Pizza Night - Thank you Overalls!

This year the Overall family had our name for Christmas.... lucky us!  Kara made Clyde and me two great aprons and got Alice an apron with lots of accessories.  She made us a menu board to go with them and got us some cookbooks for kids.  The other night we had one of our family favorites, homemade pizza.  The kids really enjoy picking out their toppings.  Alice used tomatoes, spinach, mushrooms, lots of olives and some hamburger.  Clyde used a lot of ham and pineapple, some pepperoni, and olives. 

YUMMMMMMMMY!

Little Worker

Clyde getting ready to irrigate and holding the first batch of jam from this summer, huckleberry strawberry. He's a good little helper and worker these days. He even calls his play work and it usually involves a lot of digging.

Visitors & Pony Rides

Ben was really busy working and we weren't quite up for company through the winter. We made up for it these last two weeks. On the 30th, we had dinner for Mumsy, Gayle, Tommy, Sharon, JG, Rollins, Kay & Gregory (turkey dinner, mmmmm). The 1st Ben's family & some friends came for lunch and pony rides (about 35 people). The 2nd my childhood friends Joe & Mike came with their families (that's who the photo is of - 5 kids & 4 adults plus us). The 3rd Shelley called and wound up coming over with 3 Seattle area friends and their 3 children. We had just gotten the house clean when Erin's family came to town, so we had a big Rydalch dinner on the 8th (about 35 people again). Then on the 9th it was branding day so I made homemade rolls, potato salad and banana muffins for that and Janelle's family came over for our 0-1-2-3-4 photos and breakfast (huckleberry pancakes, elk sausage and fruit). On Sunday the 10th, Merche called and brought Chispe and her 5 kids out for pony rides and to feed the calves. So our tally was around 100 for the last couple of weeks and we have more coming this weekend. It's fun to be able to share our home, yard & animals with so many good friends and our families. The kids love seeing their cousins and friends.

Late Valentine's Day...

It was such a crazy busy Valentine's Day. My dad was out of the country so we stayed at the ranch for a couple of days. Then Ben's sister was in town so we had a family dinner. Valentine's Day has never been really a big deal for us, but Ben has made a homemade card each year. I have most years, but one year it was a pizza with I (heart) U cut out of pepperoni. This year we didn't do anything so 10 days later I made a cake.... Here it is...

What do you do with this?

Enough pork to feed Ben's family, and that's saying something! Day 1 is solomo (fried pork cutlets with roasted peppers on top)... any ideas for days 2, 3, 4, 5..... I think we'll be eating pork for a while!

Messy Eater and Other Food News

Alice loves to eat almost anything, but she doesn't always get it into her mouth...

Clyde is a kind of picky eater; this week he loves red meat and isn't as in to chili macaroni. The one thing he always loves? Kraft Mac 'n' Cheese (yah, I'm that kind of mom). I tried making it, but he wanted "the orange kind." Oh and yes, those are his jammies and that's lunch. What can I say, they're comfy and fashionable, so why put regular clothes on?

One of the guys that works with Ben gave us some venison (pictured) and some elk. So we've been enjoying that this week. I have to admit that I really don't find it appetizing until it's not recognizable.

-Laura

Eggs and such...

We get eggs from the ranch and they can be all different colors. Sometimes they have yucky dirt and chicken poop on them.

Mommy made them into something yummy:

Berry Sad News, But a Berry Good Summer

The huckleberries are done. It was so sad to see only one or two with the rest withering on the bush. I suppose that we can get by until next year. At least we have some jam to tide us over. Lucky for us, Mumsy's raspberries started right when the huckleberries quit, so our summer of berries continues. Mom thinks that we've made about 4 gallons of jam this summer, which doesn't sound like a lot until you realize that it was about 40 jars of the stuff. We hope that next summer some of you will join us for huckleberry picking and jam making. Mark off your calendars for somewhere from late July to mid-August!

Strawberry/huckleberry jam we made with Aunt Libby:

Libby and Ben's huckleberry haul:

Clyde, a good picker and a good eater... these are Mumsy's raspberries:

PIZZA!!!

I love pizza. I always ask mommy for pizza. In the morning she makes me egg pizza (egg with ham and cheese on top). Sometimes she makes me pancake pizza:


(That's a pancake with yogurt, jam, bananas and dried fruit). And sometimes she gets a pizza from the big freezer downstairs and we cook it. That's my favorite pizza. I don't really like the pancake pizza near as much.

Happy Thanksgiving!!

Our house has been really busy. It sure smells good! Mom and Mumsy got me all dressed up so I knew something was going on.... Plus, mom had fixed the table up really fancy and someone came with flowers. It looked like this:


Aunt Catherine came. She is really funny. She was trying to steal a pie!


After smelling all that good food, all I got to eat was some mushy white stuff (potatoes). Yuck! They made me sick. Mom says that's no good for an Idaho boy! Maybe someday I'll like them.

My Third Month

I just turned three months on August 15th and they say I'm growing like a weed. I weigh over 13 pounds now. I say I'm growing like a baby not a weed, but they still don't seem to understand my words even though I talk a lot.


This was a fun day. The neighbors brought their baby over to see me and Elliott.



I get to take baths again now that my face is all healed. It's fun! Mom and Dad said I look like a Jedi in my towel. I don't know what that is, but I heard them say something about special powers so I guess it's OK to be a Jedi.


One special power I have now is the power to sleep anywhere:

I just got a new chair with my name and everything and it's small enough that I already kind of fit in it. Here I am, lounging:


Here I am with my bunny again. I wrestle lots with dad, so here's a move I learned:


I'm not just bigger than the bunny now, I'm smarter too! Sometimes I help mom and dad water the garden (OK really I just go with them, but some day I'll help). We grew these tomatoes, daddy made the bread, and daddy caught the fish. The rest of it all came fresh from friends and relatives...


OK, that picture isn't nearly as great because it doesn't have a cute baby (namely me) in it, but my parents are pretty proud of their garden so I said it was OK and I'd share my blog.