Empanadas

Look at this yummyness. Greg made an Argentinian specialty for me, Empanadas! He took this recipe and modified it a little (added potato's, used less garlic, and no olives or raisins) and wa-lah! They were delicious. He even made the pastry shells using our nifty pasta roller, which got them really thin. He cooked 86% of them in the solar oven. The last 14% was cooking inside with the broiler to give them a little crispy-ness. They were AMAZING! Thanks Honey!

Are you thinking "what in the world?" Yea I did too! This is Auburn drinking out of a camelback that Greg uses when he bikes to work.

a good cause for july

I have lots of friends right now that are going through the process of infertility and exploring the possibilities for having children. One set of friends, Jana and Aaron, have decided to adopt! I am so excited for them. I met Aaron as a church camp counselor; we were paired up one week and the first thing he did was give me a hug. I thought "who in the world is this crazy dude?" Over the course of the week I came to see that he has the kindest heart and greatest attitude towards life. He is great with kids, especially the teenagers we worked with, and is a great friend. He and Jana got married shortly after that.

I know they spent a lot of time exploring the options they had and seeking guidance on what to do next. They have been married for four years now, and have made the decision to adopt, they created a blog talking about their decision for possible birth mother's to see.

I wanted to mention them because adopting is expensive. Having a kid is expensive, but insurance will take care of a lot of the cost. They have to pay out of pocket. They have been working hard to save money, but could always use some help. Here is a link to donate to their cause. They are honest, hard working people and I can personally vouch for them.

Good luck Aaron and Jana! You two are in our prayers!

Family Dinner

This past Sunday we had a family dinner and it was great! We had pizza and root beer floats (Susy said all of her kids ate vegetables all day so that they could have root beer floats!). Kyle and Emma and their new baby came down from Mesa, and it was awesome. Greg played his new song, and Katie and Gracie and I danced ballet. Greg made tags with names like "Krusty Kyle" and "Luigi Lauren" for everyone. We tried to wear red, white, and blue in honor of the coolest month ever. Thanks for coming over guys! We loved it!

I just want to point out that I am a first-timer as far as this parenting thing goes. That said - you all know that every moment Auburn does anything remotely cute or progressive I have to rant and rave about it for weeks. This is one of her new cute things. All you Grandma's out there, enjoy!

Auburn is just the cutest. She loves climbing up on the couches. I spent all day teaching her how to get down without falling, then I let her fall a couple of times, then taught her again, and she did it! She is now an expert at climbing up AND down on the couch. PLUS this has greatly improved her stair climbing as well. She now can go down two steps without falling. Happy day everyone!

dancing

Auburn can dance! She is such a cute girl....




She just started this new piano/dancing trend last week. I noticed that when Greg sat down to the piano to play she would start bouncing! We dance a lot together, but this is the first time I've seen her do it on her own. First's are my favorites!

grandma w's package

Grandma Warner sent Auburn a little package when she saw how much Auburn liked carrying around stuff. She included the American flag (see here), in a little Halloween bag. Auburn wears her Halloween bag like a purse, or sometimes she will put it around her foot and drag it around the house.

Usually it contains our stuffed-pet monkey (as you can see in both pictures). It fits perfect in the bag.


Thank you Grandma Warner! We love you!

greg's birthday!

For Greg's birthday we went out to eat at El Palacio which is his new favorite Mexican restaurant. That evening I watched Auburn so that he could work on reformatting his computer to have windows on it (again) and then after Auburn went to bed we ate ice cream cake and played starcraft! We won, of course. Here is the birthday boy at dinner, and then with his gifts:




The present Greg wanted above anything else was a DISCO BALL. It is now hanging in our room for all the parties we throw up there. Greg said he's going to rig up our third outlet switch so that his disco ball will automatically turn when it is on. P-A-R-T-Y!

Happy 4th!

Happy Fourth of July! We LOVE this time of year! Summer, fireworks, BBQ's, long weekends and vacations. It is my favorite holiday to dress up for too. Next year we will be sporting some of the make-it-and-love-it 4th tees, not to mention that I have started to collect some 4th decor. It is by far the holiday we are the most festive for!

Grandma Warner sent Auburn this American flag. She likes storing it in her high chair usually. I love her face when she finds it there, it's like Christmas!