4-Wheelers, Goats and Peyote

 We took an adventure out into the Cabo wilderness to go 4-wheeling at a ranch on the Pacific side of the coast. First we had to put on handkerchiefs to keep the dust off of our faces, and helmets to protect our noggins:

 After a few minutes of practicing on our ATVs around the ranch house, we were off! It was a pretty wild ride! We rode through a series of berms, up and down steep hills, and took a photo op on top of a hill that overlooked the desert. I got a lecture about going too slow. (In my defense, I have this crazy arthritic big toe joint that is the primary point of pressure to change an ATV into a higher gear. Changing was painful! But I finally devised a system of shoving most of my foot under the gear, then pulling up with my whole leg that worked. Sure, I looked like a spaz, but I didn't get any more lectures!)

We made it down off the hills into the sandy river bank where it was an all-out speed free for all, complete with cowboy yells and imaginary lassos being swung over certain heads, I won't say who. Then we made it to the beach. The Pacific side of Cabo has huge waves with a very shallow shore, and it was mind0blowing to see 30 foot waves come crashing in to create 50 foot walls of spray- honestly, one of the most amazing things I've ever seen. Couldn't stop to take a picture, because the sand was very deep and we were in the middle of another speed-demon race across the shore. Brian made Bedouin nomad yells as he passed me on the shore. Our guide took us up on the cliffs over looking the beach where we took a few pictures and saw whales scraping barnacles off their skin in the shallow gravel.

The guide thought it would be hilarious to take a picture of Bruce pushing me off the cliff. Odd South-of-the-Border sense of humor.

 

Back at the ranch, I visit with the animals, who were not all that friendly. Didn't they sense my  animal affinity? Am I not known to be a friend to all goats? Maybe they only speak Spanish.

There were some pretty cool beaded crafts made by a guy they said was on Peyote. Maybe the Peyote helped his creativity.

All in all, we had a great time and got really dirty. Back in town people would ask if we enjoyed our ATV ride, we were so covered in dust. But it was worth it!

Wonder Slideshow

Just a few more pictures from the Disney Wonder:

This free slideshow design made with Smilebox

Disney Wonder-Full

We're back again from our wanderings- this time on the Disney Wonder, cruising to Mexico with our kids, at least the kids living on our continent. We had a great time- playing , eating, sunning, eating, shuffleboard, eating, going to Broadway-style shows, eating- you get the picture. I was very proud of Lindsey, who bravely ate food she would never have touched before. (Can't say the same for myself!) GetAway had sold a large portion of rooms on this cruise to people from Utah, mostly from our Stake, so we were always running into people that we knew from home, and that was fun. The ocean was so calm that no one got seasick. We saw lots of whales and dolphins. They canceled our stop to Mazatlan, due to some tourist shootings there, so we got to spend 2 days in Cabo. I'll share those good times in the coming days. It's tough to come home and have to make my own bed and meals...

On 2 days I took advantage of the spa deal- for $16.00 I could spend the whole day on these heated tile lounge chairs, in the sauna, in the steam room and in the Turkish bath.The first day I went, no one else was there and it was blissful! The second day, I was finally driven out by the snoring Chinese man who was sleeping on the lounge chairs. A girl can only take so much!

 

 

Happy V Day!

A happy Valentine's Day to you all!

Macaroni and Cheese Like None Other

This is not your typical boxed, neon orange cheese powder mac and cheese. This is serious stuff. 3 kinds of cheese, if you consider Velveeta cheese. Sour Cream. Crushed Ritz crackers. You could serve this to Bette Midler and it would make the wart on her nose wiggle. It's totally worth a little extra effort:

Macaroni and Cheese Like None Other -9 inch pan
1 c. dry macaroni
1 c. cottage cheese
1 c. shredded Cheddar cheese
1 c. sour cream
1 c. cubed Velveeta
2 eggs, beaten well
1 c. crushed Ritz crackers
Cook macaroni and drain. Combine the cottage cheese, Cheddar cheese, sour cream, Velveeta and eggs. Add drained macaroni to cheese mixture. Place in buttered 2 qt. casserole dish. Sprinkle with crushed Ritz crackers. Bake at 375 for 45 minutes.

More Cool Hotness

 

We are screen printing shirts for the barn with this awesome new logo that was designed by a girl in my ward. She's a graphics art major at Weber State and I thought she did an awesome job! 

Orange Buttermilk Salad

What's better than buttermilk- when it's mixed with sugar and fruit? Buttermilk on it's own? Yuck. This Sister Recipe has just the right amount of sweet of offset that buttermilk twang- sounds like a Western song! Perfect for a ward dinner.

Orange Buttermilk Salad- 12 servings
1 20oz. can crushed pineapple, undrained
1 6oz pkg. orange jello
2 c. buttermilk
1 8oz. thawed Cool Whip.
In a saucepan, bring pineapple to a boil. Remove from heat, add jello and stir till jello is dissolved. Add buttermilk. Cool to room temperature and fold in Cool Whip. Pour into a 7x11 inch pan. Chill till firm.