37 reason we love Rik...

Happy Birthday!

1. He's taller than me.

2. He's a great dad.

3. He loves to fish.

4. He loves the Grand Canyon (and has hiked it 2x).

5. He loves a challenge.

6. He's a perfectionist.

7. He has great ideas!

8. He's a great friend.

9. Ketchup.

10. He's a good example to those around him.

11. He loves to learn.

12. He loves clean sheets.

13. He's the hardest person in the world to shop for shoes for!

14. Actually, the same can be said about clothes for him as well!

15. He can reload his own bullets.

16. He's ridden 110 miles in El Tour de Tucson.

17. He can run/bike/work in the hottest of hot days.

18. He loves gear of all sorts.

19. He loves to read.

20. Dessert is important.

21. He can tie his own flies for fishing.

22. He likes to have fun.

23. He's not afraid of hard work.

24. Crocs.

25. He's a great UPS employee.

26. His pocket PC.

27. He lives the Gospel.

28. He has a really cool bike!

29. He has a toe he wants cut off.

30. He is persistant.

31. He can build and fix lots of things!

32. He's not afraid of anything.

33. He puts the garbage cans away every week.

34. He drives "Little Ugly".

35. He researches things until he finds the perfect one.

36. Cookie dough.

37. He's a great husband. :)

Everyone is welcome...

Well, Cold Stone *was* our favorite....

But, I think we have found a new favorite... a gelato shop called Frost. If you are ever in our lovely area of the world- it is a must do! Gelato is creamier than ice cream and has less calories (or so they say!). It has a very silky texture and a very rich flavor. For the past two Saturday evenings we've found ourselves at this shop - it's bustling - but once you taste it - you know exactly why!

But, poor Caitlin has yet to have any! She is been off babysitting the past 2 Saturday nights - we decided from the money she's making that she can go buy her own! ;) Can you believe that she's babysitting already??? It wasn't that long ago and I was worrying about who was going to watch her!

Pickles!

I planted cucumbers in our garden this year. I kind of ignored them. Then I noticed they were blooming. And blooming. And blooming. But, they weren't growing any cucumbers! I was getting annoyed because they were spreading and taking up a lot of garden space! One day, I was out there and glanced down and there was a cucumber - and another - and another. I picked 20 cucumbers that day! Here is the picture of my harvest that day...

I was very excited - because in the next two weeks I managed to pick over 60 cucumbers! I decided to make them into pickles - because who can eat 60 cucumbers? The bread and butter pickles were fun - 3 hrs of sitting in an ice bath and about an hour to can them - but - the dill ones - *3 weeks* of sitting in a brine bath and "skimming scum" off of the top of the brine everyday - doesn't sound very appetizing - does it? But, I did finally get them made last weekend and, while they are very very *dill*, they are done! Here are all the pickles together... kind of pretty - huh? The dill are on the sides and the bread and butter are in the middle.

The other thing I've been canning this summer was kind of an experiment. OK - not just kind of - really an experiment! I had heard about mesquite bean jelly a few years ago when I was looking for prickly pear jelly recipes online. I decided to try it this year. So, instead of picking up all the fallen mesquite beans in the front yard, we harvested them! The kids were not quite as excited over the change of terms as I was because it essentially meant they were still spending hot summer mornings picking up beans, but oh well! We boiled the beans and made juice. It smelled like granola bars cooking! Who would have guessed! In the end, the jelly was a success - it tastes slighly like apples - another who would have guessed moment! Philip says it is his new favorite jelly. If you're in the area, you should stop by and have some - we have plenty and would love to share a piece of toast and jelly with you!