4th Picture!

So my fourth picture was a video! And it was semi-cute but it's mostly Sylas fussing, and since I have a headache today it seemed even less cute ;) So here's the next picture in line...

Ohh, he was a cute little 5 month old, and even cuter just wearing a diaper and shoes! I think we had finally adjusted to having 2 kiddos and things were calming down a bit, everyone was sleeping a little more, good stuff like that. Oh I do love babies!

Yummy Soup!

This is a good one, the ingredients are a little weird but you'll love it! Great with corn tortillas and sour cream...

SPICY CHICKEN AND SWEET POTATO SOUP

INGREDIENTS
1 teaspoon olive oil
1 onion, chopped
4 cloves garlic, minced
1 pound sweet potato, peeled and cubed
1 orange bell pepper, seeded and cubed
1 pound cooked chicken breast, cubed
1 (28 ounce) can diced tomatoes
2 cups water
1 teaspoon salt
2 tablespoons chili powder
1 teaspoon ground cumin
1 teaspoon dried oregano
1 teaspoon cocoa powder
1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon red pepper flakes
1 1/2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
2 tablespoons water

1 cup frozen corn
1 (16 ounce) can kidney beans, rinsed and drained
1/2 cup chopped fresh cilantro

DIRECTIONS
Heat olive oil in a large pot over medium heat. Stir in onion and garlic; cook and stir until the onion has softened and turned translucent, about 5 minutes. Stir in sweet potato, bell pepper, chicken, tomatoes, and 2 cups of water. Season with salt, chili powder, cumin, oregano, cocoa powder, cinnamon, and red pepper flakes. Increase heat to medium-high and bring to a boil. Dissolve flour in 2 tablespoons water, and stir in to boiling stew. Reduce heat to medium-low, cover, and simmer until the potatoes are tender but not mushy, 10 to 20 minutes. Stir the stew occasionally to keep it from sticking.
Once the potatoes are done, stir in corn and kidney beans. Cook a few minutes until hot, then stir in cilantro before serving.

Happy 2009!

We rang in 2009 with the whole Partain clan! All 24 (holy schmoly!) of us together for the first time in a few years. We all made it to Erik & Katie's Kalispell wedding in one piece, the kids played together awesome, the plumber only had to come once, only 5 kids got sick (not the flu, just colds, thank goodness) and we all had a great time...2 dozen immediate family members all together...how could we not??!

Jeremy and Dodge wait patiently for the wedding to start

Sylas crashes under a table at the reception, just too much partying for his blood...

The happy couple!

Katie knitting scarves for her neices...between that and changing diapers without even mentioning it...we definately think she deserves the Aunt-of-the-Year award...go Aunt Katie!

Angie gets so excited while talking that she nearly bumps Cooper off of the piano bench then catches him...and we got a picture!

Me and Bailey trying to keep our eyes open after staying up WAY too late every night and being SLEEPY!

Oh-so-cute McKenna. And she's every bit as sweet as she looks.

JonDavid pries off paneling in the basement so the plumber can work on the pipes...poor house.

Not too bad a picture for there being so many of them huh??! From top L to R...Zoie, Mae, Isaac, McKenna, Sawyer, Miles. Bottom L to R...Cooper, Bailey and Sy, Cole and Dodge...whew!


And this is from our sledding at home this morning. Not that exciting of a picture, right? The kicker is that Sy fell completely asleep and rode like 2 blocks folded in half like this. We don't blame him after a weekend like we had! Happy 2009!

Merry Christmas! We had a great, very white(!), time in Blackfoot, Isaac and Sy were thrilled to FINALLY get to open the presents that had been taunting them from underneath the Christmas tree for so long...

Doubling up on the rockets is always more fun ("You'll shoot your eye out!")

The teeter-totter in action! Way to go Yammie and Grampa! This was the biggest hit for sure, I'm visioning lots of acrobatics being performed on it in the near future...

Our best attempt at sledding - Isaac cried most of the time and Sylas just wasn't too sure about the whole event...maybe next year...

But who can resist rosy chubba cheeks that you only GET from sledding??! And it's definately the best shot of Seth's nose that we've ever gotten...ah ha ha, photoshop here we come.

Good cuddles from Grampa

Skye and Sy enjoy the ever popular ball-blower...every parent of a 1 year old should have one of these...they're the best!

And the racetrack, we were losers and forgot this at home, Isaac had to wait til Saturday to play with it, but I think it was worth the wait ;)

Ahh the holiday, even the doggies were exhausted...we hope yours was great too!

Merry Christmas!

Sylas Loves Meat

Sylas is picky, but he loves meat - beef, chicken...

horse, whatever, he's fine with whatever...

Christmas is coming!

Sylas participates in decorating by wearing festive colors and eating cookies.
And digging through all the glass ornaments hoping to find another cookie.

We have LOTS of decorations at this spot on our tree ;)

And the boys would have no part in sitting still for a better shot...too much decorating to do!

Happy Halloween!

The little gang! They had a great time and for once it wasn't FREEZING on Halloween!

L to R...Mae the kangaroo, Sy the spider (actually Charlotte from Charlotte's web), Isaac the pig (Wilbur, from Charlotte's Web), Zoie the lion and Bailey in the much coveted cheerleader costume from High School Musical ;)