Do it, Dad!

Amidst all the remodeling,

a first:

Iris lost a tooth!

And she's the only one so far whose given

Dad the green light to yank it out!

Way to go, Iris!

March Madness: A House Ripped Apart Before Being Put Back Together Again

March was truly madness for us.

Prior to our home warranty expiring,

several cracks appeared in the ceiling of the family room

& kitchen and the garage.

The repairs would take one week to complete,

with no access to those areas of the home from 8AM - 4PM.

Yikes!

Those areas are truly the heart of the home.

But we buckled down,

and here we go... 

When all was said and done,

the work was flawless!

I lost my sanity a few times,

but overall,

things went quickly.

...

But why stop there?

Since we were already in a state of craziness,

with Samuel on Spring Break,

and our tax refund in the bank,

we decided to install new flooring!

Now the construction zone would incorporate almost

every living space except the kids bedroom and the tiled areas.

Yes,

we are crazy!

Owen found it to be a pirates haven!

And Gabriel practiced his climbing skills!

 Burning the midnight oil!

You always break for a great lunch!

A rare treat for the kids:

Whole Candy Bars!

Why?

I felt so guilty for keeping them confined to

certain parts of the house and

letting them watch movie after movie on the boob tube!

So of course,

I offer them junk food!

Way to go, Mom! 

{ Sigh }

My baby:

The Hallway 

I'm so happy and proud.

It's like giving birth!

{ Just kidding!  This is way better!  Just kidding, again...  }

Bella,

checking things out and dying to slip and slide!

Things were coming along nicely,

and then we hit the tiny patch of tile in the entry way.

Talk about stubborn mortar!

The solution,

grind it with a diamond bit.

The result:

Bittersweet.

The mortar came out,

but dust went...

E V E R Y W H E R E !

Now I know why the home repair guys

went to such lengths covering everything up with tarps!

The story behind this piece is that the work

on this room (or most of the work)

was actually completed days prior,

and in Samuel's absence,

a fact which nearly killed him.

How it worked out was that he had to go to school,

which meant that he would miss out on seeing things through to the end.

 

Thankfully, due to the big, BIG hearts of his

brother Joe and his family,

they stayed on to help finish up the work.

And we did,

except for 5 measly inches!

Try as we might,

we could not find any material to fit that last little bit!

And so that room remained incomplete,

until an order could be placed and received for more material,

which meant that Samuel would be home

to lay the last piece afterall!

{ For my blubbering on the Joe Elmers, see here! }

And so,

to Samuel's delight,

and order was placed,

and he was able to ceremoniously place the last piece!

Ta-da!
...

Is that March Madness, or what?

Taters, Real-life Leprechauns, & An Irish Feast

The night before St. Patty's Day I was informed that

we couldn't possibly go to bed without putting something out for the Leprechauns!

Afterall,

Santa gets cookies and the reindeer carrots...right?

Given the nature of the Leprechauns diet,

it was determined that the most desirable item would be...

Potatoes!

And red potatoes at that-

my personal favorite!

Sure enough,

it worked.

T H E Y  C A M E ! ! !

And the proof was in the taters!

...

The kids were tickled,

but what delighted them even more was that the Leprechauns

pulled their favorite stunt:

They emptied out all the kids panty & undie drawers!

Usually Leprechauns come and go as they please,
as long as you're not looking.

Unfortunately,
I found a couple that weren't so slick...

And now you finally know what
Leprechauns REALLY look like!

...

And yes, Bella.

That's your overturned jewelry box in the corner of the room.

Sorry, sweets!

Iris, so proud of her Leprechaun trap.

The only problem:

We forgot to devise a way to trap the Leprechaun once he's inside!

We'll have to make major design improvements for next year...

This year I tried my hand at Irish Soda Bread.

I had it only once before and all I remember was that it didn't

taste like much and it was extrememly dry.

Mine puffed beautifully,

unfortunately,

it was still really, really dry!

Our first-ever Irish feast,
including Corned Beef with a
Sour Cream, Dijon Mustard, & Breadcrumb Crust!

So, so good!

For dessert:

Apple & Walnut Spice Cake with Malt Vinegar!

Y U M - E E E !

My girls.

All decked out in green and ready to dig in!

We hope you had a fab-St. Patty's day too!

Now go kiss your sweetheart-

Irish or not!

Our Cali Spin on a Traditional East Coast Crab Boil

We have been a go-go-go lately

which is why we chose to slow things down

and celebrate Christmas Eve at home.

If you didn't already know it,

Samuel and I have a beloved tradition of

eating King Crab Legs at home.

And the kids,

up to this point,

thought that tradition was disgusting.

But as they've grown older,

their curiousity has led them to want to give

these gnarly crustaceans a try.

Granted,

I'm stingy though.

King Crab is pricey!

But as I was pondering a

simple Christmas Eve dinner,

it didn't take long for me to know that

it was time to get the butter melting!

Our beautiful family!

Though it was casual dress

-we're at home!-

some of the girls chose to don their

best Christmas dresses for the occasion!

The big kahuna!

Traditional East Coast Crab Boils have

whole new potatoes, Kielbasa sausage, and shrimp.

Sign me up!

We chose to keep things simple though,

with the crab-both King and Dungeness-centerstage!

My babies!

Sadly,

when I say "babies",

I'm referring to my lovely little crab legs,

scrumptious corn cobbies,

perfect lemon wedges,

and flowering of fresh cilantro.

Oh yes,

and then there are my girls!

{ I don't mess around when it comes to crab } 

Turns out they really are babies!

For all their begging to try crab,
each sampled a biteful before deciding they'd rather

much on corn on the cob and sourdough bread!

{ That's okay...more for me! }

Now if I could just get Samuel to eat only a forkful...

Dessert:

An irresistible chocolate bread pudding!

T O  D I E  F O R !

And did I mention the Vanilla Creme' Anglaise sauce?

Y U M M Y!

...

We hope your Christmas Eve

was just as wonderful,

and that you found yourself surrounded

by family, good food, and a heart turned to the Savior.

M E R R Y  C H R I S T M A S  E V E !

{ p.s. recipes coming soon! }

What's Our Wishbone Wish? Pizza!

Since everyone's schedules always go hay-wire
near the holidays,

we decided to do everyone a favor
and have a Pre-Thanksgiving Dinner.

{ Maybe that only added to the holiday crunch... }

Either way,

we avoided competing for the big day,

and had a great time relaxing and

just being silly!

...

For the real Thanksgiving Day,

we did something a little unconventional.

We had just returned from an

overnight backpacking trip on the coast,

so rather than the typical turkey and fare,

we opted for party food, pizza, and chinese food!

Who doesn't love take-out right?

Big problem though.

N O  O N E  I S  O P E N  O N  T H A N K S G I V I N G !

And I mean,

no one.

Except Raley's.

So we bought a couple of frozen pizzas,

and we even tried out the new P.F. Changs meals

(Beef with Broccoli isn't bad!),

but compared to what we had envisioned...

it fell a little short.

Next year,

do or die:

W E  A R E  H A V I N G  T U R K E Y !

{ Happy Thanksgiving! }

  

2010 Backpacking Trip: Point Reyes' Coast Trail

Every post-Thanksgiving,

Samuel and I make a resolution that next year we'll
run a turkey-trot or something.

Basically we want to sacrifice personal comfort

by working up a sweat,

while doing good for someone else,

and feel a little less guilty when we sit down to feast.

It's not a tall order,

afterall we love to get outside anyway,

but still,

every year rolls around and we find ourselves in our jammies

in front of the boob-tube watching

Snoopy get dragged down the street.

{Exception}
I can't fail to mention that Samuel does manage
to make it out to the ward Turkey Trot every year. 

Go babe!

Granted,

parades and throwing the pigskin around is fun too...

and I'll admit,

we did that AGAIN this year,

only guilt-free and minus any next-year resolutions because

days previously hiked our heinies off on

one of the most beautiful coastal trails in California,

Point Reyes':

 T H E  C O A S T  T R A I L

And who better to share that with,

than three beautiful daughters,

a wonderful husband,

a sweet-heart of a sister,

and a horde of equally adventurous in-laws!

It was a dream come true,

and if you ever get the chance,

even for a day,

visit this magical place.

You will not be disappointed!

Seriously,

does it get any more fairy-tale-like than this?

The Great Blue.

She's big, beautiful, and yes,

just over that cliff that my daughter's standing on!

Ava,

geared up and ready to go!

Fresh-faced and clean!

That won't last long!

Our first wildlife sighting!

T H E  B A N A N A  S L U G !

As we neared base camp,

Ava found her favorite part of the whole trip.

A mini-gorge created by the trail splitting

right down the middle!

Off in the distance:

Wildcat Camp

Or shall I say,

"Home, sweet, home!"

For the next few days at least!

We met up with our party, the Green Beans,

and made fast work of setting up camp.

As you can tell by the sweaters and hats,

with the sun setting the temperature began to drop quickly.

That's no reason to hunker down though.

It's time to hit the beach!

Afterall,

you wanted want to miss seeing Indiana Jones would you?

Beautiful, beautiful girls!

We were thrilled to take them along,

and share with them the joys of

exploring this beautiful world,

pushing yourself to do something you've never done before,

living simply,

and enjoying good, hard work!

Frozen sweethearts!

Hot chocolate rules out here!

And candy bars make for a perfect dessert!

Goooood Mornin'!

At this point we'd all been sufficiently deprived of

day to day luxuries we take for granted everyday

(a hot shower, a cold bowl of cereal, a hot shower...),

that when we saw a passing cruise ship we all feel all over ourselves

imagining what fantastics meals and accomodations were on board!

Then we realized it was a cargo ship-NOT a cruise liner.

Uh.

Can you hear the air hissing out of our balloon?

Nature's best playground is...

Nature!

And the kids had a blast taking it on!

And you never know who you'll run in to.

Look!

It's Pocahontas!

Just kidding, Jules.

{smile}

The coveted treasure find:

Deer bones!

One even made home and onto our Christmas Tree!

Samuel,

taking care of business

before we hit the coast for a hike on the beach.

From left to right:

Isabella, Ava, Julia, Meghan, Abby, Lennon, & Sam (Lennon's bud)

I can't wait until Iris and our boys join the line-up too!

Alamere Falls

A 40-50 foot waterfall drop right into the ocean!

Samuel scrambled up to the top and

we all quickly followed suit.

The view was absolutely breathtaking!

It looks like the girls could slide right off the cliff

and onto the beach below,

but actually,

this is a section of the upper fall set quite a ways back. 

Back at camp,

the deer came super-close for some lunch.

I wonder who made that...

All smiles cause we're headin' home!

I love this shot.

It's really, really fun to travel in a large group. 

It kind of feels like we're in a PBS special

hiking in the Andes or something!

I'm proud of these girls!

They really pulled their weight,

literally!

{Except, Ava.  Who gave up her backpack pretty quick!}

More wildlife sightings:

Newts

(or salamanders)

Alternately pulling up the rear with Ava gave us some

great alone time with this girl.

She's a fighter,

and we love her spirit!

Renewing that memebership in the oh-so-exclusive

"Banana Slug Club"!

With the sun rapidly...

Yes, I said, "rapidly setting",

we made a mad dash for the lighthouse.

The Elk were out in force...

And, of course,

the lighthouse was closed!

We've been here many times,

and every time,

for one reason or another,

we miss it!

Lucky for us,

out here there's a view at every turn...

We had the best time ever,

and I am chomping at the bit to get out there again,

only as a whole family,

boys in tow.

It's camping at it's simplest,

and at it's best,

with a total body workout and

the very best sight-seeing too!

...

Now for a shower...