Idaho

So, we went to Idaho and Utah, and while I have been slow doing anything, hopefully this is the fist post about our trip. Before I left, a girl from China I go to school with asked me, "So, is there anything to do in Idaho." Hopefully, this post will suggest that there is at least one thing to do. So, while in Idaho, it is important to remember the following, which we found on a post in the cabin we stayed in our first night: Here is the cabin. It was one of two cabins we stayed in on our trip, and was very pleasant. All my family less Kristin and Mark and and the related persons were there. It was a good time.There are a lot of trees in some parts of Idaho. And rivers. And canyons. And lots of stuff of that sort. There are also rivers that fall over cliffs in Idaho. SOme are very pleasant.Jacob especially likes to look at them. SO, that is the first update on what there is to do in Idaho.

Squirrels

So, the squirrels like to eat out of our bird feeders. They are pretty creative. Here is one doing his dirty work. Well, it happened one day, that one of the squirrels got real greedy, and decided to just dive right in for the mother lode. And, he got stuck. The best part to me is his little paw sticking down, trying to grasp at some seeds. Here he is, a little closer up. And here he is some more, just wedged in there. I was at work when this happened, but Stacey saw the greedy little fellow, and tried to get him out. She couldn't. She called the animal control people, and they came and freed the little guy. When I went out there that evening, I found a piece of tail on the ground--I think they tried to just pull him out by the tail to start with. I am pretty sure I have seen a squirrel with a bit of tail missing eating out of our birdfeeders. So, now, we must design a bird feeder that is squirrelproof. I talked to my brother about it, and as an astute engineer, he said "Well, you need something that a bird can fly to, but a squirrel can't climb to or drop on to. So, it cant be on a post, and it cant hang. I guess we need to construct some sort of magnetic field where it can just hover."

4 months old!

Here are some recent pictures of our littlest one, as well as her recent stats for anyone keeping up on how well (and quickly) she's growing!

Weight: 17 lb 13 oz (99th percentile)

Head circumference: 44 cm (94th percentile)

Height: 25.5 in (84th percentile) ("She's about the size of a nine month old except for her height - she's a midget there." - Dr. Hilarious.)

She continues to be a wonderful little baby, loved by her big brother very much and she's just beautiful too. It is such a joy to be her mother.

TWD: Blueberry-Sour Cream Ice Cream

So this week I was supposed to make Vanilla Ice Cream. It looked great, it looked creamy, custardy and downright unhealthy. I was thrilled. But, Jacob has been lovin' his milk lately, drinking a bit more than usual, and upon realizing that there was not nearly enough whole milk to get the job done, I opted to make the ice cream a few pages later. The bonus was that I got to use up more of our blueberries. It is almost time to go pick loads more of them, that's for sure. Apologies to the TWD group, but I just didn't want to go to the store just for milk. So I didn't. But I'll make it sometime - 6 egg yolks? Yes, that sounds delicious.

Here is the recipe I used:

Blueberry-Sour Cream Ice Cream 1 C blueberries, fresh or if frozen, thawed and drained 1/3 C sugar Zest and juice of 1/4 lemon (I used about a Tablespoon or less of just juice) Pinch of salt Heat the above in a saucepan until boiling and berries begin to pop/burst. Pour into blender and puree well for a minute or so. Add to blender and then pulse to mix well: 3/4 C heavy cream 3/4 C sour cream Add more sugar or lemon juice as needed (mine was fine, but taste it to see for sure). Chill custard mix in fridge, then transfer to ice cream maker and churn according to the manufacturer's instructions. After it is done in ice cream maker, pour into a freezer safe container/bowl and freeze for about 2 hours. Makes about 1 pint.

Recipe from Dorie Greenspan's Baking: From my home to yours

The verdict?

My vote: I thought this was amazing. I loved it, thought it was creamy, and I agreed with Dorie that it tasted like summer in a bowl. Just great.

Jeff's vote: He said it tasted too much like the sour cream.

Luckily my husband really will eat just about anything I make, but the really good news is that if I make this again - I will get to eat all of it. Maybe?

It is great with blueberry cobbler, of course, as shown in the picture. But even if you don't have homemade cobbler handy, go make this. Today. For dinner.

This is perhaps one of the funnier things I have heard in the last while

This is perhaps one of the funnier things I have heard in the last while: http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601039&sid=a5lhZkEauCu8 Let me know what you think. I'm serious. Read it, think about it, and comment.

TWD: Raspberry (Blueberry) Blanc-Manger

This is my first adventure with the Tuesdays with Dorie group, which means that each Tuesday I will post about a recipe I made, chosen by another TWDer, from Dorie Greenspan's cookbook called Baking: From My Home to Yours. Everyone posts on Tuesday but we can make our creations whenever we wish. I made mine on Saturday this time. This week's tasty treat is the Raspberry Blanc-Manger, chosen by Susan of Sticky, Gooey, Creamy, Chewy. I was excited to try one of the recipes that caught my eye when I first flipped through the cookbook - it was French, but I'd never heard of it. Dorie's description of the recipe says that it was popular among young French people such as newlyweds because it doesn't require any particularly odd ingredients. That is my kind of recipe. You can see the recipe at Susan's blog and check out other versions perhaps much better than mine on the blogs listed in the sidebar at TWD.

Since we just picked mountains and mountains of blueberries last Friday, I decided to use those in combination with the almond milk/cream/gelatin mixture. With this being the first time I've ever used one of Dorie Greenspan's recipes, I was quite impressed at how smoothly things went in the kitchen.

Cooling the almond milk mixture. Doesn't everyone love a good ice bath?

Folding the cream and berries in with the milk. It is highly possible that I did some stirring instead of folding...

Granted, the counters were crowded and I was running all over the place grinding almonds, whipping cream and dissolving sugar and gelatin and trying to keep Rebecca content, but the instructions were so clear that I never lost my place and never had to re-read anything or second guess what I was doing.

Here it is, ready to chill and set in the fridge. Note the addition of the French-patterned napkin in the same colors as the blanc-manger. I'm trying to be creative here, folks.

The result?

We served this on Sunday night when we had some friends join us for dinner. I thought it was absolutely delicious, even in spite of the fact that I accidentally pulled it out of the fridge much earlier than I intended to (which just meant it was a little soupy around the edges instead of fully set once it was served) because I was just moving things around in the fridge while making roast chicken and the pan with the blanc-manger didn't get back in there, whoops! I didn't put any sort of garnish or coulis on top but I might try that next time to add more blueberry flavor. It was fun to try something completely new and different taste- and texture-wise, and I might even make it again sometime using some other sort of soft berry. Yum!

Next week's pick: Vanilla Ice Cream by Lynne of Cafe LynnyLu .

Ward Campout

Near the beginning of June we went on our ward campout at a nearby state park. We got there after most people had eaten dinner, so we unintentionally drew a lot of attention to ourselves by setting up the Cache cooker and making a veritable feast of dutch oven jambalaya and 1-1-1 biscuits for dessert. It did smell really good, and it all tasted even better! Here are a few pictures of Jacob being cute, and swimming at Portage Lake the morning after we camped.

The kids did great in the tent, well Rebecca did anyways. It felt like Jacob was awake most of the night, he was just too excited to have us in our bed right next to his pack 'n play, and Rebecca on the other side in her little bassinet. He was throwing his blankets at me for some of the night and mostly just jumping around. He calmed down once Jeff let him lay by us, but it was an exciting night for the little guy.

Testing e-mail blogging - Oh My

Yes, I have been poked in the eye with an antler.

And yes, here lies the resting place of the first bike I owned as an “adult.”

Ann Arbor Art Fairs

We visited the Ann Arbor Art Fairs the other night as a family. The kids and I rode the UM bus to meet Jeff on campus, where we had a dinner of leftover beef wellington. Then we ventured over to the first set of booths and began our browsing. The best part was the Kashi booths where we got all sorts of free samples and where I got to do some yoga to end the day. They even let me keep the yoga mat, which Jacob is enjoying immensely. We didn't buy any art, but it was fun to see all the different things people create out of their various media, like this lovely bronze rabbit sculpture. We are happy to say we were among the vast throngs of people who attended this year - it is usually around a half a million people over the Wednesday-Saturday period.

Mary Poppins

Last night I finished listening to Mary Poppins by P.L. Travers. Pamela Lyndon Travers, that is. When I was younger I knew the author's name but assumed it was a man. Maybe that's what she was going for...

Anyways, the book was first published in 1934 and was quite enjoyable. The children go on different adventures with her in the book. Some of them are very fun, such as going Christmas shopping with a star named Maia from the Taurus constellation, the birthday party at the zoo at midnight where people are in cages and the animals are out and about, or going around the world in a very short period of time and meeting various animals. It is a little tricky to read/listen to books for which there is a film or musical, particularly if you are familiar with the latter beforehand. I was sad that the children don't ever meet Bert in the book, or that he is not even a chimneysweep, just a Matchman. And there are more Banks children in the book, too! Who knew?!

Mary is made to be much more kind and helpful in the Disney film, but she is one tough nanny in the book, which was kind of fun because by the end of the book the children were enjoying when she was "cross." She's also a bit more conceited in the book, which was also humorous. "She loved looking in the shop windows to see her new fur-trimmed gloves with her hands inside of them." And of course, with no songs in the book, there is no way to learn "biggest word you've ever heard", or "the word you say when you don't know what to say": SUPERCALIFRAGILISTICEXPIALIDOCIOUS. I suppose I am still vascillating between liking the book or the movie more, but maybe I don't need to decide between both.

I just placed a request at the library for Mary Poppins She Wrote: the Life of P.L. Travers as I thought it might be interesting to read about what her role was in making the film and if there were any issues she had with how it ended up. I liked the book enough to also request the second tale in the series (I didn't know there was a series!), Mary Poppins Comes Back. I'll let you know how the next one is!

Maybe I'll get to see the musical one day so I can add that to the versions of the story I'm familiar with...

*image via google images, jimandellen.org

It's really done

Just in case anyone besides Stacey has been waiting on the edge of their seat, you'll be happy to know that Stacey's master's project is officially "in the system" now at the Harold B. Lee Library.

CHEERS! HOORAY! IT IS REALLY DONE NOW. :)

If you feel a need to read the paper, use the link found below!

Hope you are all having a nice day.

http://contentdm.lib.byu.edu/ETD/image/etd2853.pdf

And I would ride 100 miles, and I would ride 100 more...

On Saturday Jeff rode in the Ann Arbor Bicycle Touring Society's annual century: "One Helluva Ride," so named because the route takes riders through the town/small area known as Hell, Michigan. Jeff's oldest brother also did the ride, along with our friend Brady. We are thankful for a kind home teacher who loaned Jeff his road bike so Jeff wouldn't have to be fixing things the whole way. Here's a picture of the finish line, and the odometer to show the exciting number. Since it wasn't a race there wasn't much fanfare at the end (besides watermelon), but I did my best to cheer for him and tried to get Jacob to do so as well.

Great job, Jeff! He finished in 6:16, riding at a rate of 16 mph (pretty slow).

Four Years

As of July 8, 2009, we have been married four years. While I cannot speak for Stacey, for my part, it has been an amazing experience, and has been the best part of my life up until now. I tricked the finest woman money cant buy into marrying me, and together, we have had two wonderful children. It has been an amazing time. Here are some highlights of the last year, covering the time period July 9, 2008-July8, 2009 (our last year of marriage). Feel free to search this blog to find the last three videos I have made, that cover our first three years. One day I will get some real video editing software and some more time, and make something a bit nicer. Enjoy.

Pictures

So, we had some pictures taken a couple weeks back at D&MH Photography, out of Beaver Creek, OH, and they turned out very well. Here are a couple. They are all of Rebecca (in case you were wondering if one or two were of Jacob).

Fourth of July

For the Fourth of July we spent time with several of our friends. It was fun to have a breakfast potluck, then we went over to Ypsilanti for their parade where we had a picnic lunch and then later that day we got together with some more people for a barbecue. We also kept up our yearly July 4th tradition of reading the Declaration of Independence. I am so thankful to be able to live where I do and have the freedoms that we all enjoy. In the words of Big Russ, the father of the late Tim Russert, "What a country!"

Her romper says I [heart] America. See how happy she is to live in this land?

Sorry to blind you with our white appendages.

Jacob holding the candy given to him, which I have been eating.

Jeff and the kids (they are really there) watching the Ypsi library bus go by in the parade. I thought the bus had a nice message on it.