Not feelin' it Iceland.

What a nice little holiday break we had!  Lots of family, fun, and laughter!  In honor of the new year I am resolving to keep my blog a little more "weekly".  We got right back into the swing of things last night with Iceland.  I had done some research a while ago and even had a wonderful client of mine (thanks Wanda!) do a little research of her own.  What we both discovered is that Icelandic food is, well......gross.  Unless, sheep's head is your thing?  So we opted out of dinner and instead had an Icelandic dessert.  They were called Vatnsdeigsbollur or carnival cakes.  At least their dessert is good!

Filled with whipped cream!

Fact: as of 2006 there were only about 300,000 people living in Iceland.

We play a game almost every night at our dinner table.  Sometimes it's the last thing Adam and I want to do but Ayden can be relentless and those big brown eyes are very convincing.  Luckily, I found this awesome game at Target.  Each one of the cards has one minute games and best of all there is no setup or clean up!


And lastly, I wanted to share a few pictures of our Christmas.  Happy New Year!

See you next week!

"Angola? There's an Angola?"

Whew!  We just got home from Ayden's school fundraiser, I volunteered to bake and sell items before the whole fam came down with a nasty head cold.  But, I managed to pull myself together and ended up having a blast.  Adam and Zo were still a little under the weather so Ayden and I decided to make it a date!

I got some great ideas via Pinterest and after combining a few of them I came with these little ditties!

 This blog originally started as a way to document our BIG country challenge.  But it has started to evolved into somewhat of an online scrapbook/journal.  I can't help but think of how amazing it will be years from now to look at what my little family was up to each week.  That being said, I want to share a little of our Thanksgiving in Prescott.  I dropped the ball in the picture department but we did have the BEST turkey ever thanks to Grandma Debbie plus, my mom and I totally scored some good stuff during our 7 hours of black Friday shopping!  Thank you Deb and Family, we are thankful for you!

On to Angola....This was a tough one, Angola must not be known for their cuisine because it was hard to find recipes.  We ended up choosing Arroz De Coco E Papaia (papaia/coconut rice) & Grilled Pawns w/ Raw Sauce, I also roasted a chicken in case it didn't turn out.
We learned that Angola's official name is "Angolish Empire of Flying Snakes" which has nothing to do with snakes and everything to do with the founding fathers recreational use of LSD....Seriously, look it up.

 Next week: Iceland!

The Total Bummer Chilean Night.

My friend and client Sandy suggested that we do Chile since we had recently attended her niece's GORGEOUS Chilean wedding.  I actually styled the wedding party and was then lucky enough to attended the ceremony.  Jill, Wendy, Sandy, and Gene made me feel like part of the family and showed me such a good time!  Best part was that it was catered by D-Vine, who happened to cater my wedding rehearsal, if you haven't been there, Go.  Now.  You can thank me later.


Trying to be witty I figured we would have chili for Chilean night.  Chilean Chili that is.  Adam cooked while I was at work and did such a fantastic job.  Uncle Tyler came over to join us but just as our Chilean night took off Zoie had an accident.  I had left the smaller umbrella stroller out for her to play with and she had been loading and unloading her "babies" all day.  Looking back I should have seen this coming.....She climbed up backwards and face planted the kitchen floor.  HARD.  She instantly started screaming, then threw up, then bled from her nose or mouth or both.  It was bad.  I was panicked and poor Uncle Tyler was so worried about her.  We watched her for a few hours that night and she was back to her old self in no time, her forehead swelled a little but was gone by morning.  Even though my gut told me she was okay I couldn't stop myself from checking on her every couple of hours...all...night...long.  Needless to say the stroller is tucked away in the garage and I'm considering getting her a helmet, seriously.


Good News: Zoie and her head are just fine. 
Bad News: Chilean night totally sucked....sorry Sandy!

Great job on the Chili babe!  It was really good!

HOLY Mongolia! And Halloween too!

Adam picked Mongolia for one reason and one reason only.  YC's Mongolian Grill.  Allegedly my handsome hubs took me there years ago and I hated it, I guess he loves the place and still goes...just minus the nagging wife.  I vaguely remember this alleged incident and quite frankly, I really enjoyed it this time around.  There were lots of fresh veggies and funny looking frozen shaved meats that you piled and piled into your bowl, you combined different sauces to make your dish any array of flavors, then they throw it on a hot grill cook it up for you right before your eyes.  We all tried something a little different and sampled each others concoctions.  YUM!  Mom treated us all to dinner and we got to spend time with Uncle Tyler!  Thanks Guys!

   PRO's & CON's of taking our country challenge "on the road"

PRO's:  It's a great way to change it up and I don't have to do all the shopping, cooking...and cleaning!

CON's: All the snapping of pictures, reading of facts, and posing with food and decor makes every person in the restaurant look at you like you have lost you ever-loving mind.  So Worth It.

Totally changing the subject....Here are some pics of our Halloween!

See you next week!  Its my turn....Any suggestions?

South Africa makes 26??!!

Holy Cow, 26 countries down!  Can I allow myself to be super proud of my little family?  Okay, I totally am.  I spent the better part of last week helping my mom put together the amazing 1st annual Fall Festival at Jackpot Ranch.  It was lots of work, tons of fun, and turned out awesome!  I was lucky enough to have my wonderful Grandma-in-law to watch my kiddos while I was away.  We appreciate her so much and wanted to do something to show her, so I made her a Memory Jar.  I had made one years ago for my Grams and I thought that Barb would enjoy one too.  It's a great gift idea for somebody special and they are fun to make! 

Here's how: You write memories and things you love about your special someone and then fold and tie with ribbons or make into mini scrolls to fill your jar.  We had lots of fun remembering things we love about our G.G!

I don't consider my self to be a crafty gal, but I do like to do little things for Ayden's class on the holidays.  I usually put together little goodie bags with things like pencils, tattoos, and candy.  Here is a peek at this years spider themed baggies...

Adam and I made spider suckers by wrapping tootsie pops in black tissue paper and then added some pipe cleaner legs and googly eyes.  I even added a glittery red dot on the back!  We made a bed for our spiders out of candy corn and webs.  Here's the finished product:

I can't wait to drop them off!

Alright, I know, lets get to the point.  South Africa to be exact.  
Here is our Menu:

South African BBQ Chicken(amaze!), Cucumber-Zucchini Salad(so good!), Blue Cheese Biscuits

Everything was really good, who knew raw zucchini was so tastey?  Adam requested my biscuits which are just a package of Bisquick 3 cheese-garlic mix with a hand full of blue cheese added in.  They are a staple at our table and the perfect quick go to.  Delish!

Zoie liked it!

 We read our facts!

 

Did you know that the worlds largest diamond was found in South Africa?  It weighed 3,106.75 karats!  Now that's a rock!

On to number 27....Dad's pick - Mongolia!

Denmark & Dino's

Those of you who know me well, know that I love me some Oprah Winfrey.  I have watched her religiously and in my head we are BFF's.  One show in particular has stuck with me and I have talked and thought about it often.  The show was about happiness and the happiest places on earth.  #1- Copenhagen, Denmark.  Such a cool country.  Besides, what's there to complain about when the government pays for parents to have 52 weeks of maternity and paternity leave!

Here is a little clip I found on happiness and Denmark.

The down side?  They tax everyone at about 50%!

The best part about Denmark week was that we got to spend time with Auntie Alex and Papa Dana.  We spent most of Wednesday playing one looong game of the new electronic Monopoly (the kind where you have a debit card and you play with millions).  Then Dad and Alex hung out while my momma and I hit our favorite little theatre to see Spitfire Grill.

Alex stayed for a few days to watch the kids for me during fall break, she is the BEST auntie and sister, we all pretty much swoon for her.  She helped me make whoopie pies and dinner for country night.  It was kinda like having a sister-wife, which I am still convinced I need.  

We had Champagneskinke which is ham roasted in champagne (sounds way better then it was) and Caramelised potatoes that everybody enjoyed except moi.  I pretty much stuck to the salad that had feta, nuts, and dates...I was not much of a fan of Denmark's cuisine.  We read a few facts but we really wanted to show Alex our favorite (and nightly) dinnertime game, we use the cards from Apples to Apples, hold them to our forehead and try to guess what or who we are by asking questions like "can you buy me at  Walmart?"

Then I took the kids to the Museum of Natural History.  Ayden Fox loves history and all things space so I thought it would be a good way to spend our morning.  I had such a good time with my little chickens, I sure am one lucky girl.  Here are some pics.....

When Ayden and I got home from the Museum we got into our cozies, grabbed our laptops, went into his room, and blogged together.  He wrote his very own blog on the Museum, read it here.   

I'm Cuban B!

 

Pretty sure we were quoting this line all night.

Nana is at it again!  She chose to do Cuba this time and cheated a little with the help of Havana Cafe.  They specialize in Family style take out which is something Cubans are known for.  We had the paradise pulled pork meal with all the trimmings.  Including : white and black bean rice, Cuban cabbage salad, Maduros (sweet fried plantains), and chocolate cake!

After dinner and clean up we all practiced our animal sounds with little Zoie.  Nana had taken Ayden to the book fair earlier that afternoon and they both scored some great books!  Thanks again Nana!

Then we put the kids to bed and introduced Eliana to the Wild and Wonderful Whites of West Virgina.  It's probably the most shockingly amazing thing my eyes have ever seen, and it never gets old.  If you haven't heard of it, have a completely warped sense of humor, and you love trashy reality shows as much as this girl then you have GOT to see it, its on Netflix.  Shocking doesn't even begin.  Here is what Eliana thought of it...

Thanks for doing another country Nana!  We love that you are getting into it with us but mostly we just love having you around.  Nana helped us learn that Baseball is very popular in Cuba and so are toiletries!  Toiletries are hard to come by in Cuba because supplies are so limited on the island, so locals totally appreciate gifts of toothpaste, make-up, etc.

My laptop is up and running again, which makes blogging so much easier so I will definitely see you next week!