"New" Friends, Tasty Dinners, Valentine's Day and Some Bottled Hamburger
February 11th - February 16th, 2008

HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO MY SISTER LAURA ON FEBRUARY 11th, AND TO MY WONDERFUL FRIEND BROOKE BURBANK ON FEBRUARY 13th!!!! I LOVE YOU BOTH!!!

Before I get into the pictures, I want to say first that my sister Laura called me early in the morning on her birthday, February 11th. She asked me to come and pick her up because she had food poisoning and couldn't drive over to my house! She had been up the entire night throwing up and doing other unpleasant bathroom things! She spent the entire day and into the evening over at my place, puking her guts out! I felt so bad for her! She wound up having to go to the emergency room for dehydration TWICE over the next few days. So we don't have any pictures of her on her birthday, and for good reason! So we'll have to wait until we can have a real birthday party for her. I LOVE YOU LAURA!!!

So on February 12th, Brian and I decided to go over to Brian's parents' house in Springville to watch American Idol. Yes, we love to watch it. We're not obsessed, but we really do enjoy the show, especially when we watch it with other people! When we got there, we were happy to see some extended family there. Tyler and Michelle Thornstrom (I think they're 2nd cousins once removed or something) were there with their two kids. Our cousin Mellie was also there. Mellie brought her kettle corn maker, and I have to tell you, it was the best popcorn I've ever had! So from left to right in the picture above is Tyler, Mellie, Robert and Michelle.

Here are Tyler and Michelle's two kids Brynn and Todd. They are SO CUTE! Brynn is very interactive and talkative. And Todd loves to look you straight in the eyes and make you fall in love with him. I couldn't get enough of the two of them, especially because they both have the cutest curly hair. It reminded me of my sister Lindsey when she was a toddler with her curly locks.

Vaughn, being the shy kid he is, took a while to warm up to his new friends. He played it solo for a while, and spazzed on some toy he found. He practiced making it wiggle back and forth really fast, and did a pretty good job of it!

I think I took this picture of Jared because he was eating a really funny sandwich. But now I can't remember what kind of sandwich it was! But aside from that, Jared looks really great, doesn't he?

Brian got on the computer for a little while to check out prices on arcades and parts he needed for restoration. I thought he looked really cute concentrating like he was. And nice shirt babe! (He recently got it on a steal of a deal...only $2.50 I think!) We had a really fun night with Tyler, Michelle, Mellie and the kids, and we couldn't wait until we could hang out with them again!

The next evening, Wednesday the 13th, we went back over to Brian's parents' house to watch the second night of American Idol. Since it is easier to cook for more people, I brought over some homemade chicken noodle soup for dinner. (If you wonder why I post pictures of us eating together, it's because I do it for Brian's mother! She likes to know that her kids are well-fed and get together often. She and Dad Higginson are out on seminars for a while, so they keep up with things by checking out our blog. We love you Mom and Dad!!!) By the way, did you notice Vaughn smiling? What a nut!

Here's a picture of the soup. And yes, those are homemade noodles too! And no, I didn't raise the chickens, although my next-door neighbor does! Now there's a thought!

After dinner that evening, Vaughn was in a really good mood, and decided to show off by doing some gymnastics. He loves to do the back bend when being held by his uncles, so naturally when Jared picked him up, he went right into it! Vaughn is no feather-weight, so Jared was dying by the time I got the camera out and was able to take this shot!

Robert took one look at Vaughn and got in line to be next to hold him. There is just something about holding that "little" kid that makes your heart melt. As you can see on Robert's face, his heart was already in the melting process!

The next day was of course, Valentine's Day! Robert was SO NICE to watch Vaughn for us while Brian and I went out to dinner. It was great to get away for a little while. And we realized, we hadn't been on a genuine "just us" date for MONTHS! We went out to a place called Fuddruckers. (Be careful when pronouncing that one!) We really enjoyed our meals, even though Brian looks a little like he's upset in the picture above. Just so you know, Brian has a natural frown to his face, so if he isn't smiling really hard, it looks like he's frowning. He really did have a good time!

And here I am VERY happy to finally have my DELICIOUS chicken sandwich! I was SO hungry! I had a really fun time just talking with Brian. You know, he is one of the funniest people I've ever met. And being on a date with him where it was just me and him talking, without the distraction of kids or other responsibilities, really reminded me all over again of why I married him. He had me laughing pretty much the whole night. Brian is my best friend. He has a fun personality, great humor and he's quite to looker too! I love you babe!!!

The next day, February 15th, Vaughn was extra tired from having such a fun-filled night with his Uncle Bob. So he decided to get cozy very quickly during nap time. To both of our amazement, Ivan crawled up on the bed next to Vaughn and went to sleep next to him! Vaughn very slowly, so as not to disturb his companion, lowered his head and tried to lie down next to Ivan.

Once he was next to Ivan, Vaughn kept very still for several minutes, just to make sure Ivan wasn't going to move. He kept his eyes open the whole time, which was so cute!

Then finally, convinced that his friend wasn't going to move, Vaughn relaxed and let a smile creep across his face. And then he and Ivan both fell asleep and took a cute "cat nap" together!
ADORABLE!!!

The next day Vaughn was in great spirits because he'd had such a wonderful nap with Ivan. I was also in good spirits because I was bottling again! Yes, I decided to bottle some more hamburger to make sure we had some before the baby was born. We were down to only 4 pints, and I didn't want to try to bottle after the baby was born. So we began the day with me preparing by washing the pint jars. Vaughn was more than happy to help, since he loves to wash dishes (which really means playing in the sink!)

He just kept on smiling! What a nut! He stuck with me until every last bottle was clean, and I was ready to start cooking the hamburger! (PS, I look really big because I am! I'm pregnant!)

So to explain what I do when bottling hamburger.... I take 10-pound tubes of hamburger meat and break them up into pans where I make sure to cook the meat through. In the meantime I have a mixture of beef broth on the back burner heating up to use as the liquid in the bottles. Once the meat is cooked through, I heat up the bottles and lids, fill the bottles with meat and liquid, take out air bubbles, secure the lids and rings on, and then process them in a pressure-canner for 75 minutes. That sound pretty easy, but it's a lot of work!!! I spaced my bottling out over two days, Saturday the 16th and then Monday the 18th.

I was able to bottle 70 pounds of hamburger meat, and I got 77 pints out of it! (36 pints on Saturday and 41 pints on Monday). Pretty cool, huh? This wasn't all for our family. I also was bottling some of the meat for my good friend Melvin Kuhni and his wife Barbara. The meat turned out great, and I was glad to finally have the bottling done! So there's my first canning experience for this year!

Love, Lisa