Enjoying the Sunshine

Hello again! So, it's been a good week so far, Jared passed off one of his certifications on Saturday, so now he only has two more and he is done!! Haley had her nine month check up on monday, and she is a whopping 16lbs.!! She is also 28 inches, which puts her in the 90% for her height, and the 10% for her weight. She just can't eat enough to keep up with all the calories she burns, just today for lunch, she ate a whole hot dog, two celery sticks, some jello salad, and a whole cupcake, not to mention the 6 ounces of formula she finished off 1/2 hour before lunch. She is going to be really happy for this metabolism later on in life. Yesterday was my birthday, Jared and the girls got me some decorations for our house, some more kitchen stuff, and.... a shopping spree!! I have 5lbs. until I'm at my goal weight, and then I get a whole new wardrobe!! Jared took me to lunch before he had to go to work, it was so nice to eat a meal without having to answer a million questions, or clean up after Haley. Kyla was not very happy that it wasn't her birthday, she didn't understand why she didn't get presents and cards. So, her and I made cupcakes and decorated them, then we took turns singing happy birthday to each other and blowing out the candles. It was a good day. This morning we walked down to the park, and played with our playgroup, then we walked home and BBQ'd hamburgers and hotdogs for lunch. We ate outside on the picnic table and jumped on the trampoline, I even got a little sunburned on my face. It is absolutely beautiful today...anybody jealous yet??
Weekly Menu
Tin Foil Dinners
BBQ
Beef Enchiladas
Taco Salad
Hawaiian Haystacks

Recipe for the Week
I make these cookies when I need a last minute dessert
Sprinkle Cake Mix Cookies
1 Box cake mix with sprinkles
1/3 cup of oil
2 eggs

Mix all of this together (not with a mixer), roll into 1 inch balls (I make mine a little bigger), press with a cup until 1/4 inch thick, bake at 375* for 7 minutes. Cool completely, and frost and decorate like regular sugar cookies...

I've actually made it to week 2

Hello again...I might actually keep this up, it's been kind of fun. This last week was lot's of fun, we had Grandma Davis, Drew, and Chelsea here to visit us. They just left today and we already miss them. We had lot's of fun playing, shopping, and eating. All the things we do best!! It was also Valentine's Day, and I made some really cute sugar cookie bouquets, I'll see if I can put the pictures on here. And, now for the menu for the week...
Chicken Cordon Bleu
Chicken Enchiladas
Turkey Roll-ups
Pizza
BBQ Hamburgers
Tacos

Recipe of the week:

Turkey Roll-Ups

Oven-roasted turkey lunchmeat
Stove Top stuffing (made as directed)
2 Packets turkey gravy mix (made as directed)
Mashed Potatoes

Take one piece of turkey and spoon a heaping spoonful of stuffing into the middle, roll up and place in 9x13 pan, (you can make as many of these as you would like, I make two per person and then some extras for leftover lunch for the next day). After they are rolled pour 1/2 cup or more gravy over the rolls, bake in 350 F oven for 25 minutes. (covered) Serve with mashed potatoes and leftover gravy and stuffing. It's like a mini thanksgiving dinner, sometimes I even make pumpkin pie to go with it!!

Menu for the Week

My family is always calling to see what I'm making for dinner, so I will try and put up our menus for the week, we'll see how it goes:

Stir Fry
Hawaiian Haystack
BBQ Pineapple Chicken
Tortellini Pasta
Ham w/ Cheesy Potatoes
This is a short dinner week, because we have Grandma coming in to town, and we will be going to dinner!!

Recipe for the week:

Tortellini Pasta

1 Pkg. frozen cheese tortellini (90z. or larger)
2 Cups chopped broccoli
1 Can (14.5 oz) italian-style diced tomatoes
6 oz. cream cheese (3/4 pkg., use all if using lg. bag of pasta)
1/4 Cup grated parmesan cheese

Cook pasta as directed on pkg, add broccoli last 3 minutes of pasta cooking time.
Meanwhile, cook tomatoes in large skillet 5 min., Add cream cheese, and parmesan cheese, and stir until melted. Drain the pasta and add to tomatoe mixture. Sprinkle with extra parmesan cheese if desired.
**I add chopped cooked chicken to this for a little more of a meal
**I serve this with garlic bread

Getting Started

We finally decided to jump on the band wagon and join everybody else doing blogs. We'll give it a try and see how long I can keep it up for. Well, let's just start with a little update on where we're at. We are finally settled in Dewey, AZ. (A little town just outside of Prescott.) We absolutley love it here, especially the weather. It's the middle of February and we've already had 3 or 4 picnics on our back porch and at the park. This is quite the change from North Dakota, where we spent the previous two winters. Jared loves his job and he is just working on getting certified right now. I (Melissa) am just busy at home with the two little girls and church callings. Kyla Kay will be 3 in April, and she is really getting to a fun age, she loves to sing and dance for us, and she is constantly coming up with interesting things to ask us, her new favorite movie is the Little Mermaid, and she can almost quote it word for word, (which also means the rest of us can quote it as well!!) She loves being a big sister and helping out whenever she can. Now there's Haley..., she is 9 1/2 months old, and she is the most active child I have ever seen, she wears me out!! She has been crawling since she was 5 months old and she has been trying to walk for the past month and a half, but she can crawl so fast that she hasn't been too interested in really taking steps. She only stands up to be able to reach things she's not supposed to. She is also the happiest little girl, and she loves everybody, a complete opposite from Kyla. Her and Kyla have finally really started to play together and it is really fun to watch them interact. They love to go outside and play on the trampoline and they love to play with our dog Turbo, (Kyla named him). Well, so far we are doing really good down here and we love the area. We'll keep you posted on anything coming up.