Happy 25th B-Day to Jonathan!

Come join us for a great time celebrating Jon's 25th Birthday and the Holiday Season! There will be great food, music, games and ginger-bread house decorating (byog-b-h). Bring your own gingerbread, icing and decorations and we will have a contest to see who can build the coolest ginerbread house. Hope you can make it!

When: December 20, 2008 at 6pm

Where: The Rojas Residence

tagged-7 Random Things About Myself...

I got "tagged" by my my sister Laura to tell 7 Random things about myself...

#1 I'd secretly LOVE to be the lead singer of a rock band. In many ways, I'd love to be Gwen Stefani

#2 I LOVE to dance-any time I get the opportunity, I do. Jon has caught me dancing around the house while cleaning, trying to get a work out, or just practicing my moves for the dance floor. And I would have LOVED to be in this movie-I think every girl wants to, really...



#3 I would LOVE to move to California and get a job working on the pre-production of movies (designing sets/props and conceptual ideas for the film, etc.)

Bilbo Baggins hobbit hole set, Lord of the Rings

#4 This is one of my FAVORITE sights. I'll have the $0.99 Chicken Sandwich + tomato, please. Thanks, Jack.

#5 Here is one of my FAVORITE things to listen to lately...(talk by Elder Uctdorf on the power of HOPE) btw, isn't he so handsome?http://www.lds.org/conference/talk/display/0,5232,23-1-947-7,00.html

#6 This is one of my favorite movies-I WILL bawl like a baby (I mean the ugly cry where your face looks like a punching bag and you have snot [for lack of a better word] dripping down your face) each time I see it-I think it has everything, comedy, romance, touching story and heart wrenching drama.

#7 I have THE most crazy bed-head I've ever personally witnessed or heard about-however, I do not have any actual pictures to testify to this fact-for eye witnesses, you may contact:

• Jonathan Rojas


• Paul & Anne Michaelson


• John, Amy, Laura, Adam and Jake Michaelson

These were about as close to it I could find...

The Upside of Anger

Nacho before we got Lady...

Nacho and Lady when they first met...

Nacho after one month together...

Our lives have changed in many ways since we got Lady and here is some proof, since I know none of you will believe me...Vegas Sunrise

A Really Great Recipe

I have to admit it--I am one of the 99.9% of mormons that LOVE Cafe Rio. For those of you who aren't in the know about this fabulous place, every time you walk in to a restaurant, you must wait in a line almost out the door full of people who just have that mormon look about them. In fact, once when we were there, we saw our stake president and his entire extended family, and about 3 other unrelated LDS families. This is not an unusual occurence at this restaurant. Anyway, the food is fabulous-In fact, Jon and I became so infatuated with their pork salad, that we searched high and low to find a recipe that comes close to replicating that sweet, juicy, succulent, ooey gooey (I could go on describing just how yummy I think it is, but you probably get the point) pork. After a few attemps, I beleive I have perfected a great adaptation of the pork salad. So, I invite one and all to give it a go. You WILL NOT regret it!

Meat:
1-3lb pork loin (substitute 4-5 large boneless skinless chicken breasts if desired)
2 C brown sugar
1 can of CHERRY Coke
½ C water
1 jar of Salsa-the smaller kind (medium heat)
Season w/ Dried Onions, Salt and Pepper
Place ingredients into Crockpot on high for 3-4 hours; ½ hr before taking it out, place on low and shred meat.

Dressing:
1 packet of Ranch Seasoning mix (follow directions on packet for making Ranch)
2 tomatillos
1-2 fresh small green chilies (2 is obviously pretty darn hot)
2 squirts of lime juice
1 clove of garlic
Fresh Cilantro (to taste-I think it’s disgusting if you can actually taste it, but it will give it that green look that you like)
In a blender or food processor blend garlic, tomatillos and chilies; pour in ranch dressing and lime juice; blend together until everything is smooth and creamy.

Rice:
1-2 boxes of Rice a Roni (Mexican Rice)
Follow instructions on packet

Beans:
1-2 cans of black beans
Stir over Med heat

Other Ingredients:
Tortilla chips
Lettuce (I use either Romaine or Spinach)

Put it all together:
I put it in this order because I think this is the order that Café Rio does—although I don’t think it really matters, it all gets pretty mashed together anyway.
1. Beans
2. Rice
3. Meat (make sure to drizzle a little bit of that sweet juice over the top, but you don’t want to get it too runny)
4. Lettuce
5. Chips (crumbled)
6. Dressing

Optional topping:

Fresh Guacamole:
4 ripe avocados
2 tsp lime/lemon/even orange juice
Raw white onion (chopped) to taste
Salt & pepper to taste
A few shakes of Garlic powder
Blend onion in food processor until smoothe, add avocados, lime juice, salt & pepper and garlic powder. Blend all ingredients together, but not for too long (we like to have chunks of avocado in our guac)

This is probably 4-8 servings (depending on how much you eat/serving). I’ve found that if you cook a pork loin, the meat will last for a few more meals. Meat is also yummy on sandwiches.

Enjoy!!

Halloween Party II

Thank you one and all for contributing to our very fun Halloween party this weekend! It was so great to have all of you in our home. We loved seeing everyone's funny costumes, eating the yummy food and playing games--it was a blast! I can't decide who's costume was my favorite-Rocky Balboa v. Drago (Dave and Mason) or the Hippies (mom and dad)--they were all great. Thanks again. ps if you have any better pics from the night, please email me--for some reason, I don't think I got the greatest pics.

Aidan was a VERY serious Jedi Knight.

Dad and Clara-the cutest little lamby ever-but what a strange picture!

This was only ONE of mom's custumes for the night. She was also Madam Tusaud-the gypsy fortune teller.

Pinata Mexican style-Jon kept teasing the kids by bopping them on the head with the Pinata.

Our friends Eric and Diane

In God's Country...

Last week, John invited us to go on an over-nighter with him and the wee-berns to Valley of Fire. We got off work a little early to pack up all our gear, threw the dogs in the car and drove out there--only four stops and two hours later than we had planned--we were in keeping with true Michaelson tradition.

When we got to Valley of Fire (about 7:30pm) we were informed that ALL of the campsites were FULL. We drove around and checked-and indeed they were. However, the park employee did tell us of an un-marked campsite about six miles outside of the National Park, that was NOT patroled by the park rangers. So, if there were to be any problems along the way, NO ONE would know about us or be available to help. (a little daunting with three children in tow). But the boys decided that they weren't put off by that spooky warning and decided to give it a go. We traveled out of the safety net of the National Park boundaries and into the wild. We soon found a flat enough area and decided to pitch our tents. It was then that Jon figured out that our lighter did not work (our two responsibilities this trip were fire and smores), so we traveled back down the bumpy road to our neighbors in a camper (who incidentally were German) from whom we procurred, after much gesturing on Jon's part, a packet of matches. From there, everything went pretty smoothly. John made a fabulous (very meaty) duch oven dinner and Jon serenaded us with his guitar.

We were only visited by one unwelcome visiter in the night-a desert fox that stole the dogs' food. I mean, he actually ran off with the bag. It was pretty neat to pear out our tent window and see him like 5 feet away munching on some kibbles and bits.

In the morning, Gracie made us a yummy hot breakfast. Then, Jon gave all of us a turn to shoot one of his rifles--even Aidan gave it a try. It was a blast-thanks for inviting us John!

The best holiday ever...

The cool weather is here, the leaves are starting to turn (not really here in Vegas, but I like to imagine they are) stores sport large crates of pumpkins, the candy isles are SPILLING over the brim with all sorts of unhealthy delectibles, Blockbuster's isles are stocked with all the spooky movies your heart could desire and adult sized costumes can be purchased at any local department store (hersheys kisses to the obscene). Yes, you guessed it, it's time for Halloween. Jon and I are really excited for the Holiday-it's totally my favorite. I just LOVE all of these different aspects of Halloween. Plus it just seems like it's the kick-off celebration for the Holiday season. Things get cozier, we spend more time thinking about fun celebrations to have with eachother...it's just a great time of year. Anyway, after MUCH debate, I'd like to announce my final pick for my own tribute to the Holiday--I am going to dress up as.......

So, I would like to issue a challenge to all you non-Halloweeners to embrace your inner child, carve a pumpkin, roast the seeds, make some Halloween cookies and dress up as ANYTHING! That's the beauty, you can be anything you want for a day-what a great Holiday.

ps, for you Felicity fans, yes, Jon and I have been watching it lately and yes, I am copying Felicity Porter, Freshman year.