A Fabulously Green Room

While Aaron was in Frankfurt in September, I moved Shelby out of the room she shared with Gretchen, moved Bailey into the room with Gretchen and moved Shelby into Bailey's old room.  While we were doing this, we decided to give Shelby's room a fresh coat of colorful paint.  She settled on a really bright green and I think it turned out fabulous!  Here are some photos I took during the process:

  Gretchen, Bridgely (Shelby's BFF) and Shelby 

The old color was my standard house color of tan. We spent all Saturday, after soccer games, finishing the prep work and painting.  We went to dinner after the first coat was on and did another coat after dinner. By Sunday morning, it was dry enough to take off the tape and reveal the finished product.  

Bailey was so excited to help.  We couldn't keep her hands off the paint brushes.  

One wall finished

We decided to accent this bright green with black and a little splash of purple. 

Hopefully this color lasts her through high school.  It looks really nice.  I'll have to take a new picture once we paint her headboard and get her the new comforter for her bed.

Some random things

I can't take  my kids anywhere.....  We went to the last Bees games this summer.  I bought a treat for the kids and look what they do.

Saw this on the sidewalk going into my office.   I haven't seen one of these in a long time!

This guy was sitting behind Aaron at Famous Dave's last Saturday.  He has a gecko shaved into his hair.  Pretty cool!

Aussie Meat Pie

When Aaron and I went to Australia last year, one of my favorite things we ate was an official meat pie.  While Aaron was in Frankfurt a few weeks ago, I decided to try to make one myself.  Here is my attempt compared with the picture I took in Australia of the meat pie I ate.  

My version

Australia's version

To make my version (since I didn't ask for the recipe), here's what I did:

In my crock pot, I put a cross rib roast, 1 onion, 1 packet Au Jus mix, 1 packet brown gravy mix and a little water.  I let that cook all day long.  About half way through the day, I added few diced carrots and potatoes.

About an hour before I was ready to eat, I cooked more potatoes and some frozen peas.  Both of these were mashed with butter and salt/pepper. 

Before getting the pie crust ready, I shredded the roast into smaller, more bite size pieces. 

I used frozen pie crust, but bought those cute little tins from the grocery store, so it looks like a real pot pie.  I used a knife and the pie tin to cut a bottom crust.  Then I filled the pie with the stuff from the crock pot and a few frozen whole peas, including a little of the yummy gravy that automatically made itself in the crock pot while everything cooked together.  

I added a top crust, marked each with an initial poked in the crust and popped them in the oven at 375 until they were golden brown.  

Now, to make it authentic, I topped Shelby's and mine with mashed potatoes and mashed peas and then a little more of the crock pot gravy.  

My mouth sang.  Talk about a heavenly meal.  Too bad it took a lot of time to make.  But it was well worth it!!

Pumpkins on Parade - 2012 Jenkins-style

This is Halloween - Time of cinnamon and cider and cold nights!  

I'm pretty proud of these cute pumpkins.  The girls did a great job this year!!!  Gretchen's pumpkin went to the school for the pumpkin parade.  

Bailey- Strawberry Shortcake

Shelby - Soccer - duh!

Gretchen - Oogie Boogie

Elmer Fudd Strikes Again!

Ashes

It's that time of year again, when Elmer, I mean Aaron, spends most of his weekends and some weekdays hunting one thing or another.  The picture above is a shot of our dog Ashes retrieving a duck out on Aaron's duck club.  Isn't that a beautiful picture?

One of Aaron's highlights this season was shooting a banded duck.  I didn't understand the gravity of that feat, but I guess it's something he's never done.  There is a 1-800 number on the band that he called and they are sending him a certificate.  This duck was from Maryland or somewhere like that.  He took the band off and put it on his duck call lanyard.  Pretty cool deal!

Gretchen's 9th Birthday

HAPPY BIRTHDAY GRETCHEN!!!

Bailey helped make cupcakes and helped herself to a cupcake afterwards.  :-) 

This year we celebrated Gretchen's, Aaron's and Grandpa Harrison's birthdays with a pork shoulder dinner.  The Harrison and Jenkins sides were invited and quickly filled the house.  It was great to have everyone come down and party with us.  The families are getting so populated that we'll have to figure out a new strategy to fit everyone in the house for these parties.  Too bad we live next to a mink farm, so we can't do it outside.

Janelle and Bailey covered in presents

Gretchen and Preston opening presents.  Looks like glow-in-the-dark bracelet kit and a  helicopter

 Gretchen wanted remote control things for her birthday and she received two.  A helicopter and an airplane.  She loved them and has spent lots of time trying to perfect the art of flying.  No broken wings yet.

Gretchen blowing out candles

Gretchen also had a friend party.  We took a few girls from the neighborhood over to Jack and Jill bowling.  They had a great time.

Bailey's backyard swim

One evening in August, Aaron's parents were watering their yard.  They have water Shares, so at a set time, they are able to divert canal water onto their property to water their garden and yard.  There is a ditch that runs along the yard and provides some watering in the way of flooding.  This part of the yard was flooded enough that Bailey decided to take a swim.  It was freezing water, but she still enjoyed jumping and splashing around.  At one point she slipped and fell into the water.  It was so cute, I had to take a few pictures to share. 



Luckily, Jody keeps swim suits just for this kind of occasion.  :-) 

Trip to Oregon - July

We were able to spend a week in Oregon this year.  We haven't been to the cabin for a few years and felt it was time to let the kids enjoy what I grew up loving as a child.  

Oregon Cabin - July 2012

We took the 4-wheelers and spent some time cruising around the cabin property, but my kids really loved the trip up to the reservoir.  There had been an avalanche during the past year or so, so there were a lot of downed trees, but it was still as beautiful as I remember.  Gretchen didn't really like the last mile or so of shale.  She thought for sure we were going to tip backwards.  :-)  I'm shocked she had such little faith in my ATV driving.  We made it safely and spent the next hour exploring.  We didn't make it over to the glacier because of the downed trees, but instead skipped rocks (Aaron had the most in a row) and poked at debris in the water.  

The girls at the reservoir

We spent the day at Sumpter and rode the train.  The kids liked it, though it was hot and the train moved REALLY slow.  We ate bratwurst and sliders at a trailer in the town.  It's amazing to think the government allowed such destruction just for a little gold. 

The day before we left, we spent the afternoon with Uncle Bob at the ranch.  He was so nice to let us go out there and see the cows (Bailey's favorite) and shoot his .45.  Gretchen played on the hay bales and Bailey played in the barn.  It was a great day and I know the girls will have great memories from it.  My girls still talk about how much fun they had there. 

We were there over the 4th of July.  Instead of fighting the traffic headed to the fireworks, we hiked to the fence at the end of the dirt drive and watched them from there.  The girls thought we were going to get mauled by a bear, but it was a beautiful way to spend the 4th.

Uncle Kenny took us fishing over to Thief Valley Res.  It was a fun day!  Lots of fish and music and fun.  I can't believe how big some of the fish were.  It was a great way to spend time with Kenny.  My girls adore him.   He also took us over to his property for a few hours.  The girls spent 30 min trying to catch one of Kenny's chickens.  That was hilarious to watch.  Each time they'd get close, the girls would scream and the chicken would run away.  Kenny had just finished putting up his zip line.  It still needed some testing, so the girls didn't get to go on it. 

We will try to get back up there again and maybe take Kenny up on his offer to stay at day out at his property.  Despite the mice in the cabin, it was a really fun trip.