I got up to work this morning...didn't notice anything wrong, and Randie went to run some errands, when she got home she walks in and says "Did you turn the Air Conditioner Off?" I said "No, I don't think so", and walked over to check the Thermastat...81 Deg. hmm....(come to think of it, it is kind of warm in here) I play with the controls...Fan comes on but no Air Conditioning, I went outside to look at the AC Unit...It is defenitly not working, but the lines aren't frozen, and the breaker is still on. I went downstairs to check the Filter, it's a little dirty but not enouph to stop airflow.
Time to call in a profesional. I call 2 or 3 and they all give me "The earliest we can be out there is sometime next week" I keep calling and finally find someone who say's "We can have someone there in 2 hours, It's $99.00 for a service call, and if we find any problems the $99.00 dollars goes towards the repair... I bend over and give them my address.
Profesional comes out...Checks the thermostat, it's still 81 deg. (Seems a lot hotter though now) Plays with the controls, Fan comes on but no Air Conditioning, so we go outside to look at the AC Unit... Still not working, he checks the lines to see if they are frozen, and then checks the Breaker...(Hey those are all the things I did)..Now he pulls off a little panel, gets out his miniature Mag flashlight (those are the ones the "Profesionals" use...I had one once by the way, just so I could pretend I was a profesional). after shining his light around for about 30 seconds...he says "Theres the problem" I'm thinking maybe there's a wire that came loose, he gets into his bag and pulls out some needle nosed pliers, reaches in and pulls out a dead earwig..."WHAT?" I think to myself, He says "That should fix it".
"WHAT?" a dead earwig, you've got to be kidding me... apparently when the thermostat decides it needs more air to keep the house cool it sends a signal to the AC Unit, and a little switch flips from open to closed, which completes the circuit and the AC Unit turns on until the thermostat says "thats enouph" then the switch flips back to open. sometime yesterday an earwig got lodged in the switch, stopping it from closing. So in the end...I paid $100.00 for an earwig... (for that much money I should have kept the earwig and framed it. I have paintings (ok they are prints) that are way cheaper than that hanging on my wall.
Friday, August 1, 2008
Urban Camping
Randie has a Relief Society event coming up where they are doing some Dutch Oven cooking, and then letting everyone sample all the food that is cooked... what a great idea, the Men should do something like that.
So I start to think..."We have a Dutch Oven, and I even know where it is... hmm, I'm a pretty good cook, I should get it down, and we can have a nice Dutch Oven meal tonight." So I mention it to Randie who also thinks it's a great idea because she can use this as a means to determine what kind of cost they are going to be looking at, and see how many people it would feed. It's about 4:30 and I figure it will take a couple of hours, so we should be able to eat around 7:00...a little later than we normally eat dinner, but it will be worth it...cool, we have a plan.
(Stephen and I lighting a few more coals)
We quickly pulled up some recipes online, and found a nice recipe called "Chicken and Potato Delight" sounded good...and the Recipe says it serves around 8-10 people...I'm thinking.."Not bad, there are 5 of us, and Stephen and Justin eat for 2 people each...we should come out just about right" I jot down what we'll need from the store...and I run down to Walmart. the recipe calls for 10 chicken breasts, which makes sense I guess, 1 for each serving, about 12-14 potatoes, a couple onions, some bacon, 3 cups of cheese, Mushroom Soup, Chicken Soup, some Sour Cream, Mushrooms and some spices. by the time I'm done it cost me $35.00...OK, I guess that's not to bad, if you break it down by servings that only $3.50 per serving...so I'm feeling pretty good about that, and when I get home Randie is thinking that if everyone got 1/2 serving we could probably serve around 20 people for her Relief Society event, which is even better.
It's about 5:00 pm by now, so we need to hurry and get this going, I have Stephen go out to get the Dutch Oven, and I start chopping chicken and vegetables like a mad and by 5:30 every things chopped and we are ready to cook.
( Justin came out to play the guitar for us... )
We grab the Dutch Oven and drag it out to the back yard. (I seriously think it weighs about 50lbs) the recipe calls for about 18 briquettes on the bottom, to "FRY" the bacon. So we get out the lighter fluid, and soak 18 briquettes, and light a match... cool we have a nice little fire in our back yard...it's like camping almost, without having to load the entire house into the van first..."I like this"
Jumping ahead 1/2 hour...I thought the briquettes were finally lit, (Lesson 1: all briquettes are not created equal). We put the Dutch Oven over the briquettes... and wait for the "frying" part to start...hmm 15 mins later, "No Frying" (Lesson 2: All Dutch ovens are no the same size) The combination of having a HUGE Dutch oven, (I learned afterwards that there are only 2 other ovens that are larger than ours) and tempermental coals just doesn't work well...obviously we are not getting enough heat...darn coals just aren't working, (Lesson 3: Throw away 5 year old coals and get new ones)... We need something to really charge those coals...I'm thinking "BLOW TORCH" that should do the trick. I run to the garage and grab the blow torch, and I have to say it did light them up pretty good. Plus I put about 15 more briquettes down (these were from a different bag "Kingsford") Now we had some heat and finally the bacon started to sizzle..."Yes" we were on our way...of course by now it's a little after 6:30 pm. I go in and tell Randie that were not going to be eating at 7:00, might be 8:00 or 8:30 as all we have cooked right now is the bacon, "But it smells good".
It's almost 7:00 the bacon is done and I add the Chicken, onions, and mushrooms...I put the lid on and move 1/2 the coals from the bottom to the lid...chicken cooks pretty fast we should be good now. It is now almost 8:00 and the chicken is finally done, and it still "Smells Good". We are ready to add the potatoes, soup, and sour cream...I run in and tell Randie we might be looking more at 9:00 or 9:30 pm for dinner, and it's starting to get dark. (Lesson 4: briquettes are usually only good for about an hour) The recipe says to stir every 10-15 mins, I pop the lid after 15 mins..and it's not doing much of anything...We are loosing heat again... 30 mins later, We have new briquettes, now we can start cooking the potatoes. I run in to tell Randie she might want to feed Sarah a snack and we will definitely be ready by 10:00...She give's me that "Yeah..Right" look.
Lesson 5: you can't cook a HUGE meal with a LITTLE heat...It's now 10:00 and I'm firing up some more briquettes...and this point it's becoming personal..It's me or the Dutch Oven, and I've determined that whoever wrote the recipe didn't have a clue as to how many briquettes it would take...(after reading the recipe later I learned they used a 12" dutch oven and mine is 15" ) it's 10:30 now and we FINALLY have some good heat going, I can tell because I can hear it boiling inside...I go in and tell Randie that we should definitely be ready by 11:30...she looks at me like I'm a mad man, and she'll believe me when Hell Freezes over.
I'm checking the potatoes every 15 mins now...and they are just not cooking very fast...at 11:30 I finally admit defeat, the potatoes are still a little bit crunchy, but I'm so tired at this point I don't even care, We all ate a big helping, and cleaned up as quickly as possible, and I collapsed into bed...as far as servings go I think we could have fed a small army, the good thing is I know what were having for dinner tomorrow night, and the next night...
(sure smelled good..)
Lesson 6: If you've never really cooked with a Dutch Oven...give yourself plenty of time to learn.
So I start to think..."We have a Dutch Oven, and I even know where it is... hmm, I'm a pretty good cook, I should get it down, and we can have a nice Dutch Oven meal tonight." So I mention it to Randie who also thinks it's a great idea because she can use this as a means to determine what kind of cost they are going to be looking at, and see how many people it would feed. It's about 4:30 and I figure it will take a couple of hours, so we should be able to eat around 7:00...a little later than we normally eat dinner, but it will be worth it...cool, we have a plan.
(Stephen and I lighting a few more coals)
We quickly pulled up some recipes online, and found a nice recipe called "Chicken and Potato Delight" sounded good...and the Recipe says it serves around 8-10 people...I'm thinking.."Not bad, there are 5 of us, and Stephen and Justin eat for 2 people each...we should come out just about right" I jot down what we'll need from the store...and I run down to Walmart. the recipe calls for 10 chicken breasts, which makes sense I guess, 1 for each serving, about 12-14 potatoes, a couple onions, some bacon, 3 cups of cheese, Mushroom Soup, Chicken Soup, some Sour Cream, Mushrooms and some spices. by the time I'm done it cost me $35.00...OK, I guess that's not to bad, if you break it down by servings that only $3.50 per serving...so I'm feeling pretty good about that, and when I get home Randie is thinking that if everyone got 1/2 serving we could probably serve around 20 people for her Relief Society event, which is even better.
It's about 5:00 pm by now, so we need to hurry and get this going, I have Stephen go out to get the Dutch Oven, and I start chopping chicken and vegetables like a mad and by 5:30 every things chopped and we are ready to cook.
( Justin came out to play the guitar for us... )
We grab the Dutch Oven and drag it out to the back yard. (I seriously think it weighs about 50lbs) the recipe calls for about 18 briquettes on the bottom, to "FRY" the bacon. So we get out the lighter fluid, and soak 18 briquettes, and light a match... cool we have a nice little fire in our back yard...it's like camping almost, without having to load the entire house into the van first..."I like this"
Jumping ahead 1/2 hour...I thought the briquettes were finally lit, (Lesson 1: all briquettes are not created equal). We put the Dutch Oven over the briquettes... and wait for the "frying" part to start...hmm 15 mins later, "No Frying" (Lesson 2: All Dutch ovens are no the same size) The combination of having a HUGE Dutch oven, (I learned afterwards that there are only 2 other ovens that are larger than ours) and tempermental coals just doesn't work well...obviously we are not getting enough heat...darn coals just aren't working, (Lesson 3: Throw away 5 year old coals and get new ones)... We need something to really charge those coals...I'm thinking "BLOW TORCH" that should do the trick. I run to the garage and grab the blow torch, and I have to say it did light them up pretty good. Plus I put about 15 more briquettes down (these were from a different bag "Kingsford") Now we had some heat and finally the bacon started to sizzle..."Yes" we were on our way...of course by now it's a little after 6:30 pm. I go in and tell Randie that were not going to be eating at 7:00, might be 8:00 or 8:30 as all we have cooked right now is the bacon, "But it smells good".
It's almost 7:00 the bacon is done and I add the Chicken, onions, and mushrooms...I put the lid on and move 1/2 the coals from the bottom to the lid...chicken cooks pretty fast we should be good now. It is now almost 8:00 and the chicken is finally done, and it still "Smells Good". We are ready to add the potatoes, soup, and sour cream...I run in and tell Randie we might be looking more at 9:00 or 9:30 pm for dinner, and it's starting to get dark. (Lesson 4: briquettes are usually only good for about an hour) The recipe says to stir every 10-15 mins, I pop the lid after 15 mins..and it's not doing much of anything...We are loosing heat again... 30 mins later, We have new briquettes, now we can start cooking the potatoes. I run in to tell Randie she might want to feed Sarah a snack and we will definitely be ready by 10:00...She give's me that "Yeah..Right" look.
Lesson 5: you can't cook a HUGE meal with a LITTLE heat...It's now 10:00 and I'm firing up some more briquettes...and this point it's becoming personal..It's me or the Dutch Oven, and I've determined that whoever wrote the recipe didn't have a clue as to how many briquettes it would take...(after reading the recipe later I learned they used a 12" dutch oven and mine is 15" ) it's 10:30 now and we FINALLY have some good heat going, I can tell because I can hear it boiling inside...I go in and tell Randie that we should definitely be ready by 11:30...she looks at me like I'm a mad man, and she'll believe me when Hell Freezes over.
I'm checking the potatoes every 15 mins now...and they are just not cooking very fast...at 11:30 I finally admit defeat, the potatoes are still a little bit crunchy, but I'm so tired at this point I don't even care, We all ate a big helping, and cleaned up as quickly as possible, and I collapsed into bed...as far as servings go I think we could have fed a small army, the good thing is I know what were having for dinner tomorrow night, and the next night...
(sure smelled good..)
Lesson 6: If you've never really cooked with a Dutch Oven...give yourself plenty of time to learn.
Wednesday, July 30, 2008
Golf 101
For those of you that don't know my oldest son Stephen got a job this summer working at one of the local Private Golf courses, and it's turned out to be a pretty sweet job...he gets to work at 5:00 am and is home by 2:00 or 3:00pm giving him the rest of the day to play. Anyway one of his "Benefits" or "Perks" is that he can get us onto the course for free. Now I know a lot of my friends would be driving out to "Pick him up" from work everyday, and maybe sneak in a few holes while they were out there. Me I've never played golf in my entire life, with the exception of PlayStation, which I'm pretty good at, so it can't be that hard...right?
(almost worth it just to drive around in the golf carts)
So this last Thursday Stephen, Justin and myself decided it was about time we gave it a shot...how hard can it be?
(a swing, and a miss... This seemed to happen alot)
The Golf course is on the very north end of the Springs and it takes about 20 minutes to get out there...the whole drive out it's threatening to rain...and all I can think about is that we are going to show up on the evening news, and the lead in to the story would be something along the lines of..."3 stupid golfer's were struck by lightning tonight..." I mean, you can only tempt fate so far, and I think your crossing a line somewhere when you go out into an open grassy area and raise metal rods up into the air in the middle of a thunderstorm.
Luckily for us by the time we got there it was just a drizzle and by the time we got to the first tee, it was beautiful weather...slightly overcast, no wind...the PERFECT weather for golf.
(I think Justin got 3 feet of this shot)
We stopped at the driving range to hit some balls, and get a "feel" for it...out of a basket of about 25 balls I think I got 2 to make it off the ground and out to the 100 yard marker. I'm not a hugely competitive person....I'm more the do it because I enjoy it, and try to do better each time. I also am not 18-20 years old anymore, and I figured I'd be doing well to just keep up with my boys, It was kind of nice to find out that I was actually a little better than them, at least I could hit the ball straight 90% of the time. (I wonder if "larger" golfers can get more weight behind a swing...hmm)
(I think this was one of my better shots...I actually chipped it onto the green...I felt very "Tiger Woodsish")
Anyway we teed off and decided that since this was the first time, and in an effort not to tick off the team behind us, that we would just play best ball, and not keep score (Thank you, Thank you, Thank you...we would still be out there looking for balls if we hadn't)
Just a few observations about golf.
(almost worth it just to drive around in the golf carts)
So this last Thursday Stephen, Justin and myself decided it was about time we gave it a shot...how hard can it be?
(a swing, and a miss... This seemed to happen alot)
The Golf course is on the very north end of the Springs and it takes about 20 minutes to get out there...the whole drive out it's threatening to rain...and all I can think about is that we are going to show up on the evening news, and the lead in to the story would be something along the lines of..."3 stupid golfer's were struck by lightning tonight..." I mean, you can only tempt fate so far, and I think your crossing a line somewhere when you go out into an open grassy area and raise metal rods up into the air in the middle of a thunderstorm.
Luckily for us by the time we got there it was just a drizzle and by the time we got to the first tee, it was beautiful weather...slightly overcast, no wind...the PERFECT weather for golf.
(I think Justin got 3 feet of this shot)
We stopped at the driving range to hit some balls, and get a "feel" for it...out of a basket of about 25 balls I think I got 2 to make it off the ground and out to the 100 yard marker. I'm not a hugely competitive person....I'm more the do it because I enjoy it, and try to do better each time. I also am not 18-20 years old anymore, and I figured I'd be doing well to just keep up with my boys, It was kind of nice to find out that I was actually a little better than them, at least I could hit the ball straight 90% of the time. (I wonder if "larger" golfers can get more weight behind a swing...hmm)
(I think this was one of my better shots...I actually chipped it onto the green...I felt very "Tiger Woodsish")
Anyway we teed off and decided that since this was the first time, and in an effort not to tick off the team behind us, that we would just play best ball, and not keep score (Thank you, Thank you, Thank you...we would still be out there looking for balls if we hadn't)
Just a few observations about golf.
- I can see how people could get "VERY" frustrated trying to hit that stupid little ball.
- I think if I play about 2000 holes I could probably get better.
- If I had to pay, I would have to be better.
- Spending time with my boys...priceless
Tuesday, July 29, 2008
Ward Campout
Camping in Theory:
It's not that I don't like camping... The whole idea of camping is wonderful, I love it... getting away from civilization, all the pressures and stresses of everyday living, the opportunity to commune with nature and enjoy the beauty of the outdoors, the chance to contemplate life and your relationship with the great creator ...I love the idea. The reality of camping is sometimes a whole different thing.
Getting Ready to Camp:
Have you ever been getting ready to move, and you have the nightmare where your loading the moving van, and no matter how many times you pack and rearrange all the items you just can't get them all in? ...welcome to Camping.
Getting ready to camp is the worst part of camping...I'm reminded of the Disney cartoon when Goofy and his son go camping, and they have everything they own strapped to the top of their car...as we were heading up the canyon, we passed a van towing a trailer to hold all their "Gear", and I found myself thinking. "maybe I should consider getting a trailer"... How much Stuff do you have to take to spend one night in the wilderness?
I think I must have been spoiled as a scout, we used to camp in the desert, and we would throw some food items in our backpack, bring a ground cloth and a sleeping bag, and we were good to go for a couple of days at least. If we got hungry, then we knew to bring more beef jerky next time.
Once your married though the whole camping dynamic changes, now there's diapers, and formula, collapsible cribs and blankets, the list goes on an on... (luckily we've made it past that part of life, so now we have twice the room that we used to.)
And if we're keeping it real the whole age factor definitely does come into play, gone are the days where you scoop a little sand out of the ground to make a depression for your butt, and you roll up your jacket for a pillow, now you've got Air mattresses, blankets and real pillows to bring, you'll need chairs to sit on, and a table (or two) to put stuff on, flashlights, lanterns, and glow sticks (ostensibly to keep the bears away) and bug spray to ward of the bugs attracted by all the lights...and last but not least a cooler large enough to double as a small refrigerator with enough food and treats to feed a small army.
Somehow we managed to get it all in the Van...and we were Off to find Nirvana.
Camping:
We arrived at the camp ground around 5:00 pm, and there was only 5 other family's there. I did some quick math (okay, I did some math) 5 families, average family size around 4 or 5 so that means 20-25 people, considering that there are 530 people in our ward, not a very good turnout. I didn't take into consideration that most people don't get off work until 5:00 so by 7:00 pm I had to redo my math... there were about 20 families, and 90% of them had children under the age of 5.
(Justin obviously didn't go hungry)
I've decided that camping and babies don't mix really well...they are kind of like land mines that are set to close to each other...one goes off, and it sets all the others off. Needless to say I'm pretty sure there was a baby crying sometime during each hour of the night... (I have to take my wife's word on this, as I was so tired I fell asleep on my nice air mattress, with my warm blanket and soft pillow, and didn't hear a thing)
(First law of Camping: "You can't call it camping unless there's a campfire")
When all was said and done... we had a great time...Randie and I got to meet some people that we didn't know, Sarah got to play with her friends, and Justin had time to relax with some of his friends.
(Second Law of Camping: "You have to wear a hat")
...next year I think we'll be packing it all up to do it again... I might even bring the Dutch oven this time.
It's not that I don't like camping... The whole idea of camping is wonderful, I love it... getting away from civilization, all the pressures and stresses of everyday living, the opportunity to commune with nature and enjoy the beauty of the outdoors, the chance to contemplate life and your relationship with the great creator ...I love the idea. The reality of camping is sometimes a whole different thing.
Getting Ready to Camp:
Have you ever been getting ready to move, and you have the nightmare where your loading the moving van, and no matter how many times you pack and rearrange all the items you just can't get them all in? ...welcome to Camping.
Getting ready to camp is the worst part of camping...I'm reminded of the Disney cartoon when Goofy and his son go camping, and they have everything they own strapped to the top of their car...as we were heading up the canyon, we passed a van towing a trailer to hold all their "Gear", and I found myself thinking. "maybe I should consider getting a trailer"... How much Stuff do you have to take to spend one night in the wilderness?
I think I must have been spoiled as a scout, we used to camp in the desert, and we would throw some food items in our backpack, bring a ground cloth and a sleeping bag, and we were good to go for a couple of days at least. If we got hungry, then we knew to bring more beef jerky next time.
Once your married though the whole camping dynamic changes, now there's diapers, and formula, collapsible cribs and blankets, the list goes on an on... (luckily we've made it past that part of life, so now we have twice the room that we used to.)
And if we're keeping it real the whole age factor definitely does come into play, gone are the days where you scoop a little sand out of the ground to make a depression for your butt, and you roll up your jacket for a pillow, now you've got Air mattresses, blankets and real pillows to bring, you'll need chairs to sit on, and a table (or two) to put stuff on, flashlights, lanterns, and glow sticks (ostensibly to keep the bears away) and bug spray to ward of the bugs attracted by all the lights...and last but not least a cooler large enough to double as a small refrigerator with enough food and treats to feed a small army.
Somehow we managed to get it all in the Van...and we were Off to find Nirvana.
Camping:
We arrived at the camp ground around 5:00 pm, and there was only 5 other family's there. I did some quick math (okay, I did some math) 5 families, average family size around 4 or 5 so that means 20-25 people, considering that there are 530 people in our ward, not a very good turnout. I didn't take into consideration that most people don't get off work until 5:00 so by 7:00 pm I had to redo my math... there were about 20 families, and 90% of them had children under the age of 5.
(Justin obviously didn't go hungry)
I've decided that camping and babies don't mix really well...they are kind of like land mines that are set to close to each other...one goes off, and it sets all the others off. Needless to say I'm pretty sure there was a baby crying sometime during each hour of the night... (I have to take my wife's word on this, as I was so tired I fell asleep on my nice air mattress, with my warm blanket and soft pillow, and didn't hear a thing)
(First law of Camping: "You can't call it camping unless there's a campfire")
When all was said and done... we had a great time...Randie and I got to meet some people that we didn't know, Sarah got to play with her friends, and Justin had time to relax with some of his friends.
(Second Law of Camping: "You have to wear a hat")
...next year I think we'll be packing it all up to do it again... I might even bring the Dutch oven this time.
Friday, July 18, 2008
Soccer Visit
Randie's nephew Chris ended up playing in a soccer tournament, and as luck would have it they ended up holding it right here in the Springs. We love it when family comes to visit because it's just our family and theirs....unlike when we go home and it's our family and 11 other family's. (not that we don't like to go home...we do. Sometimes though we get pulled in so many directions that we don't get much 1:1 time with anyone.)
The Tournament was held at the Air Force Academy, which is right at the foot of the mountains, and you can look out over the whole valley...very inspiring.
Chris's team the Rangers did exceptionally well and made it to the Championship match, which unfortunately they lost (the officiating left a little to be desired) and they ended up taking 2nd place.
It worked out well for us though, because our families got to spend some time together...Hopefully they will have another tournament here again in the future.
...I bet you can't guess who the soccer player is
The Tournament was held at the Air Force Academy, which is right at the foot of the mountains, and you can look out over the whole valley...very inspiring.
Chris's team the Rangers did exceptionally well and made it to the Championship match, which unfortunately they lost (the officiating left a little to be desired) and they ended up taking 2nd place.
It worked out well for us though, because our families got to spend some time together...Hopefully they will have another tournament here again in the future.
...I bet you can't guess who the soccer player is
Tuesday, July 15, 2008
Utah, the Final Frontier
We just recently returned from our yearly pilgrimage to visit the place of our birth, and revisit our roots. With the rising cost of gas we were a little concerned about the cost of driving, normally it costs us just under $200.00 to make the 1200 mile round trip. This time it was $260.00 (it wasn't as bad as I initially thought it would be) the average price we paid was around $4.00/gal.
This year we had the added bonus of getting to see my Sister Melanie, who came in from Florida, it's been 3-4 years since the last time I saw her and her family. Plus my youngest sister Becky had just given birth to twins just before we came out...so there was a lot going on... and since both of our families live in the same city, It quickly turns into a whirlwind, and by the time it's over your head is spinning so fast, you can't remember what's next.
All in all it was a great trip... we are looking forward to doing it again in November when Stephen leaves on his mission.
Here's a quick recap
The Twins
Fireworks on the 4th
Swimming
This year we had the added bonus of getting to see my Sister Melanie, who came in from Florida, it's been 3-4 years since the last time I saw her and her family. Plus my youngest sister Becky had just given birth to twins just before we came out...so there was a lot going on... and since both of our families live in the same city, It quickly turns into a whirlwind, and by the time it's over your head is spinning so fast, you can't remember what's next.
All in all it was a great trip... we are looking forward to doing it again in November when Stephen leaves on his mission.
Here's a quick recap
- 10 hour drive to get there
- LeBaron family get together
- Local swimming pool with Ron and his family
- Short visit with Becky to see the twins
- 2nd LeBaron family get together
- Fireworks outside the Stadium
- Baptism of Randie's Niece
- Breinholt get together at Jodie's
- Water sports with David (no one died)
- Boys went Dirt Biking (still no deaths)
- 10 hour drive home (me and Stephen... Randie, Justin, and Sarah stayed)
- Camping with Breinholts
- Kids went to Movie's to see Walle
- other various visits and activity's
- Randie, Justin and Sarah flew home
The Twins
Fireworks on the 4th
Swimming
Saturday, June 21, 2008
Garden's up and Growing
Yes, it's my favorite time of the year...just turning the corner from spring to summer, and my Garden is flourishing. If you didn't know already, I love to garden. We always had a garden growing up, in fact I can never remember a time that we didn't have a garden. I was always amazed at the whole process of planting a little seed and watching it turn miraculously into something wonderful. 
When I was younger I loved to plant a row of radishes, because from seed to mature radish was like 3 or 4 weeks...now that I have a little more patience I think tomato's are my favorite. (and of course pumpkins) We don't have ton's of space in our back yard so we made 3 grow boxes on the south side of our house, and we are putting in some raised flowerbeds along the back fence where I think I can sneak a pumpkin in hopefully next year.
I have to blame my mom for my green thumb, she was the driving force in our house to get the garden in, although it seemed that she tried several times to squash (no pun intended) my gardening enthusiasm by making us pull endless weeds (always in the blazing sun when it was 120 deg), and harvest rocks in the spring like they were potatoes. But amazingly somehow it stuck with me. I love to go out every morning and just see how things are going...no one else in the family seems to have much of an interest, with the exception of Sarah, she loves to help me plant and harvest.
The cold weather seemed to last a couple weeks longer than I had hoped so I don't think I'll have tomatoes by July 4th, but we will definitely have zucchini by then.
I'll post updates occasionally so you can see how it goes. Happy Green thumbs!
Sunday, June 15, 2008
Car Accident
Whenever the phone rings on Sunday morning It always makes me a little bit nervous, Usually it's someone from church who needs a last minute substitute for their primary or Sunday school class...or the Bishop want's you to talk in Sacrement meeting.
That was the first thing that went through my mind when the phone rang this morning, then I saw that it was Stephen calling, and I thought "whew, It's just Stephen"... however, the first thing he said is "Brady and I were just in an accident"...then all sorts of things went flashing through my mind...horrible things...the one good thing I thought was that at least it wasn't someone else calling to say that Stephen was in an accident...that would have been worse.
After making sure that they were both OK, I had him fill me in on what happened.
Stephen and Brady both work at one of the local golf courses, it's about 20Min's from our house and they take turns driving to save gas...Today it was Brady's turn to drive (they have to work every other Sunday from 5:00 am to 10:00 am, and then work full time during the week) they were on their way home and Stephen had fallen asleep (he was the passenger), unfortunatley Brady fell asleep also...Stephen woke up just after they went off the rode, when he realized what was happening he yelled at Brady, and then noticed they were headed straight for a light pole...Brady woke up and swerved, but it was to late to avoid hitting the pole...they did turn enough that they didn't hit it straight on but they still hit hard on the passenger side.
They both had their seat belts on (all of that yelling at them in the car for the past 18 years to put their seat belts on paid off) If they didn't they probably wouldn't have made it, they were going about 45 mph when they hit the light pole, and it totaled the car.
We feel very blessed that no one was hurt, they were both pretty shaken up, but it will end up being a good experience...allot of life's lessons aren't this painless...we are counting our blessings today.
That was the first thing that went through my mind when the phone rang this morning, then I saw that it was Stephen calling, and I thought "whew, It's just Stephen"... however, the first thing he said is "Brady and I were just in an accident"...then all sorts of things went flashing through my mind...horrible things...the one good thing I thought was that at least it wasn't someone else calling to say that Stephen was in an accident...that would have been worse.
After making sure that they were both OK, I had him fill me in on what happened.
Stephen and Brady both work at one of the local golf courses, it's about 20Min's from our house and they take turns driving to save gas...Today it was Brady's turn to drive (they have to work every other Sunday from 5:00 am to 10:00 am, and then work full time during the week) they were on their way home and Stephen had fallen asleep (he was the passenger), unfortunatley Brady fell asleep also...Stephen woke up just after they went off the rode, when he realized what was happening he yelled at Brady, and then noticed they were headed straight for a light pole...Brady woke up and swerved, but it was to late to avoid hitting the pole...they did turn enough that they didn't hit it straight on but they still hit hard on the passenger side.
They both had their seat belts on (all of that yelling at them in the car for the past 18 years to put their seat belts on paid off) If they didn't they probably wouldn't have made it, they were going about 45 mph when they hit the light pole, and it totaled the car.
We feel very blessed that no one was hurt, they were both pretty shaken up, but it will end up being a good experience...allot of life's lessons aren't this painless...we are counting our blessings today.
Wednesday, June 11, 2008
Coconut Cake Mistake
Sometimes you just have to know where to draw the line. I must have a few defective genes somewhere in my makeup because when it comes to baking I sometimes get this overwhelming urge to "Make it from Scratch"... (and when I say make it from scratch I mean I'd have hen's outback laying the eggs if could sneak them past the city ordinances.)
It all started because I saw this show on the food network about how cakes today are just Styrofoam imitations of the "Real" cakes of yesteryear. So I decided last night around 5:00 pm that I was going to make a "Real" Coconut Layer Cake from Scratch.
I sat down and did some research, and made a list of ingredients...and was off to the store for some coconuts, and some coconut extract..(now this is how bad my affliction is...I read that instead of using the "Imitation" coconut extract, that you can make your own "real" extract by soaking freshly grated coconut in some vodka for a couple of days...it was close, but I finally talked myself out of that, and forced myself to settle for the "Imitation" extract)
After getting back from the store, I got my variable speed drill and proceeded to drill out the eye's of the 2 coconuts I'd purchased, and Drained the water out of them for use later. I had read somewhere that you can crack coconuts with relative ease by popping them in the over for 15 minutes...so in they went...and amazingly it worked really well...the meat pretty much popped right out. I peeled the outer layer off the meat, and ran it through the food processor to shred it...and now I was ready to start, I had my big bowl of freshly shredded coconut...and it was only 6:30 pm.
But, I still couldn't start on the cake batter because the recipe called for coconut milk, and coconut cream, both of which are derived by taking different amounts of freshly shredded coconut and combining it with boiling milk, then letting it sit for 1 hour (7:30) then running the mixture through the blender and then straining out the milk, or cream (8:00)
NOW... I'm ready to start...I have my Coconut water, my home made Coconut Milk, my home made Coconut Cream, my "imitation" Coconut Extract, plus a large bowl of freshly shredded Coconut.
I get the butter and sugar mixing, add the flour, baking powder, salt and the coconut milk and cream...then fold in some menage to make it a nice sponge cake...put it in the pans and pop them in the oven (8:30)....take pans out of the oven (9:10) looking good, let cake cool in pans (9:20) cakes fell from altitude sickness (sigh)...no worries, we've come this far so I have to finish, let cakes cool (10:00)...Start 7min frosting (that's what its called) and it was pretty close to 7 minutes...This is where I made my next mistake....I should have just used the 2 layers, but I had originally planned on splitting them for a 4 layer cake, but since they fell...I ended up with 2 half layers and some pieces. (10:15)...no sense in quitting now...frosted the first layer, put pieces together for the 2nd layer frosted that and added the last and final 3rd layer, frosted the whole thing...and finished at 10:30 pm...
So...$16.00 and 5 1/2 hours later I had a nice Coconut "mush" cake...I have to say that if the cake hadn't fallen it would have looked amazing, and I do have to say that it did taste REALLY GOOD, don't know if it was because after all that work I wanted it to taste good or if it really was that good.
Was it worth it...if it had turned out...probably...this go around I'm still debating...
Yes I'll probably make it again, BUT I'm going to buy Pre-Shredded coconut, and see if Walmart carries Coconut milk or cream (I'm thinking one or the other will do) and I'm pretty sure I can get it down to a respectable 2hrs instead of almost 6, I'll have to figure out how to deal with the altitude sickness, a little more flour should cure it.
Saturday, June 7, 2008
Aaron's Camp
Every two years the boys have the opportunity to attend a church sponsored, week long "High Adventure Camp". The neat thing about it is that the whole camping experience is designed around gospel principles to help the boys feel the spirit, while at the same time doing all the fun things that boys like to do.
So for the past week it's been pretty quite around our house with just me, Randie, and Sarah...(although Sarah isn't short in making her own fair share of noise sometimes).
The other big difference we noticed is that our food bill dropped WAY DOWN, I have no idea where they put it all. All I know is I buy it, and it just disappears into thin air. I have learned that besides the handful of items that they won't eat...Like Swiss Cheese, etc, that if there is something I want to make sure I can snack on in a few days, I have to hide them in strategic places around the house...then if I don't forget that I've hidden something there, I'm not looking at the bottom of an empty snack box when I get the munchies.
The boys got back this afternoon, and said they had a wonderful time, they did a 12 mile Mountain bike ride, an obstacle course, a High ropes course, (they didn't get to do repelling this year as they got rained out that day), and several other activities.
Every morning they had a devotional, at the end of the camp one of the highlights is the "Solo Experience" (before they leave, the adult leaders have all the parents write a letter to their son(s), and the boys are given the letters at this time) they go out into the woods and find a quite place were they can be alone and read the letters, and think about life for a while....obviously some get more out of it than others, but it is a great time for me as a Father to tell my son's how much I love them, and let them know how proud I am of them.
Because this was Stephen's last year, he was one of the youth leaders, and got to conduct most of the devotionals and give several talks.
It's an amazing thing to watch my son's mature and turn into men... I'm so grateful that they get to have experiences like this....Next year Justin gets to go on the "Pioneer Trek" and I know he's looking forward to that also.
So for the past week it's been pretty quite around our house with just me, Randie, and Sarah...(although Sarah isn't short in making her own fair share of noise sometimes).
The other big difference we noticed is that our food bill dropped WAY DOWN, I have no idea where they put it all. All I know is I buy it, and it just disappears into thin air. I have learned that besides the handful of items that they won't eat...Like Swiss Cheese, etc, that if there is something I want to make sure I can snack on in a few days, I have to hide them in strategic places around the house...then if I don't forget that I've hidden something there, I'm not looking at the bottom of an empty snack box when I get the munchies.
The boys got back this afternoon, and said they had a wonderful time, they did a 12 mile Mountain bike ride, an obstacle course, a High ropes course, (they didn't get to do repelling this year as they got rained out that day), and several other activities.
Every morning they had a devotional, at the end of the camp one of the highlights is the "Solo Experience" (before they leave, the adult leaders have all the parents write a letter to their son(s), and the boys are given the letters at this time) they go out into the woods and find a quite place were they can be alone and read the letters, and think about life for a while....obviously some get more out of it than others, but it is a great time for me as a Father to tell my son's how much I love them, and let them know how proud I am of them.
Because this was Stephen's last year, he was one of the youth leaders, and got to conduct most of the devotionals and give several talks.
It's an amazing thing to watch my son's mature and turn into men... I'm so grateful that they get to have experiences like this....Next year Justin gets to go on the "Pioneer Trek" and I know he's looking forward to that also.
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