The Big Day Finally Arrived

Calvin with Grandpa and Grandma Barrett
Here he is with Grandpa and Grandma Clarke
Our family

Calvin was baptized this past Saturday. It was a beautiful day and he loved it. We had lots of family and even some friends come to share our special day. I asked Calvin how he felt after his baptism and he said, "I feel like I've done everything right." What a cute guy! We had my brother's baby blessing on Sunday, so we had to choose between going to the blessing and attending our ward where Calvin would get sustained as a new member, sit on the stand, and bear his testimony. When I asked him which he would prefer, he said, "I'll do either." Then a minute later he said, "But if I go to our ward, I'd get to be a REAL member of the church that much sooner." You guessed it--we stayed at our home ward. We're proud of you Calvin. Aren't kids what the journey is all about?

Tomatoes!!!!

I have an awesome new favorite! Slow roasted tomatoes! Oh! My! Goodness! This is a totally easy and delicious way to process those fresh tomatoes from your garden. I got 4 ice-cream buckets full from my parents last week and knew exactly what to do with them--see I don't actually LOVE plain tomatoes. I've tried over and over in my lifetime because my Dad has always grown them and they look delicious, but I've always sort of gagged on them. I do love a good bruschetta, caprese salad (with lots of balsamic) or salsa, etc--but not usually straight-up. Anyway...If I were you, I would do this with your tomatoes!

Oven Roasted Tomatoes

Cut tomatoes in half and place cut side down on large cookie sheet that has been covered with:

1 Tb Olive Oil
2 T dried Italian Seasoning
1 T coarse salt
1 T fennel seed (a must!)
fresh ground pepper
unpeeled garlic cloves (my recipe calls for this, but I just add garlic to the sauce when I use it)

Rub the cut side of the tomato in the "paste" and pack in pan tightly--I do it tight so I can fit as many as possible on a pan. Cook on convection bake 225 F for 4 hours or until tomatoes are soft and skin pulls right off. I drain some of the juice off the tomatoes when I am packing them up in a ziploc tupperware. You can use this for pizza sauce--YUMMY, lasagne sauce, on a pasta, etc. We just had it for dinner at our house last night! Loving the journey!

Dishwasher Miracle!

A couple of weeks ago Jeff and I returned home from our date to hear, "Oh, did I tell you that our dishwasher won't close?" What? "Yeah, Calvin was hanging on the door and now it won't close." Seriously? So upon closer inspection, our dishwasher door wouldn't stay closed, which means it wouldn't turn on and stay on unless someone held it closed--and I don't know anyone who wants to do that. We decided our hinges are probably bent, and after trying to "unbend" them we decided we should call a repairman. I called Doyle's and they sent out a really nice guy, Dennis, to take a look. After a few minutes he determined that the hinges were bent. He tried to "unbend" them too, and then decided we needed new hinges. Guess how much EACH hinge costs? About $70. So when Dennis told me how much the service call + the hinges + the labor added up to($250), I swallowed hard and tried to fight back tears as I bravely said, "Kids are expensive."
He came back a week later, long enough for my kids to learn some really good dishwashing skills and realized he had two left hinges. He apologized and we realized the kids would get another week to really hone those skills--LUCKY!
A couple days later... Lauren calls me from home while the rest of us are watching Alli play soccer and says, "Did someone fix our dishwasher? The door is staying closed now." What? Yup! The door now miraculously stays closed and runs normally! Now I'm kicking myself for calling in a repairman so quickly, thinking we'll probably have to still pay for everything! But when I called Dennis he said he'll just cancel the order. What? Seriously? Are you sure? Yup--A Bonfied Dishwasher Miracle!