Season’s Greetings

 

Merry Christmas……

                                                            With every good wish….

                                                      Warmly,

 

                                    The Booths

Cookbook Update

Cookbooks will be delivered on Thursday instead of Wednesday. Email me if this is problem. I hope everyone is having a good Christmas. The printer said that they look great!!

Cheers,

Kelli

THE COLLECTION

My cookbook is finally finished!!! Three years of typing in recipes............ignoring my family..........neglecting the laundry........the toilets.......and my hair...............BUT.........it was all in the name of good food. Life is about Priorities right?
I have copies of my cookbook "The Collection" available if you would like one..............they are $17.00........(I searched endlessly for an afordable printer...............in fact I about kick in the can all together.........due to the cost of printing.........but, I thought what would George Washington do?(I am currently teaching history) Would he kick in the towel over printing costs? Would he accept defeat? No......no he would not! Thus I pressed on in my quest through the storm, crossing my own icy Delaware River.........only to arrive on the other side).
The cookbooks are spiral bound........by lots of sweat, blood and tears...(really a machine does it, but it sounds better if I say blood, sweat and tears). They will be available Tuesday.
AND here is the best part......I will deliver it to you Wednesday or Thursday..............maybe even sing you a Christmas song or two..............
It would make a great gift for a friend, sibling, mother or mother-in-law......(but, only if she likes you)............or for just yourself......because........your worth it right?.....Maybe its maybeline.......or maybe it is just Kelli.

Peace out!

SNOW

It snowed! Wahoo.........my unfinished yard has finally been blanketed with a layer of powdered sugar. I love that no one driving by will know, until springtime, that the yard is only half finished in grass or that the weeding never got totally completed. Snow is a very forgiving agent. The corralling of mittens, boots, hats and snow pants were the noises that woke me from a splendid slumber. I gazed out the back window, took in the postcard view and found joy in the wintery scene. Out our back door you can hear chirping birds all clamoring to claim the newly spread bird seed. But, the scene out the front door is the most wonderful of all. The only thing more beautiful than a yard of freshly fallen snow..........is yard of freshly fallen snow covered with the footprints of children. I have a feeling a snowman is on his way.

California Gurls

(Read this post with the tune of California Girls in your head)

On our way to church this morning Tanner was singing....."dukes.......with zuchinis on top...............dukes with zuchinis on top...................dukes with zuchinis on top." I will never be able to hear that song in the same way again. I am glad to have finally found a good use for Zuchinis!

****For those of you who live on an island........w/ out radio or pop culture (MOM)......the real lyrics say......."daisy dukes with bikini's on top"

Driver's ED 101

An hour or so ago I was sitting in my bed ready to call it a day, when Tanner comes into my room wondering how to turn the "music" off in my car. "What?" I said bewildered. "my music?" His response, "Yeah, how do you turn your music off in your car?" A few disturbing things flashed through my mind at this point: 1. My car is parked in the garage and the radio is on 2. In order for my radio to be turned on, car has to be on, and my car keys have to be inserted into the ignition and physically turned by an individual 3. Chad, Carver, Taylor and Zach did not turn on my car because I just saw them watching the Jazz game.4. My car has just been turned on by Tanner. ...........AND..........(The most disturbing of all)........ #5 . Tanner's only concern after starting the car; how to adjust volume (on the radio).
Heaven Help.

WAVES

Dearest Blog,

Oh how i love you, let me count the ways.............or should I say waves? You see blog,
Life moves in waves. The momentum of a wave gradually builds, and builds, and builds. And when it has taken on too much water, the wave crashes................and is no longer. Thus is the case of my dear laptop..............she took on too much and like the waves of the ocean she crashed. Never to be used again. I am sad. She became like a sister to me (sorry Jamie to compare you to a computer). At night before we went to bed we would swap stories about our days. She would tell her stories and I would tell mine. She kept all my secrets (All those blog post that I saved only as drafts), she never divulged them. Like a dear sister she stuck by me, wispering words of encouragements, when I needed it most (a.k.a when the laundry pile was touching the ceiling, or when Tanner stuck a sea shell in his ear, or when the bros were plotting mutiny). She has been having some issues, difficulty responding, and then she crashed. I held out a vigil for her for weeks, hoping that she would pull through, but such is not the case. At three thirty today when I got the message that she was a gonner I held a moment of silence for her (and all my lost programs, music and pictures) and decided that life comes in waves. Waves have always been and will always be Therefore, I have decided to carry on, without my laptop, because that is what she would want me to do.


Since I currently have no way of getting pictures off my camera, I will leave you with the most amazing photography of Clark Little. I have to say I am obsessed with it. I mean litterally obsessed. His website is clarklittlephotography.com Take a look.

LATE SUMMER

 

They say, that late Summer is where laziness finds respectability……….. I couldn’t agree more.

Here are some images of late summer.

Educating America One post at a time

It has been so long since I have posted and since I am having some technical difficulties with uploading my summer vacation photos, I have decided to share some of my knowledge and wisdom that I gained over the summer.

TIDBIT OF WISDOM #1:

The this picture is of the day that Tanner decided to give himself a hair cut. It was oddly familiar to a date two years ago when I received a phone call from my sister, informing me, through her laughter, that she was glad Zach was a boy. Fast forward two years, same place, same house, probably same scissors…….and once again I am the mother of a child who happens to believe Pilgrim mullets ROCK!!! SO FYI, if Jamie calls you and says, “I am so glad that your child is a boy, while laughing”………it means that your child (or her child as I recall) has just been playing Edward Scissorhands at her house.

(****The pink piggy bank in the foreground is Tanner’s hiding spot for money that he steals from other people. He then uses that money to buy snow cones).

TIDBIT OF WISDOM #2:

 

This is a picture of Carver playing in the Championship game at the Park City Soccer tournament. This is also the same game where both sidelines got a little heated to say the least. After the game a mother from the other sideline walked to center field to talk to the ref. Krissie, A mother from our sideline, holding her newborn baby, yelled something at her. The next thing I knew is a wild and crazed, Hispanic woman from the other team was thumping her chest and yelling at Krissie to “DROP YOUR BABY!” Krissie got all huffy and asked me what she said. Trying to avoid bloodshed, I sheepishly and quietly replied, “I think she said, DROP YOUR BABY.” Krissie then starts yelling at me, “What did she say?” At that moment I hollered to my children to high tail it to the car, I told everyone I was going to get my pocket knife, but in reality I had sized up the situation with my keen mind, and realized we were about to get our arses kicked.  So , FYI, if someone tells you to drop your baby……………………….grab your baby and run! Also a good excuse (so people don’t think you are a whimp) to get out of fighting another sideline at a youth soccer game is act like you left your pocket knife in the car.

***Krissie’s name has been changed to protect her identity.

****Also Krissie said after the fact that if she would have heard what the crazed Hispanic lady had told her she would have dropped her baby and taken her on. SO…….FYI (bonus) don’t mess with KRISSIE.

 

9 -11

P.S

I finally figured out why my pictures won't up load to my computer. Get ready for picture overload........... it has been a while........so I have some penance to pay.

First Grade Stress

I could tell Zach was worrying about something and I had a feeling it might have to do with the ever impending first day of school. Sunday morning as I was making waffles I said, "Zachie why don't you sit here and lets talk about what you can expect in first grade." I then proceeded to describe all the wonderful things he is going to get to experience while in full day of school. I used as many graphic adjectives as I could think of that related to the word fun. When I felt like I had done first grade justice I asked him if he had any questions. He said he really only had justone. "Mom," he said, "When they do the underware checks in first grade...............do they do them everyday?" Puzzled I said, "underware checks?" He replied, "Yeah, you know the underware checks. Where they make sure you are wearing underware. Carver and Taylor told me about them" "Oh, those checks......" I responded.......(thinking this would promote underware wearing)....."yes, I am pretty sure they check every single day." Then Zach responded with, "So do you like just pull down your pants and show your them your underware?".........................................(I was thinking, "Yes, Zach, that is exactly what you do")................he followed that up with, "Do you show them the front of your underware or the back of your underware?"

"Shake that tree of life and bring down fruit that the world has never heard of"

I read this quote on a magnet Saturday while checking out of Whole Foods grocery store. I thought of you. I am pretty sure no one knew what a Nanner was until you came along!

Happy Birthday......

Love,

Mom

The lake

We went out on the lake with the Tanner's a bit ago. It was the most beautiful night and the sky had that wonderful summer glow that it gets just before the sun falls behind the west hills. Here are some snapshots I took while sitting safely......in my coast guard approved life jacket.......on the boat.












Pat is without a doubt the kindest person you will ever meet. He took all the bros out on the surf board to give them a little instruction in the art of surfing.







I happily volunteered myself to ride on the "kiddie" tube ride. This is me instructing my husband that I.................uh...............er............Tanner would like to keep the ride Kiddie friendly. This picture makes me laugh because under those glasses I have my serious eyes on.........."I meant it CHAD...........I am Serious................(it is pretty easy to tell that is what I am saying right here)












I love this shot of Zach jumping off the boat.



Don't you just wish summer could last forever?

TAKE A DIVE

Don't wait............



For your ship...............



To come in..................



Dive out..........



to meet it..........

Jellystone 2010

Snapshots from our Jellystone trip.........



If I were a cowgirl this is where I would set up my ranch.

Below is one of my favorite barns. I also love that my children are two hundred miles from home and still barefoot.................Tom Sawyer and Huck Finn have nothing on these four.



Even when she grows up..................I hope LuLu always looks like this to me...........



Nanner and Carver racing down the walkway........we take those warning signs serious.......I love Tanner's expression like he is about to conquered the world.



Bear watching in Lamar Valley. The cutest team of experts you will find in the area.



4 black bear
3 grizzley's
3 wolves
loads of elk and bison = this scene. We did it over, and over again..........it was an unbelievable day.



Here are two of the three grizz bears we saw..... (sorry it is a bit blurry......I took this shot as we were driving by.......Jamie has all the good ones on her camera.)



Jellystone falls.........was how we ended our national geographic day of bear and wolf watching.