An Easy Snack: Spicy Parmesan Avocado

I saw this on pinterest and thought, "I have to try this!"
Im a big avocado fan.
Plus it was easy.
And fast.
And cheesy.
And spicy.
It took me about 4.2 minutes total and boy was it delicious.

Here's what you do:
1) cut avocado in half and remove nut.
2) poke holes or make slices into the avocado so the flavors can get deep down into the meat of the fruit.
3) dash on some salt and pepper
4) add 1-2 teaspoons of your favorite hot sauce (I used sriracha aka "rooster sauce")
5) fill the hole where the nut used to be with parmesan cheese
6) broil two minutes
7) put remaining cheese all over and broil another 2 minutes.

Voila! You are done! Happy snacking!! xoxo

Family Vacation {part 2}

Then off to Yellowstone we went! {Although, I did forget to mention that on our last day in The Grand Tetons, we went white water rafting. I don't have any pictures, but it was so much fun. I could do that over and over again. We even saw a bald eagle!} 

In Yellowstone, there were Geisers everywhere, but obviously Old Faithful was the most beautiful and most reliable {in terms of going off and spraying the water high into the air!} It was pretty amazing to see and makes me even more appreciative of God's wonderful creations. 

While they say Yellowstone is the capital of animal life, in all honesty we didn't see all that much. We saw a lot of elk and bison, but besides that we didn't really see much. I thought it would be like snow white--birds and squirrels everywhere! I think I saw maybe five squirrels that whole time we were there. Not gonna lie, I was a little disappointed.

Here is a waterfall that was just beautiful--there are several in Yellowstone.

Attractive, Connor!

While in Yellowstone, we did a lot of hiking. One of our hikes was a four-mile roundtrip hike up some steep switchbacks to some spectacular views. When we started this hike, it was windy and overcast...which then quickly turned into a lightning and thunder storm with rain that felt like hail. Sounds miserable, right? Actually, it was quite fun and made for a great memory! In fact, I loved it.

Earlier that day, we went to a place called Mammoth hot springs. Yes, there was a waterfall there, but it is so beautiful because it just looks like white powder all over. I am not sure what it is but it was so beautiful.

Later, we went to the arch, where it has engraved at the top, "For the benefit and enjoyment of the people." Cool, eh?

Like I said, we did a lot of hiking. One contained a million and a half stairs that lead down to a waterfall. It was awesome! Obviously, the stairs were a little tiring {especially coming back up}, but so worth the view!

Then off we went to the Grand Prismatic--the very popular helicopter shot of the spring with all of the magnificent colors was taken here. see link below.

http://www.lpi.usra.edu/education/fieldtrips/2007/explorations/grand_prismatic/index.html

It rained once while we were there pretty hard {like I said, we were hiking}. But after, we saw a beautiful rainbow. I haven't seen one of these since being in Hawaii, so it was just lovely to see.

We had a great time with both of our families and wished we lived closer to all of them, so it would be more of a regular thing to see them. Thank you for the memories and the great trip--we loved it!

Family Vacation {part 1}

A couple of weeks ago, my family and Alex's family all got together to do one big family vacation in honor of Alex's graduation...it was awesome. So much fun! We have all wanted to go to Yellowstone for quite some time now, so we thought this would be the perfect time. And it truly was. The weather was perfect, the drive wasn't too bad {although I didn't have to drive}, our families get along great, and it was honestly so so fun!

 Instead of traveling straight to Yellowstone, we decided to stop in Jackson Hole and The Grand Tetons {you know what that means in Spanish, don't you? ;) } We didn't spend too much time in Jackson because there was more to see in The Grand Tetons, but Jackson was beautiful. We walked around the town, admired all of the cowboy boots in the windows, took pictures with 15-foot stuffed bears and other animals like wolves, bison...you know, all the touristy stuff. Then we ate at a local place where my dad hoped to get some trout. Unfortunately, they were out of trout. Better luck next time, Dad!

 The next day, we went up to the Tetons and did a little hike down to Phelps Lake. While down there, we were looking for a dock or rock or something to jump off of into the lake. Sure enough, my little brother, Duncan, spotted a rock that people were jumping off across the lake. {You can always count on teenage boys to turn something so peaceful and beautiful into something even better...extreme and thrilling!} We made our way up to the top of the rock, looked down, and all freaked out {except for Connor who jumped off within five seconds}. It was higher up that we thought. But, with a little time and peer pressure, each one of us jumped in...into the ice cold lake, in our clothes. It was awesome. Even Alex's parents--who are in their fifties mind you--took the plunge. I was so proud.

After our hike, we continued our sight- seeing onto Jenny Lake--one of the most beautiful sights I have seen here on the Mainland. {My favorites views, personally, are ones that involve beaches though.}

Before the night was over, we saw some Bison and there babies crossing the road. It was amazing.

Mona Rope Swing

The day before we left for Yellowstone {post to come shortly}, my parents came into town and we went to the Mona Rope Swing. Alex and I had never been before, but several of our friends had gone previously this summer, so we were stoked to go. When we first got there, we thought, "this couldn't possibly be it." The lake looked way too small from the parking lot, but when we trekked down the path a bit, we found the rope swing, surrounded by plenty of people. We knew we were in the right place. With a little bit of encouragement, almost everyone in our little group went off the rope swing into the water {which was freeeezing!!}. There is a short rope swing that's just right off the ground for little ones and then there is a medium one for fun, and a high one for thrill and terror. I opted to go on the medium one, which was still fairly high...especially when you are about to go. It looks a lot shorter than it actually is. I also jumped off a tree into the water, which was fun also. If you haven't gone to the Mona Rope Swing yet this summer, now is the time! Hope you are all having a great summer!! xoxo