Day trip

Wednesday was the "unofficial end" to our Christmas vacation. Mike went back to work on Thursday. Beth and I are still off school till after the New Year... But Mike always likes to put in a couple days of work at the end of the year when everybody else is gone. So, I know you're dying to know... What did my family and I do for our last day of Christmas break?? Why, they accompanied me to the Cities to see a hormonal specialist!   Yay! Yeah, not exactly festive.  But they were booked out over 2 months...so I took the first date they had to offer.  I don't especially enjoy Doctor's appointments.  Especially when it's talking about the...ahem...intimate details of my life and health with a man I've never met. But the guy is supposed to be good.  So...I went. And normally it's not the kind of thing that I would blog about. But I'm making an exception because instead of being a day that I want to forget . . . . . . it ended up being a day that I want to remember.  We ventured up to the appointment just under 2 hours away from home.  Then, my family checked out some stores in the area while I had my appointment...which was basically a consultation that lasted over an hour. When it was time to wrap up the appointment, the Doctor asked me, besides regulating my hormones, to list a few things areas where I hope to see improvement.  I explained to the guy that I wasn't hoping for any miracles, and that any steps in the right direction would be much appreciated.  But, I listed 3 basic things...  I said I hoped that I would be able to sleep better...which would result in a bit more energy...and that I would be able to handle stress a little better...   I came out of the Doctor's office and there were the smiling faces of my family waiting for me in the waiting room.  I can't tell you how much that meant to me at that moment.  Something about seeing their faces was just the most comforting thing in the world to me at that moment.  And really, just their "being there" was enough... We left the office and went down to the van, and guess what was waiting for me?  

 Flowers . . . 3 bottles of lotion . . . . . . and dark chocolate peanut butter cups.  Shhhh . . . If you look closely at the bottles of lotion, you will see their names: Stress relief . . . Energy . . . Sleep . . . Now, obviously, nobody in the world knows me better than my husband.  But it wasn't like I expressed a lot of anxiety about the appointment or gave him a run-down of what I hoped to gain from seeing this Doctor.   You might say stress relief, energy, and sleep are something we all need more of, and they're generic enough to explain away as chance.  But I don't think so.  My hubby is not exactly the sort of a guy who showers me with flowers and chocolate.  So, this was unexpected to say the least.  But more than that, it was just so comforting to know that--no matter what the future holds--I have the loving support of my family. We ended up finding a great business district right across the highway from the clinic with lots of restaurants and an outdoor mall with lots of fun stores, and it ended up being a really fun way to end our Christmas vacation. God is good! 

Sunday School Program

 Well, lest you think that we went through the entire Christmas season without pictures... Here is a post with pictures: Elizabeth took part in the Sunday School program at church. Which was a big deal because last year, she worked so hard on her part but got sick on the day of the program.  So... If there was one thing that we were healthy for this Christmas, I hoped it would be the program. And thankfully, we were.  :-) Here is a picture taken of my girl and I after the program... 

  And here is a picture of Beth that captured more of the pretty decorations: 

 Here is a picture of all of the kiddos from the program...can you find Beth's face in the crowd? 

A couple weeks before the program, we all had a field trip to a farm near Lake City where the kids dressed in Christmas costumes for a photo shoot in the barns and among the animals.  The pictures were then projected onto the wall behind the children as they recited their parts for the program.  One of the men from church was kind enough to create a video of all of the pictures set to the sound track of each of the children saying their verses.  Parents were given the opportunity to keep the video as a memento of the evening!  Excellent idea! Here is where I wanted to insert a clip from the official video of Beth saying her part...  But Windows Movie Maker and I are not friends...and making a video clip was an exercise in frustration that wasted a good chunk of my afternoon. So, for now, I reverted to the old fashioned way and just took a video with my camera.  You'll have to excuse the video quality, but hopefully you'll get the idea.  (Eventually, maybe Mike will have mercy on his technologically handicapped wife and create a clip from the actual video which would be far better.) 

. . . (:  Deleted  :) . . .

Update:  My hubby was kind enough to make a clip of the original for me...  Here's a much higher quality version of Elizabeth's clip from the video:

 

Elizabeth was slightly embarrassed by her expression in the video.  (Actually...more than slightly...)  I think she's coming around though.  Her expression of shock was supposed to be the babe in her womb leaping for joy...can you tell?  :-)

I'm so glad she got to take part in the program this year...it was yet another special memory from this year's Christmas...

It's a Wonderful Life

 The Rochester Assembly of God had a billboard near our home that we passed often advertising their performance of "It's a Wonderful Life". 

 Elizabeth wanted to see it so badly...so we decided rather spontaneously to go. Another missed photo opportunity, but another fun memory. I would have loved to have captured a shot of their set...it really was impressive.   But there's really no way I could have captured my favorite memory in pictures anyway--seeing the dark silhouette of my little girl sitting on the edge of her seat with an expression of pure delight--hanging on every word of every scene...  It was the first time she had seen/heard the story (besides an Adventures in Odyssey episode based on the movie).  She's at such a fun age--old enough to sit quietly and be attentive for an entire play but young enough to get caught up in the "fantasy world" of the story. Pictures can be seen here on the Assembly of God facebook page.

A Christmas Carol

 Our first "official" Christmas outing was to see the Northland Words Players:  

  We should have known it was a "big deal" when the tickets sold out so quickly...but we had no idea we were in for such a treat! The bad news is that I didn't bring my camera...because it really would have been an adventure worth capturing. The good news is that you can see pictures from past performances here and you can learn about the historic Mayowood Stone Barn here. Not captured in pictures were memories of Elizabeth dancing the night away after the play... Believe it or not, Mike even got in on the action.  Well...if you use the term "dancing" loosely, that is.  ;-) But it was a really great evening, and the Words Players put months of exhausting preparation into the performance.  Though lacking pictures, it was one of my favorite Christmas memories from 2011. 

10th Birthday (part 2)

 Well, what would a 10 year old girl wish to do on the morning of her birthday? How about open her presents in her jammies?  

Beth Marie always wants to wake up to her presents on the morning of her birthday... She doesn't want to know how many presents she'll have, or even what kind of wrapping paper... She wants it all to be a surprise on her birthday morning. (Must take after her daddy.  Her Mommy can't stand surprises...) 

 Somebody else was also excited to open presents.  Gretchen had her nose in every one sniffing for something good.  She knows good things come in presents.  She didn't have any presents of her own (because it wasn't her birthday) but we did hide treats in a couple of the presents. Opening her Hayden doll (can you tell it was her favorite present?) 

(no acting, of course...) We then went to Rochester for a light lunch, and to pick up her birthday cake: 

(a chocolate carrot cake from Daube's . . .  They are the best. cake. ever.)

The cake was deposited at home, and then we ventured up to the Twin Cities for the day.

Beth wanted to visit the James J. Hill house. 

We enjoy touring mansions together, and Mike and I had visited this one without her.  (It's not unusual for Mike and I to see something and then visit a second time with Beth.)

After a leisurely tour of the grounds, we went to Mall of America for supper and shopping before heading home for cake.

Happy 10th year Beth Marie!  Your birthday is behind you, but I pray that you have a wonderful year ahead.  I love living life with you.  You are a precious companion.  It's so amazing to watch you grow--you're becoming such a beautiful young lady.  I am so thankful for the privilege of being your Mom.  I pray that our God will protect you, and preserve you, and guard your heart for Himself...I pray that you will see His goodness in all things, and that your heart will overflow with joy and gratitude...and I pray that you will allow His Spirit to teach you, and that you will walk in truth.  I love you Boo!

10th Birthday (part 1)

 And, along with 10 year pictures comes... The 10th Birthday!  

How is it possible that it was 10 years ago already when our little girl was born? Our only child . . . our miracle . . . Beth Marie. (Unless God intends to do another miracle--which could happen--but that seems less than likely as the years go by)  So, what are 10th birthdays like with an only child? Well... This year, her birthday fell on a Saturday...so we considered taking a trip.  But that didn't work out... So Daddy took Friday off anyway and we just had a special weekend as a family close to home.  We began by visiting the Northwoods Orchard just a few miles from home. And if you're wondering how tall Beth is this year, here's a photo to answer your question:  

 And her Daddy? 

 Cheater! Well, there was lots to see at the Northwoods Orchard... There were some hay bales to conquer: 

 There were some sweet bunnies to pet... 

 

And some goofy goats to feed:

And some pigs who wanted us to feed them...

(their pen was locked, but they kept running over and grunting toward their food bin...we were sorry to disappoint them...)

And there were some pretty amusing chickens, too...

All of which made us wish for a farm.  :-)

There were also 2 corn mazes...

...a 10 minute one, and an hour long one. 

We elected to do the 10 minute maze...and I think we pretty much dominated it...

But it was fun.  :-)

Then we went inside for fresh apple donuts.

Sorry...no pictures.

Field of Dreams

 Here is a post that I was working on about 2 months ago... It's a bit out of date, but I'll post it anyway (it'll buy me some time while I organize my life a bit): 

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

 We've been keeping busy, and taking every opportunity to enjoy the beautiful fall season while it lasts! So, let's rewind a few weeks...to a gorgeous Sunday afternoon late in September. Ever seen the movie "Field of Dreams"?   Well, the men of the Berean softball teams had the memorable opportunity to play ball in a field much like that one...  

Game on! 

And while I took a lot of pictures on that day, I'm admittedly biased.  There's one player in particular that I'm especially fond of...

Making one of his "signature" diving catches...

(and yes, he caught it :-)

A field of dreams indeed.  And a very good day worth blogging about--even if it is a little lot late.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Snap back to December...

Reading this post, I can't believe how quickly time flies!

It doesn't feel like this could have been 4 months ago already...

We were blessed with a long and beautiful fall this year, and we tried to make the most of it, I think.  So, there will be a few more fall posts to come.

I also hope to post a few pictures of some of the little projects that have gone on in recent months, but those are lower on my priority list so I'll get to them if time permits.

An Abundant Harvest

 Several years ago, we planted 2 young apple trees. Over the years, we've gotten some apples. At some point, Mike decided to prune the trees for the very first time.  (We can't agree when it was, but it was before summer. :-) I wish I had a picture, because the pile of branches that he removed from the trees was a bit shocking. Apparently a harsh pruning was just what the trees needed, because we had a record harvest this year! 

 Many of the branches were sagging under the weight of the apples. We had virtually no worms in the apples.  We're not exactly sure why that is because we've never sprayed our trees.  Most of the rejects were ones that a bird or a gopher had "snacked" on. We picked conservatively--rejecting apples with any significant flaws (I like to leave those for the critters to enjoy)... And we still picked nearly 180 pounds of apples! 

We were overwhelmed!

We gave away many of them, and then kept a few for eating,

and saucing.

Yum!

A couple guys down the street got word that we were making applesauce...

And so they showed up on our doorstep to devour some . . . peels.

Ha!  Who knew that apple peels were a delicacy?  :-)

I would say I still have about 25 pounds or so remaining for apple dumplings...and apple crisp...and apple muffins...and apple bars...and maybe some apple oatmeal... 

Any other ideas?

Fire roasted pizza...at home!

 Tonight was a beautiful night to have supper on the deck... We tried something new--grilled pizza. Dontcha love it when you try something and it turns out amazing the very first time? I sure do! Tonight was one of those nights, so I thought I'd share my inspiration with you because pizza on the grill is definitely a new family tradition at the Amundson's! Here's a little tutorial...  Setup: Start by placing your stone on the cold grill and heating it as you would in the oven: 

(By the way--this is actually an "after" picture since I forgot to take a before one.  This is what your stone will look like after the intense heat and smoke.  I happen to like the rustic charm--but if you're attached to your pretty brown seasoning then you might want to get a separate stone for grilling...) I tried to maintain around 550* on the grill thermometer (the grate and stone were much hotter, I'm sure).  Our infrared grill can exceed 700*--if yours isn't that hot, it should still work, but will take a little longer to cook the pizza. 

 Finally, to give a touch of that smoke-kissed, fire-roasted flavor, I put a couple of wood pieces on.  Our grill is designed for easy smoking, but I figured out how to do it just fine on our old grill, too.  You can put a wood chunk right on the grate--or even right on the flavor bar/briquettes.  I wanted quick smoke/short duration so I didn't soak the wood. 

 Cooking: So, once you have a hot, smoking grill, you cook the pizza very much like you would on a stone.  We did small-ish pizzas for our first attempt since they were easier to manage getting on and off of the stone.

Rather than rolling/shaping the dough, I went for a "rustic" look, so I just stretched the dough by hand.  Most of our pizzas were sort of oval.

Tonight, we did barbeque chicken pizza.  I had previously seasoned/grilled some chicken tenderloins and chopped them.  We added the toppings in this order:  Trader Joe's barbeque sauce, freshly grated mozzarella cheese, bacon, chicken, onions and sweet freezer corn.  After cooking, we drizzled the pizza with a raspberry sauce that I made (which was basically seedless raspberry jam, a splash of balsamic vinegar, touch of oil, and a couple pinches of cayenne pepper). 

 

Mmm...

The options are endless.  We just used a basic homemade crust...

The crust was what made this pizza so amazing.  There's nothing special about my crust--any crust would do (generously coated with cornmeal to prevent sticking).  The crust was crisp and a touch smoky on the bottom, but the top was so soft and bubbled.  It will be hard to make homemade pizza in the oven again!

The pizza only took 5-7 minutes on our grill.  I removed it when it started to brown on the bottom, and the toppings were heated through.  It was very hot off the grill.

Introducing our "little chef":

I'm already planning to get a bigger stone so that we can do this for company.  They sell rectangular stones that would cook 2-3 of these pizzas at once.  I'm picturing "do it yourself" wood-fired pizza. 

Want to come for a pizza party?  :-)