Bummer

So for all of those who were expecting us in Utah this weekend, I'm sorry, but we aren't going to make it. Yesterday Joey started throwing up in the morning. We decided that if she went 12 hours without throwing up before it was time for us to leave we would still go. She peed the bed (first time ever), but thankfully the flu seemed to have passed. We got about 30 minutes out of town and she started throwing up in the car. The brand new car. Thankfully it was only a little bit, and I was able to find a trash bag quickly. We figured it could be a little motion sickness and left overs from the flu, so continued on our way. About 45 minutes later it happened again, and this time we turned around and headed home. Again, we figured if she could go the rest of the day without being sick we'd head up, but alas, it was not so. So instead of infecting everyone in Utah with Joey's nasty flu, we will be camping out here at home.

Hope everyone has a great Thanksgiving!

Leaves, Leaves, all around

Our big tree has started dropping some of it's leaves. I thought Joey would enjoy playing in the leaves, and it would be a good way to burn off some of her never ending energy, so I started to rake them into a pile for her. As soon as she figured out what was going on, that was the end of the pile. She couldn't let those leaves just sit there with no one to play in them. I think her favorite part was throwing them down the back of my shirt. She did enjoy making "Leaf Angels" and we buried her in them when Ty came home from work. And, being the three year old she is, she spent the better part of an hour just throwing and kicking the leaves, then raking them back into a pile and doing it all over again. I decided it was time to end the fun when we both had slugs squished on us (for some reason our lawn is infested with slugs!!! Joey's favorite thing to do is dump lots of salt on the ones on the sidewalk and watch them die.).

She would rake herself into the pile and would kick her way out of it.

Leaf Angel

New Car

Everything with our car has FINALLY settled. It only took the better part of forever, but it's finally over. For those of you who don't know what I'm talking about, let me give it to you brief. Our VW Jetta was a lemon. We have had some major saftey issues with it. Back in January I got in contact with a lawyer about making VW buy the car back. VW finally agreed last month to buy the vehicle back. Now the loan is paid off and we are waiting for the title (it should be here in the next couple days) so we can turn the vehicle back over to VW. The biggest problem for us has been that we are planning to go to Utah for Thanksgiving, but we weren't not sure if we'd have a vehicle or not (we would like to turn the car in this weekend if we get the title). So we have been car shopping to figure out what car to get next. We have driven probably 10 different cars, and finally fell in love. Last Friday, we bought ourselves a new Ford Flex.

It is so nice and comfy. We are excited to go to Utah in it next week. It can seat up to 6, so if we ever need to take our friends kids somewhere we can. It also has Sync, which is nice since it's against the law to drive while holding a cell phone (I always seem to get my important calls while I'm driving). We really like all the features, and figure that it is big enough that we can grow into the car.

Are you for real???

So I am having a really hard time believing that it is mid-November. You walk outside and it seems early October. The last several days it has hit above 80!! The leaves haven't even fallen off the trees yet. They started the other day when a breeze blew threw, but nothing like it should be. I see pictures and hear people say how cold it is in other places, but it's hard to believe. This is what our big tree in front of our house looks like (notice that parts of it are still actually green).

Tagged

So my friend tagged me a while ago, but I'm just now getting to it (sorry it took so long Karen). So here is the tag. Go to your 4th folder of pictures, and go to the 4th picture. Then quickly tell what the picture is about.

This was at our ward Halloween party. Someone took my camera to take pictures with to send to her daughter who is on a mission currently. This is a picture of the missionaries in our ward. Actually, the one dressed as Frank Sinatra was transfered yesterday. He was in our ward for 7 months and in our town for 10 total months (long time for a missionary).

I tag anyone who wants to be tagged!

Joey Quotes

So I have noticed much more lately, that Joey is saying all kinds of things that I think are hillarious and deserve recognition, so instead of boring you all with those being my only posts, I just added a new element to the side of our blog called "Joey Quotes." The one's on top will be her most current quote, and I'll update them probably more often than I actually write real blogs, so check regularly if you are interested what she has to say this time.

Chicken Chili Lasagna

So about three weeks ago my whole family was in town for a reunion (there were 24 of us total). I was in charge of making dinner on Monday and it was requested by my parents that I make Chicken Chili Lasagna. It has definately become a favorite dinner of Ty and I, although I usually only make it when we have company over since it makes so much food. Anyway, I put this recipe on my family's website, and thought I'd put it up here in case anyone wants to try it. If you do try it, let me know what you think of it.

Chicken Chili Lasagna

Ingredients:
1 8oz pkg cream cheese, softened
1 medium onion, chopped
8 green onions, chopped (I actually use like half this amount)
2 cups shredded Mexican-Cheese blend, divided
2 garlic cloves, minced
3/4 tsp ground cumin, divided
1/2 tsp minced fresh cilantro
3 cups shredded cooked chicken
1/4 cup margarine
1/4 cup flour
1 1/2 cups chicken broth
1 cup shredded Monterey Jack cheese
1 cup (8 oz) sour cream
1 can (4 oz) chopped green chilies
1/8 tsp thyme1/8 tsp salt
1/8 tsp pepper
9 flour tortillas (6 inches), halved

Directions:In a mixing bowl, combine cream cheese, onions, 1 1/2 cups Mexican-Cheese blend, garlic, 1/4 teaspoon cumin and cilantro. Stir in chicken; set aside. In a saucepan, melt butter. Stir in flour until smooth; gradually add broth. Bring to a boil; cook and stir for 2 minutes or until thickened. Remove from the heat. Stir in Monterey Jack cheese, sour cream, chilies, thyme, salt, pepper, and remaining cumin. Spread 1/2 cup of the cheese sauce in a greased 13x9x2 baking dish (I perfer a glass dish). Top with 6 tortilla halves, one half of the chicken mixture and one third of the cheese sauce. Repeat tortilla, chicken, and cheese sauce layers. Top with remaining tortillas and cheese sauce. Cover and bake @ 350 for 30 minutes. Uncover and add remaining Mexican-Cheese blend and bake for 10 minutes longer or until heated through. Let stand 5 minutes before cutting

Number Of Servings:12

Bye-Bye Rosemary

So I wish I had thought to take a picture of this rosemary monster, but it didn't occur to me until after we finished, so oh well. But this morning that was my project. The rosemary monster. Well I guess technically it was a bush at some point, but once it was almost three feet tall and at least that wide, I'm not sure it's considered a bush any longer. We decided to rip it out. I was afraid to walk near it because I thought it would eat me alive if I did. The removal process actually started last week one morning when I was feeling brave. I got my little flower pruners and started to hack away at it. I quickly realized this project was larger they my little pruners could handle, so it got shoved to the back for nearly a week. Then we borrowed my parents big tree pruners. To make things worse, you couldn't even see where the base of the monster was because it had been eating dead leaves, sticks, and trash for who knows how long, and didn't want to give any of it up. It took me about two hours to prune it down enough that we could find the base and dig it out. Thankfully it is now done and gone. Maybe some day I'll no longer be terrified of rosemary and plant a nice LITTLE bush, but for now... nope.

Also, today Joey was climbing on our block wall out front. At one point she raised her arms over her head and said "I am king of the Jordan!"

Joey Quote of the day

I know this isn't a good picture of this desk, but I had to put the picture up anyway so you'll know what I'm talking about. And this quote is actually from yesterday, but it still deserves to be acknowledged.

So Saturday we bought this new desk to go in our office. We left the corner piece out so we actually now have two matching desks in our office, but that's really irrelevant. Last night Ty decided to put the desk together. He got all the pieces out and was reading the instructions, making sure he had everything. Joey looks down at everything and says, "Are you going to wrench it together?" Ty and I about died laughing. Apparently later when he started assembling everything with the little wrench that came in the box, Joey got all mad and said "That's not wrenching it! That's turning it!"

We still have know clue what "wrenching it" must mean.