A Super Bowl Love Story

Well, since last we talked... we returned from Colorado to find a beautifully clean house and happy children. Good job Nolan. We got back into the swing of things on Tuesday and Wednesday. Wednesday night, I called to check in with my sister in law - my brother has been up on a strike team fighting fires since Father's day. She sounded terrible and had gotten the stomach flu. Their baby is nine months old and teething in a big way! Haley and I drove up and tried to help her get some sleep, although admittedly traipsing into someones house in the middle of the night isn't very conducive to keeping the baby sleeping. We woke him up. We sent Carrie back to bed but Ben wasn't having it. He was very dismayed to find his aunt whom he hasn't seen in several months, his cousin and now his big dog Tuscon all in his room. There was no getting him back down. Finally poor mama came in and got him off to dreamland. He slept through the night and went with us on errands the next morning and let Carrie sleep. She and Ben came back with us and stayed for a nice weekend of fun in the sun and pool. Strawberry jam was made and a good time was had by all, although I think Ben would have enjoyed it more if his teeth weren't troubling him and his Daddy had been here. It sounded like Jarrett might get to come home today. Yeah.

We sent Haley off to camp with her friend Brynna on Friday afternoon and are now waiting for a call to let us know they have arrived back at the church and are ready to be picked up. Everybody is anxious to hear how her first big trip away went and if she had a good time.

Other projects that happened this weekend....

Haley's bedroom has been rearranged. She and Frank and I decided that the day bed and trundle was really a better fit for her room. So the Mt. Vesuvius method was started on Tuesday in her bedroom in order to make way for the moving of furniture. You know the one where you remove everything and start from scratch. Although I will admit that I'm not touching that closet until after vacation! Poor Carrie, came mid way through the process and got to sleep on a couple of mattresses laid out on the floor.

My Mother's Day pot was finally purchased (that's a pot that holds plants - not the plant itself!)and it bloomed into five pots! Funny how that happens. Actually, I picked two and Frank picked up one on impulse. The impulse pot was such a good buy and we soon discovered two more places where we could put two more, so back to the pot place on Sunday afternoon to pick up the others. I have been working on getting drip lines to all so that the major heat won't be a problem. Pictures will follow shortly. In two of the pots will be green beans with tee pee polls. One pot, by the back kitchen window will be herbs, basil and dill are already in. Some peppermint will be going in a small separate pot - no hostile take overs in my herb pot! We already have some spearmint which we cautiously potted and then placed in a larger planter - it still took over! But tonight, we had the most lovely home made, real mint chip ice cream. And let me tell you, you can't be too mad at the mint after something that lovely.

Our actual anniversary was on Sunday. We had a good time thinking about all the things that had changed in our lives in the last 12 years. Then we talked about all the possibilities of things to come in the next 12. What a blessing Frank has been in my life. It is exciting to think about the things to come.

We are getting ready to tag with Frank to a training in Dana Point. We will be with Randy and Jan on the third of July and then onto SoCal. We are home a couple of days from there and then off to Cayucous for a nice long week with everyone, including the dog. It will be nice to get away into some cooler weather for awhile, although I'm not sure if the smoke will be much better considering the Big Sur fires are just north of there. I guess it depends on which way the wind blows.

Fresh Mint Ice Cream- makes about 1 quart (1 liter) -
Ingredients

1 qt. 1/2 and 1/2
1 cup (150 g) sugar
1 cups (500 ml) heavy cream
Pinch of salt
3cups (80 g) lightly packed fresh mint leaves
1 cup chocolate chips chopped in food processor

1. Warm 1 cup of the 1/2 and 1/2, sugar and salt in a small saucepan. Heat until bubbles form, but don't leave and scald it! Add the mint leaves and stir until they're immersed in the liquid. Cover, remove from the heat, and let steep at room temperature for 1 hour.
2. Strain the mint-infused mixture through a mesh strainer into a medium saucepan (the milk will be a lovely shade of green). Press on the mint leaves to extract as much of the flavor as possible, then discard the mint leaves. Pour in the remaining liquid and 2 teaspoons vanilla.
3. Chill the mixture thoroughly in the refrigerator. then freeze it in your ice cream maker according to the manufacturer's instructions.
4. Add chocolate chips last.

This is well worth the trouble. We made this with spearmint - I think if we had used peppermint, we could have used just two cups of the leaves.