One of the nice days we went out to the football field on base so Hunter and Brandon could practice their soccer skills.

Brandon blocking one of Hunter’s shots. I’m pretty sure Hunter got a couple good goals though.

I’m not sure if he meant to wink at me or if the sun (which was directly behind me) was in his eyes.

Brandon ccould kick the ball seriously high and was great at heading the ball too. As you can see, Hunter was not at all thrilled about the idea of a soccer ball flying at his head.

Liz and I enjoyed sitting on the sidelines and soaking in the sun.

Hunter had a great time. He’s going to be a good little soccer player.

As I mentioned before my sister cooks a lot. It’s also delicious. The first night I was there we made homemade pizza.  And when I say homemade I mean we seriously made everything from scratch.

We kneaded the dough.

We grated the cheese.

Even the sauce was made from scratch.

It was so good! Try not to drool all over the keyboard. *wink*

Here is the happy family, anxious to dig into that yummy pizza.

Liz liked it so much she got a little too excited and actually broke her fork in half. Look out for her, even she doesn’t know her own strength!

This has given me a serious craving for pizza now. Unfortunately it’ll be hard to find anything quite as yummy. Stay tuned tomorrow for a video of a prank that got played on Hunter.

The flights home were uneventful. I slept most of the way from Fresno to Denver, thank goodness. Even in a first class seat it can be hard to sleep because they don’t recline very much more than a regular seat and my head always seems to bob and wake me up. Thanks to only having two hours of sleep I had no trouble sleeping almost the entire flight and woke up feeling fairly refreshed.

The worst part of my trip was lugging my bag through Denver airport with no hook. If any of you have had to walk through the B concourse in Denver you know what I mean. I had to walk from gate B84 – B36. Normally that would be fine but, with my bags stacked on top of each other, all the weight was on my forearms. I am no Popeye no matter how much spinach I eat, it hurt! It didn’t help that I only had about 40 minutes before my next flight departed. I walked as fast as I could though (thank God for moving walkways!) and even had time to stop in the luggage store. They didn’t have any j-hooks but they had a strap that served the same purpose. Too bad the luggage store was right next door to B36. I am so glad I have that stupid strap now though until Liz can ship me my j-hook. Seriously, for those of you who haven’t tried it, it’s the difference of 30 lbs supported all on your arms to all the weight being at the bottom of the luggage so you don’t feel like you’re carrying anything. It’s incredible and I will never take that darn thing for granted again.

The flight out of Denver to home was also smooth. I didn’t sleep that flight but I relaxed, ate my fruit and cheese plate and read a book. I even got in a little early. It’s really great to be home. I’m pretty sure Phoebe missed me. She was so happy to see me that she threw up all over the couch. Such a sweet welcome home gift, don’t you think?

I figured out how to get my pictures to display in order and have therefore started my Cancun post. My photo editor keeps crashing on me though so I’m going to try and work on them some more in the morning. I’ll also set up posts of pictures from my days in California. For now I need to sleeeep!

He’s already reading really well, especially for his age. He has a really good grasp of phonics but the English language has so many stupid exceptions even I get confused sometimes. It’s funny when he reads or spells something completely phonetically and when corrected gets defensive about it. This morning he was drawing a pictures for Joel and wrote From Hunter. When we were telling him how to write To Joel he got kind of upset because he thought there shouldn’t be an E in the middle of Joel’s name. “No, it’s Jeh Oh Lll!” I don’t blame him really. Who made up English anyway? Spelling would be so much simpler if English just followed it’s own rules all the time. Oh well.

He says all kinds of things that crack me up. Last night while we were snuggling in bed he randomly says “Aunt Abigail, when are you going to have kids?” We weren’t even talking at all at the time so I’m not sure where it came from. I get asked that question quite frequently but he is by far the youngest to ever ask. I said something about someday I’d like to have kids but they’re a lot of work blah, blah, blah. His response was “Ok. Well, when you have kids can you bring them over so they can play with me?” Ah, the mind of a child.

Anyway, he’s at such a fun age. My sister has done such a good job of raising a sweet, polite little boy. He has his moments of being a little stinker but, when I see other kids his age and compare, he’s one of the best behaved kids I know. He’s got the best facial expressions, especially when he’s confused or thinks I’m wrong about something. He crunches up his eyebrows and says “Are you kidding me?” It cracks me up every time. I hate that they live so far away because I feel like I’m missing so much. He has changed even since September when they moved out here. *sigh*

I wish time with this branch of my family didn’t have to be so few and far between. It’s been wonderful though and I’m soaking up every second I get to spend with each of them.

Greek Turkey Burgers

You will need:

• 1 pound lean ground turkey breast
• 1 cup crumbled feta cheese
• 1/2 cup kalamata olives, pitted and sliced
• 2 teaspoons dried oregano
• 1-2 cloves fresh pressed garlic (depending on how much you like garlic)
• ground black pepper and salt to taste

Directions:

• Preheat the grill for medium high heat.
• In a large bowl, combine turkey, feta cheese, olives, oregano, garlic, salt and pepper. Mix together, and form into patties.
• Lightly oil the grate. Place patties on the grill. Cook for 10 to 12 minutes, turning halfway through.

I usually serve them on whole wheat hamburger buns with fresh spinach, fresh sliced tomatoes, sliced english cucumber and a sprinkle of any leftover feta cheese. Makes four to six burgers.

The sweet potato fries are the easiest ever! Simply scrub the outside, slice into thin fries and place on a baking sheet. Coat evenly with olive oil, salt and pepper. Bake at 400F for 20-30 minutes, turning halfway through. Yum!

Anyway, today was a fun day. We drove up into Sequoia and Kings Canyon National Park. I was really excited to see the world’s biggest trees but unfortunately tire chains were required to drive more than 14 miles up into the mountains which is where the biggest sequoias are. *sad face* We drove up as far as they would let up though and then got out and hiked around a little. There were even some young sequoias which were really neat to see. I’ll post pictures when I get home. It was still a really fun day and we saw some beautiful views. I can’t wait until I can go back and see the actual big sequoias. I’m hoping that Joel, Phoebe and I can come back some time when it’s warmer so we can go camping with Liz, Brandon and Hunter. I think that would be a lot of fun.

So far I’m having a really fun time here. I woke up to snuggles from my sweet nephew. He just seems so happy to have me here. It makes me feel so loved! He’s so funny and has been showing me all his toys and telling me about his friends here. He keeps asking me if I can stay 100 days instead of just 7. *giggle* Anyway, we had a laid back day today. Well, laid back if you consider cooking broccoli soup, banana bread and pizza completely from scratch laid back. But that was Liz. I on the other hand was busy playing with Hunter or doing whatever on my phone. The pizza was a group effort and it was a lot of fun to make. Everything was delicious even though it made me feel like the biggest slacker wife ever. I mean even when I “cook” it’s usually frozen or out of a box. Worst-wife-ever award right here! Seriously though I am always so impressed by what a good mother my sister is. She has raised a sweet little angel of a boy and I love them both to death.

We have plans for a fun weekend, I’m excited. I’ll update you as we go. *smile*