Grandmama's Fried Chicken

Kirk credits much of his love of cooking to his Gramdmama and Great Grandmama and has countless wonderful memories of times spent in their kitchens and at their tables. Each time Grandmama comes to visit, she makes one of Kirk's favorites, her famous fried chicken. On Friday, she spent hours cooking for us. The result was about 45 pieces of perfectly fried chicken. I have helped her make it several times now and know the recipe/method, but I don't think it would be the same if I made it myself!

The fam ready to eat! This was the first time that Erik, Kelly, and Jaime had feasted on Grandmama's cooking. Jaime said that she has now ruined chicken for him because nothing else will compare to hers. :)

At first, Trip wasn't quite sure what to do with his chicken leg,

but it didn't take him long to figure it out!

He is now a big fan, just like his daddy and the rest of the family.

Here he is complimenting Great Gram on her cooking. (Notice that Jale is eagerly waiting for anything that he might drop!)

Of course the benefit of making such a great feast is that there were plenty of leftovers, although they didn't last more than 24 hours!

Playing with the Grams

Gram and Great Gram have been here this week. We picked them up at the airport in Reno on Monday. After spending the night at a hotel and doing some shopping, we headed home. Trip has loved having all the extra attention and has had lots of fun with them.

Reading books with Gram

Reading to Great Gram

Daddy got Trip this tent and tunnel in Reno. He has had a blast crawling in the tent and through the tunnel.

He even got Great Gram to join him!

Trip has been showing Gram how he uses tools. He was scooting around outside in his walker and "working" on the Suburban, the greenhouse, and anything else he could find.

This afternoon, Gram painted a scarecrow face on the pumpkin we got for Trip the last time we were in Klamath Falls. It turned out super cute and he keeps smiling at it.


And trying to eat it too, apparently.


Sweet moment


Trip had a good time entertaining his grams while he took a bath.


Cuddling with Great Gram before bed time,


and making us all laugh!

Lookin' Good!

At lunch one day, Trip decided that he should use his messy hands to style his hair. The result was quite impressive!

By the way, his bib says, "This is what handsome looks like!"

Pears, Pears, and More Pears

We received a big box of pears two weeks ago. They were on their way out and needed to be used right away, so I got to peeling, coring, and cutting.

We decided that I should make pear butter. After consulting a new favorite web site (Food in Jars) for a recipe, I got the pears cooking.

As I was working, Trip was busy too. He discovered the papers that the pears had been wrapped in and thought they were a great toy.

The next day, we had jars and jars of pear butter.

Hi Monkey!

The other day I had Trip's shirt draped over the arm of the chair in his room while I was getting him dressed. He spotted it, crawled right over there, and spent quite some time talking to the monkey. It was so cute that I had to capture it.

First Football Game

Last Friday we took Trip to his first football game, which was also the high school's first home game of the season. Thanks to some hand-me-downs from our friends, he even had a blue and gold football outfit to wear. He enjoyed watching the players and spectators. Since we won 37-0, he had fun clapping with everyone and using his second-favorite sign, touchdown (both arms straight up in the air). (By the way, can you guess what his favorite sign is?)

After the game, we filled the church's warehouse with 75 students for 5th Quarter. They enjoyed nachos, games, music, and just a fun, safe place to hang out.

5th Quarter was something that the churches did when Kirk played football and thanks to Erik (our friend and housemate who has moved here to be our volunteer youth pastor), it lives on. In such a small town, there is nothing for the kids to do, so having an event to attend was a big deal to them. We're looking forward to the next home game in a week and hoping for another great turnout.

Little Feet

Kirk snapped this picture a few mornings ago while Trip was sleeping and I couldn't resist sharing it. He sometimes likes to sleep with his legs folded up under him, which seems very uncomfortable to us but works just fine for him.

IN-N-OUT

When we took Tammi and Cooper back to the airport in Reno, we discovered that there is an IN-N-OUT Burger there. Kirk loves the place and I had only heard the stories of how great it is, so we had to eat lunch there.

The two first-timers

Trip mostly ate his dried veggies, but enjoyed a few fries as well.

Freshly-cut and delicious fries

First Steps!

On Friday evening, Trip was standing next to the couch as he often does. All of a sudden, he turned, let go, and took two steps on his own. It was quite unexpected as he hasn't shown too much interest in walking so far and would rather crawl than try to walk around holding our hands. Kirk and I looked at each other in surprise and applauded his effort. I was glad Trip decided to keep this momentous occasion for a time when we were both in the living room and got to enjoy it together.

Each day since has brought a few more steps, one and two at a time. He still has a long way to go and we are really not in any hurry for him to walk, but it's still fun to see.

More Cousin Time

Here are a few last pictures from Cooper and Trip's time together...

On Saturday we all went to the Polar Bear for ice cream.

The boys enjoyed plain cones.

Mommy and Trip after he made half of my ice cream fall in my lap!

Before we took their pictures, the boys discovered a box of Cheese Nips in the living room. They quickly helped themselves to a snack.

Cooper was kind to share with Trip.

Tammi and Cooper, thank you for coming to visit us (and thanks to Gary for making it happen!). We had such a wonderful time and loved seeing the boys enjoy each other so much! We can't wait for the next time we get to be together.

Labor Day Parade

We heard that Lakeview had a Labor Day parade, so we decided to take the boys and check it out. We weren't quite sure what to expect, and were pleasantly surprised with the results.

There were fire trucks, of course,

lots of people riding horses, including the rodeo queens and princesses,

and a few horse-drawn wagons.

Several kids from church were riding on this float. The district attorney and police have worked hard to get the money from all the drug busts in the area so that they can donate it to sports, scouts, and other youth activities.

There were classic cars,

a pirate ship float from the library,

a horse with a super cool mane-do,

and Smokey the Bear.

We saw several trucks of HUGE logs, which was quite impressive because the logging companies are not allowed to cut down this large of trees anymore.

Some of the cars from the demolition derby at the fair the night before were there too.

A couple of the loud horns scared the boys.

And finally, there was some farm equipment.

The fam after the parade.