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Date Night: "Cheesy" Idea for a Date Night In

Our newlywed friends Jacob and Camille have a fun dating blog that I love to follow.  When I saw this post, I knew we needed to put our fondue pot to good use.  So we had a fantastic date night in.  I used a different cheese fondue recipe, and I used white grape juice instead of white wine.  My cheese fondue did not turn out exactly the right consistency, but it still was delicious!



A photo of the feast

We have some amazing photography skills! 
And I am obviously very photogenic, ha!

For the dipping, we had cajun turkey from the deli (which was super delicious!), slightly steamed brocolli (just to take the raw crunch out of it), apples, and homemade artisan bread (I'll need to post that easy recipe soon!).  We also had some grapes and a salad with chopped pecans and strawberries (forgot to buy some feta cheese).  It was super tasty and suprisingly very filling.  We didn't eat all of the food--not even close. 

After we let our stomachs settle, unlike Jacob and Camille, we ALWAYS have room for dessert :)  So we whipped up some chocolate fondue.  And the things to dip included strawberries, bananas, homemade chocolate chip cookies, graham crackers, and pretzel rods. 

Another fun and inexpensive (although splurge a bit on yummy cheese and cajun turkey) date night in.  It was a unique way to eat a meal that we would recommend!  We think we need to do it with a group next time.  Thanks Jacob and Camille for the great idea!

Home[Made]

Two homemade things that we have been loving on lately are:

These homemade chicken taquitos--recipe found here.  We were very pleased with how they turned out.  And they were very filling!

And...

This homemade laundry detergent!  Super easy and inexpensive to make!  The recipe I used is found here.  It yields about 16 pounds of detergent.  I have used it for lots of loads already and it smells wonderful and cleans very well. 

What are your favorite homemade things?

Date Night: Planetarium

Since Brett and I had a mid-week lunch date at Grimaldi's, we decided to have lower key date nights this weekend.  We decided to take up the opportunity of the MCC Astronomy Night.  Every first Friday of the month, they have a free event where they have telescopes set up outside (we saw Saturn!) and a really cool presentation inside the planetarium.  Every month the theme changes.  The one we saw was called "Tour of the Universe" and it was put to the "Dark Side of the Moon" soundtrack by Pink Floyd.  They have a presentation every 30 minutes from 6 pm to 9:30 pm.  And if you have to wait, you can peruse the posters and information everywhere or color a coloring page (like I did!).  As we were talking about space, we were discussing the order of the planets.  All I could think of was Uranus (remember those dumb 7th grade science jokes?  Ha, I'm so mature!) and Brett proceeded to ramble off all the planets in the right order--including where the asteroid belt was.  He credits his Willcox education to his amazing knowledge and memory.  At least one of us is smart!

I've been sporting a scarf in the hair lately.  Yay or nay?
I can't decide.  But I do like that it hides dirty hair!

After the presentation, we had to get a treat.  So we jetted down Dobson over to Angel Sweet, the gelato shop in Riverview Plaza.  Not the most authentic Italian gelato (or so I hear from those who know), but tasty all the same!  I got half mango-half coconut and Brett got chocolate oreo.  And the post wouldn't be complete without some food pictures!

As you can see, we enjoyed the gelato!  A very fun and cheap date!  For information on the planetarium, click here!

Weekend Getaway

Our brother and sister-in-law, Matthew and Maren, and their three kids were heading to Sedona for a camping trip and invited us to join.  It ended up that the same day they called Brett found out that he had Saturday off.  So right after he got off work on Friday evening, we headed up to Sedona to meet up with them! 

Brett holding our nephew Travis.  We woke up to little voices outside of our tent saying "Happy morning!  Are you awake in there?"  We loved it!

Maren and baby Cooper.  He can be bashful, but it is so cute



Right before the yummy breakfast Matthew made for us.  Sorry for more pictures of no make-up and pajamas. 

After breakfast, we headed to Slide Rock.  It was a blast!  Neither of us had ever been, and we are so glad we were able to make the trip! 

Travis and Morgan a little chilly in the cool water

Cutie-pie Morgan

Love Travis

Just hanging out

Matthew, Maren, and Cooper (I just can't get enough of Cooper!)

About to go down the slide (gotta love my shorts and coordinating swimsuit!)

Snack Time!

The whole crew

We had a fabulous time and hope to plan another camping trip soon!

What We've Been Up To

Mid-week lunch date with Brett near his work building.  We went to Grimaldi's Pizzeria.  So yummy!  We would really reccommend this restaurant. 

We order a pepperoni pizza (the pepperoni has a great kick) and a Mediterranean salad.

We celebrated my Great-Grandpa Breinholt's 92nd Birthday!  

Apparently he was distracted, and didn't look at the camera 

Brett whipping up some of his "Killer Omelets" (named by himself, but they really are!)

Seeing Harry Potter opening weekend down in Sierra Vista.  We went with Brett's two brothers and their wives (Matthew and Maren hadn't arrived yet). 

The giddy Allred Boys: Michael and Brett

Kami, Michael, Brett, Me

Pizookies in Pajamas!  We recently purchased a new air mattress and put it to good use by blowing it up in our living room and watching "Back to the Future" while eating pizookies.  I love fun, free dates like this! 

Please excuse the no make-up and granny nightgown (but I love my nightgowns!)

Tennis Time

For the past couple weeks Brett and I have gone to play tennis with Cory and McKenzie.  We have been having so much fun!  McKenzie and I actually met in high school doing tennis clinics and we have been great friends ever since!


McKenzie and Cory

Me and my Man

The crew--Gotta love the self-timer setting on cameras!

Too bad Cory and McKenzie keep smoking us, we need to step up our game!