BBQ, baby

Brent loves to grill.  Loves it.  For Christmas he got a Big Green Egg.  I will admit that I thought, okay, one more piece of grilling equipment... whatever.  Then he made steaks on it.  Oh... yum!  Plus, it was fast!  Once the egg was up to temperature, it only took a few minutes to cook my medium-well steak.  We've been hooked ever since.  He has spent a lot of time reading about grilling techniques and trying new recipes, plus lots of hours doing cooking his favorites. 

With some encouragement, he entered the Farm Bureau Cook Off contest at the County Fair.  When he was packing up the morning of the contest, it was pouring rain and he wasn't very excited.  Once he got there and was set up, he had a fun time visiting with the other people who had entered; there was even another Green Egg!    

He had two entries:

Grilled Chicken Kabobs

Center Cut Pork Chop

There weren't a ton of rules - they had to bring all of their own ingredients and equipment, they could make anything they wanted but it had to be grilled (not smoked) and all of the food had to arrive raw (nothing pre-cooked).  Presentation was also judged, along with choices of side dishes.  When I suggested to Brent the night before that he take some of our fun & colorful picnic plates, a table cloth and a table decoration, I was scoffed at.  He did pack it all, but only used the plates. 

So they prepared their food and a Farm Bureau member took the numbered plates (no names) to the secluded judges for evaluation.  In the mean time, all of the extra food was served up and spectators got to taste.  Yum!  Brent was pleased with both dishes.   

Guess what dish won?

The center cut chop!

I knew he was the best!

the fair

It is a busy {demanding/hectic/sweaty/tiring/hard/chaotic} work week, but always worth it. 

It might not be on their time schedule, but I always make time to have some fun with my family, too. 

 The long climb...

is worth it.

so many smiles

His favorite fair food: slushie.

rodeo~cowboys~horses~bulls~calves

This night, Hannah didn't care.

more smiles

more wild rides

This night, Hannah loves it all.

Waiting for pie & ice cream.

Lucas climbed on {over and over again} the tractors on display and we saw lots of animals... BIG

  and small

Makes me wonder {assuming they want to} what animals Lucas and Hannah will want to show someday??

4th of July

Hannah's first parade.

Not Lucas' first parade... but the first where he figured out how this 'candy throwing' stuff works.

Watching with Gramma Connie and Papa Steve. 

Hannah was hot and Lucas was chomping on a piece of candy!

... such a helpful big brother.

Jonah, Josh and Lucas watching the firework snakes grow.  They loved them!

Concentration.

::catching up::

I need to hit the rewind button for all of the catching up I have to do.  But first, I am fast forwarding because of the latest on our little miss:  She is on the MOVE!

Hannah has been crawling for a couple of weeks and {she thinks} nothing is off limits.  She also got her first tooth the same week she started crawling - all at 6 1/2 months.  As soon as she was crawling, she started pulling herself up to anything she could get her hands on, including her crib railing.  Daddy and Lucas lowered her mattress right away!

There are a whole bunch of Lucas' toys that Hannah now thinks are hers, too.  Amazingly, Lucas really isn't as concerned about sharing toys as he is about her putting little pieces in her mouth.  He is a protective brother.  If Hannah starts heading to something that is off limits {anyone want to adopt a plant?} he has great man-to-man defense skills. 

Watch out, world, here comes Hannah!

best friends

June 24, 2011

::Hannah at 4 months::

Our latest visit to Yarrow Photography...

You can see more of Hannah's cute, cute photos by clicking here. 

I'm way behind... yes, Hannah is over six months old now!  She has so much more hair than she did in these pictures.  Plus, she is a master sitter-upper and [isthisclose] to crawling.  She loves her tongue and shows it off to everyone :)  Everything goes straight to her mouth.  If you grab her hands for any reason, she immediately uses them as leverage to pull herself up and stand.  This girl doesn't want to miss anything!  At Hannah's six month check up she weighed 16 pounds 3 ounces and was 26 inches tall; 50th percentile for both.  She's just perfect!