Spring Break

First Day of Spring Break

Sunday afternoon

I truly love Sunday afternoons.

We have attended church together as a family,

we have been spiritually feed,

we come home change clothes, eat a snack and then

spend the day TOGETHER!! It's wonderful!

We do crafts, read, write letters or in our journals,

take naps, and lately we have been going to the pond.

It was beautiful cool afternoon, but it felt so good to be

out in the sunshine.

Pre~Easter Dresses

These two beauties have grown a lot this past year.

Especially Raychel so earlier in the month when

there was no school we took off to go shopping for the day!

We had so much fun!

Shopping, eating, laughing, more

shopping and of course more laughing!!

We had great success, found some amazing dresses!!

I love the saying

"We do not remember days,

We remember moments."

We had many moments that day we

still laugh about!!

Awards

We knew before we got there Raychel would get an award for

the honor roll but were pleasantly surprised when they called her

up for an excellence award in Band and great effort and attitude in PE4life!

What a star!! Her face was priceless every time they called her up.
She was shocked and yet proud of herself as are we!!

Raychel and her band teacher
High 5's all they way!!

4 Legged Family Members

At first I was pretty hesitant on getting pets.

They are LOTS of work, take LOTS of time, eat LOTS, and

need LOTS of attention.

It's like having two more kids sometimes.

Then we got pets....the best thing ever.

The girls {and us} really enjoy having them around.

It is teaching the girls responsibility as they feed,

water, walk and clean up after

these 4 legged family members.

And in return they get lots of

LOVE back!!

Crock Pot Chicken Cordon Blue {Easy}

Chicken Cordon Blue

~Ingredients
8 boneless, skinless chicken breast {We had left overs, I put my chicken in frozen}
1 t. salt
1/8 t. white pepper {or black}
1 t. dried thyme leaves
8 thin slices of ham
2 onions, chopped {I only did 1}
4 cloves garlic, minced
1 {16oz} jar Alfredo sauce
1 {10oz} cream of chicken soup
2 c. shredded Swiss cheese

~Directions
1. Sprinkle chicken breast with salt, pepper, and thyme. Wrap a slice of ham around each breast and secure with toothpicks.
2. Place onion and garlic in the crock pot. Top with wrapped chicken breast.
3. Ina medium bowl combine remaining ingredients. Pour into the crock pot. Cover and cook on low for 6-8 hours or until chicken is thoroughly cooked.
I served my chicken with rice and poured the sauce over them.

More Crock Pot Love

Stuffed Bell Peppers

6 large bell peppers

1lb ground beef

2 T. finely chopped onions

1 c. cooked rice {measured dry, before cooking}

1t. salt

1 clove garlic, finely chopped

1 {15 oz.} can tomato sauce {0r can of diced tomatoes

3/4 c. shredded mozzarella cheese

Directions~

~Cute thin slices from stem of each pepper. Remove seeds and membranes; rinse. Cook peppers in enough boiling water to cover for 5 minutes; drain.

~Cook ground beef and onion in a skillet, stirring frequently, until beef is browned; drain. Stir in salt, garlic, cooked rice, and tomatoes {or sauce}

~Heat through.

~Stuff each pepper with hamburger mixture; stand upright in backing dish. Pour remaining sauce over peppers. {I don't do this}.

~Cover with foil, cook at 350 degree F oven for 45 minutes. Uncover; cook 15 minutes longer.

~Remove from oven and sprinkle with shredded mozzarella cheese.

~Enjoy!!

Sunday Photo

I am in awe of these two.

So many times I catch myself looking at them and thinking they are mine!

I love them more then I ever thought possible. I enjoy their company sometimes

more then an adults. They are honest, happy, full of energy, trusting, and

true friends. It is hard to believe these are the babies I held in my arms,

the babies I rocked to sleep, read to, sang to and cuddled all hours of the day.

They are just as beautiful and special to me today, as they were the first day I held them.

Southwest Chicken Nachos

Southwest Chicken Nachos

~Ingredients
1 small back frozen corn
1 can black beans-drained
1 {16 oz} jar medium salsa {I used half medium and half hot}
2 large frozen, boneless chicken breast
shredded cheese
avocados
sour cream
chopped cilantro
tortilla chips

~Directions
Pour bag of frozen corn in bottom of crock pot. Place frozen chicken breast on top of corn and cover with rinsed and drained black beans and your salsa. Cook on high for 1 hour, and then on low for 4 hours. {It took mine 2 hours on high to be able to shred} Shred chicken with forks. {After we shredded the chicken we let it cook anther hour to soak in the flavors} Serve with tortilla chips and add toppings to individual servings. The salty crunchy chips make this so good!!

I love my crock pot!!

Nothing makes cooking easier then a crock pot!!

My wonderful husband got me a new one for Christmas.

It has a timer, a probe to check the temperature and

the best part is it will turn itself to warm once your meal has

reached the desired temperature!! I have always

loved my crock pot and now that I have started working

part-time I am falling deeper in love with my

crock pot!!

Apricot Chicken
(aka: Hawaiian Chicken)
1 Cup Apricot Jam
8 oz. Russian Dressing (Catalina will work if you can’t find Russian)
1 Pkg. Lipton onion soup mix
8 Chicken Breast (5-6 if you are using Sam’s clubs large defrosted-frozen breasts)
1 Can pineapple rings, drained (or fresh pineapple cut into rings if it is on sell)
Uncle Ben's Wild and long grain rice
Mix Jam, dressing, and soup mix together. Place chicken in crock pot, pour mixture over top. Place pineapple rings on top. Cook on low for 6-8 hours. (This was way to long, the chicken got over done) 1 hour prior to serving, shred chicken with fork and continue to cook in crock pot so that the chicken absorbs additional juices. Serve over a prepared batch of wild and long grain rice. Serve with a fruit salad or a fresh green salad.

First trip to the pond

What a fun afternoon. Ward, Jolene and I took

Drake to the pond it town.

He LOVED it!!

It was a beautiful Spring afternoon. Raychel was ice skating with

a friend so she missed out. We walked around the pond allowing

Drake to investigate the weeds,rocks and of course the water.

He is a born natural!!

I'm sure this is the first of many more trips to the pond.

Once Drake was done with his adventure off to lunch we went.

It was fun having some one on one time with Jolene.

I love listening to her stories, her jokes and her laughter!!

Movie Night!!

There really is something very satisfying

about our movie nights.

I know the time is quickly approaching, {faster then I'd like}

when our girls will have other things to do on

a Friday night then hang out with us, but until then

I am taking full advantage of this opportunity to

sit, eat, laugh, and enjoy our girls!!

Movie of the night was Planet 51
Adventure, comedy, romance and an unlikely hero.

I will let anyone or

thing do the dishes!!

Meet Drake

Meet Drake

The newest member of

our family.

He is a feisty

7 week old

Black Lab Puppy.

After Cami past away I really didn't think

we would get another dog for awhile. Then

some of the guys Ward was duck hunting with heard

of a new litter of puppies. We talked about it a lot before

we went and picked him out. He was the only boy with 5

sisters, 3 black and 3 yellow. He is A LOT of work, but

also A LOT of fun!!

What a face!!
One of Drake's 5 sisters.
This is Drake trying to attack one of his sisters.

A little reminder

Adoption Fund Blankets

After reading my sister-in-laws blog my heart was touch by the love she has for her friends. Her friends have tired for YEARS to have their own children. They have now decided to adopt and as you may know it is expensive. Katie, my SIL, has started an auction on her blog, and will be holding a garage sale in the Spring to help raise money for her friends. Having once been told we too may never have our own children I had to help. I love blankets and volunteered to make blankets to auction off on their sites.

What an example of true friendship! If your interested or just want to check out their site here is their blog address. http://www.oureternaldesire.blogspot.com/

5th Grade Band Showcase

5th Grade Band Showcase!!!

What a great evening. This was a night of just

5th graders showing their talents.

The group either performed

alone or in small groups. Raychel and her

2 friends performed

Frere jacques

Ming Court

and

This Old Man

They did a great job. She was a little

nervous because

"in a smaller group if I mess

up you will all know its me!"

They all did a wonderful job!

The last performance of the

evening was all the 5th graders doing

Sawmill Creek, by Bruce Pearson

Raychel taking her bow!

Music

There is something different about our home

when Raychel plays her flute.

The beautiful sound it makes,

the peace it brings.

Raychel has always had an ear for

music, even as a small baby she would

dance,

tap,

or hum to herself.

She has been practicing for the upcoming

band performance where she will perform several

different songs with 2 other students.

Play from the heart; the flute is a heart song...

like a sweet prayer, and it will teach you as well

as you teach yourself.
--Mato Wambli