BYU Football in Dallas, TX

Alpine Slide / Maddox Shootout

For more pictures of out trip to Colorado, visit my facebook page for a more complete album.

Leadville Train

Vacation pics from Colorado

We got to have Jadeyn and Bennett stay with us for a week while their parents were in Hawaii. Hawaii,(sigh) someday, maybe for our 10 yr. we can go. It sounds beautiful and filled with lots of things I'd love. I don't know, Marc would rather go to Argentina, Mexico, or the Caribean instead. I guess any of those places would be fun. Anyway, we had lots of fun and I tried to take them somewhere fun everyday. We went to the movies, the science center, the city park with water fountains, the pool, and other fun places they loved. It was also fun because Brandon and Michelle were in town that week with their kids so we got to meet up with them, too.

White Chicken Chili

This is a yummy White Chicken chili I made.

1 tablespoon olive oil
1 cup chopped onion, frozen or fresh
2 teaspoons chopped garlic, jarred or fresh
1-3/4 pounds chicken tenders, cut into quarters
1 packet (1.5 ounces) taco seasoning mix
1 cup water
1 can (13.75 ounces) artichoke hearts, drained and cut into quarters (photo 2)
1 cup diced fresh tomatoes
1 can (15 ounces) white beans, drained and rinsed
1 tablespoon chopped fresh cilantro (optional)
Directions
1. In 12-inch straight-sided skillet, heat oil over medium-high heat. Add onion; sauté until softened, 3 to 5 minutes.
2. Add the garlic, chicken and 1/2 teaspoon of the taco seasoning mix to the onion; cook until the chicken is no longer pink, about 5 minutes.
3. Stir the remaining taco seasoning and water into the chicken mixture. Bring to boiling. Add the artichoke hearts, tomatoes and beans; simmer, uncovered, 5 minutes. Garnish with chopped fresh cilantro, if desired. Makes 6 servings.

New Pool

We got a new pool this summer for the back yard. It has a little built in slide. The kids love it. It was great to have especially when I've watched other kids and didn't want to go anywhere. We found a hole in it the other day. Hopefully we can patch it up and use it next year, too.

I've been trying to come up with fun things for the kids to do. This is called pudding painting. I told them to make a mess, get it all out of their system. They loved it as you can see. Then I gave them all baths. Not something I have the energy for everyday, but it was fun.

(Okay, not sure why this came out side ways, it wasn't like that before uploading.) Natalie's cousin Clair got a new bed so she gave her's to Natalie. This was perfect timing since Julia was crawling out of her crib and we were worried she was going to fall on the hard wood floors. So Julia got Natalie's bed. She did really well with it for a while. She's really good about going to sleep right away on her own. But the past few months she's been getting up in the middle of the night and we can't get her to go back to sleep. If she does "sleep through the night" she wakes up at 5 ready for the day. So the whole family has been on limited sleep the past few months. I was talking to my sister-in-law, Michelle, the other day and she mentioned to me what the Supernanny does. I happen to have the book and read up on it. The first 2 times she gets out of bed you put her back and say it's time to go to sleep. Then after that you don't say anything just put them in bed without making eye contact. So I tried it the past 2 nights. The first night I did it about 6 times before she got the hint and went back to sleep, which was amazing to me. Then last night she got up and I only had to put her back once and didn't hear from her again 'til 6:50, which is awsome. We'll see how the rest of the week goes, but I hope this means we get our sleep back, we all desperately need it.

Spaghetti dinner/ Desert Auction

This year for our ward spaghetti dinner/ desert auction I decided to make cupcakes that look like spaghetti. With Marc's help, I decorated them with colored vanilla frosting, raspberry jelly, white chocolate shavings(Parmesan cheese), and those hazelnut chocolates for the meatballs. They actually did look like spaghetti, and sold for a good price, too. And on top of that, they were delicious, if I do say so myself.