Party Recipes

I thought I would share these recipes that I used at my family holiday party last weekend. They are all super fast, easy and yummy!

Cranberry Butter

1 C finely chopped cranberries
1 C powdered sugar
1 C soft butter (room temp.)
zest of orange

Mix together and enjoy on a nice warm roll!

Black Bean Salsa

1 can black beans - drained
1 can corn - drained (I only use about 2/3 of the can)
1 lg tomato diced or 1 can diced tomatoes with green chilies
1 pkg dry ranch dressing mix
1 avocado - cut into cubes
fresh lime juice (you only need 1/2 a lime)

Prepare all the ingredients, mix together and serve with tortilla chips.

Taco Soup

1 lb cooked ground beef
1 can chili beans
1 can kidney beans
1 can pinto beans
2- 4 oz cans green chilies
2- 8 oz cans stewed diced tomatoes
1 cup water
1 pkg taco seasoning
1 pkg dry ranch dressing mix
1 tsp chili powder

Mix all ingredients together and bring to a boil, reduce heat and simmer for 30 minutes. Top with shredded cheese and serve with tortilla chips.

Makes 6-8 servings

Holiday with the Family

My family started a new tradition last year, instead of trying to juggle Thanksgiving and Christmas together we have a holiday get-together the first weekend in December. This has worked out nicely so far and has helped make it so we can all enjoy our time together rather than worry about splitting it between in-laws and everyone else. This year was a little weird not being in the old family home (Mom and Dad are selling the house because of the divorce), so we spent most of our time at Mike and Christas' and Mom's new little place.

We started the weekend with a Thanksgiving meal Saturday afternoon. That evening we broke loose with skits and family time.

It was pretty funny as my Mom, Amy, Kasie and Christa danced to "Girls Just want to have Fun". I have never seen my mom have so much fun, I wish I had recorded it!

J.Ed and Reann's family sang and acted out "Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer", Illee took her role as rudolph very seriously...she was sooo cute!

Then Nic and Amy did the "Chicken Dance", their kids decided it would be much more fun to just watch mom and dad be silly rather than join them.

Luke and I were party poopers and just hung out and laughed at everyone!

Sunday morning we had a nice "Christmas" breakfast and then exchanged gifts. After church we ate and decorated Christmas cookies.

We really had a great time with everyone. Let's do this again!

Things to be Grateful for...

Life has been busy so I am a little late getting posts up.

This year for Thanksgiving my sister Amanda and her sweet family stayed with us for five wonderful (and admittedly tiring) days. Luke's dad and brother Ben also shared Thanksgiving with us. I loved having the full house and cooking with my sister. Amanda and I rarely get to spend time together so I really enjoyed having them visit. Her children are sweet and fun. They are growing so fast and have such delightful personalities. I was so grateful for our time together.

Payton spent almost every minute he was awake with the kitties. Most of the time they bore it patiently. He was just what they needed! They tend to get a little anti-social since they don't have other people around (especially kids) very often.

Spring is such a little sweet pea! I couldn't get enough of her. She is such a pretty baby and has a sweet personality. Your mom and daddy better watch out Aunt Coz might snatch this little one!

As usual I wish that I had taken more pictures...

Vegas Baby!!!

We took a quick trip this past weekend down to "Sin City" with our friends Jenny and Brandon Neilsen. We spent Saturday night in St. George and then Sunday morning we headed over to Las Vegas. There were a lot of good laughs and for the most part it was a very relaxing trip. We were pretty tired when we got back Tuesday night, plus Luke came down with a pretty ugly cold so that added to the exhaustion.

We got some friendly guy to take a picture of all of us outside the Luxor.
Below are some pictures of us from Tournament of the King, Viva La France!

The cat's meow

I promised pictures of cats so I thought that I better start delivering. I was chilling out with Sadie tonight and realized that we have had our little bundles of joy for over a year now. We have loved being cat owners and watching them grow, they are so much fun and it is funny to see how they take on their own quirky little personalities. I know I am talking about animals, but these two are our family right now and we love them to death! Look how much they have grown this past year!

They (Spot and Sadie) have grown a lot this past year, these pictures really don't show the difference well, but you get the idea, right?

The family Musician

I have an in with one of the most talented musicians I know. He runs a one-man band called Bleoag...you may have heard of it...okay, well if you are listening to the music on this blog then you have heard it. All the music on this blog was created and performed by him...pretty impressive huh? And as you may have guessed, this most talented and creative person happens to be Luke! I am continually impressed by his ability to create such diverse tunes. I of course love all his work, but most of all I love to hear him create and see his creative process. He never ceases to impress and amaze me. Hunny- I am your biggest fan! Keep rocking my world!

In October Luke and I ran up to Idaho for a quick break. I was able to spend Saturday with my neices and nephews making Halloween crafts. It was a lot of fun!
Here are some pictures of our SPOOKY creations.

Well here it goes...

Since everyone is doing it, I decided to jump on the blogging bandwagon. We'll see how well I can keep up with it! I love keeping up on everyone's business through their blogs. I don't promise great things as our life (Luke's and mine) is pretty boring compared to most. We like to keep a low profile and instead of pictures of children (which we don't have), you will have to endure pictures of us and our cats! So enjoy!