Our Christmas Tree Hunt

My Favorite Thanksgiving Recipe

I make this recipe almost every Thanksgiving, in addition to trying new recipe. Cranberry sauce can be really boring, especially that "canned stuff". This one has a lot of flavor. I made it one year when I went home for Thanksgiving . The family was a little sceptical at first, having had only the "canned stuff". Louise(Effie) liked it so much I gave her the recipe. So if you are looking for a way to spice up your meal. Try it!!

SPICY CRANBERRY SAUCE

1 BAG FRESH OR FROZEN CRANBERRIES (12OZ)
2/3 CUP CIDER VINEGAR
1 TBS GRATED ORANGE PEELS
2 CUPS SUGAR
1/3 CUP ORANGE JUICE
1 TSP GROUND CINNAMOM
3/4 TSP GRD ALLSPICE
1/4 TSP GRD CLOVES

PICK. RINSE, AND DRAIN CRANBERRIES. IN A 4 QT PAN COMBINE CRANBERRIES, VINEGAR, ORANGE PEELS, ORANGE JUICE, SUGAR, CINNAMON, ALLSPICE, AND CLOVES. BRING TO A BOIL ON HIGH HEAT, REDUCE HEAT AND SIMMER GENTLY STIRRING OFTEN, UNTIL REDUCED TO ABOUT 3 1/2 CUPS. 30 - 45 MINUTES . AS SAUCE THICKENS REDUCE HEAT AND STIR MORE OFTEN TO PREVENT STICKING. LET COOL, THEN COVER AND CHILL FOR UP TO THREE WEEKS OR FREEZE FOR LONGER STORAGE.


This year I'm trying Orange Ginger Cranberry Sauce.

Orange Ginger Cranberry Sauce.
1 lb fresh cranberries(picked over & rinsed)
2 cups of sugar (2 seemed like a lot of sugar so I only used 1 1/2)
1/2 cup water
Finely grated zest of 1 orange
1/2 cup fresh orange (I used the juice of the orange above)
2 tablespoons finely minced fresh ginger

Combine all of the ingredients in a saucepan. Cook over medium heat, stirring occasionally, until the cranberries pop open, about 10 minutes
Let cool
Refrigerate, covered, for up to 2 months.
Freezes well.

Please post comments if you try one of these recipes. Also post your favorite recipe.

Holidays are almost here

It's almost Thanksgiving, before you know it, it's 2009. What are your holiday plans? I'm not planning anything big. Just way too much work. The boys will be here, Aschala will be in the bay area with her in-laws. I'll try to remember to take a couple of photos and post them. I'd like to encourage everyone to post your holiday photos. The Halloween pictures were great.

Question

The election is finally over.  What do you think of our new president?

I watch the returns, was a little anxious at times.  If McCain had been elected, we may have left the country.  Obama's speech was very moving.  I even had tears in my eyes.  I hope you all voted and took part in making history.  

Halloween was beautiful this year. I dont ever remember not having to dress in layers to go trick or treating. The kids got lucky this year with 68* weather.

Jalen was Bumble Bee the Transformer & Adrianna made up her costume & was what she called a "Pretty Witch". Amaya didnt dress up this year.. maybe next.

Good Day of Fishing

Hollis went fishing last Sat and caught 4 catfish. He was so proud that I had to share with everyone.

HALLOWEEN

We got one trick or treater, Alyssa the pirate. Didn't even hear any other trick or treaters in the neighborhood. A.J. didn't dress up. He would have made a cute pumpkin. I painted a pumpkin for Alyssa and A.J. but I forgot to take a picture of it.

HAPPY HALLOWEEN !!!!!

It's raining so we aren't getting very many Trick or Treaters tonight.  Hope everyone had a safe Halloween.

New Pictures

Amaya & Jalen


Just some random pictures we've taken. Kids are well. Enjoying school & counting down the days to 'trick or treating'.

Add Adrian

Adrian is having a hard time getting onto the blog. It wont let him join. Could somebody add him to the list? His email is ACollier719@msn.com

Thanks! Hope everybody's having a wonderful week!!

-Jess

Family hanging out / Barbecue

We had a barbecue prior to my surgery. We had a good time. Always fun to get together. Top left picture is Harry, middle is Moma and A.J., right is Andre, and bottom is Barb, Alyssa, and A.J.

Playing around, trying to get photos upload.

Well I finally got these photo uploaded. However, not the ones that I wanted to upload. Now all I have to do is see if I remember how I did it. Anyway picture on the left is Alyssa and her friend. Bottom two are A.J.

Great pictures of the pumpkin patch. It is amazing how little kids never get tired. I wasn't going to buy a pumpkin, but I think I will. As a matter of fact I think that I'll go get it later today. I going to name mine Hollow. :)

I'm still trying to figure out how to post the pictures to this blog. I going to figure it out today if it's the last thing that I do. I did have the barbeque before I went in for my surgery and I have pictures to post. We had a good time. Moma, Harry, Ricky and his Mom, Andre' and Barb and their family came. Hopefully I'll get some pictures posted today.

Until Later
Louise

Pumpkin Patch

Bob and I took Miles to Bishop Farm to get a pumpkin today. What a day. I must not be as young as I think I am some days, I'm worn out. There were train rides, hay rides and even a pig race. It took too long for the pig race to get under way, so we bailed on that one. We did see the pigmy goat race though. A thrill a minute.....NOT!!! Miles had a great time though. After 4 hours he still didn't want to go home. We only spent about 5 minutes in the pumpkin patch. He named his pumpkin Orange. He's not going to carve it though, because it might hurt Orange. I named mine Persimmon, but it's getting carved next week!! Bob called his Pumpkin, because that's what it is.

We all had a great time.

Bryce Canyon etc.....

It's been a great trip, but I'm ready to go home.  We went to Bryce Canyon today and yesterday.  The weather turned cold, but it was a nice change.  While I'm taking pictures Bob takes pictures of me taking pictures.

Today we are in Salt Lake City.  Took a scenic drive through these great aspen trees.  It snowed overnight in the higher elevations.  It's definitely fall up here and winter will be here soon.  

Hope everyone had a great weekend.

Busy week

Hey Everyone,
It's nice to see all the posts ( and the cute pics, Aunt Tammie). I'm trying my best to keep up but school is kicking my butt this semester. Aaron has been out of town this week so I've been getting a little less sleep trying to do my work after Miles goes to sleep. He just got back-hallelujah!
Miles is going to be the ring bearer in one of my oldest friend's wedding tomorrow. I'll post pics. He looks cute in his tux. Though he keeps saying if he drops the pillow people will call him the ring dropper instead of the ring bearer. Kids are just too much. I'm sure you have a comment for that Mom.
Hope everyone is doing well.

Must be posting at the same time.

Hey girl: We must have been posting at the same time. I had just posted and went back to view and saw your pictures that you posted. All I can say is that you must be in good shape physically. You go girl!
Later
Louise

Frustrated

I just spent about 15 min trying to log into this stupid blog. It kept telling me that my username was incorrect. I might have been typing my password with caps when it should have been lower case, who knows. But anyway I was so frustrated that I had to vent.
Anyway Kathy I hope that you enjoy your trip and get rid of that cold. I haven't had a cold in awhile, and don't want to get one either.
I plan to barbecue this weekend and invite the family over. I just want to get together and spend some time outside before my surgery. I will take some pictures and post them. It's been really nice out lately. The weather is starting to cool down.
This has been a good week for me. I have felt good all week.
Until Later
Louise

Zion National Park

It's beautiful here!!  Did a short 1 mile hike to Canyon Overlook.  I only panicked once.  The path looked too narrow, I felt like I was as big as an elephant, and the fall would have been just tooooooo far down.  Bob was very very patient.   I would have left me if I could have.   There was a younger woman on the trail in flip flops, just walking like it was a piece of cake.  We are going back tomorrow for another hike and more picture.  Then on to Bryce Canyon for more excitement.  Hopefully my heart can take it.  

Bryce Canyon here I come!!!

Taking a few days off and heading to Utah to take a few photos. I'll make sure to take a couple of digital photos, so I'll have something to post.
I've still got this blasted cold, but a day with a cold and not at work beats a good day at work anyday. I will try to post later in the week.

pics of us

Some of the pics or about 1 year old some or recent. Nelson , Shannice and her wing Mya at the Greek Festival getting her face painted. Shannice and one of her high school friend Alyssia. Mya and I in our Halloween costumes. Mya is a Butterfly Fairy and me a Peasant Girl. More to come.

Gotta cold

It started in my head and has moved down to my chest. Hopefully it's on it's way out. Anyway I'm home surfing for a good movie. Why is it when you don't have time to watch TV there's something interesting to watch. It's only bad news or bad movies. The weather is nice, I think I'll go lounge in the backyard. It's probably time to replant the garden. We planted tomatoes, green beans, bell peppers, herbs and squash. The squash tried to take over the garden so we had to pull it out. Here's a picture of the backyard in May. The vegetable garden is in the far end of the photo. I have the best gardener in the neighborhood and his rates are really cheap. Actually I don't even pay him(Bob).

Cedric's birthday was Tuesday, so we will have some sort of get together tomorrow. I may cook if I feel better if not we'll be going out for dinner/lunch somewhere. He's 28 now, time sure does fly. I still remember a scrawny kid playing little league baseball. Surely they can't be the same. Oh well.........

I'll try to take photos of them this weekend and post them.

til next time....

Hi guys: I work up this morning feeling so good. Just so that you guys know I e-mailed the family members twice that have not logged into the blog yet. I have not received any response from them, and they still have not logged in. So oh well.
If all goes well we plan to invite the family over and barbecue this weekend. I kinda want to get together before my surgery. The weather here is getting cooler and that's a nice change, especially when it comes to cooking outside.
I think this blog is really neat. So to the family members that are participating lets keep it up.
I will try to post some pictures also when I figure it out.
Until Later
Louise

Hi

Hi everyone I am back.
I forgot my password and had to reset it. Any way not much going. Just taking in one day at a time.
Happy Anniversary Bob and Kathryn.
Fall is here for us windy weather all week long.
Girl Scout will be on the way for us in about a week or so. Can wait to see how thing go the first night. Cross your finger and say a pray ;)
One day I will try to put some pics up pray that the computer don't freeze up on me.
Will that all for now.
Little sis.

PS Louise I am glad you can get up and around some, praying for you.

Just checking in.

Bob and Kathy congratulation on your 2 year anniversary. May you have many more happy years together.

Not this last sat, but the sat before that I had a really good day. We cooked outside. Moma, Harry and Alyssa came over. After we ate myself, Moma and Alyssa went to Trail Dust Town which is located at Tanque Verde and Grant. We walked around and had a good time. They have alot of little shops. Most of the shops were closed because we got there kinda of late. It kinda like Old Tucson. I kinda worn myself out, but it was worth it. I can't wait to get my health back and feel like a normal person. But until then I'll have to take one day at a time. Moma said to say hello to everyone.
Until Later
Louise

2 years of wedded bliss

Yesterday was our 2nd anniversary and we spent the evening at bootcamp!!! We will go to San Francisco this weekend to really celebrate. Our real first date was a trip to SF, so the city is kind of special for us. It's been a wonderful 2 years. Maybe I'll get around to taking some pictures of us this weekend.

Photos from Oregon

I've attached a few pictures from our lastest trip to Oregon.   Our first stop was Portland for a couple of days.  We arrived just in time for the Gay Pride Weekend celebration.  What a shock!!  On friday night there was a Dike Parade(this is what they called it).  There were topless women on Harley's.  Didn't know boobs could sag that far.  There was also several gangs of pirates roaming the streets.  Never did figure out that out.  The following day there was a full-on Gay Pride parade.  What a sight!!  Unbelievable!!   After those very enlightening couple of days we headed to the coast for some serenity.  On a previous our trip to the Oregon Coast we discovered this small town called Manzanita that we really liked.  It's right on the beach, population about 600.  There is a small motel right across the street from the beach.  It's great, Bob can go Kiteboarding and I can take pictures without going too far.   If  you are ever in Oregon, you should definitely  visit the coast.  

Manzanita is just beyond that last big rock.  

Correction

In my previous post I made a boo boo. I had posted that I was going to try to get Aschala's e-mail addr (Kattie's youngest daughter). I meant to say Ashley's e-mail. My bad. :) You guys probably read that and was wondering "what the heck is she talking about".
Enjoy your day
Louise

Back to School

Miles at Funderland (loves trains!)

Miles & his friend Bella (and the Daddys)

after a long day of swimming.

Aaron, Miles and his cousin Elise

Miles and his best friend Isabella

Hey everyone!

Okay Mom I know I said I would post sooner but better late than never. School started last week for Miles and I and we're all finally getting into a kind of groove with our new routine. Wednesdays are our busiest days with Miles going to swim lessons after preschool. He sure loves the water. After watching the Olympics last month he knows who Micheal Phelps is and he wants to go to the Olympics and "do diving". He was very disappointed when I told him the Olympics were over and we wouldn't be able to watch it again for a few years.

School will be very busy for me this semester because I am interning for a professor and, in a sense, teaching a class once a week. For someone as shy as I am, I can't believe I accepted the position but I figure it will be a good experience for me.
Hope everyone is well. Aunt Louise congrats on your last chemo! You are in our thoughts. Aaron and Miles say hi.

HELLO FROM TUCSON

It has taken me awhile to log on and post anything on this blog, reason being that this is my first day up and about since my last chemo. Yahoo my last chemo, I'm so glad that I'm finished with that. Hopefully later today I can get outside to see the blue sky. I've been inside for 13 days.

Well enough about that. Kathy you did a really good job of setting this blog up. Congratulations on your dark room.

Bob, you kind of had me confused with the nickname thing. I had forgotten that my stepfather had given Kathy the nickname puddin, so when you put pookie, I was like what is he talking about.

We didn't do anything for Labor Day, I was under the chemo fog.

Well I've got tons of e-mails to check, so I'm signing off for now.

By the way Kathy, did you ever get Kattie's email addr. I will try to get Aschala's (Kattie's youngest daughter) e-mail addr. I sure that she will participate.

Photography

I finally have my very own darkroom. Thanks Bob. Something that I have wanted for a long time, just never got around to doing it. I've have had most of the equipment for a few years. I'm amazed it still works. I've developed film and actually printed an image in there. Now no more excuses. My goal is to print something weekly. Who knows maybe one of them will show up in your mailbox one day.
I became interested in black and white photography after attending a class at the local community college about 10 years ago. I remember developing my first negatives and was amazed that it really worked. Then watching the images appear on paper in the developer. I was hooked.

New Girl Scout Leader

I will be leading Mya's troop. I am meeting with April Penn today to fill out papers for trianing a talk about my duties.
Let pray these Girls don't give me crazy;)
Tammie

Greeting form the East Coast

Hi every one not much going on I doing some after school care Hannah and Chloe Jeffer they are twins. Mya meet them two years ago.
Any way the family is great, school started of for Mya with out any problems I am so glad about that.
Shannice got a full time job at Dillars in Customer Services. I am happy for her and she is happy too.
Nelson is still truckin ;) but he is home for often.
Till next time
Tammie

Boot Camp

Boot camp on Wednesday was a killer.  It was at least 100 degrees, in the shade.  We started out with a 1/2 mile warm up.  Then we attacked the bleachers.  We ran up and then down the whole bleacher at the neighborhood high school.  Around the track and back to the bleachers.  Then push-up and sit-up, some I've never heard of before.  Hopping and jumping.  And if that wasn't enough.  Pilates followed the boot camp class.  I wasn't as sore as I thought I would be the next day.  

Okay people I'm still waiting for comments and posts.

Labor Day

Yesterday was great. Everyone was able to make it over for dinner. Derek is the new BBQ chef. Did a great job on the Tri-tip. There was way too much food as usual. And everyone probably ate way too much.

I think I enjoy the kids more, now that they have all moved out. All the bedrooms have been converted into office and photography rooms. So I guess they can't come back any time soon.

I signed up for 2 fitness classes(bootcamp and pilates). I may regret this later, but I really need the motivation of a class to keep exercising.

I will try to post some pictures soon to make this a little more interesting.

Be sure to make comments or even add your own post.

Keep checking.

Hi everyone..

The administrator has required that I introduce myself and test the blog. I learned a long time ago that when the administrator speaks it's pays to listen and follow directions.

We have an exciting Labor Day weekend planned. Today, a trip to the grocery store, tomorrow might include a trip to the farmers market, and to cap of the weekend, the troops are stopping by Monday for dinner. It sounds like we might be just a little too fixated on food. We might take a short trip to the Bay Area tomorrow for lunch and maybe a little "water time" at Alameda, if we can muster the courage to deal with the holiday traffic. Those of you who do not live in god's country might be surprised to know that almost all decisions are governed by traffic conditions.

I hope everyone is well and that you have more exiting plans the me and "pookie"??? is that what you used to call her?...I think it was something like that. Oh well!

I would suggest that you all keep up on your posting duties....you really don't want to get a call from the administrator.

Bob

Welcome to our family blog

We all had the same beginning. Now we are all grown up and scattered from coast to coast. We are all busy just trying to get the day to day tasks done. Some times too busy to pick up the phone. Days turn into weeks, weeks turn into years and before we know it, it seems like too much time has passed to reconnect. I created this blog as an easy way to stay in touch. I've done my part, now it's up to each of you. Take a moment post a line to just say hi, how ya doin. It's just a beginning, a chance to reconnect and stay in touch.
Love your sister
Kathryn(Puddin)