Thursday, December 4, 2008

Halloween


Talon had a fun Halloween. He was so excited to get dressed up in his Dalmation Dog costume and get candy. It didn't take him long to learn the routine of knocking on the door, saying "trick or treat" and getting a piece of candy, and he always said "Thank you". A few times he even said "I need another one, and tried to get a second piece of candy. He said Thank you about five times to one lady, I
think hoping he'd get another piece.
All week he kept saying "I need a Trick or Treat" Joe made him put his dog costume on and knock on the door and say 'trick or treat' before he gives him another piece of candy from his stash.
There is the jack o' lantern we carved and the small pumpkins on the right (no they aren't moldy), they are Talon's work of art. He had a blast finger painting pumpkins.
















We have enjoyed the beautiful warm fall weather outside.












Talon is eating one of his favorite things for breakfast: pumpkin pancakes with his pumpkin balloon in hand.

Wednesday, October 22, 2008

Here are some of my latest favorite recipes.They are both low in fat and calories, but full of flavor AND can be prepared in 30 minutes. My kind of recipes!!

Corn Relish

By: Rachael Ray

4 Tbs Olive Oil

1-2 small/med onions chopped

2 garlic cloves chopped

1 ½ Tbs chili powder

1 tsp cumin

1 Tbs sugar

Salt & Pepper to taste

1 can chicken stock, 14 oz.

1 can corn-14 oz -or- 1 box frozen corn-10 oz

¼ C. fresh cilantro chopped

2 limes zested; 1 juiced, 1 quartered, juice divided

Preheat large skillet with olive oil. Add first 6 ingredients to skillet. Cook on med heat 4-5 minutes, until onions are tender. Add chicken stock & bring to a bubble. Add corn and cook 2-3 minutes until liquids are reduced by half. Add cilantro and half of the lime juice.

Serve with grilled or broiled chicken breasts, or steak use remaining lime juice on meat. Also goes great with smashed spuds recipe.

Smashed Spuds

By: Rachael Ray

6 red boiling potatoes, boiled

2 oz cream cheese (sour cream may be substituted)

2 cups shredded cheddar cheese

4 green onions, thinly sliced

Salt & pepper to taste (I like garlic salt)

Smash potatoes, and add ingredients. (I have used sour cream or milk instead of cream cheese depending on the consistency desired)


Salmon with Creamy Dill Sauce
INGREDIENTS
• 1 (2 pound) salmon fillet
• 1 teaspoon lemon-pepper seasoning (I like Mrs. Dash better)
• 1 teaspoon onion salt
• 1 small onion, sliced and separated into rings
• 6 lemon slices
• 2-3 Tbs butter
• DILL SAUCE:
• 1/3 cup sour cream
• 1/3 cup mayonnaise
• 1 tablespoon finely chopped onion
• 1 teaspoon lemon juice
• 1 teaspoon prepared horseradish ( I like Dijon mustard instead)
• 3/4 teaspoon dill weed
• 1/4 teaspoon garlic salt
• pepper to taste
DIRECTIONS
1. Line a 15-in. x 10-in. x 1-in. baking pan with heavy-duty foil; grease lightly. Place salmon skin side down on foil. Sprinkle with lemon-pepper and onion salt. Top with onion and lemon. Dot with butter. Fold foil around salmon; seal tightly,
2. Bake at 350 degrees F for 20 minutes. Open foil. Broil 4-6 in. from the heat for 8-12 minutes or until the fish flakes easily with a fork.
3. Combine the sauce ingredients until smooth. Serve with salmon.

Tuesday, September 9, 2008

Weekend in Idaho

Talon's crazy hair day.



























We took a weekend to go to Idaho to visit family and enjoy the weather before it gets cold.
We always stop at Reed's Dairy in Idaho Falls to get their gourmet ice cream cones. Talon loves chocolate!








Mom, Shawn, Joe, Talon & I went up to Kilgore at Dad's ranch for a barbeque. Mom made some delicious steaks, salad grilled zuccini from the garden and of course, smores.


































Vacation cut short

Joe went for a little ride on the motorcycle and we took Talon down to the creek to play. When Joe hadn't returned after an hour we decided to drive down the road to find him. (we were on a dirt road on my Dad's private property)
We only drove 1/4 mile and found Joe walking towards us. As he came into view, he was covered in dirt, and as we got closer, I realized he had been in an accident. He had several wounds on his head, face and his shoe had been torn off of his right foot.
When I approached Joe to find out what had happened he said he couldn't remember what happened and that he had short term amnesia. I knew he was suffering a concussion and we needed medical attention ASAP. We drove towards Rexburg several miles until we had cell phone reception and I called 911. The ambulence met us and took Joe to the emergency room at Madison Memorial Hospital in Rexburg. Joe was treated for deep cuts on his head, and abrasions on his face and head. He also injured his shoulder. Several xrays and a CAT scan was taken. Dr. Packer determined that there were no internal injuries or internal bleeding.
We spent about 4 hours in the hospital while the nurses cleaned and treated Joe's wounds and we went home to Joe's parent's house.
We feel Joe was very blessed to walk away from this accident without more serious and permanent injuries. Joe will spend a few days home from work to recover.
He will have an MRI in a few days to determine the extent of his shoulder injury.

Because Joe couldn't remember the accident happening, he didn't know what caused the accident. My dad went to where the motorcycle was left and found some loose barbed wire in the trail. So we are pretty sure the barbed wire caught on his shoe or the motorcycle and caused it to lose control. Unfortunately, Joe hadn't put his helmet on before riding.
So we now KNOW, first hand how important it is is to ride with a helmet and protective gear whenever riding motorcycles, or anything like that!! Joe was wearing steel toed shoes and motorcycle gloves, and would have had more serious hand and foot injuries if he hadn't been wearing those.

We are blessed to have such awesome family and friends who have offered to help us out and shown their concern for Joe. He is recovering and doing well.

Tuesday, August 26, 2008

Family of 3 -- soon to be Family of 4!
Yesterday was a big day for us. We went to the doctor for my 21 week exam and ultrasound. We found out that Talon is going to have a little sister. It was so much fun to see our baby girl on the sonogram. We could see her feet, toes, legs, heartbeat, face and spine. It was so cool. The technician measured our little girl about 8 days bigger and Dr. Saunders moved our due date to December 31! We are excited that we will have her a little sooner than expected. We'll have a Christmas baby or New years baby! JOe and I are both getting used to the idea of having a little girl in the house -- what a change that will be. And no, we have not decided on a name yet. If it's anything like Talon's name, we may not decide until we are in the hospital and she is born!
DAY TRIP to Provo River Falls & Mirror Lakes
This is a gorgeous waterfall only 1 1/2 hours from where we live. Talon loved hiking and watching the waterfall. He got a little thirsty after hiking so much!
We also went to one of many beautiful lakes called Mirror Lakes (this is the area Joe loves to go snowmobiling and motorcycle riding).






















































Talon cooling off with Dad in the pool.

























OUR FIRST GARDEN

Talon loves to help mom in the garden. We have planted Corn, Zuccinni, Peas, Carrots, Cucumbers, Bell Peppers, Tomatoes, Jalepenos,


Cilantro, Radishes, and Pumpkins.
We've enjoyed homemade salsa, zuccini bread and fresh peas and cucumbers so far! We love the fresh vegetables!
Getting Talon to eat them is another story. He would rather feed mom or dad peas from the pod than eat them himself.

Tuesday, July 29, 2008

Trip to California Memorial Week.
We visited Grandma & Grandpa Richmond, of course, like we always do when we go to CA. We saw Jim & Kathleen, & most of the cousins who live in Ca, also.
Ate at Don Jose's with Grandma & Grandpa, which is tradition;
went to Mimi's cafe w/ Lisa, Leah, Megan, & Stacy; played at the beach, and went to Sea World.





Uncle Jim's restored fire truck. Pretty cool.









San Diego
















We stayed in the Bahia Hotel (great hotel) on Mission Beach. It was a little chilly, but we had fun playing on the beach.
















Talon trying to get a Tan.


Sea World, Talon loved the Shamu Show!
It's amazing to watch these incredible animals perform.
(Talon just doesn't like being in front of the camera).





























He got a close up view of the polar bear & loved that.















Other fun things we saw: Dolphin show (below), white baluga whales, sharks, seals, penguins, walrus, rays, flamingos, etc.

Summer fun

Just started our family blog to share our family with all of you. Hope you enjoy pictures and updates of us.

Talon is having a fun summer!



At the Park




I
























Talon is a chocoholic just like his mom and dad.