Chili Cook-Off

Last Friday our ward had it's annual chili cook-off. I made the same chili I did last year because last year we lost "Best Overall Chili" by one vote. Why? Because Gary didn't even vote for our chili, he voted for someone else's! Well, this year, Gary got there late (because he had to work) so I took it upon myself to cast his vote (for our chili)...and we WON!!!

Here's Kyri with our nearly empty pot of chili and the coveted trophy

This is actually the only chili I've ever made. And I LOVE it! I got the recipe from my mom and thought I'd share it with you, just in case you want to win your own Ward Chili Cook-Off.

CREAMY WHITE CHILI

1 pound boneless skinless chicken breasts, cut into ½ inch pieces

1 medium onion, chopped

1 - 1 ½ tsp garlic powder

1 Tbs vegetable oil

2 cans great northern beans, rinsed and drained

1 can chicken broth

2 4-oz. cans chopped green chilies

1 tsp salt

1 tsp ground cumin

1 tsp dried oregano

½ tsp pepper

1/4 tsp cayenne pepper

1 cup sour cream

½ cup whipping cream

In a large saucepan, saute chicken, onion and garlic powder in oil until chicken is no longer pink. Add beans, broth, chilies, and seasonings. Bring to a boil. Reduce heat, simmer, uncovered, for 30 minutes. Remove from the heat; stir in sour cream and cream.

Through Heavenly Father's Plan

We had a GREAT weekend up in Caldwell, Idaho. What a special day for my brother, Ryan, and his family! Ryan and Lisa adopted baby Kennedy, who was born March 26, 2009. The adoption was final on October 27, 2009. And this special day took place November 7, 2009! Thanks for inviting us to be a part of it!

It was a long drive with our 2 little ones (even though they did surprisingly well on the trip), but oh so worth every minute of it! On Saturday morning we got to attend the baptism and confirmation of my niece, Rebecca. Directly following that was the blessing of baby Kennedy. And I need to put a plug in about how grateful I am to be married to such a wonderful man who holds the priesthood and was able to participate in these sacred ordinances! I love you, Gary!

Here's the family in front of the font

Ryan, Kennedy, Lisa, Rebecca, and Caroline

That afternoon we were able to go to the Temple, where Kennedy was sealed to Ryan and Lisa. What a wonderful God we have to allow our earthy ties to be bound in Heaven!!

This was such an emotional and so extremely spiritual day! We are so grateful we could be a part of their special day. What tears of joy we had to see this beautiful family all in white, in the Temple, being sealed as a family....FOREVER!!

Not to take away from the importance of why we were there, but we all had such a great time at the hotel! Lisa was SO organized and forewarned the employees that we would be taking over their lobby/lounge and pool....and that we did!

Here's Kyri enjoying a swimming pool for the first time in her life! She has always been so scared! (I wonder where she got that from) But this time she didn't want to get out!

And apparently Graysen just enjoyed the soft bed! (since we wouldn't let him roll around on the gross hotel floors)

What a FUN and FABULOUS weekend! My whole family was able to be there except Jared and his family, since they recently moved to Delaware. We missed them, but I'm not afraid to say that we still had fun without them! :)

Congratulations, Ryan and Lisa, on your Forever Family!! We love you!

Family Pictures

We had some family pictures taken last week by my friend, Malissa. She did a great job! (Thank you!) It was a really cold day, but the kids did great! I am so lucky to be the mom of such CUTE kids!!

The Allen Family

the handsome boys

the cute girls

feet, feet, feet

This isn't my favorite family picture, but I LOVE how Kyri and Graysen are holding hands!!

cute kids

"smile for smarties!"

precious

our big 2 year old!

isn't she a doll?

always happy

and super cute!

To see more of Malissa's work go to http://malissahickmanphotography.blogspot.com/

Happy Halloween

It was Halloween Eve, the kids were both in bed and Gary says, "We forgot to carve our pumpkin!" Mostly we just love roasted pumpkin seeds, but Gary decided to make a quick, basic jack-o-lantern.

Squished.

There was a Halloween carnival at the church, which is only a few blocks away, so we left Kyri in her costume for the ride home. I'm actually surprised I was able to do up her seatbelt!

Flying Santa.

This is a sure way to get Graysen to stop fussing. Too bad I'm not as strong as Gary because Graysen just loves it, as you can see.

Seriously?

THE cutest little dragonfly and Santa Clause I ever did see!!!

Underneath their costumes they are bundled up SO warm! Kyri would have stayed out all night. She really loved the idea of getting candy simply for saying, "trick-or-treat". And, as mad as I was at her earlier in the day, I sure am glad I got to see just how much fun she had with this event! She would get candy at one house and if Gary or I were talking to the candy givers she would say, "Go to 'nother house. Get some more candy!" And at one house she saw a cat and said, "Bye bye kitty cat. Gotta go to more houses. Get lots of candy. BYE!" She would even try to con people into giving her 2 pieces of candy. "One's for G man!" I'm not a huge Halloween fan, but this would have to be at the top of my list as the best Halloween ever. It really was just so fun to see so many kids dressed up and to see Kyri have SO much FUN!!

Who's Child Is This?!?!

Just trying to see how many headbands she could get on her head!

Now, after seeing that picture some of you may think that Kyri is just so silly. And she is. But she is not all fun and game when it comes to actual reality (aka living in this house on a daily basis). Let me explain (and if potty talk bothers you, you better stop reading now...my blog is like my journal so all things are posted, good AND gross):

So, Saturday started out as a really great day! The kids were being good and we were having fun, looking forward to Gary coming home from work so we could go Trick-or-Treating. After lunch I read Kyri a story and put her down for her nap (this is a normal routine in our house). I then started feeding Graysen and shortly after could here Kyri going stinky in her room. Yes, she is potty trained, but she still wears pull-ups for naps and at night. The problem is that she knows it's not a big deal to go potty in her pull-up, so she gets lazy. So, that is what she decided to do rather than tell me she needed to go. When she was all finished with her business she knocked on her door and said, "Mom, nopen door! Stinky bum!" She does know how to open her door, but for some reason chose not to this time. I told her to wait just a minute until I finished feeding Graysen. When I was done feeding him she was knocking on her door and making all sorts of noise! So, of course, it woke Graysen up, which never makes me happy. And even though he was crying I figured I better go change her stinky bum. Well, I opened her door and got a strong whiff of the biggest stench. I look at Kyri and she has no pants on. Nor does she have her pull-up on. Not only that, but she has poop, yep poop, on her shirt and even on her face!!! I say, "Where did you put it?!?!" (in my angry voice and referring to her pull-up) She says, "Right here!" (in her innocent voice and referring to her poop) She pointed to her wall and dresser. Sure enough, that's exactly where she put her poop.....ALL over!! I then noticed it on her door, floor, and bed (where I finally found her pull-up.). Then I noticed it ALL over her! Yep, pretty much from head to toe! I was not a happy momma! So, I stuck her in the tub while I cleaned up a stinky mess. It was nap time, so putting her in time out after her bath was pointless, but I needed to punish her somehow. I told her I wasn't going to take her Trick-or-Treating. Of course I knew she would be able to go. She's 2 and this is her first REAL Halloween, first time trick-or-treating, but I needed to let her know how much trouble she was in. I told her she would have to ask Daddy when he got home if he would take her. Then I told her if he said yes, then she would not be able to eat any candy until the next day! Oh I have never been so angry at my child before! And I stuck to my guns and she did not get any candy after trick-or-treating. She was not happy about it, but hopefully that means she learned her lesson: that poop goes in the TOILET!!!

It's a good thing she IS so silly and cute...or I would have lost my sanity long ago