san diego zoo

all in a days work.....

orange, everywhere.

today was very entertaining.

vanessa was playing in the backyard with the sliding door open...she was on her tricycle, played with the dogs (well...poodles) and was hitting a pan with a wooden spoon inside her playhouse....

i was on the phone.....suddenly it became too quiet....

something on the floor catches my eye. i walked to the front door...."what the heck..." i touched the wet substance.....it was orange tempera paint....

from the corner of my eye i saw something bolt past me....

it was an orange poodle.

i ran to the backyard.....orange, everywhere.

everywhere.

the pink tricycle...the cottage themed playhouse...outdoor furniture, dogs, rocks, patio in general...all orange. vanessa, orange.

cutest damn thing youve ever seen.

well, that was a lesson for mommy...i need to put my paints away....at least it was water based.
everyone was hosed off. i did take pictures, too....so when i get them, they shall be posted.

Tribute

so we finally tried out my first homebrew a few days ago. i think it was awesome. not tooooo shabby, i must say. our friends jesse and justin said it was good too. they are ahead of me in number of beers brewed...so their help and opinions mean a lot. the hops used were cascade cenntenial and chinook. which we are now learning, chinook, gives off a gold/amber color. so this ipa was certainly darker than most and sat at a continuous 74 degrees, wondering if that made a huge difference. the history behind the IPA was that it was taken around the world in ships to and fro...so it had to handle the warmer temperatures. now if we wanted to brew a darker beer like a lager or porter a much cooler 50 degrees is recommended...
we also did a process known as dry hopping----that is were the hoppy taste gets that extra kick...
we like hop. and it certainly has a hint of grapefruity flavor...so it really wasnt a bad brew for my first time!!! chris and sarah and little owen are coming to visit us friday thru sunday. we are going to brew two batches that day! i am excited...to see family and brew some more beer.

i have decided to name my beer "tribute"...if any of you are familar with tenacious d.....
"this is not the greatest BEER in the world...this is just a TRIBUTE".....haha

happy new year

well...another year has gone by...to another fabulous year. wishing all our friends and family, including those who we have yet to meet, health, love and the ultimate.....happiness. as long as you are happy your health will be good and love comes much easier!! there will be ups and downs...like this past year and the ones before them...i am excited to see what is in store for this year. i dont make yearly resolutions, i try to make daily affirmations. we had a lovely news years eve gathering at home with friends and neighbors. vanessa tried to stay up...it was 10:30pm before she decided to crash out!

we spent christmas with my side of the family (the lewis side). we had a great time. mimi and papa threw a great christmas party. there were old friends, new friends, and family...it was wonderfull seeing all of them. what a treat! we ("the swing kids") even tried to swing dance to a few songs...oh man....my sis n law, sarah, put it best..."it would be funny to see all of our out-of-shape beer bellies trying to fling ourselves around on a dance floor"...yup, so true...

we made a quick trip up to sequoias so vanessa could have her 2nd trip to the snow. first thing she said was "wet"....she threw snowballs and we made a snow man about her size. we then proceeded to "steal" snow, loading up papas truck and then hunted down mistletoe. it was a fun little trip!! when we got back, we unloaded the snow into mimi and papas front yard...vanessa loved it!