Gabriella's Dip...Yum!!

When we brought Gabriella home from China we, like everyone else who 

makes this life changing journey that is full of blessings, had our days and 

nights totally confused!  As I was very excited to have something 

familiar, yet easy and versatile enough to eat at any time I made this Mexican 

Crock Pot dip that has affectionately been renamed to "Gabriella's Dip"  It's 

EASY! Just add tortilla chips and it's OH - SO -  YUMMY! 

 As we are having record heat in Indiana we also don't have to turn on the 

oven so we just made another batch and are totally enjoying it:)

GABRIELLA'S DIP

2 lbs cooked, crumbled ground chuck

2 taco seasoning packets

1-28 oz can petite diced tomatoes

1-28 can refried beans

1-16 oz jar medium Ortega taco sauce

1 tsp chili powder or more if you like

1/2 tsp of sea salt

1 8 ounce package of shredded cheese, your choice of flavor.  I like the 

casserole blend.

Directions

Put all ingredients in crock pot, except cheese, and stir together. Sprinkle 

shredded cheese on top.  Cook on low 3-4 hours or high 1-2 hours. 

 Serve with tortilla chips and enjoy!

This dip is also a favorite in the fall when we are watching football games!  

What Do You Do After A Six Day Power Outage??

So, what do you do when you haven't had power, or essentially lived in your 

home for six days due to severe storms and city wide power outages?  The 

first thing you do is keep a promise to your precious baby girl that yes, we will 

use cookie cutters to make fun, cut out shapes of watermelon:)

We made hearts, pumpkins, stars and Christmas trees!

I also attempted to french braid Gabriella's hair...for the very first time I don't 

think it turned out too bad:)

Gabriella had to give Nicholas hugs and kisses and apologize for something...

which would have been stealing the cat from his bedroom because she wanted 

him with her.

Sleeping...yep, after temperatures above 100 for several days, living in a hot 

house at first, then hanging out with friends for a night and eventually moving 

into a hotel...it's been a crazy few days!  We were SO THANKFUL when our 

power was finally restored on July 4.  The house was HOT but by that evening 

it was down to 80 and we were all MORE than ready to sleep in our own beds 

(Jordan created his own bed to stay downstairs that night as it was cooler) 

and be in our own home.

I had plenty of cuddle time with my baby girl!!!

And she even asked me to take pictures of her...dressed in a bathing suit to 

try and keep cool, and as the cutest little Asian butt cheeks were peaking out 

of this swimsuit it will be making it's way to the "too small" tub for a future 

garage sale!  We are MORE than happy to finally be HOME!!