8 Is Great

Last week I boarded a plane....yes this is my view from the window..

For a little of this...

checking out these...

and being grateful I don't have to deal with these...

But, the real reason I flew to Arizona was to be at my niece, LaLa's baptism.

She has to be one of the sweetest 8 year olds I know. 

She just glows happiness, fun and innocence.

A bonus is getting to see my dad...

My brother Morris & Sister in Law Rhonda...

My brother Ro and his family...

yes, if you have followed my blog they have moved from UT to AZ.

and some how I have not got a picture of my sister, 'Lene (she is Kayla's mom)

and I together for a picture yet.

Either way, I liked this picture of the 3 of us together. 

I was feeling pretty darn lucky to be here today with my family.

I am one lucky lady and am so glad that LaLa had chosen to be baptized

and had invited me to be a part of her special day!

4th of July

I hope you had a wonderful 4th of July.

Mine was fantastic!

Our day started with Kirk and ALL the boys being up VERY early 

 putting a turkey, pork roast and beef roast in the fire pit to cook for the day.

Kira, Miss H and I left for Rupert for the parade.

Sergio had to work but the parade route went by where he works so he was able to watch it with us.

I have said it before and I will say it again,

 I LOVE a parade and my favorite part is the color guard.

I love the American Flag, it truly makes me happy.

I like small town parade especially, that you hardly will ever see a hat on a real man,

 or someone without their hand on the heart;

a sign  that they have been taught respect not only for our flag but being an American

 and importantly not afraid of those who might "tease" them.

It was so fun to watch Miss H at her first parade. 

and of coarse she looked so darn cute!

At 4pm the meat came out of the pit

 and the family and friends started showing up with tons of  food.

and we ate and visited and laughed!

even Miss H was enjoying herself..

Josh, Ali and Miss C had been out of town and arrived in time to be with us for the fireworks.

Miss C loved her sparkler.

and could hardly wait for the fireworks to begin.

and when I say fireworks I mean FIREWORKS!

I do not want to know how many dollars went up into the air, but I will say...

THANK YOU MONTE AND KIRK...best show I have seen in FOREVER!are you ready for some of the sites we enjoyed...




One Bad Mother-in-Law

I have to tell you about this firework...As the guys were "staging" the fireworks (yes, they had them in order of how they were going to be lit off...Sergio walks over to me carrying this "Box" he says, " I do not understand what this firework's name means..." with a smirk on his face...HAHAHA....

and my favorite...

STARS AND STRIPES!

how many stripes are on the flag?

An hour or so later...

it was time to clean up and again the fire pit was put to work.

It was a GREAT 4th of July!

It's 3am

If all the family is together at 3 am and AWAKE

what do you do...

Why not

get in your cars and drive...

a LONG TIME

and then you all  hang out...

at

watching the fish mongers

being amazed at all the fresh fish and flowers

shaking your head at all the things that were for sale and prices that only really stupid tourist would pay.

no we did not purchase anything...

But, OH WE ENJOYED THE VIEWS

the places and the smells.

and the views

in Seattle and on the drive.

I wish my pictures through the Snoqalmie Forest had turned out

because it was so beautiful with so many flowers and GREEN...

and reminded me why it was so hard to leave the state of Washington almost 30 years ago.

Just Asking...

Is there a food that if you just hear the name about makes you puke???

I have one....

white beans and ham..

just typing it has me gagging...

Especially if you add the word...

Ketchup with it.

It is kind of a long story...

I come from a family  of queasy tummy people.

If  one person even makes the sound of a gag...or a sound close to it, you can pretty much bet that someone else will be dry heaving or gagging, with ultimately ending with 5 kids PUKING everywhere.

(As an adult I now know why we did not take many family vacations...someone ALWAYS got car sick...get the picture.)

Anyway, back to white beans and ham...

I am not sure why my mom thought we should eat this disgusting meal, but she did, the smell while it was cooking was enough to make you sick (and my mom was an amazing cook)

My brother...the 2nd... as a 5 year old had to have ketchup on EVERYTHING. 

 This night LONG AGO...he figured if he put ketchup in his white beans and ham it might...just might cover the taste.

So, we all watched to see if it would help.

I still remember his face and that little deep gag that comes from the bottom of your throat...

Yep, that is all it took...we were all PUKING, running for the outside door to the yard, trying not to throw up all over my mom's kitchen table.

Can you see 5 children under the age of 10 trying not to step in the other's mess as we were running from the house???

Mom was NOT impressed.

To this day...the smell gags me.

I try every year after Easter to make it for Kirk, because for some unknown reason he likes it.

I usually spend most of the time gagging and complaining with at least one time running for the bathroom to puke.

  May 25th is  Argentina's Revolution Day, to celebate they eat something called Locro., so my sweet daughter Kira ask if we can make it for Sergio....

and I am like SURE...what do we need?

Ham, white beans...and the list continues on her blog.

I still can not get the smell out of my mind, but I do believe it is the first time in 30 years that I have made it and not puked at least once and gagged ALL DAY!

I am just trying to figure out how I can throw the left overs in the fridge away without anyone noticing.

Because really, I do not want my veggies tasting like ...

GAG.....