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!!

One Proud Momma!

WARNING: BRAG ALERT!



So, I obviously have two reasons to be such a proud momma:

First reason:  Alanna

This is the poem she wrote at Mallo camp last week and it just brought a smile to my face!

Second reason:  Makenna

Last Friday I had a voicemail on my phone when I checked it after work.  This was more or less what it said, "Hi, this is Valerie Gerdes, Makenna's English teacher.  I would like to talk to you about Makenna so give me a call back.  It's nothing horrible."  So I start thinking:  What in the world could she have done?  I guess whatever she needs to talk to me about isn't horrible, at least; however, maybe it is somewhat bad (Makenna always says such wonderful things about Ms. Gerdes and that she might just be Gerdes' pet so I wasn't sure what could have gone wrong).

I call Ms. Gerdes back, and she says, "Sorry if I scared you by leaving that message.  I just wanted to tell you how much I adore your daughter.  I just love her and I wish I had a hundred more students just like her!  She always has her homework done on time, if not done ahead of time and she is very advanced in her reading and writing skills.  She is so sweet and kind and I just wanted to tell you thank you for whatever it is you are doing right to have a daughter like Makenna."  This brought some tears to my eyes and I thanked her for calling to let me know all of these wonderful things. 

And, of course this isn't the first time I have heard these great things about either of my girls so it didn't really surprise me, but it sure was nice of her to go out of her way to call and tell me. 

LOVE, LOVE, LOVE MY GIRLS!!!

Black Hills Camping Trip

Hey everyone!  Sorry it took me so long to get last weekend's pictures posted, but blogger just would not load them for the past few days.  Anyhow, I finally got them posted.  We camped at the Steel Wheel by Lead/Deadwood Friday and Saturday night.  It was very cold Friday and Saturday.  When we went for a ride on Saturday, Brad was wearing Carharts and the girls and I were snuggled in sleeping bags.  Sunday was a beautiful day for a 6 hour ride.  Although it was our last camping trip of the season, we look forward to riding in the winter and staying in hotels. 

Makenna and Alanna ready to ride.

Snuggled in our sleeping bags for the ride.

Box Elder Creek

Pilot Knob trailhead