My Cousin's Babies

They are growing in count! I've been working on some mini collections to send to them as baby gifts!
This group went to my cousin Jacquie and her not yet born baby Gracie. The yarn was hand dyed at the Keep Me in Stitches in McCall, Idaho, which is where I learned to knit. I thought this yarn would also be appropriate because they recently moved to Idaho! I'd been saving this yarn for something special! Looks like Gracie was it!  I made things in various sizes so that she could wear them at different times and not look like a grape. Also, Ill never knit anything preemie. Those kids grow too fast!

I decided this sweater needed mismatched buttons because I found ONE purple heart button that just HAD to be used. It's on the bottom, I dont know if you can tell.

My next set was for Dasch who had allready been born and I knew for a fact was growing quickly! I had seen a pattern for a dinosaur had and what else, paired with a striped sweater could scream boy more loudly?!

Im planning on putting some winter items in my Etsy shop by the beginning of November and I think a dinosaur hat will be in the mix. Theyre too fun!

Pondering Production: Keeping Kids Warm

"Sweater, n.: garment worn by child when its mother is feeling chilly." -Ambrose Bierce

What a peach!

Pie that is. Luke's mom sent us home with a plethora of very ripe peaches! So, I decided to make pies with B! (And freeze some.)

I made crust with cream cheese and butter this time. Let me tell you folks, while I'm still no Jane Harms or Tracy Neufield, THAT is the way to go. The flavor is, YUM!

B really likes taking pictures and these two from his perspective crack me up.

B helped me fill the pies making sure to get just the right balance of white and yellow peaches!

And maybe a few escaped to his mouth...

 

And one more of B's photography!

*The recipe for the crust I used can be found here:*

http://allrecipes.com/Recipe/The-Perfect-Cream-Cheese-Pie-Crust/Detail.aspx

I added a bit of milk and B added a bit of ice cold water so I could "fork" it to the side of the bowl. Otherwise it was pretty crumbly.

Funny Friday- Kyle M

This is Luke's friend Kyle. (Right) He, along with Craig and Jacob, made the trek from Eugene, OR where they attend to the "O" Duck school (I met them on the same trip Luke met Tristan and Jordan, and if anyone is going to introduce you to some great food in Eugene its gotta be them. I had the BEST calzone EVER!!! there.) Kyle graduated this June and a week later headed to South Africa where he got to be right in the middle of things for the World Cup!  He has a blog about it <here> and I encourage you to check it out!

Potty, Pies, Monuments and Hot Springs

Good News! I have success to report on the potty training front! My "charge" hasn't had an accident with me at all this week! We started last Monday people, I'm thrilled! My "most favorite" form of motivation?! Dinosaur hat. Yep he saw me knitting one for my cousin's baby Dasch and looked like he might want one too. I said, "I bet if you go potty in the potty, I could work on a hat for you while you practice!" Sold! He seemed to like the idea and requested "Bronco's Colors." (Yes, I categorize that as just as bad as the brainwashed Wiens and Mack kids.) Here he is below helping me out with the hat. He held the yarn while he waited for something to happen!

This is what he NORMALLY looks like when he's not sitting on the potty!

And here is the final product! Modeled while we waited for Luke to meet us for our tour at the Olympic Training Center!

Now, Meet Alex! She's the one holding the baby. Alex is an Au Pair from Germany. She and I take our charges lots of places together since they're cousins, close in age, and love to hang out! Which is fantastic as Alex and I love to hang out as well!

Alex joined me on a long weekend adventure to Luke's parents house (yep Luke had to work on Labor Day Weekend) where we met my cousin Jenny! (Jenny was driving with one of her friends part way to school and Grand Junction was her stop to get off!) Here is Jenny holding a Dew-licious melon as well as a cantaloupe from the farmers market!

We went to Downtown Grand Junction and meandered up and down the street. Pictured above from L-R Alex, Neola, Jay, Jenny with the Bumper Buffalo. Yep, I definitely did some yarn shopping in Grand Junctions Fantastic yarn store "Tangle."

We made peach pie with some Palisade peaches! Yum! My first crust attempt of the day: Disaster. 2nd: Better, I followed the directions. That weekend we also hit up the Colorado National Monument,

Alex learned all about hunting from John, we played Wii hunting,

and all in all we got a LOT of relaxing in!

On our way home, Alex and I stopped at the worlds largest hot springs in Glenwood Springs!

I remembered seeing them on a Train Trip my mom, sister and I took east and have ALWAYS wanted to go back and visit! We did!

On the way back we encountered a "bit" of traffic. Lets just say tack two hours onto the 5 hour trip back.

Lucky for me Alex can drive a manual car! (I guess that's all they have in Germany.) I don't think she minded driving my car too much! Especially since it's German. This road trips official song: California Girls.

And just a Grandma G style teaser, this is something I'm working on right now. Can you guess?

It Must Be Love When...

you come home after 4 days and the kitchen is clean, the sheets have been changed, and the laundry "did." What a guy I married.

Funny Friday- Jordan

Jordan married one of my friends since childhood and mentor since high school, Tristan.

They recently (more than 4 years ago now) moved to Salem OR where Jordan is a Youth Pasor. Tristan and Jordan were the first of my "family" to meet Luke on one of our firsts trips to Oregon. Compared to Fresno, Salem is just a hop skip and a jump to Moscow (or so it seems) and we're glad they could make it for the wedding!

Which home team?

Way back in August (okay last month) we went to see the Fresno Grizzlies play the Colorado Springs Skysox. It was a sunny day! Luke and took advantage of free parking down the road. Check out these cheery flowers! This is as close to your flower photos as I get Grandma G!

We watched the game in good fun! I ate two hot dogs and a caramel chocolate covered apple from Rocky Mountain Chocolate Factory.

Then around the 6th or 7th inning it started to rain. Sigh.

Sometimes you can wait it out and the weather will change, but when it started to rain harder the fans started to really jump ship!

We found a spot under cover to watch the rest of the game, and hoped they might still do fireworks. No such luck. It kept raining.

So we walked to our further away parking. In the rain. Luke says it wasn't cold. It was. Very cold.

Just in case you're wondering the Skysox won this game. I guess its okay since they're both my teams. Well more the Grizzlies to be fair.

Ps. Luke's work has offered him a spot for next summer that may or may not include a promotion. This is a HUGE compliment! Especially because they're hosting the women's open! So far the plan is to head back to Fresno where I will finish up my credential (3 semesters Spring 2011, Fall 2011, Spring 2012). (I still have a scholarship there, and I would have to go waaaaay backward if I change to Colorado's program. Plus California doesn't accept Colorado's credential straight off it I want to switch.) Luke will come back to "the Springs" in April, I will join him after my friends wedding in May, and head back to Fresno in August before school. He will join me at the end of the season back in Fresno. Whew. Complicated. Though its a pretty okay situation. I know a lot of other married golf pros have much messier situations.

Papered Up

Theres nothing better than paper lanterns. They're like the grown up balloons!

I loved that this was one major thing we could use at our wedding, the reception in Fresno, and then again in Payette. When we were all done in Idaho, I passed them on to Luke's cousins' kids! They had them up in their rooms before dinner that night which is fantastic! I love that things didn't go to waste! We used em for 3 parties! It helps that I like all the colors!

 

Restaurant Review

Last night we had dinner at a restaurant called Jake & Telly's in Old Town Colorado Springs. We weren't sure what to expect. We had seen people eating on the deck, and a co-worker had mentioned in passing that the food was good, but that was all. As we entered the restaurant we realised that it was Greek cuisine. Not my usual go to style of food but meh, we'll try it. The pita starter was delicious, fresh and yummy! Hummus is sometimes a risky food for me as I do not usually like it. I stepped out of my comfort zone and asked to try a little.

It was fantastic! Garlic-y and fresh tasting, even Luke liked it! (and he swore he didn't like hummus!)
For dinner I ordered Shrimp Makaronada. Yum Yum yum! I had already dug in and finished half before I thought to take a picture!

Luke got one of the specials, Braised Pork loin.

 and well...this is how much he liked it. This had a very good, home style stew type flavor.

According to the menu introduction the restaurant is specialised in wine pairings with the food, though we chose to splurge a bit on food and forgo wine. While it is not a "cheap eat," we were both able to eat for under $40 (not including a large tip for our fantastic service and food recommendations from Crystal and the staff).  I definitely recommend it!

We finished our night with two Netflix movies! Largely satisfying.

Funny Friday- Emma

My cousin Emma! We've come a long ways from those looooooong car rides to Pismo huh?

Funny Friday- Destinie