Blueberries

There are very few things my family loves more than berry picking...one of those is berry picking with friends that show us a great new place to pick. Some friends from our ward showed us a new farm. It was so lovely. Nice and shady and the berries were delicious. For most of the time we were the only ones there so the kids just got to explore and pick berries to their hearts content.

James was so pleased to be free to explore the berry patch to his hearts content. He was pretty good to stay somewhat close to me and the other kids.  Hailee loved playing and picking berries with friends.

The only problem I have now is finding space in my freezer for 10 more pounds of berries. It's a good thing berry season is almost done, I don't have very much room left in my freezer. Up next canning season. I'm looking forward to peaches, pears, apples and possibly tomatoes.

Alsea Falls

On the way back from the Scandinavian Festival we decided to drive through Corvallis. It was fairly close and we haven't been back since our summer with HP. The kids both took naps while we drove around. When they woke up we decided to go to Alsea Falls. Hailee and I went there when my parents were visiting by James and Todd had never visited.

Alsea Falls were as beautiful as I remember and the weather was nice and cool too. It's been quite warm in Hillsboro, so it was nice to get out of the heat.

After visiting the falls we decided to go downstream a little bit to see if we could find a nice place for the kids to play in the water. We kind of lost the trail and were going down a steep slope without a trail. Hailee was being very dramatic, any little slip she would cry out and grab me or anything she could find. With every little squawk James would just laugh and laugh. Her 'terror' was hilarious to James. It was so funny to watch.

It was such a beautiful day. The weather was perfect and we got home by the time our house was nice and cool. On the way home Todd was telling me how being outdoors was good for his psyche. It was good for all of us to have a little family time.

Here is a video of just how different our children are. I don't think two kids could be more different. Maybe that is why they get along so well. The waterfall is quite loud so you'll probably want to turn down the volume.

Scandinavian Festival

We met Susan at the Scandinavian Festival on Saturday. It was fun to watch the dancing and try new food. James especially enjoyed the meat pie.

 It was so much fun to get together with Susan and Deborah and catch up a little bit.

Since it was so hot and the kids were tired we didn't stay as long as we normally would have, but it was fun to get together with Susan.

Funny Guy

I'm not sure what I'm going to do with this little guy. He keeps me on my toes. He is so pleasant and easy-going, but he is full of mischief. I'm waiting for the day when I have to take him to the Emergency Room because he's stuck something up his nose. As I type he is trying to put a rock in his ear.....now it's a marker.....now a frog. I mean really, is that NORMAL? It's fairly constant with him.

He still really loves to be naked. Luckily while on vacation he was pretty good at not streaking around, but since we've been home it's been a little bit of a problem again. Yesterday morning by 10:00,  I had already had to put his diaper on multiple times. By that point I was tired, needing to get ready myself so I got him fully dressed and sent him into his room to play with Hailee so I could blow-dry my hair. Not two minutes into doing my hair be came back in the biggest smile on his face and completely naked. Up to this point he hadn't been able to take off his pants and shirt by the look on his face he was very pleased to find out that he could.

Even though he is somewhat of a naughty little guy he can be quite polite. He is always good about saying 'peese.' At least he is good about saying please when I tell him no. If he wants something and I've told him 'no' he puts on his cutest little face and with squinty eyes and nose he says 'peese.' Seriously. How am I suppose to say no to that adorable little face?

Last night when Todd got home we were down in the garage playing. After Todd had changed and came back down James went straight to him. When I was leaving to start dinner James just looked over at me, puckered his lips and looked back to what he was doing. It was such a quick little movement that it cracked me up. Just a quick little kiss to say good-bye.

He still doesn't have any hair to speak of, just one little patch in the back. Todd thinks we need to cut it so it's the same length, but he's worked so hard to grow that little patch. I just don't think I can cut it off quite yet. His hair still looks quite dark, but the longer patch in the back is looking lighter than the rest. It will be interesting to see if his hair comes in lighter.

This is how James spend most of his day. Walking around in his diaper and getting into trouble. He loves the iron that I use when I am sewing. Shortly after this pictures was taken I told him he couldn't play with it. To which he responded "peese"

Happy and content since I gave in and let him play with the iron.

I don't really give in all the time, it just looks that way on my blog. Who really wants to see a 1-year old throwing a fit. These pictures are much cuter. The other day when I wouldn't let him have what he wanted he laid down threw a fit. Right in the middle he paused to look up to see if I was still watching. When he saw the answer was still now he cried again until he gave up and got happy again. It usually never lasts long and he's pretty happy right after. So far so good.

I've Created a Monster

Early in our marriage Todd and I would go grocery shopping together. In the very very beginning Todd would pick out things that he was used to cooking. Pasta in a box, rice in a box, and just about anything else he could find in a box were on his list. After about 2 or 3 times shopping together the honeymoon finally wore off and I asked him if we could get something that didn't come in a box. Not sure what to think he said okay (he was still in the honeymoon phase after all).

I started making such delicacies such as spaghetti, hamburgers, chicken enchiladas, etc. He was in heaven. I remember one time after a few weeks of me 'cooking' he told me that he liked my cooking so much that he didn't feel the need to go out to dinner anymore. Ha ha, but he was very serious. He thought I was an amazing cook. I really wasn't doing anything fancy at all, he had just become used to the bachelor living. (After a few weeks of eating his way, I really don't know how he survived.)

Fast forward a few years, 3 to be exact, Todd was diagnosed with Meniere's Disease. The first course of action was to limit his salt. After a few weeks of eating plain chicken, plain rice, toast with no-salt butter, and plain vegetables I thought I was going to die. I finally broke down and found a low sodium cookbook that taught me a lot about cooking with different herbs for flavor. I started experimenting a little more from the basics I knew.

Now almost 8 years after we've been married my husband has become somewhat of a food snob. Who would have thought that they boy who ate everything from a box would turn out to be a foodie? Now instead of getting excited about spaghetti he gets excited about Grilled Salmon with Spicy Honey-Basil sauce. I kind of miss the days when he thought everything I made was incredible, because let's face it I don't make Lamb Chops with Red Current and Rosemary sauce every day.

Now I have to wait for his brother to come visit to get the kind of reaction I used to get from Todd when I make Soy Chicken. Todd is always appreciative and nice after dinner, but he's been a little spoiled for too long. Meniere's Disease made it so I had to cook everyday and now it's something I really enjoy. I love finding new fun recipes and I have to say I love making the ones that take a little time. It's just a shame that my daughter and son still really do enjoy Macaroni and Cheese and Papa Johns pizza. Hopefully one day they will enjoy Salmon and Lamb as much as their mom and dad.

Picture from dinner last night. It's a little fuzzy because it was taken on my phone camera. This spicy honey-basil salmon was to-die-for. Here is the recipe if you want it...

Grilled Salmon with Spicy Honey-Basil Sauce

Cook this grilled salmon with spicy honey-basil sauce on the backyard grill or under the broiler for a quick and easy dinner. Cook salmon that's 1/2 to 3/4 inch thick for 5 to 8 minutes total; cook salmon that's 1 to 1 1/2 inches thick for 8 to 12 minutes total. When broiling, keep fish 4 inches from flame. You can buy salmon as fillets or as steaks. Skin on the fillets comes off easily after cooking. Aficionados consider king (aka chinook), sockeye (aka red), and coho (aka silver) to be the tastiest types of salmon.

Per serving: 253 calories; 27 g protein; 14 g fat; 4 g carbs; 1 g fiber

Ingredients

* 2 tablespoons pine nuts, toasted
* 1 tablespoon honey
* 2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
* 1/4 cup olive oil
* 1/2 cup packed fresh basil
* 2 cloves garlic, minced
* 1 small red chile or 1 medium jalapeno, chopped (include the seeds if you like it spicy)
* 4 skinless salmon fillets, 4 ounces each

1. Place pine nuts, honey, lemon juice, 1/4 cup olive oil, basil, garlic, and chile in a blender and process until the mixture is pureed. Spoon the sauce over the salmon, and turn to coat. Cover and refrigerate overnight or for at least 4 hours, turning twice.
2. Oil the grill rack and preheat the grill to medium-high. Remove the salmon from the marinade, reserving the marinade. Sprinkle the salmon with salt and pepper on both sides.
3. Place the salmon on the grill rack and grill until opaque throughout, 4 to 6 minutes on each side. Brush occasionally with reserved marinade.

I just broiled the salmon in the oven and used red-pepper flakes instead of the red chile.

All good things...

... must come to and end. All too soon it was time to say good-bye. Hailee was very sad the week was coming to an end, before we even arrived at Aspen Grove Hailee was complaining that Family Camp was only 1 week long. "Why can't it be two weeks long?" That would sure be nice, but we did make lots of memories that will last longer than the week. It was so good to visit with family and have fun together.

Todd with Grandma Layer

Playing volleyball

There is just not enough space on this blog to put all the fun that was had during the week. We took over 400 pictures were taken.

 I'll just leave you with a video of James dancing at the family dance on the last evening. He really loved to dance.

Frontier Night

One of Hailee and James' favorite evening activities was Frontier Night. The first thing they had to do was ride the train. They loved it so much they each rode it a couple of times. 

 

Hailee also got to pan for gold. She was thrilled to find quite a few 'gold' nuggets.

Annie and Hailee were very serious about the rubber duck race. I couldn't get them to smile for the camera at all.

Hailee getting her face painted. Most little girls were getting flowers, butterflies and such. My little girl wanted to be a dog. She was just about the cutest little puppy ever. However, that night I had to tell her it was time to stop barking and get some sleep. She was a little sad when she woke up the next morning and most of it was rubbed off.

James on the last train of the night. He enjoyed running around Cowboy Village and riding the train.

Hailee and Todd on the train.