Wedding Bliss

Over the weekend the family headed over to Bend for my college friend Kellie's wedding. It was posh, personal and very much like Kellie. The little details she put together were amazing. Here are the highlights I managed to capture.

The wedding took place on the DD Ranch in Terrebonne, down the road from Smith Rock. It was child friendly and so much fun with a petting zoo, obstacle coarse and we had picture perfect weather.

This was the guest "book".

Little hand painted details were in every corner.

Simple and sweet.

This was my favorite thing Kellie and Travis put together. Every beer glass, wine glass, water glass and kid's sippy glass had little chalk board areas that they painted on. Then they had all sorts of colorful chalk pens that you could use to write your name on your glass. Such a brilliant idea! I'm totally stealing this for a future party!

Here is Nate and the flower girl Abby sipping from their awesome Mason jar sippy cups. Nate developed quite the attachment to Abby. If they were ever separated Nate would ask the person closest to him "Where's my flower girl?"

Dance cards. A fun mingler idea.

A silly way to get wedding advice from everyone. I saw a few completed mad libs and they were a crack up! What a fun thing for the bride and groom to look back on through the years that they are married.

The kiddos checking out all of the farm animals.

Kellie's stylish fascinator. This was in lieu of a veil and so cute. Wish I could pull something like this off!

The table center pieces sat on top of a log segment. They fit the country-chic theme of the wedding perfectly.



This is one of the awesome features of the obstacle course. It was a wooden slide that was super slippery. Luckily no splinters in the bum!



Gabby thought the kids coming down the slide were hilarious. She kept giggling...though she hadn't napped so she was a bit rummy!

The party favors...beautiful little succulents.

Each favor had a hand cut, personalized thank you flag.

It was a great party. Everyone had a wonderful time. Even one of the farm's dogs who jumped up on one of the tables to finish a meal one of the guests hadn't finished!

The bride and groom thought of every detail. They seem so in love and are absolutely perfect for each other. I have no doubt that they truly will live Happily Ever After!

I Want to Be a Supermodel!

We had family pictures last night. Hilarious.

Of course there were hiccups. Like the fact that the pictures were at Edgefield and there was a concert. Some little known guy named Steve Martin. Yes, the actor, Steve Martin. Did you know he is a super talented banjo player too? We didn't go into the concert but heard some tunes...pretty phenomenal. In addition to the concert there was a wedding and 3 bachelor parties. Can you say busy? Wow. Next time, we need to check the event calendar before heading over there!

The other hiccup was the weather. It was sticky hot. Me and my poor babies can't handle the heat. We get cranky. My head gets sweaty. Most people sweat from their armpits. I sweat from my head. Not very convenient for pictures.

The other hiccup is that Gabs didn't smile. At all. When it comes to pictures you never know if you are going to get smiling Gabby or stoic Gabby. Last night stoic Gabby was in full force and you couldn't get a smile out of her no matter the theatrics, tickles, or songs you threw her way.

Nate however smiled, struck poses and even brought his own fashion sense with a fedora that he demanded he wear. Total super star.

Birthday Party

It's taken me a bit of time to be able to write about Gabby's 1st birthday party. The day was such a blur as we were sleep deprived. Here, however, are some key moments:

#1 - I made cupcakes using cake mix. I was back to work for a couple of weeks so didn't have time to make them from scratch. To personalize them a bit I added some mini semi-sweet chocolate chips. I was pleased with the result.

#2 - Flowers. We had an unintentional flower theme for the party. The cake we ordered had flowers decorating it and I made the cupcakes for the kids into sunflowers. To do: use a v-cut leaf decorating tip to make petals around an Oreo.

#3 - Gabby's gift from us was a blow up swimming pool we filled with 450 plastic balls Nate got from his godparents a couple of years ago. It's been up for an entire week and the kids dive in every day. What a hit!

#4 - My niece Joanna took pictures at the party. She typically does a wonderful job. But sometimes I end up with pictures like this...not really sure what to think.

#5 - Red Rover. Red Rover. Send Nate right over! I completely forgot about the joys of this game. We have some fabulous teenager/young adults in the family that entertained the 10 kiddos under the age of 5 we had at the party.

#6 - Freezing frosted cookies works! I've heard of freezing cookies in advance but haven't tried it myself. It really works! I feel like the shine comes off of the frosting a bit but the taste isn't compromised at all!

#7 - 94-degrees is too hot for babies. Anyone really. We look to cool off in all sorts of ways. Niece Ellie poured ice cold water on Gabby's feet. She LOVED it.

#8 - Big brothers love little sister's birthday presents. Even pink Disney princess cars.

#9 - Gabby doesn't like cake. (Crazy, right? And she's my daughter! Just goes to show not everything is passed down...like love of cake!). We tried to give her some at her party and again on her actual birthday. As you can see, she doesn't like it. 

Fresh Salmon Burgers

Last month I clipped this recipe out of Oregonian, our local newspaper. I love the idea of salmon burgers but the frozen variety is unappealing. We had salmon for Gab's birthday and ended up with an entire leftover fillet so decided to give this recipe a go.

First start with a 2-lb boneless skinless fillet. Chop it up and throw it into a food processor.

Pulse a few times but don't overdo it or you'll end up with something like cat food.

Put the chopped salmon in a bowl with all of the other ingredients.

Mix well until combined. Do not over-mix or the burger will not stay together.

Form 6 patties about 3 inches in diameter. (Wow. My hands look really wrinkly.)

Beautiful!

Heat your grill to medium-high. Brush it with a little oil so the burgers won't stick. Cook 3-4 minutes per side.

Serve on a bun with crisp lettuce. If you're like the hubby, add tons of mayo to the bun. I detest mayo (all condiments really). The burgers are moist, fresh tasting, and very yummy! The only thing I would change is that I would add salt to the mix next time.

Fresh Salmon Burgers

Ingredients:
1 (2-lb) boneless, skinless center-cut salmon fillet
1/2 c. fresh bread crumbs
1 egg, lightly beaten
2 scallions, thinly sliced
finely grated zest of 1 lemon
2 T. finely minced chives
1 T. minced garlic
1 T. olive oil
1 t. red-wine vinegar
1-2 dashes Tabasco sauce

Directions:
Preheat grill and brush with vegetable oil

Chop salmon with a sharp knife. Place in a food processor and pulse a few times to achieve coarse texture. Do not overprocess.

In a bowl, combine salmon, bread crumbs, egg, scallions, lemon zest, chives, garlic, olive oil, vinegar, and Tabasco. Form into 6 patties (about 3 inches in diameter).

Grill burgers on medium-high, covered, for 6 to 8 minutes, turning once, or until just cooked through. Serve in lettuce-lined buns.

Summer Loving

Now with jury duty over and work over we've had time to enjoy the Summer! Over the weekend Nate had his cousins over for some Summer fun!

Squirt guns,

walks in the setting sun,

and bubbles! The simple joys of Summer!

Judgement

I haven't made many posts lately. Mostly because I got a jury summons in the mail. We've all gotten them, right? What I failed to note was the little note at the top "If selected, Grand Jury term is for one month."

Out of the 157 people that showed up I was the 3rd number randomly selected for Grand Jury. I gave my reasons for not being able to fulfill the entire month but was told by the judge it wasn't an "undue hardship." So, I had no choice but to enlist the help of my in-laws and a number of other family members to cover babysitting for an entire month. It was a struggle and on a few days the kiddos had up to 4 separate babysitters but we made it work!

Grand jury was a trying experience (no pun intended). I learned way more about the depravity of my fellow man than I cared to. At the same time it was one of the most rewarding and educational experiences of my life.

I would have rather served my jury term when the weather wasn't so beautiful and mocking me that I had to be in a windowless room all-day. In the end, however, I'm glad for the experience.

Happy Birthday Gabby!

Happy Birthday to my baby girl who turns one today! It's hard to believe it has already been a year!

Changing Names

Nate has decided that Gabby is no longer to be called Gabby. She's Gabry. He even corrects people who say Gabby. "No, it's Gabry like Gabriella." Gabby or Gabry, they both are pretty cute. The Gab-ster, however, is less than enthused.