Abigail is 9 months!

Abigail is 9 months old now! She is so much fun. She is still not crawling, and for that, I am actually very thankful. I know it will be soon - and I know once she takes off she won't want to stop! She is just about there, she can pivot around a bit and sometimes that gets her a foot or two, she can also go backwards a bit when on her tummy.

Just today when she woke up from her nap, and I went to go in and get her she was sitting up in her crib for the first time. I told Doug we needed to put her rail up, and sure enough, when he went to get her from her 2nd nap she was sitting up again. She figured it out!

She is also figuring out sign language. Her favorite word is CAT, and she really loves to sit and watch the kitties by the sliding glass door. She will also say Eat, and Mommy/Milk/I want you. (All the same sign for her).

Just wanted to give a quick update on Abigail, and I will try to get back on a blogging roll. :)

Crock Pot Clam Chowder

Wanted to share our *famous* clam chowder recipe. Doug is a big time clam chowder fan, and I finally found one that I like as well, and that is easy to make. It is really simple, and OH SO GOOD! Everyone asks me for the recipe. So here it is: clam chowder

I follow the recipe exactly, I just thicken it up right at the end with a little bit of corn starch.

Enjoy!

Heather

"Our" Carne Asada Taco Recipe

I have been asked by a number of people recently for our carne asada recipe... I thought it would be easiest to post it here.

Carne Asada Taco's

It is amazing!! Well, at least we think so. We don't make the salsa (we did once, wasn't worth the trouble), but the marinade is SO delicious. One of our young teenage guests told me (as he was having thirds) that this was the first time he had good taco's that weren't made by a Mexican. Just call me Maria. The marinade looks like a lot of ingredients, but most of it is spices, and they are all common ingredients which is nice.

The relish also gives it that really authentic flavor - so you have to make the relish! Unless of course you are morally opposed to eating onions.

Chicken Scampi

I made Chicken Scampi for the first time last night and it was Yum-Yum-Yummy! It was pretty simple too! I am always looking for good recipes and inspiration so I thought I would share it with you. (I have a few more recipes I will be posting soon that people have been asking for - but wanted to do this one before I forgot!)

Chicken Scampi

Enjoy! :-)

Fun at the cabin

We went up to Shaver for 5 days with our family - what fun! There was a lot of playing in the snow, sledding, playing all kinds of board games, air hokey, guitar hero, naps, yummy food etc. etc. A few pictures to get us started.

This years vs. last years Christmas Tree

Last years tree - still decorating it.

Just to get an idea of the height - those are vaulted ceilings!

Picking out last years tree.

Peek a boo!
This years tree - a better fit!

Setting up the tree - and the geotrax train track!


This years tree vs. last years tree.... Last year was our first year in our new house, and when we went to pick out our tree our eyes were bigger than our living room - seriously! The tree wouldn't fit in our living room, so we had to put it in the front family room (or however that goes). It looked really pretty there right in front of the window, but we are hardly ever in there, so this year we decided to get one that would fit in the living room, and that was a lot better, and it was way easier to decorate! Those few extra feet make a big difference!

Doll

Abigail got her first doll for Christmas (actually she got her first 3 dolls)! She really seemed to like them. With the first one she got she just held in right in front of her face and was kind of cooing / babbling at it. The she was holding the little dolls face in her hands, and touching it's little hands, all the while talking to it. She seemed to know what to do with it right away - it was very cute!

Picking out our Christmas Tree.

We went to Cobb's Ranch to get our tree again this year. That is THE place to go! It is always so much fun, and they have great prices!



Enjoying his candy cane treat!

Practicing smiling. :)

Waiting for Daddy to buy the tree.

Picking out the tree.

Pooh's friend?

The other day we were all in the car, and Doug stopped at the neighbor's house so I could go ask them something. Noah asked: "Where is Mommy going". Doug replied that I was going to Al's house. Noah asked: Is the Pooh's friend? He was refferring to Owl's house -- and they do sound pretty much the same - Noah was probably thinking how privileged we were to live on the same street as Owl! :-)

More Thanksgiving

I am trying to catch up!! Here are a few pictures from the great Thanksgiving weekend we had. My cousins from San Diego came up and they stayed at our house for 4 nights (1 of which we weren't here!). I already posted the Yosemite pictures, but here are a few more. We had a LOT of fun playing a bunch of different board games. Watch out for Paul and Mutsuko though, they drive a hard bargain in No Thanks! And Uncle Paul taught us a fun new game called SWIPE. We all thought he liked it so much because he could beat us every time. You should have seen Julianna in Bohnanza, she put us all to shame!! The pictures of Abigail and Aunt Grace were at the last night at Teppanyaki. Even though my cousins are 1/2 Japanese they had never had Teppanyaki!! Mutsuko said it was very "Americanized", but they still liked it.