"Guess Who!" Contest

Who can tell us who these people are? The person who can figure out who all 4 of these people are first will get a prize at the family reunion. If you know where and when this photo was taken you'll get a bonus prize. For 2nd and 3rd place tell us who the small child reminds you of the most.

NO PURCHASE NECESSARY TO ENTER OR WIN.

A purchase may improve your chance of winning. Void where prohibited, taxed or otherwise restricted by law. Subject to all federal, state and local laws. Contestants may enter as many times as they like but for an entry to count it must include names of persons featured, your full name, and relevant information including your credit card number and information. This Blogger reserves the right to disqualify entries that contain “inappropriate” content as described in its Terms of Service and FAQ.

This contest is open to all legal residents of the United States and District of Columbia, and U.S. Military personnel (except those persons featured in this photo contest) with APO/FPO addresses, who are eighteen (18) years of age or older. Participation in this contest constitutes entrant's full and unconditional acceptance of these Official Rules.

WHO CAN'T PARTICIPATE?

This contest is open to all legal residents of the United States and District of Columbia, U.S. Military personnel (except those persons featured in this photo contest) with APO/FPO addresses, Alaska and Hawaii, who are eighteen (18) years of age or older (void in Puerto Rico). Participation in this contest constitutes entrant's full and unconditional acceptance of these Official Rules.

A few recent things that I am proud of...

So the last half of this semester in one of my classes we focused on geometric forms (geoforms). It has been a lot of fun and I have either improved from my other classes or this is what my forte currently is. This first assignment I was ranked 2nd and the grey one below was 1st. I don't want to be prideful... I just feel that these accomplishments have helped me feel more confident about getting accepted into the professional program and pursuing my dream of being an industrial designer. So this first assignment's contstraint was that we could only subtract simple shapes from other simple shapes but still create the most aestheticly pleasing and intriguing form and story. Can you tell how I came up with this dynamic form?


Could you see what shape I subtracted from another shape? I simply took a cylinder out of a cube at a specific angle. It sounds simple but it took a lot of not so good ideas and many experiments to create such a cool piece.

The following form is a family. Let me explain. It had to include 2 or more forms that could stand alone and be aesthetically pleasing or intriguing and when combined or placed together create a new story or feeling and still maintain strong aesthetic appeal.  I was quite surprised to be ranked number 1. There was a lot of really good stuff in the class.

Now I look forwarded to making my portfolio based on my freshman year experiences and turn it in this August to be reviewed by my professors. Hopefully... if it be the Lord's will for me and Kelly, I will be accepted into the program. Though I did well on these 2 assignments there were several others this semester and "the competition will be tough" according to my professors.

The other recent event I am proud of is when Kelly learned how to handle a semi-automatic pistol and emptied a full magazine on pop bottle. (That thing in front of her face is not a UFO, it was an ejected shell from the champer)
She was pretty timid at first (she shot a shotgun last summer and did not like it, maybe it was too big and powerful). She held the firearm for what seemed to be several minutes but didn't pull the trigger. Finally my friend Sam, and I, convinced her that there wasn't enough recoil or kick to knock her down or cause her to lose control. She built up enough courage to pull the trigger once and realized it wasn't bad at all. She said she had fun. 

PS: It was April 16th and it snowed about 4-5 inches overnight. Kelly and I took some pictures around the neighborhood and I decided to go shooting with Sam (Kelly wanted to take more fun photos so she tagged along and decided to learn how to do something "brave" that wasn't at the top of her to do list) Hopefully she will share with you all some of the great photos she took.

Swimsuit season, anyone?

I hate swimsuit shopping.  I do it as little as possible (try every 3-4 years) because it is expensive and embarrassing.  But as I was reading a favorite blog of mine (The Meanest Mom) I happened upon a swimsuit give away that she is putting on.  I entered.  If you're interested, here's the link:  http://www.themeanestmom.blogspot.com/

The Ultimate Scone Challenge

From Kelly:  

I can't resist a culinary challenge.  Recently I was given one by my sister-in-law Jill.  She got a recipe for chocolate chip scones from a friend and they weren't quite right.  So she asked me, your local friendly recipe-tester, to see what I could do. 

I started out making the original recipe.  I could see what Jill meant about them not being sweet enough.  Then I made my mom's scone recipe (but added choc. chips) to compare.  That one wasn't quite right, either.  I started forming a hypothesis that the cream of tartar in these recipes lended a bitter taste.  I also learned that cream of tartar+baking soda=the same thing as baking powder.  So I searched the internet for a scone recipe without c.o.t.  Lo and behold, on recipezaar.com I came across a recipe for the world famous Puyallup Fair (Fisher brand) scones which I love so much (and am very attached to since I am from Puyallup).  There were two versions with slight variation, so I made them both and found which one is just right.  These don't have chocolate chips, and I must say these are so good they don't need chocolate, just butter and raspberry jam.  Make sure your oven is hot and the ingredients are cold.

 Here it is, the best scone recipe ever (so far):

 2.5 cups unbleached all-purpose flour, sifted

2 tsp. baking powder (make sure it's still active)

2 Tbs. sugar

1/2 tsp. salt

3 Tbs. unsalted butter, chilled

3 Tbs. shortening, chilled

3/4 cup milk (at least 2%) or buttermilk

1.  Preheat oven to 450 degrees.

2.  Sift and measure flour.  The flour must be sifted, otherwise you'll use too much flour and the scones will be tough.  Put a measuring cup on top of some wax paper and use another cup to shake the flour into the first.  Dump the leftovers on the wax paper back into the container.  This process seems like overkill, but it does make a difference to the final product.

3.  Mix in baking powder, sugar and salt.

4.  Cut in the butter and shortening.  You can rub it in with your fingers as long as they're cold and you work fast.  Or use a pastry cutter.

5.  Make a well in the dry mixture and add the milk, stirring in with a fork, until just moist.

6.  When the mixture has barely come together, turn out onto a floured board.  If there are still dry crumbs on the bottom of the bowl, don't add more milk, just press them into the top of the dough.

7.  Fold over the dough just a couple times--don't overwork!

8.  Divide into two balls.  Form them into domes, then cut into 4 wedges.

9.  Transfer to an ungreased cookie sheet and bake at 450 for 12-14 min.

10.  To serve:  split in half, slather with butter and raspberry preserves and scarf down like there's no tomorrow.  OR top with strawberries and whipped cream.

****I have pictures but currently this program is not letting me upload them.  Stay tuned!

Trebuchet

Sarah and I built this trebuchet for her science class. Luckally adult help was incouraged. We had a lot of fun even though it took along time. We enjoyed working on it together and I taught her how to use shop tools. It throws it a little more than 6 feet, oh well, it was fun anyways.

Winter Y Hikes

I am trying to figure out how to ensure that pictures can be blown up, so some of these posts are not current current. Kelly and I have decided to hike the Y each month and invite others to join us. So far we have done it twice and we haven't had company yet. Well here are a few pictures of our first two hikes this year... our shadows decided to follow us up in January.

This one is from February.

We are hoping to meet up with some cousins and go this Saturday.

Happy Birthday Chase!

I took this picture of Chase at my surprise party. I really like playing with him. He is about the same age as Carter was when we lived in Arizona. I was talking about it with Kelly and Melinda the other day; It is so fun when little babies start to be aware of their surroundings and recognize their influence on things, like when they know they are makeing you laugh. They are getting experienced enough to really communicate but not so much that they start to cry or complain. It is a lot of fun.

We love these boys.