Times Past

When Michael was in 5th grade, he rode his bicycle to school every day save maybe 5 days for miserable weather.  It became a mantle of honor for him and his band of friends.
Two other Michael's who live in the adjacent neighborhood would start out from their houses and drop by our house on the beginning of the trek. It was not just dropping by in my book, because they had to ride up our long, arduous hill before arriving on our doorstep. (or garage step if you are into technicalities


Stephanie's volleyball coach, Shelby, once asked me to tell her the 3 names of the boys so she would be able to call them by name as they went past her employers home upon her arrival each day. I said, "Michael," and she replied that she remembered His name, but wanted to know the other cute kids names. "Michael," was my final answer. "All three of them are Michael, and so it seems like you are pretty safe using it."


They would then travel into the neighborhoods on the way to school, picking up more 5th grade boys along the way. By the time they arrived at their destination of Daves Ave., they had accumulated up to 5 Michael's, or Mike's, or Mikey's, as well as about 6 other various named 10 -11 year olds.


These cute boys are now on the verge of graduation from high school.
I just spent an hour looking for an old picture of them riding their bikes. That is all the time I allotted myself this morning, and I was unable to locate that snapshot in time.


I did take a pix, this am before my Michael left on his bicycle yet again. He wasn't traveling with the big pack, although I think they should figure out a day where they all do it again in the next couple weeks, but he and at least one other friend thought they'd go back in time and ride their bikes to school today.

I used to make him wear a helmet, but now that he is 18 I guess I have to let him make his own, albeit sometimes poor, decisions.
Have a fun day!!

Family is Awesome

We had a nice little visit from our oldest niece (we keep bringing that up, don't we?) on my side over the weekend.
KM is such an even and fun girl to be around. She has grown into a good mother of 4 and is just plain adorable. I'm sure her little people missed her, but it was probably a good thing for her to be able to enjoy a weekend with "the girl(s)." I think most mom's need a little rejuvination once in a while.
She brought a nice friend for a visit to the magical city of San Fran, and they were able to stay with us. "Wicked" was the entertainment of the night on Friday after they enjoyed the city during the day. On Saturday they went to the beach Boardwalk in Santa Cruz. That is just over the mountain from our cute little town, and easy to get to for a nice afternoon.
They brought us this

from Gayles Bakery in Capitola. YUMMY.
That bakery has such a beautiful assortment of amazing treats. They also serve up a mean breakfast and lunch for your eating pleasure.

Thanks, Kel. You've grown into a beautiful woman.

Hoodie Style

So the little guy is 4 months old now.
Growing like a weed and cute as a button.

He smiles on demand.

And apparently sleeps better than his seetors did at the ripe old age of 1/3.

I finished his hoodie, and it turned out very cute. It is supposed to be a 12 month size, but

I received a picture by email today and it looks as if it was made for a 4 month old growing boy.

I also made my first stuffed animal to go with the sweater.

I got this book at a "Stitches" convention. Very cute kid patterns and stuffed animals. As you can tell by the cover photo, I was very imaginative when I chose the colors for Lukies sweater.  They were just such perfect colors. (I say with a little whine in my voice)

Coat/Sweater

I realize I posted a picture of this sweater in a previous "things I need to get off my plate" post, but I thought she looked so cute in it that I had to show and tell.

This shows the back of the hat and all the pom poms on the front,

which she perhaps will not leave alone, and will pull them off. She was obsessed.

"Oh, Hi."

I'm now working an the pink and yellow one for the #1 girl. I am moving quite slowly because I only work on my knitting these days when watching TV in the evenings. If I have any other pressing project that can be worked on while sitting on the couch, that is taking a front seat to my knitting. (although I'll show another finished baby project tomorrow)

Are We Kidding Here?

I picked up my CSA food on Wednesday and decided that I'd like to try the fava beans to the excess. Typically there is enough of one vegetable to feed about 4 people for a good meal,  so I thought I'd get double of them and trade out another of my vegetables. That way we could all try them out on Sunday when I have many family visitors for dinner.
I had heard that they are tender and mild tasting, so this is my opportunity to try them.

PRODUCT PROFILEFAVA BEANS Season: April to June    Fava beans have been cultivated for millenia and are an integral part of the cuisines of Asia, Northern Africa, and Europe. Fava is derived from the Italians, where they are featured in pastas and salads. The Chinese ferment it with soy to create a rich bean paste. Egyptians consume it as a fast food dish called ful madumas, cooked with salt and cumin. The easiest (and most social) way to eat fava beans is to shell them from the pod, parboil them for a minute in their skins, take them to the table with their skins on, and have everyone sit around popping them out of their warm skins, and eating with thin shavings of good parmesan. These legumes are also known as broad, field, horse, or windsor beans. The long flat pods grow up to 18” long and yield 3-12 beans per pod. These beans contain about 25% protein, 2% fat and 50% carbohydrates. While fava beans are good for human consumption, they also provide a beneficial role in agricultural production. Fava beans are frequently grown as cover crops, to prevent erosion of soil and increase nitrogen fixing in the soil. (Nitrogen is one of the main elements in industrial fertilizers). They also produce a lot of organic matter to enrich soils, leading some farmers to consider them “green manure.” You can enjoy these beans year round in dried form, but for the next few months, fresh fava beans are readily available. They are best consumed when young and tender; choose with firm pods with bright green hues. For a taste of spring, try them in this pasta dish

So when I got to my car with my new produce,  I handed  Ellery one of the beans from inside the pod. She didn't want to try it, so I stuck it in my mouth and  chomped down on it. Yuck!! Bitter!! Now, I typically like just about anything, so it is rare for me to react like I did. I have to find out how to prepare these  puppies. It is obvious I'm gonna have to cook them or  something. They are not supposed to be eaten raw. So I went to the website to figure it out. After shelling the beans you have to cook them and then  shell each individual bean again. Seriously.  I have other things to do. I haven't got Michael's memory board done, organized the BBQ for Grad Night, made his t-shirt quilt, or a miriad of  other things for other people in my life. Plus, I was  expecting guests in a few hours. Here I am shelling beans for an hour. Then I have to blanch them.

Then I have to shell each individual one again.

Amazing.

So I spent about 2 hours of my precious time in the name of nutrition and organic food, which I semi don't think much of, in order to eat dinner.

(Do you like my new Fiesta Ware?)

It was pretty good, but .....

SERIOUSLY???

Onesies

This next month my buddies and I are throwing a baby shower. The grandmother of the new baby-to-be is one of our "walking buddy" friends and this is their 1st grandchild on both sides.
So EXCITING.
I, being the invitation guru of the group, opted to do the invites and asked if they all thought a onesie theme for the shower was okay. We could have the guests decorate onesies, make onesie cookies, and best of all I could make the cute onesie invitations that I found on the internet.
They all agreed, and the new grandma even said she and her daughter had attended another shower where they decorated onesies and both would love for us to do that for their new baby.
So FUN.
First, we had to figure out the color scheme, and Laurie, the real hostess of the party because it's going to be at her house, said the yard should lend itself to orange and lime green by mid June. We stuck purple (lavender) in there with the mix because it's going to be a girl and we thought it would be less gender neutral with lavender. Don't you agree? Hello??

I found great papers by basic grey. I won't use some of the more pinks and reds, but these papers are quite beautiful. I'll mix them with ...

these Bazzil papers. The Scrapbook Island store in San Jose has about a million colors of plain card stock. You can find a match for nearly everything.

So then I set to making my cute little onesie invitations.  I didn't have a 1 3/8 inch round punch as called for, but my 1 1/4 punch worked just fine. It left a good amount of space between the larger scalloped punch so the collars look cute.

A couple more added touches, giving a little glitter to the snaps at the "crotch" and purple writing for the

invite itself, 

and then I was done. The lavender ones will be sent for invitations and the others will be used as hanging decorations for the shower itself.

A bit of a long process, but they did turn out ...

So CUTE.

College Grad #3

What a fun and filled weekend we had.  Our Stepher graduated from the U of U.
All Complete.
Fine.
El Duno.
She is a happy camper.

Mom, Dad, and Michael flew into SLC for the big event. Sister Kathryn, (Kiki) who was in Idaho welcoming her brother-in-law home from his mission in the U.K., drove the 3 hours for the ceremony and lunch with the family.

Everyone is all smiles I'd say.

We are on the second concourse of the Huntsman Center, but Dad's camera takes it all in.

Look, look!!! Here I am. Can you see me????

This is the first of our children to actually walk in the college graduation. We watched our son-in-law walk and David says he will for his masters next year. It was very nice.

Jon Huntsman Jr. was the speaker for the main commencement. He is a very impressive man and speaker. He is former governor of Utah, and is currently the ambassador to China for our country.
I'll sum up his speech briefly.

There are no times when you should ever get an "F" in your studies, but today I'm going to talk about 5 F's we should all have if we want to succeed in this life.
1. Find a Cause
2. Follow your Heart
3. Face Failure
4. Find someone to Love
5. Find Meaning

He encouraged the graduates to learn from their failures and to become stronger and wiser because of them.  Quite an impressive man and talk to everyone in attendance.

Here is Steph explaining that the red bandelo around her neck was for the purpose of showing gratitude. The new grad presented it to her Daddy as a token of "Gratitude" to him and his help and support through the arduous process of college.
"Thanks, Dad."
She also wrote a very nice note of thanks on the inside of the satin fabric for him to look at and remember forever.

We then all went to lunch with extended family.

Top picture is Janney my cousin, my parents, Steph, Michael, Nichole, Jake, Vicki (proud mom), Kathryn, Hillary.
Bottom picture is Jonathan, Nate, Andrew, Kelly, Alison, Kathy, Don, Aimee, Dane, Megan.

Thanks for coming folks!

Next day we drove down to Brigham City for another lunch with the other side of the family.

Good times were had by all.