Hooray for Cousins!

I have been blessed with lots of amazing cousins. This weekend we got to spend some time with Matt, Ben and his two children Ali and Cole. We had so much fun and are so glad they would take time to visit us. We went rock hunting and found some large snail like shells(Ben), some nice turtle shell pieces and a fossil jaw bone with molar like teeth (Matt). The guys got a chance to use their metal detectors at a ghost town. We also played games, talked, went out to eat and laughed. A few secrets were revealed and many stories were shared. Boston loved playing with Ali and Cole. Ali was so cute to read to him and play with him. We missed Anniece and Molly and hope they can come another time. Thanks for coming and come back soon!

Early Birthday

We had sandwich crepes for dinner and ice cream crepes instead of cake for my early b-day celebration. I opened presents out by the sandbox because Boston was grumpy from lack of sleep and that was the only place he would be happy. Thanks for the gifts and dinner. We had so much fun on another whirlwind trip to SLC. We always think we will have time to relax and visit more with people and then we end up running errands the whole time.

YUM

My mom made these on Memorial Day and they were amazingly delicious. They are a bit involved but so good. They were in the Deseret News a while ago (http://www.deseretnews.com/article/print/705301602/Burgerqueen-Asian-flavored-recipe-takes-top-prize-at-National-Chicken-Cooking-Contest.html) and won a National Chicken Recipe Contest. The Sriracha Chile Sauce is very hot. We added only 1 Tablespoon to the mayo and none to the slaw and it was just the right amount of heat for us.

CHINESE CHICKEN BURGERS
WITH RAINBOW SESAME SLAW
2 pounds ground chicken
2 tablespoons soy sauce
2 tablespoons sugar
1 tablespoon sesame oil
6 cloves garlic, minced
1 tablespoon minced lemongrass
1/3 cup sliced scallions
6 hamburger buns with sesame seeds
6 tablespoons butter, softened
1 tablespoon vegetable oil
6 tablespoons hoisin sauce
Sliced scallions
Sriracha Lime Mayo (see below)
Rainbow Sesame Slaw (see below)
In large bowl, mix together chicken, soy sauce, sugar, sesame oil, garlic, lemongrass and scallions. Divide mixture into 6 patties and set aside. Place grill pan over medium heat. Spread softened butter on hamburger buns and place on grill pan until light brown. Wipe grill pan with paper towel and brush with vegetable oil. Place chicken patties on grill pan and cook over medium high heat, turning once, until internal temperature reaches 165 degrees, about 7 minutes per side.
During last few minutes of cooking, baste each burger with 1 tablespoon of the hoisin sauce. To assemble, place 1 tablespoon of Sriaracha Lime Mayo on each bottom and top bun. Place chicken on bun bottoms and top each with 1?3 cup Rainbow Sesame Slaw. Serve with any remaining slaw and mayo on the side. Garnish with scallions. Makes 6 servings.

Sriracha Lime Mayo
¾ cup mayonnaise
Zest and juice of 1 lime
2 tablespoons Sriracha Chile Sauce (found in Asian markets or Asian aisle of grocery store. If unavailable, use your favorite hot sauce)
In a small bowl, mix together ingredients and use with burgers.

Rainbow Sesame Slaw
2/3 cup julienned red, orange and green peppers
2/3 cup julienned snow peas, strings removed
2/3 cup julienned jicama
1½ tablespoons rice wine vinegar
1 tablespoon sugar
1 tablespoon soy sauce
1 teaspoon Sriaracha Chile Sauce
1 teaspoon sesame oil
1 tablespoon toasted sesame seeds
Mix ingredients together and top each burger with slaw.

The Riggs

It was fun to get to have dinner with Spencer's family. It's been awhile since we saw baby Jackson - he has gotten so big. ONe of Boston's favorite things to do at Grandma Rigs is play in the walker. Unfortunatly he can't get out by himself yet. Thanks for the gift, the cake and letting us stay.

Wheeler Farm

Vanessa and I took Boston to the farm last week. He liked the animals although most of them were "scary." His favorite thing was to drive the tractors. He loves to "be the driver." My least favorite part -the rats!

Sunset and Wildflowers

Wyoming can be beautiful. There are so many different varieties of wildflowers blooming here. And the sunsets can be spectacular. Add a little Boston and it doesn't get better than this.

Ducati

Hippy let Spencer take his Ducati for a spin. He took it down the frontage road and got up to 90 mph. He really enjoyed the ride but his hands hurt after from the death grip he had on the handles.

Not A Box

We checked this book, out from the library last week. I had heard good things about it and sure enough Boston loves it. If you have kids that enjoy playing with boxes check this book out. The book asks the rabbit why he is sitting on, standing on or wearing a box, etc. and the rabbit replies ... "It's not a box."

Just about the same time our neighbors got a new dishwasher and put the box out to be thrown away. So now we have our own "not a box"


Another book by the same author is Not A Stick.

Painting the Gutter

Yes I know that the gutter is probably not the best place to play. He was having so much fun and I kept a good eye on him plus there is not very much traffic on our road of 5 homes. We sort of got side tracked from another project and he ended up painting with gutter water. Next time I'll get a bucket of clean water for him to paint with. I remember my mom giving us water buckets and paint brushes to paint the sidewalk/house with during the summer. We loved it!

Lawn Mower

Later that evening we went and saw a horse that had been born a couple of days ago. The mother was not letting it feed properly so our friends brought it to their house to take care of it. We got to see them feed it a bottle and pet it. They also still had one of the sheep from our previous visit. The best part for Boston was riding the lawn mower and driving the jeep.

That was one busy and fun day! So if you think that life in western Wyoming is dull ... think again.

Thanks Grandpa and Grandma C and Great Grandma Coleman for coming to visit us. It is always fun to have visitors. Who is next?

Rock Hunting

Later we took them to a place where we have found rocks embedded with clam and other types of shells. You can find big slab rocks that are covered with tiny shells. They are pretty amazing. We also enjoyed some of the wildflowers.

Boston is showing grandpa a "beautiful absolutely marvelous rock!"

Spencer also found this little lizard. Boston was not too sure about it.

Goldfish Pond

Grandma and Grandpa C brought Great Grandma Coleman to visit us for her birthday. We took them to the fish pond. Spencer caught a couple of goldfish while Boston threw rocks and the rest of us tried to stay out of the wind.

Exploring

Today we went exploring up near Big Piney. We were supposed to make a loop but the road was covered with snow so we had to turn around.

We had a good time fishing,

eating a picnic lunch,

and seeing waterfalls.

We also saw two moose, 20 or so deer, one bald eagle, lots of hawks and golden eagles and of course a few fish.

Happy Mother's Day!

Boston told his nursery teachers that he gave me some black licorice and orange popcorn. They thought he didn't know what he was talking about but he was right! Thanks boys!

I Spy Rag Quilt

This is the blanket I made for Boston. I hear him sometimes in the morning or when he wakes up from his nap saying "can you find Tigger, or Nemo, or a basketball, etc.?" I learned a lot from making it and am looking forward to sewing more.

Desert Sunshine

The past couple of days have been nice and warm but so so windy. We spent some time exploring the desert and playing outside. We are so happy to finally have sunshine.

Rain Pictures

Boston and I drew on a few pieces of white copy paper with washable markers.

Then we set them out in the rain. Boston liked to watch the rain land on the pictures and make spots. After they were pretty wet but not so wet that they were falling apart we brought them in. As we picked them up the color ran in drips off the paper. It would be fun to try to control the drips with older kids but we just tried not to get it all over our clothes.

Art Projects

Here are a few things I have done with Boston's art:

I cut the letters of his name out of paintings and glued them to some black paper. Then I just cut rectangles around the letters and taped them on the door to his room. He loves to point to the letters and name them. It would be fun to make a number/abc poster out out letters and numbers cut out of paintings. I made a collage of Boston's painting's for Spencer's sister for Christmas just to fill in a frame that we gave her as a gift. But she really like the collage. Next time I have a bunch of extra paintings I want to try another one.I cut two of his pictures into strips and alternated them. This is framed hanging in our hallway. He loves to point to it and ask "Who made that?" then he says "Boston did it!" We also have another Boston finger painting framed in our hallway. I love the idea of framing his work. As he creates other projects I can change the art in the frames.This covers about half of a wall in his toy room. I put four little nails in the wall in a square shape and then strung fishing line around the nails to make a backward "Z". Now I just clip new projects up and can take old ones down.

Photos

I have been wanting to do a photo shoot at an abandoned gas station for awhile and yesterday we finally got the chance. I love the textures and colors. Here are a few of the highlights;

I also love playing with the photos on a photo editing site called Picnik. It's free and so much fun.