A Grand Rapids Photo...

Took this picture awhile back. It was taken on my camera phone because I didn't have my digital at the time. I was getting off of work and snapped it while I was walking to my car. I park on this bridge sometimes. It overlooks the Grand River.

Crockpot beans

We are having a potluck for work on Tues and I decided to make Crockpot beans. If you don't have this recipe it's a must have. Worse yet, if you don't have a crockpot you must invest in one. It makes a really big batch so it's really good for get togethers.

1/2-1lb ground beef
3/4 lb bacon cut in small pieces
1cup chopped onion
2 cans (1lb, 15ounce size) pork and beans
1 can (1lb) kidney beans drained
1 can (1lb) butter limas drained
1 cup ketchup
1/4 cup brown sugar
1 TB liquid smoke
3TB white vinegar
1tsp salt
dash of pepper

Brown ground beef in skillet, drain off fat and put beef in crockpot. Brown bacon and onion, drain off fat. Add bacon, onions, and remaining ingredients to crockpot. Stir together well. Cover and cook on low for 4-9 hours.

Spanish Rice

Hey, if you are looking for a good side to your mexican dish try making some homemade spanish rice. We made enchiladas for supper tonight. We wanted some spanish rice for our side, so I decided to look up some recipes. I made one, and it turned out really good. It was really easy. It worked perfect for me too because we had everything in our kitchen except the parsley. I modified the recipe a bit because it had some weird directions, but here it is:

INGREDIENTS:
1 1/2 cups rice (I used instant wheat rice)
2 1/2 cups chicken broth
1 cup plain tomato sauce (I used canned diced tomatoes with green chilies)
3 cloves finely chopped garlic (I used pre-minced garlic that you can get in the jar)
1/4 of a medium onion
2 tablespoons oil
4 heaping tablespoons of finely chopped parsley (optional)
I also added a bit of black pepper

PREPARATION:
In a medium sauce pan, heat oil over medium heat. Add in the fresh garlic and onion. Saute for 1-2 minutes until softened. Add in dry rice. Stir for about 5 minutes until rice becomes a golden brown color.

When rice is golden, pour into a pot and add in broth and tomato sauce (Slowly into rice, not directly onto hot pot!) Add in the parsley if you're using it. Stir it up and bring to a boil. Once it starts boiling, turn the heat to low and cover. Let it simmer for 20 minutes and fluff with a fork.

*If you don't have fresh garlic or onions on hand you can use the equivalent in powder form. Do not saute the powder(I thought the sauteing the "powder" part was funny so I left it in there), just skip that step and add the garlic powder and/or onion powder when you add the liquids. If you don't have tomato sauce you can use unseasoned stewed tomatoes, or canned diced tomatoes with their liquid.

Finished at last

Well, I ignored my family all last weekend plus a couple more days so I could read the last Harry Potter book. I thought it was good, but a little slow in the beginning. I liked the final battle between Harry and Voldemort. Not the best book in the series, but still worth the read. On a somewhat related note, I'm going to make Torii a t-shirt. All it's going to say is Slytherin. Maybe I'll make a Gryffindor one for Fred Rion.

We had a family move in to the duplex on our block this week. It was kind of funny because it happened to be a family that was camping at Ft. Lincoln until they could move in. I had talked to the mom one day when their 4 year old fell off the monkey bars in the campground and broke his arm. Then the boys showed up at our door one day and wanted to play with Fred Rion and Torii. They are a rowdy bunch though. I'm so glad Torii fell asleep just a little bit ago so I had an excuse to not let the boys play with them tonight. They are over here all the time. One nice thing about that group is that when my kids play with them, I really see that my kids are pretty good kids.

I had a doctors appointment today. Everything went good. I had another ultrasound today to check out one thing, but it looked like everything was ok. I told them to double check the sex of the baby. It is for sure a girl. Then I had to take the worst test of them all today. They check for gestational diabates. You have to drink this 10 ounce solution that is really really sweet and then sit for an hour. Then they take blood. I have no problem with them taking blood but that solution you have to drink is awful. The other times I felt naseaus from it, but not this time. I did start to feel a little light headed by the time I got home, but felt better after I ate.

I can't believe tomorrow is already Friday. Thank goodness though. I'm ready for this baby to be here just so I don't have to work anymore. Work outside the home that is.

The C.D's are coming with pics

So, here's are some more pics for everyone. The roses are from my garden and I picked them about two days ago. They smell so nice. I wish I had more though, hint hint, brian. Ha ha!

Sorry I haven't been able to get to the post office to send out the pics to everyone. Work has been crazy. I have been working 7am until about 5pm or a little after that. My boss is out for the whole week for a family vacation so now i'm doing her job and mine. It's been so busy too. At least this week will and has been going fast, so that means one less week for brian to be home!!! Yaaaay.

Brian has been talking about Idaho Falls lately, as in a place to live next year. When he graduates in December he would like to work part time with his boss he is currently working with and maybe be doing part time for a master's degree. Either way he would like to work out there it sounds like. So, we may be moving in January or sometime in the next summer. We are not sure yet if we will move or not but it could be a possibility. I would be excited to move as a new adventure but I am going to miss my job the most and my friend Megan. I am starting to make some nice friends at work and I enjoy everyone I work with.

Well, not much else going on. I will get those pics sent out this week for sure. I will also keep everyone updated on Idaho Falls.

Love,

Kelly

I had a great time coming home this last weekend. What a fun time surprising everyone! Stacy, & Laurie, I have put C.D's together finally and I have put all pictures and video from the Dells and from when we came home. The c.d's seem to work this time and I hope they work for you. I will get them sent out by Monday at the latest. Lots of picures! :-)

Thank you Fred Rion and Torii for helping aunt kelly and uncle brian wash their car. We had so much with the water fight. Uncle Brian had fun racing down the hill also.

Take care everyone, and I can't wait to see everyone again soon!

I've always been a fan of graphic design...

I have always enjoyed looking at how companies choose to advertise their products, and I think I just found some of the coolest ads I have ever seen.
Check them out...

First fish

I know you already saw these pictures, but I'm going to post them anyway. They are so cute. Fred Rion got a certificate from Game & Fish with a spot on it to put his first fish photo. Then I'm going to get a frame for it.

The second picture with the boys wearing sunglasses is going to work with me. I have to keep updating my pictures there. I think it's time to take the snow picture out of the frame.

It was good to see everyone this weekend. We had a lot of fun. Fred Rion sure had a lot of fun with Uncle Brian. Hope everyone had a good trip back.

7-11

I forget whether or not there are 7-11s in Bismarck still, but if there are be sure to go get your free slurpee. July 11th is 7/11's birthday, and to celebrate, they are handing out free slurpees!! :) I'm drinking mine right now! hehe. Maybe the boys would want one!

To continue..

I didn't get done with my blog entry yesterday as kids were climbing all over me and I was also trying to talk to Kelly.

So anyway.. On Saturday it was really hot. We did some errands in the morning and stayed in the rest of the day. We spent most of the day downstairs. I started a project in the room the boys and I share. They have a play room and it's also my craft room. I ripped down the wallpaper and most of the styrofoam they had on the wall and ripped out the carpet. Now I'm going to put some stuff on the wall that will hopefully keep water out. Then I just want to redo the room how I want. Dad said he would help put up walls since I don't really know how to do that. Hopefully I can get this done before the baby gets here. We'll see.

Sunday was really nice so we walked to GG's house. The kids played outside and then ate chocolate like they always do there. No wonder I couldn't get Torii to take a nap when we got home. Then they picked and ate raspberries.

A big mess

On Friday I came home to the biggest mess ever. There was 3 boxes worth of cereal spread out all over the kitchen floor. Later when I went into the bathroom I also discovered Fruit Loops in the toilet. I was so mad. I guess the kids got up from their nap and daddy didn't. So while he continued to sleep the boys made a mess. I'm not that mad at the boys anymore, but I'm still a little peeved at Fred.

That night we went to a dance for Matt and Amber because they renewed their vows. Fred Rion was excited to go to a dance and he said he wanted to dance with Daisy. Torii said he wanted to dance with Dave. Poor Fred Rion kept asking Daisy to dance, but she kept rejecting him. Then Torii kept rejecting me. He danced with Andi and Amber, but wouldn't dance with me.

4th of July

Yesterday we went to the parade. We had a good time. The boys got a sack load of candy. Torii was sticking out his tongue because it was blue from a popsicle. After the parade we went home and tried to get naps in. Only Fred and I took naps. Then we went out to mom and dad's and brought some brats out to grill. We were going to watch the Capitol fireworks, but they started earlier than I thought they would. We parked on a hill and watched some of them. Then we went back out to Lincoln and sat in a parking lot and watched the fireworks there. It was really awesome. Everyone had big fireworks and they were going off nonstop. I think everyone went crazy this year since we couldn't shoot off fireworks last year because it was too dry. Watching the fireworks was a lot better than buying a bunch and having to light them all. Hope everyone else had a good 4th as well.