Happy Birthday Liz....

Happy Birthday to my sister-in-law Liz.  We hope you have a great day!

New Blog

As many of you know, I love to cook.  I also love to find great new recipes.  Here is the link to my new recipe blog!  Hope you like it!  Check this out, and Join us here for all this holiday with food fun!

Crew's 1st Birthday...

"It's my party and I will cry if I want to!"

We celebrated Crew's birthday at the Junction in Ogden.  We ate dinner at the Pizza Factory and then went bowling.  His guests were Grandpa and Grandma W, Grandpa and Grandma D, Laurel and Brady, Jocelyn and Cameron, Colton, Cannon, Greg, and Emily.  I think his favorite part of the night was eating his cupcake.  Here are some pictures from the night.

Crew's One Year Stats...

Weight-20.75 lbs.

Height-30.5 inches

Crew is One...

Birth

1 month

2 months

3 months

4 months

5 months

6 months

7 months

 8 months

9 months 

10 months 

11 months 

Crew, the first year of your life went by in a blink of an eye.  What would life be like without you?  We would feel a huge loss and void in our home and life without you!  You have such a fun personality and you bring so much happiness into our home.  I am excited to see what this next year brings...

Here are a few things about Crew and what he has learned this last month...

-He is officially walking most of the time.

-He is a tornado.  He goes from one cabinet to the next pulling everything out.

-He loves to be downstairs when his older brothers are playing downstairs.

-He sits up at the top of the stairs and screams whenever he wants to be taken downstairs.  He knows how to climb up the stairs but doesn't know how to go down.

-He loves balls.  He is just like his older brothers.

-Still totally spoiled and knows what screeches and screams get him what he wants.

-He still is a picky eater and loves anything that is unhealthy or has sugar in it.

-We are transitioning him to whole milk.

-He is so happy and smiley in the morning when he wakes up.

-Loves to wave and say Hi

-Loves dogs.  Loves to say dogs and tries to bark too

Happy Birthday Crew.  I hope this next year is as great as the last!

New Orleans...

The Jazz Club

The only picture of Greg and I from the whole vacation and we took it ourselves.  This should show you how little time we really saw each other.

We loved the French Donuts at Cafe DuMonde

The famous Cathedral in New Orleans

Me enjoying lunch at an indoor/outdoor cafe all by my lonesome

I did a little bit of window shopping for antiques while I was here

Loved the cute double decker buildings

And walking down streets like these

The taxi driver dropped me off on Bourbon street one day when I asked to go to the French Quarters area with the Antique shops.  He dropped me off here for some reason.  It is a scary street of New Orleans.  But, I can now say I walked down Bourbon Street.  

New Levees that were built after Katrina

One of the homes that is still standing but is in shambles.   If you look closely you can see the rotted wood.  The front door was also swept away in the storm.

What most homes look like on the inside that are still standing but vacant.

Another home that is not lived in but still standing.  If you see the weeds that are almost the height of the house, this is what most of the empty lots look like in the area.

This is what the roads look like in the "9th ward" area.  A handful of people's homes have been rebuilt in this area, but they still have to travel on roads that look like this on a daily basis.

This is what most homes look like that have been rebuilt.  The homes are now sitting on stilts.  Although the water was about 18 feet, so if something like Katrina were to happen again, the stilts would not help from water getting into the homes.

I left on Friday to go to Utah so I would be able to catch an early flight to New Orleans on Saturday.  I decided last minute to tag along on Greg's business trip.  It has been fabulous.  I have done a ton of relaxing, shopping, eating, and sightseeing.  I have not seen or spent a ton of time with Greg but the down time from everyday life has been wonderful!   

Saturday...

My flight to New Orleans took all day.  I got here and Greg and I went to dinner at a near by restaurant.  We had a great dinner, walked around the city, and came back to the hotel to relax.

Sunday...

Sunday Greg was in meeting all day.  There are 2 shopping malls within walking distance from the hotel, so I spent the entire day shopping.  It was so great to be able to spend as much time as I wanted without a stroller or kids asking me when we are going home.  Greg got done with meetings and we went to Morton's Steakhouse for dinner.  The dinner was absolutely yummy!

Monday...

I spent the day being a tourist all by myself.  I took a taxi down to the French Quarters area which has Art Galleries, Antique Shops, Clothing Boutiques, Restaurants, and tons of fun Architecture to enjoy.  When Greg got home from work we went to Ruth's Chris Steakhouse for dinner.  We loved both Steakhouses but decided we would pick Morton's over Ruth's Chris.  

Tuesday...

We got up early and hired a taxi driver to take us on a tour of the Hurricane Katrina area and also the "Uptown District"  The Hurricane area or the "9th ward" area that was hit the hardest was truly hard for me to tour.  The "9th ward" area is not just a neighborhood, it was a huge community.  I was so sad for all the people who did not have a home to return to after the hurricane.  It was also so sad to hear of people who stayed in their homes in this area and died because of all the water.  Our taxi driver stayed during the hurricane and said it was terrifying.  The "9th ward" area's homes were completely under water for 18 days.  Most of the homes built of brick are still standing but the other homes were completely swept away with the water.  If you can imagine a housing area where the homes are only an arms distance away, this area is now a huge area of ruined homes that have not been rebuilt and empty weedy lots.  Even if the homes were still standing, most people did not return because they did not have flood insurance or money to gut or rebuild the home.  There are only a handful of homes that have been renovated or rebuilt.  I think it would be awful to still live in this area with all the homes boarded up or completely gone.  The roads are still not even fixed.  It is crazy to drive around and see foundations without a house or driveways going to nothing because the home was swept away in the storm.  It is hard to put into words what it was like.  It was absolutely devastating for me to see what these people had to go through and it is 3 years later.  I can't imagine actually having to live through it!  

 The homes in the "Uptown" area are so big and pretty with true Southern style.  I wish I could have gotten pictures, but there really wasn't anywhere to pull over and take some"  We also went and saw Loyola University. 

We went to dinner at the Melting Pot and then went to a Jazz club called Snug Harbor.  

Happy Birthday Megan....

Happy Birthday Megan.  You are an amazing sister and I don't know what I would do without you!  I love you.  Thank you for all the support you have given me and the way you love my boys.  You have so many amazing qualities and I look up to you for all you have accomplished in your short life!

Soon...

I am hoping to have everything entered and switched over to a private blog by Tuesday.  If I by chance miss entering someones email address, please email me at gedevries@mac.com.  If you haven't left me a comment or emailed me, but would still like to read my blog please leave me a comment with your email address! 

Going Private...

I found this article today on www.ksl.com.  It talked about some dangers that come from blogging.  Here is the link...  After reading this, I have decided to make my blog private.  If you would like to continue reading please leave a comment with your email address or email me at gedevries@mac.com.  

Happy Halloween....

We had a great time celebrating Halloween this year.  The weather was warm and beautiful and the kids didn't even have to wear coats over their costumes.  I don't remember the last time that happened.  It was different this year because Colton went out Trick-or-Treating with a friend, so it was Cannon, Crew, and me walking around the neighborhood together while Greg stayed home to hand out candy.  Greg sat outside in a lawn chair handing out candy enjoying the weather and atmosphere while we were gone.  Here are some highlights from the night...

-We went to a house trick-or-treating with 108 pumpkins carved in the yard and the people were wearing great scary costumes.

-Finding another house that had set up a spooky atmosphere for the kids.

-Seeing our friends dressed up at Batman and Robin walking their little girl around the neighborhood trick-or-treating. (I told Greg we need to dress up next year!)

-Homemade donuts

-Soup and Bread for dinner

-Seeing Crew dressed up for the first time and eating any type of candy he could get his hands on

-Walking door to door with neighbors and friends, visiting as we strolled along

-Having people we know come to our door trick-or-treating

-Spending time together as a family making memories.

-Seeing the excitement of the holiday through my children's eyes. 

Fun Night of Pumpkin Carving...

We had a fun night of pumpkin carving with friends on Monday night.  This year, Colton and Cannon scared me to death.  They wanted to use sharp knives all by themselves.  After watching them almost spear their hands a few times, we convinced them to use the knives that are more kid friendly that come in the pumpkin carving kits.  

Times I Can Treasure...

In this decade where technology is so accessible, it is so easy to hear of tragic and hard times that other people in this world face on a daily basis.  Trials are actually a hard thing because some people's trials are things that can't be hidden from the outside world, and other people's trials can be kept very private.  But, for everything I either hear and have to go through on my own, I am thankful for the chance I have to become a better person.  This past weekend, we had our own scare within our family.  I was able to see the close bonds that I have within my family.  All of my siblings and my parents were able to spend some quality family time together this weekend.  I cherish the time we all get to spend together.  It is not often enough because we all live in various parts of the United States.  I know that my family and friends supports me in all that I do.   I love you all and hope you know how much you mean to me and my own little family! 

Crew & Cannon's Black Eye...

A few weeks ago Crew got a black eye. He was standing by a chair, lost his balance and hit the corner of the chair. His eye immediately started to swell and the next morning he woke up with this beauty. I took Crew and Cannon to the gym nursery that morning. When we got in the car, Cannon said, "That lady in the nursery kept asking me how Crew got his black eye." That night, we went to Colton's football game and a kid Cannon was playing with punched him right in the eye and he immediately had a black eye too. Good thing I didn't take him to the gym nursery till it started clearing up or I am sure someone there would have called Child Protective Services on me.

Cannon at Preschool...

If you are a parent of a preschooler, you should be totally frightened and paranoid about what comes out of their mouths at preschool.  Cannon was at preschool on Monday and the whole lesson that day was on fire safety and 911.  The teacher was asking them questions about these things and was asking them things they should never play with... Cannon raised his hand and said, "My mom says I should never touch my ding-a-ling (private part) totally serious and Karla didn't want to tell him no because she figured this was something we had talked about, so she said yes and MATCHES.  Then she said, "What happens when we touch these things?"  Cannon totally serious again says, "My mom gets really mad."  Well a ding-a-ing is kind of like a fire hose right?   You can tell I live in a house of all boys and I say this statement a lot.  

Cannon singing Stacey's Mom

Colton and Cannon now change the name of Stacey to their friend's mom's names and sing the song.  

Honey Lime Chicken Enchiladas...

This recipe is so good! It is my new favorite enchilada recipe.

Honey Lime Chicken Enchiladas

Ingredients:
• 6 Tb. Honey
• 5 Tb. Lime Juice
• 1 Tb. Chili Powder
• ½ tsp. Garlic Powder
• 1 Lb. Chicken, cooked and shredded (I used 3 chicken breast) or you can use a Rotisserie Chicken
• Flour Tortillas (Small Size)
• 1 lb. Shredded Pepper Jack Cheese, Colby, or Monterey Jack (I used Pepper Jack)
• 16 oz. Green Enchilada Sauce
• 1 Cup Heavy Cream (optional but makes it really yummy)

Directions:
Mix the first four ingredients and toss with shredded chicken. Left-over rotisserie chicken works great. Let marinade at least 30 minutes or longer (I have put it together and let it marinate in the fridge all day). Pour about ½ cup enchilada sauce in the bottom of a 9X13 pan. Fill flour tortillas with chicken and shredded cheese, saving about 1 cup of cheese to sprinkle on top. Mix the remaining enchilada sauce with the cream. Pour sauce on top of the enchiladas and sprinkle with cheese. Bake at 350 for 30 minutes. Uncover for the last 5 minutes to brown the top.

Serve with a side of black beans and these two yummy dips and chips. Yum!

This Pineapple Salsa is so tasty!

This is to die for good too!