This & That

This Memorial Day...

This Memorial Day, I hope there's a minute in the holiday, the day off, between the family get-togethers, and the BBQs, 

...to remember that the freedom we all enjoy has been hard-fought, and paid for by the sacrifice of others. 

 

Around Here This Week

So around here this week...

All the in-town kids and grandkids gathered at my mother's house for some yard clean up. 

From the oldest to the youngest, they were all assigned jobs and in about an hour and a half, things were looking pretty good.

At our house, there are a couple of home improvement-type things going on. We got a new skylight in the master bathroom. The old one was pretty well cracked and it's a wonder it didn't rain inside this spring.

And after nearly 30 years, the dining room has a new light fixture. I cannot tell you now long it took me to convince my husband to move forward a few decades with the lights. His reasoning is that the  old lights worked perfectly well. Why would the lovely brass octagonal 1990's era lights need to be replaced when they work just fine? Yet somehow when he pays for yet another hunt, or stuffing yet another dead thing, that's totally different. I won this battle, though, mostly because of his recent years' spending totals on the aforementioned stuff he enjoys.

In a mini-roam around the yard, my first peony bush is blooming like crazy. This is always the first one to bloom. Just so pretty.

This, however, was a crushing blow. One of my husband's sisters divided the peonies that grew in their grandmother's yard. They've grown well in her own yard for quite a while, and a couple of years ago, she divided them again and gave me several cuttings. This year, most of them have really started to grow well, which made my husband really happy because he's very sentimental about everything related to his family.  Each Grandma Gwen plant had a single bud on it, and we've been waiting anxiously to see which colors would appear. I walked outside the other day and found this one with the bud snapped off. I guess we'll have to wait another year to see what color this one is.

The rock cress is in its prime right now. It'll fade off and pant (sort of like me) when the weather gets hot, then come back a little as temperatures cool off some in the fall.

Pretty soon we'll have some strawberries.

And can I just put it out there that this doesn't make me all that happy? Not my happy place. No. 

Sent to me from the kids and grandkids, I got this one of Ephraim going after a toasted marshmallow.

You just have to laugh.

Here's the oldest and youngest of Marc's kids together. Isaac is out of school now, and Miss Hazel is 2 months old, if you can believe it. 

She's giving intentional grins now, which is just about the cutest thing ever.

Marc caught this picture of Jude walking my mother into family Sunday dinner last weekend. My mother turned 87 this spring and is showing signs of having some memory issues, so this is kind of tender. As an aside, just beyond her head, you can see the hostas unfurling.

From my daughter, there was this couple of pictures of Leo,

...who was really enjoying his yogurt. This week, she's had the stomach flu initiation with the boys and her husband. She is apparently immune, but let us know that twins barfing, and then a sick husband was no fun....at all.

Other People's Cameras, The Florida and Twin Destruction Edition

I posted a few pictures from Eric's family's trip to Florida last weekend. 

My critter-loving grandgirls met some of the local wildlife.

Sand castles were built,

and I think there might be something alive in that sea shell, which is just a little bit creepy for me, but you go, Gwen!

There was some snorkeling,

and Emmett made sure he was prepared for it.

There was some floating,

and jumping

and some sunsets with Lincoln beards.

Loved these silhouette-ish ones.

I haven't gotten a lot of commentary on the happenings, but from the pictures Eric sent, it looked like it was a fun trip.

Now, from my daughter, I got this picture with the question, "Is this what karma looks like??" What is this, you ask?

It's the thin veneer carefully peeled off her TV stand.

By these cute boys. "Here Mom, look what we did for you!" And the reference to karma?

Once upon a time, there was a three-year-old little girl, who was bored during her nap time, and spent it peeling the cute wallpaper border off her wall......

This Boy

It's another birthday today. One of my own little boys.

It's my Collin's special day. Don't let this jolly smile fool you. He was a really cranky baby. Not as cranky as Bryce, but close.

Blasts from the past. This was back in the day when I sewed most of the boy's clothes. 

He's the eldest of my redheads.

This boy has three, soon to be four boys, and he's a good dad of boys. In fact, I can tell you that he was mightily relieved to see #4 was going to be another boy.

We got to see him for a few days this past week, which was really fun. He was doing some work at another Air Force Base, close enough he could drive up for a few days. It was a special treat, because we don't get to see him in person very often. We love this boy as we love all our children....happy birthday to our Collin!

Around Here This Week

So around here this week....

Gus had some surgery on one of his legs, which necessitated wearing The Cone of Shame. He hated it.

I was literally out of laundry soap, as in I couldn't do another load without making some more. This will last me several months, so it feels good to have it done. Not to mention being able to wash clothes.

I voted. Something I never take for granted. You'll remember, former Canadian here.

I was invited to Levi's kindergarten graduation. Sorry about the blurry picture. He was waving madly.

He's in the first row there and sure did look cute in his miniature cap and gown.

Sent to me from the kids and grandkids this week, Eric's family spent some time in the fun and sun last week.

They were in Florida for a few days,

and it looks like the kids did some wave wading. There will be more on this in a few days.

Eric sent this picture of his mustache-less face,

...which prompted this response from his brothers. He said the mustache was letting water into his snorkeling mask, so he had to make the hard decision.

And from my daughter, these cute pictures of the boys. This is Jack.

And Leo. Their cute little red hairs are coming in, and they are starting to take steps.

Roaming

Let's take a wander around the yard, shall we?

I finally put the spring-is-here pansies in a couple of weeks ago. I have to have some pansies to start spring off.

The rhubarb is coming right along. I should be able to start pulling some next week.

My main plant that I got as a start from a friend, has sent out a couple of other starter hills. I didn't know rhubarb did that, but the newer ones seem a little more red.

If the number of blossoms the apple trees have is any indication, it should be a bumper year.

Bleeding hearts are out.

And my little strawberry patch is going nuts. 

I have a new addition to my dinosaur herd. Collin's family sent this for Mother's Day and it just makes me smile. This ankylosaur joins the T-Rex in the back patio pots.

I went around spraying some weed killer on the pavers, but couldn't quite bring myself to kill this one. It's not growing where it's supposed to, but it seems to me there's a life lesson here about blooming amid the struggles, or blooming where you're planted.

 

Other People's Cameras, The Hells Canyon Edition

Earlier this month, there was a fishing excursion by many of the in-town kids and grandkids to Hells Canyon. This is one of those annual once-in-a-lifetime events that my husband's so fond of.

I solicited pictures from my husband and the boys who went, and we're starting with Marc's camera. It was Levi's first year going, and I think by the look on his face he had a good time.

Isaac is pretty much a veteran by now.

The two of them watching the river go by, with Frederick and Gwen to the side there. I do love those "from behind" views.

Here's a pretty good group shot.

Food is always an important part of any trip.

Moving on to Eric's camera, if you look closely in this picture, you can see Isaac's wet boots hung up on sticks drying near the fire. It wouldn't be a trip with kids if someone's feet didn't get wet.

Gwen's trophy.

Eric caught a view of the whole boat anchored for a break. Sometimes the guys will catch a sturgeon on these trips, but not this year. They also frequently see bighorn sheep on the cliffs beside the river, but those were conspicuously absent.

My people. Love them.

This year they did get to see some petroglyphs, which was pretty amazing.

And it probably isn't an Allan outdoor experience without some kind of critter picture.

My husband's camera caught a few different things. Here's Caroline's fish. She's kind of outgrown hugging them.

Edward and Frederick. Edward got his braces off this past week, which is exciting news. I honestly can't believe how grown-up Frederick's looking, though.

Roger, Emmett, and Isaac. All we were missing was James to get the quartet that was born during a year's time.

Levi enjoying the sand.

And Emmett, too.

Apparently, they used this slick rock as a slide.

My husband said he took these flower pictures just for me, which was kind of like...."Awwww...." It surprised me to see cactus, up there, though.

More flowers....

Marc got in there and got a close-up. They remind me a little bit of the balloon flowers in my yard.

Making Garlic Powder? Really?

In the kitchen this week, my photography memory was spotty at best. I tried a new recipe for broccoli cheese soup, substituting cauliflower for the broccoli, since that was what I had. It was so good, but did I take a picture? Nope.

I made this Ham & Asparagus Quiche, even stopping to take a process photo. Did I take a picture of the finished product? Nope. So if you want to see a mediocre picture of the finished quiche, you'll have to click on the link. 

My husband and I were at the cabin for a couple of days last week, and I actually did remember to grab a picture of my plate before I started eating. I made up salmon patties from leftover grilled salmon, our long-time favorite sugared asparagus and I tried a recipe for one-hour rolls, which went slightly over the time limit, but tasted good anyway. You can see that I'm firmly in the "my foods don't touch each other" camp, at least initially. There are occasions when I let my hair down enough to do things like mix the noodles and peas from last week, but I have to be feeling pretty secure in my food mixology to make that happen.

So let's talk garlic powder. And the making of it. And probably the one thing foremost in everyone's mind.....WHY? Why would I do this when it's so available, cheaply, in the store??? Well, It all started with these sprouty heads of garlic that were out in the storage room. You can see they were good sized, and I didn't want to just throw them away in their sproutiness. After all, Marc had diligently planted them, and we'd watered and taken care of them, and they took up growing space in the garden. We. Had Made. Food. With supply chain issues being what they are, just chucking them made me feel a little guilty. So I got thinking. I have a dehydrator. My arms aren't painted on. If I dried the garlic, I could probably grind up the garlic and make it into powder that I could use. 

So, I did a little internet research, and pulling most from this article, I set to work. I peeled all the garlic, and then I sliced each and every clove of garlic. It was at this point that my daughter face-timed me with the twins and asked why I didn't just mince it in my food processor, then store it in oil in the fridge so I'd have ready-made garlic to just spoon in to my cooking. Admittedly, this would have been an easier option, but I'd already taken my life in my hands getting the dehydrator into the house from its buried-behind-canning-pots place in the storage room, and was feeling just stubborn enough to stick with it. If there's a next time, I'll probably do it her way. In fairness, I'd just watched a YouTube video with a gal who was using homemade garlic powder, which prompted this whole undertaking.

Carrying on, this is really fiddly stuff. It's not for those who don't want their house to smell like an Italian restaurant, either. I positioned the dehydrator in front of an open window and hoped for the best. The house did have a definite garlic smell, but it wasn't too bad. I don't mind my house smelling like garlic, but I didn't want people coming in and starting to place orders for lasagna and spaghetti, either.

It took the better part of a couple of days to get it all dried. I did get more than what's pictured here. That bowl was heaping when I finally got done.

Moving onto the grinding, I had to explain to my husband when a Mr. Coffee bean grinder arrived on my doorstep via Amazon, that I would be grinding garlic and not coffee beans with it. In retrospect, maybe I could have used my blender for this step, but I wasn't sure I'd get a fine enough powder. 

But lookee here. I did, indeed make garlic powder....from scratch, as it were. This is much more fragrant than what you buy in the store and I'm anxious to see how that translates to cooking. While I probably won't do repeat this process unless dire need arises, like the pineapple, I can say I've done it.

Around Here This Week

So around here this week....

We were in the garden doing some planting. We've got peas, onions, carrots, beets, and lettuce in the ground. There's still a lot to plant, but we've got a good start. My husband and I have picked up some tomato and pepper starts, but it's still a while before they'll go in the ground.

We had some carrots and beets that overwintered and Marc, Isaac, Levi, and my husband pulled off the straw, dug them up and washed them off.

I was out of carrots in the house, so it was perfect timing and they taste just fine.

This also happened to one of us this week and let's just say he didn't care for it.

Sent to me from the kids and grandkids this week. Aunt Elisa went to meet Hazel and at one point had both Jude and Hazel asleep at the same time. Pretty miraculous. We're pretty sure it was sorcery of some kind.

I got a snippet of Edward's band concert. His mama said she felt like she was riding right along with Steve McQueen and Yul Brynner, and in case you don't recognize the song, it's the theme from "The Magnificent Seven." 

Quincy made phases of the moon out of his cucumbers. You might remember the solar system from a few weeks ago.

Caroline had a little birthday gathering with some friends. They went zip-lining for the first time.

I'm not sure I would feel very comfortable doing this. I have the whole heights thing. Plus.....chubby. Gwen does not appear to have either of those issues.

From Collin, I got this picture of him getting just the right toast on a marshmallow for s'mores. It's apparently been a lot warmer back east than it's been out here.

This is part of his little container-based garden. He's fighting a produce war with squirrels which is why the pinwheels are in a couple of the containers. So far, they've done nothing to deter the little beggars. He's contemplating more aggressive measures.

Meanwhile, John is fixing things.

He's fixing them up good.

Isaac had a program at school where he dressed up as Isaac Newton. I thought the hair was especially effective.

Jack and Leo enjoyed a ride in the wagon. 

Without any context, I think this might have been down at Thanksgiving Point in Utah.

And finally, they had their first ice cream. It's one of my husband's major goals in life as a grandpa to give the grandkids ice cream and sweets at every opportunity, but my daughter has been very resistive to what my husband calls an "ancient ritual" up until this point. This picture gives him carte blanche with the twins.

 

 

Mother's Day Celebrating

Mother's Day can be hard for me sometimes. I go to church and listen to people talk about their perfect mothers and sometimes all I can remember are the mistakes I made as a parent. That said, this Mother's Day was really wonderful. The graduating seniors spoke at church and did, indeed, speak about their wonderful mothers, but for whatever reason, I enjoyed it this year. The Primary kids sang, and that's always just my favorite. The only thing that would have made it better was if I could have accompanied them, but I have to say it is fun to watch them from the benches, from the bored-looking older ones, to the very eager tiny ones. 

I talked with all my kids and spouses....love them, and they all remembered me in their own special ways. Finally, let me give you a glimpse of being a mom to lots of boys. Mother's Day can look like this,

and this,

and this. It makes me laugh and if that can happen on a Mother's Day, I call that good.