Father's Day Weekend

 

Heather normally updates our blog, but since the title of this post is Father's Day Weekend, we thought it would be appropriate for me (Drew) to create a post. 

My parents came up for a visit, and were so kind to watch Luke while Heather and I went on a date for a belated 2nd anniversary celebration on Saturday afternoon.  Our last date was in January for Heather's work party, so this was long overdue!  We watched Toy Story 3 in 3D and then went for an early dinner at the Mansion at Judges Hill. 

                         

Toy Story 3 was great and it may be my new favorite Pixar movie.  I would highly recommend it to anyone (children or adults).  It was nice to just be able to spend some quality time alone with Heather.  Don't get me wrong, we love spending time with Luke--it has just been so long since we have been able to focus our attention on each other.  We also got to fit in a little bit of dessert at our favorite place for that--Chez Zee.  Our favorite dessert there is the Mocha Fudge Torte.

At church on Sunday, Father's Day, it was the first time that we put Luke in the nursery at church.   He did really well in the nursery and we enjoyed being able to focus on the service. After church, we ate some lunch and walked around the Domain with my parents.   It was great to be able to spend my first Father's day with my son and my dad. We snapped some pictures once we got home to remember my first Father's Day.

A couple of weeks ago we received something in the mail from Snapfish advertising Father's Day gifts.   I had made a comment about the coasters they advertised and how I would like to have some of them.  So, Heather surprised me by creating a personalized card and coasters for Father's Day.  

Our Anniversary

So, our wedding anniversary was yesterday (6/14/10)!  My how life has changed in the past couple of years--of course, it is definitely change for the better.  We are so happy to have found each other and thank God every day for that and the opportunity to spend the rest of our lives together.  I tell Drew often that he is so much a part of me that it seems like I have known him my whole life.  I can't imagine my life without him!

And better yet, our family of 3 exists because we fell in love.  Anyway, I am posting this video clip of our "first dance" from our wedding reception for reminiscing purposes.  :-)  I think it is a good portrayal of our relationship--two best buddies who fell in love and are "better together." No worries if you begin to get bored--it gets a lot more interesting shortly after a minute into the dance. I think my hair got a little too into the dance as well. :-)

Fresh Food for us and for Mr. Luke!

Drew and I have really been enjoying grilling out.  It is so easy and the food tastes awesome!  We went to Sprouts Farmer's Market, which is located just down the street a couple of miles from our house, on Sunday and picked up a lot of fresh produce and meats.  I spent a couple of hours making a lot of fresh foods for Luke Sunday afternoon (see explanation a little later in this post) and then we prepared some delicious food for us as well.  For dinner, we grilled some salmon, chicken, Corn on the Cob, green beans and even some sliced peaches mixed with butter, brown sugar and cinnamon.  YUMMY!

Luke got to sit down with us at the table while we ate, and he sampled some of the freshly cooked items that I made for him to eat over the next few weeks.  At dinner, he sampled a chicken and apple dish, some butternut squash, and some sweet potatoes.  He ate every bite!  I am glad he enjoyed each of these, because he will be munching on these, along with some other items for the next month!

For those of you with a little one who have been interested in making your own baby food, but weren't sure how it all worked--let me tell you--it is very easy, makes a nutritious meal for your little one, and will save you a lot of money (I made the equivalent of 40 jars for less than $5).  Not only that, there are many other benefits as well.  For example, store-bought baby food does not come seasoned.  By making it yourself, you can play around with various seasonings.  Also, store-bought food does not provide a lot of variety.  By making your own, you can make your own combos and try things not available in the jars--like asparagus, broccoli, beets, etc.

It is simple to prepare.  Just pick whatever foods (veggie, meat, fruit) you would like to make, grab some ice trays (one ice cube slot equates to about 2 oz of food-there are 4 oz in a typical baby food jar) and your food processor.  I love the food processor/blender that we received as a wedding gift from my friends Missy and Danna.  I never knew I would be using it to make baby food!

There are some great charts on the internet that recommend different foods dependent on your child's age.
 

I'll share the chicken and apples dish below. 

Ingredients

• 1  6-ounce skinless, boneless chicken breast half
• 1  medium (5 to 6 ounces) apple, peeled, cored and cut up
• 2  teaspoons unsweetened apple juice

Directions 1. In a small saucepan, cook chicken breast half in enough boiling water to cover for 15 minutes or until chicken is no longer pink (internal temperature should be 170°F). Remove from saucepan; cool. Reserve the water the chicken was cooked in. Cut up cooked chicken into small pieces
2. Meanwhile, grind apple in a food mill or mini food processor with the apple juice until the consistency of applesauce; set aside.
3. Grind chicken in a food mill or mini food processor. Mix ground chicken and applesauce together. Add 2 to 4 tablespoons reserved cooking liquid for the consistency your child likes. Use within 1 day, or freeze up to 1 month.

To Freeze: Spoon finished food into ice cube trays. Cover with waxed paper and freeze until firm. When ice cubes are frozen, remove cubes from tray and store in a resealable plastic freezer bag or freezer container. Label package with contents and date. Use within 1 month. Before serving, let thaw in the refrigerator overnight.

It's pretty simple.  :-)

Our New Patio

Our house is on a corner lot, and is ideally set in reference to the sun---except that the back of the house gets the nice, hot, West sun.  Because we would love to spend a lot of time in the future in our backyard, we decided to add a patio cover to our house.  Our house already had a pretty nice paved patio, but was missing the cover to protect us from the hot summers and the fall rain.

Here is a picture of our house before the patio cover.

We decided that we wanted the cover to look like it was built originally with the house.  Therefore, we decided we didn't want a "shed-style" cover.   Here is a picture of the cover in the process of being built.

And here are some pictures of the finished result.  Doesn't it seem like any time you do a home remodel project, the simple project leads to other purchases?    Because we wanted to enjoy the cover and use it frequently, along with the patio cover purchase came the purchase of new patio furniture and a new grill.  But, I must say, we have already gotten a lot of use out of both additional purchases.

As you walk out our back door:

Of course, there is still some cleanup that needs to occur around the patio, but you get the picture.

Luke's First Time in the Big Pool

Luke is getting so big!  He turned 8 months old on this past Friday--we can't believe it.  On Memorial Day, we decided to take him to the big boy pool in our neighborhood.  So, Daddy blew up his frog float toy, we gathered all of our pool things together, and headed to the pool.

I guess Memorial Day was a very popular day to do this.   The pool was pretty busy, but it wasn't so busy that it discouraged us from jumping in.  I let Drew and Luke have the first try, while I sat back and snapped some photos of the first time Luke swam in the big pool.

Luke truly enjoyed his first time in the pool.  He eventually began splashing and then kicking his legs around to try to make his frog move.  It was pretty cute.

Then, they blew the whistle for adult swim, so we had to get out of the pool.  But, although Luke LOVED being in the pool, I think he enjoyed people watching even more.  He just loves watching people.  I am pretty sure he is an extrovert.  Here are a couple of picture of Luke drying off and "people watching."