Elora Eats

Elora has been trying her hand at utensils lately.

Elora likes to ham it up if she's being watched. She does a lot of sound effects. Here she is saying, "Mmmm" about her banana and apricot porridge, after pouring the last of it on herself:


When there's still some food on your bib, try licking it off.


OR, if you're not quite full, you can try this:

A Good Cry

I just had a good cry. It was after I read this post. It was written by Amelia, one of my sister's best friends since childhood. I babysat her four youngest siblings regularly when I was in Jr. High. Their father passed away last week, he was a good man. I have five friends who are professional photographers, I must confess that I think I like Amelia's work the best. Feel free to stop by her blog, it is incredible.

A Few From the Wedding Day

Elora swinging with her great-aunt Bonnie.


Groomsmen


Bridesmaids


Our little family.


The hottest couple in the bridal party.


Cody ready to walk Linda down the aisle.


The beautiful bride and her only sister. Doesn't Andy have beautiful eyes?! Isn't Katie a gorgeous bride?!!

"No Dance"

Although I get a request from Jonah at least once a day to listen to Rock Tar (P!nk's So What) so he can dance to it, now I am forbidden from dancing along:(

Maybe the Sweetest Picture Ever

Bridesmaids' Luncheon

Friday, Linda's sisters threw Katie, her bridesmaids, and all her out-of-town female guests a luncheon. It was at Trio and the food and cake were fantastic. Katie has really surrounded herself with some great women.


Vanessa (Katie's 2nd cousin and maid of honor), Kathy (Katie's friend/ex-nanny/semi-sister), and Kathy's son Bryson.


Playing the charms game, a southern tradition (Linda and her sisters are originally from Kentucky).


Sisters:)

Katie's Bachelorette Party

Last Saturday:

Softball

The only times I've played softball have been for a church team a few times as a teenager. I wasn't really any good but I enjoyed it.
Last night I played again. I can't remember the last time I was so nervous. I was ridiculously nervous.
Here's the story how I happened to be playing right field on a women's slow pitch softball team last night:
A few months ago I got on our local Parks & Recreation website. I was looking into Mom & Tots swimming classes (which were brilliantly scheduled right at lunch/nap time). I saw stuff about a women's softball league that I'd also heard about and wanted to join last year. I called and listed myself as a free agent. I also called a bunch of women I know to try to form my own team, but failed. That was a couple months ago.
One of those women I called has a friend who mentioned to her that they might need another player for her team. Yippee! They had enough people but weren't a very competitive team (perfect for me) and there's always someone on vacation during the summer, etc. So when I called to talk to two of the women on the team they basically just asked if I would be their alternate to which I gladly agreed.
Last night they had games at 7:30 and 9:30 and I could only make it to the later game. I showed up and it was a good thing I did, we started the game with only eight players. Several people had gone home after their first game (which they were so far behind in that it was called before time was even up). Two players came back early in the first inning so we were able to continue.
The final score was 7 to 5 when our time ran out in the sixth inning. We didn't win but we had a good time. I struck out four times, but in my defense, in this league it's TWO strikes and you're out, which is really lame and the Umpire was totally inconsistent, calling a lot of strikes that should have been balls.

Garden

Our pea plants. This was taken about a week ago. We have four varieties of peas in there but who knows which is which. The plants are even taller and bushier now. We pick about 15 pea pods a day and there are always more.



Jonah enjoying his peas straight out of the garden.


Elora enjoying some fresh peas.


I don't know what these fabulous blue flowers are. I didn't plant them or the huge daisies behind them, but I love them both.

Upset Elora

My children are a little overdramatic. There are a lot of fits, screaming, and crying at our house on a daily basis. Usually it's over a lot of nothing.

Sometimes when Elora's upset she looks like this:


Sometimes she's really sad/dramatic/mad and she looks like this:



But ever since she was a tiny infant she has always been able to comfort herself by doing this:

Island Park

Playing a little catch-up here. These are pictures from our trip to Island Park, Idaho in mid-June.


Me with one of the two trout I caught on Island Park Reservoir on the trip. They were delicious with Linda's orange rosemary butter sauce and pecan crust!


The kids and I took a little field trip to Upper Mesa Falls one afternoon. They are the biggest, most beautiful falls I have ever seen and you get to see them from such a great angle.


Coach, Andy, and B fishing in the cold in the early morning. When they realized they were all wearing all black they had to pose as the fishing ninjas!

J. Family Reunion over the 4th

Brandon and I outside of the new teepee.


This thing can sleep 20!


Elora, Alan, Jason (Katie's fiancee), Katie, Jonah, and Brandon in the teepee.


Archery.


74th Annual Oakley Rodeo (I don't know why the soft feature is on on my camera).


Just a small part of the gang who went to the rodeo in our matching reunion shirts.


We threw Katie a family bridal shower at the reunion.


The competitors.


Prizes for the winners of the rocket competition.


Brandon's air-rocket "The Garden Gnome".


Breakfast-time.


New campground up on the cabin's grounds.


Elora's new best friend, her great-great uncle Garff.


Elora, Hope, and Scarlett swinging (2nd cousins).

Sweet Pork & Cilantro Lime Rice

It seems everyone has their own version of Costa Vida/Cafe Rio sweet pork recipes. They all involve cola. I've tried two versions that were rather different. The pork recipe is basically the one I got from Lauren, which I liked better just because it was simple, but tasted very similar to the other one I tried. The sauce I like best I got from my Uncle Bart who got it off of someone's blog whose husband's name is Jared. That is all I know. She invented it herself combining several recipes after several attempts at the perfect Cafe Rio sweet pork. She claims hers is even better. It's definitely really good. I didn't like the other one I tried nearly as well (it had ketchup and honey).

3 lb. Pork shoulder roast (pork loin is too lean)
1/2 - 1 can Coke (not diet)
2 cloves or 1 tsp. Garlic
2 tsp. Salt
1 tsp. Pepper
1 tsp. Cayenne
3 T. Hot Sauce (El Pato, Cholula, whatever)

Cook in crock pot on low for 6-7 hours.
Drain.
Shred.

In a food processor or blender combine:
1 12 oz. can of Coke (or a little less)
1 can roasted Green Chilies
3/4 small can of Red Enchilada Sauce
1 c. Brown Sugar

Pour over shredded pork. Warm. Enjoy!

When making the pork into a burrito, rice bowl, or salad combine with:
Cilantro Lime Rice
Seasoned Black Beans (undrained)
Diced Tomatoes or Pico de Gallo
Sour Cream
(no cheese, just trust me, it's better without, and I never say that)

Cilantro-Lime Rice

1 c. White Rice
1 1/2 c. Chicken Broth
1/2 c. Water
juice from 1/2 of a Lime
1 T. Butter
2 cloves minced Garlic

Boil for one minute. Reduce heat to low. Cover. Simmer for 15 minutes.
Combine juice from 1 1/2 limes with 2 T. sugar and about 4 T. diced fresh cilantro and stir that into the rice when it's done.
Yum!

I should have taken a picture, but I didn't, so deal with it.

Also, speaking of food, I made a really fantastic chocolate cake (Angela's birthday) this week that you can find here. Oh, and last week I made a fantabulous carrot cake complete with cream cheese frosting (Linda's birthday), but if you want the recipe I'll have to email it to you cause I'm not about to write anymore.

Arkansas

I saw an ad on craigslist last week looking for a dentist in Arkansas paying $45-$125,000 more than what Brandon makes now.
I looked into housing costs there and they are lower than here. It is beautiful there too (I took the above picture on a trip there several years ago).
I have not (yet) convinced my husband to move there, but it is not for lack of trying.

This Morning

Elora slept in an hour and a half later than usual (got up at 8:20) and was almost too cute to bear during breakfast (I made biscuits and gravy to please my hubby who took care of the kids and cleaned up the house last night while I went shoe shopping). Then suddenly I look over at her cause I thought she said, "Boo!" in her cute, tiny little voice (tiny unless she is doing her eardrum-splitting squeal for no reason). Sure enough, she is sitting in her high chair with the biggest smile on her face, covering her eyes with her hands. Then she would say "boo!", wait a full two seconds, and then pull her hands away and giggle. It made breakfast even better. Oh, and the cantalope helped too.

Just Some Stuff

Yesterday Jonah undressed his baby doll (that he hasn't been interested in for basically a year) and then brought it over to me and said, "pee pee, poo poo." We took the doll to the bathroom, he held it over the toilet, we did a few sound effects, and then wiped it with toilet paper and flushed. He then told me to wash her hands, which I did, and then I dried them on a towel. That was the end. It was pretty great.
After spending four days on vacation (more about that in my next post) with Grammy and Papa drinking and talking about and keeping Jonah away from coffee, this morning I told Jonah to get his milk off of the coffee table and now he insists that it is coffee.
After basically a six-month break from almost any reading, I am back into "reading mode." I finished two books that I started months ago and have one more to go on that front. I am beginning Shadow of the Wind this week, which my bookclub is discussing in July. After that, it's on to New Moon.
Elora has done the "headplant" trick for months but in the past couple days has now added in the no-hands aspect. It's pretty cute. To keep Elora from getting too much attention for that, Jonah usually has to do a somersault whenever I cheer for her headplant trick (hopefully I'll get a picture of this on here soon).

More Proof That I'm a Dork

I went to the Kelly Clarkson concert last week, alone. Not that there's anything wrong with that.


Note how close I was to the stage and the faint rainbow in the background. We got rained on a bit and it was worth it!

Krazy Kids

I think of things everyday that I should blog about my kids, but I rarely get around to it. They both love to be outside, they both love baths & showers and sprinklers and being together.
Jonah can count to six. He's getting better and better at his ABCs. He seems smarter everyday. He likes to say "no way" to most any question. He's starting to sing along more words to songs. He is generally just talking a lot more now. He says sentences like, "Ouch. Bad job stairs!" He likes books that are all the same size. He usually has a stack of "matching" books in his bed with him when I check on him at night.
Elora can say several words. She occassionally says "no way" now too. It is hysterical! She is very interested in books, finally. She almost hyperventilates when looking at pictures of animals, especially cats, because she gets so excited. She is finally learning to go downstairs. She is going thru a picky eating phase, I hope it ends soon.

Elora's one-year portraits were taken the first week in June. She fell off a boulder towards the end of the session, neither the photographer's assistant or I were close enough to catch her. It was pretty scary and sad but she was such a champ and cheered up very quickly.


The bruise and bump on her head were virtually gone the second day but the scrape on her nose looked even worse the day after.