Peppers, Peppers and more Peppers !!!

Sometimes I laugh because we really are so Italian. A perfect treat to us is not as much cookies and cakes but some crusty warm Italian bread, olives, sharp, blue, and hot pepper cheeses, carbonata, sun dried tomatoes, fried sweet and hot peppers, and dried Italian sausage. Oh what a meal that makes. But one kind of hot peppers we love are the long red hot peppers. We ( Frank of course ) take them and string them up by the stems and hang them to dry. After they dry, we then fry them (which makes them crispy) very quickly in very hot oil which we have added whole garlic to. Add lots of salt and let me tell you they are so delicious by themselves, or on a sandwich. Here are some pictures of the stringing process.

Dom's Future Profession........

Tonight was Dominic's open school night at his vocational school. The teacher talked for a little while, then let whatever kids that came along with their parents put on a demonstration of what they have learned so far. I have to say I was so impressed !!! Dominic was the director. He sat in the control room and through his head set talked to the camera men, (other students), to tell them for example, to pan left or right, or to tilt the camera up or down and also told the technical director which cameras to switch to. One TV screen in the room, showed the 2 people they were recording, Dominic would say " camera 2, take 2 " then the other TV screen would switch to show only one of the people they were recording, and Dom would keep switching back and forth between cameras. It was so cool !!! On December 19, they are going on a trip to the Judge Judy show to see how a real show is done, and the students will be the only ones in the Galley. So the teacher said we will see them on TV when it airs. The teacher said Dominic is doing great and she can tell he likes this course and really wants to learn. Just what I wanted to hear !!!

Dom's B-Day Dinner.....

Well the dinner turned out great, I can say that because Frank did most of it !!! We made inside out pizza's, 1 with beef, 1 pepperoni, 1 hot sausage, and 1 with sweet sausage. They were delicious. But first we had a lot of different cheeses , Italian bread, at least 5 different kinds of olives, and hot peppers, a real Italian appetizer! Then we had the pizza's, the chicken Fettuccine Alfredo, salad and crusty Italian bread. Then for dessert we had strawberry short cake, biscotti's, and fresh fruit. We are all STUFFED !





































This turned out great !!

Happy Birthday Dominic !!














Wow, you do look 16 !

Today is Dominic's Day......

Happy 16th Birthday Dominic !!! Even though we already celebrated Dominic's birthday along with Franky's on 10/12 with a really fun party at the church, I can never let any one's birthday go unnoticed. So we are having a nice dinner, and a cake of course, I always let them decide what they want for dinner, so, let me know what you want Dominic....














Dominic thought it over awhile and asked for "Fettuccine Alfredo with grilled chicken"!
Great choice Dom... I can't wait to make it and eat it!!
Happy Birthday, Baby!!!

Happy Birthday......

Yesterday was Franky's 15th Birthday 10/12, but we celebrated Dominic's 16th Birthday too! His Birthday is 10/18. So for these next 6 days, Frank and Dominic are the same age, 15 !! Anyway we had the best party for them at church last night. Most everyone came, we did miss, Billy, Chris B. ,Tim, Rob and Jonathan S. We had a lot of food, dessert, fellowship, and the most fun of all playing 4 square. Andrew and Thomas introduced the boys to this fast paced fun game. I was telling Brother John, I don't know of any other place, that we could have a party and not really plan anything to do, but just because of the people who were there have the BEST time ever. Everyone is so friendly, so polite, and just so much fun to be around. The party started around 5 pm, and the last ones left at around 11:30pm !! Thank you everyone for a great time.

Most of this food went !!













Just getting started...




While we were eating, Josh Johnston said, " I don't think the boys were ever this quiet" Thanks Josh, I'll take that as a compliment !!








How cute !!












Even Cheryl joined in the fun of 4 square !!





Happy Birthday to you........




















Thanks for the gifts everyone !!!

Silver Dollar Plants...

It's so hard to believe these plants go from green plants with purple flowers, to ugly dead plant, then when you clean them up they turn into this interesting dried addition to your dried flower arrangement. I like them.

I had to remove the protective coating that is on each side of the " silver coin " and remove the seeds. I got about 1/4 cup of seeds.














I was doing this outside, the stems are so light they kept blowing away.

It's hard to see but these are a shimmering silver .

Family Camp 2007....

What a great time we all had at L.I.B. Family Camp 2007 ! It was an " all around experience " from preaching, to all kinds of activities, LOTS of great food, fellowship, and some relaxing. The Roseland Ranch Resort was really the perfect place to give it all to us. The staff was just as nice as the experience. A great big THANK YOU needs to go out to Pastor Graf, and Cheryl. What a beautiful week you both put together. The smiles on every ones faces told the same story, you could tell everyone had a great week.





So much food !!!













Watch out everyone, the army's in town !!













The kids were great.













Guess Who??
















I love this picture.










One of the highlights of the week.














They're ready for battle !!












Relaxing with friends, always a great time.












Constant activities, I was tired just watching everyone !!
I have about 200 more pictures, but I think you all get the point. I'm sure everyone will agree...
" We can't wait till next year !! "