Triathlon!

Today Andrew ran his very first triathlon! Now when I say ran what I really mean is ran, swam, and biked. Crazy huh? He swam 400 yards... about 1/4 mile, biked 11.5 miles, and ran 3.2 miles! And he did it in less than an hour and a half! He is my hero!

He's all ready for the race! At 5:30 THIS MORNING!

Just finished swimming... getting ready for the bike ride.

He was very tired afterwards. But he said he wants to do it again!

Good job babe!

Italian Meatball Soup

YUM!!! Just look at that soup! It makes me want to go eat a bowl full right now!

It was also really easy to make. Start off by making your favorite kind of meatballs.

Once you have that done stick them in the oven on broil to begin cooking while you work on the rest.

While the meatballs are cooking dice up the onion, garlic, and carrots. Add a little olive oil to the bottom of the hot pan and saute for a few minutes.

Once that is done add the chicken broth, tomatoes, green beans and bring everything to a boil. Add the noodles. Then take the meatballs out of the oven and add them carefully to the soup. They don't need to be completely cooked through, as long as they will hold their shape. 

Let everything simmer for about 15 minutes. This will ensure the meatballs have finished cooking and the carrots should be cooked through as well. 

And enjoy!

Italian Meatball Soup

Ingredients

Meatballs (use your favorite recipe)

Onion 

Garlic

Carrot

1 28oz can tomatoes

Green beans

Noodles - I used macaroni

6-8 cups chicken broth

Italian Seasonings to taste

Make meatballs and place in oven to broil. Add diced onion, garlic, and sliced carrots to a pan with hot oil. Saute for two minutes. Add chicken broth, tomatoes, and green beans and bring everything to a boil. Add noodles and meatballs and simmer for about 15 minutes, or until meatballs are done and carrots are tender. 

Monkey Around

BANANA BREAD!! My favorite! Even better... Chocolate banana bread!

YUM! I would even say it was good enough that it didn't need chocolate chips (although that might be because I was out).  I am sure this loaf will not be lasting very long.

I found the recipe here.

Get Down With Your Crafty Self

Sunday was craft day with my mom!! Wahoo! We had so much fun! We made a burlap pumpkin, two burlap table runners, and pumpkins for the front porch! 

And just look at that rainbow! 

Goodbye Summer

Whelp, summer is officially over. Bummer. And guess how I got to start out my last weekend of summer. Take just one guess. I don't think you'll get it right. I started out my last weekend of summer by taking a four-freaking-hour-test!! That's right! Four hour test was the beginning of my final weekend. Horrible. On the plus side.... I did fantastic (not to brag or anything). I had to take the TEAS test, which is the national placement test for people who think they want to be nurses. This test is comprised of 170 questions ranging from math, science, reading comprehension, and language and grammar. 

Look at those grades! So I got an 83.3%, which isn't a B, but it's a percentage compared to the rest of the nation. The national average is 64.3%.... I'm 20 points above that!! I was super nervous for this test so I was very excited to get it over with, and even more excited when I did so well!

Next step... acceptance into the nursing program.....

I Married A Stud Muffin

Today I got to have some amazing pictures taken with my wonderful husband. Just wait until you see him. I can't even believe how unbelievably gorgeous he is!!! Good thing I snatched him up before anyone else got the chance! Anywho..... My sister in law Kassie did a fantastic job! You wouldn't even know she had NEVER done it before!! Oh my goodness she is amazing! Check out more of the photos at her blog, mitchandkasbrink.blogspot.com. Trust me you will not regret it. And now you all get to look at pictures of my handsome husband! Enjoy! And thanks Kassie so much!! We love them!

Grassy

Grassy. Quite possibly my most favorite place on earth. Camping in Grassy (sort of), even better. We got to spend this weekend in Grassy with the family having all sorts of fun. Sorry no pictures to show, maybe next time. . No service = no phone. No phone = no pictures. We did lots of walking and playing with the little kids and Andrew helped dig through all the muck and mush and marsh to get the pipe and spring in working and drinking condition again. Yay! We had so much fun and I can't wait to go back up there and possibly get pictures this time!

The only picture we got was as we were getting ready for bed Friday night. That bed never felt so good. 

One Week

We had so much fun this weekend. We got to go to my family reunion and spend time with some family I haven't seen in years. Andrew was a good sport and went along with everyone to see some beautiful sights.

This peak is called Powel Point. It's some of the beautiful red rock found in Bryce Canyon and Cedar Breaks. This particular point is actually looking right over into my grandpa's ranch. Yes folks, I spent my childhood camping and roaming all over this place. Talk about one lucky girl. After visiting this place they all decided to go down to the ranch since a few of the family had never actually been. 

Andrew really liked the bulls. 

I didn't go with everyone on this adventure. My mom needed help getting dinner made for everyone, no small feat I assure you. And Zach also wanted me to take his stitches out, and he didn't want to wait. A week ago Zach was playing baseball in Cali and his head met up with a foul ball... Bummer. 14 stitches and one shattered eye brown bone later.... Ouch!

And this is the brave kid after taking the stitches out! Wahoo! Now lets just get everything else better!!