Grandma's gifts and fabulous meatloaf

Whenever we see Chris's mom, she always has a new and cute outfit for Cam. I would venture to say that a good chunk of Cam's closet is from her! This past weekend when Chris saw her at his cousin's wedding, it was no exception. Here is his latest outfit, which he was very excited to wear (well, I guess he really didn't understand, but he sure looks excited doesn't he??)




We have a running joke with my mom and sister and I about recipes I pass along to them. I have been known to find a good recipe and, before I give to them, rename it. The first time I did this I renamed a banana bread recipe to, "Kelly's Amazing Fabulous Banana Bread". So in the same spirit I'd like to share with you a meatloaf recipe. Meatloaf you say? Yes, it is absolutely scrumptious and Chris even gave it a "9"!! Enjoy!

Kelly's Taco Meatloaf Sensation
1 lb. ground turkey or beef)
1/2 cup salsa
3 tbls. taco seasoning (divided)
1 egg
1/2 cup bread crumbs
3/4 cup cheddar cheese
1 tsp. salt
1/4 tsp. pepper

Combine all ingredients except 1 tbls. taco seasoning. Press into a loaf pan and sprinkle remaining 1 tbls. taco seasoning on top. Bake at 350 for 50-55 minutes. Top with sour cream.

some bullets

*Chris has been in Oregon since Friday (at his cousin's wedding) and gets home tonight. We have sure missed him. He was bummed he didn't make it home before Cam's bedtime, but the morning will come all too soon I'm sure!

*Friday night we went over to my mom's friend's house for dinner. It didn't go quite as planned. I think Cam got a little overwhelmed with everyone and became pretty upset. I quickly saw that trying to stick it out was pointless, so we had to come home early. I probably should have thought it through first...but you live and learn. :)

*Saturday we, along with my sister and her family, met some friends at Victoria Gardens. It was sooo fun! The weather couldn't have been more perfect and Cam did great! He loved playing on the playground and loved even more taking a train ride with mom.


*This morning we braved church and Cam did great! For some moms nursery is something that you don't even think about. You drop them off and that is it. Not for us! Today was a break through and I couldn't have been more excited!

*This afternoon I took him to the mall to walk around and play on their indoor playground. I might rethink doing this on a weekend as it was a circus with about 25 kids running every which way. But Cam did great and only got knocked down once!

*Right now I'm watching TV and eating Doritos. I haven't had Doritos in quite a long time and I realized I REALLY like them...except how they leave orange powder on your hands.

Shepherd's Pie

Last night I did a very un-Kelly like thing. As many of you know, I'm a pretty frugal, if not down right cheap person. One thing I hate is to waste food. Chris makes fun of me often because I freeze everything. I'll freeze deli meat, even if there is only enough left for one sandwich. I feel accomplished if every last bite of casserole was eaten.

Anyway, last night I made Shepherd's Pie. You Biola grads are probably wondering what possessed me to make this as the caf used to make this at the end of each week. The theory was that they just lumped all the leftovers from the previous week into the pan and called it Shepherd's Pie. I guess my reasoning was that the pic of it in my Rachel Ray magazine looked really good. But for some reason, I could just tell that it wasn't going to be good. I found myself dreading dinner time because I knew we wouldn't like it. So, going against my very nature, I threw out the whole thing and we got take out. I felt a twinge of guilt as I hit the disposal in the sink, but my chicken tacos made me forget all about it!

all together

Sorry I haven't written in a while. My sister and her family came into town last week. I have not seen her in about 2 years (she lives in Germany). I also had not ever met her second daughter, Ashley, and she had never met Cameron. It has been so nice to have her back and to spend time with the girls. Cam is doing pretty well with his cousins, and I hope this will only get better as we spend more and more time with them. I'll have lots more pictures to come, but here we are opening our presents. This was our first Christmas together in five years!