The Wiz of the West

The Missoula Children's Theater comes to Grangeville every February. Auditions for the play are held on Monday, rehearsals are Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday with the final performance on Friday night. It amazes me how well things come together in such a short time! Rio has been in the play for the past two years, but this year when auditions were held ALL THREE of our kids were cast to be in the The Wiz of the West!

Jack was the cutest tarantula you ever saw:

Harrison played the role of "Mad Dog".

And Rio was a beautiful buzzard!

They all did a fabulous job of remembering their lines and songs. We loved watching the kids having so much fun on stage!

Steak Strips with Spaghetti

This is one of my top 5 favorite recipes to make for my family. I have some pretty great dinner recipes so "top 5" means this one is awesome.

Look good? It tastes better than it looks!

Steak Strips with Spaghetti

1 medium onion
1/4 cup finely chopped green pepper
1 Tbsp. butter or margarine
1 1/2 pounds boneless beef sirloin steak, cut into strips
1 can (8 oz.) tomato sauce
1 cup water
1/4 tsp. salt-free seasoning blend
1/4 tsp. dried thyme
1/8 tsp. pepper
1/2 cup shredded mozzarella cheese
Hot cooked thin spaghetti

In a nonstick skillet, sauté onion and green pepper in butter until tender; remove and set aside. In the same skillet, brown beef; drain. Add tomato sauce, water, seasoning blend, thyme, pepper, and vegetables. Cover and simmer 20-30 minutes or until steak is tender. Add mozzarella and heat until cheese is melted. Serve over spaghetti. Serves 6.

*A couple of chef notes: I leave out the onions. I prefer to cut my green pepper in large chunks to saute it. That way, the kids can pick them out more easily and give them to me! Also, I don't simmer the peppers, I put them in at the end with the cheese.

A Visit from the Big Guy

We had a surprise visit from Santa Claus tonight. The kids each sat on his lap and assured him they've been good all year. Tyler was fascinated...

...and loved chewing on his candy cane (wrapper still on).

Thanks for making a special trip to see us, Santa.

Merry Christmas!

Love This Baby

First haircut

Bat baby for Halloween

Brothers

Happy baby

Tyler is 4 months old now and is the perfect baby (and I'm not biased at all, of course). He is happy nearly all of the time and even if he's crying, can be consoled very quickly. He rolls from tummy to back sometimes, is always drooling, and LOVES to play with his toes. We all love having Tyler in our family.

Playing Catch-up

(In no particular order)
Nathan turns 5 on October 6

First day of school - Aug. 30

Harrison turns 10 - double digits!

Story time with dad

Dogs

Rhino

When I was 12 years old I had an accident that caused a lot of damage to my face. Since then I've had braces, multiple root canals, oral surgery and this latest installment: a septorhinoplasty to correct the cosmetic damage of my previously broken nose and to open my airway so I can breathe properly. I won't go into details, but I will say it was extremely painful! The first picture below shows the before pic and the second one is the 3-week-after view. My nose is a little bit straighter now, but is still swollen some. Mostly people don't notice the subtle change, but it's great to be able to breathe properly now and not be so self-conscious of my crooked nose.

Cute Baby