Mississippi Caviar

So here is my first recipe! I received this from my Uncle Don who cut it out of his local paper in Rupert! And-we LOVE it!! It's perfect as salsa for chips or side to chicken, beef or eggs.

1 (15oz) can black-eye peas, drained
1 (15 oz) can black beans, drained
1 (15 oz) can whole kernal corn, drained
2 lg tomatoes, seeded and diced
1 med onion, diced
1 med green bell pepper, diced
3 TB minced garlic (about 8 cloves)
1/2 bunch cilantro, chopped (about 1/2 cup)
1 jalapeno pepper, seeded and finely chopped
Juice of 1 lime
1 tsp Italian Seasoning
1 (7oz) package dry Italian dressing mix (such as Good Seasons)
1/2 cup extra-virgin olive oil
1/2 cup vinegar
Combine first 11 ingredients (peas through seasoning) in a large bowl. Stir well.
Combine dressing mix, oil and vinegar. Pour over pea mixture. Stir well. Chill at least 2 hrs. Serve with tortilla chips. Makes about 8 cups.
ENJOY!
(1/2 cup=130 calories, 7g fat, 4g protein, 14g carbs, 3g fiber)

I Survived!!!

Today was my first swim practice...yep I joined the BYU-I swim team! Crazy I know!!! Heidi has been great over the past few months teaching me how to swim-and I think I have came along way! Well a couple months ago she brought up joining the team and honestly I thought it was totally out of my league. We talked about it off and on and had came to a decision that we weren't going to try out and just continue to meet together each week and swim. Well back and forth, back and forth-yes, no, yes, no-here we both are-team Titans!! I really wasn't sure what to expect and kept asking Heidi several questions. The 'unknowns' are what make me the most nervous! So I went-and I survived!! I didn't make all the times but I just kept telling myself "just keep swimming, swimming, swimming..." ;) (off of Nemo-just in case you weren't sure) I completed about 2000 yds which is more than I have ever swam at one time! I'll keep you posted how it all continues! Keep me in your prayers that I don't drown!!

I thought I'd share...

So I am going to use this blog of mine basically as my journal. I read on someones about 2 months ago that her blog is solely her journal...I've thought more about it and really like the idea-it's always been really hard for me to keep a consistent written journal and I tend to post about my family which is what would be in my journal. So you may see more narratives-feel free to skip over if I bore you ;0) BUT...I love going to peoples blogs that share talents, crafts, music, but especially recipes....so I thought I would try and share my favorite recipes and then my blog could maybe be useful or helpful for you! Over the past few months I have cooked more than I have over the past 8 1/2 years of marriage! Thanks to family and friends who have taught me!! Believe it or not...I actually really like to cook now!! My brother would be oh-so proud! One of my good friends and I have been sharing our creations together which has been alot of fun to add some good recipes to the collection! One of our favorites to experiment lately with is quinoa. Scotty has never really cared for rice but he loves quinoa and its so, so, good for you!

Talan's First Talk!

Our little boy is growing up!! He went to his first day in Primary 3 weeks ago as a Sunbeam and he loves it! Well today he gave his first talk! He held up a picture of Jesus with 4 children and he repeated what I read on the back of the picture about how Jesus loves all people and wants his children to be happy. He did such a good job, you could hardly hear him but he didn't act too shy! We love you Talan!

Little prayers!

Earlier this week we noticed McKenna folding her arms and mummbling during prayers! It's so precious. Yesterday when I was putting Talan down for nap I had finished nursing Kenna and was burping her while Talan and I were saying a little prayer and I felt McKenna push off my chest, then I looked down and she had her hands folded with her head down. Even though she didn't see anyone folding their arms for prayer just the tone of our voices she knew what was going on...sometimes I think she says 'amen' :)

West Yellowstone

For the 3-day weekend we went to West Yellowstone. The weather was absolutely BEAUTIFUL! We of course decided to go Friday evening about 4pm but first we went to the temple to do sealings...so we didn't head out of town till about 7:30pm. We are well known for our last minute planning, but the trips are always so worth it! Thanks Heidi for the yummy cookies that we enjoyed on our drive..thats as far as they made it!
We went to the Discovery Wolf and Bear Center. Talan called it the 'Zoo' The Grizzly Bears were HUGE! It was fun to see them play together and look for the food the keepers hid.

Talan enjoying his cereal-w/o milk lately?!

McKenna did great! She loved being all bundled up in the backpack!

We didn't bring a sled..oops...so

Talan found a pile of snow where we were staying and slid down on his bumby! It was pretty cute.

At the Discovery Center!

I am going to try and be better!

So if you really care to see ALL of our happenings in the month of December you will have to click 'old posts' at the bottom...we will see how I do this month!

McCoy's

Papa and Talan building castles with blocks...

There was a little bit of snow at my parents and Talans first idea was to go make snow angles...he loves it!

Clean up

McKenna helping Grandma clean up the Christmas decorations! Grandmas house is always so wonderfully decorated...it felt so festive-we loved it- as well as the kids!!!

New Years Eve

For New Years Eve we followed Katie and her family to our friend Kim's for a party. It was alot of fun-we ate alot of yummy food and had some great conversation. The kids had a great time playing together-I was suprised that the kids stayed awake until the ball dropped with-out any melt downs!! They all played so well together. Talan loved the airplane...Thanks Reid. McKenzie and McKenna even went to bed in their porta cribs with all the noise!
McKenzie and McKenna having fun together!

Katie and McKenzie-

All the kids watching a movie seeing if they will fall asleep

Christmas Day

Baby Kaleb enjoying his sleep even with all the craziness.

Talan and McKenna taking a bath with their new bath toys...ya

McKenna enjoying eating while we open gifts. She wasn't all too interested. Only in the toys that Talan had. Grandma and Grandpa gave each family a Wii with Guitar Hero and Scotty has sure been enjoying playing...everynight!

Grandma J and Kenna cakes

Christmas Eve

For Christmas Eve everyone comes over to the Thompson's for Dinner and fun!
Bailey and McKenna enjoyed rearranging all of Grandma J tuperware!

McKenna wasn't too sure of Grandpa! For the first few days Kenna was giving everyone 'the look' which was actually quite cute.

Bailey and Talan singing and dancing to "ring around the roseys"

SNOW!!!

It was FABULOUS! Portland broke records for snow fall in the past 40 yrs!! It was great! Talan loved it especially for the first few days he constantly wanted to go sledding!

Scotty, Jessica and I enjoyed the snowfall in the hot tub, it was great! The unfortunate time happend when after one night of major snow fall the power went out for a couple hours and messed something up with the hot tub...and scotty and Grandpa couldn't get it working :( So no more hot tub for the rest of the month, which was actually pretty sad!

The first big snow fall Scotty and Talan sledding down the culda sac (sp?).

CATCHING UP

So-sorry I am so, so bad at updating 'the blog'. So over the next couple days I am going to try and catch up and then try and not only make 1-2 posts per month...we will see. The downfall I forget I cannot move around posts so you get to read from most current down-sorry or not?! I will try and be better!

Continue our journey-

So in the morning we heard that the pass to Hermiston was closed but as the day went on we decided to head out and hope it opened...we were stopped before Baker about 2 hours and time actually went by quickly. Scotty has a CB radio in the Land Rover and we had a good time listening to the truckers and letting McKenna out of her seat to stretch. We made it to my parents in Hermiston around 8pm that night and felt that it was unsafe to go through the windy Gorge till morning. We headed to Portland in the morning and this is what we saw...the roads were coated in ice! It was a long journey but the worst stretch was from Hermiston to Portland...so I missed my first day of work with Dr. Thompson but glad we made it home safely!

The Beginning!!

So this is the beginning of our journey to Oregon for Christmas. We left Rexburg on Saturday Dec 12, 2008 to head toward Logan Utah to my Uncles for my Grandma's 80th birthday. It was great to see family we don't see too often. That afternoon we headed to Sandy UT to see Katelyn and Dallins house they bought a year ago and their two pups Macy and Max...the kids were a little scared at the Yorkies at first but they soon warmed up. Thanks for letting us stay with you, it was fun! We left Sandy again in another snow storm! We went to my Uncle Don's in Rupert ID for a gourmet lunch that he made (Thanks again) and then to my Sisters in Twin Falls ID where we stayed the night! We love staying with 'Aunt Shell' Talan adores her and the girls. Jonathan and Mr T are playing so well together. Hopefully they will be close cousins.

I can help mom!

McKenna has become quite the little helper!! She loves to sort anything...she picks it up and tosses the item over her shoulder :)

Family Pictures

We had some family pictures taken. Here are a few of our favorites!

The Dentist!!!

Talan had a tooth that the enamel didn't form completely (enamelhypoplasia-for you dental junkies :) on 'T'. We had it looked at during the summer and the Dentist said he would probably be ok to wait another 6 months till he was a little older and could have a better experience....well right before Thanksgiving he started picking at the tooth after eating something and said it hurt!!! oh-no!!! He is really good about brushing his teeth and letting me help everytime but I will have to admit we are not perfect...believe it or not there are some days his teeth does not get brushed!!! I am sure this is REALLY had for a Dental Hygienist to admit-but it is true :) Anyway I look back and behold the tooth has cavitated!!! Not a good sign!!! I get him to the pediatric DDS here in town as soon as they could get him in and they couldn't get x-rays since he kept gagging so talking with the Dentist it was looking like a pulpotomy and crown-I truely wanted to cry and I think the DDS could tell-so he reassured me it wasn't due to neglect! Which I know it's not and I know the caries process but this wasn't supposed to happen to me! Well we were scheduled to come back in the next afternoon to receive treatment and Talan did great! It was funny because I got to experience what alot of my patients parents experience. When I have little kids come to see me at the office I encourage the parents to stay in the waiting room-I have learned from experience that most kids behave better when the parents don't come back so...I wasn't going to come back but I kept walking by the hall to see how he was doing, I really wanted to be there :) Well I went back to see the PA's they took before treatment and they looked great! The Doctor said we were sure lucky-even though it was cavitated it was very shallow-he was able to fill the tooth even without having to use the "sleepy juice." So to make a long story short...Mr. T did great!! And Dr. Mauseth was amazing with him!

Talan did great with the Nitrous Oxide!

My big boy!

His favorite part was the slide in the waiting room!!!

Garret and Talan making a road!

Caralee made some really cute pajama pants for Jon and Garret and had some left over fabric I could make Talan some to match-so we were also attempting to copy the pattern and maybe I could make Scotty some later...well what a bother...so the boys decided to turn the paper into a race track! It was cute-Talan wanted to draw a Temple to visit and he even drew a Moroni on the top but when we asked him who it was he said it was a "penguin" (LOL). I thought it was adorable, kids minds are so creative!!

FHE

Our friends Nicki and Ryan Nichols invited our family to go sing Christmas songs at the nursing home with them and a few other families. Thank you so much! We had soo..much fun-Talan loved it-he continued to sing songs all the way home :) We enjoyed some really good sugar cookies, brownies and yummy frothy (sp?) hot coco before we headed out. Scotty and I both know we don't have the prettiest voices to be singing but we really enjoyed our time there and it seemed like the residence did as well. One little old man even had Talan sit on his lap, it was precious! I love this time of year. We all tend to be a little more thoughtful and go out of our way to make others feel special more often than normal. Thanks again for a memorable FHE.

****First SNOW****

I awoke at 4:30am to hearing the snowplows!!! I love what they do but boy are they loud! It worked out ok since I had to get up at 4:50 anyway to get ready to go swim with Heidi...but still-it took me a little while to realize what all the noise was about, I couldn't believe it SNOWED!!! Ya-so I truly do have mixed feelings. I love the snow but not for 9 months so I sure hope it doesn't stick around that long! But it did feel a little bit warmer today :) Talan was so excited to see the snow-he wouldn't stop asking if we could go outside and play starting at 6:30am! We finally went out around 9:30 and played for about 2 hours, it was so much fun! Here are some pictures the fabulous photographer Heidi took with her new camera-the kids look so cute. Heidi helped the boys build a snowman-I am sure Heidi has had alot of practice growing up in Alaska!

Kaden, Gunner, Talan-cheese
Kaden, Brooklyn, Gunner, Talan - Making Snowangels

Gunner and Talan hugging Mr. Snowman...how cute!