Summer Fishing

This was a craaaaaaaaaaazy busy summer, between both of us having our 20 year class reunions, my sisters wedding, bridal shower, Disney trip and everything else thrown in there, we didn't make too many trips to the lake.  And since summer didn't decide to make it's appearance until mid June, we had a chilly few weekends of pontooning and fishing.  That, however, did not stop the girls from wanting to fish.

Getting cozy in the boat!  Mind you it is the middle of June, and we ARE wearing jackets, sigh....

The big catches of the day!  Alayna would out fish any of those girls!  With as much energy as this kid has, you give her a fishing pole, and she's quiet, calm and focused.  Maybe I need to send one with her to school....

Makes for one sleepy ride home!

Rainy, Rainy Saturday...

I am going to thoroughly enjoying every second of this day for two reasons.  Number one, because it is FINALLY raining here in Minnesota!  I feel a pang of guilt, as I know our friends in Colorado are wishing the rain would stop.  Unfortunately here we are in a severe draught.  The last time we got any measurable rain was about 6 weeks ago and that was about a quarter of an inch.  All of the crops around here are brown and crispy, so sad....Number two reason is that I have enjoyed Miss Alayna all day to myself!  Brad and Rachel are at a Gopher football game and Emma is at a friends house.  

We started off the morning going to our favorite store, Crafts Direct!  After getting a strawberry/banana smoothie, we bought some fall decor and I let Alayna pick out a couple crafts to make.  She choose a couple blank canvas' that she is busily painting as I type.  For lunch we decided to make our own mini pizzas.  She got to make hers, homemade pizza sauce, turkey pepperoni and cheese.  I used pizza sauce, fresh basil and fresh mozzarella.

I had ready made pizza crust on hand so we used those.  They were scrumptious, and oh so easy!  Next on the agenda is a nap...I mean movie...

Happy Saturday!

The Wedding

My little (step) sister got married in August, and we had such a blast celebrating with her and Peter!  And you know how weddings always have something that goes wrong on the special day?  Ya, they had like 10, but no bigs, we all survived and danced the night away!

Awww....hubs and I were both in the wedding, nothing like making you feel REALLY old being in a wedding party where you're almost 10 years older than the next....

The girls each wanted a pic with auntie

That's the "I'm too cool to give you a full smile smile".

Beautiful ladies!

This is Miss A aaaaalmost out....

...And the final destination....

We had such a great time celebrating with Tracy and Peter!  We even made a mini vacation out of the rest of the weekend, you can't spend one day in Duluth, it's like, illegal.  I have another post about our up north adventure.

Tuscan Chicken Pasta

I know I've posted before about Mel's Kitchen Cafe, but honestly, if you haven't checked out her blog, you need to.  Right now.  Her dishes are amazing, flavorful, easy and even my kids love most of the recipes I've made.  One of my favorite dishes is her Tuscan Chicken Pasta.  

The flavor is amazing, and it truly reminds me of an Olive Garden dish!  The first time I made it, I followed her recipe, the second time around I left out the sundried tomatoes, and added sauteed red pepper.

Tuscan Chicken Pasta

4 Tbl. butter

4 cloves of garlic

1/2 tsp. dried basil

8 ounces cream cheese- cut into chunks

1/2 red bell pepper- chopped

Cooked chicken cut into small chunks or shredded.  I used a rotisserie chicken from the grocery store

8 ounce jar sun dried tomatoes

2 cups of milk

2 cups Parmesan cheese- grated

1/2 tsp. black pepper

1/2 tsp. salt

Diced fresh tomatoes and basil for garnish on top

Melt butter over medium heat, add red peppers and cook for a few minutes; add garlic and basil, cook for 15 seconds or so, you don't want the garlic to brown as it will taste bitter.  Add cream cheese and whisk until cheese is creamy, it takes a few minutes.  Stir in sundried tomatoes and chicken; add milk, 1/4 cup at a time.  Stir in Parmesan cheese and salt and pepper.  Stir and simmer for 5-10 minutes until everything is melted and thickened.

Enjoy!