Saturday, September 04, 2010
Curse you & your sentimental songs, Don Henley!
Q: But how do I know I am still "on the edge"?
A: When Don Henley on the radio sends me to sobs. Don Freaking Henley.
On the way home from the ranch tonight, Heidi and I listened to this and I cried:
Remember when the days were long
And rolled beneath a deep blue sky
Didn't have a care in the world
With mommy and daddy standing by
When "happily ever after" fails
And we've been poisoned by these fairy tales
The lawyers dwell on small details
Since daddy had to fly
But I know a place where we can go
That's still untouched by man
We'll sit and watch the clouds roll by
And the tall grass wave in the wind
You can lay your head back on the ground
And let your hair fall all around
Offer up your best defense
This is the end
This is the end of the innocence...
So who knows how long this will last
Now we've come so far, so fast
But, somewhere back there in the dust
That same small town in each of us
I need to remember this
So baby give me just one kiss
And let me take a long last look
Before we say good bye
Lay your head back on the ground
And let your hair fall all around
Offer up your best defense
This is the end
This is the end of the innocence.
***
I will say that I am glad it was The End of the Innocence and not this one, cuz this one slays me every single time (most recently while swimming with my children at the water park last month).
Friday, September 03, 2010
From James, this morning
Me: Because I'm gonna miss Papa Bill
James: He died. He went back to Heavenly Father.
Me: Yep. His spirit is with Heavenly Father, but we will have to go put his body in the ground next week, and that will make me sad because I will miss visiting him.
James: (totally excited & animated) But he's gonna come back alive...Jesus is gonna help him!
Me: Yep, but we have to wait a while for that. And while we're waiting, I will miss my Grandpa. But he won't be sick or itchy anymore, isn't that so great?
James: And he will feel better in his big brown chair and he will talk to me and play with me!
***
James, Papa, and the big brown chair from MelinFamily on Vimeo.
I am so thankful for little baby testimonies.
That "big brown chair" is mighty empty today!
Thursday, September 02, 2010
Wednesday, September 01, 2010
Zucchini Boats
Zucchini Boats
Ingredients
a chug of olive oil
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 slice of onion, chopped
4 Mild Italian Sausages (remove casing)-OR- 1 lb ground meat (turkey would be great)
1 huge zucchini (mine was 2' long and 3" around) or 4 regulars
1 c sliced button mushrooms
Italian Herbs Seasoning, Johnny's Magic Seasoned Salt
2 roma tomatoes
grated parmesan cheese (you know, in the green shaker bottle)
1 c grated mozzarella
medium frying pan
baking sheet or pan covered in foil
***
chop your garlic and onion
heat oil in pan, then sautee garlic & onion til translucent
add meat and break it apart as it browns and sprinkle with about 2ts Italian seasoning
meanwhile, slice your zucchini in half lengthwise, then "gut it": hold knife at an angle and remove the pulp and seeds, leaving about 1/4" of pulp on the skin, forming a "boat."
chop the zucchini pulp into cubes and add to the frying pan with meat, etc. *
add mushrooms to the pan, stirring til everything is tender; sprinkle and stir in about 2Tb of Parmesan cheese (then drain fat if necessary)
Heat oven to 350 degrees
Pour sauteed mixture into zucchini boats, then top with cubed tomatoes and mozzarella cheese (I added a shake of Johnny's seasoned salt and some lemon pepper and a sprinkle of Italian seasoning at this point just to give the zukes some flavor--I recommend having the big Costco Shakers of these seasonings, plus the onion, garlic, Taco, Ranch, and cinnamon shakers--it's so nice to have those staples!). [keep reading below--->]
Bon Apetit!
*one could add chopped bell peppers here for more color & vitamins if one's husband didn't get terrible heartburn from bell peppers. I bet it's delicious!
Tuesday, August 31, 2010
First Day of School
Here we are arriving at Winans School this morning at 8:15am.
[Addie, ?, Heidi, James, and Daddy]
Addie and Heidi
[notice that Heidi got a good road rash and lost a tooth while we were in Utah]
Our Utah Trip
NOW, back to UTAH...Kids in the car near the UT-ID border on I-15
***
We got super lucky because Uncle Jess (Rich's bro who lives in Florida but develops wind farms all over the US) was in SLC for ONE day, and it was the day we we drove down from MT! We met him for dinner in downtown SLC.
Before dinner, we took a walk to stretch our legs (and our wallets at The Body Shop sale...I scored some new pink grapefruit body wash and lotion) at the Gateway.
It was a VERY hot day in SLC, so we let the kids get soaked in the fountain...
Heidi got the wettest (of course).
James didn't want to get wet, but Addie "helped" him.
(We had a blast with The Tribe)
Heidi
I look dorkily excited.
[[[ASIDE: do these fotos remind you of this?...]]]
FAMILY LETTER 07.28.19
Dear Loved Ones, We have just ...