Celebrate the Fourth

Hey everyone,

As per custom, Matt and I celebrated the fourth with the Cottle family. For those of  you that don't know, it's a continuation of a long-standing tradition in my family to watch fireworks at Murray Park. My great aunt and uncle lived across the street from the park for years. For as long as I can remember, my family always spent the fourth at their house. We would have a croquet game (yes, people still play that), a barbecue, a baseball game, night games with the neighborhood kids, our own fireworks, and finally, the big firework show.

This party took place all my life and even before I came along. It was ALWAYS a favorite of mine and my cousins. There were few family parties that outdid the fourth celebration. :)

However, around 2005, my uncle died and shortly thereafter, my aunt followed. Their kids sold the house, and the tradition ended. Around that same time, I started college and met Michelle. She and I quickly became very close friends...the second year I knew her she invited my then boyfriend and I to her parents' for the fourth. We accepted, and when I asked for the address, we discovered that her parents live across the street from where my relatives had lived. :D

I was so happy to continue my family's tradition and watch the Murray Park fireworks!

:)

For the past couple years, I've attempted to use my supa dupa awesome camera to take pictures...to no avail. Too blurry, not bright enough. I couldn't figure it out.


Then, this year, I had an epiphany.

It's called Google.


Have you heard of it???



After approximately 1 1/2 minutes of research, I was ready to try it out.

Here was the result:

Aaaaaand, my best of the night. Believe it, this is straight out of the camera. :D!!!!!!!!!

Someone I'd like you to meet...

While we were in PA this year, in between holidays, family, and visiting, Matt and I had our most impulsive moment to date. 

Serious.

I'm not this spontaneous, or crazy.

And this was ca-raaaayy-zy.

It started as a bet, or a dare, sorta...next thing you know, we're on our way to Jersey. 

And it all ended with this:

Ohhhhh yeah.

Sooooo, we got a puppy. Sure did.

Was it planned? Nope.

Notta.

Not at ALL.

We made our usual trip to the local pet store in PA, and while we were there we met the cutest puppy. He was a little Aussie Shepherd. I'd never heard of the breed before, but he was super friendly and endearing. Er, he was also $1080. 

Say whaaaaa?

Ya.

So we left, but that little one really made an impression on Matt and I.

While eating dinner the next night, Matt picked up the local daily classifieds catalog. He said something about puppies, I said something like, "yeah, right," and he told me if there were Aussie puppies for sale in the catalog we would go look at them the next day.

Well, what are the odds?

Apparently they were great, there were two puppy ads and one of them was definitely for Aussie puppies.

Location? Too far away?

Nope, a simple twenty minute drive across the border into Jersey.

We made an appointment and they next day we drove out to a little farm (very Charlotte's Web-esque) and met the puppies.

Amongst the crazy yipping, licking, climbing, crying, and nipping that you can expect from seven puppies, there was one that was sitting back from the group...just watching.

I put my hand out, and he Bambi-hopped over to me, tail wagging, and I was sold.

Soooo cute, calmer than his crazy sisters, and less destructive than the brothers. 

Oh, and he LOOOOOOVED Matt.  :)

After more playing and discussion ("Are we REALLY doing this?"), well, he was ours. :D

And with that, I'm pleased to introduce to you the newest and smallest member of our lil' family.

Cooper.

These pictures are from our first day together. 

Looking back, even though it's only been three weeks, I can't believe how little and different he looked. 

Eeee!

I took some more pictures after we'd had Cooper for about a week. 

We tired him out so he would sit still long enough for me to snap some photos.  :-)

As I said, tired boy:

I only have a few more.

Promise.

These are from yesterday, and like I said, I can't believe how much he's changed:

These last two are my favorite. 

*Enter "Awwww's" here*

Chicken Alfredo

 

I LOVE my crock pot.

I don't know if I can convey just how much I LOVE my crock pot.

It's a magical thing.

I put dinner in first thing in the morning, come home, my house smells A-MAZ-ing, aaaand dinner is served!

I recently began following Simple Daily Recipes, and if you don't follow it, I highly recommend you change that. Immediately.

She has some wooonderful recipes! One of them is a slow cooker recipe for Chicken Alfredo. This is soo easy to make, doesn't take much prep work, and can be ready to eat when you get home from work!

Yaaay, happy day!!

You'll need to have about 20 minutes before putting this in the crock pot.

Start by laying 3 frozen chicken breasts in the crock pot and pour grated parmesan cheese over top.

Melt butter in a saucepan.

 

Add flour, garlic powder, and some salt and pepper.

Whisk until it's smooth...make sure you continuously stir this or it will develop a thick lumpy layer on the bottom. (Boooo...)

Slowly pour in chicken broth, and keeeep whisking. No lumps people. None.

After it begins to thicken a bit, turn off the heat, add sour cream and whisk until smooth.

Pour your delicious sauce over the chicken boobies and cheese.

(Make sure to lift chicken a bit so the sauce gets underneath)

Cook on low for 5 - 6 hours or high for 2 1/2 - 3 hours.

Shred with a fork and ta daaaa!

 

Doesn't this look good? Well, it is. WONDERFUL, in fact.

Go make some! :-)

Slow Cooker Chicken Alfredo

from Simple Daily Recipes

Serves 8

 

6 tablespoons butter, unsalted

3 chicken breasts, frozen

1/4 cup parmesan cheese

6 tablespoons flour

2 teaspoons garlic powder

1 teaspoon salt

1/4 teaspoon black pepper

1 3/4 cup chicken broth

1/2 cup sour cream

1 lb whole wheat fettucine

 

In a 4-6 quart slow cooker, lay chicken in bottom and top with parmesan cheese. Set to low heat.

 

In a medium saucepan, melt butter over medium heat. Add flour, garlic powder, salt and pepper. Whisk until smooth, continue for 3-4 minutes. Slowly pour in chicken broth, continue whisking to prevent lumps. When sauce begins to thicken (about 1 minute), turn off heat. Add in sour cream and whisk until smooth.

 

Pour over chicken and cheese (lift chicken to make sure sauce gets under). Cover and cook on low for  5-6 hours or high for 2 1/2 - 3 hours.

 

Twenty minutes before finished, cook pasta according to directions.

 

Cut/shred chicken. Pour over pasta and serve!

Minestrone Soup

Lately, I've been craving a delicious bowl of Minestone Soup. But, I'm picky about my minestrone. It can't be too spicy, must have meat in it (I know, I'm weird), not too many beans, and the list goes on.

I've been looking recently for a recipe online that suits my needs. I finally found one on Skinnytaste, one of my FAV blogs (look it up, you'll love it).

The best part about this recipe? It uses my favorite kitchen appliance.

My crock pot.

Sorry, KitchenAid mixer.

The fact that I can throw this together in the morning and I come home to a house that smells like an Italian villa makes my heart sing. I DID change a couple small things in the recipe, but overall, it was wonderful to begin with.

Rinse and drain a can of white beans (I used cannellini). If you're not too fond of beans, puree them with a cup of chicken broth in a blender.

Chop up carrots, celery, onion, and garlic cloves.

Brown a pound of beef and drain.

In the crock pot, combine the beef, broth, diced tomatoes, beans, carrots, celery, onion, and garlic.

Add 1/2 cup of Worchestershire sauce and 1 1/2 cup of tomato sauce.

Add in a rosemary sprig, 2 tbsp of basil, a chunk of a parmesan rind, and a couple of bay leaves.

Salt and pepper to taste.

Cover and cook for 8 hours on low.

Your house will smell amazing.

Promise.  :)

10 minutes before serving, cook 2 cups of pasta according to directions, drain, add to soup.

Remove bay leaves, rosemary sprig, parmesan rind and season to taste with salt and pepper.

Top with parmesan cheese when served.

Enjoy!

The one thing about this soup...it make A LOT. Soooo, next time, I think I shall half the recipe. Cuz, I must emphasize, it makes a TON of soup!

Minestrone Soup

(adapted from Skinnytaste blog)

1/2 onion, chopped

1 cup carrots, chopped

1 celery stalk, chopped

2 garlic cloves, minced

1 lb ground beef

1 (28 oz) can diced tomatoes

1 (15 oz) can white beans, drained, rinsed

3 cups fat free chicken broth

1 1/2 cup tomato sauce (I used garlic seasoned)

1/2 cup Worchestershire sauce

1 oz chunk of Parmesan cheese rind

1 rosemary sprig

2 bay leaves

2 tbsp fresh basil

1 1/2 tbsp oregano

1/4 cup parsley (sounds like a lot, it's okay, I promise)

salt and pepper to taste

2 cups of pasta, macaroni elbows or ditalini (al dente)

extra parmesan cheese to top

Rinse and drain a can of white beans (I used cannellini). If you're not too fond of beans, puree them with a cup of chicken broth in a blender.

 Chop up carrots, celery, onion, and garlic cloves.

Brown the beef and drain.

In the crock pot, combine the beef, chicken broth, diced tomatoes, beans, carrots, celery, onion, and garlic.

 Add Worchestershire sauce and tomato sauce.

 Add in a rosemary sprig, basil, parmesan rind, and bay leaves.

 Salt and pepper to taste.

Cover and cook for 8 hours on low.

 10 minutes before serving, cook pasta according to directions, drain, add to soup.

Remove bay leaves, rosemary sprig, parmesan rind and season to taste with salt and pepper.

Top with parmesan cheese when served.

Enjoy!

Oh Christmas tree, ohhhhh Christmas tree....

Matt and I had a "Whoville-ish" moment while picking out a tree for my parents, one thing led to another, and suddenly we are putting up our first Christmas tree in the living room!

I love it!

It's a little half-pint tree, as our space is very limited.

But it's perfect, and cute!

I went to Target the next day and picked up some ornaments; I had sooooo much fun decorating!! Aaaand, needless to say, I may have gone a lil' overboard on the lights....eee!

Journey to the tree..... :-)

Lil' bright, maybe??

Ahhh, the perfect tree!

This was our perfect tree (the one in front)....

Matt's mom gave this to me a few years ago, and I was so excited to be able to hang it up this year! I love my little ballerina, she spins when you pull a string and the ornament sings different Nutcracker songs.

Back up people.

Watch out for the pros....we womenfolk stayed out of this, let them handle that one.

The thing you need to understand about my family...putting up a tree is no small task. It takes precision, perserverance, and lots and LOTS of time.

Yeah.

("Tradition!!!!")

My dad has always been a little bit "over-the-top" with the stringing of lights. He must, and I do mean MUST, go in and out of E-VER-Y branch. No joke.

Fire hazard? Yes.

Takes a freakin' week to do? Hoooly hell, YES.

Beautiful though??? YES!

My favorite job was to unravel all of the lights (ya know, only about 550 strands) for him as he put them up. He's become more efficient as the years passed, buuuuuut it's still a two person job if it's going to get done anytime soon....

When we got home, I immediately HAD to decorate the tree, nevermind that it was almost midnight...well, okay it wasn't midnight when we got home, but since we had to tear the house apart to make room, ahem, it got late very fast. 

There may or may not have been a bookcase that was broken in the process of arranging this tree....erm, yah.  Chevy Chase ain't got nothin' on us.

But, it all came together in the end (not to toot my own horn but...toot!!). I think the tree is sooo pretty!

This is me having fun with camera settings...thank you, Pinterest, thank you.

And thank YOU to Target for our cute ornaments!

And Hallmark....

More camera setting experimentation... :-)

For a Good Cause

Primary Children's Medical Center is one of the best children's hospitals in the county. They have cutting-edge technology and since it's part of the University of Utah Medical & Research community, they are constantly updating on procedures and equipment. Both my brother and I were treated many times at that hospital, and the doctors and staff are wonderful to work with. They make sure that the environment is as "home-y" and comfortable for the kids as possible.

Seeing as how large the medical facililty is, they do many fundraisers each year to raise money for research, new equip, etc. One of the longest traditions and one of the biggest money producers is the Festival of Trees. My family has attended this every year, and this December was no exception.

People in the community decorate and donate Christmas trees to the festival (sometimes there are lots of presents included). Then, they auction off all the trees and put them on display for four days. That's where my family comes in. We get to go see all of the beautiful trees! They have groups (singing, dancing, school groups) come and perform in the expo so you have carols playing constantly. They also have a section of donated wreaths, small trees, playhouses, and my personal favorite, gingerbread houses! Oh, and did I mention they sell the most wonderful and delicious scones you've ever had????  ;)

This year, I made sure to take my camera and get lots of pictures of the trees. It was so hard to choose a favorite, they were all wonderful and so creative!

P.S. I apologize for the length of this post, I promise, 85% of it is just pictures. :)

(Click on an image to see a slideshow)

A very "beary" Christmas!

There's always a U of U tree. Love. Go Utes!

"...Wherever there is fun, there's Always Coca-Coooola!"

Who doesn't love a motorcycle tire tree??

My dad was all over this one.

Christmas in Paris! I think next year, the French should do this to the real one. Yup.

Some of the trees have pictures and stories attached of people/children who have either been treated at PCMC or have somehow been affiliated with the hospital.  And some have been decorated in memory of a specific person. I loved this one.

This one was very creative, "Season's Treetings."

Okay, I said I couldn't choose a favorite. I did. 

This was the winner this year. "'Up' on the Housetop."

Uhhh, can ya tell it was my favorite? I only took about 75 pictures of it....yeah, the people behind us looooved me.

This one was one of those where I have to just walk away, or I'll cry. This one was called "He's Finished His Race." It was in memory of a little boy named Logan.

A Minnie Mouse tree

And I love this one. It was donated for a soldier and his family. Makes me thankful that mine's home for good.

A SnOoPy tree! Eeee!

And we HAD to go through the gingerbread village!

First stop, the Weasley's Burrow from Harry Potter.

"Tangled," anyone?? This was one of my favorites (again, please note the number of pictures...). I loved how the prince was actually suspended.

Beehive pride! Go Utah!

Tee hee, I started laughing when I saw this one. Love it! Shout out to the East coast!

Aaaaaand, dun dun dun DUN! The finale. This same organization does a couple every year, and they are works of ART. Last year, it was an amusement park, and this year, the Capitol and Madagascar.
A-MAZING!

All edible, can you believe it?!?!

Took a time-out for some family pics. :)