SOME TICKETS ARE AWESOME ...

and some are not. Here in the NEK, the Northeast Kingdom of Vermont, they really sock it to you if you get a speeding ticket. We are blaming the bright red rental car for Steve's speeding ticket. It certainly made us more noticeable. Anyway, they are happy to have their revenues increased from out of state drivers. We had a Massachusetts license plate too. Two strikes-oh did I mention he WAS speeding.

Sadie took to Papa right away when we arrived last night. First thing this morning, she wanted to know where Papa was. We stopped in at some of the favorite Vermont specialty places. Here is Sadie helping herself to some recently pressed apple cider at the Cold Hollow Cider mill. She's been there often enough to be a pro. The cider donuts are yummy too. It was fun watching them press the cider.

Here we are on the tour of the Champlain Chocolate Factory. This time of the year there are NO crowds in Vermont. Another couple came so they held a tour and sample tasting just for us. Sadie loved the chocolate except for the extra dark, but thought the tour was a bit boring.

Burlington is on the edge of Lake Champlain. It is beautiful and looks like it would be a lot of fun on a nice summer day. Today the wind was brisk and quite cold so we stopped for the photo op only.

Of course, we had to stop by the Cabot Cheese store and La Brioche, where the students of the New England Culinary Institute practice on the public in Montpelier, the capitol of Vermont. We skipped the maple farms because they haven't started collecting the sap yet and we've been there before.

Libbie, Jeff and Benson read and snuggle in an electric wrap designed for cold winter nights in Vermont. Tomorrow Benson has the day off from school so he will join in our adventures.

Steve Has Friends!

Two of them called us yesterday and said they were on their way back to Montana from Arizona and wanted to get together. Mike and Joan owned an equipment dealership in Montana and Steve worked with them for about 12 years. They became really good friends. They sold their business just over a year ago and that left a big hole in Steve's dealership pool. It left an even bigger hole in his heart. He really missed his trips to Montana and the comraderie he had with all of the employees there. Steve went back to Montana last November to be the master of ceremonies at their retirement party. I got to know them when we went on our trip to Tahiti.
Anyway, tonight we were privileged to have them to our home for dinner. We really enjoyed catching up and reminiscing. True to tradition Mike and Steve were dressed in almost identical outfits. Joan said that almost every time Steve walked in the dealership, everyone would comment that they got the memo. Steve and Mike were dressed in plaid shirts and jeans tonight. As Steve says, "Great minds think alike.

I'm Still Celebrating!

Well today is the last day of February and I'm sad to have it end. It seems like I celebrate my birthday all month. When Heather came to town on Wednesday, she brought this darling package decorated with homemade flowers by Brinley. Thanks, Brinley. I loved the package so much I hated to open it. On Friday, Steve K. brought my Dad to Salt Lake for a Dr.'s appointment at the VA. They finished earlier than expected so after a few phone calls, we had an impromptu lunch gathering at a place called The Citrus Grill. It was yummy and fun to get together with my Dad and siblings. It wasn't really a birthday lunch for me, but I'll claim it. Right after I headed out to the airport to pick up Steve who was returning from Eugene, OR, a town made famous by some amazing runners.

Monday night Steve and I drove north to celebrate the birthday of a fellow Februarian, Jenna. I bet you've never heard that word before. Anyway, It was fun to have family home evening and cupcakes with a very excited 7 year old. Jenna has such a tender heart and a picky palate. It was good to see her smiles. She approved of our french toast made with cinnamon burst bread. Add a little bacon, orange julius, cupcakes and ice cream and you have a real feast. Jenna ate 3 pieces of french toast! Do you have to capitalize french when you say french toast?

Happy Birthday, Jenna!

Grandpa loves the hugs. So do I.

The More We Get Together,

The Happier We'll Be. Those are the words to an old fashioned song, and when it comes to families, I agree with the sentiments. My sister Jackie had a long weekend for President's Day so she came down from Idaho and my parents and siblings all got together. Don't we look like a happy bunch? We had a nice potluck dinner and a delightful evening together. Here are the valentine's cookies that our Sunday School class decorated for their absent friends. We talked about having our hearts in the right place.

Here the girls are enjoying the process. Our one young man left this job up to the girls.

Today I went to Mapleton again to help out while my brother Steve went to some appointments. I fixed a pot roast dinner for Mom & Dad and Kelley and Karen. Karen had foot surgery on Monday so it worked out well that I came to cook dinner. I also helped my Dad sort through all of his sweaters. We found a few new ones that still had the tags on them but they had been lost in the back of the closet. DI will get a new donation tomorrow. Even I can sort other people's clothes and donate them.

I encourage everyone to read my sister Jackie's blog about Grandma Annie. For those blogging experts, is there a way to put her post on mine? I've never seen some of those pictures before. It is an awesome post.

STILL CELEBRATING?

Yes. I am. Actually I have a lot to celebrate. Here I am at lunch today with my birthday buddies. We have a lot of years to rejoice about now, and our annual birthday lunch takes a couple of hours to catch up. We used to live in the same neighborhood, but only Mynon lives there still. We were all born in February of the same year. The other three were born on the 7th and I was born on the 2nd. Interestingly enough their names all start with "M". Kristen was not a popular name then. Here's the beautiful and yummy (actually my only cake this year) that Shawn and Tiffany bought to celebrate while I was in Texas. I'm also celebrating the fact that yesterday I closed on a tri-plex that I have had listed for sale since last June. And I'm celebrating that a couple of my children who got engaged 10 years ago this month, ended up with such amazing wonderful spouses. Our family is truly blessed.

One last thing I'm happy about today--no make that two. I wrote an offer today for a family that has been boggged down in an ugly short sale. I have a feeling that this one just might work out. And last but not least, that ugly bit of stomach flu that I got in Texas has jump started me towards a little weight loss that I've been struggling with. I'm down 4 lbs. Let's hope I can keep it that way.

Steve cleaned his office closet while I was having lunch with my friends. Lucky for him that I brought home most of my skewered shrimp and pilaf.

Abigail is good at putting on a pouty face when she wants to work her dad. He was late in getting home from work and she let him know her displeasure.

Here she snuggles and teases her grandpa.

Nice group photo. Nice chocolate wall with new mirror and valences! Don't you agree?

Goodbye photo with our princess of the day--Abigail. We had a great trip. The flu was only a minor setback. I love being with my girls.

Tons of Fun in Texas!

We always have a great time during our annual visit to Texas! It's great to spend a few days in the warmer weather with Tif, Shawn and ABIGAIL! And we truly love attending the San Antonio Stock Show and Rodeo. The opening ceremonies are refreshingly patriotic. It always starts with the Star Spangled Banner and a prayer. It is so awesome! After a top notch rodeo, there is a concert. We attended the day that Tim McGraw was the featured performer. Wow! What a show! We attended the matinee so that Abigail could go with us. She loved Steve's binoculars. She was really pretty well behaved especially considering we were in our seats for about 4 hours minus a few bathroom breaks.

Steve thoroughly enjoys the animal barns and we always get a kick out of the food concessions. Texans love everything fried including peanut butter and jelly sandwiches, ice cream, chicken fried bacon and etc. The soccer fields were kind of muddy from rain earlier in the week so Abigail's soccer game was cancelled again. We didn't know that so we showed up anyway. Here she kicks the ball and shows her stuff with her daddy.

Here's Abigail on our drive to the soccer game. Her team is called the Frogs. Earlier in the week, Abigail skinned her nose on the stairs. The bows lasted in her hair for about 15 minutes. That's progress.

Very first thing Sat. morning, Shawn and Abigail had a breakfast date. Off they went to I-HOP for pancakes. While they were gone, Tif, Steve and I painted the burgundy wall in the living room. It is now the color of hot chocolate. It looks good enough to lick!

Here's Abigail after she petted a llama in the petting barn at the Stock Show.

Friday morning we spent about 20 minutes raking leaves in the front yard. It was fun to work in the sunshine together especially since they've had a lot of rain lately. We loved being outside with the 60-70 degree temperatures. Ahh, nice!

Almost Perfect Popcorn!

Here's our bowl of popcorn with only a couple of handfuls missing. Thanks to Hilary and a few practice runs I'm now able to make a darn good bowl of popcorn in about 2 minutes. I take about 2/3 full of a 1/4 cup of popcorn kernels and place them in a brown lunch sack. Put them in the microwave for close to 1 minute 20 seconds. When the poppping slows down, stop the microwave. It is very easy to burn them if you let them pop as long as the microwave bags.
Next I melt 1 T real butter in a cup and pour it over the popcorn. Toss the butter and a shake of salt. Yum! Good old fashioned homemade popcorn. It is not as salty as the microwave kind but it reminds me of yesteryear. And you know how I love popcorn. It makes just enough for Steve and I to have a little snack. I could eat a lot more but this can satisfy. Of course, if Steve's not home, I eat it all myself. Sat. when we drove the pickup back to Hilary's, she suggested that we have a birthday celebration for me just a few days early. So we took the kids and went for pizza. We topped it off with one of those white chocolate macadamia cookies baked in a skillet with ice cream on top. It was downright decadent and delicious but, alas, we couldn't quite eat it all. Too bad!

Yes. I am entering my mature years when I celebrate my birthday tomorrow. I encourage one and all to call and sing if you choose, but request that you not spend any money purchasing gifts. I would love to get the rest of the 2009 Family Summaries. Just a page or two with pictures would be fabulous. I won't mention names, but you know who you are! Thank you, thank you, thank you in advance! I love you all and you are the reason that I prefer to continue having birthdays at all! This will be the first time in years that Steve is actually going to be home for my birthday. That is so odd that we are not sure how to celebrate. We'll figure out something.