Family Favorite....Tomato Basil Soup

Tomato Basil Soup With Grilled Cheese Sandwiches

Ingredients:

4 cups tomato juice

1 can whole, peeled tomatoes

1 cup heavy cream

14 basil leaves

3 Tb butter

Directions:

Simmer tomatoes & juice for 30 minutes

Add basil

Blend (with blender)

Add butter & Cream

salt/pepper to taste

Family Favorite....Mexican Corn Chowder

One of our favorite family recipes...Mexican Corn Chowder!

This recipe makes a TON but freezes well and tastes great as leftovers too. Garnish with some crushed tortilla chips and enjoy!

For 10 Servings:

2/3 cup butter

2/3 onion

1 jalapeno

1 clove garlic

2 2/3 cup chicken broth

2 tsp. cumin                                                                                                                                                                                   Salt

1-2 cans cream corn

2 cans green chilies                                                                                       

2 tsp. parsley

2 tsp. hot sauce

1 qt. half & half

6 oz. pepper jack (shredded)

6 oz. jack cheese (shredded)

1/3 bunch cilantro

1/6 cup cornstarch

1/3 cup cream

1  rotisserie chicken, shredded

Chop onions, jalapenos and garlic in butter

Add next 7 ingredients and bring to boil

Make a thickener with cream and cornstarch and whisk into soup

Turn heat down and add grated cheeses

Stir until melted

Add chopped cilantro

Serve hot

JACK!!

Jack is 7 months! 

This boy has a zest for life inside him! So smiley and enthusiast most of the time!

He has rocked himself in his car seat since he was around 4 months old but 1 day this month he got stuck! It was hilarious!

Sitting up!! 

 Crazy family pic but a great shot of Jack. 

He REALLY loves having siblings and laughs and plays with 

them all the time. So sweet.

Just looking into his eyes will bring out huge smiles and laughter!

Callie Turned 2!!

My precious, fiery, passionate, mothering little lady turned 2.  It really is so hard for me to believe that she is growing up so fast.  She has talked gibberish for so long but more of her words are understandable now, she's not quite as fiesty all the time, and is seriously the most joyful, fun kid ever! I truly adore her.  On her actually birthday we had a little family celebration with happy meals and cookie cake so she would know it was her birthday.  Then the next day was her official party.

So Happy Birthday Callie Lake! You make life so full and fun!

Say "Cheese!"

One of her gifts from us, a baby car seat which she brings to the car often.

 Party time! 

She LOVES disney princess stuff so we had a princess party (even though most of her friends are boys!)

Presents

It was an interesting idea to get a picture of all the kids! Ha! 

There are 2 missing from the picture but its real life!

First day of Pre K

 Can it really be that my little first born is almost 5????

This year Eli started pre-k in the afternoons.  It is so strange that he goes somewhere every day and has been a big realization that this is the first step to the next 12 years of school for him! WOW! He was so excited for his first day and Callie was really confused about not being to go with him.  She had a really hard time that she had to leave Eli there at the school and she couldn't stay and play with him! 

I couldn't ever get her smiling in the picture but she was VERY excited to pose with him by his school room door.

Even as I write this its been about a month of school and Eli LOVES it.  He has made friends, and just loves all the fun things they get to do.

ICON

Oh my goodness there are just TOO many pictures from ICON to post here.  Our Antioch Missionaries conference happened this summer in Winter Park, Colorado with incredible stuff for the adults and unbelievable stuff for the kids.  On every level it was incredible.  Eli in particular came alive in God, discovering new levels of how to worship God, which I know will forever be the most marked change in him.  His camp class got to do super fun things like a giant trampoline, foam pit, putt putt, alpine slide, zip line, and so much more.  Everyday he came back to us just beaming and so full of life. Callie had a blast too with her class going on walks through the little village at the base of the mountain.  Our room/suite was perfect, and it truly was such a refreshing time for our family.  Not to mention getting to connect with friends who literally live all over the world, many who we haven't seen in a few years.

The last day the kids did a singing program

Having a great time being silly on our deck

 Carnival night, Callie had quite a sugar high

We found a SUPER cool bowling alley and had a really fun family night.

 Playground fun

No good pictures of Jack, but he loved it too.

And then there were 4!

I have been really surprised only a handful of times in my life.  I'm a planner and pretty nosey so not much gets past me.  My 16th birthday was one big surprise to me but the biggest of my life would be finding out we are pregnant again!!! My first 3 were all planned pregnancies, thought through, thought about, and anxiously awaited so talk about a shock! We were not even sure what we thought about having 4 kids but were definitely planning on waiting another year or two to even consider it. Clearly God had something to say about it.  Before I got pregnant with Jack I started thinking I had 3 kids. I would get Eli and Callie out of the car and count for 3 kids and realize I only had 2. I know it sounds strange, and it was even stranger to have it happen.  But I believe God was preparing my heart to have another so quickly (Callie & Jack are 17 months apart).  Interestingly enough about a week before I found out I was pregnant again I was sitting in the kitchen with the kids playing on the floor and I started feeling like someone was missing.  It shocked me quite a bit and realized I was looking for my 4th child.  It shocked me and I disregarded it but what a joyous surprise! With Jack being 4 months old when I got pregnant it was a little overwhelming to realize I will have 3 of my 4 under 3 years old! Wow! Thank you Jesus that you trust me with so many little hearts!

So on July 6th, my mom's 60th birthday, I found out we were adding the 6th grandchild to the Gurian grandkids.  What a fun idea from the Lord!

Here is the little nugget at 11 1/2 weeks

Even though I know we are in for a crazy year next year I could not be more excited.  Each of our kids are so different, so unique, and so fun that I truly cannot wait to discover what this one will be like!