salsa and corn.
3. Cook on high for about 4-5 hours or until chicken is fully cooked.
4. Add 1 package of cream cheese (just throw it on top!) and let sit for about 30 minutes.
5. You can serve as individual breasts with a yummy sauce, or you can chop (or shred) the chicken up into little pieces and mix all together to be served as a chowder-type soup. SO GOOD!

Easy Crock Pot Lasagna
1 lb. ground beef (or substitute chicken or ground turkey here for a lower fat version)
1 medium onion, chopped
2 garlic cloves, minced
1 (29 oz.) can tomato sauce
1 (6 oz.) can tomato paste (or substitute the tomato sauce and paste for a 26 oz. jar of Prego)
1 tsp. dried oregano
1 tsp. salt
1 cup water
8 oz. lasagna noodles, uncooked
4 cups mozzarella cheese, shredded
1 1/2 cups small curd cottage cheese
1/2 cup parmesan cheese, grated

1. Brown beef (or other meat) with onion and garlic until onion is softened. Drain off the fat.
2. Stir in jar of Prego OR tomato sauce and tomato paste, salt, and oregano. Also add the water. Mix well.
3. Spread one fourth of the meat sauce in an ungreased slow cooker. Arrange one third of the UNCOOKED noodles over the sauce.
4. Combine the cheeses.
5. Spoon one third of the cheese mixture over the noodles.
6. Repeat layers twice.
7. Top with remaining meat sauce.
8. Cover and cook on low 4-5 hours OR on high for 2.5 hours.

Give these a try and let me know what you think! Bon appetit!