One of our most favorite types of food is Tex Mex. It’s probably good we have no access to those endless chip bowls and bubbly queso dip..but every once in a while we just NEED it. I have been on the hunt for some healthy recipes that remind us of back home. I have been googling knockoffs for some time now. The most recent find was a Chipotle knock off for barbacoa beef. I did it in the slow cooker and served it with cilantro rice and lots of fresh toppings. I had always wondered what people used the chipotle peppers in adobo sauce for. This recipe was a way to try them out!   They smell, smokey and warm but are super spicy! I made the mistake of sneaking a little of the sauce after smelling it just to gauge how spicy I wanted out meet. Wowser! It’s hot. Both times I have made this recipe I have made it with less peppers.  The meat never came out too spicy…in fact Seth had to stop the boys from eating it all one evening!

Gina’s Weight Watchers blog is one I have been finding some good finds on lately, including this barbacoa recipe.

http://www.skinnytaste.com/2010/04/barbacoa-beef.html

I followed her recipe mostly…I used less peppers, added a little beef broth (because I cooked mine on low all day in the slow cooker and I didn’t want it to dry out, and I used the whole roast without cutting it up so I could cook it longer and not have to check it through the day).

When I looked up the beef to add to this post I saw she has a slow-cooked pork as well. We will be trying this soon!

http://www.skinnytaste.com/2011/01/slow-cooked-sweet-barbacoa-pork.html

Don’t be scared away by the Weight Watchers name. I personally avoid all things Weight Watchers because I know my personality enough to know that if I ever attempted it I would become OCD about the points system. That’s another story altogether but anyhow, I like her recipes because they are lots of fresh, simple recipes. If she calls for reduced fat stuff we normally use regular because Switzerland isn’t on the low fat, fat free craze that the US is on. I prefer the real stuff in moderation than the chemically stuff. But that is just me.

Pappasito’s with the Seckinger clan before coming to Bern.

I think Seth would be lying if he tried to say it’s only worth it to fly home for family. I am pretty sure if I talked enough about tex mex over the next couple of days he would book us tickets home. But that would be super manipulative so I will continue to try my knock off recipes and save the money on flights home.

We said our final goodbyes in VA which was just not fun. We loved our time in VA so although we are excited about this new chapter of life we were very sad to go.  We made it out of DC relatively in one piece….or maybe more in 4 pieces with lots of luggage. But sane nonetheless. We flew to Houston last Friday and have been in Friendswood since then. We have had a nice relaxing time with Seth’s family. Jackson has had lots of great time playing with his cousins. They all seem to have endless energy and have gotten along really well. Seth’s parents have a large window by their kitchen table and during meals Jackson can spot some of his Grandan’s turtles outside the window. This is proving to be a challenge in keeping Jackson in his chair to eat, but he can’t get enough of the turtle entertainment.

This afternoon we will drive to the Ft Worth/Arlington area to be with my family. We are looking forward to our time there. This trip is faster that we originally planned but we are trying to make the most of every minute! We plan to pack in the fun! It’s hard because with limited time we can’t do everything we would normally do and see everyone we would normally see.  If you are some of our friends that we aren’t getting to hang out with because we have been kidnapped by family, that is just a good excuse for you to come to Switzerland!

I will add some pictures when we get our camera and hook ups in the same place at the same time We also want to blog about Jackson’s 3rd Birthday that was this past Friday the 23rd but want to do it when we have time and pictures! Happy Birthday to our little big boy!

In April, April 10th to be exact, my little brother Graham married Tina! We love Tina and were so excited to celebrate with them.  It was a whirlwind weekend packed with visiting with family and friends from near and far, eating wonderful food, lots of pre-wedding events and of course the wedding!

Jackson and Seth were honored to be in the wedding. Jackson was the ring bearer and Seth was a groomsmen. Owen was there to charm the ladies!  I think there were times when Tina wondered why she chose Graham when Owen was just so darn sweet! I think she made a better choice in Graham. Owen has some growing up to do

The boys both were in on all of the fun! They were up late every night and held it together until the wedding ceremony when Jackson walked sweetly down the aisle and then proceeded to shriek and disrupt the whole room. Not my proudest mother moment. But he recovered from his meltdown and regained energy with a big Texas Barbecue meal. He was fresh as a buttercup when Graham and Tina danced their first dance. He hit the floor when the dj said it was open for all.

Here are some pictures from the weekend! There are lots and they are a bit out of order but they will give you a taste of the fun!

this was Owen’s first time to fly! And in true Owen fashion he enjoyed every minute, mostly by napping! I don’t expect that on the flight to Bern!

The rehearsal dinner was at Joe T. Garcia’s. Jackson enjoyed his first virgin margarita!

just a little evidence of Owen’s influence on the ladies!

Tina got a yucky kiss! Jackson was too tired to notice her reaction!

Congrats, Graham and Tina!  We had such a fun weekend at your wedding and we look forward to years and years of memories! Tina, welcome to the family. We love you!

As you can see we are still catching up on our homeleave posts!

After Oregon we flew in to Ft. Worth where we visited with my parents and got to see a few friends while we were in the area. We didn’t make it to Dallas more than for 2 hours for the state fair so it was sad not to see all of our friends there.

While in Ft Worth we continued the blue bell ice cream trend and got to have Thai food made by my mom! Jackson spent lots of time with my parents dog Noah. My parents were in the middle of a move themselves so it felt a bit like we were being stalked by boxes! We were glad they still wanted us to visit even though they had a lot going on.

Jackson’s 2nd birthday gift from us was a tricycle. We bought it for him in Ft Worth so he would have it for our road trip. He amazed us with how he was able to hop on and ride with no help or training. We had no idea he could do it!

We spent a morning at the State Fair which was lots of fun! Before the fair we got to meet my sweet friend, Jenny and her baby Emma for coffee.

gazing up at Big Tex

We got to see my brother Graham and his fiance Tina one morning. They came along when Jackson went to fly a kite with PopPop.

We had dinner with a couple of my college friends one evening. Jackson was in rare form from being excited and exhausted but it was a good time! I ordered Jackson french fries and we were shocked to see the Texas size for fries. See below the bucket of fries!

After a week and a half it was time to hit the road and head to DC . We packed up every inch of the minivan and set out. Jackson was a trooper and took great naps throughout our trip. We could not have asked for a better traveler.

We drove through Nashville and got to have lunch with one of my Jr High/High School friends, Hannah. Her son’s name is Jackson too so Jackson thought it was amazing that he got to play with another Jackson! It was so fun to see Hannah and her boys as well as her mom and catch up even if it was only for a little while.

After Nashville we drove on to Louisville where we spent a few days with the O’Leary family. Jackson was in heaven with constant attention from Evan, Maddie and Gilly. It was such a fun time to take Jackson to be with them after having watched them when they were Jackson’s age.

Jackson crashing the girls slumber party

Pumpkin painting with the girls

Seth was like a boy on Christmas morning when we spent the morning at the Louisville Slugger Museum!

Seth and Jackson posing with Mickey Mantle’s bat. They had to wear white gloves to protect the bat.

After a great homeleave we arrived in Virginia on the 10th of Oct. We were so relieved to be done traveling and unpacked our suitcases within the first few hours! I am not sure we will ever do a month of travel again with a toddler, let alone 2 little ones! Adjusting to time zones and a zillion different beds for Jackson was a bit more of an adventure than we had warned him about. We have gotten settled into our “home” for the most part and have gotten right in to life here in VA. We are enjoying the gorgeous fall leaves and having family and friends so close by! We will post pictures of our Fall times soon. We promise to get it up before the first snow