This Thanksgiving were getting a little out of our comfort zone

This is my kitchen this morning as I make mashed potatoes and Sweet potatoes, be grateful for your counter space!

  
    Happy Early Thanksgiving! So here is what I've decided to plan for our menu for our trailer living extravaganza! I really tried to tone it down, but there are somethings you just cannot live without, when it comes to Thanksgiving. So here's what I got cooking:

Hot artichoke dip- one appetizer is proof that I've toned it down!

Kings Hawaiian rolls - store bought!
Cranberry jelly I love it straight out of the can!
Turkey Gravy- I bought a packet because gravy is still something that I really haven't mastered, or I just like the packet better~I'm not sure
Pioneer Woman's Mashed Potatoes
My friend Tanya's Sweet potato recipe, complete with pecans and marshmallows
My mother in law gave me her stuffing recipe which is my favorite part of Thanksgiving
I'm going to try to recreate these really yummy green beans which involve bacon and pecans that my really cool sister in law made last year.
I ordered an oven roasted 10 lb turkey from the grocery store- My aunt gave me that idea, because if you haven't seen the inside of an fifth wheels oven, let me say, they are tiny and there is only one shelf in there!
Also, I ordered an apple pie from a bakery in town that I have heard fabulous reviews of, oh and of course I got some vanilla ice cream for that too!

When I told Ian our menu he asked "who was coming over?" Just Us!
    But then....we were invited to share Thanksgiving with a friend of mine who lives on a farm a few miles out of town. Now I have all the stuff, I'm ready to go but the kids got really excited to go to this gals house and they heard there would be a lot of kids and 40 acres to run around in....So a part of me thought, NO, it's a family day!  But then I thought, my poor kids, have family days everyday. I know my mother in law is back home spending this holiday in a way that she's not use to, I thought of my brother in laws (in Georgia and Hawaii) and my brothers (in North Carolina and California), none of us are going to be together, I thought of my mom opening her house up to anyone on Thanksgiving and how I'm usually the one thinking "why does she do that? It's a family day!" Then I realized that maybe this year I'll get out of my comfort zone, do something different, put myself in someone else's shoes, not the person running the show, the person in the corner maybe feeling a little awkward. If the kids have a blast , which it sounds like they will, then that's what really matters. We have the rest of the weekend to have family time and I am still making all this yummy food because I want more than a plate of leftovers, I WANT a FRIDGE full!
    So family, all of you. We miss you, we are thinking of you and although we are far apart you will be with us in Spirit. Love you. Happy Thanksgiving.

We made some no bake cookies that we got from pinterest, Houston and I had a ball and Waylon swiped some chocolate while we weren't looking...sneaky kid..Theyre suppose to look like pilgrim hats and acorns

Salt Lake City

 So these past three weeks have been a bit rough for me. Ian is working on a job high up in the mountains in a little town called Ouray. They call it "little Switzerland" they are putting him up in a hotel, so they can get in more work, with less drive time. So that leaves me here in Bayfield, with the kiddos from Monday to Saturday night, holding down the fort. I never intended to be out here on my own. First it was the week of Halloween, then it was Wrex's birthday now this is the third week and it's waring on me. I just figured if I was out here, we could all; be together as a family. So that's been frustrating. Of course Ian doesn't have a say when and where the work is. We've been told that we will probably be moving on pretty soon, so that tells me this can't last for too long, but three weeks is longer than I thought.
    This being our current situation, Ian had class in Salt Lake this weekend, so the boys and I tagged along to spend sometime together and get rid of our cabin fever! It was suppose to snow this past weekend and man did it dump on Salt Lake! It started Friday evening on our drive out there. I have never seen so much snow. Of course, I've hardly seen snow at all , but man, everything was covered,as far as we could see. It was beautiful and exciting. We got to the hotel at about 8 and unloaded our stuff. Ian teased us calling us Californians" as we tramped through the snow (not on the clear paths) in ugg boots. We brought all sorts of snow with us into the hotel room. The kids were picking up snow and eating it . So we have lots to learn, what else is new? The next day we went to In N Out. Wrex savored every bite, we got milkshakes, just to indulge ourselves, yes it was still snowing. We went to Costco and got Waylon some toys . I took the kids ion front of the hotel and showed them how to make snow angels. I was going to take a picture for you but, after I tackled Wrex isn the snow, we had a huge sbow fight and ruined our angels. I actually hid in the hotel room, after that but the kids had a blast making snowballs waitiing for me to come out. It was a lot of fun! As expected, I ate my through Salt Lake, we had Cafe Rio, Little Cesars, In N out twice. Yes we indulged on all the things they don't have in our little town.  We had so much fun eating that I thought it would be lovely to take the boys to a Sunday breakfast at my favorite little spot. So we dropped Ian off at class at 7am and drove to Salt Lake, which was about 45 mins away from where we were staying. It was clear when we started out but it had started snowing in Salt Lake. When we got to the little spot I wanted to go, it was being plowed, which I thought was a good sign. WRONG! Its about 2 miles up a mountain and when we got to "Ruths" there was about 2 feet of snow in the parking lot. I didn't want to get stuck so I turned around, the kids were disappointed but oh my gosh, if I didn't start sliding down that mountain. I felt very foolish for leaving my continental breakfast behind! So slowly we made it down the mountain and into Salt Lake. I found another restaurant on trip Advisor and made my way every so slowly that way. The snow kept falling and the plowers we're a little more slow at 7:30 Sunday morning. Where I come from, that's a perfect time to go get breakfast in Salt Lake, not so much. Anyway, the next restaurant was closed till 9am. So we went to Starbucks and grabbed a bagel at Einsteins and called it good. I got back to the hotel and thanked my lucky stars this California girl made it back without a fender bender.
     All in all, the snow was beautiful and when we got back to Bayfield there was not nearly as much of it on the ground. Which is good because as pretty as it is, getting the kids out and about in it will be challenging. So now we're back to normal, Ian is up in the mountains and the boys and I are passing the time, getting ready for Thanksgiving. My next big event, we'll talk more about that next week. Much Love~Kristina

  This is the parking lot of Ian's class, doesn't it look like a Christmas Card? I thought so.

Why is Houston wearing a sweathsirt? He didn't listen to the "grab your jacket warning" he also didn't bring any long sleeve shirts or gloves. Convinving these kids to dress properly in the snow was difficult.

Putting one foot in front of the other

  Hello Friends. So I have been sucked into jogging. Which should shock you if you know me. Yes me, the girl who got a B in PE because I would not put forth effort. I've always hated everything about running. Usually my lungs feel like they're going to fall out and I quit 45 seconds in. I'm the kinda girl whose not going to run unless someone is chasing me. So how did I get here. Well, I was invited to participate in this 8 week challenge to be more healthy. You receive points for things like eating 2 servings of fruit a day and 3 servings of vegetables a day. Well I'm friendly enough and could use something else to eat besides bread, so I accepted the challenge. Oh yes the winner gets around $200 bucks so there's some motivation for you. You can win by either having the most points or by having the highest weight loss percentage, according to your weight. Well I didn't take it very seriously at first. I just went ahead and modified some of the foods I ate. I ate a lot of carrots that first week. I cracked out my pilates home videos. I entered my calories and work out into my app called "my fitness pal." I burned 100 calories...go me! The thing is on this fitness pal thing, you can see how much other people are working out and I started feeling like a total slouch. These ladies were kicking it into high gear. You may not know this about me, unless you're one of my brothers, but I am actually pretty competitive. Of course I don't compete unless I think I can win. Is that too revealing? I think I'm sneakily competitive. Does that make sense? No I didn't think so.    So during the first week of my "light" workouts I had that back drama. Maybe it was because I told my body to start working out, I don't know. So I put this other app on my phone called "couch to 5k" and I started walking with the boys. The app tells you when to walk and when to jog so you slowly build up to jogging. Well within the first week I had knee trouble. I almost quit but these other girls kept burning up the calories and I'm no quitter. I also started to enjoy my 30 minutes away from the kiddos. At this point I started jogging when Ian was home. I go around the trailers, one big loop, over and over. Very safe and predictable. So I spoke to a friend who has had major trauma to her body by a quad accident and she ran. If she can do it, why not me? So she advised me to get a knee brace and keep going. There were days that I looked ridiculous. I had my knee brace on, sometimes layers of shirts(it was cold and I don't own running apparel) as I jogged at a pace that people could walk past me. I started doubting my couch to 5k app. When it told me to stop jogging, I didn't listen and would soon regret it. I thought my lungs were going to fall out but I knew this couldn't actually happen. I've always been worried that I would look really stupid if I tried to run, again I am quite slow, I don't think technically its "running" at all. But no one is here to see me that I know. So now I've worked it out where I "jog" when Waylon takes his morning naps. I circle the park and the boys open the door if Waylon wakes up . But oddly enough Waylon sleeps well if everyone is quiet in here, which we never are, unless I'm running and the older boys are watching tv in my room. Many days I don't feel like getting out there, believe me it's much colder here than back home, But dang it if I'm not getting results. My legs are trim and I do like rocking out to Pandora as I circle the park. I have mini adventures, like when I got brave one day and decided to run behind the barn. I saw a skunk (they move really weird its like they bobble) so I hightailed it back to my main loop. One day last week it was pretty dark still and out of the corner of my eye I swear I saw a kangaroo, of course it was just a deer but the way it pranced, I don't know, it cracked me up. One time I really needed some motivation so I went out to where the park keeps their cows (the cows weren't there, again I don't know why) and there was a huge flock of geese, so I ran after them just in an attempt to pick up the pace and be a stinker at the same time. Somehow, someone sent me this app that gives money to a charity every time you "run" and now I feel like the least I can do is to give to these charities, I mean everyone wins right? My little brother thought my facebook was hacked he said " so you like really run everyday?"  Yeah I know, sometimes I can't believe it either. I lost 10 pounds and who knows I may win the prize for weight loss although that was never my intention. Some side benefits is that, I get a little bit of time to clear my head everyday. I get a little bit of Kristina time which I really need when I can never really get some space from my family (whom I LOVE ;) So today my app told me that I could run 25 minutes in a row. I didn't believe it at first but I know it's usually right so somehow very slowly I jogged for 25 minutes in a row. HUGE SUCCESS for this girl. When I thought to myself this morning, How did I get to this point? It was clear that I just took one step at a time. I put one foot in front of the other and trusted that everything was going to work out. I think this is very fitting for me, I'm sure it is for all linewives. We never know where the next job will be, when will we move, should we go back home, when is my husband coming back from storm work? Just put one foot in front of the other, have a little  faith and take it one day at a time.~ a little bit of encouragements from friends and family also goes a long way

P.S I disposed of a mouse in a trap today. I am woman hear me roar!

Here I am looking particularly awesome one cold morning

Happy Halloween

  How did I miss posting last week. Time is running away from me! I made a deal with the boys they could have twenty five bucks or spend it on a costume . So Wrex is going to be a baseball player and Houston bought a Darth Vader Costume. Little Waylon is going to be an angry bird! Last weekend Ian was at school but the boys and I got to take a train ride to the pumpkin patch. It was Houston and Waylon's first train ride and it was pretty special. Everyone was in costume and they had Charlie Brown's theme song playing in the background. their theme was "the Great Pumpkin " which is one of my favorites. The tough part was holding onto Waylon because there was no room for a stroller on board. When we arrived there was all sorts of carnival games and bounce houses. We went on a hayride and had to make it through the maze to get to the pumpkins. Of course, we took our picture with Lucy, Snoopy and Charlie Brown. I didn't care how much that pic was, by golly these kids are going to remember this! I liked how the pumpkin patch wasn't overly crowded. The only way to be allowed admission to the area was by train, so it wasn't too crowded. On the way back the train slowed to a stop three times and I was worried we were going to have to walk back to town, but they straightened things out, thankfully! After the train ride, the boys and I found an amazing pizza place that we have already had to go back to. Wrex says its the best pizza he's had in his whole life, I'm in it for the bread sticks, somehow they incorporate honey into them and I don't know how but it is amazing!

    This weekend I took the kids to a Halloween Carnival that a neighborhood was putting on. We got to pre trick or treat and do the "Cookie walk" Houston made a spider mask, so you know good times. We also moved our trailer in the park this weekend and rented a larger propane tank to get ready for cold weather. We moved right next to a huge pine tree that we have decided will be our Christmas tree!  Our high is 55 around here but its getting chilly! Ian was told that he is starting a job two hours away and they are putting him up in a hotel. That threw me off. I thought I had figured out how to stick together during this apprenticeship but it looks like we'll be spending a few weeks apart. Hes working further up the mountain, theres not too much up there. But brrrrrr he's going to be cold.
    We were lucky enough to get a friend I met through my retreat to watch the kids this weekend so we could go out on a date. I don't think we've been alone since December so it was time! We were told there is a dynamite sushi place in town so we tried it. It was very good sushi but being that it was so close to the college the servers were a little more concerned with their Halloween costumes then service. Either way, it gave us a good laugh and it was so nice to have dinner without discussions of whats going on with Cartoon Network. So all in all, we have been having a great time and staying very busy.
  We'll be praying for everyone in Sandy's path and remember all those lineman that have traveled from all over the country to restore the power as soon as its humanly possible!

 

A little bit of Momma Time

 So this weekend, I was able to escape to a Women's retreat! I know, it was very exciting stuff for me! Someone had told me about it, back in July and I signed up. I was assured that if we weren't around , I could easily resell my ticket and I am so glad I signed up. As it came closer, I started to get so excited for a little break from my mommy life. When the day came, I was so pumped, it didn't matter what we were doing or where we were going as long as I didn't have to make dinner and clean. So I took off on Friday, left Ian with some frozen pizzas and a meal in the crockpot! I grabbed a Pumpkin Spice latte and headed up the mountain. It was the most beautiful drive. All of the Aspen trees were bright yellow although most of them had already started losing their leaves. It was so breathtaking  that I pulled over to take a picture, that's when I realized I left my memory stick in my computer, dun dun dun. Oh well. I took one on my phone, that really doesn't do it justice, but WOW, simply amazing.
     We ended up having the most amazing food (very important to me) I was a little disappointed when my name got called for KP but as this is one on my many talents, I sucked it up. I also got to meet some amazing women in the kitchen and obviously I felt very comfortable in there (being as I am ALWAYS in the kitchen.) I swear it was like Thanksgiving three times a day, it was so wonderful to not cook it either! The first morning I showered and shined and was hanging out in the kitchen when someone said it was snowing! I was so excited, I ran outside, wet hair and in my socks, a typical southern Californian I'm sure. I think I've only seen snow fall from the sky once in Big Bear and I was very young. It was so amazing to me, I'm sure I will see much more where that came from, but WOW, I was amazed or maybe it was dazed! I never realized snowflakes were so tiny. In school, they are the size of a coffee filter and I knew that was an exaggerated size, but I didn't realize how exaggerated. I know that sounds very naive of me, but this is how much snow experience I have. The snowfall didn't last long and we were able to go on a hike that afternoon to a lake nearby. I had such a good time hiking and laughing with my new friends. At night we had campfires and ate smores. I felt so refreshed by Sunday.
    When I made it back, I was relieved that the fifth wheel was still standing, Apparently, Ian and the boys did not leave the whole weekend, which was perfect for Ian because he had a lot of homework to catch up on. Waylon lost a pair of jammies in a poop fiasco, Ian said there was just no saving them, haha! But those two definitely got some bonding time in . I can see it in the way Waylon keeps staring at Ian. The older boys got to catch up on their cartoons and all is right in our little world. Hope your week is going well too. Much Love,
Kristina

An old car I found, with a friend on a hike...just one more adventure

Albuquerque

    Hey Guys! So the fam and I were able to take an impromptu road trip to Albuquerque this weekend. Ian needed to refresh his CPR class by November 1st and there wasn't one around here that would make that deadline, so we figured we'd wander back into New Mexico. Did I tell you we went into Farmington , New Mexico last weekend? We are on a mission to update our phones so we drove an hour and a half to Farmington to the closest Verizon store only to find out that it was closed sometime ago. The family was not impressed with New Mexico at this time. We've been really spoiled by "Colorful Colorado" and the trip to Farmington had everyone in a sour mood with New Mexico. OK so flash forward. I was excited to stay in a hotel and live the life of luxury for an evening. I found out there was a Costco and a Target in Albuquerque. WOO HOO! Getting a hotel was much more difficult than I thought and that's when Ian told me that he heard they were having a balloon festival or something. So of course, I looked into it and it turns out, it was the opening day for the "Albuquerque International Balloon Fiesta" this is the biggest hot air balloon festival in the world. Now I never have gone up in a hot air balloon, but when by chance you happen to fall into "The Worlds Largest Balloon Festival" you have to go right? I told Ian "I'm going up in one of those balloons!" Well the balloon ride was $399 so needless to say, I didn't get one, but I was in such high spirits as we took off to New Mexico.
     So we drive over four hours, through mostly desert and maybe two towns, taking potty breaks every chance we can with all of us. When we finally get to New Mexico, I start to hear protests from the family, apparently it wasn't what they had expected. I am way too excited and am insisting that we stop for lunch at an Authentic restaurant and the boys are cheering "pizza, pizza." This is how our road trips usually go. So Ian pulls rank and decides to go to the hotel first and see what's around there. Well since, we booked last minute and the Balloon Fiesta is about to begin, we end up by the airport near a Waffle House and a Burger joint. I stuck my foot down and insisted we go to a restaurant that trip advisor was recommending. So we load back into the truck and head towards the College Area and find a little hole in the wall Mexican food place "El Patio." Well the kids ordered nachos and they were not pleased when they came out with lettuce on them, Ian ordered tacos that looked somewhat, what you would get from Taco Bell but I listened to trip Advisor...I got green chili chicken enchiladas and they were delicious, I shared one bite with Ian but I devoured the rest, it was so yummy. They served it with some potatoes on the side, but it was a great combination. MMM MMM.    After they asked us if we wanted "Sopes" according to Wrex he heard them say "Salad potatoes." So I said yes, even though the kids we're saying "ugh mom, really, now we have to eat salad potatoes?" Do you see the whines that I have to put up with? Anyway, the sopes came and they were fresh, piping hot and delicious, everyone agreed. Yum!
   So then we took Ian to his CPR class and went back to the hotel. The kids played in the pool until they were blue and then we headed up to the room to take a nice hot bath (something we don't have in the fifth wheel.) So I was going to throw all the boys in at once and they were all undressed as I filled up the tub. Well ...little Waylon, he has a sense of humor. He promptly pooped on the carpet as I filed up the tub....do you get the feeling that this is not the relaxful weekend I had planned?  Waylon and his turd is the only pic I have of this trip. I won't post it here but if you want the proof, find me on instagram!
   After the boys were all bathed, I almost squeezed  a bath in myself but it was time to pick up Ian. So we loaded back in the truck, by the time we got back to the hotel I took a much needed mommy break and went to the hotels fitness center, which it turned out was probably the most quiet place in Albuquerque.   PEACE ,  FINALLY! So when I got back the family was still chanting "pizza, pizza" they wanted delivery, but no one had any idea who to call, so I made everyone go to "Dion's" a place nearby,  that trip advisor recommended. It turned out to be just what we needed. They had a spot elevated near the kitchen so the kids could see the pizzas being made, and it wasn't too crowded and they had salads, so it was more than just pepperoni. Everyone was happy!  It ended up being quite a day.
      We woke up to little children running the halls at 4am apparently very excited for the Balloon Fiesta or maybe they were going to the airport, I'm not sure. What I am sure of is, when Ian got up and walked to the door I was silently praying "please let him have boxers on"  It was our lucky day because he did, otherwise we might've had the police called on us for indecent exposure. So these poor little girls we're probably frightened into silence by the scary tattoo man in his boxers, but we did get back to sleep. The morning continued by the news of the Balloon Festival being grounded because of a high wind advisory. I so wanted a beautiful picture for you guys of me in a hot air balloon, but without the balloons going up, my family was not budging. No one wanted to go (except me) so we went to Costco, which was fun, we bought some coats and gloves.  Waylon made out with a huge purchase of diapers. My husband tried to appease me by taking me to Target where we looked for Halloween costumes and grabbed a Starbucks.  After Target, everyone wanted out of New Mexico. I convinced them to stop one more time for sandwiches for the road (If  it kind've sounds like I ate my way through Albuquerque, this is pretty much correct) We hit the road, I was still scanning the horizon , looking for hot air balloons. I told the fam how sorry I was that it didn't work out. They all gave me the "mom you're crazy look" and said "We had fun"...really? OK, I have a strange family. So really I have no pictures of this trip other than of Waylon and his sneaky poop, it was a strange weekend. We all think New Mexico is a strange place. I don't think we'll go back anytime soon.
   Our weekend winded down or at least I thought it was going to. But Ian woke up Sunday in full organizational mode. This meant, he wanted to tackle all the areas that I pile things. I was not in the mood, so he and the boys tackled their room and put away all Summer shorts. He organized all of our video game wires, chargers and other junk. I went to church and Ian did all of the laundry, folded and everything. I was as surprised as you are, I think it had something to do with him waking up with no more underwear. Did I mention  the night before was our first "freeze " warning. Meaning it got down to 25 degrees. Either way, I felt like a lucky lady, for him tackling such overwhelming tasks.     So when I got home we made our grocery list and we all went shopping. I made a bargain last night with Ian, if he made Chicken Tortilla Soup, I would make some chocolate chip cookies. It was a great day until the propane ran out at 8pm. The heater runs on propane...dun dun dun. So we plugged in our electric blankets and electric heaters. Ian had to get fancy and find a way for the circuit not to trip when we plug in both heaters. It involved an extension cord, unplugging the microwave and whatever electrical tricks he had up his sleeve. I felt extremely lucky to have a husband so handy and grateful it wasn't a weekend where he was at school or something. So that bring us to this morning. It was a crazy McCay family weekend. But we were all together. It may not have been a spectacular adventure but it's one I won't forget anytime soon.

Bayfield Heritage Days

   So Saturday did not go at all as planned. Saturday was the town of Bayfield's celebration of "Heritage Days" I had heard that this would include sheep being herded down the highway. What a sight! But I was severely distracted by the itinerary of the day and decided I wanted to do it all. What a surprise? So this meant the morning would start off with a fun run 5k to support the local boy scouts. Somehow, the boys were really excited to participate and I have never done a 5k, but I thought I would give it a go, in the spirit of trying new things. Well, I grew up in Carlsbad, CA home of the "Carlsbad 5000" so I was surprised to see all eleven of us show up for the fun run on Saturday. No worries though, I prefer small crowds, less pressure. So when they told us to go, my boys darted off and I'm thinking " wait a second I don't know where I'm going." You see in a race of this size the signs are pretty small, you gotta keep a watchful eye. Anyway my kids decided they could no longer hold their water bottles after about 1/4 of a mile, pretty soon we were in last and walking . I tried to encourage my kiddos but they weren't buying it. I started to get frustrated , they were almost in tears (they had walked about 2 miles by this point) so I called Ian to pick them up. It was not very well thought out by yours truly but I had such high hopes. I did however finish second to last, behind me was a family with a newborn, but I finished, I got the t-shirt to prove it.
     So as this drama laid out, it took longer than I thought and I missed the herding of the sheep. The boys however passed the sheep on the highway so at least they got a good look. Then came the parade. You remember how much "fun" we had at the last parade right? If not just look at the picture on this page . Well,  we learned from our mistake, this time we were the parade. That's right, Ian's foreman offered us a spot to sit in a buggy being pulled by horses and of course we did it. When I heard about this opportunity I almost died of embarrassment right then and there because I knew I HAD to do it. Anyway, I wasn't nearly as embarrassed as I thought, and Waylon loved waving to the crowd. After the parade there was another carnival of festivities that including wool dying  and spinning and I had every intention of participating but instead we all took turns riding horses. It was not what I had planned but probably more fun. After all this excitement, to be honest, I went home and  took a nap. It was a long couple of days and I was worn out. Ian had to work that night. So the  boys and I hung out around the trailer and then we got quite a show of fireworks that evening, thanks to the "Heritage Days." The day did not go as planned but I think all in all it was a big success. It ended up being more relaxful than my incredibly long list of events we were to partake in and when Ian came back at 3am he showed me a picture of a bear that was roaming around town while he was working, so it was pretty exciting after all. So I don't have anymore spectacular adventures up my sleeve, we will have to see what life throws our way. See you soon.

Heres an article about Heritage Day http://durangoherald.com/article/20120929/NEWS01/120929449/Warning--Sheep-crossing--