Hangin' out in the backyard

One of my favorite things about our house is the backyard. I'm totally behind on weeding, but at least the grass looks good. Dave let Spencer mow the lawn for the first time last week. He was way excited. I doubt he'll be this excited about it in a few years.

He loves to give Brennan rides on his shoulders. Brennan heard a neighbor's dog bark, so he is saying his signature "ah-ah" in this picture. Our corn crop was meager this year, but it looks like the stalks are ready to be our autumnal decoration; so at least they're good for something.

Spencer also loves to give the boys rides in the wheelbarrow. One of these days someone will fall out and get hurt (the rides get quite crazy); but in the meantime, it's great fun for all.


Check out that sly look - he's got the whole thing to himself now. He's sure getting quite a little personality.

Day at the dunes

Remember when the AC in our house broke a couple months ago and I played phone tag with the AC guy? Well it miraculously started working, so we never bothered to get it fixed, obviously. Then a couple days ago it stopped working again, and with temps in the mid-90's, we decided to go to the beach to cool down yesterday. It was a cool, foggy day at the bay - perfect!

We ran into some friends and visited while the kids had a blast climbing the dunes next to the beach

They ran down them over and over and over...

Brennan went nuts over all the birds, dogs and even horses on the beach. We heard a lot of "Ah-ah!"s. Yes, his hair is way overdue for a haircut.

Afterwards we went shopping at Costco and ate bunches of free samples, and then they dropped me off at the church on the way home for the women's general conference. It was a fun day.

Some things I've learned since having kids

1. what a tow head is, since apparently i have them
2. i don't like having things touch my face
3. i'm not as patient as i thought i was
4. i love to throw things away
5. i'm not as sentimental as i thought i was
6 i love to be alone occasionally
7. most things are not worth getting upset over
8. moms who can't stand having their kids cry tend to have hard kids
9. crying doesn't bother me - i just don't want it in the same room
10. kids are messier than i could have ever imagined
11. i'm not as organized as i thought i was
12. i love to decorate birthday cakes
13. strong-willed mothers have strong-willed children, dang it
14. it's easier to bake something at home than go to the store
15. weekly dates are essential

The best sandwich ever

I like to get creative with my lunches, when everyone is at school/work and I have time to experiment. A few years ago I was going through an eggplant phase, so my mom gave me an eggplant cookbook, which is even shaped like an eggplant. Here's the thing about eggplant - it looks weird, and it tastes weird if you don't cook it right. The key is to cook it long enough, and it really does take a little while. Otherwise it has an odd spongy texture. I've had it at restaurants and either loved it or hated it. So I like to make it myself. I like eggplant Parmesan, and I've even gotten my family to like it. How can you not like something fried and smothered in marinara sauce and melted mozzarella? I also have a recipe for Sweet Italian Sausage Casserole with many yummy veggies in it, including eggplant. But my favorite, quick delicious thing to do with eggplant is derived from a recipe in my eggplant cookbook: Grilled Eggplant Sandwich, although I've tweaked it a bit. I made it for lunch on Sunday (I have all kinds of time before church now that I've been released from primary), and when Dave came home from his meetings the house smelled so good I just had to make him one too. Every time I make it I am sure it is the yummiest sandwich I've ever tasted and wonder why I don't make it more often. So here's the recipe:

Grilled Eggplant Sandwich
5-6 very thin slices of eggplant
2 slices of San Luis Sourdough Cracked Wheat bread (or some other inferior brand)
2-3 thin slices of tomatoes (of course fresh garden ones are best, if they're in season)
1 slice of cheese (mozzarella, Gouda, Swiss, or whatever you happen to have on hand)
garlic (fresh is best, but garlic powder or salt are fine too)
olive oil
salt and pepper to taste
basil, either fresh or dried

Preheat broiler or grill. Place slices of eggplant on a pan and drizzle with olive oil. Sprinkle with garlic, salt and pepper. Put on the grill or in the oven or toaster oven and broil for a few minutes. Watch them closely! When they start to turn golden, turn them over. Broil or grill the other side until golden. Remove from oven/grill. Meanwhile, spread sourdough bread with butter. Grill on the stove until toasty. Assemble sandwich: bread (toasty side down), tomatoes, basil, eggplant, cheese, bread (toasty side up). Let sit a few minutes to melt cheese. Enjoy!

Tips: The eggplant skin makes it difficult to eat because when you bite into it, the whole thing comes off, disassembling your sandwich. You can either remove it before or after broiling it or cut little slits in it all around. If your bread it huge, just use one slice and cut it in half. The recipe from my book suggest mixing the olive oil with the garlic, salt and pepper and brushing it on the eggplant and bread before grilling it all together. You can do it either way, but I just love sourdough with butter cooked on the skillet, and I cook the eggplant in my toaster oven so there's no room for the bread with it. The recipe also calls for arugula, but who ever has that on hand? I guess you could use fresh spinach.

The Circus Comes to Town

The kids talked us into taking them to the circus on Saturday. They brought home BOGO coupons from school (buy one get one), which made it reasonably priced. We figured - how often do you get the chance to go to the circus? It turned out to be a LOT of fun. There were a few animals as we entered, and they even had camel and elephant rides. But at $6/each, we decided just to watch. Dallin was especially impressed by the elephant poo. He'll be talking about that for awhile, I'm sure.

I especially liked the acrobats. I love to watch talented people perform. It made me want to go to the Cirque Du Soleil in Vegas.

We got snow cones at intermission. The show was 2 hours long!

But my favorite part was the elephants. They were SO cute! I was amazed at how easily and quickly they moved, unlike the ones at the zoo that just stand there and eat.

And is it just my imagination, or are they smiling? They really seemed to be enjoying themselves out there, despite what the animal rights protesters at the entrance claim.

I just love them. They're so dang cute.

Despite the length, the kids were completely captivated by the entire show. It was definitely a hit.

Family visits

My aunt Marilyn and my mom are hilarious together. I don't know what's so funny half the time, but they sure crack each other up. We always know when mom's on the phone with her sister - she'll laugh so hard she can't even talk. We're all sad to see Marilyn move away. She works at the airport and just got transferred back to Salt Lake City. But I'm sure her family is happy to have her closer.
They all came to help her move. We had a big BBQ at Kristen's house. I was recruited to take some family pictures.

Here's Marilyn and Marty with their kids: Chad, Teri, Vance and Valerie.
And here are my parents. Aren't they cute?

I love trees

Our neighbor is either cutting down the beautiful big evergreen tree between our houses or giving it a major trim. Either way, our view just isn't the same. I wanted to cry when I first saw what they were doing. It's so sunny and bright on that side of the house now. I'm no tree hugger or anything, but trees are at such a premium around here that I hate it when one gets cut down. That's one thing I do miss about the East coast - all the trees. It's amazing to drive right through Washington D.C. and be totally surrounded by trees. You'd think you were driving through the woods or something.

Recent Quotes

Spencer - "I used to like homework, last year."
Me - "No you didn't. You've never liked homework. It was like pulling teeth to get you to color a dang picture in Kindergarten, remember?!"

Tyler - "You're going to love my picture!" Yesterday was picture day.

Dallin - "I'll make you a deal." He's really into making deals these days.

Brennan - "Ah-ah!" Every time he sees an animal, because apparently that's what they all say.

Dave - "How was the ending?" We watched the first half of the movie Penelope while exercising last night, but Dave didn't feel like finishing it afterwards. I thought it was really cute.

Our Vacation, Part II: Lots of Visiting

On Saturday we went to the Air and Space Museum in Washington, D.C. with my brother Josh and his family. We watched the Imax movie about the sun, and my high school friend Sonia met us there. It was a fun but soggy day - Hurricane Hannah was going through. I haven't seen that much rain since we moved to California. In fact I think they had as much rain in that one day as we get in a whole year here. Dave's family got together Sunday afternoon at his parents' house in WV, and we managed to get all the cousins to hold still long enough for a picture. Eight out of the nine siblings were there. Oldest to youngest from left to right: Alicia, Kevin, Dave, Christine, Thomas, Mary, Patrick and Elizabeth.We went out to lunch with his sister Kat on Monday.Then we went to Wilson's Wild Animal Park in Winchester, VA.The boys had fun feeding animals, except when Tyler's whole arm got in the zebra's mouth. Luckily he got it out before it bit down.

Then we drove back to Josh's house on the way to the airport and the kids got to play together again. My cousin Mary came over too.

Asher is sure a happy guy. I love his smile - he looks just like Elizabeth.

We were also able to stop by my high school friend Bridget's house. It was another rainy day, but it stopped raining long enough for the boys to play in her beautiful backyard with her little boy.

So now we're back home and recovering. Dallin started preschool today, Brennan's getting over his cold he picked up on the trip, and I'm finally caught up on sleep and laundry. As fun as it is to go away, it's always nice to get back home.

Our Vacation, Part I: The Chesapeake Bay

For the past 14 years, Dave has been telling me all about the beach house on the Chesapeake Bay his family went to every summer. They stopped going after his Freshman year of high school, and he hadn't been back since.

A few years ago his parents started going to the same beach house again, and this year we decided to join them for part of the time. I spent most of the time reading on the porch, enjoying the sea breeze and watching the kids playing in the water. There was a place nearby for Dave's dad to get his dialysis three times a week while they were there.
The water was super warm. They were in it constantly. Spencer's favorite thing to do in the water was catch jellyfish with his hands. Amazingly he didn't mind getting stung.

Dave's brother Thomas and his family were there all week. Andrew just turned 12. Luke turned 6 years old while we were there.
Allison's 2 1/2 and cute as a button with her curly little pigtails.The water was very calm the first day, and Dave and the boys went fishing. They caught a few small fish.
There was a lovely screened in porch facing the bay with awesome views out all three sides. We ate most our meals here.

The second day we got Maryland Blue Crabs (which Dave misses in California) and the kids got to help transfer the live crabs to the pot.
Thomas cooked them perfectly - smothered in Old Bay seasoning, of course. Dave's sister Mary and her husband drove down from D.C. - they're expecting a baby boy in December.The boys caught on real quick how to get the meat out. With all the windows open we heard the waves crashing against the rocks every night. I woke up early the third morning and caught the sunrise. Weird to see the sun rising over the water instead of setting, like it does in CA. By the end of the three days the cousins were inseparable. Before we left we took one last walk along the beach. We walked for a really long time before we got to another house. Talk about a private beach.Along the hike we found a horseshoe crab shell, lots of sea glass and shells, and various blue crab parts.

We all had such a great time - enjoying three days at the bay was definitely the highlight of our trip.