Tying Flies

So this past summer we took one of our annual trips to Yellowstone. We always do a trip down the Madison River for some fishing. In preparation for that - Blake ties his own flies. He has a "miracle" fly that will always work and tempt the fish. The guide we use, Mark, loves the fly and hasn't shared it with anyone - pretty funny.  But that is how fishermen are - they rarely share their best secrets.  If a fisherman is sharing anything - it's the known secrets - not the real secrets.

Blake gets out all his equipment and tools, and Angela's eyes just lit up. She was even more excited that her dad has the patience to set her up and get her going on her own fly. She thought that was the best.

Competing with Mom

I grew up in a home where mom always cooked and baked. She made (and still makes) amazing pies. Pies seem to be the bakers nightmare, working to get the crust nice and flaky and the filly just perfect. I have to mention that I LOVE pies, and seem to be in our little family.  Well, recently we have been participating in a food coop called Bountiful Baskets.  It is amazing. Pay $15.00 and get 50% veggies and 50% fruit. Some of it is stuff I've never bought or tried, and others are way yummy.  For instance, we've gotten Swiss chard -- mmmmm; also fresh figs.... maybe yum, but not really. But there is a ton of produce for the amount that is paid.  One week we got 6 Grannie Smith apples.  All I know to do with Grannie Smith apples is to make pie.  I thought of eating them, but then the pie would creep back into my brain. So Angela and I made pie. She was so excited to pay with the dough, mix the apples, but she would never taste it. I tried a new recipe (sorry mom). I did use mom's crust, but the apples after peeled I mixed with the sugar, cinnamon, nutmeg (without cooking). Then poured into the crust and cooked.  Figures - when it's not going to anyone, or having company over, the pie turns our beautiful.

I have to say, it tasted as good as it looks.  I ate one piece, ok really 2 1/2, and threw the rest in the trash. It made me sad, but I really didn't want to admit to myself that I ate a whole pie, so I had to get rid of the temptation.  However, there was enough pie dough left over for "pie dough cookies."  we LOVE pie dough cookies. Basically you just take the left over dough, and cut it into circles, poke a fork in it, and then sprinkle with cinnamon and sugar, bake. Mmmmmmmm..... could eat those all day, fortunately so could Angela so I save them for her as a treat.

Angela's Birthday

Yes I know that her birthday was back in June and it is August now.  Call it laziness or life either way I am slow. We can hardly believe that 3-years have gone by since Angela has blessed our home. She is growing up so fast and becoming very independent, which is both good and bad. We were so excited to give her a bicycle for her big 4-year-old day.  We had her with us at REI and she loves to play on the bikes. So we let her play. When it was time to go, Blake went back and bought the bike and arranged to pick it up the next day after work (her b-day). She was sad to leave it behind but she always it, so it wasn't anything different for her.  

We also had a little party for her. Her sunbeam class in Primary is all little girls and they have so much fun together. So we invited them over for some play time. I didn't tell them it was her birthday because I didn't want the gift thing and all that - I just wanted her to have fun and know that she could have fun without all the other stuff. The girls had such an amazing time. They played in her little water table. Yep - it is a table, but they found a way to get in, then they all played dress up, then we decorated and ate cupcakes. It was a lot of fun - Can you believe that next year will be school?!!!



Happy Valentines Day

Today is Valentine's day. A day I don't particularly care for, but the kids have lots of fun giving treats and notes of kindness. So over the weekend Angela and mom were pretty busy making valentines for her friends and her school teacher. We had fun making them. This morning when I dropped her off at school at the kids were there to see what she had brought. Her teacher loved her bouquet of flowers, one of the boys asked if there was something for boys in her little basket - of course there is.  They all wanted the flowers and I had to keep saying they were for Miss Shauna (they did turn out pretty cute). I told them they would all like their valentines and treats. It is crazy when making crafts with a little 3-year old but when the kids get so excited, it makes it fun and happy - the craziness just goes away.