I Have A BLOG?

Oh, do I have a BLOG?  Really?  Yikes, I think life got away from me. 
I'm considering getting back into working on this Blog. While this was really a way to keep a family  journal,  if ya missed reading updates on the West family, leave a comment and let me know.

Amy's Dragon

Amy has been enjoying drawing and painting during the Christmas break.  She drew this dragon today while looking at a picture.  I'm totally impressed!  She certainly doesn't get her drawing abilities from her Mom! 

BABY BABY BABY!!!

We have some VERY EXCITING NEWS!!!



While I was still in Utah with Ryan, and Amy & Kevin had headed back home to Georgia, we had a 3 way SKYPE call from Jordan and Shawn.  As we were visiting Shawn picked up their kitty, Gracie, and held her up to the camera.  She was wearing a soother tied around her neck.  At first I was a little confused wondering why they would give the kitty that for a play toy.  Then suddenly it occurred to me..."WHAT???  Does this mean what I think it might mean???"  Kevin & Amy were still confused on their end of the call.  "Kevin, read that tag around Gracie's neck", I said excitedly.  April 2013!!  "Are you really having a baby, Jordan??"  We all cheered!!!  YAAAAYYYY!!!   Jordan was a little nervous, so they wanted us to keep it a secret until she was at least 12-14 weeks along.  Ahhh, after waiting 4 years that was such a hard thing to do!

A few weeks later I returned home from Utah.  Bently and Bonnie were here at our house waiting to see us when I got home from the airport. They met us in the hallway and Bonnie pulled two paint chips out of her pocket as she said "We're redecorating the spare bedroom, which color should we choose?" (pink or blue?) We immediately knew what that meant and started cheering and hugging. YAY...baby West is due March 29th!

So...in September we decided to have a 5 way SKYPE phonecall session with Bently & Bonnie in Newnan GA, Natalie & Jack in NC, Jordan & Shawn in Texas, Ryan in Utah, and Kevin, Amy & me in Georgia.  We knew Jordan & Bonnie's news, but thought it would be fun for them to share their news with us all at the same time.  When we finally all got connected it was so neat to "be together" even though we were hundreds & thousands of miles apart.

To our surprise after Jordan said she was expecting, and Bonnie & Bently said they were expecting, Natalie chimed in and said "I am too!!!" What? Really? What an exciting skype session that was!!! We're having 3 new babies in our family all within 5 weeks of each other! I'm going to be one very busy...excited Grandma! :) :) :)

 

Natalie & Jack's very cute announcement

I wrote this post several months ago.  Now we know more details about our grandchildren...

 and Jackson and Clayton are going to have...

a baby BROTHER !!!  ...Due March 14th!

 

Poor Jackson really wanted a baby sister...

I'm sure he'll get used to the idea and love

his new baby brother as much as he loves Clayton.

Natalie Oct. 13

  

 Bonnie & Bently's facebook announcement-

"We have a bun in the oven!"

...and it's a baby BOY!!!  --- Due March 20th!

 

Jordan & Shawn's facebook announcement

and it's a Baby...GIRL due April 17th!!! 

 

Life is going to be very exciting for the West family this Spring! 

 

(For some reason I can't get those extra pictures of Bently & Bonnie to delete, so rather than fool with it and risk loosing my whole post, I'm just leaving it. )     :(





 





Chili and Apple Cook-off

Our Stake recently held its 2nd Annual Fall Festival.  Part of the fun was a Chili cook-off and Apple Dessert contest.  I was having trouble deciding whether to make chili or an apple dessert.  I finally just went online and found an apple dessert recipe that fit the following criteria;  I had the ingredients on hand, it had good reviews, and I had enough time to make it.  :)
Thanks to a great coupon, I happened to have a package of Betty Crocker oatmeal cookie mix. (something I never use!)  I made this "Southern Apple Crumble" recipe and took it without even tasting it.

To my surprise, I won FIRST place!  I guess those 728  5 star reviews were right! 

The apron (the prize) is kind of embarrassing!  It says-

  "The Apple of Every Mormon's Eye 2012"  ha

Southern Apple Crumble

Prize-Winning Recipe 2012!  

Prep Time  20 Minutes  Total Time 1:20 Hr: Mins  Makes 18 servings

Filling

3 large apples, peeled, coarsely chopped (about 3 cups)

 ** Use 6-8 apples in 9x13 pan -Don’t double other ingredients.     

     Plenty of topping

1/2 cup or less granulated sugar

1/4 cup packed brown sugar

2 teaspoons ground cinnamon

1/4 cup cold butter or margarine, cut into small pieces

Topping

1 pouch (1 lb 1.5 oz) Betty Crocker® oatmeal cookie mix

1/2 cup butter or margarine, melted

1/2 cup chopped pecans

Directions

1. Heat oven to 300°F. Spray bottom and sides of 8-inch square (2-quart) glass baking dish with cooking spray. In large bowl, toss filling ingredients. Spread mixture in baking dish.

   2. In same large bowl, stir cookie mix and melted butter until crumbly. Sprinkle over  

       filling.         

3. Bake 40 minutes. Remove from oven; sprinkle with pecans. Bake 15 to 20 minutes longer or until topping is golden brown. Serve warm or at room temperature.

Makes 9 servings (18 servings if using 9x13 pan)

 

**Dessert was too sweet for my taste. Next time I will double apples and use 9x13    pan & not double other ingredients. There was plenty of topping.

 

Serve with a scoop of ice cream or a dollop of whipped cream.

Can use fresh peaches for the apples for a juicy peach crumble.

 http://www.bettycrocker.com/recipes/southern-apple-crumble/d3c36ab1-55f3-4221-a114-b32c49b489e5

 

 

WINNING CHICKEN CHILI    (2012 Stake Fall Festival)

 

1 tablespoon olive or vegetable oil

1 medium onion, chopped (1/2 cup)

1 tablespoon garlic

1/2 cup chopped red bell pepper (if desired)

1 can condensed cream of chicken soup (10 3/4 ounces)

1 3/4 cups Progresso® chicken broth (from 32-oz carton)

1 cup water (or 1 more cup chicken broth)

2 cups diced rotisserie-cooked chicken

2 cans Green Giant® great northern beans, drained, rinsed (15.5 ounces each

1 can Old El Paso® chopped green chiles, undrained (4.5 ounces)

1/2 teaspoon dried oregano leaves

1/2 teaspoon ground cumin

1 can corn

Topping

1/2 cup sour cream, if desired

Chopped fresh cilantro, if desired

Directions

1. In 4-quart saucepan, heat oil over medium-high heat. Add onion, garlic and red bell pepper. Cook 2 to 3 minutes, stirring frequently, until tender.

2. Stir in soup, and broth. Cook 1 to 2 minutes, stirring frequently, until smooth and well blended. Stir in chicken, beans, chiles, oregano and cumin. Heat to boiling; reduce heat to medium-low. Cook uncovered 10 to 15 minutes, stirring occasionally, until thoroughly heated.

3. Top each serving with sour cream and cilantro.

A double batch makes a large crockpot full. One completely picked over rotisserie chicken will yield the desired 4 cups.

Give these recipes a try, I'm pretty sure you'll be glad you did!  :) 

Singin' In The Rain

 Amy hopped out of the van when we got home from dance today, grabbed her pink umberella and yellow rainboots and had a fun time "Just Singin' In The Rain"!

 I see so much of Jordan in her when she so freely breaks into dance (and song) at any given moment. 

 Doesn't this just make you smile?  :)

I'm singing in the rain
Just singing in the rain
What a glorious feelin'
I'm happy again
...
I walk down the lane
With a happy refrain
Just singin',
Singin' in the rain



San Antonio Trip

The first week in July we drove to San Antonio to visit Jordan & Shawn & to see where they had recently moved.  We were also delivering the Camry Ryan had been driving to Jordan so she could get to work more easily.

We stopped in New Orleans for a little bit so Ryan and Amy could see what it was like.  We talked   about hurricane Katrina as we were driving.  We could still see places that had been abandoned because of the damage, but it was good to see that a lot of businesses seemed to have recovered.

Amy did not like the feel of New Orleans, & only got out of the car long enough

to go in a shop and pick out a Mardigras mask.  Ryan was excited to try

 some genuine Louisiana shrimp gumbo.

 

Welcome to Texas

 

 Ryan and Amy had never been on a ferry, so we took

a little detour and headed toward the Gulf of Mexico.

We took a ferry from the Bolivar Peninsula  to Galveston, TX. 

They thought it was pretty fun!

 



Stopped to play at a beach for a couple of hours.



 

Lookin' good guys!  All that working out at the gym

has paid off.  ;)



 

If you're in San Antonio you've got to go see The Alamo...once,

 just so you can say you've been there  ;)

I loved this amazing huge tree behind the Alamo

Anyone who knows San Antonio always comments

about the River Walk.  Jordan worked half a day, and

then met us so we could enjoy walking around

together.  We were not disappointed-- it was so beautiful!

They had some of the normal little tourist traps near

the Alamo.  We didn't fall for them, but stopped for
Amy to pose with the World's tallest man at the
Guiness Book of Records exhibit.









July 4th: We had a really fun, relaxing time tubing

 down the Comel River in New Brunfels which wasn't

 far from where Jordan & Shawn live.

 

We went back to their house to have a BBQ and then enjoyed

playing in the pool.  We were so tired by the evening

we were happy that we could see fireworks right

from the bedroom window.

July 5th: 

We took a tour of the San Antonio Toyota Tundra Plant

that was opened in 2008.  You'll notice their lovely

showroom assistant pointing out one of 200,000 full-size

pick-up trucks that are manufactured there each year.

We rode through the plant on a tram right next

to the assembly lines.  I couldn't help but think of the Henry Ford

Assembly Line History Day project Natalie did when she was in

middle school.   It was amazing to see how

precisely timed the manufacturing process was.

  Ryan loved seeing the robotics areas; and I was impressed

with  how clean everything was.  No dust floating

around like in a carpet manufacturing plant.  It

really was fascinating!

July 6th: We spent the day at Sea World. We REALLY

wished that Jordan & Shawn could have joined us!



Amy is not too sure she's going to like riding the
rollercoaster

 



A soggy bunch after our ride 

Ryan being sweet as ever, gives Amy's tired feet a break

We had a nice trip...so grateful that both Shawn & Jordan

have been able to get good jobs in San Antonio.  Of

course it would have been funner to get to spend all day

playing with them, but we enjoyed the time we had together.