Favorite Flower

For lack of my own ideas and I don't want my blog to just be a journal of what we do - I have decided to get ideas of what to blog about from here.

This weeks idea is to tell what is your favorite flower and why?

I don't think I have a FAVORITE flower. I took a flower arranging class while at Ricks college and got a real appreciation for all kinds of flowers.

So here are my top picks for different reasons:

Calla Lilly's remind me of home in California. I was very disappointed to learn after getting married and moving to Washington that these flowers do not grow well here in my area and need lots of care - which since I'm not a gardening kind of girl, yet - I won't be planting these beautiful simple flowers any time soon.

I also attempted to grow Jasmine in my yard in West Richland and sadly they didn't survive the winter either. I love the fragrant smell these brushes have and they also reminded me of my house in San Jose.

Gerbera Daisy's are just the perfect thick daisy that are fun and come in lots of different colors. My girls now have lots of different silk flower clips that look like these flowers.

Lavender and lilacs are 2 flowers that I love and that I successfully grew in my yard here in Washington. I love the look and the smell of both!

Tulips are a favorite because they remind me that spring is coming and they are beautiful and come in so many colors. And to me anything that reminds me of spring = happy! One of these years I'm going to make it to the Tulip festival over on the west side to see all the beautiful fields of tulips that come up in April.

It's always nice to receive roses from my husband (like these that were delivered last Valentine's). I will be happy to receive roses anytime. But I don't really like to grow roses either. They seem to be too high maintenance. I used to think I LOVED lily's (also in the arrangement) but have realized the past few year that although I love how they look, they just smell too strongly (stinky). So I can appreciate their beauty but don't want them in my house!

And for future reference also: Carnations are ugly and cheap and don't belong in any flower arrangement or yard of mine!

Who knew . . .

That besides the deer that roam our neighborhood and are often found in the sagebrush or along the shore near our home, and the geese that have spent every day honking, flying and landing on the mostly frozen lake, and twice I've seen coyotes running across the ice . . . but now we found out that there are also porcupines! Max (our loving yellow lab) found out for us the hard way!I've managed to pull out about 10 of them but I think I may be making a trip to the vet tomorrow to get the rest. I give up!

Wheat Bread

The loaves just got made and below is just when I put them in the oven.

I finally decided to use some of the fresh ground wheat that my Mom brought up for me at Thanksgiving time. First, on accident I made the whole recipe which makes 4+ loaves. So I thought I'd go with it and test out my "convection" oven and see if I could cook all the loaves together. Sadly I was disappointed with that option. The biggest loaves that I made into cinnamon bread came out doughy in the centers. But otherwise they taste great. I sent the kids to the neighbors will the smallest loaves so hopefully those one were cooked better and I won't be embarrassed that I sent over bread. We had bread for dinner and it's still delicious if you eat around the dough! Next time I'm cooking them only on one rack. And probably only making half a batch. Now I just need to get some wheat in my food storage so that I can actually use the wheat grinder my Mom gave me for Christmas! Another thing on my to do list - stock up on food storage!

That's the finished product before we devoured it. I know you think I'm just so domestic!!

Our Frozen Lake

We are lucky enough to live by the lake and when we moved in the thing was frozen SOLID! We ventured out to test it and everyone had fun sliding on the ice and going on a nature walk. The boys had done this a few times before but the family spent a fun afternoon doing it together the day after Christmas!I took this one from above before I decided to be adventurous and join them. Check out everyone's sliding and some falling skills!

A little bit of posing for Mom.

And a picture just to prove that I was there.

And we have beautiful sunsets - hard to tell in this picture but Morgan and Mia are in it (hidden in the sage brush) and you can see the peak of Mt. Rainer off to the left in the skyline!

We enjoyed our walk around the deer trails from the lake to the pond and all around some of the undeveloped land in our neighborhood. You guys missed out - it's been a warm month of January and the lake is already melting. I don't think I would walk on it now!

I have to start somewhere!

Since I didn't send out a Christmas card this year I'll start with about the only picture that could be a possibility of a decent photo for the month of December. Pardon our very dusty stairs - we had just moved in two days before while the carpet was still being laid and the painters had just finished up the night before.Not the best picture but we were working on a time schedule and it was time to leave for our first Sunday in our new ward (ML 4th). So far we are loving the new ward. I was just called as Activity day leader for the 9 year olds which are usually combined with the 8 year olds so I'll get to be with Morgan too. The kids all have found friends both at church and school (some the same). And I have managed to get this house cleaned up that I'm not embarrassed to have people stop by now. My stairs are no longer THAT dusty although I'd have to say wood stairs collect a lot of dust and lint!

Back Online!!

After being without internet since December 18th . . . I am ecstatic to announce that I am back online today! I have so much to catch up on and the break has been good for me (to get some unpacking done). So I am hoping to do some good posts soon. I am planning to make the long drive to shop in Tricities tomorrow so I don't think I'll post then. But I just wanted you all to know that we moved, that we basically settled into our new home (although since we are "fixing" the place up it will be a while before I really feel settled), and we're getting used to our new ward, schools and routines. I'd love for people to come visit! So if you're ever in the area please let us know! Mia has had Barbie.com withdrawals and is begging for me to give her some time online!!

Moving . . .

finally, after a very stressful month of November, we were able to close on our house. We are trying to get moved by Christmas and are waiting now on the painting (inside for now - outside later - I HOPE) and new carpet to be installed. So hopefully we'll be able to move by December 19th. I think I will need at least that much time to quickly get us settled and ready for Christmas.

Anyways. . . due to stress, boredom or something else - maybe too much facebook time. I have neglected my blog for most of the past month plus. I never posted much about October or November other than the family cruise. So hopefully when I get my house back in order (I have spent many days doing prep work on the new house, lots of drive time, and having my parents and sister's family here for Thanksgiving) I will finally take the time to do a catch up post of everything I missed and post lots and lots of pictures. I hope everyone is having that good Christmas feeling now and is getting into the spirit of the season. Sadly, because of the move, we haven't decorated at all for Christmas and probably won't until just days before the big day!