Friday, May 18, 2012

Touch-A-Truck

It is so fun to be a mom of boys.  

Sam and Rivers had a blast with all of the trucks! 








Saturday, May 12, 2012

Other Fun Times

We got a great visit from Kazie.  I let her take all the pictures so I don't have many to document her visit.  We had so much fun going to the zoo, Wicked, and having lots of sister time. 
Ready for church
Luke in his dashing suit! 

Visit from Mimzy and Pop Pop and Sam's new favorite food

We love our babysitter, Haily!  

Rivs and Sam at the Denver Children's museum and their love for trains

Friday, May 11, 2012

Easter 2012


I almost bought this bunny.

Sam (sporting a black eye) and his new love for bunnies.  


Easter Egg Hunt with Texas Roadhouse Armadillo
Sam was obsessed with him.  He followed him everywhere and gave him all his Easter Eggs.  Here he is giving him a hug!  





Sam and Rivs at Nursery

Our sweet boys.  It is so fun to make them match!  

Sunday, May 6, 2012

Bainbridge Part 4

Other fun things: 

We got a visit from the Reillys and Barbers.  We got to meet Gavin when he was only 10 days old!    It is so cool that Logan and I were pregnant together and had babies only weeks from each other.  It is what we always dreamed about.


Sam loved the train at the Boat Basin. 

and the Square


Cannon rides with Pop Pop

More fun with the Dunlaps

It was so great to meet Winston. 

Saying goodbye to Jenny and her kids was so dang hard!  Wish we lived closer.  

Saturday, May 5, 2012

Bainbridge Part 3

Since Bainbridge will always be home to me, I thought it was a great place to do Luke's baby blessing. It was so special to have everyone from the Branch there and Julie, Ruby and Team Harper. 




Luke with his girlfriends: Ruby, Shelby, Coby James, Bay
Eating lunch and frosting cupcakes

Jules and Ruby the Gem

Charlee Sue aka Chuckles


Jenny and Sembler the Tank

Friday, May 4, 2012

Trying New Meals

I've been trying out some new meals (Ryan) trying to recreate things I like from eating out.  Here are four meals I am proud of.   I usually just pay attention when I eat something and then google for recipes and menus to recreate things


1. Middle Eastern Meal   

Mostly mixes and such, all from a normal grocery store.  I got falafel mix and tambouli mix from Kroger and got the hummus pre made.  I've made hummus from scratch before, and thats kind of fun to try different flavors and is cheaper, unless hummus is on sale.  The yogurt salad was cheap and easy to make-  you just buy plain yogurt and add a few herbs and cucumbers.  Also most stores sale pitas  6 for under two bucks.  I think the whole meal was about 25$ and we ended up with 6 servings.  This restaurant was my inspiration: http://mamouns.com/, I used to go there weekly in grad school to the location in Greenwich village.



2. Pear and Gorgonzola Pizza
Cheyn and I used to eat at CPK a lot when we dated and ofter ordered a fun pizza there that we have successfully recreated at home.  Miss Mindy bought me a pizza stone and it makes such a difference for homemade pizzas.  I use a standard pizza dough recipe in the bread machine, but add a bit more honey/sugar than it asks.   I roll out the dough, butter it a bit and put mozzarella and gorgonzola cheese on top-not too much gorgonzola, it is a type of blue cheese after all.  On top that you put thinly sliced Bosch pears and walnuts, both of which you caramelize before hand.  After you get it out you top it with mixed greens or arugula mixed with a vinaigrette.  This is really yummy and the most expensive ingredient is the gorgonzola cheese (5$), but a chunk of that can make 3-4 medium pizzas.  Total cost under 15-20 bucks, for 4 servings, but then we used all the left over ingredients to make another pizza (one pizza serves 2) a few days later. http://www.cpk.com/menu/#Pizzas



3.  NC BBQ meal (No picture)

Not a lot of good BBQ out here in Colorado, and if there is it is  TX BBQ.  NC is great because of the acidic cider vinegar and pepper sauce of the East and the sweet tomato based BBQ of the West.  The Eastern is easy to make your self.  For the Western sauce we usually just stock up on Sticky Fingers Carolina Sweet BBQ sauce when were back in the South or in TX visiting family or for work.  For true NC BBQ it should be pork, but I make chicken in the crock pot.  Buy some shredded cabbage and add a little mayonnaise, lots of apple sider vinegar, some sugar, and celery seeds to make a good slaw.  Cooks some frozen biscuits, maybe some fresh corn on the cob.  One time when she was here I make Cheyn's Mom Miss Mindy make Hush puppies from scratch, but usually those are too hard to make.   Cost: Less than 20 bucks, serves 4-6

Inspirational BBQ restaurant: http://clydecoopersbbq.com/



4.  Pad Thai
A thai restaurant opened up about .6 miles away so we've been eating a lot of Thai food.   I found out there was a good Asian Supermarket on the other side of town and went and bought a wok, rice and a bunch of supplies.  This past week I made Pad Thai.  in the next couple of weeks I'm going to try to recreate some thai curries.  Its really pretty easy to make Pad Thai.  They have pad thai sauce and rice noodles, and I bought the rest from Kroger: Peanuts, limes, sprouts, etc.. 5-6 servings was only 12 bucks total.  I like that when you make it at home you can add a lot more vegetables.  It taste close to what we eat at the thai restaurant, minus the extra cup o f oil and half cup of sugar in those


Up next on my list besides the Thai Curries, I want to make Indian food from scratch like I used to in my college days.   Will have to search around Colorado Springs to see if they have a good cheap indian spice shop.

 You guys trying any new meals your rotating in or want to recommend in the comments?

Thursday, May 3, 2012

Bainbridge Part 2

For my birthday, we went to Wakula Springs and Mexico Beach.  
Sam was yelling "weeeeee" on the boat and we saw 10 alligators plus baby alligators, birds, turtles, and a manatee!  





The beach was glorious.  Perfect weather!  Sam didn't like the sand at the beginning but it really took no time before he was running from the waves, crashing down sandcastles, and chasing seagulls.