New Family Addition

The following video shows a collection of photographs featuring the latest addition to our family. You will note that, unlike a traditional birth announcement, the slide show does not include the baby's name. This is due to indecision on the part of the boy's parents. As soon as we know, you will know (assuming you check this blog regularly, and further assuming we update it regularly).

Thanks to Dave for the inspiration for the slide show.

Porter Starts Kindergarten

I guess this is Porter's month.

He started kindergarten and absolutely loves it. There are only 10 students in his class, 3 boys and 7 girls. And his teacher is Mrs. Barker.

He gets to drive with daddy everyday.

Eliza was a little sad when he left, but she knows I will need her help with the new baby so she doesn't mind staying home with me.

Chocolate-Cinnamon Gelato

I tried a new recipe this weekend from Bon Appetit and thought I would share. It was a delicious chocolate-cinnamon gelato, a rich dark chocolate gelato with the perfect, little more than a hint of cinnamon. It was perfectly creamy and not too heavy like some homemade ice creams. It reminded me of Mexican hot chocolate, which I absolutely love. The addition of the toffee chips I would say is optional. It made the gelato a little too sweet and just added another flavor that detracted from the rich chocolate and fragrant cinnamon. Of course, I quadrupled the recipe and wouldn't recommend any less. Okay, maybe you can just double it for two of you.

We made it for a church chili and ice cream cook-off. It won first place (so what if there were no other ice cream entries, but maybe it would have won even with some competition).

ingredients

1/2 cup sugar
2 tablespoons cornstarch
1 1/4 teaspoons ground cinnamon
Pinch of salt
2 cups whole milk, divided
5 ounces bittersweet (not unsweetened) or semisweet chocolate, finely chopped

1/2 cup chilled heavy whipping cream

1/3 cup coarsely crushed toffee candy (such as Skor, Heath bar, or Almond Roca)

preparation

Whisk sugar, cornstarch, cinnamon, and salt in heavy medium saucepan until blended. Gradually add 1/4 cup milk, whisking until cornstarch is dissolved. Whisk in remaining 1 3/4 cups milk. Whisk over medium-high heat until mixture thickens and comes to boil, about 6 minutes. Reduce heat to medium and cook 1 minute longer, whisking occasionally. Remove from heat; add chocolate. Let stand 1 minute, then whisk until melted and smooth.

Transfer gelato base to medium bowl. Mix in cream. Place bowl over large bowl filled with ice and water and cool, stirring often, about 30 minutes.

Process gelato base in ice cream maker according to manufacturer's instructions, adding toffee during last minute of churning. Transfer to container; cover. Freeze at least 3 hours and up to 2 days.

Makes about 3 cups.

Porter Turns 5!!

Porter had a fun Pioneer Day birthday. He got to have two parties, one with grandmas and grandpa and one with his friends a few weeks later.

He wanted a pirate party with his friends so we did just that.

All the pirates coming to the party received shiny skull and cross bone bandannas and an eye patch.

They built ships and raced them in "Snake Swamp." Unfortunately, most of them sank before they made it across the swamp.




They all went on a treasure hunt around the neighborhood; past wolves, a rose garden harbor, a pit of doom, the end of the world, to name a few. You'd be surprised at all the landmarks around a construction friendly neighborhood.


The pirates had to walk the plank across swamp. They were pretty talented at keeping their balance.


Finally,they came in to enjoy a pirate cake and ruby punch.



The pirates all seemed to enjoy themselves. Although, I will say that five-year-old pirates are harder than three-year-old princesses.

Porter Learns to Ride a 2-Wheeler

I am way behind in my blogging, but I finally downloaded a bunch of photos and have a bit of time. So be prepared for some new blogs. I am going to try to get them in before the baby comes because who knows how much time I will have after the new arrival.

Porter recently turned 5 (July 24). Just after his birthday, he decided hey I am 5 and I can ride a two-wheeler. He went out and practiced on his own with his neighbor who wanted to use his bike with training wheels. I didn't even know he was out there trying it out. He told me later, so that evening we all went out so Tom could help him a bit more. He got on the bike, Tom gave him a push and away he went. It was pretty fun to watch.

The fun lasted until he fell and got a tiny cut on his hand and was handicapped from any further bike riding.

He has continued to progress and now rides his own bike, not Eliza's girly bike. He can start on his own, but only if the pedals are in the right spot. He still is nervous to ride down any sort of hill so that will be our next goal. And to teach Eliza to ride her tricycle.

Bryce Canyon

We recently took a small excursion to Bryce Canyon to camp and for Tom to run the Bryce Canyon Half-Marathon (Ruby's Inn to Cannonville). It was a fun escape from the heat of Hurricane.

We slept in a "Tipi" at Ruby's Inn Campground.

The kids and I enjoyed watching Grandpa and Brother Ballentyne finish the race (we missed Tom's fast finish because we were stuck behind the slow runners en route to the finish line).

After the race we went back to Cannonville for the Utah Old-Time Fiddlers jam session.Not only was the music old-time, so were 99 percent of the fiddlers.












The kids also enjoyed homemade root beer (only 50 cents) and bright blue cotton candy. Porter also had lots of fun on the playground, which has quite possibly the last surviving merry-go-round in the state. Porter could only play on it for about 5 minutes before we decided it was way too dangerous. We left the concert before it ended on account of the torrential downpour. But the concert continued long into the night.

On Sunday we enjoyed the scenes of Bryce Canyon via canyon shuttle and automobile. We were real tourists spending less than 3 hours total in the Park, stopping at various viewpoints along the way to snap a quick photo. Tom and I decided we definitely need to go back and do some real hiking down in the canyon.

Fourth of July

Here is a quick recap on our Fourth of July celebration:

We started the day enjoying the parade. Most of the parade entries threw candy to the children. Because there were no other kids sitting near us, Porter and Eliza came away with quite a candy stash.



After a lazy afternoon, we headed to Springdale to enjoy the best small town Fourth of July celebration in the nation, maybe even in the world. We enjoyed a barbecue provided by Chief Wright. Porter and Eliza played at the playground. Then we staked out our spot on the softball field to watch the fireworks.


The skydiver landed right next to us (Eliza was concerned that he was going to land on us - but he didn't).


We purchased glow sticks for Porter and Eliza. Then Tom's friend, Matt, bought three more and gave them to the children. We discovered a fun photographic trick using the glow sticks.










Porter's soon to be Kindergarten teacher (Becky Barker, as Porter informed us) sang the National Anthem. A nice dramatic touch was a solitary firework ignited as she sang the phrase, "...and the rockets' red glare, the bombs bursting in air..." After the singing, the fireworks began in earnest.


An errant spark from the first batch of fireworks ignited a small brush fire on the hillside. Fortunately, the Rockville/Springdale Fire Protection District was positioned around the firework area to contain the fire.


Due to the unusually dry conditions and heavy winds, the small fire quickly became a big blaze.



The fireworks show was cut short, and spectators asked to orderly and calmly leave the area. Interestingly, Porter and Eliza were terrified of the fireworks, but not at all of the raging blaze. All in all it was a fun and memorable Fourth of July.