Flamboyant Christmas Concert

I have to post this cute video from Jesse's concert last week.  Jesse came home with a part to learn a few weeks ago.  He wanted to try out for a solo....a few days later he said he didn't want to try out for it anymore.  He didn't explain why, but when you watch this video, you will understand...I did.  It is very funny, but the talent is amazing.  Turn up the volume and enjoy!    Jesse is right in front of the teacher....laughing.

Sarah's Marbles

 Sarah has an awesome Art teacher who has really helped her focus on her drawing this year.  She has been working on this piece for several months...she calls it "Reflection".   It is being entered in a competition by Scholastic in Dover tomorrow (Dec. 7)...if it does well there it will go to a state competition, then national and then international.  I think it is an amazing piece, but I am her mother....what do you think?

Thanksgiving

So here is our Thanksgiving weekend in a nutshell.....

Lily hung out on Sarah's lap at the computer.

Allen read Mockingjay while David read Hunger Games.

 The boys crowded around our tiny laptop to watch football.

 Rachel and Jesse played "the bubble game" on David's phone.

And lots of Wii.  This was canoeing...too funny....

We had a great time with the Favreau/Knight families.  Lots of food and games and chatting and napping and hanging out.  Loved it.   

Gus and Lily

This is Gus (left) and Lily.  They are the Hoffman's Lhasa Apso dogs.  They are very spoiled and very cute and we get to have them for the next 10 days while the Hoffmans are in AZ. celebrating Thanksgiving with their daughters.  They will look after our chickens while we are in AZ for Christmas.  Kim (Sis. Hoffman) says that stinks for us, cuz her dogs only leave poop behind and mine leave eggs.... love her...she is a hoot. 

Occasionally we have what are called "fog delays" which basically means that school will start 2 hours later cuz the fog is too dangerous for safe driving.  However, last week we had a VERY foggy day and no delay...it was pretty scary.  This pic is from my front porch at 7:00 am, but by the time I got to Sarah's school we couldn't see 10 feet.  Life on the east coast is definitely full of new experiences for this family!  Dogs?...not on your life...in AZ.  Fog?...not enough to delay school...

On a depressing note...our weather forecast for Thanksgiving is RAIN!  Grrrr. 

Fall!

Here are some of the views from our yard. Our weather has been fairly nice...a few cold days and then 4 or 5 in the mid 60"s.  Fall has come very late this year...all the leaves were gone by this time last year.

 This is the view from our driveway into our back yard (and my little chicken coop).

 The back door from our dining room.

 We went to Fifer's Orchard in Dover and got apples...a whole bushel...and made apple butter.  This is a beautiful place full of trees and gardens and a cute country store...we also bought some local honey.  All their produce was amazing and huge...

...check out these carrots!

We are so excited for Thanksgiving and then Christmas in Arizona.

Funny, Funny, Mother

Today is my Mother's 82nd birthday....she died two and a half years ago and I still miss her everyday.
I have been going through my mom's recipes and found some really great ones to share....
Happy Birthday Mom.

This was something mom made all the time...I loved this stuff...she served it in the colored cupcake cups.

 This one she made for Christmas most years...it was a complicated process, but sooo yummy...I think Nona makes this now...I haven't tried to do it yet.

 This was just funny.  I found this just as it is...edited...I remember she would call this "Better than Robert Redford Cake"...you can fill in the cut out section however you want.

There was one more that wouldn't scan...it went just like this....

Chocolate Dipped Pretzels

                                                   Melt dipping chocolate...dip pretzels in.

...that was all there was on it's own 3X5 card in the recipe box...funny, funny mother.....love you Mom.

HALLOWEEN!

 So....Darrin and I went to a "formal" Halloween party at our rich neighbors house where costumes were mandatory...Our friends Tom and Kim Hoffman (Cinderella and Prince Charming below) got us invited cuz they have been fellowshipping these people for years and I think Tom just wanted to have company in the "embarrassing costume" department....anyway....we were a 60's (or is it 70's) couple....I think Darrin looks like Tom Jones...Hahahaha...Sarah dressed up as a vampire...Jesse was a Republican...complete with the elephant nose...sorry no pic.

Tom and Kim Hoffman..... Aren't these guys amazing...She made their costumes...everyone kept telling her she belonged at Disneyland...They are grandparents for crying out loud!

Sarah was in a donut eating contest....she got a little unwanted help from above (her dad)...she still won.  It was COLD for Halloween here...it was kind of nice after a week of 80 degree weather....

Next up....THANKSGIVING.....my favorite holiday!

Turnips and Greens....

Our friend Marshall Mumford (real name and is exactly like you would imagine a Marshall Mumford to be) called the other day and asked me if I wanted some turnips...I told him I didn't really know if I wanted them or not, but that I would try them...so we went over to his house and he pulled up these beauties...then he asked if I wanted "a mess of greens" too...Ummmm....never really tried those either, but what the heck.

 The greens turned out to be kale...very large and kinda rubbery leaves with a thick stalk and veins.

 ...so I looked up some recipes on Allrecipes.com and made these sour cream and cheddar turnips and...

 ..these spicy mustard and garlic greens.....so....I don't think I like turnips and greens....Darrin liked the kale, but he likes cooked spinach and I don't.  

Another first for the Gordon family in Delaware....and for some of us...a last as well.

A Field Trip and a Campaign.

Jesse's science class went on a field trip last week and I got to go with them....

This is James Farm an ecological preserve that is right on the Indian River Bay.  The Bay is fed by the Atlantic Ocean which is across a little neck of land about 100 yards wide.  They did soil and water testing and plant identification labs. 

Later they put on their hip waders and seined "things" from the Bay...they found fish, crabs, mussels, and trash.....haha

 This looked like a tumbleweed to us, so we took a picture for old times sake...:(

On Saturday we drove a few miles to Georgetown and met up with David Favreau who was there campaigning for Christine O'Donnell.  It was short, but sweet.  He is coming back to our house for Thanksgiving along with Rachel and Allen and Mark.  We can't wait.

Random Happenings....and a TEENAGER!

Jesse had a birthday this week....13.....HE IS A TEENAGER! Holy Cow...when did that happen?!? He decided he wanted money instead of gifts, so we gave him what we thought we would have spent and he bought his own presents....works for me. Jesse's cake is actually fried ice cream...pretty yummy!Darrin is back in the cow business. He and our friend Tom Hoffman bought these cute little beasts the other day...they keep them at another friends house and then will split the meat or sale price with him for keeping them....they also bought some pigs...not my favorite animal.
We had Stake Conference today....Darrin was sustained as a High Councilor. On the way home we spotted all these parachutes coming down, so we pulled over to watch...it was pretty cool. Darrin has done this and both Sarah and Jesse want to....NOT ME...I would die...I don't like falling....I can't jump off a diving board either....terrifying!

TWINS!

Just a follow up to last weeks post....Yep...it had a double yolk!

Cluck....Cluck....GOOSE!

If you have been reading this blog, you already know that my hens have been laying for a few weeks. Well...they start off laying fairly small and sometimes misshapen eggs, which get bigger and more standard looking as time goes by......So...saturday morning I went out to gather the eggs and one of the POOR things left this...

YIKES! It is nearly double the size of an extra large store-bought egg, (right) and nearly triple the one she laid the day before. (left) Boy am I glad I am not that chicken! We haven't cracked it open yet, but I suspect it will have a double yolk or something....I have never seen a chicken egg this big before.

Goose....yes.....chicken....no.

In other news.....

We spent Labor Day taking the Ferry across the Delaware Bay to Cape May, New Jersey. The ride is about 80 minutes and very calm.....almost boring....

but we enjoyed hanging over the railing and just watching the water go by.

Cape May is and OLD resort town. It used to be the elite vacation spot for New Yorkers and D.C. big shots....the old hotels are cool. (please disregard the old woman in front of the hotel)

We walked around and sampled all kinds of food and walked along the boardwalk and basically just chilled all day....it was really great. Next day.....school started for the kids....Sarah is a Junior and Jesse is in 7th Grade....Holy Cow!...Jesse is in 7th grade?!?....Sarah is a Junior?!?

Restoring Honor Washington D.C. 8-28-10

We had one of those moments when living here in Delaware became a great advantage...Saturday the 28 of August we drove to D.C. with our good friends the Shupes (who flew over from Az. to visit) to be a part of the Glenn Beck rally. It was such a great experience...I have to admit that I don't really listen to Glenn Beck except on occasion, so I didn't know a lot about what would happen there. We were surprised to find out that is was a purely NON-political rally...Yes...that is right...NON-political. Apparently he had decided that he was going in the wrong direction....dividing people...rather than uniting them. So...we were inspired for 3 plus hours by Beck, Sarah Palin, Martin Luther King's neice, and many others...They spoke mostly about Faith, Hope, and Charity....and uniting together as people of God. At the end Brother Beck gathered 250 clergy of many faiths....he paraded them on the stage and said that they represent about 180 million people of faith. He said that we need to unite together and fight those that want to remove God from our lives. None of us agree on the fundamentals, the doctrine, the rituals, but we all look to God and we must bond together as people of faith to triumph over the evils of man. It was powerful. I wish everyone could have seen and heard and felt that power. His website will have pics and video up soon, but until then, here are some that I took. Enjoy!

The sound system was SOOO loud that Darrin put baby wipes in his ears and could still hear everything.
I know it is hard to see but people were everywhere...behind those trees was a large field FULL.Cheese!
These two enjoyed renewing their great friendship.

These are just two of the videos I took....they were all so good. The geese flew in as the music was playing just prior to the beginning of the program....it was like an air force fly-over..they were in formation and seemed trained and on cue. It was cool.

Happenings

New family pics.

Bored after church while dad was in a meeting.

Happy 16th Birthday Sarah!

Washington Monument waiting for the fireworks to begin.

Waiting for the Metro in D.C.


Girls Camp.

Just a few pics to represent our last few weeks...
Of course I have to include the spectacular finale at the Washington D.C. fireworks....volume up!