Christmas Tree time

Is this tree the one?






These are the 2009 Christmas Trees for the Dunlap homes. Our little tree is behind the car as we tried to figure out how to keep the gigantic tree to stay put. The snow angels were freezing, although the gloves kept coming off...Just a few scary moments driving in the ice.All in all a good
trip...Thanks to Grandma A for joining us!

colbys christmas list

hey everyone this is Colby. I cant wait to see all of you during Christmas and hopefully sooner. I put my wish list up and ill paste the link at the bottom of the page. Footballs been pretty fun and now Basketball has started back up. Love you all and see you soon. (:

http://www.amazon.com/registry/wishlist/3L0J421KB9CXD?reveal=unpurchased&filter=all&sort=date-added&layout=standard&x=17&y=10

My Morning

I haven’t posted in a long while but I thought I’d take the time to wish everyone a happy thanksgiving tomorrow. Justin and I will be thinking of all of you and wishing you a safe travels and happy eating.

I wanted to share what I saw on my way to work this morning! Spartacus (aka my awesome new bike) and I took a ride to work this morning. We were treated to the most spectacular views of Mt. Hood and Mt. St. Helens at sunrise. I pulled over and took a few photos. Days like today make me feel lucky to live in Oregon (I know, no one thought I would EVER say that, right?!?!).

This last one is supposed to be St. Helens but the iPhone camera isn't the best for long distance shots.

On my other blog, I'm hosting a virtual turkey trot tomorrow. Essentially, it's motivation to get out and exercise before eating lots of yummy food because you'll know several other people from across the country will also be trotting along too. I'm posting the "race bib" below and I encourage everyone to get outside even just for a walk around the block. Enjoy family and nature (wow, that really made me sound like a hippy-dippy tree-hugging Oregonian...uh-oh...where is the mall? I need a dose of reality.)

HAPPY THANKSGIVING

Black Bean and Pumpkin Soup

Another week another tasty meal. This week I made some Twice Baked Potatoes, Angel Biscuits (the main difference between them and run-of-the-mill biscuits being that they have yeast in them), and the star of the week, Black Bean and Pumpkin Soup. It was all great, but the soup has to be one of my favorite of all time. The flavors worked so well together and was even better the next day. The only major change I made was adding a dollop of crème fraîche. I would make the other two recipes again as well.



We had a fun weekend entertaining Jon, my college roommate, who came up in part to cheer on his little sister Debrah who was in Eugene running for the Cal cross country team.

The weather has fully made the turn to autumn/winter here and we are getting used to the cold, drissling, very short days. Sigh... At least that all makes it a great setting for staying indoors and making more yummy soups!

Epilogue: The power just went out and the noise of something big falling over could be heard in the distance. The wintry weather is manifesting itself as some serious gusting wind right now. Good thing I am using the netbook (on battery and not plugged into the wall).

Wonders never cease! It works again!

I apologize, Justin, for jumping in so soon after your new blog. But posting it worked for me and I am afraid it might not next time I try! This is Zoe waiting for her treat for not begging a few weeks ago in Paradise! Her eyes tell their own story, however!
Brianna opening her birthday gifts from Justin and Alisa - I don't remember what was so funny. Alisa had run a half marathon in the women's event in SF that day. Go Alisa!
This photo is for Thain - with thanks as our grass is really lush and green and has no more brown spots!
Aiden decided that spiders for dinner (thanks, Jen!) might not be such a bad idea after all.
Aiden and Brianna rode the Plasmacar until one of the wheels self-destructed. Hope we can find new ones!
Just a picture to show Nate that he has competition in the cherry consumption department! Colby's JV football team, with lots of great playing by Colby, beat mighty Enterprise in their final game Friday night.

Recipe of the Week (Month? Year? One off?)

First: Happy Birthday Jen!

Second: Hi there, how are you doing?

Third: I made a cool lasagna last week. It was pretty great and had an unusual (and quite seasonal) ingredient: squash! I felt like I should share. The consistency is very much what would be expected of a lasagna, but the flavor is quite different and unique. Mom may be surprised at its source too, Martha Stewart. Actually, I heard about it from a blog I follow The Kitchn (sic). Click on the link on Martha for the recipe.

Here are a couple of entirely unappetizing images of it that will not convince you to make it (it looked quite good in person thank you):


I paired it with my beets and blue cheese dish.

Finally (fourth for those playing along): We have taught Zoey a few new tricks lately, the most useful of which is "begging". Why teach a dog to beg? Well, because this way she does it in the least offensive way possible. Here she is in action:

Now she lies down whenever either one of us is eating anything and is rewarded with a few small treats for her effort.

Happy Halloween

I hope you all had a Happy Halloween! I posted our pictures on adventures of the blaine gang blog page if you want to check them out. There's an ultrasound picture of Bronco, and costume pictures of all of us. You can see my growing tummy too.

Hey John and Cris, and Jeremy and Kathryn, PLEASE post wish lists. I need your help. Thanks! Love to all, Jen