Old Faithful

   So, I had a very interesting and scary experience this week.  I got a bunch of chicken for a great deal and decided I would try to bottle some of it.  I have done it before but it has always been with someone else and it was at least a year ago when I did it last.  I attempted to pressure can the bottles in a pressure cooker that I recently purchased at Wal-mart.  Well this cooker was a little different than some I have used before so I was trying to figure it out as I went using the manual that came with it.  The instructions said for the 15lb weight to be gently rocking for about 75 min.  I discovered that their idea of “gentle rocking” is different than mine.  This is what happened all over my kitchen…

   There was a little black plug, the overpressure plug, that popped out and “Old Faithful” sprayed everywhere.  I had never seen so much water all over my kitchen before.  The ceiling was dripping and there was about a 1/2 inch worth of water on the floor.  I didn’t even realize there was enough water in the pot to make such a mess. 

   The mess took quite a while to clean up.  I was truly grateful for the help of my husband in this endeavor.  He helped to dry the ceiling and cabinets while I was on low cabinets and floor duty.  What a mess!

  Overall it was an experience I don’t want to do again.  Ever! I am extremely grateful that the Lord was watching out for us and no one was hurt. 

Please Vote for Kelly

I know that my blog doesn’t reach a lot of people but for those of you who read please consider voting for my sister-in-law Kelly Edington for a contest hosted by Impact Photography Group.  She has been through a lot this last year and this would be a well deserved prize for her and her family.  Find out more about her on her blog and then consider voting for her on the Impact Photography Group blog.  Thanks!

Marching Forth

Here we are, all the way into March.  It always amazes me how fast time flies.  I don’t ever remember time going this fast as a child.  It always seemed like it took forever for Christmas and other fun things to come around.  Now, day after day and year after year seem to be slipping away.  All the more reason to find the joy in the everyday things.

January and February were filled with the everyday things of life.  We did try to find some joy in the little things though.  On the 14th of February we decided to have a birthday celebration for the 100th birthday of Arizona.  I am not a cake making expert  but tried to make a fun one for our celebration.

We had an Arizona flag cake.  We also invited my Grandma Edington over to have dinner and cake and ice cream with us.  We didn’t want her to be alone on Valentine”s day now that her sweetheart has been gone for almost eight years. 

We all enjoyed the time together.  We love our family time. 

Over President’s day weekend we got to go see CG and Gramps in Glendale.  They have recently moved and we got to see their new house.  We were all excited for this little trip.  It had been about six months since the last time we made it over that way. 

We had a great time visiting with everyone.  We just had a low key weekend hanging out and letting the kids play with their cousin.  We even got to see Gramps’ horses and cows.  The girls always love doing that. We also really enjoyed our visit with Grani on our way home.  Love you Grani!

Just this last week the Elementary school celebrated Dr. Seuss’ Birthday.  They got to dress up like characters from Dr. Seuss’ stories.  Kelsi decided to dress like Cindy Lou Who.  It was a fun challenge to figure out how to get her hair to stick up like that.  Thank goodness for the internet and the ideas that people share on there.  I found one website where they used a floral cone for the top and pipe cleaners for the braids.  Kelsi’s hair is so long that it made the top really high.  She had lots of fun with this one. 

Today is mine and my husbands 12th anniversary.  We are so grateful for the years we have had together.  We have come closer and closer over  the years.  We have learned a lot and appreciate everyday. 

We actually didn’t end up doing much today.  Mostly because our whole family ended up getting sick.  We think it might have been something we ate.  I guess we will never know though.  We have tried here and there just to take a few moments to be together enjoying each others company.