Creamy Spinach Chicken Dinner

Ingredients: 1-1/2 cups uncooked penne pasta 1 pound boneless chicken breasts, cut into 1 inch cubes 1/2 cup chopped onion 2 tsp olive oil 1 can cream of mushroom soup 1 cup heavy whipping cream 2 cups chopped spinach 2 cups mozzarella cheese 1/8 tsp pepper Directions: *Cook pasta according to package directions. Meanwhile, cook chicken and onion over medium heat in oil for 5 minutes or until juices run clear. *Stir in soup and cream. Bring to a boil over medium heat. Reduce heat; simmer, uncovered for 2 minutes. Stir in spinach, cheese and pepper. Cook for 1-2 minutes or until spinach is wilted and cheese is melted. *Drain pasta; add to chicken mixture and toss to coat.

Stewart Falls

Stewart Falls 4 years ago with Gracie in the carrier. It's been that long!

I have wanted to hike Stewart Falls all summer, so on Friday--to beat the holiday rush--Ryan and I finally did it! It is 4 miles round trip, which is a huge accomplishment for me. Pathetic? Yes. But it is true. It was fun, and really not that hard, but a bit too hot. We didn't start hiking til' about 9:45 a.m. We should have started three hours earlier. I did take some pics of Ryan, but he didn't like them. I took a picture of him peeing without him knowing it and was going to label it "The stream", but he said it was porn. You couldn't see anything, and I did it more as a joke then anything just to see what he would say about putting it on the blog. ;-) The berries

The trail. The pit stop.

Ryan pushed me, and I only sat down once the whole way. From the way I'm talking you would think it was a 20 miler.

The flowers.

The peaks.

The falls

Enjoying my accomplishment! :-)

The jealousy.

Ryan and I sat at the falls, and watched these horses while we dripped with envy. We were daydreaming that we had horses to ride up the canyon. That would be so fun! There were actually 8 in all. 4 girls, and 4 guys. What a fun quadruple date!

Settlement Canyon

Our new elementary school is finally completed and has welcomed it's new students for this year. It is only about two blocks from our house, which is awesome. Anyway, it is called Settlement Canyon Elementary. It is named after the canyon that is right by our house. We went up there for a ward BBQ last Friday. It was fun! My friend's husband is the lead singer of a local band, and so him and his band played at the party. They did really well, and played songs we actually know. The kids LOVED it, and there was an open area where they could dance in front of the band. Gracie was busting out her "break dancing" moves, and some of the kids were copying her. I will have to take pics sometime. I have no clue where she learned them.

Ok, what does this have to do with these pics? We decided to go back up to Settlement Canyon the other day with the kids and hike to the playground. It is about a mile hike one way. You have to pay to go up the canyon in a vehicle, but you can stop at the entrance and just walk in if you want. There are not many cars that pass along the way. There are actual trails to go on as well, but not with strollers. Anyway the little river is pretty. It made for a good potty for Ava when she announced she had to go pee pee. I just hung her over the river, and rinsed her bottom with the water after! (Ava's potty training--another post for another day). I found out later there are actual restrooms by the park area. We saw some horses along the way. A big HUGE one came up to us, and Ava FREAKED! After the initial shock her and G ended up petting them, and thought they were pretty cool. We sat and talked with the owners for awhile, and pretty soon the big one, named Whiskey, let loose and splashed pee on Gracie's leg! lol! Sorry for the long oration. Lately we have been trying to be more active, and I think it is important to teach our kids to value activity. Kids are naturally active, but I think if they see their parents being more active then they are more likely to follow suit as they grow up.

This is me holding Breck in the carrier with G & A in tow. Such a cute little bridge.

Ryan says he looks like a "monster" in the pics of himself. I guess it's time we both buckle down and go on a diet! :-)My little girl in a big world! She looks so small compared to the big sky.

There are cows that graze in the area, and if you aren't careful you could actually step on a big pie as you are playing on the equipment. If you look close you can see one just left of the toys, kinda by the big red slide :-) There was actually a cow there when we got there that Ryan eventually chased off. I think the scenery can't be beat though, for a playground.

**Forgive the quality of the pics. I hate toting my big camera everywhere, so I just picked up the cheapest of the cheap disposable at Albertsons. The quality was so bad I decided to not even mess with them in Photoshop.

My Other Two Monkeys

Just couldn't leave these two out! I have been meaning to post this pic. I was trying to take a pic of Breck in his church clothes and Gracie was doing the typical "me too" stunt. If I can manage to get a pic of all three of them together, looking normal, I will post it. I guess since I am already posting I will just add a few tid bits. Gracie had a primary activity on Saturday. She learned how to play Duck Duck Goose, Red Rover, Cat & Mouse etc... She had a great time. I decided to enroll her in a different preschool this year. This teacher emphasizes learning with music and movement, as well as the basic ABC's & 123's. Gracie already has her letters and everything down, so I thought this would be a good thing for her. It's a little more expensive, but worth it I think. She barely got in by the skin of her teeth. The teacher had someone back out today, and called me to let me know. I was literally praying she could get in, because I think it will really benefit her, so I am living proof that God answers prayers. She told me if there are too many boys in her class she isn't sure if she can go. :-) Give it ten years!

Shout Out To My Ava

I just had to add this zoo pic that I didn't put in my scrap pages. Ryan and I have been laughing at Ava's mannerisms, and personality, since she was about 4 months old. She is always so expressive and full of life. We love her so much!

YW Handout

This is a handout I gave the girls today in YW's. It is something to think about for sure. If you can't read it click on image to enlarge.

Hogle Zoo

Boring title? Yea, I know! I couldn't think of anything clever. :-) Well we went to the zoo last Saturday. We get free tickets from Ryan's work every year, and the only day he was able to go with us was Sat. BAD day to go! Two weeks before school starts! It actually wasn't too hot though, which helped. I had to take the pic of the man's belly (no he didn't see me) just to prove to Kelsey that there are things worse then watching the gorilla's eat their poop. I decided I don't have the patience for scrapblog. I put these pics together, but it took forever! I really considered forwarding the pics to Jackie and making her do it, since she is way better at it. I wish you could actually see the pics better, because they are really cute. Anyway, it was just fun to get out as a family. We went to Bajio that night for dinner to top off our day.............

TuTu Crazy

We are tutu crazy at our house. Everyone that has a little girl, and wants pictures, wants a tutu. So I decided I would start making them. These ones were made by my friend Michalle. She made them as a favor for me, because I took pics of her three girls in their tutu's. Anyway she just brought them over yesterday, and the kids had to go out and play around in them. I had her make them in their favorite colors, and these pics totally show how different their personalities are. Typical Ava style.

Typical Grace style. I don't know if she thinks that is a ballet move or what ;-)

Bowling Again....

I decided to take the kids bowling while Ryan was at work yesterday. I didn't think I could manage a camera and three kids, so no pics again. It was fun though. I love their bowling alley. It has 32 lanes and totally puts Fat Cats (or whatever it is called now) to shame! It is huge, really clean and nice. They play 80's rock too, which I love. I paid for one game, and they took so long bringing out our pizza that we got a second game for free. We spent a lot of the time just watching Ava's ball meander down the lane. She even tried to run down the lane and push it harder, and totally biffed it. :-) At the last minute I saw a little boy bowling with one of those ramp things where you put the ball at the top and it rolls down and off.....next time I'll get that for my kids.

Seriously So Blessed

This website is funny. This person has a fake blog where she pretends to be a Mormon mom blogger. She probably is Mormon, but just can't stand the idealistic "my life is better than yours" blogging moms. She has all of the typical things on there like Twilight etc..... It's funny! My friend Annika told me about it. Some of it is a little over the top, but she seems to nail it pretty good I think. She has Jackie's little family sticker thing at the bottom....which frankly I like....but I think it's funny how on the side she says her husband is going to all this different schooling. I have come upon WAY too many blogs that make me want to wretch, because they are exactly what this woman is making fun of. http://www.seriouslysoblessed.blogspot.com/