Recipes

Here are a few recipes that have been requested.

Pretzel Dessert  (Joan Dance)

2 2/3 cup broken pretzels
3/4 cup plus 2 Tbsp. butter

Combine together and bake 10 minutes at 350 degrees in 9x13 inch pan.

1 (8oz.) cream cheese
1 (8oz.) Cool Whip
1 cup sugar

Cream together and spoon on pretzels.  Refrigerate 1 hour.

1 (6oz) Raspberry Jell-O
2 cups boiling water
2 pkg. frozen raspberries

Dissolve jell-o and boiling water, then add frozen raspberries.  Pour over pretzels and cream cheese.  Chill until set.

*Strawberry jell-o and strawberries could be used instead of raspberry.


Cilantro Ranch Dressing (Barbara Roberts)

1 1/2 cups ranch dressing
1/2 bunch of cilantro
2 tomatillos
1 clove garlic
2 jalapeños (remove seeds)
1 lime juiced

Blend in blender and refrigerate.


Cilantro Rice (Barbara Roberts)

4 cups water
2 cups rice
6 tsp. chicken bouillon
1 tsp. dried onion
1 Tbsp. minced garlic
1/2 bunch cilantro, chopped
1 Tbsp. oil

I just add this to my rice cooker.  Just before serving, squeeze 1 lime over the top.


Sweet Pork (Barbara Roberts)

5 lbs pork boneless, skinless ribs
1 1/2 cans coke or Dr. Pepper (I use caffeine free)
1 1/2 cups brown sugar
4 tsp. salt
1/2 Tbsp. dry mustard
1/2 Tbsp. cumin or chili powder
1/2 Tbsp. minced garlic
Lime Juice

I add everything to the crock pot and set on high for 6 hours.  I shred the pork before serving.


Poppy Seed Dressing (Barbara Roberts)

1/3 cup sugar
1/4 cup red wine vinegar
1 1/2 tsp. onion (finely chopped)
1/4 tsp. paprika
1/4 tsp. Worcestershire sauce

Combine in blender.  Slowly add 1/2 cup oil (I use olive oil).  Remove from blender and stir in 1 Tbsp. poppy seeds.

I use this dressing with a spinach salad, which is spinach, cranberries, feta cheese, and roasted almonds.

Trying to catch up...

Halloween with the Roberts' cousins.  Anna is a Hockey player (her teeth even fit to the costume), Xavier was a white ninja, Isaac was a skeleton, and Eva was a gorilla (Anna is holding her).



Isaac on his 4th birthday



Isaac and his presents on his fourth birthday.




Anna at Thanksgiving




We had Thanksgiving with Brianna and James at our house.  It was so fun.  We had a great time.




Eva at Thanksgiving.




Does it look good?  I certainly enjoyed it.  Thanks to Brianna's help, it went well (my first time at a turkey and actual thanksgiving dinner).



If You Are Wondering...

If you are wondering what we have been up to, here are a few pictures to prove that we have been up to something.  Just yesterday, we had a family home evening Halloween party.  We carved pumpkins, ate pizza, and had donuts.  The kids loved it.  I am so glad that simple things make them so happy.

Isaac, Eva, Xavier, Ryan, and Anna carving pumpkins.

We also just spent a week in Las Vegas.  Ryan had a convention for a couple days and took a few days off work, so we could have a family get-a-way.  We spent a few nights in Sandy Valley with my parents and then a few nights in Las Vegas.  It was very relaxing.   

While in Vegas, we took the kids to see the Bellagio water fountain show.  They also have a room that they decorate for each holiday.  This is a real pumpkin in that room and it is 898 lbs.  Amazing!

Here is a tree with a face carving.  It was fun to see the kids' faces when they realized there was a face in the tree.

This is Ryan in a bee suit mowing my parents lawn.  They had a bee problem.  Well, Ryan got curious and that usually never has a good result.  He told my parents that he would find the beehive and kill the bees.  These bees had attacked my cute little mother while see was mowing the lawn.  My dad came to help her and he got attacked, too.  The bees in Sandy Valley are crazy.  They are the killer bee type, so it is a little scary.  So...Ryan gets curious and looks for the hive.  He started to poke around a trailer that is near my parents house.  He ripped off a few side panels, and the bees started to attack.  We were all inside watching this happen and when they started to attack Ryan, we wouldn't let him come inside the house.  We made him stay outside for like two hours.  The bees started to fly around the house and into the windows because I think they could see us inside.  When we would close the blinds they would go away, and when we would open them again, they would fly back to the windows.  While Ryan was outside he figured out that the bees would leave him alone if he walked into the corn field that is by my parents house.  So, after he found the hive, he ran into the corn, then ran as fast as he could into the house.  He was able to get into the house without any bees following him.  In the bee suit that he had on, there were at least a thousand stingers.  Luckily for that suit, he only had about four or five bee stings.  The bees were crazy.  They kept attacking the house until nightfall.  Then Ryan put the bee suit back on and found the hive and destroyed it.  It was about 5 feet by 2 feet.  There were a couple of pounds of honey, too.  Quite an adventure in Sandy Valley.

We also just finished with soccer.  Xavier is number 3.  Anna and X played during the month of September.  It was so fun to watch them play.  X scored at least 10 goals a game.  He was intense.  Toward the end of the season, they made him play defense most of the time.  Anna did great, too.  She always had a few goals.  At her age there were more girls that knew what was going on, so it was a little bit more challenging than with X's age group.  They play again this spring, so hopefully, I will have more pictures.

 Xavier at his desk in kindergarten.  He was so excited to go to school.  He loves it.  He is so cute, and such a good kid.

Anna and X on their first day of school.  Isaac wanted to be involved, too.  He misses them when they are gone, but also loves the extra attention he gets.  He also gets to be the oldest child when they are gone.

OK, still with me?  These next pictures are of a trip we took to Arizona to see my nephew get baptized.  We hadn't been down there for about 4 years and Ryan had never seen the Grand Canyon, so we thought we would take the more scenic routes.  It was a very long time in the car, but for me, well worth it.  I love the Grand Canyon.  Pictures just can't do it justice, but I have to admit, the ones I took are pretty good (at least by my standards).

The bridge over the Colorado River bypassing Hoover Dam.  This bridge is as breath-taking as the Hoover Dam.  I love it.  I was a little surprised at how much I loved this bridge.  Brian, you would love this bridge.

Hoover Dam

Isaac, Xavier, Landon, Lauren, Eva, Anna, Ryan, Jason, Shayla, Dad, Randy, Hunter, Toria.  Mom, Donna, Shantel and myself used the excuse that we had to take pictures, but we were there, too.

Anna and the Grand Canyon

Grand Canyon, notice the tree on the right...it was covered in ABC (already been chewed) gum.

We saw the sunset over the canyon.  Beautiful!

Isaac, Xavier, Anna, Eva

I hope this has satisfied your curiosity.  Oh...and it snowed today!

Pictures of Cousins!

We loved seeing family this summer.  Here are just a few pictures with Atlanta cousins.  Have you ever tried to get a group of kids all smiling at the camera at the same time?  Not an easy task, especially on a slide.

Eva is One!

This is her morning birthday cake.  Yes, it is a twinkie.  Don't judge me.

Do you like how the candle is taller than her?

Her cute outfit from Grandma Dance.  I can't believe it has been a year.

Anna has lost her two front teeth!

Anna has finally lost both front teeth.  Quite a set of chompers.  I told Anna I wanted to take a picture so that later on when she is a teenager, I could pull this picture out to embarass her in front of her friends.

Eva is Walking!

Eva has been able to walk for a couple months, like she could walk back and forth to Ryan and me, but she would never choose to walk on her own.  She would just crawl or have someone carry her.  On Friday, August 13th, she decided to start walking and has been doing it ever since.  She is so cute walking around.