Thanksgiving

Thanksgiving turned out great. We had it at our house this year with my family, grandparents and my Aunt Dee and cousin Kylie. Everyone came into town Wednesday night and my grandparents spent the night at our house which was good because I needed help Thursday morning figuring out the Turkey! I was in charge of the turkey, sweet potatoes (Aunt Paula’s recipe so yummy!) and mashed potatoes. My mom and grandma brought pies, rolls, stuffing and everything else we needed to have a great meal. Everything turned out great and it was fun to spend time with everyone eating good food, playing games and watching movies.

Grandma helping with the turkey 

Dad, Grandpa, Dee, Grandma and Kylie going through photos

Mom and Dee working in the kitchen

Kylie, Grandma and I

Me, Dee, Kylie, Grandma and Mom

The table set up

Dad ready for dinner

Dad, Ridge and Jace

Grandma and Grandpa

Jace and I

Jace cutting the turkey

Paige and Ridge had their own cute little table :)

Backsplash complete!

The backsplash is all done! It was actually done last Tuesday but I’m just getting to writing about it. It turned out great in my opinion and thanks to my wonderful husband he got it all done in time for Thanksgiving. I took Wednesday off from work to get the house and groceries all ready for everyone Thursday. It was nice taking the time to do a big deep clean on the house. I also took the time to touch up paint throughout the house along with the baseboards and door frames. I have no idea how between just Jace and I, we’ve managed to knick up as many walls as we have but we got everything looking good to go. It was nice having everything ready and done for Thanksgiving which turned out great!

Backsplash

Ok so this last weekend was a little crazy and I’m just now getting around to writing about it. If you read my last post you know that my dad had a heart attack and is ok now, but since my mom and dad were down in Vegas dealing with that, Jace and I had my siblings Paige and Ridge for the weekend until they got home Tuesday night. We had also decided we wanted to get backsplash up so we were in the middle of that project with them there.

My parents left for Vegas Thursday for a work thing so I had Paige and Ridge over Thursday night for some Crispy Cheddar Chicken that I found on this blog it was pretty easy and everyone really liked it. I served it with some rice and then just easy Pillsbury biscuits. Then Kami, Dillan’s girlfriend took them to my parents house since she was staying with them until Saturday.

Then Friday night Jace and I met up with Paige, Ridge, Kami and her sister Taylor at Panda Express. After Panda Jace and I went to Lowes to get backsplash supplies. On the way home is when I got the call that my dad was in the hospital. Kami stayed with the kids over night since I called to check on them Friday and they wanted to stay there for the night so they didn’t come over until Saturday evening after hanging out with friends. So Saturday we started the backsplash. We previously had a small granite slab as a backsplash that we weren’t crazy about so we first had to rip that off then started the process of putting up the new backsplash. (On a side note-I went to Smiths first and bought gift cards to Lowes so I could get the gas points!) We got 90% of the backsplash up by Sunday and just now have the grout left to do.  This week’s been so crazy so we haven’t gotten to it but will hopefully finish it up Saturday since everyone is coming into town next week for Thanksgiving.

The kitchen ready to go...

Jace hard at work, I like how concentrated he is on the backsplash

Progress! 

Over the weekend Jace also decided to start building and put up some much needed shelving in the garage. He stepped off the ladder and twisted his ankle pretty bad on a 2X4. His ankle swelled up pretty bad but he said its starting to feel better (he wouldn’t go to the doctor of course).

See how swollen the right ankle is

Over the weekend I did make some “Gratitude Journals” for my visiting teachers. I figured since its Thanksgiving it’s a good time to try and write down once a day, one thing we are thankful for. I did this a few years ago and made myself write down every night for a year one thing I was thankful for (November shouldn’t be the only month we remember what we are thankful for). I’m wanting to start up another one now and these turned out so cute I need to make one for myself! They were super easy. Just need some glue, ribbion, cute scrap booking paper and a journal.

Supplies 

Finished product

Other than that not much going on for us. Just busy with work and trying to get everything ready for the holidays. I will be sure to post pictures once the backsplash is all done with grout and everything. I’m pretty excited since it makes such a drastic difference in the kitchen!

Dad

So I’ve had a few people send me messages and calling, asking about my dad and how he is doing. So thank you everyone for your concern. If you haven’t heard he did have a heart attack Friday night. Luckily my mom was with him and she was able to take him to the hospital and get him taken care of. They were down in Vegas for the weekend for a work event and she took him to a hospital with some great heart surgeons. They did go in and saw he had a clogged artery but put a couple of stints in to help blood flow (I’m guessing that’s what they do-I had to take Biology twice keep in mind). He has been in the hospital since Friday night and was released late last night. They wanted to keep him for a few days to monitor everything before they released him. I’ve talked to him a couple of times and he sounds really good. Just very bored (of course-he hates not doing anything).

My mom is doing well too. She has 2 brothers, a sister-in-law and nieces and nephews down in Vegas so she has had a lot of family support come stay with her at the hospital and let her stay with them while they are down there. They should be coming home hopefully Tuesday if everything goes as planned.  I will be sure to keep everyone posted of any updates but so far he sounds good. For a bad situation it seems like it was the best case scenario that they were able to clear up anything before it became more serious. Thank you everyone for your concern and prayers they have all been really helpful.

Last night I made some Baked Creamy Chicken Taquitos. It’s a recipe I got from my cousin Natalie Burt when we visited her in Colorado. It was so yummy.

The chicken mixture 

Baked Creamy Chicken Taquitos

Natalie Burt

1/3 c. (3oz) cream cheese
1/4 c. green salsa
1 T. fresh lime juice
1/2 t. cumin
1 t. chili powder
1/2 t. onion powder
1/4 t. granulated garlic
3 T. chopped cilantro
2 T. chopped green onions
2 c. cooked, shredded chicken
1 c. grated pepper jack cheese
6 inch corn tortillas

I made mixture and then baked on a cookie sheet at 350 until bubbly.

If you want to freeze these, you can place the unbaked Taquito in a single layer of a baking sheet and place in the freezer for 2 hours until frozen to hold shape.  Then transfer to a freezer safe container and they will keep for up to 3 months.  To bake, follow the same instructions, increasing the baking time by 10 minutes.

Last night I also decided to make my Christmas glass block from Ben Franklin. I had made a pumpkin version for Halloween and thought it was cute/easy so I decided to do one for Christmas. It turned out pretty cute I think. Again total cost was about $25 from Ben Franklin.

Supplies...

Finished product. Took me about 15-20 mintues.

Fans/Christmas

So this weekend I feel like we got a lot done. Friday we watched my nephews Owen and Noah. They were fun to have over. We just watched movies, ate popcorn and played with RC cars (courtesy of Jace). Of course I also spoiled them with treats and let them stay up late :)

Noah and Owen found Stuart Little very interesting.

Owen liked the Grinch guy and popcorn.

Me with Owen and Noah.

Jace showing Noah and Owen how to drive RC cars.

Then Saturday we got up early and went over to Home Depot to rent scaffolding. In June 2010 we bought fans for our family room but since the ceilings are so high we never could figure out how to put them up. Then we discovered Home Depot rents scaffolding so we decided to tackle the project Saturday. It was quite an event just to get a couple of fans up but it’s nice they are up now and not in a closet.

Getting scafolding put together.

Jace working on the fans.

Fans finally up!

I also decided to get my Christmas stuff up this weekend. (Yes I’ve already been told it’s too early, wait until after Thanksgiving, etc.) But I love Christmas and I like my tree up before Thanksgiving and looking into November this was going to be the best weekend to get it all done. So yes it’s all up and I’m not ashamed!

Saturday night we decided we needed a break from all of the house projects so we went to dinner at Blue Iguana (love that place!) It was super yummy and a good break. Sunday we just hung out and finished getting the house put back together. I also did a little shopping this past week and bought some great shoes I’m pretty excited about!

2 week update

So I’ve been sick for awhile now so I’ve been really bad about updating my blog so this is a recap of everything going on since we got back from Colorado. We got back Sunday night on the 23^rd. Monday and Tuesday we just worked and then Wednesday I got a really bad cold. I laid in bed pretty well through the weekend. We did end up going out for a little bit to a Halloween party Saturday night. Jace and I dressed up like a biker couple.

 Then Sunday we went over to my parents to celebrate my little brother Ridge, my grandma and grandpa’s birthdays. They were all within the last few weeks so we did a big dinner for them. Monday was Halloween so we had some people over for soup and breadsticks. I’ve been starting to feel a little better luckily and getting caught up on everything now. One thing that helped me feel better is that my table came in (2 weeks early!) I was so excited to have it put up and bring all the new chairs we bought around it. Since we got our new table I’ve been cooking a bunch of different things.

The new table and chairs! I need a new/bigger centerpiece now.

I recently signed up for Taste of Home magazine and found this really easy recipe

Refried Bean Taco Pizza

Taste of Home-Mary Detweiler

Ingredients:

1 ¼ lb ground beef

Small onion chopped (I just used minced onion)

Envelope taco seasoning

1 prebaked 12-in pizza crust (I used 2 separate small ones so Jace and I could put different things on our own)

1 can refried beans

2 taco shells crushed (I just used tortilla chips)

1 cup shredded cheddar cheese

1 cup shredded mozzarella cheese

Shredded lettuce

Tomatoes, diced

Sliced ripe olives

Directions:

Cook meat with onion and taco seasoning until no longer pink. Place crust on ungreased baking sheet. Spread refried beans, beef, taco shells and cheeses. Cook at 450 degrees for 10-15 minutes. Pull out and top with miscellaneous ingredients.

The best thing about this meal is its only $2/serving! Since its just Jace and I we didn’t use up much of the meat so I saved the rest to do tacos later this week.

Mine is on the left and Jace's on the right (he didn't want any topping but salsa).

Earlier in the week I also made Potato Pie. A really easy recipe I got from my mom.

Potato Pie

Karen Lewis

Ingredients:

1.5 lb hamburger

1 can Campbell Tomato Soup

1 bag/can of corn

Potatoes

Directions:

Brown hamburger meat, season with garlic salt, onion salt, onion powder to taste. Drain meat, add tomato soup to meat. Add corn to meat mixture-don’t overcook corn just thaw out. Line casserole dish with meat mixture on bottom topped with mashed potatoes. Cook at 350 degrees covered for 30 minutes. Check the middle-should be bubbling. Add cheese last 5-10 minutes on top.

Jace took a scoop out before the picture.

While we were in Colorado my cousin Matt and his wife Natalie gave us a big hutch they weren’t using anymore. It ended up working perfectly in our upstairs guest bedroom. It was so heavy though and took 4 guys to get it upstairs but I love it J

The big hutch. 

The hutch in the bedroom. 

I also finally hung up the picture that matches the bedroom my sister Paige gave us last Christmas

Other than that there isn’t a whole lot else going on. I am excited for the holidays coming up though. Were doing Thanksgiving this year at our house so that will be interesting. I’ve decided that since we might be going out of town next weekend to the dunes (depending on weather) I need to get Christmas stuff up before it gets too close to Thanksgiving so that will be this weekends project! I will be sure to post more later!