Christmas Eve

Christmas Eve we went to my moms house for a party. It is always so much fun getting together and celebrating the birth of christ. It is a very special time of year to spend with those we love and cherish all that we have. I am so glad that we were able to get together as a family, we miss Ryon and his family though. Wish they could be with us.

Grandma Nordberg even came to our party and celebrated with us!
The grandbabies LOVE their mamma, she always make the world seem magical to them.

Josh, Dad and Austin. Its funny the women make the food and the men always flock to it. Its just so delicious, who could resist!

LuLu (my moms dog) was given the max costume from the grinch for Christmas from Diva (Ryon and Danies dog). Isn't it funny!!!

We were getting ready to open the first gift of christmas so that we could watch polar express in comfort.

Oh....our pjs are so cutie!

mom, Chelsea, Raegan and Me.

Snuggled up for the polar express!!!

My darling family!

Our home

Merry Christmas from our home to yours!

We hope that you all had a fabulous time with the ones you love and that you got to eat until your hearts content. I know we did and had a great time! Merry Christmas!

Chargers game

Poor Chargers......I don't really know what their plan is this year....but even though they lost, we still had a great time!!! There is always so much energy in the stadium even when they are not doing well. We love watching the game, singing the San Diego Super Chargers song, watching the cheerleaders perform, Yelling RYON about 100 times trying to get his attention, and most of all watching the weird people that are all around. haha Seriously...WEIRD!!!

After the Game we always go somewhere yummy for dinner, Ryon and Danie know the best places. This time we went to Phils BBQ, and ate until we were sick and almost had to be carried to the car.

All in all, it was a fabulous weekend and we were sad to come home, I really love my family and enjoy being with them. Thanks you for all the fun, hope we get to see you guys soon!!!

Gingerbread houses!

All the girls made Gingerbread houses together while the boys went golfing. It was fun being together and the little girls loved eating all the candy..I mean helping make the houses pretty. :)

Raegan Helping Grandma with her house.

Kayla Starr showing the cookie that me and her were going to ice, right before she bit it. hehe

I forgot to get a picture at the end when we finished our masterpieces. But I am sure that you can all just imagine how lovely they were. :)

Thanksgiving!

I am so thankful for my family and for all the memories that we have made together. I had such a fun time this weekend being with everyone, I wish that we could do it more often, but I love the moments that we do get and am so grateful to have been able to go to San Diego and hang out with my cute family for a few days. Love you guys!!!!

THE x Box never got a rest with these

boys playing every waking moment.

The girls are a little obsessed with Austin and want him doing everything they do. It is so dang cute! And he is such a good sport, nice headband babe! haha The girls got to play the elephant game with poppy, and after a long day of playing hard, a nap was much needed!!!

We got to have our first Thanksgiving as a family ALL together since I was in middle school. We had so much fun cooking together and eating all of our yummy food. I hope that we can do this again!

Family Pictures

My whole family went to San Diego for Thanksgiving to see Ryon and his family. While we were there Danie had her cute friend Tommie take some family pictures of us on the beach. Don't you just love the ocean? I think that it is the perfect place for pictures!!!!!

Carrie Underwood!!!!

Austin suprised me with Carrie underwood tickets a few months ago. I think that he was trying to score some points, what do ya think? :) I was so EXCITED!!!! I really love Carries music and even better she was coming with Little Big Town...Love them!!!
So, It was finally here, Wednesday night was the concert at the E center. We had such a fun time with eachother. I love to tease Austin about his inhabition to dance in front of people, but with the crazy wife that he married that loves to dance at concerts he finally gives in and claps and sorta shakes his hips. haha We had a blast, we even ran into Austins friend Chris.

Austin, Benji, and Chris

What are we so unhappy about?

I got this email and had to share it. This time of year it is hard not to think about all that we have been blessed with in our lives and how great it is to live in this beautiful country. There is so many people that take this for granted and feel that they should complain about everything in their life that is not making them happy. What do you have to be unhappy about? Read this article and you might double think what you complain about.


The other day I was reading Newsweek magazine and came across some poll data I found rather hard to believe. It must be true given the source, right? The same magazine that employs Michael (Qurans in the toilets at Gitmo) Isikoff. Here I promised myself this week I would be nice and I start off in this way. Oh what a mean man I am. The Newsweek poll alleges that 67 percent of Americans are unhappy with the direction the country is headed and 69 percent of the country is unhappy with the performance of the president. In essence 2/3s of the citizenry just ain't happy and want a change. So being the knuckle dragger I am, I starting thinking, ''What we are so unhappy about?''Is it that we have electricity and running water 24 hours a day, 7 days a week? Is our unhappiness the result of having air conditioning in the summer and heating in the winter? Could it be that 95.4 percent of these unhappy folks have a job? Maybe it is the ability to walk into a grocery store at any time and see more food in moments than Darfur has seen in the last year? Maybe it is the ability to drive from the Pacific Ocean to the Atlantic Ocean without having to present identification papers as we move through each state? Or possibly the hundreds of clean and safe motels we would find along the way that can provide temporary shelter? I guess having thousands of restaurants with varying cuisine from around the world is just not good enough. Or could it be that when we wreck our car, emergency workers show up and provide services to help all involved. Whether you are rich or poor they treat your wounds and even, if necessary, send a helicopter to take you to the hospital. Perhaps you are one of the 70 percent of Americans who own a home, you may be upset with knowing that in the unfortunate case of having a fire, a group of trained firefighters will appear in moments and use top notch equipment to extinguish the flames thus saving you, your family and your belongings. Or if, while at home watching one of your many flat screen TVs, a burglar or prowler intrudes; an officer equipped with a gun and a bullet-proof vest will come to defend you and your family against attack or loss. This all in the backdrop of a neighborhood free of bombs or militias raping and pillaging the residents. Neighborhoods where 90 percent of teenagers own cell phones and computers. How about the complete religious, social and political freedoms we enjoy that are the envy of everyone in the world? Maybe that is what has 67 percent of you folks unhappy. Fact is, we are the largest group of ungrateful, spoiled brats the world has ever seen. No wonder the world loves the U.S. yet has a great disdain for its citizens. They see us for what we are. The most blessed people in the world who do nothing but complain about what we don't have and what we hate about the country instead of thanking the good Lord we live here. I know, I know. What about the president who took us into war and has no plan to get us out? The president who has a measly 31 percent approval rating? Is this the same president who guided the nation in the dark days after 9/11? The president that cut taxes to bring an economy out of recession? Could this be the same guy who has been called every name in the book for succeeding in keeping all the spoiled brats safe from terrorist attacks? The commander in chief of an all-volunteer army that is out there defending you and me? Make no mistake about it. The troops in Iraq and Afghanistan have volunteered to serve, and in many cases have died for your freedom. There is currently no draft in this country. They didn't have to go. They are able to refuse to go and end up with either a ''general'' discharge, an ''other than honorable'' discharge or, worst case scenario, a ''dishonorable'' discharge after a few days in the brig. So why then the flat out discontentment in the minds of 69 percent of Americans? Say what you want but I blame it on the media. If it bleeds it leads and they specialize in bad news. Everybody will watch a car crash with blood and guts. How many will watch kids selling lemonade at the corner? The media knows this and media outlets are for-profit corporations. They offer what sells. Just ask why they are going to allow a murderer like O.J. Simpson to write a book and do a TV special about how he didn't kill his wife but if he did … insane! Stop buying the negative venom you are fed everyday by the media. Shut off the TV, burn Newsweek, and use the New York Times for the bottom of your bird cage. Then start being grateful for all we have as a country. There is exponentially more good than bad. I close with one of my favorite quotes from B.C. Forbes in 1953:
''What have Americans to be thankful for? More than any other people on the earth, we enjoy complete religious freedom, political freedom, social freedom. Our liberties are sacredly safeguarded by the Constitution of the United States, 'the most wonderful work ever struck off at a given time by the brain and purpose of man.' Yes, we Americans of today have been bequeathed a noble heritage. Let us pray that we may hand it down unsullied to our children and theirs.''I suggest this Thanksgiving we sit back and count our blessings for all we have. If we don't, what we have will be taken away. Then we will have to explain to future generations why we squandered such blessing and abundance. If we are not careful this generation will be known as the ''greediest and most ungrateful generation.'' A far cry from the proud Americans of the ''greatest generation'' who left us an untarnished legacy.

Craig R. Smith

Cafe Rio Recipes

If you are like me then you LOVE Cafe Rio. You can't go wrong with anything you order there. Especially the Pork Salad....mmmm!!!

My family and I found the recipes to make everything for it, and thought that it would be similar but not the same. So we made it tonight for our dinner and for real...it is the same! It was soooo delicious. Thought I'd share!

Pork:
1 pork shoulder ( no bone)
2 cups brown sugar
2 cups salsa
1 can sprite
1 can Dr. pepper

1Cook in a crockpot for at least 4 hours.
2 About an hour before serving, shred the pork and return to crockpot.

Rice:
1/2 bunch of cilantro
1 can green chiles
1/2 onion
3 cups water (or more if needed)
4 tsp. chicken bouillon
4 tsp. garlic, minced
3/4 tsp. salt
1 Tbsp butter
3 cups rice (uncooked)

1 Blend cilantro, green chilies, and onion together in food processor.
2 Boil water, add all ingredients.
3 Simmer covered 20-30 minutes or until rice is cooked...just watch near the end and add more water if it is starting to look dry.


Dressing:
1 cup buttermilk
1 cup mayo
1 pkg. Hidden Valley buttermilk ranch dressing (the dry packet)
2 Tomatillos
2 tsp. garlic, minced
1/3 bunch of cilantro
1 tsp lime juice
1 small jalapeno pepper

1 mix all ingredients in a blender

Get the fresh tortillas from costco or the grocery store and cook right before serving the salads.

I hope you enjoy!!!

October girls night

Every month My friends and I get together for a Girls Night.

This month Jessica had us over to her house. We had pizza, breadsticks and lots of treats!
We were going to watch a scary movie seeing that it is Halloween and all.....but we never made it that far. We talked and talked and talked. What could be better then that!?!

Me, McCall, Shayla, Jessica

Brittany, and Kady.

Thanks Jess for the super fun night!!!

Iced pumpkin cookies

I love cooking and trying new recipes. I found this recipe on line awhile back and have never made them, so.....last night they got made and can I just tell you......they are the most yummy, delicious, scrumpcious pumpkin cookies. I think you might need to make some at your house, so I thought I would share. Enjoy!

Isn't my apron fabulous!!!

Recipe:

Iced Pumpkin Cookies

2 1/2 Cups of flour

1 tsp. baking powder

1tsp. baking soda

2 tsp.ground cinnamon

1/2 tsp. ground nutmeg

1/2 tsp. ground cloves

1/2 tsp. salt

1/2 cup butter, softened

1 1/2 cups white sugar

1 cup canned pumpkin puree

1 egg

1 tsp. vanilla extract

Icing:

2 cups powdered sugar

3 Tbls.milk

1 Tbls. melted butter

1 tsp. vanilla extract

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Combine flour, baking powder, baking soda, cinnamon, nutmeg, ground cloves, and salt; set aside.

2. In a medium bowl, cream together the 1/2 cup of butter and white sugar. Add pumpkin, egg, and 1 tsp. vanilla to butter mixture, and beat until creamy. Mix in dry ingredients. Drop on cookie sheet by Tablespoonfuls; flatten slightly.

3. Bake for 15 to 20 minutes in the preheated oven. Cool cookies, then drizzle glaze with fork.

4. To make Glaze combine powdered sugar, milk, melted butter and vanilla. Add milk as needed, to achieve drizzling consistency.

I think that I will try and post new or old recipes that I love on here to share with you. Check back later and see if there is something yummy that you would like to try.