Work vacation

We took off driving Friday night with the car pointed west-- our destination? Bridgeport, Nebraska. A tiny little town, at the foot of the Nebraska Sand hills. :)

 Andrew and I started work first thing Saturday morning. The boys were headed out with all of the supplies needed to complete the job, but they would not arrive until 2 or 3 pm. So Andrew (and I helped! :)) started getting the field ready for the irrigation system to be put in. There are so many little things that have to be done before anything can even begin! ...it's amazing.. my husband is amazing. :)

Once the boys arrived, things went into full swing, and even more so than usual as we were trying to beat the rain that was predicted for later that evening. Around 5:00 pm... this was the scene...

These two pictures
were taken at the same time. One I took out the passenger window, and the other out the driver. It was SO cool to see the storm growing, and getting darker and moving towards us. It was a very bad storm, it had hail, tornado's and 60+mph winds with it. But the Lord was gracious and the storm split down the middle, and basically went around us. (We saw that happen too. Instead of being east and west of us, it was north and south.. and we could SEE it moving around us. So cool. God is good!) We were able to get everything done we needed to that day. :)

Sunday we took the day off... and after devotions and watching my awesome Church online, we set out for some adventure. :) Our original plan was to go somewhere in Wyoming or northern Colorado, but These two rocks were about a mile from us, so we decided to climb them instead, and we are SO glad we did. It was totally amazing.

 

 The Big one is Courthouse Rock and the smaller on is Jail Rock... we climbed both.

We took on Courthouse rock first.

 Half way up... Jail Rock.

 Stopped for a pictures with my man half way up. :)

 Annddd then we made it to the top.. which had the most incredible view!

 The boys I got to hang out with all weekend. They were such good sports... even when I held them up from being able to scale the rock in 5 minutes. I tried my best to keep up but when I couldn't, they were nothing but supportive... such gentlemen. :)

 This guy makes me feel like I'm on top of that rock every.single.day. Being his wife makes me smile. :)

 There were lots of bumble bee's at the top... but don't worry, they were the friendliest little things. This one just hung out on Matthias' arm for a good 5 minutes. :) (notice the bee of his forearm)

After climbing Courthouse, we climbed Jail rock.. but I didn't bring my phone with me for that one... It was much steeper (If you can't tell from the picture above) and required a lot more actual climbing, but it was loads of fun!

Monday Tuesday and Wednesday were full work days. The girls came out to help Monday and Tuesday, and everything was finished by Wednesday evening... Andrew and I were the last to leave on Thursday Afternoon after doing a few last minute things and making sure everything was finished. :)

 Tuesday evening, Andrew, Josiah and I went and climbed Courthouse rock again because Josiah wasn't there to do it with us Sunday. Climbing it at sunset was even more amazing that climbing it the first time.

 You can hardly see it in the pictures, but Chimney Rock is to the very right of the bluffs. It was much bigger in real life.

 

My God is AWESOME! 

 

I took so many pictures of the sunsets while we were out there. They were incredible and SO vibrant every night! This was the sunset Wednesday night. I have never seen the sky those colors before. It was so beautiful and lasted for so long. I was reminded of the verses that I shared below. There were so many times over the week that I just stood in awe of my God and His creation. It is truly beautiful.  :)

 "Let all the earth fear the Lord; Let all the inhabitants of the world 

stand in awe of Him. For He spoke, and it was done; He commanded, and it 

stood fast."

 Psalms 33:6-9

Chicken Cordon Bleu

 This is the best chicken cordon bleu you will ever taste... I made this for dinner tonight, and it is absolutely delicious. The sauce adds that little something extra and is just to die for! Mmmm mmm I was really nervous making this {I always am when I try new recipes} because my dad and my uncle were going to be joining us. So the fact that it was a new recipe, and we were having people over really put the pressure on... but this recipe definitely hit one out of the park and was completely devoured by the 3 men at my table.  ;)

Ingredients

6 skinless, boneless chicken breast halves

6 slices Swiss cheese
6 slices ham
3 tablespoons all-purpose flour (I used Italian bread crumbs instead.. so I didn't use the paprika)
1 teaspoon paprika
6 tablespoons butter
1/2 cup dry white wine (If you'd rather not use wine in your cooking, chicken broth would great work, too. Just omit the chicken bouillon)
1 teaspoon chicken bouillon granules
1 tablespoon cornstarch
1 cup heavy whipping cream (I try and stay away from using straight cream in my cooking, so for this I used a mixture of about 3/4 cup milk to 1/4 cup cream. Give or take a bit. ;))

Pound the chicken breasts out until they are about 1/2 inch thick. Fold the edges of the chicken over the filling, and secure with toothpicks. Mix the flour and paprika in a small bowl, and coat the chicken pieces. Lightly egg wash the chicken pieces, then cover them in Italian bread crumbs.

Heat the butter in a large skillet over medium-high heat, and cook the chicken until browned on all sides. Add the wine and bouillon. (Or Chicken Broth) Reduce heat to low, cover, and simmer for 30 minutes, until chicken is no longer pink and juices run clear.  
OR brown the chicken on all sides in the pan, remove from pan and place in a greased baking dish and finish in a 350 degree oven for 10-15 minutes, or until juices run clear. And for the sauce, follow the original directions minus the chicken. :)
 
 Remove the toothpicks, and transfer the breasts to a warm platter. Blend the cornstarch with the cream in a small bowl, and whisk slowly into the skillet. Cook, stirring until thickened, and pour over the chicken. Lick your lips and dig in! :)