Wild Delivery

In July 2008 Ryan went to Africa....(ok...he went other times too, but this is the one I'm talking about today) When we came home from our Anniversary trip Ryan had 3 HUGE suprises waiting for him in our garage....
The animals had arrived from that 2008 Africa Trip.
If you need a refresher about that trip you can take a peek HERE
Or if you want the long version of the hunt you can check out his Hunting Blog HERE
When he opened crate #1 it looked like this....

He decided to have his Cape Buffalo mounted European style so it would take up less room.... These are the actual hippo tusks from his trophy
This crate also included the hippo skull...I forgot to take a photo before he took it to his office.

And inside crate #2.....

The Hippo... with fake tusks This "little" guy is staying inside his crate for a while since we have NO ROOM to put him anywhere! (hint hint)

And this is his little hippo feet... made into pen holders and...Giant Bookends... seriously... what kind of books go between these? At the bottom of the bookends are the Cape buffalo's "things" as Ryan calls them made into a cinch sack...( yep.. he was definitely a boy)

As a bonus that Ryan forgot all about was the babboon skull .... we're so happy he has joined our little skull family :) And last but not least... in Crate #3 was this cute cuddly little thing...
Isn't he just so cute... it's the type of rug that you just want to curl up in and snuggle! Yes, we are so happy all these animals have now joined our little family. They are getting along quite well with everyone...
well, everyone except Sophie...

Ooops... I told her not to get too close to the Crocks mouth.
(BTW... no dogs were harmed in taking this photo...he he)
Ryan has taken a few items to his new office, but the others still need to find a home. And since we have no room available I would like to put them up for adoption, but I don't think Ryan would like that too much so I guess I will be patient and push for the casita addition instead :)

20th Anniversary Surprise Trip

A few months ago Ryan found out he would be in a 12 week trial starting the end of August and going into November. He was quite bummed that his Hunting schedule and our 20th anniversary celebration were going to be interrupted by this trial. However, just days after the trial started it settled before the jury selection was even complete. Whew! This freed up the next couple months for him and us to make some plans. At first we were just talking about going to a show downtown or something, but then Ryan had to travel for work to Seattle the week of our anniversary. Bonus!

So one week before our anniversary Ryan made some plans for us to spend some time in Seattle and travel over to Victoria, BC for a couple days as well.

I was so excited! After securing Ryan's parents for Babysitting(Thanks Nancie & Raynold!) We headed to the airport!
The first night we arrived, Heather, Nathan and Garrett picked us up at the airport and was our personal taxi while we were in Seattle. We went to the famous "Crab Pot" restaurant for dinner. At this place they don't just serve you seafood...they just dump it right in the middle of the table for everyone to share!

Nathan and Ryan LOVED it! But... Heather and I had a hamburger ...at the other end of the table :)
Garrett sat between us and was happy as a clam banging the wooden crab shell hammers and eating corn on the cob...He sure did love that corn on the cob! What a cutie.

The next day, Monday, Ryan left for his work stuff and I got to hang out at the nearby malls. He finished earlier than he thought so we met up...watched a movie and grabbed some dinner.

Very early the next morning,(6:30am) we headed over to the Seattle Clipper for a ride over to Victoria island. It is a 3 hour ride but went by pretty fast.

The island was even more beautiful than I remembered it when I was there about 30 years ago(yikes!)when visiting my Grandma Mac.
I should have taken more photos, but here is a little peek into the wonderful vacation we had....

We had a glorious, relaxing time and I never wanted the trip to end. We were even able to sneak in a dinner with my cousin Sandra and her husband who live there in Victoria. She gave ua a little tour of downtown Victoria and we had a wonderful time catching up.

Thursday morning came all to soon as it was time to head back to Seattle and Vegas.
Heather and Nathan were our taxi again and we went to Pikes Market to buy some fresh seafood, then dinner and off to the airport to head home to Vegas.

It was wonderful to come home and find everything peaceful, clean and in one piece when we arrived (Thanks again Nancie & Raynold!)
I can't believe we have been married for 20 years! Time sure does fly when we're having fun! I love Ryan so much and I look forward with great anticipation to many more years together!

Wicked Talent

I know I have shown off some of Miranda's talent before but... she has taken on a new outlet for this artistic talent of hers... painting on shoes. Now I have posted about shoes she painted before, but they were just her "starter shoes" you can take a peek at them HERE
This time she went a little more detailed in her design. She created these Wicked shoes for her good friend Madison who is also a die-hard Broadway fan like Miranda.

It took her quite a long time to decide on and paint all the sides and back, but I think they turned out wonderful!

The Yellow Brick road leading to the Emerald CityDorothy's house in the middle of the FieldBackground Clock image in the Broadway Play
The Wizard's RoomLast but not least....

She had such a fun time making these and she already has another pair in the works for another friend. More Pictures coming soon of those!

Just Peachy

I can't remember the last time I bottled peaches or made peach jam. I always buy a couple lugs of peaches each summer, but I either end up just slicing and freezing them (so yummy in smoothies) or a couple years ago Nancie was babysitting and made peach jam for me :)

This year the peaches were turning ripe faster than I could eat them so I knew something had to be done. Since I still had some in the freezer from last year (how long do they last frozen anyway?)
I decided I would try my hand at bottling them.

It took a full day but in the end I made 12 quarts of peaches (yes I have my own steamer cooker thingy)
and 11 pints of peach jam. I used a recipe Nancie gave me and it turned out so good.
We used a couple of the bottled peaches in the cobbler I made while camping... sooo delicious!

I have had peach jam on toasted English muffins about every day too!

I even had a few left over to add to my freezer stash for smoothies!

Rest from our Labor Day!

Labor Day weekend we decided to join the Websters and go camping!
We headed up Cedar Mountain and camped at beautiful Navajo Lake...The fishing was so so....

But the R&R was Awesome!!!

We brought Sophie along, but got her a little play pen so she could be leash (and tangle) free for a while while we hung outside. The weather was perfect... the food was yummy ( I turned out a mean Peach cobler)...the company was great... and like I said... the rest and relaxation was AMAZING! The weekend was over too fast, and we're already making plans for our next Labor Day getaway... (Ready Mom & Dad?)

Live out loud

Miranda has completed her first school project for this year...
It's Soooo Miranda!
I love to see how she expresses her talents!