Beat Yankees

GO PHILLIES!

Anyone Watching...Can We Join?

Tonight is a big night for the residence of Dillon, TX, season 4 of the fantastic television show Friday Night Lights premieres! The only problem is that the only way to watch it is on DirecTV's Ch 101. Normally I would be patient enough to wait til it airs on NBC in January but here's the rub... because of the Olympics it will not air til March. I can't wait that long to see what happens. So, any DirecTV owners want to host Tyler, Stacy, Mandy and me for a FNL party every Wednesday night?

I Want To Go To There!

I feel pretty backlogged with junk to post but I couldn't wait for this beauty. October just keeps getting better. This weekend I was treated to a release of Springsteen's new single Wrecking Ball. This song was written especially for the tearing down of Giants Stadium. I am having such a fun time with this song, it seems like the old days, some misty years ago (of which I was not around for).

This one goes out to you Gil, my uncle-in-law way out in the swamps of Jersey!

(For some reason the video cuts off at the best part but you get the idea. Also the song begins about the 1:20 mark. Now go buy it on iTunes!)

Ben's Spanish Vocabulary For the Week

Remember the post Ben made a while ago about the spanish vocabulary he was learning?  And all the flash cards that go along with it?

Well, Ben was telling me (and our friends Tyler and Stacy) that he was going over his new vocab words this week and got a good laugh over something.  Here is a list of the words he is supposed to learn from Chapter 10: La Vida Moderna. (The Modern Life.)

 

No sure why Ben has to learn words like heorina, and my personal favorite la cocaina.  Just incase you needed further clarification on the definition of these words they also had visual aides like this one.  What is that guy doing on the desk in the bottom right hand corner?

 

 

Little Man

Even though only a few weeks has passed since we last saw this little man his personality has changed.  He is very decisive and will tell you "No" quite frankly when he doesn't want to do something.  It's pretty cute.  
We discovered his shirt was glow in the dark on Saturday and spent about 20 minutes in his room turning the lights on and off and on and off to see the SPoOkY eyes!  
Lydia made sure we had a stop at our favorite custard place and got some "Dirt n' Worms," she proceeded to tell us about the upcoming holiday flavors!  Demmy and I might need to come down to try some candy-cane custard!!  Looking forward to another visit!  

Best Buds

We spent the weekend with Lydia, Micah, Bree, John, and Nona down in Vancouver.  Lydia got lots of Mae-Mae-Demmy time.  She and Demmy created a NEW hand shake, called the "spider-webbers" shake.  (Pictured below.)  Too cute!

Demmy and Lydia are the best of friends, Demmy will do practically anything for Miss Lyd's even if it means playing princess for hours and hours!  

What's Your Most Memorable Holiday Mishap?

As I was skimming through my most recent copy of Real Simple I came across a section titled, "What's Your Most Memorable Holiday Mishap?" The title intrigued me and I started reading through some of the responses from other readers. The title was enticing to me because even though I have yet to host my first holiday dinner, and I don't see a time in the near future when that might happen, I still have had my fair share of "Holiday Mishaps."

All of mine involved Jello.

Why Jello? Well, it is always my duty to bring the Jello to holiday dinners. I don't really know why I've been given this task every year, maybe it's because my family knows they'll get a good story out of it, or maybe because I'm Mormon, (Mormon's are famous for the their Jello!) or maybe they are afraid to give me another task when it's clear I can barely handle J E L L O. Before I get on with my holiday mishap story here are a few that I loved from the article.

"I was cooking my first turkey dinner and had a houseful of people. In that mad frenzy 20 minutes before you put it all on the table, I was making gravy. I meant to grab the bottle of Gravy Master from the cupboard but mistakenly grabbed a bottle of vanilla and didn’t realize it until it was too late. Definitely a new take on turkey gravy that I would not recommend. My brother-in-law has never let me forget that day, and now when I set my Thanksgiving table, I put the bottle of vanilla at his place, just in case he wants to add a little.”

"When I was first married, I didn't know that when making mashed potatoes, you were supposed to use the hand mixer, not the blender. When I put the hot potatoes in the blender and shut the cover and turned it on, they exploded everywhere including the ceiling."

"Telling my husband's mother that her stuffing was terrible because I thought someone else had made it."

I've had several little Jello mishaps, like the time Ben and I decided to drive to my parent’s house with the Jello mold on my lap before it had completely gelled. After a few words in the car about how Ben was driving, taking turns too sharp, hitting every bump, we both stomped out of the car and switched places. Ben now holding the Jello and me behind the wheel, I was convinced I could produce a MUCH smoother ride. Ben's stained pants proved that I was wrong; Jello is naturally jiggly and even more so when it's not gelled. Ben was much more patient with me than I was. Sorry Ben.

Or the numerous times we haven't been able to get the Jello out of the mold. I blogged about a mold mishap in 2007... Jello Creation.

The biggest disaster happened one Easter Sunday morning, I'm guessing back in 2005. I was living in my old studio apartment and while I was getting ready for church I was also making the Jello mold for dinner that night. The particular recipe I was using for this mold called for a spring form pan. I had never used a spring form pan, in fact I didn't own one, I was borrowing a friends to complete this recipe. I thought I had finally found a Jello mold that would be FAIL PROOF! Using a spring form pan would make the de-molding process so much easier. So I boiled some water, dissolved the Jello, mixed, mixed, mixed, added fruit, mixed... you get the idea. Pour my mixture into the pan, lifted the pan off the counter with two hands and went to set it into the refrigerator. When I removed one of my hands to open the refrigerator the bottom of the pan fell out and red Jello hit the floor, splashed up all over my bare legs, and ran under the refrigerator. You see, no one told me a spring form pan has a little lip that the bottom of the pan has to rest on. I had inserted the bottom upside down it was held in there only by the pressure of the spring tightening it together. Laughter ensued and then panic. I remembered Jello stained! I had to get it off every surface and thing it was touching quickly! I scrubbed the counter, the floor, the refrigerator, and finally my legs. By the time I got to them the "red" wasn't budging, so even though they say "No black after Easter," I wore black nylons to church that day.

Every holiday dinner I reassure myself that it will be different. The Jello will come out perfectly this time, I think. Well, wish me luck this year because I've been assigned Jello AND mashed potatoes!!

What's Your Most Memorable Holiday Mishap? Leave us a comment or send us an email, I'd love someone to laugh with!

Remlinger Farm Trip #3

WARNING PICTURE OVERLOAD

In my defense our group to Remlinger Farm grows each year, thus making more and more subjects to capture!  :)

We had a "picture" perfect day at the pumpkin patch this year.  The sun was out but the crowds stayed home!  It was unbelievable no lines for any ride, the kids practically had the big hay jump all to themselves.

Mummy-Nati

Natalie and Andrew enjoying the train ride through the farm.

"All Aboard!" Lydia

Cute William

Pensive Andrew

Nona and Micah Man

Here are the "best friends" in 2007

2008

2009 This might the last year they can all fit in a boat together!

Happy Halloween!

Andrew and William taking the ladies out for a drive!

My mom's friend from school, Susie, brought her family.  Little Preston was quite the dare devil on the roller coaster later that day!

Lydia with her horse she named "Odette."

When Ben asked William what his horses name was he replied,

"Don't worry 'bout it!"  Boy aren't quite as into the details I guess! 

Jamie, Natalie, and Will getting ready to take a spin.

Uncle Demmy and Lyd's screaming as loud as they could on the ride, to make it less scary!

Natalie and Jamie (mom) LOVING the roller coaster.  How many times do you think she went on it Jamie?  

Ben braving the hay pit for a picture, quick before he sneezes!

Natalie, Andrew, and Lydia had quite the hay fight!

Tired and done for the day!

Looking forward to next year!  Bree and John will be adding one more to the bunch so expect even MORE photo's... if that's possible!

On the Money!

Well at least the M's are in the news for something!  Eileen, (Maemae's mom) whatever you are teaching your students (Matt Tuiasosopo was one long ago) keep it up.  Seriously, what are the odds of this happening?