Montana Part 2

Pictures off the slopes!

Grandma's ready to go!

Post skiing - cocktail hour

The girls with their Shirley Temples

Grandpa and Rylan

Brian & Ty

They almost both fell asleep - skiing will tire you right out!

Tom & Patti

Grandma and her 2 kiddos

Cousins cuddled up in Grandma and Grandpa's bed watching a movie

Grandma and her girls!

Crazy fun ski socks - check!

 A true winter wonderland - so calm and peaceful with huge flakes falling!

I love this one!

Finding forts under the trees

The boys decided to dig their own forts.

I got a little ambitious and dug 4 matching fortresses!

Videos of the kids playing in the snow

And I forgot these videos in the last post - here's Mackenzie skiing.  Our little daredevil!

Rylan skiing - this was steeper than it looks, that's why he's going pretty slow

Montana

Montana really is my happy place.  I love the mountains, I love snowboarding, I love the fresh air, I love the vibe, I love it all!  It's the only place we vacation that I've never been ready to go home.  If it wasn't so far from family, I would totally move there.  I just feel like I belong there.  We had wonderful weather and had so much fun snowboarding/skiing again.  Here are my pictures on the slopes.

First day out

That view is just like angels singing to me!

The first day, we took the kids down one run first and then they were off to ski school for the day.  It was a bright sunny, calm day so we took advantage of it all and went to the peak.  We stood in line for the tram for a while, but it was so worth it!  I had only been to the peak one other time, but never boarded down it so I was a little nervous about it.

But seriously, the view from the top was AMAZING!  Obviously, photos can't do it justice, but all my nerves just melted away with that view - totally peaceful and calming!

You can't see them in this photo, but because it was such a clear day, we could see the Tetons!

Lone Peak selfie!

It wasn't nearly as hard as I thought.  It was steep, and I got some good muscle burn, but sitting and just taking in the beauty was just as fun.

Nick below me.

Passed him!

The next day, Rylan skiied with us the whole day.  Ski school is expensive and although we have to go just a tad slower with him, he's very comfortable on all the blue runs we like to do, so it's fun to have him with us all day.

And he actually prefers to come with us, so we're taking full advantage of that!  It won't last forever!

Lunch date with everyone!

The last day, we had Mackenzie with us the whole day too - it was so fun to just hang out as a family. 

Powder day!

I don't know if it's because she's my baby or what, but she goes too fast for my liking!  She's always in control so I know she can handle it, but it makes my heart skip a beat when she zips down.  I need to calm down I guess!

Rylan on the other hand - I don't get nervous about him going fast, I trust that he knows when he's too fast.  Maybe that's the thing - I trust Rylan's judgement more - he's more cautious than Mackenzie - she's a daredevil!

Nick took all the pictures for us, so none with him in it.

I love this one!

Me - the black marshmallow.  I forgot my snowboarding jacket at home, so I wore Nick's extra puffy coat.  It kept me warm, but I felt like the michelin man the whole time!

More pictures off the slopes coming soon!

Minestrone Soup

Veggie Minestrone Soup

This veggie-packed soup is delicious on a cold day.  (or any day if you ask me)  I added some chicken sausage, but ended up picking it out, because I liked it without better.  Here's where I found the recipe.

Minestrone Soup

1 cup sliced carrots

1 cup diced celery

1 large onion, diced

2 cups zucchini, diced

3 cloves garlic, minced

3 tablespoons olive oil

3 tablespoons tomato paste

1 can (28 oz) diced tomatoes, undrained

1 can (15 oz) kidney beans, drained

6 cups vegetable broth (or chicken broth)

1 teaspoon Italian seasoning

2 cups uncooked penne pasta

2 cups baby spinach, coarsely chopped

salt and pepper to taste

1. In a large pot over medium-high heat, saute carrots, celery, onion, zucchini, and garlic in olive oil until just barely tender.  Reduce heat to medium and stir in tomato paste, tomatoes and beans.

2. Gradually add vegetable broth and Italian seasoning.  Bring to a low simmer, stirring occasionally.  

3. Stir in penne pasta and spinach, then let soup simmer until pasta is cooked and veggies are tender, about 7 minutes.  Season with salt and pepper and serve warm.

*Like many soups, I think its a little better the next day, after all the flavors have had time to really blend together.  So 

Breakfast Burritos

I got this recipe from a friend and it's wonderful!  These burritos are the perfect thing to always have in the freezer for a quick breakfast or lunch.  My friend has a cooking blog now - The Homemade Dish - check it out for other great recipes!

Here's the quick version with pictures - scroll down for the full recipe!

Chop up the veggies.

Cook them with the sausage.

Scramble some eggs (and add hash browns)

Fill 12 tortillas with sausage mixture, egg mixture and cheese.  These were the only tortillas I had on hand, but I would recommend making them using the bigger tortillas so you can really roll them up burrito style.  I had to use toothpicks to keep these shut, then crack off the top of the toothpicks so I could put them in freezer bags.  So don't do what I did - use big tortillas!  Or I guess you could use this size and make them smaller and make more.

I smother them with my favorite hot sauce before eating!  So good!

Breakfast Burritos

12 oz breakfast sausage

1 bell pepper, diced

1 small onion, diced

salt and pepper

2 medium potatoes, baked and cool

1/3 can cream of mushroom soup

12 eggs

1/2 cup half & half

3/4 teaspoon Penzey's Fox Point seasoning*

shredded cheddar and havarti cheese

tortillas

1. Cook sausage 5 minutes - add pepper, onion, salt and pepper.  Cook until meat is done and veggies are soft.  Remove from heat.

2. Grate 2 potatoes and add to sausage.  Add soup and stir to combine.

3. In large bowl, whisk eggs, half & half, and fox point.  Cook in a bit of butter until set and fluffy.

4. Divide eggs and sausage among 12 tortillas.  Roll up and place seam side down on parchment lined baking sheet.  Set in freezer for a few hours then transfer to freezer bags.

To heat, wrap burrito in paper towel and microwave.

*Fox Point is a mix of shallots, chives, garlic, onion and green peppercorns - so if you don't have it, add some of those spices - or whatever you like!

Get Wet at Universal

I meant to post this a long time ago, but then forgot.  

The second day we were at Universal was the warmest day, which was perfect because we promised the kids we would do the water rides no matter what!  We hit up the Harry Potter rides during our early admission, then as soon as the rest of the park opened - we got wet - and it was perfect, because no one else was that crazy, so there were zero lines on all the water rides!  My favorite was the Jurassic Park River Adventure and Rylan's favorite was Dudley Do-Right's Ripsaw Falls.  The wettest was The Barges, but they were all fun.  

Here are the GoPro videos from them.  Nick titled the video Disney Go Pro, but these were actually all from Universal Studios.   The first part of video is obviously the Jurassic Park ride, and the second part is the Dudley Do-Right ride.  No footage from The Barges.

This video makes me want to go back, we had so much fun!

Phone Dump

At Target one day, Rylan suddenly said, "Mom, that sign is terrible!  Women swear?!  Why would they write that?"  I laughed so hard - I had never looked at it that way before, but now whenever I see it, it makes me smile.

I was singing at a funeral a couple weeks ago and as I was driving to church, I was feeling very nervous about it.  I pulled into a parking space and with a deep breath, looked towards the church and this is what I saw.  The photo doesn't even begin to capture how truly breathtaking it was.  The cross on the top was completely backlit by the sun and the sun dogs were so bright and colorful - it was just amazing.  If I had parked one space over, I wouldn't have seen this.  I immediately felt calm - it was just the sign from God I needed to dissolve my nerves.

Our baby Ace is getting old and we decided he needs a bed to keep him off the floor.  Regular pet beds don't work for us.  The dogs won't lay on them because they get too hot and then they just rip them apart.  But we thought he needed a doggie hammock, so Nick made a PVC frame and I sewed a hammock!  He loves it!  And he knows its for him too, because Dutch is never in it.  Either Dutch doesn't like it, or Ace won't let him in.

We went sledding one day after school on the only hill in town!  We had a blast!  Sledding is fun even when you're a grown up! (and if you jog up the hill each time, it's a great workout!)

Mackenzie's Valentine box.  I sorta left this til the last minute, so two days before she needed this at school, I quick looked on Pinterest, picked a few ideas I thought she would like (and we had the materials for) and let her pick.  We then got to work on this alligator.  She did most of the painting and I did the construction.

It turned out super cute! (Rylan used his R2-D2 from last year)

Here's Mackenzie's Valentine's.  I found these super cute cards with the plastic frog at Target and she loved it, so we put that and a ring pop in a bag.  

I forgot to take a picture of Rylan's valentine's, but he of course wanted Star Wars again, so I found these on Pinterest, put them in a little baggie with a ring pop and a glow stick.

Cousins and play-doh - what could be better?!

Our sweet guy had tubes put in his ears and his adenoids taken out 2 weeks ago.  We noticed around Christmas that he wasn't hearing very well, and when it didn't get better for weeks, ENT confirmed he was full of fluid and it was time to get his adenoids out as we've always known they were enlarged.  He was a trooper on surgery day - we could tell he was a little nervous, but he did great!  And it helped tremendously that our awesome neighbor was his anesthesiologist - a familiar face makes all the difference.  It also helped me watching him being wheeled away by someone we trust - because although we've been through ear tubes 4 times now, it never gets easier to have your child wheeled away from you.

He could immediately hear better and is doing great!  

My Jamberry nails for our trip to Mexico last week!  (more on that in a future post)

One of our favorite veggies (all of us!) - roasted cauliflower.  Toss with olive oil, sprinkle with sea salt and bake at 425 for 20-30 minutes, stirring occasionally.

My sweeties!  The teeth are starting to come in and it makes me sad, I love this toothless grin!

Hockey

Mackenzie decided to play hockey this year and she loved it! Here are some photos of her season.

She had the perfect hockey-player look with her missing teeth!

She even got to play at the college hockey arena - that's a big deal for these little players!  They got their names announced and everything - such a fun game!

One night her coaches hosted a parent child game at an outdoor rink followed by a pizza party - everyone had a great time!

At the outdoor game where she scored her first two goals!  No pictures or video of the actual goals, but she was SO excited about that day!

Here are some videos to see her progress.  I was first told to put her on the girls 8 and under team, but they practiced with the mites players and they all skated circles around our first year girl.  I was nervous and scared for her the whole time.  She stayed out there for the whole practice, but afterward she said she didn't have fun because everyone else was so much better than her.  So I asked if she could be switched to a termite team and it was exactly where she needed to be.

Here's her very first practice - she has a green jersey.

Here's one of the early games, she has a yellow jersey, green socks, black helmet and is #28.  

Another game a few weeks later, you can see how much faster she is.

Another from the same game.  

 A longer video Nick made of one of the last games.

I wish I had taken a short video from her very last game, she made so much progress and was so much faster at skating.  It was so much fun to see her whole team get better - they were adorable!  I'm not too thrilled about the intensity of hockey here, but it really seems she loves it, so we may be in it for the long haul.