{Brownwood Reunion 2008}

The Brownwood Reunion - Feels like Home was last weekend and we took the weekend and enjoyed the festivities.

On Friday night our friend Kevin Schumate with the Kevin Seal Band opened up for Stoney LaRue (ever heard of him...me neither.k.) Kevin and the boys sounded great and did a fantastic job.

Kevin & Chad posing for the camera this is their famous pose. Case in Point...

January 2007 - Told.You.

After the concert we walked over to visit Mandy. She participated in "Hands On A House" all weekend. It started on Friday night at 7:00pm with 12 contestants - the only rules are that you have to keep a hand on the house at all times...no leaning, no sitting, no sleeping and a 5 minute break every 2 hours and a 15 minute break every 4 hours. She made it until 5:30 am Sunday morning...34 hours with a hand on a house - AMAZING!

Saturday morning we woke up bright and early to participate in the 5K. My mom, dad, Ella Grace & Channa Jones were Team Studebakers. No medals - maybe next year. Although I think I heard that Ella Grace won 1st place in the stroller division...that's how she rolls!

The local Marines ran in formation

After the 5K we all went downtown and set up our chairs for the parade - I've never been to the parade and it was Ella's first time too!

Keeping ourselves entertained waiting for the parade to start

A good game of Patty-Cake

You can never have too many hugs

What's a hometown parade without the High School Marching Band?

A Tae-Bo float...how hard does that look?

The float for the local Competitive Gymnastics Team...flips on a flat bed float the entire time...oy!

After the parade we walked around dowtown and looked at all of the vendors and we took Landry (Mandy's daughter) to the Childrens Corner to get her face painted...I didn't get Ella's done because I figured that she would wipe at it and get it all over everything as soon as the woman finished the last stroke with the brush.

All in all we had a great weekend and enjoyed catching up with friends that we don't get to see that often. We spent Sunday around the house waiting for the last bit of company to depart. Then I baked this for Mandy's family for dinner...34 hours with a hand on a house deserves a night without cooking whether you won or not!

This is extremely easy and super tasty. I found it here and knew that it would be great - Here ya go:

Ranchero Mexi-Chicken Crostada

1 roll Pillsbury Pie crust, thawed

1 can chunk chicken (from Costco), or about 1 ½ Cups cooked shredded chicken

1 drained can Mild Rotel diced tomatoes with chilies

½ Cup fresh chopped cilantro leaves

1 Teaspoon Ranch dressing seasoning, from packet that makes the dip

1 teaspoon cumin

Pinch of salt and pepper

½ Cup shredded cheddar cheese

1 Tablespoon extra virgin olive oil

¼ teaspoon Lawry’s garlic salt with parsley

1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees F. Unroll pie crust and place onto a cookie sheet that has been sprayed with non stick cooking spray.

2. Place chicken, tomatoes, cilantro, ranch seasoning, cumin, salt and pepper into a large bowl. With a fork, stir and cut up chicken pieces until well combined. Pour chicken mixture into the center of pie crust and top with cheddar cheese, leaving about 1 ½ inch border around edges. Fold crust up over chicken forming little pleats every 2 inches or so pressing gently. Brush edges with olive oil and sprinkle crust with garlic salt.

3. Bake for 25-30 minutes or until crust is golden brown on edges. Let cool for 5 minutes then cut into wedges to serve.

4 Servings

and that's it....Easy Peasy!