Daddy' Birthday Celebration

First time out in a long while. I think Daddy and Mummy enjoyed themselves as did we all.

We went to the old Victoria Station.

GOOAALL!!!

Stephen scored a goal in yesterday's soccer match!

He was allowed to move up an age bracket and play on the same team with Michael for the past two seasons. It has been wonderful having the boys on the same team.

This day was particularly sweet....seeing Stephen navigate through the defense and then punch the goal in to put the team up 2-0.

They just finished the season this past weekend. No more practices or games until the spring. It is a long time to wait.

Ready for action...

The boys brought the ping pong table out of the storage room...set up the net...and are ready for spirited play.

We have been playing most evenings after dinner. We realized that our old paddles just were not keeping up with the advanced skill of some in our family. I wonder who?

Here we just returned from the sports store with a couple new ....balanced ...lightweight ...great grip ...fabulous ...profesional paddles.

Andre and Stephen put them to work right away. Andre said that we just needed paddles that worked. I wonder if he is looking for a competitive edge? Probably not....he can still take all of us. It all begins with his powerful serve...which you must see to appreciate. Trust me.

We took a hike.....

Even though it is fall it is still quite warm and the leaves have not really started changing color yet. Today, the weather was so pleasant that we decided to spend most of it outdoors. We thought about apple picking, but when I called the orchard that we usually go to, they said that there were very few apples left on the trees. We decided at that point that we would go for a hike instead. We thought of all the usual places....Great Falls, Shenandoah Park, Lake Fairfax, River Bend Park. Then we decided to go somewhere new.

Andre heard of this park quite a few years ago. It is very close to Great Falls, just a few miles to the south.

We packed our lunch and took to the road. It didn't take long to get there, but as soon as we arrived the children were ready for lunch. Andre and I didn't think that 10 minutes into our hike was a good time to eat. We wanted to find something much more scenic. If nothing else, we wanted to be by the water.

After about 45 minutes we arrived at the water...found a good spot and had our lunch. We had this waterfall just behind us as we ate.




Then the children spent time jumping from rock to rock.....and at this point tried to build a small dam in the river. The few rocks they had here were not going to hold back the Potomac River.

We decided to head back by a different route....and this was much more fun. There were a couple places where we needed to cross over the creek. There were these big concrete 'stepping stones' rising up out of the water for us to cross on.



















Here the children decided that they wanted to climb all over the rocks in the creek. Where is the fun on walking on a path when you can climb in the creek instead?











Finally, we are done with climbing in the creek bed....crossing over cement steps....and trying to dam up the water. It is time to head back to the car.

But, there is no time to rest. In just a few hours the boys' soccer team has a game against the dads.

Here is Michael.....wearing a familiar shirt? It is a bit small, but he loves it.

A bowl of cherries....

Back to food.

Kirsten was quite delighted with herself and the bowl of cherries in her hands. She creatively 'displayed' one cherry for you.

Stroll down memory lane.....

I found this photo from our trip to DisneyWorld in 2003.






This was the year we began pin collecting and each of the children is wearing their lanyard with pins to trade with the cast members at Disney.

Here they met up with two friends....Sully and Mike Wazowski from Monsters, Inc.

I think Stephen is trying to give them a scare!

The heavens declare the glory of God....

....and the sky above proclaims his handiwork. Psalm 19:1

I was driving with the children late this afternoon and we saw these clouds. A storm was brewing in the west and the sky was just lovely.

The photo below was taken on the way to soccer practice. Again, we were just amazed at the Lord's handiwork.

Fabulous Food

I know we love to post about food.....and we have taken so many 'food photos' to share with you all that I am trying to combine a bunch together. So, here are a few to enjoy. I might add that they were all delicious.

Here we are starting off with a delightful plate of bacon. Yes, the crispy bacon that you all have come to know and love. Just this morning I made a fresh plate of bacon...and we were eating some while on the phone with Daddy and Mummy. We didn't tell you that we were eating the bacon though....didn't want to make you hungry before you went off to sleep.



Now we are off to a healthy plate of watermelon.










Ahhh......now it is time for our crab dinner at the beach. Andre found this beauty to be photographed with. It is our tradition each year at the beach to have one evening where we just order a bunch of crabs and sit down to slowly eat them. I know you all have experience with crabs....either just the legs or the whole thing like we have here. It takes a long time to get the meat out of them...but it is worth it.



And now....we finish up our food journey with homemade apple pie and ice cream. I made this on Bryan's birthday. We celebrated with you Bryan...just from a distance.


This concludes our food adventures for the day...

Surely, you know there will be more to come soon.

Happy Baking!!

Baking is meant to be shared....and that is a good reason to at least share this photo. We wish you all were here so that we would be able to sit down with some tea and enjoy these blueberry muffins together.

When the children think of cooking that usually means baking. Muffins and cookies tend to be on the top of the list.

I'm not sure that Stephen made this batch of muffins, but he was willing to display them before jumping in to eat them.

Now it is up to you to find a blueberry muffin to enjoy with a cup of tea.

Have a delicious day!!

Testing...testing....1..2..3

Do I still remember how to post? I am going to get a good night's sleep....and give it a try tomorrow. Until then.............

Kathy

mother's day

We had a good dinner with grandma - celebrating mother's day or grandmother day.

Delicious Day!!

Daddy & Mummy....remember the free ice cream we enjoyed from Coldstone because it was Daddy's and Kirsten's birthday? Well.....today another ice cream store...Ben and Jerry's served free ice cream cones to all their customers.

As we drove down the street near the store there was a cow (someone in a costume) waving a big sign inviting everyone to come and have free ice cream. We wished that you were here with us to enjoy the wonderful flavors.

Here is a photo of the little bit of ice cream that was left. As you can see, Michael is holding up his empty cone. He was quite thrilled with his Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough ice cream and ate it up before I could get the picture.

Remember...April 29....free ice cream day. Maybe you should plan to be here next year. It is delicious...and free!! Ahh......two things we really love.

Just came back from Vietnam. Apart from having good business meetings, I had a good evening with a pastor and some leaders from his church. A pastor came to my hotel to pick me up at 6pm (Rush hour) for a 30 minute…………..ride. Its like being in a bad traffic jam only all motorbikes….and a few cars.
A car bumper whisked by only inches from my knee!!

How do you cross a road like this?

Waiting for a break in the traffic to cross is only a false security. To cross, you really have to take the first step off the curb and begin walking at a steady pace (don’t run) The bikes will just move aside…..yeah, like the red sea!!! Quite amazing. It’s a “walk of faith…”

My Homecoming Dance

Hi everyone! Here are a few pictures of me from my Homecoming dance. To give you a little background on Homecoming at my school. Homecoming takes place at the end of January/beginning of February. We have events at school during the week. These build up to a Pep Rally on Friday during school, a Dinner Dance Friday night, and the basket ball game on Saturday night. Every day of the week we have assigned attire and activities during the day to complement our theme. This year's theme was 1940's. However, I must be honest I didn't get too involved in dressing up, resulting in no pictures being taken! Homecoming Week and a Dance is common here in the U.S. although it is quite different in a Christian School because we are accompanied by teachers and chaperone's during the Dinner Dance. Well, I hope you enjoyed this post and get a little taste of a tradition in schools in the U.S.


Dad and I are trying to tickle each other. Who is winning?


















Here we are after the dance.

Happy Easter!!

Greetings everyone!! It has been over a year since I have posted....and am feeling just brave enough to give it another try.

Here is a photo of our Easter dinner. I made a roast leg of lamb, roasted potatoes, cauliflower and asparagus.

Don't forget the gravy and mint jelly!! We ran out of mint jelly before dinner was over. Andre was a sad fellow...he put his slice of lamb into the jar to get out the last bit of jelly.





Here is a photo of our dessert. I made a trifle with pears and peaches.






No food post would be complete without an 'action' photo. Kirsten insisted upon my taking this photo.





Oh....I am feeling a bit more confident now. I was able to include photos!! I am feeling quite happy about this.

Ok -- Daddy and Mummy....since I was able to accomplish this elaborate post....you may want to check the blog more frequently. In fact, I will be posting again tomorrow. We have some breaking news to share with you all.

Chili Recipe

For the SuperBowl, we have started a tradition of having chili competition where each of our friends will prepare chili. We then judge the best tasting chili. Last year, Kathy won...this year, one of our friends won with a Hawaiian chili.

Here's my chili recipe - just in case you're interested...even though it wasn't the winning recipe.

1 pound of ground chuck (beef)
1/2 pound of chuck roast (beef)
1 Pablano chili pepper
1 Fresno red pepper
1 tomato
1 can tomato sauce (small can)
2 tablespoons of olive oil
1 quart of chicken broth
1 onion
2 tablespoon brown sugar
1 tablespoon curry powder
2 tablespoon chili powder/mix
1/4 teaspoon cumin
oregano
cilantro

Directions:
Saute onions w/ olive oil
Add ground beef and small slices of chuck roast
Add peppers, tomato w/ curry powder, black pepper, brown sugar, chili mix
Stir and brown for 5 minutes
Add tomato sauce
Stir and cook for 5 minutes
Add broth w/ cumin, oregano and bring to light boil
Add cilantro
Cook for a couple of hours under low heat.

It's delicious...in my humble opinion, the best!

Meng, you may use this in your restaurant but just make sure that I eat for free when I visit!

Tae Kwon Do

Kirsten, Michael and Stephen recently tested and received their Black Belts in Tae Kwon Do. It was quite a strenuous test, lasting 3 hours and they were glad when it was over. Here are some photos from the day of testing. This photo shows Kirsten delivering a kick to Michael.







The second photo is of Stephen getting ready to break a board with his elbow. Looks painful to me!







Michael is breaking the board with a side kick here.









Finally, Stephen with a kick of his own.






They received their Black Belts the following week so hopefully I'll get a photo soon of all three proudly wearing their new Black Belts

Some CHristmas photos

Some pictures of our Christmas tree and the presents below!

"Merry Christmas mama"

Merry Christmas yeye

More Photos from Our Time Together

Here are some photos from the time we shared together. Daddy enjoying free ColdStone ice cream on his birthday....tasted delicious, I'm sure....ice cream always taste better when it's FREE!









Here is Kirsten with her birthday ice cream....from Coldstone....did I mention it was free?















Kathy and Mummy together.








I'm sure there were more photos taken but I can't seem to find many photos right now. Also, I guess our camera was not used very much. So if you have some photos, please post them on the blog. If I find some of the kids together, I will post them.


Thanks

Merry Christmas!

Merry Christmas everyone!

This is the photo we used for our Christmas card.