Latest Creations

Ashton absolutely loves creating things.  He's a typical young man and makes a mess doing it.  But I'd rather he be using his imagination than playing on electronics all day.

The other day he made a lego case for his tablet.

His latest creation is props from the Ghostbuster movies.  I think after making these he has decided to be a Ghostbuster for Halloween.

Finished proton pack with gun.

Ghost trap

While I was taking pictures of Ashton, Cadence pushed her chair to the middle of the room and asked me to take her picture too.

I think his creations are great and hope he always has fun building things.

New Recipe

A while ago my sister Rachel texted me a picture of the dinner she was making her family.  It looked so delicious I just had to try it so I made it the other day.

SHRIMP IN THAI COCONUT SAUCE

1 pound jumbo shrimp, shell and tail on (I purchased pre-cooked shrimp from Costco with shell and tail already removed)

4 tablespoons vegetable oil, divided

2 cloves garlic,  (minced or pressed

1/4 teaspoon salt

1/4 teaspoon red chili flakes

1/2 onion, peeled and sliced

1/2 red bell pepper, seeded and sliced

1/2 orange bell pepper, seeded and sliced

1/2 yellow bell pepper, seeded and sliced

1 cup coconut milk

4 - 6 tablespoons high quality fish sauce (I only used 4)

2 tablespoons peanut butter

2 tablespoons lime juice

1 tablespoon brown sugar

2 teaspoons ground ginger (I used 1 1/2 tablespoons fresh ginger)

2 tablespoons basil leaves, chopped

2 tablespoons cilantro, chopped (I left out - I think it tastes like soap!)

1 green onion, chopped

Red jalapeno pepper, thinly sliced (optional)

INSTRUCTIONS

Place the shrimp in a bowl with 1 tablespoon of the oil, garlic, salt, ginger and red chili flakes.  Toss to coat and let marinade for 10 minutes.

Heat a skillet over medium high heat with 1 tablespoon of oil.  Add the onion and peppers and cook until softened, about 5 minutes.  Transfer the peppers and onion to a bowl.  Add more oil to the skillet and cook the shrimp.

In another bowl mix the coconut milk, fish sauce, peanut butter, lime juice, brown sugar and stir well. Transfer the cooked onion and peppers to the skillet and pour the coconut milk mixture over the peppers.  Bring to a boil then reduce to simmer and cook until reduced by half, about 5 minutes.  Add the shrimp to the skillet with the basil and cilantro and toss to coat.  Serve over rice or noodles.  Garnish with more cilantro and basil, chopped green onion and sliced red jalapeno if desired.

It made quite a bit of sauce so I think next time I'd use the whole peppers and add more shrimp.  The 5 of us had no problem eating it all. Even the kids loved it.  Really delicious.  I'll definitely be making it again.

Reading Spot

Cadence has found the perfect reading spot.  I sure love my girl!!

Oh the lazy days of summer.

Gender Reveal Party

This past Saturday we traveled down to Lethbridge to attend Jason's sister Kailee's gender reveal party.  On the way down we met Jason's brother Ty and his two boys Dane and Bennett at the Claresholm 7-11.  Had some yummy chicken and potato wedges and continued on.

We arrived at Kailee and Rob's around 1 pm.  Kailee had decorated her house really cute, had delicious snacks, and fun party games.

Then it was time to reveal the gender of the baby.

IT'S A GIRL!!

I'm excited for Cadence to have another little girl cousin to play with.

The kids had lots of fun playing with the balloons.  Even got into an epic battle with Aunt Nicole.

Bowen won one of the games and got this huge soother candy.  He had it eaten in no time.

It was a fun party.  We are excited for Kailee and Rob and look forward to meeting their sweet baby girl in November.

Cousin Fun

On Tuesday my mom, and my sister and her three kids came up to Calgary and we all went to Heritage Park for the day.

They stopped here first and we had lunch.  We had egg salad, and roast beef sandwiches, carrot sticks, grapes, pickles, juice with cookies for dessert.

Then we piled all the kids into our vehicles and headed out for the day.

The girls all ready to go!

We all had a great time.  We finally had a day without rain and a couple of us (namely me) felt a bit cooked by the time we got home.  Mom and Rachel hadn't been to Heritage Park for years so it was fun to be able to go with them.

We looked in all the old buildings and the kids tried out the vintage rides.

Cadence trying out the boat ride.

I couldn't believe my brave little girl.  She wanted to go on the little ferris wheel.  I didn't think she'd be tall enough - but sure enough she was.  She did great.  She really enjoyed the ride.

My favorite the old schoolhouse.  Just like the one on Little House on the Prairie.

The kids all in jail.

A trip to Heritage Park isn't complete without a stop for ice cream.  Grandma treated us all.  So yummy!

Good grief that's as big as his head!

Stopped at Gasoline Alley on our way out.

Eating their treats!

Such a great day.  The cousins had so much fun together.  My boys said they enjoyed having some one on one time with their little cousins.  Ashton gave lots of piggie back rides to Jonas and went on rides and walked together.  I hope they will always be great friends and we can spend lots of time together as families.

Growing Up So Fast

Our Cadence is growing up so fast.  She seems so much older than her 2 years.  She's getting so tall, and talks so much.

We were at the library the other day and they have a stage in the kids play area.  Cadence got up on the stage and was singing "La la la" and then bowed while saying "Thank you, thank you".  I sure wish I'd had my phone with me to record it.

Yesterday I was in the washroom and the boys were downstairs, Cadence was watching TV.  The phone started ringing and it says out loud who is calling.  It was saying "you have a call from Jason Atwood".  Cadence came running to the bathroom and knocked on the door saying "Daddy's calling on the phone for you mommy".  She's so smart!

The other night Jason was carrying Cadence up to bed.  He had a pain in his back and flinched and had to stop a minute.  Cadence gave him an extra squeeze and said "I got you Daddy".  Made her daddy cry.

We sure love her and her fun little personality.

Champion 105th Celebration

The July 1st Weekend my home town of Champion was holding its 105th Celebrations.  We decided after attending the Pancake Breakfast here in Calgary we would head to my mom's farm for the rest of the weekend.

We arrived at mom's on Friday night.  She had prepared a yummy dinner of butter chicken (Bowen's favorite) for us.  After dinner the boys decided to do some archery.  Ashton bought a bow a few years ago with his end of school money, but has outgrown it so we decided to pass it down to Bowen.  It is in great shape still and has several arrows.  We purchased a new, bigger bow for Ashton.  It is pretty tough for him to pull back but he's getting better at it.  A few months ago Jason found a bow on Kijiji that he purchased for himself for Father's Day.

I think this will be a great hobby for the three of them to do together.  I always enjoyed archery in school, maybe I'll join them as well.

Later that night we headed into Champion to watch "Zootopia" at the school.  It was a cute movie and Cadence was pretty good until the end.  She was so overtired.  After the movie we watched the fireworks.  I love fireworks.  They were great!

The next morning started with a pancake breakfast and then a parade down mainstreet.  The parade was fun and the kids scored lots of candy.

They had lots of different activities happening during the day.  A History display at the hall, a trick dog show, highland games, baseball tournament, petting zoo, etc.  Cadence loved the petting zoo, especially the bunnies.

Then the boys went and watched the lawnmower races while we took Cadence for a little drive in the truck so she could have a much needed nap.

We finished up the day with a bbq beef on a bun dinner.  We all had a great time.  I enjoy bringing my family to my hometown and farm.  Lots of great memories!

We Stand On Guard for Thee

Our ward always holds a July 1st Pancake Breakfast.  The food was really yummy.  They served pancakes, bacon, eggs, watermelon and orange juice.

I guess they don't want to be photographed this morning.

At least one changed his mind.

After we ate the primary kids had a little parade.  They ask the kids to decorate themselves, or their bikes, wagons etc.  Usually the boys do a float, but this year Ashton is too old to participate, so Bowen decided he would decorate his new scooter.

I wasn't going to put Cadence in the parade as she is still in nursery, but when they announced the parade was about to start she asked me if she could go in the parade too.

Good thing she was all decked out in her Canada Day gear.

It was a great start to our Canada Day weekend!