Greenbluff's Peach Festival

At the Harvest House in Greenbluff there's live music (supplied by a decidedly elderly, yet surprisingly energetic band), fresh lunch faire, desserts (including donuts made before your eyes), a grassy hill that calls out to be "rolled", and of course, peaches of every variety.

The twins were especially photogenic, and all three were in a good mood as we watched the crowds and enjoyed the green slope of lawn. I love this next picture. I think it will go on our picture wall in the living room.

Silas wanted me to capture his "flight", so I did my best, although I'm sure this picture is far less exciting than the one in his imagination. 

Grandpa Pat, Yaya, and Grandma Jean all accompanied us on our farm adventure. It was a lovely outting, but I think poor Grandma Jean was set on edge the entire time because of all the dogs roaming around off of leashes. There was one great dane that was as tall as a horse!

Silas was able to ride the Wiggly Worm at Walter's Farm, a Greenbluff favorite for the kids. Walter's has a play structure and a huge covered box filled with dried peas instead of sand. I LOVE the pea pit because sand is so hard to dig out from every crease and crevice, but the peas fall right off.

Silas is a big goof ball, you can guess where he gets his charm...I'm not sure how I'll get him to smile a normal smile for the remainder of his childhood. "Normal" pictures may be a thing of the past.

Crazy Summer Fun

The flight of his life began on a sunny Sunday afternoon while mommy was huddled into a puddle trying to convince herself that flying was safe and God is strong and good enough to protect her son. He may not appear excited, but Silas was probably just masking his anticipation with the confidence of his gender. "Papa Dennis" took my eldest up into an airplane, a J-3 Cub to be exact, and claimed that Silas was one of the only children to ever hold the controls and observe the plane's appearance as he turned and climbed through the air. I've always recognized "Claridge-like" patterns in Silas, but never more than his thrill over this small propeller plane.

Silas high in the air over the pond.

I did have Dennis take me up to preview the safety of the J-3 pleasure flights. I didn't have quite as much fun as Silas, but it was thrilling to see everything from the sky.

Silas couldn't have all the fun! Shauna and I decided to try out some new tricks on the zip line. Double the weight turned out to not be too much for the little line. We even dropped on top of the water trampoline at the bottom!

We Honeymooned Again: Radium Hot Springs and Banff 6 Years Later

Here are the pictures, without dialogue. It was a wonderful trip. Just imagine us having fun and taking advantage of adventure.

Some Relationships are Just Like That

...enduring; spanning miles and years; comfortable, yet willing to challenge.

I had a great little visit with my East Valley ladies, April and Tamara the other day. April is home for the birth of her sister's twins, so we took the opportunity to have lasagna on the porch and play Scrabble. Of course, Tamara creamed us in Scrabble (thanks, I'm sure, to all of those two-letter, "it's a word that's allowed in Scrabble...I don't know what it means" words), but we all laughed most of the night anyway.

The kids were free to roam our five acres while I finished getting dinner on the table. Tamara made sure everyone followed our two family rules: 1. No using the drill in the dirt. 2. Don't point your guns (pretend at present) at any person.

April took all of these lovely pictures.

Silas and Elise have a special love for their helmets. They like to run around wearing them long after the bikes have been put to the side.

~Carne Asada~ What's Grilling for Memorial Day Weekend

In my opinion, carne asada is the most wonderful dish to serve on a bbq weekend with friends and family. It is teeming with garlic and cilantro, marinated for hours in spices and lime juice and is fabulous wrapped up in a tortilla with sour cream, avocado and pico de gallo. I'm sharing this recipe because I've never found a better one and because the store-bought spice blends always include MSG, to which we are allergic. This marinade is adapted from simplyrecipies.com.


Carne asada is the thinly sliced, grilled beef served so often in tacos and burritos. Although almost any cut of beef can be butterflied into thin sheets for the carne asada, typically it is made from flank steak or skirt steak. I've found the most reliable store to find the thinly sliced beef to be Winco.





Carne Asada Recipe
2 pounds flank or skirt steak
Olive oil (to coat the grill to prevent sticking)
Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper (to season on the grill if desired)

Marinade:
4 garlic cloves, minced
1 jalapeño chile pepper, seeded and minced (or 1 Tbl. chili sauce like Tapatio)
1 teaspoon ground cumin
1 large handful fresh cilantro, leaves and stems, finely chopped
Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste
2 limes, juiced
2 tablespoons white vinegar
1/2 teaspoon sugar
1/2 cup olive oil

Method
1. Lay the flank steak in a large non-reactive bowl or baking dish. Combine marinade ingredients and pour the marinade over the steak. Make sure each piece is well coated. Cover in plastic wrap and refrigerate for 1-24 hours.


2. Preheat your grill over medium-high flame. Brush the grates with a little oil to prevent the meat from sticking. Remove the steak from the marinade.  Grill the pieces for a few minutes only, on each side, depending on how thin they are, until medium rare to well done, to your preference. You may need to work in batches. Remove the steak pieces and let rest for 5 minutes.


(Optional) Serve with warm tortillas (flour or corn). Warm the tortillas for 30 seconds on each side in a dry skillet or on the grill, until toasty and pliable. Alternatively, you can warm tortillas in a microwave: heating just one or two at a time, place tortillas on a paper towel and microwave them for 15 to 20 seconds each on high.

(Optional) Serve with pico de gallo (fresh tomato salsa), sour cream, freshly chopped cilantro, and chopped avocados.


Serves 4-6 very happy people.

The Woman I Love

This may seem a little weird because I (Barry) am making this post on Tiffany's blog. No this is not Tiffany she is not that into herself. I just got home at 9:00 p.m. from a crazy day at work and I was a little disappointed to not see my wife awake and ready to talk to me about her day and all the wild things she and the kids did. But I walked into our room and I saw her sleeping peacefully; I just had to thank God for an amazing wife. She snored a little as I exited the room, it made me laugh and it made me want to tell someone just how blessed I am.

Everyday Tiffany wakes up with a smile and a wonderful outlook on life. She encourages me to see my life through God's eyes and not my 20/60 prescription glasses. She is not afraid to tell me to suck it up when I'm feeling depressed, and she is always there when I need her to just listen. As you can tell I'm not the greatest writer and I would not be able to finish grad school without her help. Tiffany is the most beautiful, talented, caring, and courageous person I know. She is also the most amazing mother to our kids and she loves others as if they were more important than herself. Thank you God, for an amazing wife, and thank you Tiffany for loving me the way you do. I do not deserve you or the gifts of love you constantly give me.
Love always, your husband and your number one fan,
SB

The Powwow for Child Abuse Prevention

It was a ton of fun to go to Wellpinit for this family event to raise awareness concerning child abuse. The dancers were all children and even kids with no costumes were included in most of the competition dances. There was a nice dinner, a Native musician to sing and speak about the pervasiveness of child abuse, and then there was the drumming and dancing.

Elise found a happy dance partner in Josiah, the pastor's son from Westend. They ran around an laughed and danced, even during the dances that were reserved for the real competitors.

The kids made a train and hopped and danced in a circle.

Emmitt and Elise are mesmerized by the procession.

That quickly turns into careless fun.

Silas made friends with a very pretty princess. She was so charming, still Silas says, "She was ni-ice."

Welcoming Earth

This earth beneath my feet, feels cool and sturdy. It tells me that I am welcome here. I have trod this same earth since childhood, and the earth has become my companion. It tells me to rest, to not worry much after any new wave or truth, which may as well be a lie, for the earth wants me only to stay and to be satisfied. New adventures are not needed, as long as the old ones of my youth are replayed. The earth will tell me of the old ones and remind me that if I venture out, my adventures may not be as forgiving and nostalgic as the ones the earth loves to recount. Fear, then, slowly instilled in my heart, comes from the earth. I shouldn't, couldn't...dare not try, for it would be unlike me, unlike my people, unlike what I and this earth have always known.

I'm not sure at what point the earth ceased to be a friend and began acting as an enemy, silently plotting against me with it's dark, sweet smell and it's inviting richness. Perhaps, my friend, the welcoming earth is not so altruistic in it's motive to keep me close, to determine that my feet stay planted on it's soil. Perhaps the earth is more like a friendly captor, who whispers kindly for me to stay, but thinks nothing of the dreams in my heart, or the plans which have been so lovingly prepared for me.

One More Down

Well, the little black one that had been shunned finally met her end. She wouldn't stop her seizures, and when she would flail about, she would peep so loud that she would keep Barry awake. You can imagine what happened when I wasn't there to nurse the little tormented chick...when I got home, the warm hen box was quite quiet. I asked Barry if my sick little barred rock died and he said it was so. I accused him of doing the deed, to which he quickly confessed. I was imagining that a bit of creative history could've made me feel like my chick had just succumbed to natural causes, but Barry is not one to speak in euphemism. We are down to 6.

Easter Eggs and Easter Chicks!

I should have guessed that my son would inherit my less-than-hilarious sense of humor. Here he is posing that he is eating the Easter eggs we just colored...

The blue definately was the darkest color.

Anyone who has known me for more than a couple years, knows that I LOVE chickens. They are so cute, and they follow you around and I can raise them anywhere! On the farm, in the residential neighborhood, in a dorm room...

Here is my new batch: I started with 3 Barred Rock, 3 Rhode Island Red, and 2 Araucana. One of the Barred Rock died the day we got them. She wouldn't eat and she pecked continuously on the side of the dish rather than in it. I think that's what they call natural selection. :) The 7 left are doing well.  Although, one has been shunned by the group and she may also end up dying if they don't let her in the sleeping huddle. I can hear them peeping as I type.