Halloween Fun

We had our family Halloween party. We went to the pumpkin walk.

Josh was Harry Potter and I was Yoda. I know we are pretty cool.

Go Jazz!!

We wanted to do something to start the Jazz season out right. This is what we did:

This last week has been very interesting. Cusco is a very cool and interesting city with lots to do. It is very busy and has people from all over the world. Everyone relys on the taxis and buses. We have experienced a transportation strike that basically shut down Cusco for a day. We have eaten ceviche (raw fish that is soaked in lemon juice, we have the guinea pig planned for later this week...) We have gotten to play with orphans and even take them to a little health clinic which was interesting to see. Also, we went to Machu Picchu yesterday. It really was amazing to see how high the mountains were that surround it and to think about how they built it all. We are having a great time, Love you guys

Here it is, Mom!

And don't worry...he wasn't hurt.

My turn...

So, the taquitos were a HUGE hit at our house! Sam, who is a picky little eater, couldn't get enough of them! Thanks for sharing, Kels.

Here's a yummy salad that I think you'll like! I found the recipe on this blog. I use this blog ALL OF THE TIME! I love it. Anyway, I made this salad for a ward potluck a few weeks ago and it was a huge hit! The dressing is really, really good! Let me know if you like it too! Love you all!

Chicken Poppy Seed Salad
Spinach leaves
Romaine leaves
Grilled chicken, sliced (grill with lots of lemon pepper seasoning)
Red onion, sliced thinly
Crispy bacon, crumbled
Shredded mozzarella cheese
Toasted almonds (or you can sugar the almonds. Put sliced almonds in a pan with lots of granulated sugar (about equal amounts). Cook on medium heat until sugar melts, coating the almonds as they brown.)

The best part... The Dressing:
1 1/3 cup sugar
2 tsp salt
2 tsp dry mustard
2/3 cup red wine vinegar
3 Tb Maui or Vidalia onion, chopped
2 cups canola oil
3 Tb poppy seeds


Mix the first 5 ingredients in a blender, then slowly add the oil, blending until thick. Stir in poppy seeds. Toss all ingredients together with generous amount of dressing before serving.

*This makes a lot of dressing! If you need a really big salad for a party then start with a large bunch of spinach, large head of romaine, 4 chicken breasts, 1 lb bacon, etc. I rarely make a salad that big so that is why there are no "amounts". So have fun with it - you're going to love it!

Max loves to growl!! He does it ALL the time. Especially when he's eating!

By popular demand...

ok... so really Linds is the only one who requested this but it really is good! Lately Trev and I have been eating taquito's about once a week! They are so easy to make and so tasty! So... here's the recipe!


what you need

ground beef (or some kind of meat... we tried chicken once but the beef has a lot more flavor)
small corn tortillas (soft)
green onions
taco seasoning (or spices from home!)
grated cheese
vegetable oil (or some other oil)

Thats all you need! Start by cooking the meat, onions and seasoning all together. Once this is done, stir in some cheese to make it more tasty! How much you need depends on how much you want to make! A little meat goes a long way since you don't put much in each tortilla. Next, heat up the oil and once its real hot, fry each tortilla for just a few seconds on each side. You just want to soften them up so don't get them crunchy yet. I put them on paper towels after to get the extra oil off. You really don't need that much. Once you've fried all the tortillas, put a spoonful of the meat inside and roll it up tight. You know how taquitos look, just make it look like that! put them on a cookie sheet and cook for about 20 minutes or until they are crunchy at 350! If they come unrolled, you can put toothpicks in them, but they usually stay together ok! It's that easy! We dip them in sour cream, salsa and guac. Yum!

Trev and I put cream cheese inside them last time and that was pretty tasty. You can pretty much put whatever you want inside! We usually eat about ten between us (to give you some idea of how much to make!) Enjoy!

ROME!!!

Ahhh...how spoiled are we?...a week in Rome?! Yes...we really did have a wonderful time...just me, Dad and Ally in ROME!! I am SO sad that Ally's camera was stolen from her suitcase. I keep thinking it will turn up, but probably not at this point. She had so many great pictures, too! She had finally caught the vision of picture taking on vacation...enough that Dad had to be real patient with both Ally and I with trying to get the perfect shots! Don't worry though Ally...I have almost 800 very cool shots!

We LOVED the GELATO....every night for our bedtime snack! Rick Steve's had the best place to go..they use shovels, not just little scoops!


We tossed coins in Trevi Fountain and made a wish...hopefully that means that we'll make it back to Rome again someday.




The Sistine Chapel was very amazing...We took a tour of the Vatican and the museum.
We also rented this tiny little car and drove to Florence and Pisa. It was SO hard to get out of ROME...%#@!%$!!...but we loved seeing the beautiful countryside.

Ally at the Forum and also at the Leaning Tower of Pisa!

We hung out with Dave and Aimee for a day...they were headed out for a cruise...

lucky!!!

We rode bikes out the the Catacombs...just outside of Rome. Now those are creepy! I was worried the power would go out!

It was a great trip. I heart Italy! CIAO!

Rome

There would be some really cool pictures here, but we didn't really go to Italy.


Or, I foolishly left my camera in my suitcase so I wouldn't leave it on the plane (again). When the aforementioned suitcase finally showed up at our house three days after our return, my camera case was in it, without the Canon inside.

So, just take my word for it- Rome is rad.

Now I leave the next vacation post up to mom or dad.

Ok Ok...

I can take a hint! Here are some pictures from our trip! We pretty much relaxed for a week straight. We took long naps, slept in, watched movies on the lido deck, went to comedy shows and plays, and ate A LOT!

On Key West the weather was kinda bad at the beach so we just walked around and shopped mainly. Trevor was a little immodest in his swimming suit!


We of course had towel animals and mints in our room every night, thanks to Jimmy! This one was our favorite!


This was the beach in Honduras. Our driver for the day took us here after the zipline and waited for us for two hours! It was a pretty sweet deal! This was our favorite island, it was so pretty! It was the only place we thought we could spent an entire week at (hint hint...!)

This is us with Preston, Ernie took the picture. It was just the four of us on the entire zipline tour so that was way cool!

Eating at Margaritaville on Grand Cayman. This family told us about this cute little restaurant they found and we just had to try it out!

In Belize we did cave tubing but we haven't developed the waterproof camera yet so those pictures will have to wait! Love you all!

I'm waiting...

for some pictures that I know certain family members have from certain vacations they've been on recently. Come on people, I need some proof. For all I know, you never really went anywhere.

Jump, jump!

This is how we spent our Sunday afternoon. We are so cool.

We miss you ALL so much!! Can't wait to see you again! Let's all get some jumping pictures together sometime.

Spring Break!

So far Trevor and I have had a good week off school full of Jazz games, naps, puzzles and biggest loser, with a little work mixed in. Tonight we've been playing with my new phone and have been cracking up! These pictures are hilarious and you can edit them right on the phone... I can tell i'm gonna have a lot of fun with this! Aren't we a cute couple?!

No More Snow

Yesterday you could see almost all of the grass. Today it is gone.
Hopefully spring comes soon.

Guacamole anyone?

Untitled from docktercrew on Vimeo.

Our Week!

Many of you wonder what Trevor and I are up to here in L-town. Well... here ya go...

This is what I have been working on for about a week straight. I finally finished it! It was SO hard! It got to the point where I had to go piece by piece and find where it fit by looking at the picture! I would just like to thank Santa for such a wonderful way to spend my time!

While I have been busy with the puzzle, Trevor has been working on his golf game...

This is our newest toy... Golden Tee! It's actually pretty fun. We went into Sports Authority for a new pair of gym shorts and came out with this lovely game. All the guys who worked there told Trev good luck at beating their scores, they were pretty sad to see the game go!

So there you have it... Now you know that Trevor and I are spending our time as productively as possible!

Blue Steel

HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO LA LA LA LINDSAY ANN!!!

Today is a very special day...Happy Birthday to sweet Lindsay! What a JOY you are! I love you SO much! I am a lucky girl to be your mom! xoxo

We must really love you guys!

So...I got the weather forcast that you sent for Toledo this weekend...

Oh Man!!

but...I can honestly say that there is NO other place I would rather be going!!! I can't wait!

Dear Ally,

I am tired of waiting. I want to see Indiana pics...now. Come on, sista! How hard is it really?

Love,
impatient