Too hot

Brownies were going to be the dessert of choice for our dinner at James and Tess'. But in the end...Ben and Jerry's and Petridge Farm won out. The brownie batter and caramels will wait nicely in the fridge until it cools down tonight :)

Grandma's BD

Happy Birthday Grandma; she is 83 years young :) 

Lately we've been getting together at mom and daddy's house for family events - well, that part isn't exactly new - the difference is, now mom sets the table and lets us bring everything else. It's been working great. No prep and serving stress for them plus they don't have to travel to the fun. It works well for all of us because their floor plan is perfect for a gathering and they are centrally located - which is important now that we are spread out for about 30 miles from Kent to Bothell.

For this celebration we decided to have a build-your-own-pizza party. There was a bit of chaos associated with the assembly of pizza's; but it was fun chaos. There was also a learning curve for using Trader Joe's fresh pizza dough. We need to try this again only use a hotter oven and less dough per pizza; tops were getting done before the middle of the dough could finish cooking. But everything was still delicious.

We created some virtual masterpieces. I couldn't help but notice how personalities appeared in some of these masterpieces :)

Glenna and Anna made the BD cake. It was the cake that mom always brought to Fragaria for Aunt Dorothy on her birthday that was Martin's first wife Betty's recipe. Did you follow that :) It was another learning curve moment; apparently you need to put the topping on the hot cake as it comes out of the oven...and not before you bake the cake...everyone gobbled it up anyway :)

When I talked with Grandma the next day she was telling me about her favorite parts of the evening; which of course included food, family and flowers :) She ended by saying it was the best family celebration we have had in a long time. So glad we could make her birthday special!



*photo disclaimer: photos are fuzzy and focus challenged; I apologize for that :/ my camera does not handle indoor snapshots worth a darn but I wanted to include pictures in this post.

Catch-up Part III

May 2012


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Dakota had surgery to remove a huge mass of tissue in his groin and multiple rapid-growing growths on his bottom. Poor guy :( But he did an excellent job of healing and is bouncing around better than before.


However, recovery wasn't without its challenges. He had 2 drains (that drip, drip, dripped) and a cone which he never mastered. From the day it went on until the day it came off he bumped, crashed and caught himself on everything. The back of my legs were bruised from the hard edge of the cone plowing into them all of the time. Before this adventure I had no idea how much time he spent following me around the house; or how closely he followed :/

Vet came to the waiting room to get Dakota for surgery. He is thinking staying with me sounds like a better idea.

Lenny and I dropped Dakota off at 8 a.m. and picked him up about 5 p.m. Lenny spent most of the time in-between right where you see him.

Dakota didn't need his cone yet because he was still too drugged up from anesthesia to do much. The tarps and blankets are protecting the rug from the drip, drip dripping of his 2 drain tubes.

On the mend and getting about with ease!

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I owe Tess a treasure hunt for her birthday.

She was at our house the weekend after her birthday and I was getting her presents wrapped and ready for a treasure hunt. Her Dad had been very ill and in the hospital and she was understandably just needing to leave and get home. We decide to do a quick gift exchange and save the hunt for another time.

As it turned out her dad needed open heart surgery. He had the surgery on Thursday, May 31. Thankfully it went very well. He has a long road of recovery but is expected to come out better than new on the other side. Good, good, good news indeed.

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HRB's First Communion. I had forgotten how much I love the pomp and circumstance of ceremonies in the Catholic Church; especially when it involves children.

Joc and Tyler invited the family to Hailey's First Communion. I'm so glad we were able to go. The priest made the celebration meaningful for all in attendance; his message kept your attention, he was easy to understand and on top of that he was quite the entertainer. Winning combo when kids are involved!

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Another surgery for me; but much easier than the last time. Lots of people can go their whole life with metal screws in their body without a problem but apparently, I'm not one of those people. Now that the hardware is gone the healing process is going much smoother.

Of course, if I wouldn't be a dork and trip over a log while walking on the beach...it would probably heal quicker :/

James was my driver and care-taker for the day. I was in good hands. Thanks James!

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Mother's Day. Another perfect afternoon at grandma and grandpa's with FamDamnly...as long as you don't factor in the food :)

Dinner was positively horrible. I marinated ribs and halibut and papa bbq'd. The ribs took twice as long as they should have and the halibut came out as tough as shoe leather; the grill just wasn't cooperating no matter what he tried to do. Poor papa. He was a real trooper as everyone and his brother tried to tell him what to do to fix the problem.

Next year I vote for take-out.

I have pictures of all guests except grandma, Glenna and me...at least I got one mother into the photos :) 

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Tess and James move to Kent. Saturday, May 19 was an ideal day for moving - not too hot and no rain :) During the week James had taken a few things over to the new apartment. We fit everything else into his truck, papa's truck and Daniel's car. All of Tess' things fit in her dad's motorcycle trailer which made for one easy trip from Puyallup to Kent.

I had the post-surgery boot on my foot so I was a bit slow going up and down the stairs to the 3rd floor. Brad would be having open-heart surgery 10 days after the move and was under strict orders not to exert himself or lift anything over 10 lbs. Even with a couple of out-of-commission movers, the remaining 5 made quick work of emptying the vehicles and filling the apartment to overflowing with furniture and boxes :)

Afterward James, Tess, Brad, Tanja, John and I went for a burger and a beer. Daniel went home to let the dogs out. NO. We didn't make him do that. We were looking for a place to get a burger that wasn't a bar so Daniel could come. But he wanted to go home...so we went to the nearby Spot Tavern. Great burgers and a fun time visiting together.

I enjoyed the bitter-sweet day.

Tanja and Tess

Comfy new couch

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Daniel turns 21. Wow. This needs its own post.



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Memorial Day at the Beach. The dogs had a great time.

Memorial Day at the Beach. John had a productive time.

Memorial Day at the Beach. Memorable.