Our Adoption Blog

For those of you who haven't been following our adoption blog, I just put a new post with a neat video. Grab a tissue! And please be praying for our daughter.
www.our-china-doll.blogspot.com

Week in Review

Well the week started after spending a long, hot weekend in our neighbor's garage. We had a Fri-Sat. garage sale, and did quite well... about $1,100. Most of the earnings were hers, but I made about 335.00 on baby clothes. New on Russ' list of things never to buy at a garage sale.... thong underwear!!! He was appalled after seeing a young woman leave with a handful of them. I must say they were pretty cute, and according to my neighbor, had only been worn once. Russ' argument to that... "that lady didn't know that!!" New on my list of things not to wear while gardening.... a floral skirt. Wednesday I was bending over picking some spent flowers from my daylilies when a bee mistook my bee-hind for a bouquet. Ouch!!! He also got me on the hand when I swatted him away. We've had a hot week, in the 110's with humidity, so the kids and I have pretty much stayed inside. Now Han is running a fever. Must be a virus or something. I was not responsible enough to put the children's Ibuprofen in a safe place before Hud managed to get the safety cap unscrewed and chug a good mouthful. So, needless to say, I made friends with poison control yesterday. They really are very friendly and quite helpful. We determined that he had definitely gotten more than the therapeutic dose, but not a toxic dose. PTL! I'm supposed to work tonight and tomorrow, so Russ can take over at the homefront. Good luck!! Maybe he can hunt down that crocadile while I'm away!

"Tostadas Ode to Carlita"

When it comes to cooking, I really enjoy a new recipe. Down-home or gourmet, if it looks good I'll try it. But usually, I haven't the guts, or culinary skills to create my own recipes. However, the other night I was struck with a bit of creative genius in the food section of Target and managed to unite a few of my favorite flavors for one serious mouth party!! So, as promised, here is the recipe for
BLACK BEAN TOSTADAS WITH ROASTED RED PEPPERS
(otherwise known as "Tostadas Ode to Carlita." Well, now that I said that, I guess I'll have to explain myself. Those of you who are already salivating, please close your mouth and swallow for a few seconds. "Carlita," is one of our fun names for Carly, a sweet friend who just moved out of our house to go live with her new husband, Kyle. Might I just say now, that Kyle will have to "UP" his exercise regimen considerably now that he has wed Carly, because she is one amazing cook! She was forever trying out new tasty recipes she'd find on the internet. Another truly endearing quality of Carly's is her love for garlic. It rivaled mine!! Rachel, remember the night I ate too many garlic cloves!? I smelled up our dorm room for days! Anyway, when you mixed Carly and I in the kitchen, you quite often ended up with more garlic on the table then Russ could handle!! One time she and I made a homemade pizza that probably had more whole roasted garlic cloves than meat. Well, I'm rambling, but I have named this recipe after her because I have truly been inspired by her to continue to take chances in the kitchen. After all, if you put enough garlic in something, it's gotta taste good!! )

Let me apologize in advance for those of you who never stray from the recipe.... I didn't measure any of this.... just wing it!

Start with a crispy tostada shell. Our store sells corn tostada shells already crispy (they're the flat ones for those of you who aren't from NM).
Next, smear a generous layer of homemade guacamole. This serves as an adhesive to keep your black beans from rolling off. (make guac by mashing an avocado, adding a few T's of sour cream, a few T's of salsa and seasoning it to taste with salt, pepper, cumin, garlic powder and onion powder.)
The third layer is black beans (heat in saucepan after adding some olive oil, red wine vinegar, salt, pepper, and garlic powder).
The next layer is carmelized onions (saute onions in olive oil and minced garlic until translucent and caramel in color).
Follow with roasted red peppers (buy a jar of roasted red peppers, and julienne, then heat in the left-over oil and garlic from the onions).
Finally, smother with cheese, cheddar or Monterey Jack (goat, if you really want to BAMM!).

Enjoy, and leave a comment to let me know how you liked them!!

Happy Birthday, Dad!!!

Happy Birthday to my Dad!! You're a super Dad, and a really cool Gumpa!! Hope you have a great day! I've enjoyed my time with you this past year. It's been really fun to see your passion for Jesus, and those is need grow. I'm glad that you have found a church you love, and an outlet for your heart for others. I pray that this next year will be one of your best yet!.... Retired, 2 grandkids and 2 on the way, a trip of a lifetime to Alaska, a hot steamin' Gamma to live with, and a mighty God to serve. I love you!! Les

Here comes the flower girl.............and......yes, the ring bearer!

We had the privilege of being a part of one of the most beautiful weddings! Our dear friends, Kyle and Carly, were wed on July 1 st. (Carly has lived with us for 1 1/2 years). The wedding took place in her parents' Oklahoma backyard... hot, humid, but gorgeous! The house butts up to this neat wooded hillside that had been landscaped, and had twinkle lights on trees, with candles in jars hanging from shepherd's hooks. It was so picturesque and dreamy! Han, of course, considered her role as one of the most important, and performed it like a professional flower girl. As she walked down the isle, she started dropping flowers, then saw Russ at the front, and started running towards him (he had a sucker for her). She got almost to him and had this "oh, fiddlesticks, I'm supposed to be thwowing these fwowuhs" look on her face. So she reached in and quickly grabbed a couple of handfuls, emptying her basket. She set the basket down right in the middle of the isle on top of the flowers, grabbed her sucker from Daddy, and marched right over to her spot. She had a single ray of sun spotlighting her during the ceremony and enjoyed her sucker, wiggling just a little. Hud, on the other hand, was a bit questionable about whether or not he'd be able to help his Uncle Kyle marry. He carried his toy fishing pole, which had 2 rings hanging from the end. I nudged him down the isle with Hannah, but he looked back, and noticed that the videographer was squatting at his level. For some reason, he locked gazes with this video camera, and was giving it a "go to H- E- double hockey sticks" look. I quickly reminded him that Daddy had a sucker down the isle for him, and that was all it took to get him to do his job. The groomsmen (Russ was included) and bridesmaids were able to sit on a small rock retaining wall during the ceremony, so Hud just sat on Russ' lap. He managed to find a small rock, and lobbed it into the audience, hitting an old lady on the leg. It didn't hurt her, but he had to apologize after the wedding. The night ended after the reception, with a fireworks show that really freaked the kids out, and the Bride and Groom drove down the long driveway in a silver Mercedes convertible, while the guests waved sparklers at them.

The family that bikes together....

Sweats together!!!!! Well, due to the necessity of exercise for both of the thirty-somethings in this family, we have begun to bike! Our good friends who moved last week gave Rusty a bicycle, so we went ahead and got a "cheepie" for me, and a trailer for the kids. We took 'em out for their first spin tonight. "Puhddy tool!" (Pretty cool, as Hud would say). They definitely got the ol' heart rate up, and gave a good burn to the quads! Here we come, Tour de Neighborhood!!

Coming Soon to Your Favorite Blog Site....

The much awaited wedding pics and stories.... an update on our tree and whether or not Willie has returned to plant some friends... my very first created recipe that will be a hit at anyone's table... and, per several requests, instructions on how to make the giant scrapbook page. Due to the overwhelming popularity of this blog, and the high demand for frequent posts, I've had to hire a personal secretary to keep up on our posts. Life is just too fun!