Our New Family Member

We are so excited to announce the arrival of our new family member, a girl!  Her name is Sydney and she weighs in at a whopping 3.8 lbs of fur and energy.

Views of The South Rim, Grand Canyon

We had an absolute wonderful time exploring the South Rim of the Grand Canyon last week.We were told over and over that no photo or description fully covers the magnitude, views and beauty that you see in person. Before heading out we said this is probably a one time trip.  With all we saw, and all we missed seeing we know we will be back, maybe even more than once.We hope you enjoy this video we created on the sights from the South Rim.https://youtu.be/0Lu-znwJgGc

Great Elk Crossing the Road

And this just happened as we were driving along the scenic South Rim of the Grand Canyon. 

Shenandoah Crossing 2016

We were lucky enough to be invited by Guy's nephew David and his family to join them and some other mutual friends camping out near Gordonsville VA at a RV resort called Shenandoah Crossing. David and Stacy had been a few times before and raved about it, so we were very excited to check it out. A few words to describe the place... beautiful, peaceful, great place. One of the best camping trips we have taken. Not only were the sites fantastic, the entire resort was.

 

Video of Shenandoah Crossing

 

 

 Photos around the resort

 

 

The RV sites are located right near the pool and the camp store, and there are so many activities besides just hanging out at the beautiful pool such as mini golf, basketball courts, full size checkers, corn hole, walking paths, horseback riding, etc. We had several kids with us from 5- 19 and none of them were bored, not even for a minute.

 

The full hook up sites were full concrete, came with full hook-up (water, electric, sewer and cable). They all each had a built in grill and outdoor kitchen sink. I couldn't believe how great that sink was to have and we will miss it when we stay other places.

 

 

 

Camping with friend is always great but what I loved about Shenandoah is we know we can (and will) come back on our own and have a fantastic time as well.

 

 

The beautiful Pool

 

 

Hanging out with family and friends

 

 

Morning on Lake Izak

 

 

 

 

 

One of our favorite places we have camped so far.  Will we go back... YES!! when?? As soon as we can :)

The Many Faces of Avery

Mommy had a much needed girls outing and daddy had to work so that meant I got to spend the entire day with Avery. This girl has such a sunny, happy disposition and a very silly sense of humor.  She is going to be such a fun one to hang out with as she gets older! 

Pressure Cooker - Chicken and Dressing

Amazon put the Instant Pot Pressure Cooker on sale for Prime Day for $69.99 and I just had to order it.  I had been watching this for a few months after reading all the rave reviews on a  few message boards I read and saw the over 8000 5 star ratings on Amazon.We made our first meal in it last night and it was a total winner.  Four frozen chicken breasts straight from freezer to plate and in our bellies in 50 minutes.I used the recipe below.  Next time I will season the chicken as it goes into the pot and prepare chicken gravy to go with it, bit other than that it was very good and we will do it again soon.  Updated: We have repeated this recipe three times now and each time it has been equally yummy!

Instant Pot Chicken and Stuffing recipe ingredients:

4 large frozen chicken breasts
1 cup chicken broth
1 large can (23 oz) Cream of Chicken soup (or two small cans)
1 bag of cornbread stuffing (14 oz)

Instant Pot Chicken and Stuffing recipe directions:

You place the chicken breasts (stacking them in the bottom of the pressure cooker over lapping them as needed) and add 1 cup of chicken broth. Set the vent to “seal” and press the manual button for 14 minutes. Once it’s does, do a quick release on the valve and wait for all the steam to release before opening the unit. Press the cancel button to turn off the unit.

Check to make sure the chicken is fully cooked. There will be a lot of liquid at the bottom. You will need this liquid for the cornbread stuffing.  Open the bag of cornbread stuffing and place it directly over the top of the chicken breasts (leave all that liquid in there). Pour the cream of chicken soup over the stuffing, covering it completely.  Replace the lid and set the manual button for another 4 minutes. This will allow you to heat the stuffing.  The machine won’t pressure cook again because the stuffing is soaking up all of the hot juices.  It’s only heating the process.  When it’s done, check the quick release the valve to release any pressure before opening the lid. Mix all of the ingredients together. When you mix it all together you will notice the chicken start to shred with very little effort. Serve it immediately and enjoy!

Recipe from:  http://www.isavea2z.com/instant-pot-chicken-and-stuffing-recipe/