Loaded Potato and Chicken Casserole
2 pounds boneless chicken breasts, cubed (1")
8-10 medium potatoes, cut in 1/2" cubes
1/3 cup olive oil
1&1/2 tsp salt
1 Tbsp. black pepper
1 Tbsp. paprika
2 Tbsp. garlic powder
6 Tbsp. hot sauce

Topping:
2 cups fiesta blend cheese
1 cup crumbled bacon
1 cup diced green onion

Preheat oven to 500 degrees. Spray a 9X13" baking dish with cooking spray. In a large bowl mix together the olive oil, salt, pepper, paprika, garlic powder and hot sauce. Add the cubed potatoes and stir to coat. Carefully scoop the potatoes into the prepared baking dish, leaving behind as much of the olive oil/hot sauce mixture as possible. Bake the potatoes for 45-50 minutes, stirring every 10-15 minutes, until cooked through and crispy and browned on the outside. While the potatoes are cooking, add the cubed chicken to the bowl with the left over olive oil/hot sauce mixture and stir to coat. Once the potatoes are fully cooked, remove from the oven and lower the oven temperature to 400 degrees. Top the cooked potatoes with the raw marinated chicken. In a bowl ix together the cheese, bacon and green onion and top the raw chicken with the cheese mixture. Return the casserole to the oven and bake for 15 minutes or until chicken is cooked through and the topping is bubbly delicious.

You're Gonna Love This: GIVEAWAY!

I love this "blog store"! Check out their new giveaway!!

You're Gonna Love This: GIVEAWAY!: "Just finished my 60th Custom Order! Awesome!!!! To celebrate- I'm thinking it's time for a GIVEAWAY! One lucky winner will win a necklace of their choice or $20 off a custom order. You can earn up to 4 entries!

Introducing!!

Preston Jack Davenport
April 21, 2011
10 lbs, 12 oz
21 1/5"
Wes and Kim taking their son home!
Preston's little sleepy smile!

Gracy Anne Jackson!

I'm always getting after Gina for not updating her blog and then I looked at my own, and realize it is sadly outdated! Case in point - it is missing photos of my beautiful granddaughter Gracy Anne Jackson! She was born on August 16, 2010.

Here are just a few photos I have available at the moment. Eli and Gracy just after she was born.
Pretty little girl! November 2011
Gracy so happy to be with Papa and Eli! We stopped for lunch before going to Oak Glen.
Such a happy little girl swinging at the park!

Ed's Best Buddy!

I don't seem to blog very often but I couldn't help wanting to put this picture up. Ed and Eli are the best buds, and this is a perfect picture. We were in Vegas visiting Gina and Deon and Ed wanted to drive past a park that Gina had told us about. It was far too hot to visit the park that day but when Eli saw it out the car window he wanted to stop and play. Ed was excited too! We only stayed about 20 minutes and we were all melting but this picture is an awesome memory!

Remember Them

Twice each year my company supports Operation Gratitude, an organization that send packages to our service men and women serving overseas. A letter went out detailing ways to participate in their Spring drive, it included a video that I thought was very moving. I suppose it is not a coincidence that their Spring drive takes places so close to Memorial Day.

It occured to me that maybe I could do more to help their cause, and to help other do as the video suggests and remember those who are serving our country in the armed forces.



You can help, to see how, go to:

http://www.operationgratitude.com/

How Great Thou Art

My mom told me many years ago that she would like the hymn "How Great Thou Art" sung at her funeral. I hated that song for a very long time, everytime I heard it all I could think of was that some day I would be singing it at my Mother's funeral.

Several years ago when I was at Girl's Camp, we climbed up to "Testimony Rock" to have a sunrise talk and testimony meeting. After the meeting was over, and the sun was up, several of the young women in my ward were looking out at the lake and mountains and singing hymns. They started singing "How Great Thou Art" and it touched me. I loved it! I understood why my mom loved it so much and now it's a song I really enjoy.

Every now and then I see something that brings the words of the song to my mind. The other day I was at Jan's house, Lindsey wanted her to come out and see the clouds. I also went to look and jokingly started singing it. We had a good laugh.

Earlier this week we had a lot of rain. My jobsite was covered with clouds, rain, and mud. I was pretty unhappy that the rain made driving in and out of the site impossible because of all the mud. But one afternoon I looked out the office door to see if the mud was dry enough to walk on and this is what I saw!



The beauty of that scene made me forget all about the mud and my heart started singing....

O Lord my God, When I in awesome wonder,

consider all the worlds Thy Hands have made;

I see the stars, I hear the rolling thunder,

Thy power throughout the universe displayed.

Then sings my soul, My Saviour God, to Thee,

How great Thou art, How great Thou art.

Then sings my soul, My Saviour God, to Thee,
How great Thou art, How great Thou art.

No pictures

I sit at a computer almost all day at work. From time to time (if anyone from work is reading this, it's only at lunch time) I check people's blogs or facebook to see what everyone is doing.

When checking blogs I always go to mine first and then click from there. I hate going to my blog because it's so boring and it never changes. I'm so bad at updating it, partly because I don't like to sit at the computer when I'm not at work, and partly becuase I always think that I need pictures to put in my posts, and I never have any. Sadly, my last update was at the end of Spanish 1, and I am now almost at the end of Spanish 2!!

This semester has been very difficult. I work all day, go to school Monday - Thursday night from 5:00 pm - 9:00 pm. I then go home, sit on the couch for an hour, and then fall asleep, sometimes in my bed....sometimes on the couch! But I'm not asking for sympathy, because as Professor Vega would say "Welcome to College!" I really like my Spanish class, but I will be glad when it's over. Next semester will be a lot easier.

Next semester I'm going to take Health on campus, one night a week, and Nutrition and Spanish Listening Comprehension online. I'm looking forward to everything except paying for the books!!

I should say a big THANK YOU to my husband because I'm sure it hasn't been fun for him either. He gets up so early in the morning that he has to go to bed early at night. There have been several days in a row where we haven't seen each other awake. But he's been a good sport about it and I'm glad about that! I won't do a 5 unit class in a short semester again, if I can help it.

Spanish 1

Riverside Community College, Spanish 1, Fall 2008

I met some amazing people in my Spanish Class this semester. From the youngest young man who has had struggles in his life and those struggles have led him to want to help others by choosing to study for a career as a Social Worker. The youngest young woman, who is a mom of a darling little boy who is working and going to school to be able to have the life she dreams of and didn't have for herself. To the oldest in our class a mom of 5 whose children have grown and...oh...wait...that's me!

Each one of my classmates, some of our classmates were a little more reserved and quiet, some very out spoken, had a story of their own and I was honored to have met them. Our class was unusual, I think, as we all made a connection and will have fond memories of our class together, so much so that many of our classmates have signed up to take Spanish 2 together with our Professor.

Professor Vega was a surprise. He was serious about students being prepared to learn, being dedicated to being in class and participating. He was sympathetic to our struggles having struggled himself to learn languages, other than his native Spanish. I found him to be funny, generous and kind, but he is also hard working and dedicated to helping his students succeed.

I very much enjoyed my first *solo college class since 1977!!!
(*I took classes in 2001 with my 3 friends)

PS: I got an A!

Yeah for Half Way!!!

William is almost half way through his mission!! I'm very excited. I am going to send him a package for "Hump Day" I have asked friends and family to send me pictures of them to wish Will and Happy Hump Day. Here's a cute picture of Eli!

Cherie Hardy sent me some great pics, thank you so much Cherie!!! I thought I would add a few to my blog to motivate you to send me one too!!!

Smash and Grab

Have you ever had one of those moments when you are woken out of a sound sleep but for a second or two you're not sure why?

I had one of those moments last Friday early in the morning (about 3:30 am). Ed hopped up out of bed and all of a sudden I was up putting on my bathrobe but I wasn't sure what was happening. Slowly the pieces came together, someone was banging on our front door, and Ed was yelling from the upstairs "Who is it?"

It was our neighbor Dave who sleeps lightly with his window open. Apparently my car alarm had been going off for some time. We went outside to find that someone had smashed my car window with a rock. I thought that was dumb, I don't even have a good radio or anything and couldn't imagine what they broke in for. I looked in the car, the radio was fine, nothing seemed different than when I parked my car there after Spanish class.

I was ticked though because they broke the window that I had just spent $100 on, to fix it. (It wouldn't roll up or down)

Not happy about being awake at that time of the morning, I went upstairs to go to bed. For Ed it was about the time he usually gets up for work so he volunteered to stay awake and call the police.

I was laying in my bed trying to fall back asleep and was thinking about how glad I was I had stopped at the store on my way home from class otherwise my wallet and ipod would have been in the car with my book bag. And then it dawned on me "where WAS my book bag" I again threw on my bathrobe and ran downstairs. The policeman was there writing a report and taking pictures. I looked in the car and sure enough my book bag was gone, along with my make up bag. Now I was really bummed. They took my Spanish Books!! I love my Spanish class!

I have been so bummed out because of the money and inconvenience it's going to be to get the window replaced, buy all new makeup (ok besides the money I have to admit I was looking forward to the new makeup part) and replace my Spanish books. My only satisfaction was in the thought that I was sure the thieves were hoping for better and were very disappointed when they realized there were only books and pens in the bag.

Last night I went to my Spanish Class, I sat in a differenct seat than usual so I could share a book with a girl I've gotten to know. When the professor came in he mentioned I wasn't there because my seat was empty. I told him I was there, and why I was sitting in a new place. He told me he would get me a new book.

At the end of class he called me over and gave me his book! He told me that I could have it and it would be good for the rest of Spanish 1 and for Spanish 2 as well. He also said he would bring the workbook pages for Spanish 1 and 2 so I could photocopy them! I wanted to cry I was so happy. I asked him if it was appropriate to hug my professor, he laughed and gave me a hug. (don't get any ideas, he's young enough to be my son)

I love Prof. Vega!!!!

Back to School

When I found out Gina and Deon were moving to Las Vegas I realized that when they did that I would be sad, and that our house would be lonely without them. I decided that I needed something to keep myself busy. Since I really like learning new things, I decided to go back to school.

At first I wanted to just take some classes to keep busy, but the more I thought of it, and with some pushing from Deon, I figured maybe I should work toward a degree. I would really like to accomplish that.

I haven't figured out what degree I would like to work toward yet. Since I was very excited to get started, I took one online class last semester, before they left, to ease into to school. I took a introductory computer class. (CIS 1A)

I liked the class a lot, so this semester I'm taking the second half, which is an intermediate computer class. I am also taking Spanish 1 again. I took it 5 years ago, loved it, and did well in it, I started Spanish 2 but didn't finish it. I don't remember much of what I learned in Spanish 1, so I am taking it over. Last night was my first class, I really like it.

Now I'm worried I'll have too much to do with homework for two classes!!

No Competition for Ace of Cakes

Years ago I made birthday cakes for all the kids in my family. They were generally character cakes determined by what the birthday boy/girl liked, and the popular cartoons of the day. I loved making them, and enjoyed how excited the kids were to see their cakes.

Our family grew and grew and over time we stopped celebrating birthdays together. I stopped making birthday cakes. In fact I never made them anymore even for my own family, if we had a cake it was because I bought one.

One of the shows I like to watch is Ace of Cakes. (not sure what channel) If you haven’t seen it, is a show about a Bakery that makes fantastic cakes. I’ve watched it so many times envying the creative talents of the cake makers on the show.

Jan has revived my career of cake maker at least as far as Owen’s birthdays are concerned. Last year Jan made Owen’s cake, Mickey Mouse’s Clubhouse, in true Ace of Cake fashion fondant and all.

This year she asked me to make Owen’s cake for his Pirate Birthday Party. Jan bought all the supplies and I came Friday night to get going on the cake. I had so much fun and it was great to surprise Owen. He really like his cake.

Although I’m definitely no competition for Ace of Cakes, I thought it turned out cute, and it was a lot of fun.

A Surprise Visitor

Last night I was laying on the floor of my living room, playing a game on my ipod touch, just killing time til the Olympics started.

I am a fan of the Olympics and I have really enjoyed watching Michael Phelps this year. He is amazing. I would love to watch him race in person. I can't imagine being the other swimmers when he is in the race!

Well like I said I was laying on the floor playing a game and I heard a noise behind me but I didn't pay too much attention because I thought it was just Ed coming in from watering the grass. All of a sudden I realized there were two little tennis shoes standing in front of me, I was so excited as I looked up and sure enough there was Eli standing in front of me, just waiting for me to notice him.

What a great Surprise!! I wasn't expecting to see them again till the middle of September. I guess they decided since scholl hadn't started yet they would come down and go to Disneyland one
more time before their passes run out.

Needless to say, just like one of Eli's favorite songs, on one of his favorite TV shows, "I'm so Happy"

Loving the backyard pool!

I had forgotten I bought Eli a little pool and water pad last summer. He was too little to use it then. Gina remembered it and got is out last weekend for Eli to play in. Here are some pictures of him.

The water was freezing and he was so cold. I brought pans of warm water out to warm it up for him. I wanted to make a jacuzzi, but Deon thought it was silly.

Eli loves to splash, he doesn't even mind getting water in his face!

The water pad has streams of water coming up, Eli thought it was a good time to get a drink.

He worked really hard at it.

In from the pool all warmed up and dressed. He was so worn out he just sat on the couch and barely moved. Good times!!!

My favorite pictures

I was looking through some files on my computer. It is amazing how much "stuff" you collect on there. Old school files, old church lessons, and talks, things I thought were interesting and I would want to save them forever!

My favorites are pictures, sometimes they are ones you forgot about. And, just like my kitchen at the moment, I really need to go through my computer and clean it up.

While I was looking I found one of my very favorite pictures, of my first two babies. Some time ago I scanned the pictures, which were not in the best condition. I made the following graphic with the pictures.

Aren't they so cute! I love it! I think in these pictures Gina was one, and Joe was two. They were 1 year and 6 days apart, the time has gone by so fast.

Ok, I had to add this picture of Eli....too....cute!

Ta da!!!!

Last weekend Ed decided I needed a new car, thank goodness. I like my Camaro and am grateful to my brother in law that let us buy it from him at a steal, but it has several things wrong with it. When Ed took it into the shop to get an estimate on the repairs, and they told him the "catalytic converter" was bad he decided it wasn't going to be worth it.

We have a family friend who owns a Dodge Dealership in Long Beach, so he checked out the used cars in their inventory and asked me if I was interested in any of them. I was!! (interested in any of them!)

I went to look at cars with Gina and Deon to try the different models out. It was my first ever taking a car for a test drive and I was a bit nervous. I liked every car I drove. I drove a Saturn Ion first, and I told Gina, "I love this car, I want to go right now and buy it" she told me to hang on and try another one. Next I tested a PT Cruiser and I really liked it, I was sure I wanted to buy that one. They have the cutest dash!


Yesterday Gina, Deon, and I met Ed at Glenn E Thomas Dodge, in Long Beach. I had every intention of coming home with the black PT Cruiser. I walked around looking at other cars, just to make Ed happy.


He came across this Blue Jeep Grand Cherokee. I liked it but didn't really pay much attention to it. He kept talking about it, I listened and tried to show an interest, I even asked the sales guy if he could open it. I got in and sat in it. The seat was very comfortable, and it was a good height for me to get in and out. (a big complaint with my previous cars) Someone asked if I wanted to take a test drive and I thought, why not. I drove it and when we came back to the dealership he had me park it next to the cruiser.

That did the trick for me. Seeing the cars side by side I knew I wanted the Jeep.

At Deon's suggestion we went to get some dinner to think it out. It was good to get away from the process but I already knew which car I wanted.














This morning I drove to work a happy woman!! I am looking forward to the drive home with my 'air conditioning'!!!

Laughing!!!

Wow, two posts in one day!! My first video, hopefully this works.....

Just Grandma and me!

Gina and Deon will be leaving the end of summer for Deon to go to Dental School at UNLV. Recently they planned a trip to Las Vegas to look for a place to live. I went with them so I could watch Eli while they went with the real estate agent.

After we dropped them off at the real estate office, Eli and I drove around for a bit checking out Las Vegas outside of the strip. I found a park that looked promising so I bought some lunch and then we headed to the park for a few hours, just Eli and me.

This park for some reason had the biggest concentration of pigeons that I have seen in a long time. I took some pictures of Eli sharing crackers with the pigeons. I thought he would be nervous about them being so close but he wasn't at all.






















I did get to put him on a playground ride that was fun. It reminded me of taking Joe to the park for the first time, I have a picture of him on a similar ride (although it was long before space shuttles.





















It was a great day in Las Vegas!

Tagged!!

Mother's Tag!
1. Typically what time do you wake up? Weekdays about 6:30, weekends…whenever I think Eli is awake
2. On a good night what time are your kids in bed? The more sensible ones are in bed around 10, the ones more like me are up til 12 or later
3. How long have you been a mom? 29 years
4. How old were you when you became a mom? 21
5. What is your favorite kid TV show/movie? My real favorite is whatever makes Eli happy but I really like Miss Spider and Yo Gabba Gabba
6. What is your least favorite kid TV show? Not really sure, I only watch the ones I like
7. What is your favorite chore? I think I like doing dishes best even though I don’t do it very often anymore (Guess I’ll have to start once Gina and Deon leave)
8. What is your favorite meal to cook? I love to BBQ!
9. What is the meal you cook most often? BBQ Chicken, mashed potatoes, and veggies!
10. What is your kid’s favorite meal? Everyone like something different but one they can all agree on is Carne Asada Tacos/Burritos!
11. What is your favorite thing your husband does with your kids? Well they are too old for it now but they used to play “Bang, Bang you’re dead”. Ed would play like he was going after them on his hands and knees, they would say Bang, Bang you’re dead and he would fall down like he was dead until they came close and he would reach out and grab them. It was really a love/hate relationship with that game. It was so noisy, I’d get so bugged, but then the kids laughing and trying to say “Bang Bang….” at the same time was so funny!
12. What are 5 things that make you smile when you're being a mom? {1}watching my kids joke with each other {2} watching my kids talk to each other about, movies, video games, TV shows, restaurants, etc {3} Making something they like for dinner {4} having moments where we share things, whether it be watching a TV show together, listening to a song they think I would like, having them show me their bargain shopping finds, talking about the gospel, planning my room remodel, etc {5} seeing them smile and be happy.
13. If you could take your kid(s) anywhere where would it be? So many places! Hawaii, Walt Disney World, the Sacred Grove, the Celestial Room in any temple.
14. When was the last time you went out without your kid(s)? It’s been awhile, mostly because we don’t go out much and our kids are grownups and are our favorite people to be with.
15. What is your favorite past time/activity to do with your kid(s)? Talking or playing a game
16. Name 1 thing you said you'd never do as a mom. Yell at my kids through gritted teeth, or let them have any doubt that I love them
17. What is your favorite quality that your mom has? My mom is loving I always feel loved with I’m with her, she is hard working, and she is not critical of her children.
18. What is your advice for new moms? Hold them, love them, and realize they grow so fast, and when your child is 3, or 7, or 16 and they are making you so angry… remember that first time you held them and all that you wished for them and wanted to be for them.
19. What is the scariest or most heartbreaking moment as a mom? I thought it was stitches, but now that I am older and have older children, I realize it is watching them with a heart ache, whether it is caused by a relationship, a financial situation or just by their own regrets over unwise choices.
20. What is your most joyful moment of being a mom? There are so many, laughing together, seeing them truly happy, being able to give them something they really want, seeing them live the gospel, having them say they love me.
21. When was the last time you were told 'I Love You' by one of your kids? Today, when I talked to Will on his Mother’s Day call, hugged Joe goodbye, and a text from Rose to say goodnight!
I TAG....My sister Jan & My friend Shaila