Christmas 2010

This year we spent Christmas in Newcastle with my parents, Matt and Kristen and the girls, and Bonnie.  It was a beautiful weekend.  After opening the mountain of presents in the living room we rode the Razr and pulled the kids in the sled.  The only thing that could have been any better would have been if I hadn't gotten a cold and lost my voice!  When we came home on Sunday, we put away our Christmas decorations, took down the tree, and unpacked all of our Christmas loot!

Our tree

Our tree with a few presents around it. 

Alanna opening presents.

Makenna opening presents.

Jake checking out the presents and Miley chewing on Jake's present!

The girls!

Family picture!

Makenna, Alanna, and Addie in the sled.

Brad pulling the girls in the sled.

Makenna and Alanna showing off Jake and Miley's new coats.

The Best Pumpkin Pancakes!

I made pancakes the other night for supper and these are the BEST pumpkin pancakes I have ever had!  You can find the recipe here; give them a try, they are quick and easy to make!

Picture taken from http://www.weelicious.com/

Thanksgiving 2010

For Thanksgiving this year we stayed home and had some family and friends join us.  This was our first Vegan Thanksgiving and I think it turned out great!  Everyone seemed pleased with the food and the company was a lot of fun! 

Thanksgiving Menu

Stuffed acorn squash

Mashed potatoes

Mushroom gravy

Green bean casserole

Fruit

Veggies

Cider

Mulled wine

Pumpkin brownies from Vegan Cookies Invade Your Cookie Jar

Cranberry salad

Bread/rolls

Thanksgiving casserole

Cajun chex mix

Muddy Buddies

Apple pie

Cherry pie

Thanks to everyone who made our Thanksgiving so nice: Matt, Kristen, Addison, Abrie, Richard, Skylar, Bonnie, Pam, Pearl, Sophia, and of course Brad and the girls!

The last couple weeks...

I kmow I haven't been keeping up with my blog very well, so today I decided to take some time to post and let everyone know what has been happening the last couple weeks. 

Two weekends ago we went to Spearfish with some friends and watched a BHSU basketball game and did some Razr riding in the snow.  We also headed over to Rapid for some shopping.  We had a great weekend. 

Makenna reading her book all the way to Spearfish.

Alanna listening to her ipod all the way to Spearfish.

Makenna jumping into the pool.

Alanna being launched into the air.  They did this over and over again until the guys finally got tired of throwing them!

Alanna had her very first orchestra concert on November 15th.  They combine all the orchestra students from all schools for the concert and there were a little over 100 students!  They played very well, and there was very little screeching!  

On November 19th, Brad left on a 6 day road trip with one of his friends where they rode the Razr in Texas and Okalahoma.  It sounds like he had so much fun he could hardly wait to do it again!  (Even if he has been complaining non stop about his back and neck hurting)

The girls put together a ginger bread house on Sunday when it was cold and snowy outside.

As usual, we have been staying busy, and as usual I will say that I will try to do a better job of keeping up with the blog!

Food Matters

This was a film made in 2008- I recommend EVERYONE watch it!!

They also have a website about the movie with many resources.  Check it out!  http://www.foodmatters.tv/

One of the doctors in the documentary, Andrew Saul, has a website that is very interesting.  http://doctoryourself.com/

Also, you can watch this movie on Netflix if you have an account.

The Best Nachos!

These nachos are so good that we made them twice in one week.  The girls even told me they could eat these every night!

Ingredients:

Black Beans

Chilli Beans

Brown Rice

Taco Seasoning

Lime

Diced green chilles

Tomatoes

Olives

Avocadoes

Green Onion

White Onion

Salsa

Cilantro

More Green Chilles

You can use as much of these ingredients as you need depending on the number of people you will be serving.

Cook the rice and add black beans, chilli beans, taco seasoning, juice from 1-2 limes, and diced green chilles-heat through.  Spoon this over your chips or put in a tortilla shell and top with remaining ingredients.  ENJOY! 

Vegas Murder Mystery Party 2010

We attended our second Murder Mystery party at Luke and Amanda's on Saturday.  We had a blast as usual.  The theme this year was Murder in Sin City!  I was a cocktail waitress and Brad was a lounge singer.  Who knew dressing up and playing pretend could be so fun?

Me and Greg's Amanda

Me and Amanda (aka, the hostess with the mostess)

Brad playing the air guitar and Kimi trying to sing a Katy Perry song!

Me and the Amandas

Makenna and Alanna's Halloween Party 2010

On Friday, October 29th from 5pm-10pm, we had Makenna and Alanna's Halloween party.  I will just say this:

15 tween/teen girls + candy + music = one fun party!!

Thanks to one awesome best friend, the greatest husband, and the two best daughters in the world, the party went off without a hitch!

Krista and the girls

Playing telephone and eating pizza at the same time.

One great group of girls!

Szechuan Style Noodles

I have made this recipe twice now for supper.  It is very tasty and you can make it as spicy or as mild as you would like by adjusting the ingredients for the sauce.  Also great because it is so quick and easy to make.

I borrowed this picture from the Vegan Mouse Blog since I keep forgetting to take a picture of my own.

You can find the recipe here.

*Notes: I used Japanese Udon noodles; I added mushrooms, green peppers, onions, and carrots.  Also, the first time I made it I used peanuts and last night I used cashews.

Falafel and green onion hummus on homemade pita bread

Tonight Alanna and I made falafel, green onion hummus, romaine salad, and pita bread for supper. Mmmm...it was so good!

Salad made with Romaine lettuce, tomatoes, onions, carrots, and olives tossed with homemade Italian dressing.

Homemade pitas, these were super easy to make!  The recipe is here.

Pitas, salad, and green onion hummus.  The hummus: green onions, chickpeas, olive oil, cayenne pepper, lime juice, and tahini sauce.

All put together.  We made the falafel from a boxed mix, which was very easy to make.

Per Makenna's Request...

...I am finally updating my blog!  Makenna has been on me for awhile to update this blog; she said it was starting to make her mad that I hadn't blogged for so long.  So here it is: a random picture and a random post!

This was taken in March 2005.  The girls wouldn't look so small next to those snowmen now!

Anyways, it seems like we have been so busy getting back to school, dance, and I have been working more than usual so I just haven't taken the time to blog. 

Brad and I went to a wedding in Rapid last weekend and then went over to Deadwood where we met friends and took the Razr for a ride.  We had a lot of fun and the girls got to spend a fun weekend with grandma and grandpa. 

Don't worry though, soon I will have pictures to post of our upcoming projects!  Those always give me something to blog about!

In the Big Horns in September

Saturday we drove up to Buffalo with our Razr on our new trailer.  (and, yes, I forgot to take a picture of that setup like Brad had requested)

Our first stop was at Addison's soccer game (again, I didn't even get my camera out for the game darn it).  It was a riot to watch!  It was like watching a live America's Funniest Home Videos show for an entire hour!!

After the game we ate lunch and rode the Razr up to Tie Hack resevoir.  Matt and his girls also drove up there.  The plan was for Matt to help Addie fish.  As it turns out, Matt may not be a great fisherman and I told him it looked like he would starve if he had to catch his own food. 

After an hour of failed fishing attempts we walked over to the bridge across the spillway.

Tie Hack Resevoir

Addie concentrating very hard on fishing.

Over looking the spillway.

Tie Hack spillway.

After Tie Hack, Brad, the girls, and I took a 3 hour long ride on some trails before heading into Buffalo for the night. 

What a fun weekend!!