Passed Me Up!

It seems like Conner and I have been comparing our height on a weekly basis for months. Then all of a sudden, almost overnight, he passed me up! Of course, he is thrilled that he is now taller than I am. I am actually happy for him, too. His voice has also suddenly gotten much deeper. Before I know it, he will be driving....

Great Wolf Lodge

We had a wonderful time at Great Wolf Lodge! The hotel is very nice, and we had a great room. The kids had their own little room with bunk beds and a tv. McKenzie asked everyone at dinner what their favorite part was. My favorite part was all five of us going down the Canyon River slide on the same intertube. Because of all the weight, we went really fast! McKenzie thought we were going to flip, but we didn't :) Peter's favorite part was getting away together as a family and also going down the Howlin' Tornado with the kids (I was too chicken to go on it). Conner's favorite part was going down the fast slides with me and Peter. McKenzie enjoyed spending special time with Kelsey, and Kelsey's favorite part was the Howlin Tornado, spending time with McKenzie in the wave pool, and crossing the lily pads. We are all very tired because of all the stairs we climbed! It was wonderful spending time together.

The Mystery Ingredient in Tonight's Dinner

Peter and I had another fun day of cooking. Peter loves pork and doesn't get to eat it very often (because I don't really like it.... :) So he bought a big pork roast the other day and marinated it overnight. I saw a recipe on one of my favorite cooking blogs (thepioneerwoman.com) for red potatoes so I decided to give them a try. I was also inspired to make a devil's food cake out of my new favorite cookbook. There is a secret ingredient in it, and I was racing to puree it before the kids woke up because I knew they wouldn't eat the cake if they knew what was in it. They came downstairs just as I was about to put the container in the refrigerator. Of course they wanted to know what it was because they had never seen anything that color before! They kept insisting all day that they wanted to know what it was. They guessed radishes, cabbage, carrots, prunes, etc. Peter and I told them that we would tell them after they ate it. The dinner turned out absolutely delicious, especially the pork roast. To the kids' surprise, they loved the cake. Conner guessed the secret ingredient (when we showed him the picture on the can). For his prize he got the extra can (I bought one too many). He was thrilled with his prize :) He definitely agreed that he wouldn't have eaten it if he knew what was in it.

Full Day of Games

Today the girls had 4 games between them - it was quite the day of sporting events. McKenzie had 2 basketball games, and Kelsey had her last futsal game and her first basketball game. McKenzie is improving so much with each game, and Kelsey's teams did very well. Kelsey loved having Grandpa at her game. Peter and I managed to get our walking done by walking around the schools before the games and taking turns walking to and from Kelsey's game at Rock Creek. It was a fun, busy day!

Is it already time to think about high school?!!!

It's hard to believe that it IS time to think about high school for Conner! Westview is our local high school, and we know that this is much too big of a place for him (there are almost 3,000 students!). One of Conner's good friends goes to Westside Christian High School, so we decided to check it out. On Tuesday we attended their open house, and it was amazing. Throughout the entire presentation, the principal and staff emphasized that the focus of their school is preparing the kids for purpose - a purpose far greater than just learning academics and getting into a good college. They really prepare the kids to be servant leaders who love God and who look to glorify God rather than themselves. When we left the open house, all three of us were so excited by what we heard. As we were walking to the car, Conner said, "I DEFINITELY want to go here." He was amazed that the teachers can actually talk about God! It was so neat to see how devoted the teachers are to the students, that the students are like a family, where the seniors mentor and take care of the freshman, where anyone can go out for the sports teams, where the students are involved in amazing community service opportunities, where the teachers tutor students before, during, and after school, where students can go into the student life office to talk about anything they want (as well as get some candy, water, or pop :). So we are in the process of completing our application which is due by January 31st. They begin interviews the first of February. We are hoping and praying that Conner will get the opportunity to attend this school.

Carrot Cake after a Sunday Dinner

I am continuing to love the new cookbook that I got for Christmas! Peter's favorite cake is carrot cake, so I decided to make one for him (and me :) I have never made a carrot cake from scratch, and it was lots of fun. I cooked the carrots and then pureed them in our new food processor. I could see how the food processor could become my new best friend in the kitchen because it is so easy to use. The cake turned out delicious (how could it not with cream cheese and butter in the frosting!). Hopefully, the stew I made out of Cooking Light tonight cancels out the carrot cake - (wishful thinking)! We have enough left over to feed the entire neighborhood - so come on over if you're hungry for carrot cake!

First Games of the Season

McKenzie started her basketball season with two games today. They lost by 19 the first game, and they won by 19 the second game. We came home for about 45 minutes in between the two games, and she and Peter practiced in the garage. It is amazing how motivated McKenzie is to do well. She wanted to learn a couple of things to improve her game, so she wanted Peter to teach her what to do. She then put them into practice in the second game and improved significantly. It was hard taking action shots since the girls move so quickly....the camera classes Mom and Dad gave us will come in handy! Hopefully, our picture-taking skills will also improve throughout the season :)

Blazer Game!

We had so much fun at the Blazer game last night! Mom and Dad treated 21 of us to a fun night out to watch the Blazers. It was a very exciting game right up to the last few seconds. Unfortunately they lost, but it didn't stop us from having fun :) We watch every Blazer game on t.v., so it was extra fun to see them play in person. Kelsey was very into the game, screaming and cheering, and waving her foam finger. When she got home she said that for her birthday she would like tickets to the first Blazer game for her and Sara to go to together. McKenzie loved the snacks, especially the noodles, and Conner loved hanging out with his cousins. All of the kids were so good. Kelsey took a 2-hour nap after school today after her late night out :) Thanks, Mom and Dad, for a very memorable night!

My First Turkey

One of the things that Peter and I wanted to do over Christmas break was cook a turkey. We've always been fortunate to have Mom and Tyee cook the turkey for Thanksgiving, but we thought that we should probably learn how to do it. So today was our day. I'm much more appreciative of all that goes into making a Thanksgiving dinner!! Timing everything is quite the challenge, as I found out :) We decided to brine the turkey which is a process in itself - we had to brine it in our cooler because the turkey was so huge (we probably shouldn't have tried cooking a 25-pound turkey for our first attempt). Our brine was made of molasses, honey, kosher salt, 3 heads of garlic, thyme, sage, etc. It brined overnight in the cooler on the deck, and then we put it in the oven around 10:00 this morning. We thought it would take about 5 hours to cook. It turned out that it was done in about 2 1/2 hours (probably because we cooked it in the convection oven...). We had just returned from brunch at Longbottom, and the turkey was almost done! So we carved the white meat and put it in the fridge (3 hours before we were planning on eating... :) Even though the skin was dark, the meat was very, very moist and delicious (probably because the recipe called for 1 pound of butter to be rubbed under the skin). We discovered the dark meat wasn't quite done, so we put it back in the oven, and carved that a bit later. In the meantime, Peter started not feeling so well....probably because he ate some dark meat that wasn't all the way cooked....oops. Good thing we were just practicing and not inviting 20 people over for a Thanksgiving dinner. Tyee gave me his delicious recipe for his stuffing which turned out amazing. The funny thing is when it was about dinner time, I had already been tasting the food and was actually sick of the turkey that we all decided we didn't want to eat it for dinner! The girls had mashed potatoes and leftover mac and cheese and steak. I had ice cream, and Peter didn't eat. Conner ate a hamburger at a friend's house.... I'm looking forward to having a fully cooked meal ready for tomorrow when we get home from work :)

The Rose Bowl Cryfest (as Peter calls it)

Even though the Ducks lost, we enjoyed watching the game. Kelsey got all dressed up in her "I love my Ducks" shirt, her Ducks snuggie, and her tattoo. She put the tattoo right on her dimple :) Conner periodically watched the game. The Ducks seemed to do well whenever he entered the room. Too bad he didn't watch more often in the second half. I couldn't watch the last 15 minutes, so I, of course, started cooking (homemade macaroni and cheese with bacon from my new cookbook). Peter was really bummed about the game - he even woke up in the middle of the night thinking about it!

New Year's Eve

We had a pretty mellow New Year's Eve yesterday. The kids slept in very late (Kelsey woke up at 10:15), and Peter and I decided to try out another coffee shop while the kids lounged around at home. We were a little disappointed in the coffee shop but enjoyed walking around the Pearl District, even in the pouring rain. One of my favorite stores is Anthropologie. They have the most creative displays and fun things to look at. I decided we needed some new bowls since we only had five. The kids' favorite after school snack is ice cream, so the bowls are usually gone by dinner time. I chose one bowl of each color. It's funny how 8 colorful bowls makes me feel happy. Peter made an excellent steak and baked potato dinner. I tried making cooked carrots with feta cheese and balsamic vinegar which was very unsuccessful. It smelled so bad that I had to rinse everything off the carrots. I attempted to eat them because one of my New Year's resolutions is to eat more vegetables. I guess it wasn't the new year yet, so I could have just thrown them away! Our friends came over for New Year's, and 8 of us played Apples to Apples, and then the parents played Phase 10, a very fun game that takes a long time to play - perfect for New Year's when everyone is trying to stay awake. We all took our last walk of 2009 around the neighborhood to make sure that we didn't fall asleep before 12:00. Conner was invited to a sleepover with 6 other boys in the neighborhood, so he didn't have to be home with all the girls! McKenzie and Kelsey are still sleeping, and it's 10:45! Hopefully they'll wake up in time for the Rose Bowl game.