Hoben Family Pictures 2011

Picnic and bonfire at Johnson's Lake

A friend of our friend has a private lake property that is simply gorgeous. We have camped there in past summers, but this time we went for a one day picnic and bonfire and drove back home at night so we can be fresh and ready for church the next morning.

I want one of these for my backyard.

In the car, on our way there, Colton was quite the entertainer...

His entertaining act hit a soar note...

when he got mad at Piper...

...for invading his personal space.

Kylie on the other hand, didn't mind at all when Piper invaded her personal space.

Brett pitched a few balls to Brayden---look at that hit! Can you see the ball!?WOW!

Colton played too...

....daddy taught him a thing or two about baseball.

Fun times!

Dream Big Dreams

Perfect Pot Roast by The Pioneer Woman

I copied the Pioneer Woman's idea to serve pot roast with mashed potatoes insted of adding the potatoes to the roast. Brett and I liked it much better with the creamy mashed potatoes than the cubed baked potatoes!

If you want the recipe...look to the right under "Daily Reading" and find The Pioneer Woman Blog. Once you get to her blog, click on the tab at the top of the page labeled, "Cooking" and you will find the step by step directions with pictures!

"The best SALSA you'll ever have" recipe

This is my mother- in-law's salsa recipe. I have been making it for years, and it is a favorite for my family and friends.

If you have these laying around...
You might as well make some SaLsA!

Wash the tomatoes, cut them in half...
Chop them. I use my Pamper Chef chopper but any chopper will do.
Next, I add green peppers.
Cilantro-- take it off the stem, wash it, dry it well...
...cut it...
...and add it to the tomatoes and pepper mixture.
Next up, it's the avocados! I love avocados!

Cut them in half.... Take the seed out
...and cut them in cubes.

This is when I add the salt to the salsa because it helps keep the avocados from browning quickly. You may add more salt at the end, to fit your taste.

When you're done cutting the avocados, you can mix in the onions. Chop them up!

The last ingredient I add are the hot peppers.
I mix it all in my dutch oven because it's nice and big. but any big bowl will do.



When I am all done mixing it, I put the salsa in containers.

When I give some to friends, I give them a couple of hot peppers in case they want to make it hotter.
ENJOY!