Snow Shoes

My brother Mike and I went snow shoeing at Snowbasin this weekend. We trekked all over the mountain.

It was beautiful.

They had groomed trails but we decided to go off the trail and make our own tracks.

We spotted this moose on our way home. So cool!

Merry Christmas

Wishing you a very Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year.

Zoo lights

Our new family tradition is to go to Zoo lights at Hogle Zoo. They have amazing lights and I always love going to the Zoo but at some point I would of liked to see a live animal. We only saw a few monkeys, a bear back and a leopard. Well I guess you could count what we saw in the snake house but it stinks so bad in there you just glance as your are running through hoping the smell doesn't stick in your clothes. It was freezing but Addison loved it.

YUM

This is a crockpot recipe that my sister-in-law gave me it is super quick and easy.

Salsa Chicken

1 can cream of chicken soup

1 cup chunky salsa

4-6 chicken breasts

Put chicken in bottom of crock pot. Mix together soup and salsa and pour over chicken. Cook on low 5-8 hours.

We ate it over rice with some shredded cheese but it would be great all rolled in a tortilla.

Fall pictures

My sister Melissa and I decided to take some Fall pictures of our kids. Its an adventure to take pictures of children and not something I enjoy doing. But to save a few bucks we thought we would try it. Addison refused to look at the camera let alone smile so my sister started to sing "if your happy and you know it clap your hands" this is her doing the "your face will shirley show it" part.
Every time we tried to take a picture Zach would be eating a leaf.You would of thought the dang things were sugar coated.

Addison loved the falling leaves and Zach was happy to have a belly full of them.
Nap time was apon us and the kids were quickly falling apart.

A day full of smiles, tears, and a lot of singing came to an end and I somehow managed to get a pretty cute picture.

Puppy Prison

Addison likes feeding the dogs her food more then she likes to eat it so we bought this handy gate to trap them while she eats. A lot of the food still ends up on the floor but a least Clyde isn't doing a dance to get her attention. It also keeps them trapped while I cook dinner so I don't have them under my feet waiting for me to drop food and tripping me in the process. It was definitely the best fifty bucks I ever spent.

Recipe of the week.

I am practicing to be the next Iron Chef America or so you would think with all the cooking I have been doing lately. Being a stay at home, most of the time, mom gets old with all the cleaning and butt changing so I have decided one thing I can look forward to is trying a new recipe once in a while. Lame, I know but you do the best with what you have. I am going to encourage others to do the same by posting new recipes every week and if you got some good ones let me know I will give you my email I would love to try them.
This recipe is from a good client of mine. Its super easy, cheap and yummy a great one for a cold day. I like it over baked potatoes or Navajo tacos but its just as good in a bowl with a little cheese and sour cream.

Quick Chunky Chili

1 pound lean ground beef

1 medium onion chopped

1Tbsp chili powder

1 1/2 tsp cumin

2 (16oz) cans diced tomatoes, undrained

1 (15oz) can pinto beans drained

1/2 cup salsa

Combine meat and onion in 3 quart sauce pan. Cook over medium heat until meat is no longer pink breaking meat apart with a wooden spoon. Add chili powder and cumin. Cook until fragrant about 1 min. Add tomatoes, beans and salsa. Bring to boil stirring constantly. Reduce heat and cook for 10 min. Enjoy.

-I add a few squirts of ketchup when I add the beans and salsa I think it tastes better.

Addison is getting smarter everyday. So smart in fact that when she needed a drink she picked up the stool put it in front of the fridge grabbed a cup (a measuring cup) and got a drink. Luckily, I heard grunting and rushed in fast enough to lock the fridge and snap a picture. Its amazing how quickly they figure things out.

Halloween 2008

Addison's first real Halloween. She was a lady bug. We went trick or treating with my sister her son Zach and my other sisters two girls Preslee and Marlee. The kids had a great time despite the rain but at least it wasn't snow.

I have to congrats my sis on having her third (AND FINAL) little girl. Emyree Leon Simmons was born on October 30 2008, 5 pounds. She is so small but healthy.

I have to give a shoutout to my all time favorite movie "The Nightmare Before Christmas". If you have not had the pleasure of watching this fantastic film I will give you a little info about it.

And so begins Tim Burton’s fanciful tale of Pumpkin Kings, Oogie Boogies, and Sandy Claws, “The Nightmare Before Christmas.” Filled with terrifyingly beautiful sights and one hell of a catchy soundtrack, “The Nightmare Before Christmas” tells the simple story of Halloween Town’s most famous citizen, Jack Skellington, and his desire to bring the colorful joy of Christmas Town to the German-expressionistic gloom of his community of ghouls through some of the most remarkable stop-motion animation ever seen.

-The Tim Burton Collective

If you need some Halloween spirit this will do the trick. It is definitely the must see of the season.

Below is a test I took to see what character I would be in the movie. I was a little suprised at the result but I think it got it right.

Nightmare

You Scored as The Mayor You are the Mayor. You have multiple personalities.....and faces. You always seem to over-worry, and over-react to things, and you are a HUGE drama queen. LIGHTEN UP! Lock, Shock, and Barrel 75% Santa 60% Oogie Boogie 60% Jack Skelington 60% Sally 60% Evil Scientist 50%

Why didn't I think of that?

Byrons mow'n buddy

I have to had it to Byron for the ingenius idea of how to babysit and get things done. But using your toddler as a body shield between you and the lawn mower is not the way to do it. Thankfully she did not fit.

Popper Update

We made our Jalapeno poppers. We did over a hundred of them and it took half the day but it was worth it, NOT they were disgusting at least the few we baked in the oven. Next time I will deep fat fry them that always makes things better.......I hope.

a day at the farm......

This is our goat Butch getting his nails trimed.

Little Linus

Addison is becoming a little to attacted to her blanket. Every morning I wrap it around her and she spends a good part of the morning like that. She will even eat breakfast like that if I let her.

Summer o'fun

Addisons first time in her very own pool, I know she's spoiled.

No, that's not a white shirt. All good things have to come to a end

Lagoon with the fam is always a good time. Addison loves the tug boats and puff.

Just some of the fun things we got to do this summer. We also went to the Zoo but someone (his name starts with a B) forgot to grab the camera. We had a great time although we could of just gone to the duck park and saved 16 bucks. Addison liked the birds more then any animal we saw there........ Figures.

Daily

Dirty dishes everywhere they never end to my despair.
Whats for dinner the daily question I'd give a million for a suggestion
Runny noses, poopy pampers and the overflowing hampers
A thankless job that never ends until the day she changes my depends.
-Annie Rodgers

Marathon update

Training for the marathon is a better goal than running one. You get all of the benefits and none of the damage. Great advice from the wise mother.

Me the Homemaker

I have come upon a new passion in my life, cooking. My garden is going strong and I have veggies coming out of my eyeballs and soon will be the day when I can't go out my back door (actually front door for me) and pick all the fresh veggies I want so I am taking this time to its fullest and cooking up a storm. I have about had it with zucchini bread but with the Internet and the new cook books I bought I am finding wonderful new recipes to try. Today I will be making jalapeno poppers I am so excited. I can make a hundred at a time and freeze them and I will have them all year (if they last that long) and since I will make them myself i can use low fat cream cheese so they will be less in fat and better tasting then store bought, I hope. A update on the tasty turnout will follow............

Marathon

Everyone in life needs a goal, something to be proud of and feel accomplished when they finish. Well I have decided to try to run the St. George Marathon in 2009. I figured that a year was enough time to get in shape and be able to run 26.2 miles. My friend Aly runs the marathon every year and not knowing anything about marathons she filled me in on the ins and outs. Let me just tell you I had know idea what a toll it takes on your body. Lost toenails, blisters, and chafing are a given but do you know about the diarrhea and bloody nipples. My god these poor people are running with no toenails and bleeding from every part of their body not to mention having to run to the port-a-john every ten minutes where you know what the person before you just did in there. Needless to say I may be rethinking my goal of 2009. I really like my toenails and my nipples and would like them to stay attached to my body. Running a marathon may not be for me but I think training for it will do my waistline some good. So I will continue running (actually briefly running in between walking) and who knows I may think the diarrhea is worth it after all.

We went to the animal expo at Liberty park on sunday it was fun and free, even better.

Addisons first Lagoon trip

We took Addison on her first trip to Lagoon. She loved it! I don't think she blinked once. Her cousins Preslee and Marlee came with us and they had a great time.

Byron and Addison rode the
carousel together.

Lagoon was really busy that day so we had to wait an hour to get on the train. They have alot of new animals, even miniature donkeys.

Preslee, Marlee, Tressa, Melissa and Zach were on the train with us.

Junglegym

Addison is obsessed with climbing. The bar stools are her jungle gym she climbs under them and hides. Clyde likes to sleep there so I always know when she is playing on them because he darts out of the room.

Camo

Grandpa Rodgers came home from Iraq this month so we bought this cute camo outfit that she wore when she saw him. She looked so cute!

Addisons Ride

We gave this to little car to Addison for her birthday. She can sit and ride or stand and walk but she refuses to walk with it I think it scares her. It has little toys on it and a trunk that we find missing socks and other small toys. She will only scoot backwards on it and she gets so mad when she backs into the wall and can't figure out how to move it.

Addisons First Birthday Party 3/21/08

We had a few friends and family over for cake and ice cream. Her Tinkerbell cake from target was adorable but she would not eat it. I finally gave up and smashed her hand in it.