Blogging from Breckenridge

We made it to our family vacation in Breckenridge. We've only been here over a day but it feels like a week already! We're enjoying the nice cool weather, mountain sites, and time with family.

Today we went on the Alpine Slide. I think everyone had fun except a few who had skinned knees. Abigail seemed to enjoy herself. She sat very still and close to her dad on the ski lift but said she wasn't scared. :)

At some point I will try to back up and recap my grandpa's funeral in Kansas. I will say that it was very nice. It was great to see lots of people that I haven't seen for years.

Tomorrow consists of most of our group going white water rafting. With two small children, we're opting out this time. Andrew is still going but my mother-in-law and I are taking the girls to a children's museum.

All for now . . .

Giving Notice

We're leaving today for a 16.5 day journey to Kansas, Colorado and back again.

Just wanted to let you all know.

I'm not sure how much the blog will be manned in my absense. Perhaps I'll have a chance to blog from the road but I'm not sure.

My Grandpa is now in heaven with his Savior. For that I am glad, but for me and my family and friends I am very sad. He was a very wonderful person.

The Girls!

I am so blessed to have these two little princesses! They love each other (no seriously, I have never seen two kids enjoy each other so much - perhaps the fighting will come later) so much!

Blessed to be sisters

Abigail and Elsie (July 2010)

New Adventure

I am on a new adventure in my house this week. . . cooking for a large family.

I am acquainted with a large family in the area (through my in-laws) who run an adoption ministry and have adopted many children themselves.

They are currently in the process of adopting another boy from China so while the parents are away, several friends take turns cooking a meal for the family.

My choice . . . beef enchiladas!

I made 9 cups of enchilada sauce this morning and let me tell you, if my family grows that large (sorry y'all - not planning on it), I'd have to buy new pans! Mine are much too small.

But seriously . . . this is fun!

Thoughts

I'm not sure that I have any words to properly express what I feel. I feel that I need to say something on here about someone who has made a huge impact on my life. . . my Grandpa.

From the very earliest memory I have, I remember my Grandpa being proud of me . . . button popping proud. That is a wonderful encouraging feeling.

He was always willing to take a break from his work to saddle up a horse for me, take me on a 4-wheeler ride, build a new swing or toy. . . (the list could go on).

(Grandpa in February 2010 with my 2nd girl - Elsie Joy)

He was always at our events, cheering us on. I can hear his voice echo in my mind "Way to go Jaimer!!"

(Playing with Abigail - February 2010)

He was a big part of our lives (my siblings and I) as a wonderful example of how to live a godly Christian life. What a generous man! Generous with everything he had.

Many of my favorite childhood memories revolve around harvest on the farm. I remember one time I was riding on the combine with Grandpa in the evening. He had just been delivered his supper from Grandma (a peach and a ham sandwich). He split everything he had with me - even though he was probably very hungry and tired from a long day of work. I remember how good that sandwich tasted and how fun it was to share it with my Grandpa.

(With Abigail in March 2008)

My Grandpa is not a person who says a lot but he has never needed too. His tight squeeze and kiss have always been enough to show the extent of his love for his family!

(With Abigail in March 2008 - she gave some of her first smiles to him)

I cannot write a post about my Grandpa without mentioning his work ethic. It is beyond anything I have ever seen. He is a worker through and through . . . always going until the job is done well.

(Looking on while Grandpa reads to Abigail - December 2008)

This sweet Grandpa of mine is always on my mind, in my heart, and in my prayers. He is struggling in a serious battle with cancer and is currently receiving hospice care in a hospital near my hometown.

If you would, please take a moment to pray for him, for his comfort and for this battle he is going through and for my Grandma, dad, mom, and brother as well (as they are there with him).

Never have I deserved to have such a wonderful Grandpa but I'm so glad he is mine!

(Grandpa and I on our newly purchased 2-acre lot where our house now stands).

I Can Do It Myself

When my mom was here in November, to help with the new baby, her main job became helping with the older baby! I was battling my nasty infection and spent a lot of time in bed so "Grandma RoRo" and Abigail spent a lot of time reading! This is one of the books that my mom brought for Abigail.

As you can see she has it memorized and still loves it!

Carol's Mexican Chicken

I don't know if that is the name of this dish or not but that is what it is called at our house!!

Andrew's Aunt Carol (hi!) brought this meal to us right after Elsie was born. Yum! It has since become a favorite in our house. It is healthy, super easy to make, and low calorie (5 WW points per serving when served on rice)!

Here is what you need:

2 boneless skinless chicken breasts (can be frozen)
2 cans of whole kernel corn (can be a frozen bag)
2 cans of black beans (sometimes I make mine from the dried beans)
Taco Seasoning (see below)
Sour cream
Brown Rice

Place the chicken breasts on the bottom of a crockpot. Put corn, black beans, and seasonings on top. Cook on low for 8 hours. Remove chicken breasts and shred with a fork. Return them to the crock pot. Before serving, mix in 3/4 to 1 cup of sour cream and allow to heat through.

Serve on cooked rice. We also like this in a wrap! Yum!

Now . . . I must have a word with you on Taco Seasonings. Read the label. Most taco seasonings contain ingredients that aren't good (MSG and hydrogenated fat - to name a few). You can make your own very easily.

Here is my mom's recipe for taco seasoning.

2 tsp instant minced onion
1 tsp salt
1 tsp chili powder
1/2 tsp cornstartch
1/2 tsp crushed dried red pepper
1/2 tsp instant minced garlic
1/4 tsp oregano
1/2 tsp cumin

Sorry - this picture also includes our other sides for the day (baked beans and cheesy cauliflower).

Busy Week

I have blog posts in my mind that haven't been written yet! :)

I've spent two days "in the office" working this week instead of from home. This leads to less blogging time.

We are preparing for a two-week trip (I'm not calling these "things" vacations until our children are older. Ha ha!) to Colorado, Kansas, and back again - leaving next Sunday. Help me! Yes, we are driving and yes (just to clarify) we're crazy.

Tea with my darling - Part 1

For those of you who don't know, my mother-in-law owns and runs a tea room (The Tea Parlor) out of her home. They live about 2 miles from us so we have the pleasure of being around the tea business quite often. I have never gotten to have tea with my daughter yet (she's been to tea but she was a tiny baby).



So . . . on a day when the Tea Parlor wasn't open, Abigail and I got to have a little tea party.



It was fun. . . for the most part!

"See Mama? I have tea!"

Abigail likes to drink her tea with a spoon like soup.

"Cheese Mama."

Finally drinking it like a proper lady.

The only incident we had was she was enjoying herself so much that she kicked her legs up in the air and ended up kicking the table - upsetting her tea cup - and spilled bright pink Strawberry Kiwi Tea. We'll have to work on her table manners a bit! :)

All good tea parties end with a little exercise!

Abigail shows Nana how to stretch her legs!

Please Pray!

I cannot find the words to say what a shock and horror it was to read my cousin (in-law)'s blog this morning.

http://dollfamilyzone.blogspot.com/2010/07/breaking-silence.html

Please pray for their family as they go through this terrible thing.

Ergh!

I tried to upload a bunch of photos tonight but blogger isn't cooperating. Perhaps tomorrow!

Good night!

I did it!

In the commonly used expression from my daughter, "I did it"!

I haven't written much about this on my blog but I did want to record for future rememberance that I have FINALLY officially lost 30 pounds.

I've been fighting with the last one (well, up and down 2 to 5) for the last month but it was official this morning.

Now if only I can keep it off . . .

Or lose the 20 more than I really probably should.

Yikes!

Fajitas!

The women in this household (and there are A LOT of us!) are very blessed. Not only do we have a wonderful guy who goes off to work everyday and brings home the bacon . . . he knows how to fry it up too!!

In this recipe, he didn't actually use bacon, though. :)

I have never made these I hope I am properly telling you what to do!

Step 1: Chop peppers (your choice of color), steak (we used rib-eye), and onion.





Step 2: Cook steak strips in the pan with a little olive oil.

Step 3: Saute peppers and onions in the pan with a little olive oil.


Step 4: Warm up the tortillas just a bit so they are bendy! :)

Step 5: Assemble. We like ours with a little sprinkle of cheese and sour cream.

Step 6: Threaten to stab your precious wife if she takes one more picture of you. :)

Hope you enjoy these. I'm sure Andrew will comment if I left something out. Enjoy!!

Pictures and the World!

Thanks to those of you who gave me picture advice. I tried Flicker (already had an account) but they would only let me upload about 20 to 30 pictures and that was my month allotment! Crazy!

I had never noticed the "add another picture" feature on blogger. Will definitely use it now! Thanks Jen!

Here are my sweet girls!

My heart is heavy this morning. I've just been thinking of the challenges that lay ahead of us as parents. How are we ever going to raise these girls to desire to follow Christ - to be truly sold-out for Him and not follow the things of the world? The world is so alluring and there are so many ways to "compromise". I know it takes lots of prayer and just one day at a time but still seems so hard.

Recipe to follow - I promise!

Blog Photos

I love putting pictures on my blog. I truly do. It really inspires me to blog and reminds me what I have to blog about (like Andrew's Fajitas that I have had pictures of for a month) but I find blogger very difficult to load pictures onto.

Anyone have any suggestions? It takes forever and you can only load one at a time. Perhaps there is a better way and I don't know about it.

Any comments would be appreciated!

For now you'll just have this post while I work on loading the tons of pictures I took Andrew was making the recipe.

Abigail's first professional haircut!

I had to add "professional" in there because I have cut her hair many times! I decided that it was uneven enough at this point to justify spending the money on a haircut. I'll probably still trim it from time to time.


Such a big girl!

She just sat there . . . quiet as a mouse!

You Must Watch This!

If you don't do anything else of importance today, you must watch this:

Clayton's Story

And if you are touched by it . . .

pass it on!

My Sister

My Sister

(pictures taken by Abigail (well . . . except the last one))

My sister holds me tight.

My sister kisses me goodnight.

My sister is so smart.

My sister has my heart.

My sister plays with me.

My sister will never flee.

My sister loves me lots.

My sister helps me tie knots.

My sister knows when I am mad.

My sister helps me when I'm sad.

Abigail and Elsie - Sisters

They don't yet know how fortunate they are to have each other! Or . . . perhaps they do!

I'm so thankful I don't have the ingredients!

While reading through my many cooking and recipe blogs just now. I came across a recipe for this:

Nutella Caramel Hazelnut Brownies!!!!!!!!!

My heart started to race and I panicked! My eyes scanned through the list of ingredients and began to beat faster!

"I think I have ALL those ingredients."

In which case, I would just have to go satisfy my current nutella obsession and whip these up (yikes!).

I read a bit further and breathed a sigh of relief when I noted that I do not have caramel sauce or hazelnuts in the house (I think).

Crisis avoided. I will not make these (today that is) because I am missing two ingredients!

(Recipe and acknowledgements follow). I cannot guarantee these are good because as of today at 1:30 pm (eastern time) I have not baked these!

Nutella Caramel Hazelnut Brownies
Added by bell'alimento on March 15, 2010 in Brownies and Bars, Desserts
5.00 Mitt(s) 2 Rating(s)
Nutella caramel hazelnut oooey gooey brownies.

Related Blog Post
Print Recipe


Prep Time 10 Minutes
Cook Time 30 Minutes
Difficulty Easy
Servings
System US MetricUpdate
Ingredients
½ cups All-purpose Flour
⅓ cups Cocoa Powder
¼ teaspoons Baking Powder
1 pinch Salt
1 cup Sugar
½ sticks Unsalted Butter
2 whole Eggs
1 teaspoon Pure Vanilla Extract
¼ cups Nutella - Melted (more If Desired)
¼ cups Caramel Sauce - Melted
1 bag (8 Oz.) Small Bag Of Hazelnuts, Or More If Desired

Preparation Instructions
Preheat your oven to 350 degrees. Into a mixing bowl, add your flour, baking powder, salt and cocoa powder. Using a whisk, mix together and set aside. Into your stand mixer, add the sugar and butter; cream together. Add in eggs one at a time and mix well. Add in your vanilla. GRADUALLY add in your flour mixture until it’s well combined. Batter should be thick and sticky.

Spray an ovenproof dish with cooking spray. Place a piece of parchment paper (slightly larger than your dish to allow for handles) inside. It will adhere to the bottom of the dish. Take HALF of your brownie batter and smooth it on top of the parchment paper. Take your caramel sauce and spoon it on top of the brownie mixture covering the entire layer of brownie. Place the remaining brownie batter on top, smoothing it out. Place in the oven and bake for 30-40 minutes until sides are firm and center is no longer giggly.

Allow brownies to cool completely before removing. Cut your brownies to your desired size using a serrated knife. Make a small indentation with your finger into each brownie. Take your melted Nutella and drizzle over the tops of the brownies. Garnish with the hazelnuts.