NEW CAR!

Woudn't you want to go camping with 2 adults, 2 toddlers and 2 dogs in a 1992 Toyota Camry sound like so much fun??!

Wouldn't you want to ride in the back seat with a big, slobbery dog?

Yeah. Us either.

Yay for a new car! No more cramming kids and groceries and doggies and 2x4's and Christmas trees in the back of a teeny little Honda!

A shiny, clean interior that I'm determined to TRY and keep clean! Ooh, lala! A nice big back for toting stinky, soppy doggies! And a roof rack to tie on Christmas trees or naughty children! This is gonna be GREAT ;)

Oooh Boise! My favorite!

We love Boise! Our trip down was a blast! Isaac, Sylas and I got to come hang out and help out while poor Brooke had sinus surgery. A busy and FUN week (well, not fun for Brooke, who spent the week recovering...) but by the time we left we had gotten to see all our favorite people, we ate Fanci Freez at least 3 times, and Brooke was on the road to free breathing! Yay!

Isaac and Mitch burnin' up the pavement once Mitch taught Isaac how to ride ;)




Mitch chucking the ball at Amelia as she swings...they're forever finding ways to show eachother how much they love one another...like this

Amelia's a great cousin for pushing! Sy and Isaac got much braver on the swings over the week! But you have to be brave when a 4 year old is pushing you, right??!

The amazing mud-pit the kids created at the back of the house. We were expecting the basement to flood after we left them unattended with the hose but, surprise, it didn't!

Sy INSISTED on wearing a swim diaper over his PJ's to sleep in one night. And when you're taking care of 5 kids...anything goes...

Sweet Miss Maya getting a feel for being in the driver's seat

Sylas obviously needs to work on his attitude about sharing...oh the big orange plastic car was a much coveted item that week...

And Brooke and Chris had a baby too! Ah ha ha. But Amelia loved pretending that baby Harper was all hers. Maya's the actual lucky big sister!


Sweet Vera was a great playmate too, and she's not picky, which is even better ;)


Sylas and Brooke totally bonded by the end of the week. By our last day he was perfectly happy to be holding her hand instead of mine...we love you Auntie Brooke!

For Michal...The Taco Queen

Michal, since you love tacos so much that you blog about them, I couldn't help but think of you tonight when I was making our favorite tacos! Super easy and yummy and cheesy and all done at once! So here ya go girlie...And P.S. I burned to blackness a HUGE pot of pinto beans (like, our house smells horrid, still, after like 5 hours) and I lit a dish towel on fire all in the process of making dinner tonight, but the tacos still turned out, yay for tacos!

Yay! Tacos

1 (14 ounce) can diced tomatoes- drained, 1/2 c. juice reserved style

1 (4 ounce) can chopped green chilies

1 (16 ounce) can refried beans

1 Tbsp. hot sauce

1/4 c. chopped fresh cilantro

3 c. shredded cheese

1 1/2 pounds ground beef

1 pkg. taco seasoning mix

12 taco shells

1. Adjust oven rack to upper-middle position and heat to 475. Combine tomatoes and chilies. In separate bowl, combine half of tomato mixture, beans, hot sauce, and cilantro. Spread evenly in a 9 x 13 pan. Sprinkle with 1 cup of cheese.

2. Cook beef in skillet over medium-high. Pour off fat, stir in taco seasoning, remaining tomatoes, and reserved tomato juice. Simmer over medium-low heat until thickened and nearly dry, about 5 to 7 minutes.

3. Spoon 1 Tbsp. cheese into each taco shell and top with beef mixture. Arrange tacos upright in bean mixture, cover with foil and bake til bubbling, about 10 minutes. Remove foil, top with remaining cheese and bake until cheese is melted, about 6 minutes. Eat lots.

Happy Birthday Grampa!

We love you! Hope your day was great!

Happy Birthday Sawyer!

Happy birthday Sawyer!

Here's a rockin' Partain family tune for you on your 3rd! We love you!

Lucky Us!

We have so many fun people to visit when we go to Boise!
Our trip was great, PACKED with visiting, playing with fun neices and nephews, knitting with my best friends and enjoying great company...Thanks for a great trip everyone! We miss you like crazy...
And poor Brooke was sick the WHOLE time we were there so I left my camera put away, but I could have taken some great shots of her lying on her couch eating Sudafed like it was going out of style. ah ha ha.

Carmy, Michal, me and Apes...and Sylas (who we couldn't convince to let go of my leg...sticky baby!)

Sarah and Aaron are SO happy to have like 25 people invade their house at a time.

The art station - to keep little hands from tangling lots of yarn.

Sweet Amelia

Oh Miss Maya and those delicious cheeks!

Michal and Noah got to fly in, yay for us FINALLY getting to meet eachothers babies!

Just ask Titus how to have a good time in the bath

Hallie "helps" Abby assemble her Valentines

Mitchy was still for like 2 seconds while I took the picture! Definately a Kodak moment...

Auntie M convinces Sylas that she really is fun. Really.

Finito!

WooHoo! I actually finished! Not that I don't ever finish my knitting projects, but I start WAY more than I finish...A scarf for me! Sounds selfish huh? But it's to wear to keep my neck warm, starting tomorrow, as I walk to the chiropractors office to get this HUGE kink in my neck (that I've had for like, 5 days, since I'm eternally cold and always have my neck and shoulders tensed up) cracked out. So next time you see me, that's right, I'll be wearing my new best friend, Mr. Blue Scarf.




And check it out, see the yarn laying next to the scarf in this picture? That's ALL I had left over when I was done...whew! I'm glad Tater didn't bite holes in any of it the morning that I found all the yarn unrolled all over the living room...I never would have had enough...