*Baby Zac's Photoshoot aka: My 1st Infant Shoot!*

Oh how I love this little boy! This is my newest nephew Zac. I was able to try/do my 1st ever Infant Photo-shoot with this little guys help! He was pretty grumpy 90% of the time and it took us a good 3 hours! But, it was totally worth it. We got some adorable shots of his personality and I was able to gain some experience and learn some Do's & Don'ts when it comes to taking photos of little ones. He was super jaundice and hungry (even after eating tons) so we did the best we could and let's just say that I tip my hat to the professional infant photographers out there! You guys are amazing! So, here's to me and my attempt to try and capture some memories of Zachary and get better at taking photos so I can rock out some precious photos of my future tiny humans! And also to this doll, he was a trooper! 

Next infant photo-shoot attempt..... Psshh yeah right! I have a LOT more practice ahead of me before I can pop that out! Haha... Wish me luck!

*Wild Weekend: Fam Reunion Up In The Trees*

I am so sad, we had a wonderful family reunion with Joey's family up in Island Park and these are the only 2 pictures I got...

 My Father-in-Law Monty with 2 of his 11(soon to be 12... no, not ours haha) granddaughters (Oaklee W. & Kesli B.)

Dolly & I waiting for "Dad" to get there

Every year during the last week in June is when the ranch is the least busy and we actually have some time to breathe, all the pairs are tucked away in their summer range and getting fat and happy, the hay is growing, and everything is in order (this year they were pushing it pretty close!), so that's when we have Joey's family's reunion!

It was a fun time. I got up there Thursday afternoon and it was Joey & I's night to do the food so I bought some Papa Murphy's pizzas to take up there... I mean, I slaved and slaved over the dough and pizza sauce and made 5 delicious pizzas :) :) I had been staying at my parents house while Joey was shipping pairs and since my family has a cabin in Island Park it was easy for me to find(with a couple phone calls to my Daddy and to my sis-in-law after I had decided I was lost haha) the gorgeous, enormous cabin we rented for this reunion... complete with hot tub {fist pump}. Joey finally got up there that night around 11:30pm.

My parents limited their pet-sitting to one pet, so we left Oprah with them and brought Doc, Dolly & Coatsy. They had a blast. We went on long walks, swimming in the frigid reservoir, and playing fetch with them when we weren't hanging out with the family, playing with our nieces and nephews, sitting in the hot tub, stuffing our faces, dinking around on the boat, or just relaxing in one of the many rooms in the cabin. It was a blast and so fun to hang out with Joey's family. We love them all lots and lots!

*A Kind Of Family Photo Session*

My brother-in-law & sister-in-law needed some pictures done of their uber-cute family yesterday and asked me to take a few. It was fun. I know I have said this a hundred times, but I really wish I had my camera and photoshop already! I promise it will happen, I've just no idea when haha. So I made do with using a little Cannon SX120 and my simple photo editor on my MacBook. It was still super fun to take a couple pictures and I also found my little girl model for basically everything when I do get my camera someday! Bret Nicole was a perfect little poser and is naturally adorable in her Easter dress! I so wish I had photoshop to show off those sky blue eyes a little better! Here's a few shots!

Baby Bailey

Bridger

Wyatt

 Sage

 Monty Brett & Nikki

 Ms. Bret Nicole

*Sugar Cookies+Red Frosting=Lipstick, Cow Shaped Yummies & Smiles*

Joey's niece Bret Nicole & I had a play date today....

We decided we wanted to make sugar cookies and decorate them with red frosting...

We painted my lips with the sugary goodness...

Don't they just look so good? They are. Just ask Bret Nicole...

She ate four Red Cows :) :)

*Wild Weekend*

Our "Wild Weekend" consisted of:

Friday

- Snow snow and more snow

- Drive to the big BIG city aka: SLC

- Met my parents and brother's family

- Ate the best German food around. Wiener Schnitzel with Spaetzle and Red Cabbage. It's almost like you're in Germany (Trust me. I know. I lived there.)

- Went to the mall!!!

- Spent too much time in three of my fav stores Anthropologie, Urban Outfitters & Baby Gap(Sad? Yes.) 

- Drove around trying to find Marie Calenders, just to realize I could look up the location on my cell phone... I did, and we found out the one we were looking for had closed down and the closest one was across town. And SLC isn't a small town haha.

- So, we ended up eating at Village Inn

- Everyone else got pies. Yeah, I got a full breakfast. Luckily, Joey helped me eat it

- Started feeling really sick and feverish. First Joey and now me. Go figure

- We headed home at 11pm. Had a long night ahead...

- Half way home we hit a snow storm. So it took us an extra hour to get home. The dirt road to our house hadn't been plowed yet(of course) so we had to cross our fingers that we didn't get caught in the snow drifts and pulled off the road haha

Saturday

- Today I decided was going to be my Lazy Day

- Slept in... till like 10:30am... Okay, so 11am. We got home late okay?!

- Watched "Man on Fire" on TV. Awesome

- Watched "Blue Crush" on TV. Retarded

- Watched "The Hot Chick" on TV. hahaha

- Watched "That 70's Show" on TV. Like 3 episodes

- Decided I should probably get up and take a shower

- Whined to Joey over text that I was bored. He suggested I shovel the walkway. Yuck

- Decided I was bored enough to shovel the walkway

- Half way through I posted this on FB: "Taking a break from shoveling the mountain of snow and ICE from our walkway. Sheesh it's a big job for someone who can't breathe right now haha. If u see me passed out I've got meds and an inhaler in the house thanks haha".

- Finished shoveling after my 2nd wind. It was pure ice okay, it was a workout

- Still had some 2nd wind going on so I grabbed the dog leashes and took the puppies for a walk. On the way back my arms were about ripped out of their sockets so I let the dogs run loose. They stayed with me for the most part... When they weren't chasing after bunnies or the neighbors cows.

- Got home to "Dad" aka: Joey wondering where we were and wondering why I had shoveled the walkway because he was just joking and had been planning on doing it himself

- Cooked a dang good breaded Pork Chop meal that we ate on our TV trays in the living room while we watched recorded episodes of "Grey's Anatomy" and "Modern Family". P.s. Haven't seen "Modern Family"? You haven't lived, or had a coughing/crying fit from laughing so hard. Totally recommend it!

Sunday

- Church, where we teach the cutest class full of 5 year olds. Love them

- Great talks in church. Too bad I coughed throughout the whole hour

- GORGEOUS, sunny day outside. I've been debating taking vitamin D but if the days stay like this for at least 2 days in a row I think I'll be okay

- Headed over to the ranch to have some fried trout the nephews caught themselves, apple pie made by Diane, and corn bread made my yours truly. Delish

- Now here I am. Finally blogging after a full fun weekend.

How was your weekend??

Oh so good German Food

 The awesome lightbulb display in Anthropologie. Bad quality, I took it with my IPhone and shaky hands haha. But, I am so doing this. Yes, I sure will take those old light bulbs off your hands thank you very much :)

Two hilarious books at Urban Outfitters

*Blizzard- Right Here, Right Now*

There is a blizzard going on outside

I am "stuck" at the ranch while Joey is "stuck" at his brother's place

We both just want to be at home

I might chance the weather

{Just looked out the window} Or maybe not, it's scary out there

I need to get home so I can cook my Spanish Chicken Skillet

We're having Sage (Joe's nephew) over for dinner

His parents are lucky and in the BAHAMAS on a cruise

I'm kinda jealous :)

Well, I think I have to chance the weather to get home and get Dolly her meds

She got a new wrap today on her leg where she got caught in a barbed-wire fence

We have the worst luck with dogs

Joey decided the more you care for them the more things that go wrong!

Wish me luck

*The Ranchers Wife Who Doesn't Love Beef*

My dad-in-law Monty is out of town shipping calves so Joey decided he wanted to invite his mom over for dinner.  I'm excited, I'm making really yummy pork chops w/ apples and onions (Cudos to our friends Jed & Cami for being our guinea pigs the first time I made these)! As I was deciding what to make for dinner I realized how much I love pork & chicken. I would take either of them over beef any day. I also realized how funny it is for a cattle rancher's wife to prefer pig and chicken over beef.  I like beef, don't get me wrong. It good for you, full of nutrients and I'm not against it in the least, I just prefer the taste of a good pork chop or the fun, tasty things you can do with a chicken breast.

Here's a delish and fast way to cook a chicken breast:

- Take a large chicken breast and make a "butterfly" cut(like picture). It's where you cut the breast lengthwise to where it's still connected just slightly

- Put the breast inside down on a skillet with some olive oil(or vegetable oil) and cook for a couple minutes

- Remove and cut a *(star shape) on both insides the of the breast(the side you just barely cooked)

- Fill the star's with your favorite salsa and fold the breast so it looks like it did before you made the butterfly cut

- Place back on the skillet and cook both sides the rest of the way through

- Before you remove the cooked chicken place a thick slice of sharp cheddar cheese on top of the breast and let it melt

- Serve with Fiesta rice and Mexican style beans

*It's Just A Family Tradition*

Family traditions... we all have them.  Some are awesome, some are pointless, some are just plain embarrassing.  Since Thanksgiving is only a day away I'm going to talk a little bit about our family tradition we have during the holidays.  It's not something Joe and I just sat down and told each other about.  We learned about each others traditions the hard way.  For instance...  I LOVE that on the weekend after the week of Thanksgiving my family will go up to our cabin, stay a few days, and go CHRISTMAS TREE HUNTING!  Well, that turned out all fine and dandy (I'll talk about our tree and our new tradtion in a sec).  It was the 3 weeks until Christmas when I realized WHY my parents in law have a fake tree... Joseph is allergic... of course, I mean he just has to be allergic to one of my FAVORITE parts of Christmas.  Poor thing, we still are getting a live tree :)  Am I mean to say he'll live and deal with it for a couple weeks out of the year?  But, no he was the one who said I could have my tree.  It just has to be down and out of the house the day after Christmas, none of this leaving-it-up-until-New-Years business :)

Now that we are married we have decided to trade off holidays between his family and mine in correspondence with our other siblings.  This year it is Thanksgiving at the ranch and Christmas up with my family (minus my sister and her family in England... sorry I just have to give her a hard time every chance I get.  Love you sis).  Holidays at the ranch are an exciting deal... 2 grandparents, 7 couples, (minus TOM, little butt is staying in Nashville for the holidays where it's "warm") 21 children under the age of 15 (most are under the age of 8) WOW.  That house if FULL.  Never a dull moment though and I absolutely LOVE it. 

Thanksgiving
Some of the Thanksgiving traditions I've kept going from my family are:

- Lemon & Kentucky Derby Pies

- Turkey/stuffing leftover sandwiches

Joeys:

- Tri-tip roast along with the turkey

So, wow, I just realized we don't have many Thanksgiving traditions.  Which makes me sad because I was telling my mom that around here it's almost like Thanksgiving is skipped completely.  They go strait from Halloween to Christmas.  Hardly any decorations, nothing!  It's like a big dinner than WHAM the Christmas tree goes up and Christmas music comes on.  I need to get some more thanksgiving decorations, and when we have kids I think I'll do a little Thanksgiving lesson of sorts and find a good Thanksgiving book to read each year.  I do love that our Thanksgivings have always been about families.  When I say my prayers that has always been the very 1st think I say I am Thankful for... My family.  I'm so thankful that Joey is part of my family now.  My family is everything to me.

Christmas

Some of the Thanksgiving traditions I've kept going from my family are:

- Christmas Tree hunting week after Thanksgiving

- Decorating the tree for family night that next Monday while we play Christmas music and break out the egg nog with a little bit of nutmeg sprinkled on top

- Christmas Eve buffet (my mom makes the most amazing finger foods EVER)

- Christmas Eve reading of The Night Before Christmas

- Leaving out veggies and cookies with milk for Santa (This is for the kids when we have some).  Then after they are asleep "Santa" eats some of the cookies, drinks some of the milk, the reindeer nibbles on the veggies and Santa leaves a thank you note and some of his beard(cotton) gets stuck around the living room
- Joe & I each got a Christmas ornament on our honeymoon at Lake Tahoe just like my parents did on theirs in Hawaii.  Every Christmas once the tree is al decorated my parents each take a turn hanging their special ornament up high on the tree.  So we are going to carry on that tradition with our honeymoon ornaments as well!

- Joey aka: Santa leaves me a little "naughty clothing" in the toe of my stocking. I don't know what my parents were thinking making us kids think Santa was leaving Mommy lingerie but hey, it was cute... Not to mention Joey LOVED this idea :)

Joey's:

(This is horrible but I can't think right now of what some of his family's Christmas traditions are.  I'll remember and come back and finish this ASAP, right now I'm just gonna go ahead and post this!)



Here are the traditions we have started (or are going to start) for our little family:

Thanksgiving

- Find a GREAT Thanksgiving book to read each year

- I'm going to learn to make a different stuffing each year (Stuffing is my FAV part)

- Possibly make a "Thankful Countdown to Thanksgiving" chart where each day for the month of Nov. we'll write something down we are thankful for

Christmas

- (We started this last year) Do something weird for something like decorations, Christmas pictures or something that has to do with Christmas.  Like last year we cut down a funky tree that was like two trees in one.  We decorated one side all western for Joe and the other all hot pink for mine. (I'll post a picture when I can, I'm not currently on my computer).  Other ideas we have come up with is Putting some Halloween decor up on our front door, taking a whole bunch of Christmas lights and deer and just throwing them up on the roof and plugging them in, laying deer on the ground with red lights around them and have a Santa with a rifle in his hands haha... Those are all big IF's but you get the idea, something "weird and fun"

- Buying PJ's for each other and opening them Christmas eve

- (When we have kids) Make "Reindeer Food" out of Quaker oats and glitter. Then sprinkle it out in the yard so "the reindeer can find our house" and have a "magic snack"

I love the holidays and getting to spend time with the family.  Joe & I had a great year last year spending our first holidays together and I can't wait to spend them with him for the rest of forever and I absolutely can't wait to add some little ones to the mix and make the holidays extra special for them!

HAVE A VERY THANKFUL & HAPPY THANKSGIVING!

*Our Birthday's 2010*

*Thankful Thursdays: Monty Brett aka: My Bro-In-Law The Dentist*

Yes... as much as it kills me to say this I am VERY thankful for dentists. Better yet, brother-in-laws who are AWESOME dentists! Nikki (Monty B's wife) told me that Brett is "all about" prevention. So, this morning I went to his office in Montpelier, ID to "prevent" cavitites by shaving down and filling back up (or something like that) a couple of my bottom molares because they were dangeroulsy close to develop some nasty cavities. I have to say that this is the only time I've ever had anything done to my teeth to "prevent" cavities or other bad things happening to them besides the regular cleaning.

So thank you Brett for the time to keep my teeth safe, even though half of my face was numb for about 3 1/2 hours and I had to endure all of Joey's jokes that whole time. And thank you all dentists, you guys are underrated :)