February Field Trips

Here's Austin with his buddy Ronald Reagan. We visited the Ronald Reagan Presidential Library this week to see the Magna Carta Exhibit, and of course Air Force One and Marine One. The Magna Carta was amazing. The great thing was, the week after I signed up for this field trip, we just happened to study the Magna Carta in our history program, Story of the World. Perfect timing! It was pretty amazing to see the original document from 1215 preserved in such a way that you could still read the words. If you, uh, read Latin, that is.

Here is Vance in front of Marine One.

Here he is in front of Air Force One, the very plane Reagan would travel in. We were able to walk through the inside of the plane. I was surprised at the lack of "travel amenities" it had. It wasn't luxurious by any means. And nice wood paneling, I might add. I can only imagine what Obama's plane looks like.

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We also took a field trip to Fire Station #73 here in Santa Clarita last week. The firemen were so good with the kids, as they showed them all the features of the fire trucks, let them squirt water out of the hose, and dressed up in their full 135 lb. fire suit. We had such a great time, and it was a good opportunity to see what the life of a fireman is like and the great sacrifices they make to work so hard on our behalf.

Here's Austin inside the garage.

Our tour guide and firefighter/paramedic put on his whole suit to show the kids how he protects himself.

Austin squirts the fire hose!

Vance having fun shooting water, as well.

And Luke thoroughly enjoyed himself. He asked so many questions, and was so interested in every aspect of the job. Perhaps someday he will become a firefigher himself? I think it's a noble profession. We had such a great time!

A Recipe for Stephanie....

OK, so I love to bake. And it seems I am always able to find those absolutely amazing desserts that taste divine, but have no redeeming health qualities whatsoever. In other words, you had better go run a mile after consuming. Or just enjoy your guilt. It's your choice. I came up with this recipe because I wanted something that tasted like my favorite chocolate chip danish from Western Bagel that I love so much. So I thought, "hmmmm, I wonder if I could use my all-purpose homemade crescent roll dough to make my own version?" And since the internet is a wonderful resource, I was able to find a recipe that sounded similar to what I wanted. So I gave it a try a couple weeks ago to serve as dessert after my niece's play. I call this recipe "Chocolate Crescent Twist".

Ohhhhh.......my.............was............it..........divine. Evil. Just evil. And wrong. I truly believe things that taste that good should have no calories, and carrots should have thousands. But that's just my opinion. So on to the recipe: If you have a bread machine, it will make simple of this task. Here is the recipe for the dough (which by the way makes the most amazing crescent rolls.....my family LOVES them...see below for details):

2 1/4 cups flour (bread flour works best)
1/4 cup butter, softened
1 egg yolk, plus enough water to equal 3/4 cup
1 tbsp milk
1/2 tsp salt
2 tbsp sugar
1 tsp yeast

Easy enough, right? So if you have a bread machine, go ahead and load those ingredients in, and select the basic dough setting. If you don't have a bread machine....well, I don't know. I suppose you could mix it, knead it, and let it rise. Good luck.

After the dough is finished, roll it out into a 12 X 8 rectangle. Combine 3 tbsp flour, 3 tbsp sugar, and 1 tbsp butter in a bowl, and mix until crumbly. Set aside. Sprinkle the dough with 2/3 cup chocolate chips, 1 tbsp sugar, 1 tbsp cinnamon, and half of the flour mixture in your bowl. Starting at the long side, roll up the dough (as if you are making cinnamon rolls), and pinch the edges to seal. Join the ends to form and ring, and pinch the edges together to seal. Gently twist the ring to form a figure 8. Place in a greased loaf pan, cover, and let rise for 30-60 minutes, or until the dough has filled up the entire loaf pan, and has risen on top. Brush the top of the entire thing with 1 tbsp melted butter. Sprinkle with 1 tbsp chocolate chips, pressing them gently into the dough. Sprinkle remaining flour mixture on top. Bake in a 375 degree oven for about 30-40 minutes or until golden brown. Allow to cool at least 20 minutes. Remove from pan, and slice to serve. Have some coffee with it, trust me. Then put on your athletic shoes and run until you can't run any more.

If you would like to use the above dough to make crescent rolls, all you need to do is remove the dough from the machine, punch it down, and roll it into a 10 inch round. Brush it with melted butter, and cut into 10 wedges (like a pie). Roll up starting at the wide edge. Place on cookie sheet, brush with more melted butter, and let rise about 30 minutes. Bake them at 375 for about 10 minutes, or until lightly golden. Your family will love you, probably kiss you, and tell you to make these every week until you die. They are truly yummy. My bread machine can hold a 1 1/2 scale batch, but not a double batch. If you make 1 1/2 times the recipe, divide the dough in half and roll out into two circles. It works much better that way. Stephanie, I hope you enjoy making this as much as you enjoyed eating it!

Valentine's Day Camping Trip to California City

Does this look like the middle of nowhere to you? Well, it is. But what you don't know is that it is Nirvana to the dirt bike rider. There is even snow on those beautiful mountains.

See the trails leading out to endless possibilities of fun? See the trailer on the right? This is the ONLY way one would possibly want to go camping when it's 32 degrees outside and just snowed the night before. Yes, we are die hards. We bundle up. We load up the trailer in the pouring rain. All for the love of the ride. Well, the love of the ride for my three sons and my husband. And for the four other families who braved this with us.

See one happy boy? This is one happy eldest boy of mine who, after being "encouraged" to try the bigger motorcycle ended up falling in love.

Can you see the love in his eyes? Of course not silly. He has a helmet and goggles on.

Speaking of love, there's the man that makes my heart skip a beat. He LOVES motorcycles. And it brings so much joy to my heart to see his three boys learn to enjoy them so much as well. It makes me smile to hear my little 7 year old say, "Daddy, can you take me on a trail ride"?

There's my youngest operating a real motor vehicle so well, you'd think it was in his blood. Oh yeah, it is.

Riding for hours and hours on end, only to stop for food.....what more could a boy ask for?

Now, for some details on this trip:

We had planned on leaving Friday afternoon and caravanning with my sister's family and the Berggrens. It was POURING rain all day. It was snowing up the 14 freeway. It was not looking good for the drive up, so my sister called and said they were going to drive up Saturday morning instead. We were a little worried about the weather, as they were predicting rain all weekend. The Berggrens were going to brave it, so we decided to brave it with them. What an absolutely gorgeous drive up. The mountains up the 14 freeway were completely covered in snow, and the rain and snow had stopped. It was really just breathtaking. The travel up, praise God, was uneventful. We set up camp (albeit in the dark) in a nice big spot and ate our dinner and went to bed.

The next day brought perfectly clear skies, and beautiful crisp and cold weather. We were ultra prepared for the cold and rain, so we were completely comfortable. Thermals, beanies, jackets. The rest of our friends (3 families) were to arrive somewhere in the late morning. The kids rode, and the adults watched the road for our arriving friends. Time passed and passed and we wondered why they had not arrived yet. Cell reception was touch and go, but I finally got a call out to my sister. They had broken down! A bearing went out on their trailer, and it took hours to get it to the repair shop, where they had to unload everything into our other friends' trailers because it would have to be in the shop for a while. But my brother in law, Rich was determined to get to out to the desert to ride his new bike. Nothing was going to stop him!!!! Finally, everyone arrived and the rest of our weekend went smoothly. We had a wonderful time of fellowship with the Harasicks, Berggrens, Tubbs, and Jensens. Our group dinners together were so much fun. We even had a special Valentine's Day meal, complete with red placemats (thanks Sabrina!), heart napkins (thanks Luci!), and heart shaped brownie sundaes for dessert. Mmmm.....The kids had so much fun riding. The dads had so much fun riding. The moms had so much fun sitting around a warm fire talking. We thank God for the sweet time with our friends and the amazingly beautiful weather. It was sad to leave. Wish we could have stayed two more days!

One for the books...

This is a picture of beautiful Malibu Creek State Park. It did NOT look like this yesterday. Read on to find out why!

Have you ever been to Malibu Creek State Park? I've been wanting to go for some time now, and when my friend, Megan invited us to go on a day hike and picnic lunch, I jumped at the chance!

A little history about the park: It once was divided into three parcels belonging to Bob Hope, Ronald Reagen, and 20th Century Fox before the State of California acquired it in 1974. It is over 7000 acres of hiking and biking trails, streams, trees, and wildlife. The former filming site of M.A.S.H. is there, too.

It was forecasted to rain yesterday, but I had no idea what was in store for us. I figured a little sprinkle, a little drizzle....no big deal. After all, being a mom of three boys has taught me a bit about being adventurous. I mean, come on, it's just water. We hiked a beautiful oak lined trail that looked like it came straight from a movie scene (it probably did). We saw deer, lots of ducks, and a family of parrots along the way. Megan was quite familiar with the park, so she knew all the places to go. We hiked to a large swimming hole (of course, we weren't planning on swimming at this time of year), and it was just breathtaking. The kids had so much fun playing on the rocks nearby, and getting a little wet. There were even some crazy (OK, NUTS) people that were in their shorts jumping off the rocks into the water below. Yes, in this weather. They must be from Minnesota or something. We enjoyed our lunch by the lake, then decided to hike to another destination. We really wanted to see the former M.A.S.H. site, so we followed a trail uphill for a while. Megan commented that the trail seemed unfamiliar, but we kept going anyways. As we were hiking uphill, our feet began to accumulate mud. The rain began to increase in intensity, and before we knew it, we were in the back roads of Malibu Creek State Park, probably 2 miles from the car, in a torrential downpour. With no jackets. Or a change of clothes for that matter. At that point, we thought it would be a good idea to turn around and head back. Do ya think???? As we were walking, our shoes were all collecting layers of mud underneath, so much that it pushed out the sides and seemed as if we were all walking with skis attached to our shoes. It was hilarious. As time went by, we all got progressively wetter, until we were all literally soaking wet, as if we had just taken a shower in all our clothes. For some reason, all I could do was laugh uncontrollably. And shiver. It really was so much fun. Until we had to get into Megan's car all soaking wet and muddy. She cranked the heat and the bunwarmers (that's my word for heated seats), and we were all "comfortable", or as comfortable as one can be soaking wet in a pair of jeans. But it made it one of those experiences you will always remember. The kids had so much fun, nonetheless, and we all decided we would love to go back again someday. In the sunshine. Footnote: You will never know how good it feels to change into warm dry clothes if you didn't first soak yours to the bone. So there you go.

When life gives you blueberries......

With my abundance of blueberries, even after giving away more than 2/3 of them, I had the daunting task of finding things to do with these juicy little gems. After all, they are SO good for you, filled with antioxidants and probably lots of other healthy stuff of which I have no knowledge. Anyways (Nacho Libre accent included), I was a bad girl. I did bad things with my blueberries. Instead of being used for the healthy consumption they were intended for, I placed those healthy, juicy, amazing little things in the fellowship of other not so healthy ingredients. If those blueberries could talk, they would have screamed for salvation. It was like placing a saint in the middle of a room of sinners. They just don't mix. But in my opinion, mixing blueberries with sugar, butter, and the like makes an amazing combination, especially when your end result is Blueberry Pie and Blueberry Sour Cream Crumb Cake my friends. Let me preface this by saying, I am NOT a good pie maker. Just ask my niece Emma about the dreaded peach pie incident. I can make a Dutch apple pie, only because it has no top crust. But I just haven't been able to make a good crust for the life of me. It's always underdone, chewy, boring, bland, you name it. But I tried a new recipe for a butter crust that came highly recommended on one of my favorite cooking websites, Recipezaar, so I thought I'd give it a try. Well, it was no Karen Harasick pie crust, but it was actually pretty amazing. I was impressed that I actually made a pie that was not only semi-presentable, but delicious. The berries totally shined, as all I added was a couple tablespoons of sugar and about 3 tablespoons of flour as thickener, and a sprinkle of nutmeg. The blueberries ended up happy in the end, as they were juicy, plump, and delicious. The next day I made Ina Garten's (the Barefoot Contessa) recipe for Blueberry Sour Cream Crumb Cake, and it was the moistest, tenderest (probably not a word) cake. Paired with a cup of coffee, it was perfect for both breakfast and dessert. Just don't do both in the same day (haha). I still had enough berries to make some healthy whole wheat banana blueberry streusel muffins and to pop a handful straight out of the bag about 5 times a day. I am sad to see them go, but what a blessing they were!

My blueberry coffee cake before baking.....my battery died, so I didn't get an "after" shot.

About to go in the oven....

Alongside one of my family's favorite recipes....homemade crescent rolls. It was a busy day!

Oh baby, I wish you were still in my life.

I'm sure the coffee was brewing behind you, my love. Until next time.

Blueberry picking and January updates....

Vance took this picture of me picking those beautiful organic blueberries!

There were dozens of rows.....and millions of berries ripe for the picking.

Clusters of berries ready to just fall off....

Austin was a skilled blueberry harvester.

Vance demonstrating his berry-picking techniques....

Yesterday we had the opportunity to go blueberry picking with our homeschool group at a beautiful farm in Camarillo. The owners had an early harvest and were going to have to pay people to clear out the ripe berries so they could still have their usual spring harvest. So instead, several families from our group went and cleared them out for them! They told us to pick as much as we wanted, and that it was all FREE! And on top of that, they are organically grown!!! How much more could you ask for? All of us were SO thankful for the abundance of delicious, beautiful fruit we were able to bring home and share with others. This was our first experience picking anything other than fruit off my sister's orchard on her property, and it was so enjoyable! For me it was completely therapeutic to pick those berries, and I could have spent all day there, seriously! The boys enjoyed it for a while, and along with all the other kids, quickly became bored with the menial task. Afterwards, we were able to enjoy lunch at a beautiful 5 acre garden property just down the street. It was just breathtakingly beautiful and such an enjoyable afternoon of fun and fellowship. It was one of those days where I told myself, "Self, this is why we homeschool." For opportunities such as these. It was truly a gem of a day. And the evening was capped off by a rich time with two of my favorite ladies, Karen and Kelly, whom I meet with regularly (along with another wonderful lady, Nancy, who couldn't make it last night). We meet once a month to talk about ways we can pray for one another, discuss our current struggles, difficulties, things we are thankful for, and ways we can better love Christ and others. I am so thankful for the encouragement I receive from these ladies. They are a deep and rich treasure to me.

Another side note is that Dave's new job is going well! We are so thankful for 5 days a week once again, and the transition has been smooth. I am missing having lunch with him, but it's a good trade off. Work 5 days a week vs. having lunch with Dave....hmmm.......? I continue to marvel at how God takes care of us. My husband is healthy, able to work, willing to work hard, and an example and testimony to me.

Missing my nephew...

Today is the 5 year anniversary of my nephew, Brady's departure from this world and entrance into heaven. This is one of the last pictures I have of him with my boys, taken the Thanksgiving before he passed away. Look how little Vance is!!!

Brady was such a remarkable boy. He was the first one to make me an Auntie in 1989! He was always such a goofy, silly, and energetic kid. In so many ways he reminds me of Austin, which I think is amazing. Most would view his illness as a horrible tragedy, but God used it in so many ways in the lives of so many people for good. I witnessed firsthand the grace, mercy, and sustaining love and power of God in multiple ways. Brady's bravery, strength, and gratitude during his illness was a living testimony of this to me and to many others. If a child could ever be an example to adult, he was that example. My faith was strengthened, and my understanding of the character of God deepened because of him.

Brady experienced more in his short life than most people ever will in a full lifetime. He was mature far beyond his years. He was able to discover the truth that many people will search long, far, and wide for, but never find. He understood and experienced the transforming power of God in the heart.

We all miss Brady dearly. Austin and Luke knew him for 7 and 5 years, and Vance, only a brief 3. But we all have memories that we will hold in our hearts forever. Someday I will have the privilege of seeing Brady again. Until that day, I have those dear memories of a boy who changed my life forever.

A little of December....

Since I haven't blogged in a while, here is a recap of December's festivities! I don't have pictures of all of the events, but there are some below.

December began with our annual Hanukkah party at my sister's house with my Dad. Every year we celebrate together by making my Dad's special latkes (potato pancakes) served alongside a barbecued tender brisket. I look forward to the latkes, as I only get them once a year, and they are the yummiest, most delicious little things.

Christmas Eve morning, we held to our tradition of opening stocking stuffers up. I decided that stockings really aren't the best way to contain all of those little goodies. The stuff just doesn't fit!!!! There are always "stocking overflow" presents under the tree. The boys stockings were complete with snacks, candy, and various fun stuff like batteries, post-its, etc. Dave always fills mine with kitchen gadgets, office stuff, and my very favorite Dove dark chocolates. Dave's was filled with lots of "man stuff". Beef jerky, thermal socks, his favorite candies, clamps, bungee cords, etc.

That same evening, we held our annual dinner for Dave's family here at the house, and we served ham, mashed potatoes, and all the fixings. It was a delightful evening with Dave's mother and step-dad, and all of his brothers.

Christmas day, the boys opened their presents. We didn't do too much this year, so each boy got one nice gift, and a couple of other little things. Austin and Vance got dirt bike gear (jerseys and pants), and Luke got an Itunes gift card and memory card to expand his MP3 capabilities! We also added several movies to our collection this year.

Christmas day continued as we traveled down to my sister's house, where we stuffed each other's stockings (more like baskets), and enjoyed an amazing prime rib dinner. It was SO yummy! We had lots of fun watching Nacho Libre and just hanging out all evening.

We finally were able to take our Vasques Rocks hike that we do every year once the weather calmed down a bit. It was a beautiful day, and we all had a lot of fun hiking up rocks, investigating tunnels, and picking up the sheets of ice that were on top of some of the small pools of water. The boys always pack some of their stocking snacks for noshing, and it is always a memorable experience.

New Year's Eve, we had some dear friends over for an "appetizer dinner". My boys have been begging me to do another appetizer dinner, so I made pigs in a blanket, taquitoes, nachos, shrimp coctail, rumaki (bacon wrapped water chestnuts and shrimp), veggies and dip, and my friends Kelly brought some potstickers. It was so fun! We all stayed up until midnight having Wii sports tournaments and having fun together. Here are just a few pics I took:


The boys getting out all our ornaments.

Part of my collection of Starbucks ornaments my sister has been giving to me.

Our cute little kitty, Chipotle loved sleeping under the tree. He also enjoyed pulling all the ornaments off the tree, as well. Naughty boy.

The stocking were all stuffed!

Dave and the boys hiking at Vasquez Rocks.

Going down through a cool rock formation. This place has lots of cool things like this.

Dave being silly with his Slim Jim.

The boys stopping on the trail for me to take a pic!

Vance picked up this sheet of ice off of a small pool. He tried to eat it. Gross!!! Then he threw it and watched it shatter into a bunch of little pieces. Now that's fun!

Winter Camp '08 Pics!

Juniors Winter Camp

At our church, Dave and I serve in a ministry for 4th-6th graders, called "Juniors". From the minute we stepped in the door several years ago to check out the ministry, we were blown away. The quality of people serving in the ministry is top-notch. The structure, order, and discipline being given to these young people amazed us. And the leadership-loving, humble servants. We knew we just had to be a part of this life-changing ministry.

Every year, Juniors holds both a summer and a winter camp. I have had the privilege of going to Winter Camp three times now. I just got back from another amazing weekend up at Forest Home Camp in the beautiful mountains capped with snow, in a cabin with 8 amazing little young girls who are such a joy to minister to. And you know what? They ministered to me without knowing it. Every Sunday I have a small group of girls that I teach after the main lesson is over. Most of the girls in my cabin come from that small group. So I am familiar with them, making the time together comfortable. Our amazing Childrens' Ministry pastor, Kurt Gebhards came and taught the kids with love, compassion, and power from the Word of God. I pray hearts were softened tenderly to the messages they received. Among the many children in attendance were two of my own, Austin and Luke. This was Austin's last camp as a 6th grader, as he will move into the Junior High department next year. This was Luke's first camp as a 4th grader. So this ministry even serves my own family in a personal way.

Some of the highlights of camp were the quiet times I had with the girls to discuss the lessons, time in the cabin decorating our "Funky Monkey" themed cabin, giggling like a little girl with them, the flashlight hike, the zipline (I went twice, I'm such a kid), the rock climbing wall, and pulling a prank on one of the 6th grade boys' cabin. We decided that while they were away we would take everything (I mean EVERYTHING, including mattresses) out of their cabin and move it to a nearby empty cabin, so that when they returned they would have a nice surprise. The girls absolutely LOVED doing that. It was too fun! It was a long and tiring weekend, but by God's grace, I was able to get through it. In fact, I caught a cold the day after I returned! I'm so thankful it wasn't during camp! Praise God for his many blessings on our camp and I pray for His work to be done through it in the lives of these precious young people in our ministry!