Happy 30th

Today my Man turned 30. He was not too happy about it at first but I think once he was joined by family and dear friends to celebrate, it did not seem so bad. We had such a pleasant time in the front yard eating fried chicken and playing Bachi Ball followed by some decadent ice cream cake and gift/card opening afterward. Korban wanted to get in on the gift opening with Daddy....

We had such a nice time and are thankful for all who came.

Wednesday Korban and I leave for a week long trip to Utah to stay with my parents. We are very excited about it but It is going to be hard to be away from Josh for that long. Have you ever missed someone before you even left them? I know it's only a week but what can I say, I love the guy:)

Happy Birthday Joshua!

Busy Body

This past month Korban has been very busy....

Playing loudly and happily on the drums with Dad...

Going to the Bookstore with his best friend Lilly...


Teaching his new friend Duke some new tricks...notice any resemblance in the cheeks?


And closely studying the stickiness of spaghetti.

He had places to go and people to see like Uncle Paul and Aunt Mary in Chico but before we could get to Chico we took a little detour up the coast to see our friends Dom and Emily in Carpenteria and their two adorable children. Carpenteria is such a cute and quaint little town, a must see if you ever take a road trip up the coast. After our visit there we moseyed on up to Monterrey to visit our dear friend Jonny. While waiting to eat at "Passion Fish", the restaurant where Jonny works, Josh, Korban and I took a stroll down the old Fisherman's wharf...

Hungry from our driving and walking, Korban enjoyed a fine cuisine
with Mr. Frog at Passion Fish. He found the Gerber apple and pear sauce to be delicious.


Finally after many stops, diaper changes and his first diaper rash ever :( we made it to Chico:)
I loved this town. It was so cute and old and beautiful. I like places like this a lot and only wished we could have stayed longer until the rain had passed. Yep, it rained the whole time we were there but we still went out and had fun. The parks here are so pretty and green with lots of neat trails and play structures for the little ones.




(Josh said to Korban "Wazup!" and this is the reaction we get...
I think Uncle Paul found it funny too)

The next day we went to a soda shop but I think it was called the Root Beer Brewery (Mary please correct me if I'm wrong!) I am so bad at remembering the names of places that we visit. Anyways, They had every kind of old fashioned soda you could think of and ones that I just had never heard of before and I wish I could have had a sample of every one!



Their root beer floats and sweet potato fries were DELICIOUS! Korban thought otherwise about the float.....I think it was the bubbles but his expression is priceless.


All in all it was a nice visit with the family and we can't wait to find out what they are having! I think Mary is having a boy but we should find out soon enough.

Speaking of baby's and becoming a Mama, My mothers day was quite restful and pleasant.
My baby boy is such a blessing to me and I am ever so thankful to be his mommy....
I love you too Korban!

Tasty Caramelized Chicken

Tonight was another kitchen experiment. It was super quick and easy and my hubby who normally does not like onions on things, enjoyed this one. Unfortunately we had eaten everything by the time I realized,"Hey, maybe I should put this one on my blog." So therefore there is not a picture to prove anything:( I guess you will just have to cook it yourself to see what it looks like!

Two Thawed chicken breasts
4 tablespoons Newman's Own lemon pepper marinade
half a lemon
One teaspoon dry Dill, or fresh dill
Montreal Steak Seasoning, (Costco)
Olive oil
4 slices of a brown onion finely choped
1 tbs butter

Coat the bottom of your pan with olive oil and add the chicken. Spread on the marinade and give the lemon a good squeeze over the chicken. Sprinkle the chicken lightly with Montreal steak seasoning. Add the dill and cover the chicken and cook on medium until the chicken is no longer pink turning it once during the cooking process. Keeping the lid on so that the juices don't dry out completely. After the chicken is done, put it on a dish and set it aside. Add 1 tbs butter to the pan with the juices still remaining and add the chopped onion. Saute until they are caramelized over medium low heat. Spoon over the chicken and serve! We had it with cooked carrots on the side. It took a total of 30-40 minutes from start to finish with side dishes included. Bonn appetite!

The Very Hungry Caterpillar

This link http://allrecipes.com/HowTo/Inchworm-Cake-Video/Detail.aspx, is from one of my favorite cooking websites, allrecipes.com . The cake that they demonstrate is called the inchworm cake but it reminded me of the very hungry caterpillar story that Jess and I were talking about the other day. It looks pretty easy, (Shannon you will probably love this one!)

Recipe...Recipe's of the Week

I have been a little more adventurous with my cooking lately and thought it might be fun to add a recipe of the week to my blogging. I am not making any promises though as it seems to be rather difficult sometimes to get to my blog. Lady's you know what I mean! You want to so bad but their are surley other things much higher on your priority list.
The first recipe I would like to share is Teriyake Beef short ribs. I did not follow a specific recipe but I did Google some to get a general idea as to how long beef short ribs should cook.

4 beef short ribs
Teriyaki sauce
minced garlic
bell peppers (I used red and yellow)
1 whole or half white onion (depends on how much you like onions)
Salt and Pepper to taste
A dash of curry

Heat oven to 350.
While oven is heating saute bell peppers and onion with garlic and curry until tender.
Place the Beef short ribs in a baking dish, sprinkle with salt and pepper
andslather in teriyaki sauce. Add 1/4 inch of water to baking dish.
Cook for 90 minutes...it's worth the wait! If you have sourdough and pepper jack cheese,
butter the bread sprinkle with cheese and bake in the oven at 375 until toasted
and the cheese is melted and bubbly.

Recipe #2
Rootin Tootin Chili...at least that is what it should be called:)

Perportions depend on the size of your crock pot.
You will need...
I large can of chili beans
1 can of diced tomatos
1 can of tomato sauce
2 small cans of green chilis
1/2 head of garlic minced
1 can each of pinto, black, and kidney beans.
I just guessed on ounces, it just depends on what you like and how much.
1 lb of ground turkey (add some seasonings to the turkey as you are cooking it as well)

Cook the turkey until it is no longer pink and drain the fat.
Dump all of the contents icluding the turkey into the crock pot.
add a teaspoon of red pepper, chili powder and paprika...more if you like it hot!
You can also add whatever spices that tickle your taste buds. I added oregano,
marjoram, and a few other green ones I can't seem to remember, but you really can't go wrong if they are done in moderation. set the slow cooker for 6 hours.
You can serve it with corn bread and some sour cream and cheese on top.

You may also need one of these...substitute, open some windows:)

He is Risen!

I just love Easter! It brings back so many memories for me from my childhood with some added new memories as well. When my brothers and I were little we would look for eggs in the morning while still in our pajamas and my brothers would always try to help me find my special basket that I learned later Mom made for me. My brother Brian and I used to hide our eggs over again and make each other find them...one year one did not get found right away and it turned a little smelly in the house! That time in particular sticks out in my mind. We would all get dressed in our Easter outfits and drive to Valley Center to visit Honey and Papa for dinner and more eggs. This is also where the golden egg tradition started. My grandparents would hide $20 in a golden egg and whoever found it kept it.
Now my reason for celebrating Easter is different and it never really became my favorite holiday until I gave my life to Jesus...I know I know some people out there might be saying "Oh here she goes!" but I truly mean this from the bottom of my heart. All of the lessons and stories that were taught to me about His death on the cross and His resurrection before I had a relationship in my life with Him, did not mean anything to me. It's not that I did not want to care, I just did not care enough to pay attention. But Once I finally did pay attention and really understood what it meant when He died for My sins, I finally knew what Easter was all about, or as I like to call it Resurrection Sunday. Ever since then, it has been my favorite Holiday of the year. We still keep family traditions and get together at our place. We hide a money egg and watch all of the grownups go scrambling about to find it...everyone is a kid at heart. We still watch the children s faces light up with glee when they find their little treasures. But in my money egg there is the real treasure the message of Jesus resurrection..."He is risen!"
I can't wait for Korban to be old enough to understand why we celebratge this special day.
Here are a few pics from Easter's past and present....

At Honey and Papa's 1980something


Mom's basket of goodies!

Notice how Jesus is NOT on the cross...That's because He is Risen!



I love this one:)


Blowing Bubbles


A perfect end to a perfect day

Tronloar

Tronloar- Kind of like folklore but not just about people...Tronloar is about human/robots. At least that is my definition of Tronloar AKA the secret code I had to type to leave a comment on a blog. And apparently there is such a thing as Tron.

By the way...OUr new clever title "J & K plus one" My hubby came up with that one! But let me make one thing clear, I in no way what so ever aspire to be anything like Kate or in her situation...for sure. Kudos to them for surviving but it is not for me...and Josh wares the pants in the family and I like it that way, (I am the cute little blouse that goes with the pants)!