Lake Mary

Well , Brian, Kyler and I went on another hike last Saturday. The weather is just so beautiful right now it's hard to stay in. We hiked to Lake Mary, it was a nice hike, not to long, and only steep at the beginning. The hike itself was a little boring at first because your hiking pretty much on a ski slope, but once you get into the trees it's pretty, and the destination was fun. We enjoyed a lunch around the lake, the water of course was way down, so there were lots of fun places to explore. The wind was bitter, but we tuffed it out. Kyler was so good, and enjoyed eating rocks, and exploring.

This hike was too far up the canyon to see any really pretty leaves, so we stopped at a campground on the way down canyon to take some more fun fall pictures. This place was amazing, so many different colors.

Recipes!

So I'm inventing my own tag. I am desperately in need of some new recipes, and I figured this was a good way to get them. So, here's how it's going to work. I'm going to post a recipe I make often and that my family likes. One that doesn't have any real crazy ingredients, and is somewhat healthy (hey, it's not chicken enchiladas or something like that). Then I'll tag three people who will do the same, and I can check their blogs to get a new fun recipe. So here it goes, I hope it works!

Dilly Chicken

1 Pkg Chicken Gravy Mix
1Cup Water
1/2 tsp Dill Weed (I buy fresh dill, but dried works great too!)
1 Tbs Butter (optional)
1 lbs Chicken
1/2 lbs Mushrooms
1/2 Cup Sour Cream (optional)
Rice

Combine gravy mix, water and Dill in a bowl. Set aside. If you use fresh dill, use more then recipe calls for as it's not as potent as the dried variety.
Melt butter in skillet, brown chicken on both sides. (or you could use fat free cooking spray!)
Add mushrooms and gravy mixture to skillet, cover and simmer 10 min, or until chicken is cooked through.
Remove from heat, stir in Sour Cream until blended. (It's really yummy with the sour cream, but it's also good without it if your watching fat content)
Serve over rice.

My family really like this recipe, I promise it's not as strange as it sounds. We like the sauce on the rice so much that I usually double the sauce. Hope you enjoy!!

I Tag-Amy, Rachel, and Jenny

Ok, now for something not good for you :) Do not proceed unless you want to cook the best (and easiest) apple pie this Thanksgiving!

The Best Apple Pie

Crust:

1 1/2 c flour
1 1/2 tsp sugar
1 tsp salt
1/2 c salad oil ( I use canola oil)

Mix until well blended then pat into a pie tin. Do not roll out.

Filling:
1/2 tsp nutmeg
1/2 tsp cinnamon
2 Tbsp flour
4 - 6 cups apples
3/4 cup sugar or more

Combine ingredients & toss lightly. Put into unbaked shell.

Topping: 1/2 cup flour
1/2 cup butter
1/2 cup sugar

Combine with fingers & sprinkle over pie. Place pie in a brown paper sack. Fold sack shut or staple. NO PEEKING

Bake 350 F for 1 hour 45 minutes

Before baking

After!
No pie crust to deal with, and because it cooks so long the apples are so soft and yummy. Don't worry about the brown paper sack burning, it works out perfectly!

Park City

We got to spend three days, two nights, in Park City with my family last week. My Mom and her Husband like going to time share presentations for all the free stuff they give away, and she is constantly staying in some of the nicest places in Park City. She was able to upgrade the room she got since it's off season and invited the family to come stay. We had a really good time. Brian, Kyler and I got our own room, here it is, with Brian teaching Kyler how to channel surf.

The living room...
..and Kitchen (that's my mom)
We did another 3D puzzle while we were there, I thought the hot air balloons were appropriate.

They had a fun indoor/outdoor pool, Kyler loved swimming, he slept so well those two nights I've decided we have to take him swimming every day when we go on vacation :)
Kyler and Heather & Stacey
All in all it was nice just to play and relax. Thanks Mom for a wonderful weekend.

Fishing

Brian gave me the most wonderful surprise yesterday. He had arranged to drop Kyler off and his moms house and took me fishing for the day. We went to Strawberry reservoir because supposedly it's suppose to be fishing really well right now. The weather was suppose to be freezing (literally, 30 degrees) So Brian came prepared with cold winter gear. But as you'll see from the pictures, it was BEAUTIFUL!!! This was my first real time fishing, there has always been something romantic about fishing for me, the quiet lake, the beautiful scenery, doing nothing but enjoy nature, and cast of course. Anyway, I loved it, here's me fishing.

And here's my fish!!! I only caught one, but after 4 hours of nothing, I was totally ecstatic to get anything at all. He is an 11 in Rainbow Trout.
Time to prepare the fish, Brian was nice and cleaned it for me. It actually wasn't as bad as I thought it would be. So all I had to do was cook it. You can also see the lovely sunburn I got on one side of my head...:)
The finished product!
Yummy!! I'm not much of a fish person, I really don't enjoy the "fishy" taste. But this wasn't even the slightest bit fishy, it was SO yummy, quite possible they best "meat" I've ever had. Can't wait to catch more!

SNOW!!!

Pictures of our first snowfall, I LOVE WINTER!

Sisters by Chance, Friends by Choice

So I was tagged by my friend Jenny. Here's how it works, I'm suppose to go to my picture file and post the fourth picture in the fourth folder, tell a little about it, then tag 3 other people.

Here's the picture

This is my sister Heather before our Dad's wedding. I love my sisters, they are my best friends. I look up to them in so many ways. Life hasn't always been easy for them, but they have turned out to be amazing women (already!! I can't believe my little girls are women!) They are hard workers and seem to turn every bad situation into a good one. They have worked several jobs to support themselves from everything to eating out, to buying a car. I'm so proud of them. But mostly I just love being with them, I love slumber party time at my house, or "babysitting" them when my moms out of town, not that they need me there, but that it's a good excuse to spend more time with them. I love them so much, and I'm SO grateful I get to spend the rest of eternity with them. I love you girls!!

Here are some good times with my sisters

I tag Alyson, Christel, and Amy

Temper Tantrums and a Two Hour Nap

It came out of no where, I was totally blindsided. Kyler started throwing temper tantrums today. It started when I got him up from his morning nap. I put him on his changing table and he started screaming...I thought, weird, I wonder if he's not feeling well. I finish changing him, and put him on the floor next to his train, and he is suddenly happy. "Interesting" I think to myself. I start to walk out of the room, torrential tears, so I pick him up. Happy. We go into my room so I can get dressed for the day, put him down, he falls to the floor kicking and screaming. Mind you he's only 13 months! This pattern goes on all morning, I can't do dishes, go to the bathroom, even pick up toys, the minute my attention might slightly be off of him, tantrums ensue. Needless to say, I was looking forward to afternoon nap time. He usually goes down at 1:00, but by the time lunch was over, I don't think either of us was going to last much longer, so I put him down at a quarter to 12, and he's STILL sleeping. He hasn't taken a two hour nap in months!! He must have been tired. I hope things are better when he wakes, because I wasn't expecting tantrum till he was 2! :)