Chili, no beans please

Chili, we LOVE chili! We were excited to be asked to enter a Chili Cook-off at our church over the past weekend. When I say "we" I mean Rob.... the master chef 'round here. I don't cook chili but I am a great taste tester ; ) Our house smelled spicy & not to mention smoky since he also had some pork butts' going on the smoker.  This smell was strong for a good 24 hours & honestly by the time I got there I couldn't sample more than one chili! I was bit bummed at my distaste for all things delicious but I had my hands full with the Fab Four while Daddy manned the table. It was a perfect day for the festivities with chillier than normal temp & a light drizzle here & there. 

Here he is serving our sweet friend Ileana, one of Rob's biggest supporter in the kitchen. She is not a bad cook herself ; ) 

Notice the lovely red, white & blue above, the name below was my one & only contribution, oh & that Lone Star Chili is sans beans for the sole reason that BEANS DON'T BELONG IN CHILI. 

I'm sure there are delicious chili's with beans but when I picture the taste & texture of chili beans are not included. We were on a roll in the kitchen the week of the cook off with a running list of all the jokes/t-shirt ideas in support of no-bean chili. I will keep them to myself so as not to offend all those bean filled chili eaters ; ) 

Rob felt that our table needed just a bit more "Texas" so he added an empty six pack carrier....

The buckaroos were in their cowboy attire in support of the Lone Star Chili...

Chubs on the left had a hard time keeping his boots on. 

They were completely deprived of attention for hours upon hours...

Some of the "big kids" had a blast chasing & tackling for literally two hours without a break. At multiple points I noticed Char was the only girl amidst four boys & was tackling with the best of them...not sure what to think about that but she had a BLAST!

Grant, Charlotte, Alex, Kenzie & Carissa

Precious Piper took a break from the madness in the chair next to me & I had to snap a picture of her cuteness. Too bad we missed getting one of her studly bro Cannon! They are quite the pair!

We love the Ziels....every person in our family loves every person in their family : ) Anytime we have Anna & Clara around I pretty much get to forgo all duties with the two littlest in our family. I joked with their dad that I feel like I owe him some money. This little foursome was happy to pose for a picture.

Josh & RJ manned the booth for a bit taking up entrance fees, accepting donations,

and stamping the hands of those entering. This girl cried when her stamp rubbed off.

The Squires family which is made up of Kevin, Cassi, Grant & Jackson has been such a wonderful addition to our family at CCC. Kevin & Cassi are teaching the five & six year old class Sunday mornings while we teach the three & four year olds. We are always laughing when we are together. Charlotte & Eloise absolutely adore Grant & Jackson talking about them often, saying they miss them & asking if they can come over everyday.  They are sweet boys who play so well with younger ladies : ) One funny thing I want to remember in relation to this family is that following our first Sunday of teaching our classes together (Charlotte was in our class) we were reading the Jesus Storybook Bible & it mentioned Heaven. Charlotte's eyes lit up & she was SO excited saying "Heaven! I love heaven!" I thought, "Wow, me too!" & then she said "Heaven, like Heaven in our class on Sunday!"  So let me correct myself & say, "Heaven", Cassi, Grant & Jackson are a wonderful addition : )

Apparently they had some good chili because someone told Rob that they voted for their's over his. Rob sampled it & told "Heaven" he would be happy to lose to him.

I snuck in to get my picture with my favorite person at the Chili Cook-off.

Little did we know that the first place winner was right next to us. If it would have been a creative name/sign, she would have won that too! Cathy, the mama to Anna, Clara & Alex & a very sweet friend of mine made me laugh out loud with her idea to name it "Chilly Chicken" taking part of her own scarf to "warm up" her chilly chicken!

Not only did my chef husband make some delicious chili but he blew many away with the pulled pork sandwiches. I grew up eating delicious Texas Bar-B-Que & it was nothing in comparison to what comes off of his smoker! Yum! We keep a good supply in the freezer for those days where we just don't want to cook...there are lots of those which means we eat a lotta bar-b-que.

I think I might have died had I been a judge & eaten that many spoonfuls of chili...

The chili I was encouraged to try was called "Gator Chili" & had some good ol' Florida alligator in it. When I say "Alligator" it is with the accent of those lovely cast members of Swamp People.  It was tasty & if I had not already put all our poker chips in the Lone Star mason jar & would have put one in theirs!

Back to Clara, the mini mama of the Ziel household holding chubba bubba. Eloise resembles Clara when she was two so it fun to see how her face has changed & picture what Eloise might look like when she is seven.

Another happy chili eater named Janelle. We have one of her cute little ones in our class on Sundays : )

the tackling continued...

cute patootie Elo Pancakes in her boots which she wears often these days.......

and two mamas with two babies...each...

Lexi, Freddi, Gabbi, Owen, Me & Anson....I spy Sammi (big sis to those adorable twin girlies!)

Freddi & I were pregnant each with identical twins at the same time. We had almost identical pregnancies with almost identical outcomes except hers were sugar & spice & everything nice ; ) Lexi & Owen weighed within ounces of each other while Gabbi & Anson did the same. Lexi & Owen were first to crawl & maintaining their muscular physique while Gabbi & Anson enjoy an extra meal here & there while watching their twin movin' & groovin'. I like that Gabbi is checking Anson out thinking "You remind me of someone I know" : ) 

a reminder of how we looked about 365 days ago....

I gasped when I saw this & then laughed out loud remembering I went about 6 weeks past the day this picture was taken! INSANITY! I loved being pregnant with this woman & keeping in touch through the addition of twins into an already "whole family of kids" has provided lots of laughs. Beyond the laughs, it has provided encouragement to continue clinging to the Lord & trusting His leading as we raise our children to understand the love He has for them. 

One last pic of me & those two who made my belly so incredibly gigantic...

The Chili Cook off had a fabulous turn out with about 20 entries & raising over $1200 for the youth! It was a wonderful afternoon & worth the smelly house to participate. You can't see it but I had my boots on too ; ) Gotta represent!