Post-Summer Adventures & Oven-Baked Chicken Tenders

Hello everyone,

Whoops, I haven't updated my blog since my family's trip! Sorry about that! It has been busy since my sisters have returned to school and I recently had surgery. 

I got surgery to replace a pump in my body that releases baclofen to help my muscles relax. It was over within a day, but I stayed at the hospital for one night, just in case. Erin flew from Utah to Arizona to stay with me! 

 

She's so sweet! 

That was back in September. Just last weekend I went to the doctor's office to get the pump refilled. Ashley drove us to Phoenix where I have my appointments! 

Vroom vroom! P.S.: The Dr. Pepper is NOT hers. Dad left that in the van (and should stop drinking them please!) 

In the waiting room! Couldn't wait to say hi to my doctor! 

The appointment went quickly. We got a different, larger room than last time since I had my 'fan club' with me (Mom, Ashley, and Hailey). :P 

We stopped by Nekter for a healthy acai bowl to treat ourselves...(However, that didn't stop me from asking for a strawberry milkshake when we got home, haha!) 

We also decorated our house for Halloween!

There's 'George' hanging from the ceiling of our entry way! Spooooky, right? 

I'm obviously very excited about Halloween! And the dogs were hoping for a walk since we were at the front door... 

Fun pumpkin lights. Now to get a real pumpkin to decorate...

I need to brainstorm a new costume for this Halloween! Last year I was a school bus...but the possibilities are endless. Any ideas? 

Anyways, those are some updates! 

Now onto our latest recipe that we tried earlier this week: Baked Chicken Tenders! 

We modified this recipe from Trisha Yearwood of Food Network. Instead of cheese crackers, we used crushed Townhouse crackers and Panko bread crumbs.

It was a fun, messy process! We dipped the chicken tenders in the mayo-mixture, then caked on as much of the cracker mixture as possible before laying it on the pan. Once we had enough on the pan, we stuck it in the oven. 

While the chicken baked, we cooked brocolli and cut up some healthy sides.

 

Once it was done, we double checked the temperature of each one and proceeded to feast! They were delicious! 

Yum! 

Thanks for catching up with me! Stay tuned for more fun and recipes! 

- Erik 

The Rest of Our Family Vacation - Island Park, Yellowstone, Rigby Family Reunion & Departing from Sandy!

Wow, can't believe it has been days and days since I last posted - yikes! Let me fill you in!

Island Park 

After family fun in Rexburg, we made our way up to beautiful Island Park where our cabin rental stood. This place is filled with family memories since we've had reunions here in the past! It's also only 20 minutes from Yellowstone as well. It was a relaxing, vibrant home base to our everyday activities. The kids played and played and played. Vivienne loved to find squirrels up in the trees and was delighted when she heard them calling to each other from various branches.

We had family dinners as most of Michelle and Scott's family was able to stay nearby (nearby meaning our cabin's couch in Krista's case ;) ). Lynn and Cynthia also came up one evening for dinner and playing by Henry's Fork. Spending more time together over delicious meals and gorgeous outdoor scenes was perfect.

Here's a few snap shots of our fun:

Wheelchair-friendly pathways - yes! 

Picnic before kayaking! 

Yellowstone National Park

Wow, wow, WOW. What a magical place. Photos do not do it any justice, but we tried to capture it. We had three cars (Knudsen, Schvaneveldt, Rigby) winding throughout the park, meeting up at various spots. Devin even downloaded a GPS-based audio tour guide (dubbed 'Gary' from one of the app's reviews, haha!). It was fun learning about the park as well as having someone to tell us the must-see spots along the way (with two sharp dings as we got closer to the destination).

Although we didn't see any moose or bears, we did see elk and bison!

The springs and geysers were breathtaking! They are quite dangerous too, so we kept the younger kids very close.

A few more snapshots from the day:

 

Yep, that's me in the far corner, my mom is walking me across this beautiful landscape. 

We also enjoyed ice cream at the Old Faithful Inn and concluded the evening with pizza at Gushers! Mmm mmm!

Last Days in Rexburg and the Rigby Family Reunion

Leaving Island Park for Rexburg was emotional. Not because we were saying goodbye to our cabin, we were officially saying goodbye to Andrea, Devin and the kids...It was hard...

Tears were shed, but overall we are so excited for their adventurous move to Hawaii! They have had a crazy past few weeks living with friends and making this trip happen so we could all be together. We're so thankful that they did! Hopefully we will be able to visit soon. I've only flown once to Oregon when I was much younger, so it'll be an interesting ride! Eek!

We returned to Rexburg for two more days with my awesome aunt, uncle, and cousins. They were so kind to have us again! More games, dinners and good times ensued.

We also went for walks! The cows would come say hello! 

One of those days we went to the BYU-Idaho area to see check out some of my parents' history.

Here is the house my mother lived in while attending Rick's College. She lived in the basement apartment and was literally right across the street from her university!

The best fact about this brick house is that my mom and dad shared their first kiss in the doorway. We made them re-enact it and it was adorable.

 

Awwwww. 

Erin also had to work so we went to the Cocoa Bean so the girls could access wi-fi and get things done. A purchase was necessary to use the connection, therefore we ordered a dozen cupcakes. Go big or go home. :P

Saturday the 30th we said our thank you's and goodbyes to our amazing Rigby relatives. Not only to my mother's brothers' families, but to the entire Rigby family! Everyone drove to Rigby, Idaho for our family reunion. Each family brought delicious food and desserts to share! We haven't seen many of these outstanding people in years, so it was great to catch up with everyone.

Love you all!

Visiting the Price Family in Sandy

From Rigby, we drove straight down to Sandy to drop off Erin and Ashley as well as stay with Aunt Nancy and Uncle Rick for one evening! They are hilarious and so fun! We played games and I even got to see my Aunt Lisa, Aunt Julie, cousin Paige and cousin Jessica again! I don't think we took any photos, unfortunately, but it was a great time.

Well, I am sadly back in hot hot HOT Arizona.  I made a lot of great family memories and am very grateful for all of my family members who made the trip as spectacular as it was.

Hopefully I can return the hospitality one day, but I don't think anyone will be wanting to roast in Arizona any time soon... :P

Here are a few more photos I want to fit in:

Thanks for reading and stay tuned for my next blog post!

- Erik

Day 6, 7 & 8: Leaving Midway, UT for Good Times in Rexburg, ID

Hello everyone,

Whoops! Time to catch up again! Here's what we've been up to the past three days...

Leaving Midway, UT:

We were sad to say goodbye to my sweet Aunt Cheryl and hilarious Uncle Steve! The rest of my family took Cheryl out to breakfast while my dad and I stayed at home. They went down to Midway's Main Street to enjoy Cafe Galleria's goods.

From their menu, everyone chose cinnamon french toast and delicious scrambles consisting of potatoes, vegetables, eggs and a variety of meats. You could choose up to five different items to be included in the scramble. When they showed me these photos all I could say was "Mmmm!" - I'll have to make sure they bring leftovers next time!  

My cousin Chelsea and her baby Felicity also joined in! They live nearby and we were so happy to see them.

From there, we left for Rexburg, ID! We enjoyed a few stops on the way, including Salt Lake City, UT to visit Temple Square and Malad, ID to see my fun cousin Annie and her family.

It was great Salt Lake City provided two hours of free parking for handicap-licensed cars! (Although we didn't see the little sign saying so until after paying for two parking spots [van + trailer]...whoops...Still impressed though!)

It also began raining right as we got out of the van so we ran for cover! It was great to experience the rain in the city before getting back in the van for so many hours.

Good Times in Rexburg, ID 

So finally we arrived at my amazing Aunt Michelle and Uncle Scott's house late Friday night! This place is like a 2nd home to us (and actually is my beautiful mother's hometown). We rested and took in everything we have always loved about summer in Idaho the next morning - i.e. walking around the farm in 75° F weather (SO much better than Phoenix's weather), seeing the variety of animals, and, of course, catching up with family. Other activities included going to sweet Ryker's baby shower, big family dinners, playing games and riding horses. Exciting stuff!

Tomorrow we will be going to Mesa Falls, Big Springs, floating Warm River down to Mack's Inn. My cousin Krista will be coming with us and the rest of the Rigby family (except Jared, who is on his mission in New Mexico) will be joining us as well. We are renting out a cabin in Island Park that we'll be checking into at some point, too! These will be the last few days of our adventure before Andrea, Devin, and the kids depart for Hawaii and we head back to Arizona! We are going to make the best of our time together for sure.

Thanks for reading! Stay tuned for more! (Although the cabin does not have wi-fi...so it may be another few days! Oi!)

- Erik

Day 3, 4 and 5: Zion National Park, Mount Timpanogos Park Reunion & Downtown Provo

Hello everyone,

Sorry for the delay! We have been busy with our adventures. Allow me to catch you up!

Day 3: Zion National Park

Here we go! 

What a gorgeous day! You would think a wheelchair like mine wouldn't be able to endure much of the park, but lucky for me there was a.) Pa'rus Trail and b.) Devin! He was a superstar, watching me while the rest of our group went to Weeping Rock. I did not appreciate being separated from my mom at first, but he had me laughing as we went over little bumps and we even saw a deer! Weaving through the paved trail was awesome. It also was open to bikers and pets (Rusty was with us too)!

Deer!

Selfie on the trail! Who needs a smile when you can just open your mouth real wide... 

Haha! I promise I was having fun... :P Devin is a great sport. 

After everyone returned from Weeping Rock I headed home with my mom, dad, Mara and Vivi. We got ice cream, played and relaxed at Devin's great-uncle's house! It was great since I was ready to leave and relax.

While we did our thing, Ashley, Andrea, Devin, Andin, Cambria and Hailey hiked West Rim Trail, Refrigerator Canyon, Walter's Wiggles and Scout's Lookout, arriving at the Angel's Landing trailhead. They saw stunning viewpoints of the park! Although they appreciated the views, they didn't feel the need to risk their lives on the narrow, dangerous spine of the mountain (Angel's Landing). There are chains, carved foot holds, etc., to try to keep hikers safe, but five or so people have died on that trail in the last eight years...NO THANKS! Yikes.

One of their views. Wow! 

After they hiked, they concluded their time at Zion National Park with bouldering and river-wading. They came home and passed out after sharing bowls of ice cream. Best end of the day (especially when it is vanilla)!

Day 4: Mount Timpanogos Park Reunion 

After departing St. George, we headed up to Orem for an evening potluck with nearby relatives. My immediate family grabbed pizzas from Two Jacks in Downtown Provo (pizza is my faaaavorite). We got a quick glimpse of the area, but we didn't have time to look around other than grabbing the food. Always going, going, going!

We met in a beautiful park with mountains and greenery surrounding us. It was amazing seeing everyone! I loved being able to talk to everyone in person rather than an email or Facebook comment (although I love love LOVE those too - the more the merrier!).

Our awesome family! 

Silly dad... :P 

A section of Mount Timpanogos Park. Again, wow! 

Once everyone started going home, we headed to Midway where my sweet, extremely hospitable Aunt Cheryl and Uncle Steve live. They are kind enough to host our entire family while we're here. They have an incredible home that backs to a small river and grass that goes on and on! There's even a lake and clubhouse nearby. We're going to explore more of this on Day 6 (next blog post)! It feels good to be back somewhere with such welcoming, warm people. 

Day 5: Downtown Provo

Ok, now I can tell you all about today (July 20th)! Our group was determined to revisit Downtown Provo to go to the temple as well as to check out more of the eateries, shops and architecture. Instead of joining their exploration of the university town, I decided to stay with Aunt Cheryl, Uncle Steve and dad. Boring, boring, I know, but I was very content watching Fixer Upper with Aunt Cheryl and checking in on what Uncle Steve and dad were working on (today it was recycling an old dishwasher)! I love their house!

While I did what made me happy, my mom, sisters, nieces, nephew, and brother-in-law all made the drive through the mountains back to down to Provo. They enjoyed lunch at Guru's Cafe then split into three groups: (1) Devin, Patrick (yep, Chelsea's husband!), and Rusty going back to Patrick's so Devin could work and hang out, (2) Mom, Andrea, Andin, Cam, and Hailey going to the temple for baptisms, and (3) Ashley, Cambria, Mara, and Viv (babysitting/awesome aunt-niece time).

Ashley and the kiddos explored more, stopping in a French bakery, bookstore/gallery, and even a pet store with fish, birds, snakes, and hamsters (again, NO THANKS! Not a fan of the way those places smell...yuck.) Everyone had a great time doing what they wanted, reuniting after a few hours.

          

We eventually made it back to Midway! We ended the day with a family dinner - Mexican food and Creamies (ice milk bar)! I tried the chocolate-dipped cherry. Mmmmmm.

Thanks for reading this looong blog post! I hope you enjoyed it!

Tomorrow: More of beautiful Midway!

- Erik