Thursday, February 26, 2009

Family!


This is my Uncle Jerry























and my cousins Michael, Patrick & Michelle, (they have one more brother Marcus, not pictured).









This is my mother's (Karelene) sister Oleena's family, my aunt!! I haven't gotten to see then for so long. As a child, my aunt and uncle came every summer with my cousins. My brother and sisters and I always looked forward to this visit!
I really hate that we have all lost touch of each other. It seems like we all grow up, and then everyone gets so busy in our own life's and we don't see each other!!
I was so happy to hear my cousin's voice last night!! We got to visit and catch up on our families!!! Thanks Patrick for calling!!!

FYI.... KarLee my daughter is named after my mother, Karelene, my sister Danyett Aleena was named after my aunt Oleena!!!
Just wanted to give that bit of info!




Wednesday, February 25, 2009

We are so excited!!!!!!









This is where we are going for spring break!!




First I want to tell everyone about an old school friend who totally booked everything for us!!! And he was cheaper than expedia or carnival! All of his help was awesome!! I recommend him to everyone and anyone!!
CARNIVAL PARADISE

Total Stateroom - 1,026
Decks - 10
Passenger capacity - 2,052
Total crew - 920
Officer's nationality - Italian
Ship size - Large






Mini Golf!!!
The Sun deck’s new 9-hole mini-golf course. The greens are meticulously maintained and the view is great.









And this is the
Twist & Shout

Slide and glide on the fun-ified Twister Waterslide.
It’s three decks high of twisting and turning water mania!




Camp Carnival It's all in fun...Camp Carnival includes a wide range of activities designed for children in three different age groups - Toddlers, Juniors, and Intermediates. All children are supervised by staff who have experience and/or education in child-care. You'll see your child's excitement grow as soon as they meet their counselor and get assigned to their group. And when it's time to eat kids get their very own menus, featuring all their favorites like hot dogs, chicken nuggets, pizza, macaroni & cheese, hamburgers and more...
KarLee.... 9-11 year-olds will feel a flurry of excitement every time they step into Camp Carnival. Our young cruisers will play all day long - from dodgeball and pool parties to video games and scavenger hunts. They'll also be excited about the new friends they've made.












And for Colby....Circle "C"The ultimate spot where children ages 12-14 can cruise, chill, and connect to others. Cool activities, awesome facilities and lots of great new friends to add to their text-mail lists. The activities (think games, dance parties, outdoor movies and more) are supervised and created just for them.
Circle "C" Activities Our playrooms offer a wide variety of games and equipment including, a video arcade and much more. Specialty items like air hockey, foosball, and karaoke (these are varied based on the class of ship) are also available. There are also special shore excursions, giving your kids the chance to explore our exciting destinations with a fun cruise director.









And for Ryan and Me.....Serenity Adult-Only Retreat

They even have a kid-free oasis for us to relax! We can take in the ocean view,
hop into one of two hot tubs,
or just kick back under the shade
of a big umbrella!








YOU HAVE TO CHECK IT OUT!!!!



http://www.carnival.com/

You can get a 4 Day cruise to MEXICO from as low as $174 !!!!!!!!!!!!


Our friends had went on a cruise for there honeymoon and told us how cheap it was! So I thought we should check it out!! It is a good deal for vacation, I think the best is that all meals are included:
Eat whatever you like, whenever you like at the Paris Restaurant on the Lido deck. Hamburgers, hot dogs, pizza, salads, chicken, fish, broccoli, rice, potatoes, ice cream, cake, pie, cookies… Evan a Sushi Bar!
And there is performances in the Normandie, the main show lounge. It features a revolving turntable, orchestra pit and a recessed speaker system.

Just found this post saved??!!!

Went to Island Park with Ryan's family!! We went on a couple different rides!

So very pretty! I really enjoyed this weekend! This is the second year we have went and the kids love going! The play with Ryan's sister kids (they are alot younger) so good! Everyone has a good relaxing time!






Seen alot of animals!
All of us feeding the fish & birds and the squirrels!


Kathy!!! Look so cute! (Ryan's mom)



COLBY!!!



























Gary (Ryan's dad) and Nathan




















NATHAN!



















Ryan & His dad~










~KarLee & Ryan!

Mackay won District, State here they come!

I finally made it to one of my cousins games, it was the last one, but hey I made it! And they won!! And off to State at Boise next weekend!!!


























My cousin Kole!




















And with 35 second to go



















And the final score is:


















The team!












Congratulations Mackay Boys! Good Luck At State!!!!!

Tuesday, February 24, 2009

Upgrading..........

This is our new Mid size SUV!!!
Ok, this isn't but this is what ours will look like or close to, right after the front 2 windows are tented on Friday!!!! I will take a picture of ours!










We have been looking hard for a trailblazer with the 3 row, couldn't belive how hard it was to find one! Finally found 1!!! We found 4, 2 gold, yuck, one wasn't at all good, way to many miles! This one was perfect! We are very happy!! It will be very nice for us!

Monday, February 23, 2009

Happy Birthday!

Happy Birthday to my friend Jen!





































And Happy Birthday to Lisa!



























Cahoon Crock pot Roast
I got this recipe from: A little of this and some of that
3-5 pound roast
1 can cream of mushroom soup
1 pkg Lipton dry onion soup
mix1 10 oz can beef gravy
1/2 brown sugar
3 tbsp vinegar
2 tbsp soy sauce
1 tbsp Worcestershire sauce
Garlic salt the roast and place in crock pot. Mix together remaining ingredients and pour over roast. Cook on low heat for 12 hours or high heat for 6-7 hours. Take roast out when cooked, strain gravy to get rid of lumps, and thicken with cornstarch and cold water mixture (if needed).We love this!! The roast turned out wonderfully! The gravy mixture was awesome! We had things to do yesterday so this was perfect, threw everything into the crock pot and left, came home to our house smelling yummy!!! Made some potatoes and carrots, served with buttered bread! Great Sunday evening dinner!! Sorry No Pictures.

Friday, February 20, 2009

So I have been tryin to "Change It Up At Our House".
With dinner that is!
I love to cook, but come on, I get so tried of the same old same old and of trying to think of different things to cook! Thank goodness for my friend's blog, and the other blogs they have listed! I have tried different recipes and will be keeping some!! Thought I would list a few new recipes I have tried out with our family!

For tonight (dinner for 2!)
I will be making Short Ribs & Shrimp..... mummmm!!

From The Pioneer Woman
Shrimp, Olive Oil, Tabasco, Worcestershire, Salt, Pepper, Butter, and Lemon.


















Very simple: (or so it says!)

You throw a bunch of shrimp in a baking pan and douse it with a heavenly mixture of olive oil, lemon juice, Worcestershire, Tabasco, salt, pepper, and butter.















Then you broil it to perfection and serve on a table covered with newspapers, because it’s super messy.


















Serve hot, crusty French bread and mop up the delectable, flavorful sauce in the pan!
And Last Night I made:
Creamy Slow Cooker Mac and Cheese
2 cups uncooked elbow macaroni (an 8-ounce box isn't quite 2 cups)
4 tablespoons (1/2 stick) butter, cut into pieces
2 1/2 cups (about 10 ounces) grated sharp Cheddar cheese
3 eggs, beaten
1/2 cup sour cream
1 (10 3/4-ounce) can condensed Cheddar cheese soup
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 cup whole milk
1/2 teaspoon dry mustard
1/2 teaspoon black pepper
Boil the macaroni in a 2 quart saucepan in plenty of water until tender, about 7 minutes. Drain. In a medium saucepan, mix butter and cheese. Stir until the cheese melts. In a slow cooker, combine cheese/butter mixture and add the eggs, sour cream, soup, salt, milk, mustard and pepper and stir well. Then add drained macaroni and stir again. Set the slow cooker on low setting and cook for 3 hours, stirring occasionally. 1/2 hour before serving top add more shredded cheese to top, replace lid and finish cooking. (Paula's Home Cooking - Food Network)
I didn't use my crock pot I baked it like a casserole, and made Broccoli and cauliflower & Pork Cops to go with it.
It was good, I think next time I will add onions and ham & maybe some peppers?? Hum.......
And the other night we had Crush Potatoes

From The Pioneer Women














New Potatoes (or other small, round potato), Olive Oil, Kosher Salt, Black Pepper, and whatever herb you like. Like Rosemary.

Put in as many potatoes as you wish to make, and cook them until they’re fork-tender.
Drizzle olive oil on a sheet pan.
Then grab your potato masher and gently press down on the potato until it slightly mashes.
Brush the tops rather generously with olive oil.
Salt & Pepper, some chives…or thyme…or whatever herbs you have available.
(450-degree) oven, and cook them for 20-25 minutes…
We like them........
With:


Chicken wings, thawed
White vinegar
Franks Hot Sauce
Butter, melted
Cayenne (depends on how hot you want it)
Vegetable Oil




Defrost your chicken wings and pat them dry (you don't want to drop "wet" wings into hot oil). Heat oil to 400 degrees in a deep fryer or deep pan, and cook wings for about 12 to 15 minutes. While wings are cooking, make your sauce, which is the vinegar, Franks hot sauce, and butter. You can add cayenne if Franks hot sauce isn't hot enough for you. I didn't really use any measurements. I just through ingredients together and kept "finger-licking" taste testing it until I thought it was perfect.Remove wings from oil and smother in sauce. Let them cool for a few minutes....that oil was HOT! Grab some napkins, because these babies get really messy, and they are finger lickin' good!
My kids (Colby) love hot wings! I can't say these turned out so good?? And I don't know what I did wrong???

Check out These Other places they have for recipes:
A little of this and some of that
Excellent Eats
Moms Dinner Helper
Picky Palate
The Cookin' Mamas
The Pioneer Woman Cooks
Yummy Recipe Finds
AND
Worthy Reading
Deceptively Delicious
Eat This, Not That For Kids
The Sneaky Chef
Thanks to all the different blogs!! And recipes!!

It has help "Change It Up At Our House"!!

Thursday, February 19, 2009

News Day 2009!!


Just want to post some pictures from New Years Day 2009!

On New Year's Eve (I know I am so late posting!)
We all had friends over! It was my friend Brent's B-day, so him and his wife Ang came over to bring in the New Year and celebrate his birthday! We all played the Wii!! The Wii rocks!! (NO PICTURES??) But had lots of fun with them.
Colby had 2 friends (brothers) over and they hung out watching movies. They couldn't wait for the morning, they were going SNOWBOARDING!
KarLee had their sister stay with her, she is older but they have been friends since they were little! They both love to scrapbook!! And that was what the did till wee hours of the night!!

The next day I took Colby and the boys to the bus to go to Kelly's Canyon for the day!
(I am really glad that Miles Bus Co, out of Blackfoot, runs every Saturday to Kelly's, it picks up and drops off right in Firth. Here is a link:
http://www.skikelly.com/, now that winters almost done.....

Ryan and I took the girls Ice Skating!! It was so much fun. We met my friend April and her son. Her son plays hockey and loves to skate, and got KarLee interested in ice skating a couple of years ago. She has her own skates now and love to go! It was a fun family thing to do on New Year's !

Just wanted to say













Is it spring yet????


And we ( Ryan and I) didn't do so good already this month...................

Sorry Stacy, we missed your Birthday!!



Happy Late Birthday!!!

AND

Happy Birthday to Randy !!!

Monday, February 16, 2009


This is where me & my hubby went for Valentine's Day! It was wonderful..... Not to busy or loud! And no waiting!! Made a reservation and it was a great night for us!!! I love my husband!!!








There was a live piano player, beautiful roses on the tables, and really good food! And the best CHEESECAKE!!! (we had to take it home, cause we ate to much!!) Rented a movie and enjoyed each others company!

Sunday, February 15, 2009

Santa 2008

Here are some pictures I have been trying to post, had some trouble..... I keep getting someone else's slide show????? Really cute couple, but I wanted to show mine!! Weird!

Click to play Santa 2008
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and pictures from The Live Nativity
Click to play Live Nativity
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