Tyler's 5th birthday!

Tyler turned five years old on May 31st. We had a great party at our house. We had everyone over and had lunch. My parents, sister, niece and nephew were able to make it down from Utah, my aunt Shannon and her family came over from Summerlin, and Mikes family came over. We had bbq turkey, baked beans, potato salad and homemade root beer for lunch. It was GREAT!!

Mike and I bought the kids water guns for their party favors and they had a water gun fight for about two hours I think. They were definitely a hit!! Mike got in on the action of the water gun fight too. There was one time I was helping my nephew Ethan fill his gun and my niece Oceia thought it was funny to start squirting me so after I got Ethan out of the way I threw the water from the bucket on her. My sister got a picture as I was getting ready to throw and as you can see from the pic- Ethan was squirting me too. The kids started playing along the side of the house so Ken, Shannon's husband, decided to get the hose and spray all of them while he had them cornered. After we had cake and ice cream and opened presents most of the family had to leave so we said goodbye. Emily, Adam and Ethan hung around for a little while and started playing in the sand box. Oceia and Ethan buried Adam, then Adam, Ethan and myself buried Oceia, at least what we could. Then Mike buried Adam again, that is the picture of just Adam's head. Adam thought it was great. We had a great time celebrating Tyler's b-day and look forward to the next party!! Thanks to everyone for coming!!

LIVESTRONG CHALLENGE

Mike and I are getting ready to do our second annual LIVESTRONG Challenge. We are really excited!! This year we will be going to San Jose California on July 13th. We each need to raise $250 to participate in the ride. If any of you are interested in helping out, every dollar helps, you can go to one of these web sites and make a donation.

http://sanjose08.livestrong.org/*/kristytilton or http://sanjose08.livestrong.org/*/miketilton

* $10 provides information packets to 16 cancer survivors to offer support, inspiration and hope.

* $50 provides 35 people cancer survivorship information, worksheets to organize their fight against cancer and support, inspiration and hope from other cancer survivors.

* $155 provides a cancer survivor one-on-one direct support through the LIVESTRONG SurvivorCare program.

* $250 provides LIVESTRONG Survivorship Notebooks to 27 cancer survivors.
Please support me as I make a difference in the cancer fight through my participation in the LIVESTRONG Challenge.

Thank you in advance for your help with raising money for cancer research!!

Baked Macaroni and Cheddar

I tried another new recipe last week. I found this one in my April 2008 Rachael Ray magazine on page 88.

1 large bunch broccoli, cut into bite-sized florets and stalks peeled and
cut into 1/2 inch cubes
1 pound whole wheat elbow pasta
2 1/2 TBSP butter
1/2 cup finely chopped shallots (about 3)
3 TBSP flour
3 1/2 cup low-fat milk
3 TBSP cornstarch
12 Oz cheddar cheese, cut into small cubes
6 TBSP grated Parmesan cheese
salt and pepper
1 clove garlic, smashed
3 TBSP bread crumbs

1. Fill a large pot with enough water to reach a depth of 2 inches and bring to a boil. Add the broccoli and cook for 1 minute; drain and rinse with clod water. Grease a 9x13 baking dish and add the broccoli in an even layer.
2. Fill the same pot with water and salt and bring to a boil. Add the pasta and cook until al dente; drain
3. Position a rack in the upper third of the oven and preheat to 400 degrees. In the same pot, melt 2 TBSP butter over medium heat. Add shallots and cook, stirring, until softened, 3 to 4 minutes. Stir in the flour for 1 minute. Whisk in 1 cup milk until thickened, then whisk in 1 cup more. Whisk the cornstarch into the remaining 1 1/2 cups milk, then whisk into the pot. Simmer, whisking, until the sauce thickens, 2 to 3 minutes. Lower the heat and stir in the cheddar and 4 TBSP Parmesan. Season with salt and pepper, then stir in the pasta. Spoon the mixture over the broccoli.
4. In a small heatproof bowl, combine the garlic and remaining 1/2 TBSP butter; microwave on high until melted, about 20 seconds. Stir in bread crumbs, the remaining 2 TBSP Parmesan and 1/4 teaspoon each slat and pepper. Discard the garlic, the sprinkle the bread crumbs mixture on the pasta. Bake until golden, about 15 minutes. Let cool slightly before serving.

I thought this was really good although next time I make it I will not put quite as many shallots in it, I thought it was a little onioney. It was also very good left-over

Our QT Tyler

Tyler's hair was getting a little out of control so last week I decided to do something fun with his hair. We gave him a feauxhawk for church. One of the boys in his class asked why he had a feauxhawk and Mike said "Don't you mean a mohawk?" The boy said "NO-A feauxhawk" So after church I had to explain the difference to Mike. It was kind of funny though! I think he looked pretty cute. We might keep it that way if it would look decent for the day, but his hair is so straight and fine that it doesn't stay looking good for very long so we buzzed it off again. He is still cute though!!

Tyler also chomped down on his syringe again while I was giving him his medicine the other day and his front tooth became loose. (This is the same thing that happened to his other tooth that he lost.) After a few days of him working it more and more loose with his tongue I had Mike pull it out. I have to take him to the dentist today though because I don't think the whole tooth came out. I am not very excited about that but what else can I do?

Playing in Vegas

My sister and niece came to town a couple weeks ago andwe went out and played. Of course we went to the M&M factory. They really enjoyed the movie"I lost my M in Vegas"

We found Yellow outside for pictures.

Then we walked over to the Luxor and Excalibur to see all the fun stuff there.

Oceia and Shirley at the Luxor

Oceia and her Night in Shinning armour

We also stopped at the Lion habitat in the MGM but the lion's were sleeping so it was not overly exciting. We also took a trip out to Ethel M's chocolate factory-That was my favorite part!

Our House

We have had many requests to see the outside of our house so here you go! This is the view from the street. At some point the tree that you see will be replaced though. It is a mesquite tree I think and it is VERY messy so we will replace it with a flowering plum probably.

This is the entry way. A lot of these bushes will be replaced at some point too because they are too over grown.

This is our patio. We are LOVING it now that the weather is nicer. We have had hamburgers a couple time and we've eaten lunch out here several time because it is so nice during the day. If you think I am bragging- I am! This is the time of year that I am glad to live in Las Vegas!!

This is our back yard. We live on the corner lot so it is pretty good sized for the area. We are excited to have it. We will hang a hammock between the two trees when we figure out the best way to do so. If you have any tips they would be appreciated.

So this is the outside of our house. We love it and would love to show it off to any who want to come visit!! Let me know. We have a spare room and bed for you to stay in.

Our Garden

This is our first attempt at a garden in our new house. We planted it on March 8. We are pretty excited and hope that we get at least some harvest from it. We planted carrots, strawberries, tomatoes, yellow bell peppers, peas, corn, beans, cucumbers, yellow squash, zucchini, and butternut squash. Not all of it fit in the garden so we used some planters that we have on our porch. We will see how that turns out.

This is a peach tree that we have planted in our yard. Mike and I both thought it was dead and almost pulled it out, but luckily we did not because now it has blossoms all over the place.

Tyler played in the sand box while Mike and I were planting the garden. I am not sure he liked it a whole lot, but he did enjoy being outside!!