June 30th

Since I have reached the half way point in my year long photo diary,

I decided to give you a self portrait.

June 29th

I see an elephant and a scorpion.

June 28th

The difficulties of photographing a toddler.

June 27th

We attended a wedding at David's mall today. Mind you, I have no idea who these people are. Em and I were sitting on the balcony of Cantina enjoying the festivities while David made sure things ran smoothly. Sometimes we meet him for dinner on weekend days that he has to work during special events. Today's event was all for love. :)

June 26th

David ran the Freedom Run of the Ozarks 1/2 marathon today and came in 1st in his age group! Congrats Babe!

June 25th

Em turned 18 months old today...and I totally meant to doll her up and take a keepsake picture. Unfortunately life happened and I forgot. All I got was a shot of her morning fro. I sometimes take a picture of it depending on height, volume, and laugh-ability.

June 24th

The deer are trying to make amends so that I'll forgive them for eating my tulips. They must be desperate because they sent Grover out in the middle of the day in 90 something degree heat. He was just trotting along down our street. Bert and Ernie are still making themselves scarce. I haven't seen them in a long time. I told Grover that everything was cool and they all could come back now. Might as well let bygones be bygones.

June 23rd

Part of our nightly routine...

Em has always been a fan of brushing her teeth. It helps that her tooth paste is bubblegum flavored. She even says "teeeeeeth" while I'm brushing which is a good chance for me to get the top ones. Today, I let her try it by herself. She ended up sucking all of the toothpaste off the brush. I guess Mommy needs to keep helping for a while.

June 22nd

Professional Pedicure: $30
Nail Polish And A Pack Of Sticky Decals: $5

June 21st

We spent some time at the playground before our flight home so Emery could enjoy some swinging with Gigi. It was a great trip.

June 20th

Its peach pie and I helped! My mom made this fresh peach pie from scratch for Fathers Day and it was delicious.

June 19th

We took Em to the Nashville Zoo and this guy just made me giggle. The zoo keeper said he wasn't asleep but that he just likes to lay like that to fool us.

June 18th

I was a little nervous flying with Em to Nashville all by myself. But thanks to the DVD player and a little NickJr, she was perfectly content on my lap and eventually fell asleep. I recommend anyone with kids to get one of these. Take it on long trips to keep every one's sanity in tact.

June 17th

She can swim!...and I can now relax.

June 16th

These are Martha Stewart's fresh strawberry shortcake cookies and they are the best cookies I have put in my mouth.

*this week

June 15th

We visited sweet baby Mason again today. Em was so sweet to him. She gave him kisses, hugs and was so gentle. She didn't even show a bit of jealousy when I held him for an hour. She is going to be a great big sister one day.

June 14th

Tomato Update

June 13th

Happy Birthday to sweet baby Mason! You're breakin' hearts already!

June 12th

This is what happens the minute Emery goes to bed

every...single...night.

June 11th

Because of all the vacation hubbub, I forgot to show y'all another one of my birthday surprises. David went to my favorite store in his mall and picked out these way cool spice organizers. Honestly, he could have purchased anything from that store and I would have been happy. He knew I was having trouble sorting and finding spices in my cabinets. I must say I have accumulated a few doubles because of that. I had never seen anything like these before. They are labeled drawers that pull out and tilt down so you can find every spice. How cool is that?

June 10th

Attention Twilight fans: The Eclipse Novella is out! And just in time to read before the movie comes out at the end of the month. Thank goodness because I finished The Host while on vacation and loved it!

PS. Em thinks she is ready to start The Chamber Of Secrets...she's advanced ;)

June 9th

Pea Risotto with Baked Dill Salmon

This is my new specialty. After eating out almost every day on vacation, it was so nice to have a healthy home cooked meal. I have been perfecting this one for a while. It is the result of a bunch of different risotto recipes I have been trying out lately with the easiest salmon fillet you have ever made in your life. And since I didn't bring y'all anything back from Colorado, I thought I'd share my recipe. Now the thing you need to know about risotto is that you have to stir it...constantly. This meal takes about 20 mins to make but you will be standing at the stove the entire time stirring. But it is worth it....so worth it.

Ingredients:

1 Tbsp butter

1 Tbsp olive oil

1/2 onion, diced

1 clove garlic, minced

1 cup arborio rice

1/2 cup white wine

3 cups chicken broth (or 3 cups water and 3 bouillon cubes)

1 1/2 cups frozen peas

1/2 cup parmesan cheese

salt and pepper

Frozen Salmon Fillets, thawed (walmart sells them individually wrapped in a 4 pack)

salt

dill

3 Tbsp melted butter

Preheat oven according to salmon package directions. Heat chicken broth in a small saucepan on low. (do not boil) Melt butter and oil in a medium saucepan over medium-high heat. Saute onion until soft. Add garlic and rice and stir for about a minute to toast the rice. Add wine and stir until the liquid is completely absorbed. Add broth 1 cup at a time stirring constantly until all the liquid is absorbed. Meanwhile, boil peas in 4 cups of salted water for 5-10 min. Place salmon in baking dish. Sprinkle with salt and dill. Brush with melted butter. Put them in the oven about the time you add your last cup of broth to the rice since they only take about 8 min to cook. Drain peas saving 1 cup of the water. Add peas to rice. Stir. Add parmesan, salt, and pepper. Stir. Slowly add pea water until creamy. (you may only need 1/2 cup) Transfer to a bowl and top with salmon fillet. Add a pretty piece of dill from your garden if you've got it. Enjoy!

June 8th

Here is Em giving Duke a goodbye kisses. For some reason she still gives open mouth kisses to dogs even though she has learned to close her mouth for people.

June 7th

Back to the cabin to get in some much needed ping pong...a favorite cabin pastime.

June 6th

The day of the marathon.

David said that it was all he could do to get in under four hours...two minutes and 36 seconds under to be exact. The air sure is thin up there. He is still catching his breath.

Good Job Babe! We are proud of you!

June 5th

We rented beach cruisers to tour Steamboat by bike. We came across the spring that gave Steamboat it's name. The bubbling sound of the spring supposedly sounds like the chugging sound of a steamboat. All I could focus on was the smell. This spring stink stank stunk!

Check out my bike! It had a leopard print seat, handle bars, and detailing. It was HOT!

I could have ridden that thing all day.

If I lived in Steamboat, this would be my only mode of transportation.

June 4th

One of Steamboat's famous attractions are the natural hot springs in Strawberry Park. The hot water comes steaming out of the side of the mountain and trickles down into the pools on the left. The river on the right is absolutely freezing and mixes with the hot spring to make the water bearable. Its like sitting in bathwater.



This little pool (left center) was just Emery's size. The water was about waist high to her.


This little guy came to visit us to see if we had any food in our bags. (We didn't. The guy at the gate made sure of that) He was just as comfortable with us as the hummingbirds.

June 3rd

We headed out to Steamboat Springs a few days before David's marathon to get acclimated to the altitude. This was the view from the balcony of our awesome condo. The Yampa river was just a gushin! The locals said the water was the highest they had ever seen. Apparently the weather turned warm rapidly and melted the snow faster than normal. It was really cool to sit out there and listen to the rapids. Occasionally, thrill seekers on a kayak or river raft would float by. This would also be a really cool place to stay in the winter. Those are ski jump training slopes on the hill in the back ground.

June 2nd

This is one of my favorite parts about the cabin. We eat our meals at this long table on the porch that over looks the mountain side. On the window ledge, we line up cups filled with hummingbird juice so that we can watch them while we eat.

They get so comfortable with us that they'll relax on the edge of the glass to have a drink...even though I am literally standing one foot away...on a ladder.

June 1st

We're off to Colorado! I always get a little nervous with Em on the plane because you never want to be the parent of the child who is screaming the whole flight. But as usual, she was a perfect angel. In fact, she slept the whole flight there and back.