Elliot had his six month check up yesterday. He's 50th percentile for weight, 90th for head circumference, and 10-20th for height. While these numbers aren't necessarily indicative of his further development (thankfully, lest he would be a large melon mounted atop a short toothpick), we figure Elliot's going to be a little guy. This would be consistent with his family: his mother, as well as his brothers, are short and skinny.
Other than his measurements, not much else happened. Doctor said he's developing well: good motor skills, good social skills, good vocalization. All is well.
It's odd, you'll never be so happy to hear someone's normal as you will when you hear it as a parent. Honestly, you don't want to hear your baby will be the next Einstein or Michael Jordan; you just want someone to tell you he's normal.
Well, our normal child is tearing up Demaree's "Spiegel" catalogue. We should probably stop him before he starts eating his way through the summer dress section.
Saturday, May 31, 2008
Tuesday, May 27, 2008
Indiana Jones (Spoiler Alert)
After gorging ourselves on Memorial Day grilled meats, Demaree, Elliot, I, and our friends the Sorensons saw "Indiana Jones and The Kingdom of The Crystal Skull."
As one who grew up watching Indiana Jones's adventures dozen of times, I was excited for this movie. Thankfully, this installment hit all the classic Indy motifs: globe-hopping adventure; chase scenes; extensive, well-choreographed fights; evil villians (commies this time); guy getting killed in a horrid manner (i.e., eaten by giant — possibly Mayan — fire ants); and, of course, treasure. Harrison Ford hasn't lost a step either. He's still funny and quite spry for a sixty-something man.
My only real complaint was the ending. The object of all previous Indy films was spiritual treasure (Ark of the Covenant, sacred stones, Christ's Chalice), but this film's treasure was science-fiction in nature (Area 51 type aliens). Missing that spiritual object made this film seem almost hollow. Of course, I say almost because, overall, the movie was still quite good.
As for Elliot, he approved. Being the trooper he is, he sat through the entire movie without making a sound — that is, until the last fifteen minutes. When movie really got rockin', he became excited and vocal. Luckily, the movie theater was so loud no one but we noticed. And then, having experienced his first Indy film, he promptly fell asleep.
As one who grew up watching Indiana Jones's adventures dozen of times, I was excited for this movie. Thankfully, this installment hit all the classic Indy motifs: globe-hopping adventure; chase scenes; extensive, well-choreographed fights; evil villians (commies this time); guy getting killed in a horrid manner (i.e., eaten by giant — possibly Mayan — fire ants); and, of course, treasure. Harrison Ford hasn't lost a step either. He's still funny and quite spry for a sixty-something man.My only real complaint was the ending. The object of all previous Indy films was spiritual treasure (Ark of the Covenant, sacred stones, Christ's Chalice), but this film's treasure was science-fiction in nature (Area 51 type aliens). Missing that spiritual object made this film seem almost hollow. Of course, I say almost because, overall, the movie was still quite good.
As for Elliot, he approved. Being the trooper he is, he sat through the entire movie without making a sound — that is, until the last fifteen minutes. When movie really got rockin', he became excited and vocal. Luckily, the movie theater was so loud no one but we noticed. And then, having experienced his first Indy film, he promptly fell asleep.
Sunday, May 25, 2008
Denis Gets Engaged
As I'm sure most of you know, Demaree comes from a large of ten children (seven boys, three girls). Well, turns out, as younger siblings are so often wont to do, one has become engaged. Denis, who's a couple years off his mission to Everett, Washington, recently asked Lisa Marie Gardner to marry him.
We're all uber stoked for Denis, and can't wait to meet Lisa Marie (he's been squirreling her away at BYU somewhere). We wish them all the best.
We're all uber stoked for Denis, and can't wait to meet Lisa Marie (he's been squirreling her away at BYU somewhere). We wish them all the best.
Saturday, May 24, 2008
Elliot Update
Seems like every week Elliot is doing something new. This last week he's been sitting up on his own for long stretches at a time. In fact, yesterday, he sat up and played with his toys for about thirty minutes.
The second highlight was our finding Elliot hair product. That's right our six month old son is using (daily mind you) "Oil Moisturizer," complete with castor oil and aloe. I think Dem bought the product because the bottle itself announces "IT WORKS!" Oddly enough, it really does work. Elliot's hair, which was a rather brittle, frowed mess, is now curly and soft.
Finally, Nebraska has now decided to embrace spring, so it's hat time for Elliot. His favorite is off-green with elephants and rhinos. Honestly, you can dress the kid in anything and he looks cute.
Until next time, stateci bene.
The second highlight was our finding Elliot hair product. That's right our six month old son is using (daily mind you) "Oil Moisturizer," complete with castor oil and aloe. I think Dem bought the product because the bottle itself announces "IT WORKS!" Oddly enough, it really does work. Elliot's hair, which was a rather brittle, frowed mess, is now curly and soft.
Finally, Nebraska has now decided to embrace spring, so it's hat time for Elliot. His favorite is off-green with elephants and rhinos. Honestly, you can dress the kid in anything and he looks cute.
Until next time, stateci bene.
Monday, May 19, 2008
La Matonella
When Dem and I were in Italy a couple years ago, we found this little ceramics shop called "La Galleria" in Montelupo Fiorentino. Betty, the genial proprietress, supplied us with wonderful ceramic show plate that now hangs on our kitchen wall.
Well, I went back to Italy in May to unwind from law school, and decided to drop by La Galleria and buy Dem something. While I was picking up a beautiful, large ceramic bowl, I notice something called a "matonella." I was a ceramic tile with a scene hand painted on it. This particular matonella had a baby scene, complete with baby in bed, a scale showing baby's birth weight, a clock indicating baby's birth time, calendar with baby's birth date, and a little portion for the colors of the parents' favorite soccer team (it is Italy, after all). Betty informed me they recently begun selling these, and I told her I would order one when we had our first child.
Needless to say, when Elliot came into our life, I up and ordered the prized matonella. But, instead of soccer colors, I sent Betty a BYU football logo and asked the artist place it in the scene. He kindly obliged. And here, finally, is a photo of possibly the coolest possession we own.
Well, I went back to Italy in May to unwind from law school, and decided to drop by La Galleria and buy Dem something. While I was picking up a beautiful, large ceramic bowl, I notice something called a "matonella." I was a ceramic tile with a scene hand painted on it. This particular matonella had a baby scene, complete with baby in bed, a scale showing baby's birth weight, a clock indicating baby's birth time, calendar with baby's birth date, and a little portion for the colors of the parents' favorite soccer team (it is Italy, after all). Betty informed me they recently begun selling these, and I told her I would order one when we had our first child.
Needless to say, when Elliot came into our life, I up and ordered the prized matonella. But, instead of soccer colors, I sent Betty a BYU football logo and asked the artist place it in the scene. He kindly obliged. And here, finally, is a photo of possibly the coolest possession we own.
Dinner with the Delli Caprini
Recently, Antonella's family came for her graduation and we all went out to eat. Demaree and I had been quite excited about this because we're such big fans of Antonella we figured her family would be fantastic as well. As it turns out, they were. Pasquale (Antonella's father) and I talked about Italian literature and soccer. Maria (Antonella's mother) was as sweet as could be, as was Rosemary (Antonella's cousin). And, while Marco (Antonella's fratellino) stole my name, we thought he was okay too.
In the great Italian tradition, we ate much too much food during an exceedingly long, and thoroughly enjoyable, meal. The evening was over much too quickly, but that's okay; we'll visit the Delli Carpini family again. Until then, ciao a tutti.
In the great Italian tradition, we ate much too much food during an exceedingly long, and thoroughly enjoyable, meal. The evening was over much too quickly, but that's okay; we'll visit the Delli Carpini family again. Until then, ciao a tutti.
Café Rio Pork Salad -- Full Recipe
This is a take on the famous Café Rio pork salad. In fact, this is less a carbon copy of than it is an improvement on the salad so many dearly love. The cooking is broken up into eight major components: pork, salsa, guacamole, tortillas, beans, rice, and dressing. Other components that require no cooking are: romaine lettuce, cheddar cheese, sour cream. For best taste, these components need to come together quickly. I’ll try to indicate the best procedure for maximizing freshness. I’ll also state which items may be made ahead. Okay here goes.
INGREDIENT LISTS
ITEMS FOR EACH MAJOR COMPONENT
Pork
• 3.5 lbs pork shoulder (a.k.a. pork butt) — boneless is easiest
• 10 oz. can red enchilada sauce
• 8 oz. Dr. Pepper
• 1 ½ cups light brown sugar
• 1 can chopped green chiles
• 2 teaspoons salt
Salsa
• 8 plum tomatoes (a.k.a. roma tomatoes)
• 1 handful cilantro — buy 1 bunch, you’ll need it later as well
• Juice of ½ lime
• ½ tablespoon olive oil — if you don’t have olive oil, skip the oil
• Salt to taste
Guacamole
• 3 avocadoes
• 2 cloves garlic
• Juice of ½ lime
• Salt to taste
Tortillas
• 8 6 or 8-inch flour tortillas
• 2 ½ to 3 cups vegetable oil
• Salt to taste
Beans
• 2 cans black beans
• 1 onion
• 2 tablespoons olive oil — if you don’t have olive oil, use vegetable oil
• 1 can low sodium chicken stock or chicken broth
• Salt to taste
Rice
• 1 ½ cups long grain white rice
• 3 cups water
• Juice of 1 lime
• Zest of 1 lime
• 1 handful cilantro
• 1 ½ teaspoons salt
Dressing
• 1 Hidden Valley Ranch buttermilk packet
• 2 tomatillos
• 1 cup buttermilk
• 1 cup mayonnaise — not Miracle Whip, mayonnaise
• ½ chipotle chile packed in adobo sauce or ½ chopped serrano chile — optional
OTHER NECESSARY INGREDIENTS
• 2 heads or 3 hearts of romaine lettuce
• 1 container sour cream
• ½ pound cheddar cheese
COOKING SEQUENCE AND PROCEDURE
1. PORK
Preheat oven to 250 degrees. Place pork in crock pot bowl. Add brown sugar and green chiles. Pour in enchilada sauce and Dr. Pepper. Put aluminum foil over bowl and cut 8–10 slits. Place in oven and cook for 5–6 hours.
Take bowl from oven. Remove pork to a cutting board under which you’ve placed two layers of paper towels. Place liquid into sauce pot, turn burner on high, and let boil while you pull the pork. Now, take two forks and pull the pork apart. Pull until the entire butt is reduced to a big pile of stringy pork. Remove unnecessary fat globs.
Place pork in liquid. Reduce until mixture is not runny. The pork is runny if you pull some out with a tong and you see a string of liquid coming dripping off. A few drops is okay, but no liquid strings.
Place pork in container and set aside.
* You can make the pork ahead. Pork placed in an air tight container will keep for 5–7 days in the fridge. If you do make ahead, remove pork and reheat it in a sauce pot before using.
2. Dressing
Husk the tomatillos and cut them in half. Roast them in a 350 degree oven for 40 minutes.
While tomatillos are roasting, place ranch packet in a food processor. Add buttermilk and mayonnaise. When tomatillos are roasted, place them in the processor and process until smooth.
If you want your dressing spicier, add ½ chipotle chile or ½ serrano chile before processing.
* You can make this ahead. Dressing stored in an airtight container will last 3–4 days, at a minimum. I wouldn’t make it anymore than a day ahead, however. You want the freshest taste possible.
4. Rice
Place rice in a strainer and clean with running water. Place in a medium non-stick pot with an oven proof lid. Add water and salt and zest. Place in a 350 degree oven for 25 minutes or until fluffy.
While rice is cooking, finely dice cilantro. Remove rice from oven and fluff it with a fork or spoon. Add cilantro and lime juice. Place in a bowl and cover with saran wrap. Set aside.
5. Guacamole
Cut avocados in half and core them. Remove the meat and place in a food processor. Mince garlic and add to food processor. Add lime juice and salt. Process.
Processing time depends on how chunky you want you guac. I like mine smooth, so I process until the mixture looks like butter. If you like your guac chunkier, then process for less time.
6. Salsa
Cut tomatoes in half. Remove seeds. Dice tomatoes into fairly small pieces and place them in a mixing bowl. Finely dice cilantro and place in bowl. Add olive oil, lime juice, and salt. Mix.
7. Beans
Dice onion. Place olive oil in sauce pot over medium high heat. Add onions and salt and sauté for 4– 6 minutes, or until translucent. Place beans in a strainer and clean with running water. Add beans to pot. Pour in chicken stock or broth. Turn heat to high and reduce until mixture is no longer soupy. Turn burner to low and let sit.
8. Tortillas
Place oil in a large pot over medium high heat. When oil has come to temperature introduce tortilla. Fry until first side is lightly brown. Flip tortilla and lightly brown the other side. Remove tortilla and place in a place lined with four layers of paper towels. Salt to taste. Repeat this process until you have fried each tortilla.
Take Tortillas two at a time and cube them — four lengthwise slices and four vertical slices works well. Store tortillas on a plate or in a bowl.
9. Other ingredients
Shred cheddar cheese and place in bowl. Chop romaine — ½ wide strips work well. Open sour cream.
All the cooking and prep is finished. Now it’s on to . . .
FINAL ASSEMBLY
Plating
Plate components as follows (portions are entirely up to you, but if you’re not a hog, this recipe feeds 4–6):
1. Tortillas
2. Pork
3. Rice
4. Beans
5. Cheese
6. Sour cream (on one side)
7. Gauc (on side opposite sour cream)
8. Salsa
9. Romaine
10. Dressing
INGREDIENT LISTS
ITEMS FOR EACH MAJOR COMPONENT
Pork
• 3.5 lbs pork shoulder (a.k.a. pork butt) — boneless is easiest
• 10 oz. can red enchilada sauce
• 8 oz. Dr. Pepper
• 1 ½ cups light brown sugar
• 1 can chopped green chiles
• 2 teaspoons salt
Salsa
• 8 plum tomatoes (a.k.a. roma tomatoes)
• 1 handful cilantro — buy 1 bunch, you’ll need it later as well
• Juice of ½ lime
• ½ tablespoon olive oil — if you don’t have olive oil, skip the oil
• Salt to taste
Guacamole
• 3 avocadoes
• 2 cloves garlic
• Juice of ½ lime
• Salt to taste
Tortillas
• 8 6 or 8-inch flour tortillas
• 2 ½ to 3 cups vegetable oil
• Salt to taste
Beans
• 2 cans black beans
• 1 onion
• 2 tablespoons olive oil — if you don’t have olive oil, use vegetable oil
• 1 can low sodium chicken stock or chicken broth
• Salt to taste
Rice
• 1 ½ cups long grain white rice
• 3 cups water
• Juice of 1 lime
• Zest of 1 lime
• 1 handful cilantro
• 1 ½ teaspoons salt
Dressing
• 1 Hidden Valley Ranch buttermilk packet
• 2 tomatillos
• 1 cup buttermilk
• 1 cup mayonnaise — not Miracle Whip, mayonnaise
• ½ chipotle chile packed in adobo sauce or ½ chopped serrano chile — optional
OTHER NECESSARY INGREDIENTS
• 2 heads or 3 hearts of romaine lettuce
• 1 container sour cream
• ½ pound cheddar cheese
COOKING SEQUENCE AND PROCEDURE
1. PORK
Preheat oven to 250 degrees. Place pork in crock pot bowl. Add brown sugar and green chiles. Pour in enchilada sauce and Dr. Pepper. Put aluminum foil over bowl and cut 8–10 slits. Place in oven and cook for 5–6 hours.
Take bowl from oven. Remove pork to a cutting board under which you’ve placed two layers of paper towels. Place liquid into sauce pot, turn burner on high, and let boil while you pull the pork. Now, take two forks and pull the pork apart. Pull until the entire butt is reduced to a big pile of stringy pork. Remove unnecessary fat globs.
Place pork in liquid. Reduce until mixture is not runny. The pork is runny if you pull some out with a tong and you see a string of liquid coming dripping off. A few drops is okay, but no liquid strings.
Place pork in container and set aside.
* You can make the pork ahead. Pork placed in an air tight container will keep for 5–7 days in the fridge. If you do make ahead, remove pork and reheat it in a sauce pot before using.
2. Dressing
Husk the tomatillos and cut them in half. Roast them in a 350 degree oven for 40 minutes.
While tomatillos are roasting, place ranch packet in a food processor. Add buttermilk and mayonnaise. When tomatillos are roasted, place them in the processor and process until smooth.
If you want your dressing spicier, add ½ chipotle chile or ½ serrano chile before processing.
* You can make this ahead. Dressing stored in an airtight container will last 3–4 days, at a minimum. I wouldn’t make it anymore than a day ahead, however. You want the freshest taste possible.
4. Rice
Place rice in a strainer and clean with running water. Place in a medium non-stick pot with an oven proof lid. Add water and salt and zest. Place in a 350 degree oven for 25 minutes or until fluffy.
While rice is cooking, finely dice cilantro. Remove rice from oven and fluff it with a fork or spoon. Add cilantro and lime juice. Place in a bowl and cover with saran wrap. Set aside.
5. Guacamole
Cut avocados in half and core them. Remove the meat and place in a food processor. Mince garlic and add to food processor. Add lime juice and salt. Process.
Processing time depends on how chunky you want you guac. I like mine smooth, so I process until the mixture looks like butter. If you like your guac chunkier, then process for less time.
6. Salsa
Cut tomatoes in half. Remove seeds. Dice tomatoes into fairly small pieces and place them in a mixing bowl. Finely dice cilantro and place in bowl. Add olive oil, lime juice, and salt. Mix.
7. Beans
Dice onion. Place olive oil in sauce pot over medium high heat. Add onions and salt and sauté for 4– 6 minutes, or until translucent. Place beans in a strainer and clean with running water. Add beans to pot. Pour in chicken stock or broth. Turn heat to high and reduce until mixture is no longer soupy. Turn burner to low and let sit.
8. Tortillas
Place oil in a large pot over medium high heat. When oil has come to temperature introduce tortilla. Fry until first side is lightly brown. Flip tortilla and lightly brown the other side. Remove tortilla and place in a place lined with four layers of paper towels. Salt to taste. Repeat this process until you have fried each tortilla.
Take Tortillas two at a time and cube them — four lengthwise slices and four vertical slices works well. Store tortillas on a plate or in a bowl.
9. Other ingredients
Shred cheddar cheese and place in bowl. Chop romaine — ½ wide strips work well. Open sour cream.
All the cooking and prep is finished. Now it’s on to . . .
FINAL ASSEMBLY
Plating
Plate components as follows (portions are entirely up to you, but if you’re not a hog, this recipe feeds 4–6):
1. Tortillas
2. Pork
3. Rice
4. Beans
5. Cheese
6. Sour cream (on one side)
7. Gauc (on side opposite sour cream)
8. Salsa
9. Romaine
10. Dressing
Saturday, May 17, 2008
Cake
I recently bought Cake's new album "B Sides and Rarities": a compilation of some of Cake's lesser known songs, some concert numbers, and a couple new songs ("War Pigs" most noticeable among them). While I enjoy the CD, although it's not as nuanced as "Comfort Eagle" or "Fashion Nugget," it smells like, well, crap, seriously. I opened up the CD and notice a terrible, almost fecal smell. At first, I thought it was coming from outside -- we do live in the land of smelly cow farms -- but no, it was the CD.
Wanting to discover whether my CD was an anomaly, I searched a reason for the stench. Turns out the CD cover is made of entirely recycled material, but that just necessitates the question: from what material is it recycled? I'm sure we all remember the recycled paper we used in school. Sure it wasn't quite as white as non-recycled paper, but it sure didn't smell like crap.
I've e-mailed Cake to see what they have to say. I'll let you know what they say, if anything.
Monday, May 12, 2008
My BYU Stud
I have to admit, I'm exceedingly stoked have a son. One of the reasons for this stokedness is I can dress him up in BYU apparel, and he looks dang good. Here's an example.
And that's just the hat. Here are a couple pictures of Elliot in his cougar onesie.
Note the BYU logo right on his bottom.
He even looks good when he sleeps: amazing.
And that's just the hat. Here are a couple pictures of Elliot in his cougar onesie.
Note the BYU logo right on his bottom.He even looks good when he sleeps: amazing.
Saturday, May 10, 2008
Café Rio Pork Recipe
When we went to BYU, Dem and I (along with 98% of Provoans) ate at Café Rio. My favorite meal was the pork salad, which is a beautiful amalgam of sweet shreeded pork, cilantro-lime rice, black beans, lettuce, salsa, etc. Anyway, in the years intervening graduation and now, we've longed for pork salad many times. Well, in order to assuage these longings, I've developed a, I might say, a pretty dang good Café Rio pork salad recipe. I'll post the entire recipe in later (it's somewhat long), but I'll post the sweet pork recipe below.
Sweet Pork Ingredients
• 3.5 lbs pork shoulder (a.k.a. pork butt) — boneless is easiest
• 10 oz. can red enchilada sauce
• 8 oz. Dr. Pepper
• 1 ½ cups light brown sugar
• 1 can chopped green chiles
• 2 teaspoons salt
Cooking Instructions
Preheat oven to 250 degrees. Place pork in crock pot bowl. Add brown sugar and green chiles. Pour in enchilada sauce and Dr. Pepper. Put aluminum foil over bowl and cut 8–10 slits. Place in oven and cook for 5–6 hours. (I prefer this to the crockpot method because the meat cooks more evenly.)
Take bowl from oven. Remove pork to a cutting board under which you’ve placed two layers of paper towels. Place liquid into sauce pot, turn burner on high, and let boil while you pull the pork. Now, take two forks and pull the pork apart. Pull until the entire butt is reduced to a big pile of stringy goodness. Remove unnecessary fat globs.
Place pork in liquid. Reduce until mixture is not runny. The pork is runny if you pull some out with a tong and you see a string of liquid coming dripping off. A few drops is okay, but no liquid strings.
Place pork in container and set aside.
* You can make the pork ahead. Pork placed in an air tight container will keep for 5–7 days in the fridge. If you do make ahead, remove pork and reheat it in a sauce pot before using.
Other Café Rio Recipe Links
1. Kalyn’s Kitchen
2. Tried & Trues
3. Grandmas Syrup
4. Pimp My Dinner
5. Hot out of the Oven
6. Recipe(tried)
7. Where Cooks Collide
8. Lauren Black
9. Menu Planning 101
10. Griffin Family
Sweet Pork Ingredients
• 3.5 lbs pork shoulder (a.k.a. pork butt) — boneless is easiest
• 10 oz. can red enchilada sauce
• 8 oz. Dr. Pepper
• 1 ½ cups light brown sugar
• 1 can chopped green chiles
• 2 teaspoons salt
Cooking Instructions
Preheat oven to 250 degrees. Place pork in crock pot bowl. Add brown sugar and green chiles. Pour in enchilada sauce and Dr. Pepper. Put aluminum foil over bowl and cut 8–10 slits. Place in oven and cook for 5–6 hours. (I prefer this to the crockpot method because the meat cooks more evenly.)
Take bowl from oven. Remove pork to a cutting board under which you’ve placed two layers of paper towels. Place liquid into sauce pot, turn burner on high, and let boil while you pull the pork. Now, take two forks and pull the pork apart. Pull until the entire butt is reduced to a big pile of stringy goodness. Remove unnecessary fat globs.
Place pork in liquid. Reduce until mixture is not runny. The pork is runny if you pull some out with a tong and you see a string of liquid coming dripping off. A few drops is okay, but no liquid strings.
Place pork in container and set aside.
* You can make the pork ahead. Pork placed in an air tight container will keep for 5–7 days in the fridge. If you do make ahead, remove pork and reheat it in a sauce pot before using.
Other Café Rio Recipe Links
1. Kalyn’s Kitchen
2. Tried & Trues
3. Grandmas Syrup
4. Pimp My Dinner
5. Hot out of the Oven
6. Recipe(tried)
7. Where Cooks Collide
8. Lauren Black
9. Menu Planning 101
10. Griffin Family
Thursday, May 8, 2008
Final Home Visit
We had our final home visit last night with our LDS Family Services case worker. While we knew all would go well, having an agent of the government come into your home and evaluate you and how you're raising your child is somewhat unnerving. In any case, it's nice to finally be done with the process. The next step is to finalize the adoption, which will take place sometime in June or July. After that, we'll be sealed in the temple and finally give Elliot his baby blessing. Can't wait.
Monday, May 5, 2008
Mildred Loving Memorial
Mildred Loving (of Loving v. Virginia fame) died last week.
Mrs. Loving fought courageously for the right to live as a married couple with her husband in their home state of Virginia -- and thankfully she won. Mrs. Loving deserves our admiration for waging a battle that overturned 400 years of American anti-miscegenation law. Interestingly, some have created a holiday to celebrate the Loving decision. It's called, appropriately enough, Loving Day, and it's celebrated annually around June 12.
Demaree and I are especially grateful to people like Mrs. Loving because she help make families like ours (i.e., transracial) socially acceptable. How great it is when people stand up for what they believe.
Demaree and I are especially grateful to people like Mrs. Loving because she help make families like ours (i.e., transracial) socially acceptable. How great it is when people stand up for what they believe.
Sunday, May 4, 2008
Grandma Brown's Funeral
We just returned from Joy Alice Brown's (my grandma) funeral in Red Mesa, Colorado. While we'll miss her, it was her time to go. She was over ninety and had been quite sick for a few months.
We were privileged to take part in grandma's funeral: Demaree sang "Abide with Me, 'Tis Eventide", and I gave a few remarks on resurrection (drawn from Alma 41:3-6, 13). Here are a picture of the graveside dedication.
On a lighter note, on the way back home, we found an interesting cafe in Crook, Colorado. This wasn't just any cafe; no, it was an "AFC."
Evidently, someone lost the "E," decided nobody would want to eat at a "CAF", so they transposed the letters and created an "AFC." Ah, small town Colorado.
We were privileged to take part in grandma's funeral: Demaree sang "Abide with Me, 'Tis Eventide", and I gave a few remarks on resurrection (drawn from Alma 41:3-6, 13). Here are a picture of the graveside dedication.
On a lighter note, on the way back home, we found an interesting cafe in Crook, Colorado. This wasn't just any cafe; no, it was an "AFC."
Evidently, someone lost the "E," decided nobody would want to eat at a "CAF", so they transposed the letters and created an "AFC." Ah, small town Colorado.
Elliot, Elliot, and more Elliot
We all know why you've come: to see Elliot. Well, here are a few photos to wet your appetite.
There will be more pictures to come.
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