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!

Top Gun

Our Top Gun Photos....

santa has his ways of checkin up on you

we had a very magical moment on saturday! i was standing in the front doorway talking to my neighbor and what to my wandering eyes should appear.....santa claus delivering mail at 5pm! what a treat. i hollered for vanessa...away to the window, she flew like a flash, gazing in sheer amazement. santa saw her and waved..her eyes were huge...MY eyes were huge. she ran to the front door and stood with me.

He was dressed all in blue, from his head to his foot,
and his clothes were all clean and he even wore boots.
A bundle of mail he had flung on his back,
and he looked like a peddler just opening his pack.

His eyes--how they twinkled! His dimples, how merry!
His cheeks were like roses, his nose like a cherry!
His droll little mouth was drawn up like a bow,
and the beard on his chin was as white as the snow.
He had a broad face and a little round belly,
that shook when he laughed, like a bowl full of jelly.

He was chubby and plump, a right jolly old elf,
and I laughed when I saw him, in spite of myself.
A wink of his eye and a twist of his head
soon gave me to know I had nothing to dread.

He gave us a ho ho ho and a warm friendly wave
and off on his route, the 57 degree weather he must "brave"!!
Santa came to check up on us here
in good ol san diego...where were his reindeer?

But I heard him exclaim, 'ere he walked out of sight,
"Happy Christmas to all, and to all a good night!"

an ol' friend

so last night matt got a chance to meet a little bit of idaho. one of my dearest friends whom i have wonderful memories of, was in san diego on business AND had time to hang out. matt has already had the opportunity to meet aleeza (my partner in crime)...but last night we hung out with ryan white...who was my first REAL highschool boyfriend! we had dinner and talked...we went out for drinks and talked...we went to the KC barbeque (where top gun was filmed) had a beer, talked and laughed our butts off!! i was so happy that matt had a chance to meet ryan and ryan had a chance to meet matt! like i said...a little peice of idaho. smile. oh...mom. dad. chris. cliff. ryan says "hi"
such a fun time! ill post the pictures we all took at the top gun bar as soon as i get them!
in the mean time, here are some fabulous reminders how gorgeous fall is...

racking and dry-hopping

this is called racking....moving the fermented beer (wort) into another glass carboy...you filter out the sludge with a mesh bag and a "racking cane" (used to siphon out the brew).
then we drop a bag of hops in to the brew and let it sit for a week or two. we will be bottling hopefully next wednesday, so that we can take some up to the folks house for christmas! half way there!! so far it taste very grapefruit-y(that is the chinook hop)...quite hoppy...but thats how we like our beer here in the mann household. our favorite beer isnt called "pure hoppiness" for nothin'!

christmas decor

sax-a-ma-phone

we received our first christmas gifts in the mail yesterday. they were from my grandma cay and grandpa leroy...
i opened up the boxed and inside were two wrapped gifts. one for matt and i and another for vanessa. vanessas had specific instructions to open a few days before christmas. she has been trying to 'break into' her gift...and needless to say she has NOW been successful.
this morning she opened up the gift....a gold santa claus holding a saxophone...plays a jazzy version of 'santa claus is comin to town'...she LOVES IT.
so now, i have to call my grandma let her know....oops. that singing santa is gonna get some mileage, that is for sure!!!
matt was JUST saying yesterday....'ya know jen, people are gonna start buyin vanessa loud toys...cause WE but loud toys for others...'
he is going to laugh when he sees/hears....sax-a-ma-phooooone santa!!!!!
thank you grandma! thank you grandpa!!!
xoxo