rugby

Brady's favorite thing is Rugby. Nothing like a tackle to relieve a little stress, right? He couldn't dedicate enough time to play a whole season but he was able to play for about a month and loved it. Liam loved watching and playing at the games.

I almost enjoy looking at cookbooks as much as I love eating, almost. Brady and I have has always had an agreement that we were okay budgeting a little more for groceries each month and actually enjoy what we eat. I'll sacrifice new shoes or clothes, but I absolutely need good, fresh food. My cooking has come a very long way in the past 4 years and I'm learning more each week and with every recipe I devour.
Here are a few tips-

My Favorite Grocery Items:

1)Really good, non-iodized salt. It's much less bitter, has a smoother taste and improves pretty much any food.

2)Chipotle peppers- We always have some of these around (freeze extras). They're canned smoked peppers. It makes any type of Mexican dish come alive with a rich. Mmmm so earthy.

3)Avacados- Guacamole is great for more than chips.

4)Fresh ginger root- Keep some in the freezer. Any Thai or Asian- inspired food tastes better with a little freshly grated.

5)Good quality salsa- for a dollar extra a can you can get flavor packed salsa that you'll enjoy with every bite. It's so versatile that the change will reward you over and over breakfast, lunch and dinner.(Newmans's Own brand is one of our favs.)

6)Ghiradelli's brownie mix- Wow. Who woulda thought something so impressive and luxurious could come from a box. Definitely better than any dessert I make from scratch. In fact when we went to Russia I left a box of these for our Russian host with the note "This is the best food America has to offer."

7)Good salad toppings- Lets face it- most salads are a chore to eat. The key to good salads is adding some good tasting, deliberately placed, fats and protein, with out adding too many calories. Our favorites: roasted nuts, avocado with sparse amounts of flavorful cheese (bleu, Parmesan, Havarti, feta...) and copious amounts of sweet accents (craisins, black berries, strawberries, peaches, mandarin oranges fall apples) Oh, and don't forget the grilled chicken. Mmmmm.

Brady's 100 Mile Family Bike Race

My husband always impresses me. He rode a 100 mile bike race the same day he got back from Russia. The start time was at 12:00 am Midnight, Moscow time. I could not believe it. While he was biking 100 miles at a strenuous pace, I was totally jet-lagged, lethargic, eating frozen pizzas and watching TV re-runs... not to mention the fact that my flight time was 4 hours shorter.


The coolest thing about this bike ride was that it was with his dad and brother in law Jake(one of Liam's all time favorite people.) (How many guys can say they go on 100 mile bike rides with their dads!- that's awesome.) The course was hilly but the momentum of riding with a group, and his family, seemed to make things go faster. The next day he was barely sore at all.

Oh and the toast is a little "holy water" brought back from the Motherland. Russians are very superstitious and perhaps a little bit of extra luck helped balance the sleep deprivation.

It's not the first time I've thought my husband was super-human, and I'm sure won't be the last.

Liam's vacation at Nana and Papa's

Liam got to go to Utah while we were in Russia. He called it "My Russia," and had a ball. These pictures were stolen from Brady's mom and sister. They both have a great eye for capturing the moment and its nice to have photographers in the family. Liam has been home a week and keeps saying "I want to go back to Nana's house" and we can't blame him a bit. It melts my heart to see how he adores his grandparents and always prays for his aunts and uncles.