Throwback Tuesday

In the process of cleaning out my Dad's house we came across boxes of slides. We knew we had to go through them, but didn't have the time to do it while cleaning. Cheri took them all to her house to look at later.
So, this past Friday, we all gathered at Mark and Cheri's.  They set up the screen, got out the projector and we spent 4 hours going through slides.

My Dad was in the army and spent time in Germany, so we saw slides of that time, along with a trip to the Netherlands with his army buddies.  There were pictures from a trip my mom took to Colorado with 3 girlfriends before she was married.  There was another trip she took to Mackinac bridge and island, with pictures taken from a helicopter over the bridge, something we never knew she did. 
We saw pictures of their trips to Hawaii, Europe, Canadian Rockies, Alaska.

And we saw things we loved - like pictures from their honeymoon, pictures of the farm I grew up on, the house we lived in until I was 12, pictures of extended family and us as kids.
It was really touching to see it all.

Here's a few that I took pictures of when they were on the screen. Some are in pretty bad condition after all these years, so you'll have to excuse the poor quality.

My brother and I, apparently really enjoying whatever Mom was feeding us!

I love this picture because I have such strong memories of this type of thing.  My Dad was a hands on dad and could often be found on the floor playing with us.  He was a farmer (as evidenced by that farmers tan) and came home every day for lunch. After eating, he would always get on the floor and play for a bit before he went back to work. This looks like it was taken in the evening, and is Dad playing with my sister Terri.

This is me with my brother Duane.  I was 14 months old when he was born. I don't think he appreciated how I was holding him.

This is on my second birthday.

Here, I'm opening a present on my first birthday.

It was a great evening, reminding us of lots of good times and memories.  We're sending the slides away to be saved onto digital medium

What's happening here

 I have a few random pictures from my camera to share with you.

We have just listed my Dad's house to sell.  It's a bittersweet moment.  My parents built that house about 50 years ago so I have many memories there.  However, we know the time has come for another family to enjoy it.

We did a little work there before listing it.

We were doing some painting and landscaping work. Laura came to help and brought Alaina and Ruby along. We were painting the garage which had never been painted, just drywalled.  The girls were thrilled to help with that and they did a good job! The garage looks fresh and bright after several coats of paint and primer.

Here's Ruby helping Bob with wood chips.  Alaina was helping with landscaping too.

Here's the front of the house when we finished.  We did paint one bedroom inside too, but the rest of it was ready to go.  Now we just wait for a buyer.

On a whole other note, this is a meal Bob made last week(Hawaiian Chicken over rice).  Since he's now only working a few days a week, he's been trying to make supper occasionally.  This is quite amazing because until recently he only made grilled cheese and an occasional omelet.  He's doing good and I really appreciate coming home and having supper ready!

Do you remember that in the Spring, Bob built a raised bed behind our house for a few plants?  It's doing great!  This is our harvest on Friday.  We've also gotten several green peppers and lots of fresh basil.  I love having fresh produce right outside the back door!

I've told you all how much I like my job.  This is a side benefit.  Our building is next to a golf course, and we get to enjoy wildlife.  This is a little fawn that's been showing up occasionally.
I have a lot to be thankful for!

Friday Funny

 

Cooking Thursday

 Last week I made a recipe that was new to me, beef stew using leftover roast beef.  I have a few things I make with leftover roast, as there are only 2 of us in the house.  This turned out good and will be added to my rotation.  Bonus - it's a crockpot recipe!

Leftover Crockpot Roast Beef Stew

3 cups, roast beef, cubed
2 cups cooked red potatoes, quartered
1 cup cooked baby carrots
1 diced onion
2 ribs celery, cut into chunks
2 cups leftover gravy or you can buy one jar
1 tablespoon minced garlic
14.5 ounce can stewed or diced tomatoes
1 cup green beans, ends removed
1 cup beef broth or au jus
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon black pepper
1 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce
3 bay leaves
3 tablespoons cornstarch
1/2 cup water

Place all ingredients except water and corn starch in 6 quart crockpot, placing bay leaves on top.
Cook on low for 4-5 hours, then remove bay leaves.
Mix cornstarch and water together. Remove as much of the broth from crockpot as possible, place in small saucepan and bring to boil.
Whisk in the cornstarch mix until broth thickens.  Return mix to stew and serve.

Wordless Wednesday

 

A Cut Above

Bob finished another of his carvings this past week, which reminded me that he finished one in late Spring that I never showed you.  So, this is a little late, but it's a special one so I'm sharing it now.
Bob has one uncle left, his Mom's younger brother.  He was the youngest child and now just turned 85.
He owned a store and was a butcher, and had asked Bob to do a carving of him as a butcher.

Here's the finished carving showing Uncle Neal hard at work!

This one is named 'A Cut Above'.

He even made a little butcher block table, which is what they used to use in the store to cut meat on.

Cutting meat is messy, so he had to include a bit of it, without making it gory. I love the floor he made.  He also included sawdust, which is something they put down to absorb messes and make it easier to sweep up.

Butchers usually wear paper caps, which are supplied by different companies and have their logos on them.  Uncle Neals real name is Cornelious and he goes by Neal or Casey.  That's why Bob made the logo on the cap KC Fine Meats.
Another thing is the handprint.  Bob puts a handprint on all his carvings, and puts them in different places. This one was over his heart, to symbolize God's hand on his heart.

Here's Uncle Neal with the carving.  It's one Bob was especially honored to do.

Bubble art and visiting Great Grandma

 Last weekend we finally had Alaina and Ruby overnight again.  It's been too long, things like our vacation, their vacation, sickness and then random busyness kept it from happening.

On Friday night we made a trip to the local ice cream place.

The girls always choose play dough ice cream.

Ruby humored me and let me take a picture of her by the fence.

On Saturday we made bubble art.  I put food coloring in bubble mix and the girls blew the bubbles onto watercolor paper. We decided these would make fun cards if we folded them in half.

Here's the finished art!

We picked up my sister Cheri and then picked up lunch and went to the Assisted Living place that Ann lives at.  They each brought one of their bubble art pieces for her.
We had lunch outside, under the gazebo.
Alaina asked "So Grandma, what did you do this week?"  Ann replied "Chased men!"  Followed by lots of laughs from her and the rest of us.  :)

After lunch, we had to check out the little garden Ann helped plant.  She's pretty proud of it.

Hugs good-bye.

She loves seeing them and they love her too.  

Then we brought the girls back home and hopefully they'll be back before too long!

Friday Funny

 

Bob likes to say this is how things work in our marriage - however, he's wrong!  :)

Cooking Thursday

Here's a recipe for you, for the next time you are making goodies and can't decide between a brownie and a cookie.  These have a little of both!  They are really good.  These aren't something I'll make too often, because they take a little time, but they are a fun treat occasionally.

Brookies (Brownie/Cookies)

Cookie Dough:
2 cups flour
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
10 tablespoons butter
1 1/4 cup packed brown sugar
2 large eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla
1/2 cup chocolate chips

Brownie dough:
8 ounces chopped dark chocolate or chocolate chips
6 tablespoons butter
1 cup packed brown sugar
2 large eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla
3/4 cup flour
2 tablespoons cocoa
1/4 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup chocolate chips
sea salt to finish

Cookie dough:
Whisk flour, baking powder and salt together.
Beat butter and brown sugar until just combined.
Beat in eggs, then vanilla, then flour mixture until just combined.
Stir in chocolate chips.

Transfer dough to a piece of plastic wrap.  Shape into a rectangle (allows it to cool quicker). Wrap up and place in refrigerator for at least one hour.

Brownie dough:
Melt chocolate and butter together, until chocolate is melted and mixture is smooth.  Whisk in the brown sugar, followed by eggs and vanilla.
Use spatula to fold in flour, cocoa, baking powder, salt and chocolate chips to form a very soft dough.
Transfer to plastic wrap and form into rectangle. Wrap up and place in refrigerator for at least one hour.

Once both doughs have chilled, scoop 1 tablespoon of each dough and roll them gently together into a ball.
Place on parchment paper, cover with plastic wrap and place back in the refrigerator for 30 minutes while you heat the oven to 350 degrees.
Before baking, sprinkle lightly with sea salt.
Bake for 10-12 minutes, let cool on cookie sheet for 3 minutes before transferring to cooling rack.
Store in airtight container.

Wordless Wednesday

 It may be just a weed, growing on the side of the road, but it sure is pretty!

Flying High!

 Last Saturday, Bob and I went to an air show.  I've been to quite a few of them, as Bob and our son Andy have always been big fans of aircraft, especially the old ones.  Andy ended up in the military working on aircraft, and although he is no longer serving, he works as a civilian at Fort Campbell, working on Apache helicopters.
This time we were going for a special reason.  But first I'll tell you a little about the day.
It was raining as we got close to the airfield, and when we got out of the car, there was a fine mist and a cold wind.  I was pretty cold and hadn't thought of taking a jacket.  After all, it's July!
However, we made the best of things, walking around and checking out some of the aircraft that were parked there.
Then we got to watch the first section of the airshow.

Excuse the poor quality of some of these photos.  It was hard taking them in the misty rain and seeing what was going on.
This is a coast guard helicopter with a guy hanging out of it, showing how they do water rescues.

This was a stunt plane.  He would fly directly up, then go into a free fall and pull out of it before he got too low.  It was kind of scary to watch.

These 4 flew in formation and were amazing to watch. The name of this group is The Hooligan's.

Here they are again.

That was fun, but the real reason for being there was a gift Bob got from the family for his retirement.

He got the gift of a plane ride...

in this B25 bomber!  (They were doing publicity shots here). We had to order tickets months before as there were a very limited amount of rides available.

This plane is called Rosie's Reply, named after Rosie the Riveter.  It flew combat missions in WWII. Take note of the glass front.  The bomber sat in the bottom of that, and Bob got to crawl down there during his flight.  You'll see photos from that further down.

Here is the plane in the middle of the photo, and the guys that were riding walking out there.  There were 6 men including Bob that were on this ride. The other plane out there is a B17 bomber.

There they go! (Thankfully the weather had cleared by this time, no more rain. The flight earlier in the morning was cancelled due to weather).

Here's some pictures Bob took from the plane.

He was sitting right behind the pilot, co-pilot and crew chief, until he got his turn to crawl through a little tunnel to the bomber seat below them.

Looking out that glass front.

The Norden Bombsight.

The view from above.

When the 30 minute ride was finished, they got a ride back on a golf cart.  He was pretty excited!

He loved it!

VBS!

 Last week our church had VBS. The theme this year 'Dare to be a Daniel'.  It's about living with courage in uncertain times.
We had over 140 kids and more than half were kids from the neighborhood.
The leaders always schedule a nurse to be one of the volunteers, and this year I was the nurse on Tuesday, which is my day off from work.
We had two 5 years olds who both carry an epipen because of severe food allergies, so they ate their snacks by me to avoid any chance of contact with an allergen.  They were both cute and talkative!  Other than watching for any issues with allergies, my day consisted of a few scrapes, hugs and some band-aids placed.  :)  It was fun spending time with these kids.
Here's a few pictures of what things looked like.

All the volunteers, in a circle discussing the days plan and praying before the kids got there.

Entrance to the tent room. The kids loved walking across this "bridge" making sure they didn't fall in the water!

Lots of kids, lots of leaders!

Some games in the gym.

I love this picture, because it's some of the leaders who are high school kids from our church, It's so cool to see them volunteering to help with this.  When I was younger, the girls would help, but you wouldn't ever see high school boys doing this.

One last shot of the kids, sitting still and listening!
It was a great week!