Surprising Success

Andy made this soup for dinner tonight. It was AWESOME! Not too pumpkin-y, and the surprising thing is that the kids are over at the table licking their bowls right now. Frank is especialy enjoying dipping everything in sight into the goodness. We used our pumpkin from our garden- YUMMY!!!

Ingredients
1 medium onion, chopped
2 tablespoons butter
2 cans (14-1/2 ounces each) chicken broth
2 cups sliced peeled potatoes
1 can (15 ounces) solid-pack pumpkin
2 to 2-1/2 cups milk
1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon pepper
1 cup (8 ounces) sour cream
1 tablespoon chopped fresh parsley
3 bacon strips, cooked and crumbled

Directions
In a large saucepan, saute onion in butter until tender. Add the broth, potatoes and pumpkin; cook until the potatoes are tender, about 15 minutes. Remove from the heat; cool. Puree half of the mixture at a time in a blender or food processor until smooth; return all to the pan. Add the milk, nutmeg, salt and pepper; heat through. Meanwhile, combine the sour cream and parsley. Spoon soup into bowls; top each with a dollop of sour cream and sprinkle with bacon. Yield: 6 servings (1-1/2 quarts).

Happy Fall, Everybody!

Rest? Anytime Soon? Yeah, Right!

Has it really been only 19 days since I last posted? I feel like I've aged about 10 years in the past few weeks. Mainly, it's been the CRAZINESS of my new calling. Nobody ever told me how much YW leaders were required to do. The rest of the presidency & I are just praying that things slow down soon. If I have to leave my kids crying at home one more time, or pay 1 more babysitter so I can go do my calling, I don't even know what I'll do. Hopefully after we actually get training from the stake this week, that'll be the last of the "extra" meetings & assignments. For now, anyway. Don't get me wrong, the girls are great, but it's just a HUGE change to go from always-home-mommy to never-home-mommy.

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We've been doing lots of exciting things around here in the little free time I do have, but I had to buy a new camera after the other one mysteriously disappeared from Andy's pocket at the fair parade in Safford. Just 1 more thing that's messed up our comfy little routine around here. So now that I've figured out the new camera & software, I'll tease you with a couple of pics. Maybe I'll actually get around to posting a REAL post sometime soon. Maybe after I go do the dishes......or fold the laundry.....or mop the floor.....or pay the bills.....or take a nap......

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Never mind. I just discovered that my new software program isn't importing my pics into My Pictures correctly. They're all wonky & crooked. Oh, well. Maybe next time. Someday I'll get my life figured out!

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(P.S. Please don't judge me for this post. I just need to vent, & this is where I can do that. I really do love my life, it's just racing so fast right now that poor little 'ol me can't catch up. Please don't leave me sympathetic comments, I feel pathetic enough as it is!)

Canning at Home (or, What Was I Thinking?)

I'm on fire.

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Literally.

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I think there are flames shooting from my hands.

Or is that my imagination?

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I'm not sure, but this I do know. I've been making salsa this morning with peppers & chiles from our garden. Sounds simple & reasonable, right? Preserving our bounty, yadda, yadda, yadda. I thought it was a good idea....at the time.

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A few things that I didn't consider:

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1. How long it would take to chop all those little jalapenos & chiles into tiny enough pieces that I might actually be able to eat some of this salsa. Seriously, 2 hours for this humungo batch.

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2. I have a bum shoulder. I seriously strained something on Saturday helping to assemble our mondo bunk beds. The Dr wants me to use it as much as possible, but that hurts! Do you know how hard it is to chop without moving your shoulder? Trust me, I did try it left-handed, but my big 'ol chef's knife almost detached a few of my fingers, so I had to power through with the right. I need some pain pills!

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3. WEARING GLOVES!!! Didn't I just burn all the skin off my hands bottling green chiles a few weeks back? Why did I not learn my lesson?

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4. Once you get it all in the pot, you probably should TASTE it. Wait, what? My hands are literally soaking in ice water to stop the burning & you think I should taste this stuff before I ladle it into jars & bottle it? Andy is the "seasoner" at our house. The only thing I can season with is salt. Great.

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5. You might have to taste it more than once. So I attempted to season my salsa, but after the first go-round I quit. 'Cuz you know what? It's really hard to taste how much garlic there is when your tongue is shooting flames out of your mouth.

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What was I thinking?

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Oh, good heavens! I just stuck a finger in my mouth.

Feel the burn, baby!

Big Boy? Not Yet, Please!

Sometimes I feel that Jack is growing right before my eyes. In the last month he's gone from a tiny little baby (sort of) to a 19 pound little man. To put the weight thing in perspective, Emma weighed 19 pounds sometime around the 2 year mark. Frank too. It's a little strange for me to have a kid wearing age-appropriate clothing!
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He's standing on his own.

Walking like a pro....with help, thank goodness. I'm not ready for full-fledged toddlerhood yet.

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Eating big people food. Actually, he eats anything & everything. If he sees anybody in the house with food, he follows them around shrieking hysterically until they share. This little guy knows how to get what he wants.The first french fry. What a milestone.Basically, Jack is getting into mischief all the time.And then he falls asleep in the middle of the floor like this...

and I thank Heavenly Father that he's my little baby for just a little longer.

My Baby's 1!

Saturday the 26th was Jack's 1st birthday. What a year it's been with this beautiful little bugga-boo.

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Jack is such a happy little man. If he's awake he's happy. If he's fussy, he's either hungry or tired. Fix those problems & he'll be cheerful & content forever.

I love this boy!We had a little get-together with the fam at Nana's house on Saturday. Seriously, whose idea was it to make Mommy ride on the train with Jack? And if that wasn't bad enough, then Emma squeezed into our car with us. I felt a tad gigantic. But Adam took us on a ride as a present to Jack & it was wonderful.

THANK YOU to all those who came, & a double THANK YOU for the great gifts. With 2 older kids, you'd think we would have more cool baby toys & clothes. But surprisingly, we have almost none for this age. He's thrilled with all his new gear. THANK YOU!

I love you, Jack. You soothe my soul & brighten every second of my day with that infectious smile. I can't wait to see what this next year with you will bring.

I Believe I Can Fly!

No, really. I was flying. Can you see me? I'm WAAAAAYYYYY up there. Can you see how green I am? Seriously, I was a little faint.My scaredy-cat husband pretended that he needed to stay on the ground because Jack would be scared up in the cherry picker. Does he look like he would've been scared? It's hard to be afraid when you're sound asleep!So this very nice man stood in for my husband. The kids loved it, no matter how queasy Mommy got. Fun family memories.This was last weekend at Family day for all of the Union Pacific employees. We've never been before, so we braved the heat to enjoy free hamburgers. (You know me, I'm a sucker for anything free.) Emma wanted me to hold on to the "handsomest" fire fighter so that I wouldn't be scared on our ladder truck ride. No, thanks. Frank is enough handsome man for me!

Zoo Days

I finally got off my tush & renewed our zoo membership. I've had a hunch that with the economy as it is, we could probably get a deal if we just held out for a little while. And I was right. What can I say, I'm cheap!!

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My kids have been dying to go back to the zoo, so the boys & I tagged along with the local Joy School group. (Hence the shirts.)

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Frank especially loves the knock-er-ous. Or rhinos, for the rest of us.

Jack got to feed the giraffe. He loved it & really tried to get ahold of that long, purple tongue.I really like this picture. There is glass in between these 2 monkeys, but you can't even tell. Love it!

This is Jack & Aliya. They're kind of in love with each other. They giggle, coo, & crawl all over each other whenever they're together. Seriously, I can't even express how cute they are.Spending the day at the zoo with friends, priceless