Meal Planning Monday

Most of my meals are repeats from last week that didn't get made.

Monday: sweet and spicy honey grilled shrimp with brown rice and broccoli.
Tuesday: Leadership chili cookoff.
Wednesday: pan roasted chicken with lemon garlic green beans.
Thursday: ginger and cilantro baked tilapia with sugar peas and mushrooms and brown rice.
Friday: grab a bite to eat after church.
Saturday: salmon burgers unless plans come up.
Sunday: Superbowl party

5th Anniversary Trip Part 2: Napa Vally

The first leg of our trip was spent in beautiful Napa Valley...we loved it and cannot wait to go back!

Our bed and breakfast the Churchill Manor built in the late 1800's

A view of our room, it was really beautiful

Our first morning out we booked a hot air balloon ride over Napa, it was a great decision and a wonderful way to see Napa.

Drew and I in the basket over 1,000 feet in the air...a little scary

Napa sunrise from our balloon, incredible!

A view of the vineyards and our balloon

We took the Wine train across the valley and saw tones of vineyards while enjoying a delicious lunch.

On the wine train we stopped at Grgich Hills winery and got a tour and tasting.


The grapes

hundreds and hundreds of French oak wine barrels...they only cost $1,400 each!

On our last day in Napa we headed to "the Castles" our first stop was Castillo De Amerosa (The Castle of Love) it is an authentic Italian Renaissance castle made from stones of real castles and built the same way the old Italian castles would have been made.


The view from the castle

Drew's locked up, he's been causing trouble again!

My knight in shining armor

The torture chamber complete with authentic torturing devices.

A view from the castle after we headed to another "castle"

The gondola ride up to sterling vineyards

This castle is modeled after the Greek architecture and has a great view from the top of the hill

Drew and I the last outing on our trip to Napa

Meal Planning Monday

Monday: Cilantro Lime Shrimp with black beans
Tuesday: Salmon in a spicy garlic tomato sauce with brown rice and Brussels sprouts
Wednesday: Salmon burgers and salad
Thursday: Ginger and cilantro tilapia with brown rice
Friday: Something quick before church
Saturday: Sweet and spicy honey garlic shrimp with steamed broccoli and brown rice
Sunday: Something quick before financial peace university

Meal Planning Monday

Monday: Dinner on my own...breakfast for dinner
Tuesday: Go out for dinner
Wednesday: Cilantro lime shrimp with rice and beans
Thursday: Salmon Burgers with Veggies
Friday: Something quick before church
Saturday: Breakfast: Scrambled eggs and bagels
Lunch: Open faced chicken and cheese sandwich with fruit
Dinner: Tortilla crusted tilapia with veggies
Sunday: Chicken Kebabs with rice and beans

5th Anniversary Trip Part 1: The Road

Saturday December 17 we headed out on our two week adventure half way across the United States. Here are our pictures from our travel days to our ultimate destination Napa, CA.

Adios Texas...hello California! And the journey begins!

The trusty vehicle that got there and back again (not a Hobbit's Tale)

The exciting beautiful land of New Mexico (definitely the land of enchantment here).

We headed over to Carlsbad caverns to get out of the car for a few hours

Tour guide Drew...ready to take us through the caves

To the bat cave...stinky

...but really beautiful inside

From New Mexico we headed to Arizona, the Grand Canyon State. We stopped at Meteor Crater to get out of the car. Here it is, the big gaping hole in the ground. I wish we took a picture of a chunk of the meteor that hunk of metal was impressive (I believe it was something along the lines of 1,400 lbs. at about 2 feet tall and 3 1/2 feet long).

Arizona...snow? Who knew?

Welcome to California, the Golden State (we still have several hours to go the next day until Napa).

Meal Planning Monday

Monday: Tortilla crusted Tilapia with black bean and corn salsa
Tuesday: FPU meeting at Chuys
Wednesday: Salmon burgers with broccoli
Thursday: Girls night, eggs Benedict and watching The Help
Friday: Sweet Chili Lime chicken with brown rice and black beans
Saturday: Breakfast, eggs with spinach, tomatoes, and mushrooms
Lunch: Sandwiches
Dinner: Open
Sunday: Lunch with family after church
Dinner: Leftovers

Gardner Family Pictures

Back in November we had Gardner family portraits done for MIL's birthday. They turned out really nice.

Sisters, it looks like they're having tea

Silly siblings

I always love the jumping pictures, but we had a hard time...

Ashlyn being a ham

Mom and Dad

The Bandy Family

Ben & Mikaela