Lineman Position

So, I've posted about Rett passing his journeyman test in September. Well, once he passed, he needed to secure a position. The bidding process is kind of crazy, but he was awarded a job at the same dock he's currently at, American Fork. YAY! Don't get me wrong, we still have dreams of moving somewhere where it's a little smaller and we can afford some land for our crazy cowboys to run around on. But for now, it's a great feeling for us to know that we don't HAVE to move somewhere we don't want to. Since he has the job now, it means that if a position came open that we wanted to bid, we could. And American Fork is a good dock. There's a lot of overtime for the taking if you want to work it, and they're a pretty good bunch of guys that he works with. So, sorry to all my neighbors who were trying to get rid of us. For now, we're here to stay!!

Happy Birthday Seth & Kip!

Today is my brother-in-law Seth's 19th birthday!! I made him a batman birthday cake.

I hope you have a very happy birthday Seth! Thanks for being such a great brother and uncle! We love you!


Tomorrow is my father-in-law's birthday! This is the cake I made for him.

I hope you have a great birthday! Do something nice for yourself! Thanks for being such a great father and grandpa to our boys! We love you!

Onion Rings

Since I posted that soup recipe that is probably not even good to think about how much fat is in it with all of the cheese, I thought I'd post a recipe that is really pretty good for you!

This is an onion ring recipe that is actually pretty good for you, but still really yummy!! I just used some store brand Bran Flakes, and it worked fine.

1 large onion
1/2 c Fiber One Bran Cereal
1/4 c egg substitute
salt
black pepper
oregano
garlic powder
paprika

Preheat oven to 375
Cut onion into inch wide slices, separate into rings
Grind cereal into crumbs in blender
Pour cereal into small dish and add spices
Fill bowl with egg substitute
Coat with eggs and then crumbs
Place on baking dish sprayed with non stick cooking spray
Cook 20-25 minutes.

Chicken Enchilada Soup

So, this recipe was actually from my mother in law, and I tried it and LOVED it! It's in a book of restaurant recipes, so it's supposed to be just like the Chili's Chicken Enchilada Soup. It's really easy and really yummy! And I love soups during the fall and winter! Try it! You will like it! Sorry, no pictures, I suck at remembering that before we eat it! It really does make a lot, so maybe make it on a night when you've got company or take half to a neighbor if you've got a small family. I don't think freezing and thawing velveeta would go over well, but maybe I'm wrong. I didn't put any more cheese on top because I was already scared to think about how much cheese was in it. And I used green enchilada sauce and it was still really good! ENJOY!

1 TBS vegetable oil
1 lb chicken breast fillets
1/2 c diced onion
1 clove garlic, pressed
4 c chicken broth
1 c mesa harina flour
3 c water
1 c enchilada sauce
16 oz velveeta cheese, diced
1 tsp salt
1 tsp chili powder
1/2 tsp ground cumin
1 can black beans
1 can corn
Garnish with shredded cheese, crumbled corn tortilla chips, salsa, or pico de gallo

Add oil to a large pot over medium heat. Add chicken breast to pot and brown for 4-5 minutes. Set aside.
Add onion and garlic to pot and saute 2 minutes or until translucent. Add broth.
Combine mesa harina with 2 cups water in medium bowl and whisk. Add mesa mixture to pot with onion, garlic, and broth.
Add remaining water, enchilada sauce, cheese, and spices to pot and bring to boil.
Shred chicken into small pieces and add to pot. Reduce heat and simmer 30-40 minutes.
Add beans and corn.
Serve in bowls garnished with shredded cheese, crumbled corn tortilla chips, and salsa.

MAKES 12 SERVINGS.

Weekend In Idaho

This weekend we went to Idaho for a field trial for Chief. It's kind of like the hunt tests we've been involved in, only there are more professionals involved in it, and sometimes they are a little harder, mainly because of the distance of the tests set up, but it is really cool to watch. Rett had a really good time. We have met so many awesome people who are so kind and willing to teach Rett so much about training dogs. It is really a fun thing to be involved in. Chief didn't make it past the first round, but we still enjoyed our time up there. Where the trial was located was surrounded by fields and fields of hay. It was so pretty. I had to snap a few pictures of my boys. I tried to get Rett to have someone take one of all of us, but he didn't like that we all were in scrubby clothes and messy hair. So, I made him take one of me and the boys at least! They really aren't the best pictures, and the boys were dressed in play clothes with runny noses, but I think fields like this are awesome looking!

This one was for Rett!!!





We also went for a lot of drives and looked at a lot of homes for sale. It was fun to get to spend a weekend together and not have to worry about Rett getting the time to study or having to be anywhere! It was a fun weekend! I'm glad we got to spend it together, even though we didn't really do much.

Happy Birthday Drake!

I can't believe how fast this year has gone by! It seriously seems like he was just barely born! Baby Drake is walking and growing up so fast! He is so much fun! He has the happiest littler personality and I am so glad he's here to keep his brother company. He is such a blessing in our lives! We are so grateful for him!







Yesterday we had a little birthday dinner and cake and ice cream. We started calling him our little Hippo Baby because of how his teeth came in, so I decided that I would make him a hippo birthday cake! It was fun! He loves softys and blankies and his grandma gave him the softest jacket! He loved it! Thanks!







We also did a little "Bon Voyage" party for Rett's sister Bree. She left for Paris today! We'll miss her! But know she'll have an awesome time!

I Love my Journeyman Lineman!

Rett took his journeyman test on Saturday and passed!!! Yeah! This is a three and a half year program that he's been in. There's been book work and tests all along. And the final journeyman tests cover everything! That's worse than college, because you have finals that cover the semester only, but not the whole four years of classes and work! The last couple of months he's been studying like crazy! Going into work early all the time to study book work and going up to the pole yard after work to practice pole work. It was a lot of stress on him, took a lot of unpaid time away from the family, and was a little stressful for me too. He got 100% on both his written tests and did really well on his pole test! I was so happy and proud of him!



So now, we just wait and see where we end up. Ideally, I think we would like to stay here for a few more years. It would be nice to stay on a dock where there's the opportunity for overtime and save a little money. Rett has dreams of moving to Southern Idaho and buying a place with five acres or so. And I'm just happy wherever I am as long as I can be home with the boys. And some land would be awesome too! My little wild cowboys need a place to run around without disturbing others! Hopefully whenever we do get the chance to move, it will be a better time to sell a home and it'll be before Crew starts school.



This is the cake I made for Rett. It's so small because I was going to be making Drake's birthday cake too and if it's here, I'll eat it, so I figured it was better to just not have as much around the house. Anyway, I love watching "Cake Boss" and "Ace of Cakes" and "Ultimate Cake Off" and have dreams of making amazing cakes, but as you can tell, they are a little less awesome. But I still think it's cute!



Congrats Rett on passing your test! I am so proud of you and all you've done! I am so grateful for your hard work for our family! You really are the hardest working man I know! I love you!

Baby Wash

So, today, I put Crew in the bath tub and checked my email. I should have known he was being way more quiet than normal...I asked him if he was ready to get washed, and when I went in, I had the pleasant surprise that he'd already washed himself, with the whole huge Costco sized bottle of baby wash!!! SO, I had to take a picture and just couldn't decide which one I thought was the most fun. Needless to say, the bottle was basically full and is now empty! Gotta Love Him!!!

Big Bull Down!!!!

SO, Rett and I hiked our butts off on Saturday. We left at 5am and got back to our house trailer at 10pm. That's a long day of hiking and looking for elk! Anyway, Sunday morning came around and we were going to hunt the morning and then go pick up the kids from Rett's mom. He kind of wanted to sleep in, but it was my last day to hunt with him, so we went out anyway. And I had a hard time sleeping that night because there were elk bugling all night long, and it gave me the elk fever! I have wanted Rett to get this elk SO bad!

We went out, hiked in about 3 miles, and heard an elk bugling. Rett asked if I wanted to go after it, and of course I did. We started through the bushes and realized it was a lot closer than we thought. We set up, with me forty yards behind Rett, and him closer to the bull. I started cow calling for him, and then the elk bugled right back, but didn't come right away. Rett decided to cow call back to me the next time, and this got him moving. He came fast! Rett was standing behind a cow elk decoy and the bull stopped for a second, and Rett shot him at 40 yards. He said his arm was shaking so bad that he had a hard time getting it right on the spot. Then all of the sudden there was a huge crash. I assumed the elk went down, but didn't know for sure. I couldn't really see because there was so much brush between all of us. Then Rett came back towards me and said he got him. I was so excited! I was jumping up and down! I was so happy for Rett, and really happy that I was the one with him when he got it. Plus, I get some of the credit, because I called him in!!! Anyway, it was an all day affair getting him out, but all worth it! Even though it almost killed Rett to pack out the head, antlers, and cape! We packed out the meat on horses. It was a blast! And the elk had it's ivory teeth too, so we're checking prices on rings! We got the meat taken care of, it was almost 300 lbs of meat!!!! Then we got the head taken to a taxidermist today. It's so nice to have it all taken care of. I have a lot of friends that say, "You're such a good wife for going with him" like they feel sorry for me, but I have to say, that I had a blast and loved every minute of it! I'm so proud of Rett. He's put in months of hiking and scouting and practicing with his bow! He is my tough hubby! And I am so glad I was able to spend the time with him and share in his exciting hunt! Crew loved seeing the elk and we're so excited to get him back and hang him on the wall!

Elk Hunt, SO Far...

So far, the elk hunt has been a ton of fun, and we've seen a lot, but not actually brought anything home. We're leaving today, and Rett has all of next week off, so from tonight until the 11th when the hunt closes, will be the hardest he's hunted. Hopefully he'll bring a big bull home! But we've seen a lot and had a lot of fun so far!

My mom was in town a couple weeks ago and watched the boys overnight so that I could hike my butt off with Rett while he hunted. It was a lot of fun. And I'll be honest, I was worried my old camo's wouldn't fit. I hadn't worn them since before I had the boys, but I was able to squeeze into them!! Thanks mom, it was so fun to go out with Rett!


These pictures are from Rett's Stealth Cams. This one's a little buck!


And it looks like a bear visited the water hole one night! Yikes!


And this cow elk was there for a long time, I think it took over 20 pictures of her, but the second one's kind of cute. She was splashing!




And this is what we're actually looking for! Only, he's not come in more than this one time!!




And this is Rett climbing the tree to check the cams. Isn't it kind of funny that he hauled all his work stuff up so that he could climb while he wasn't on the clock? Is this guy insane!?! No, really, it's cool that he was able to do it himself!


So, we're off again! This weekend we're taking the kids to Rett's mom's and he and I will be able to hunt together this weekend. We're picking up the boys on Sunday, and will head back down, but the boys and I will stay at the trailer for next week. Wish us luck! Hopefully we'll bring home a big one!