rugby

Brady's favorite thing is Rugby. Nothing like a tackle to relieve a little stress, right? He couldn't dedicate enough time to play a whole season but he was able to play for about a month and loved it. Liam loved watching and playing at the games.

I almost enjoy looking at cookbooks as much as I love eating, almost. Brady and I have has always had an agreement that we were okay budgeting a little more for groceries each month and actually enjoy what we eat. I'll sacrifice new shoes or clothes, but I absolutely need good, fresh food. My cooking has come a very long way in the past 4 years and I'm learning more each week and with every recipe I devour.
Here are a few tips-

My Favorite Grocery Items:

1)Really good, non-iodized salt. It's much less bitter, has a smoother taste and improves pretty much any food.

2)Chipotle peppers- We always have some of these around (freeze extras). They're canned smoked peppers. It makes any type of Mexican dish come alive with a rich. Mmmm so earthy.

3)Avacados- Guacamole is great for more than chips.

4)Fresh ginger root- Keep some in the freezer. Any Thai or Asian- inspired food tastes better with a little freshly grated.

5)Good quality salsa- for a dollar extra a can you can get flavor packed salsa that you'll enjoy with every bite. It's so versatile that the change will reward you over and over breakfast, lunch and dinner.(Newmans's Own brand is one of our favs.)

6)Ghiradelli's brownie mix- Wow. Who woulda thought something so impressive and luxurious could come from a box. Definitely better than any dessert I make from scratch. In fact when we went to Russia I left a box of these for our Russian host with the note "This is the best food America has to offer."

7)Good salad toppings- Lets face it- most salads are a chore to eat. The key to good salads is adding some good tasting, deliberately placed, fats and protein, with out adding too many calories. Our favorites: roasted nuts, avocado with sparse amounts of flavorful cheese (bleu, Parmesan, Havarti, feta...) and copious amounts of sweet accents (craisins, black berries, strawberries, peaches, mandarin oranges fall apples) Oh, and don't forget the grilled chicken. Mmmmm.

Brady's 100 Mile Family Bike Race

My husband always impresses me. He rode a 100 mile bike race the same day he got back from Russia. The start time was at 12:00 am Midnight, Moscow time. I could not believe it. While he was biking 100 miles at a strenuous pace, I was totally jet-lagged, lethargic, eating frozen pizzas and watching TV re-runs... not to mention the fact that my flight time was 4 hours shorter.


The coolest thing about this bike ride was that it was with his dad and brother in law Jake(one of Liam's all time favorite people.) (How many guys can say they go on 100 mile bike rides with their dads!- that's awesome.) The course was hilly but the momentum of riding with a group, and his family, seemed to make things go faster. The next day he was barely sore at all.

Oh and the toast is a little "holy water" brought back from the Motherland. Russians are very superstitious and perhaps a little bit of extra luck helped balance the sleep deprivation.

It's not the first time I've thought my husband was super-human, and I'm sure won't be the last.

Liam's vacation at Nana and Papa's

Liam got to go to Utah while we were in Russia. He called it "My Russia," and had a ball. These pictures were stolen from Brady's mom and sister. They both have a great eye for capturing the moment and its nice to have photographers in the family. Liam has been home a week and keeps saying "I want to go back to Nana's house" and we can't blame him a bit. It melts my heart to see how he adores his grandparents and always prays for his aunts and uncles.

Love in Moscow, Russia

We had an AMAZING time in Russia. Moscow is incredibly beautiful and spectacularly interesting. The city center has a surprisingly European charm with its colorful domed cathedrals, 19th century architecture, and cobble stoned roads. Infused with all its splendor is a distinctively Russian strangeness and the expected post communist creepiness. It’s a great place to people watch- people seem to do and say whatever they want without inhibitions. The first few nights we stayed in an amzaingly nice apartment right down town, a block away from Red Square. The location was incredible. We had a great visit with Brady's aunt, uncle and cousin the Meservy's chatting, eating good food, playing games and conseqeuntly depriving them of sleep. Our time was romantic, fun, exciting, and extremely entertaining.

St. Basil's- the most famous Russian Cathedral, in Red Square. It is absolutely stunning. Almost worth going to Moscow just to see this Cathedral.

Babushkas hard at work selling empty spaghetti sauce jars, used tennis balls, gerbals, flowers from their cottages,hand made hats, anything they can think of.

Brady trying on Russian hats at the market

There are a surplus of Russian police lounging around everywhere ready to blow their whistle at you for running across a busy street, taking pictures in metro stations, (they are supposedly bomb shelters and supposed to be off limits to pictures) or supposedly illegally selling old communist souveniers Don't Russians know- women can't pee standing up!

Metro luxury. Stalin wanted the metro stations to be a palace for the workers so they are all pretty fancy lookin'. They're decorated with chandeliers, lofty ceilings, and lots of communist mosiacs.
This babushka kept feeding the pigeons and everyone was getting mad because they were swarming over peoples heads.
One of these things is not like the other. These guys are everywhere. This guys seems pretty benign but most of them look scary and dare I say, kinda evil looking.

The market. Watch out or you will be run over by a cart or chased by a wild dog. On Saturdays they have a live bear here on display. Pretty crazy.

The door of a church at the Kremlin. A few of the Russian rulers built churches in hope that if they lived in a sanctuary that their enemies wouldn't dare storm the church and kill them at night. Sometimes it worked, sometimes it didn't.

The old Moscow State University of Red Square.
Old town Moscow by the River. I was really expecting to see more ugly, gray concrete. Nope. The center of the city is very historically preserved, clean and colorful.


Lenin's Tomb. Lenin died in 1924 and his enbalmed body is still floating in formaldehyde on public display. Gross-yes. Creepy- definitely! Many Russians believe that it is not his real body or that it has been replaced by wax. The exeperience of seeing him is unique. You wait in line to go into this black marble, dimly lit building- black floors, walls, and ceiling. There are stern guards in unifrom everywhere. (Brady got yelled at for having his hands in his pockets and talking.) The body is surrounded by red lights to add extra spooky commi. effect. Stalin used to be on display too but once he was publicly denounced for crimes against the people, he was buried. In Soviet times, Russians used to come from everwhere to see him, now there is serious talk of finally burying him.
It is tradition that when couples are married in Moscow they come to this bridge and lock a padlock on these trees, symbolizing commitment.

The only time I will probably ever be able to buy flowers from a port-a-potty. Usually the first outhouse is kinda turned into a little outhouse cave/office. Not does it just suck to pay to pee, they for some reason remove the toilet seats. Maybe to prevent people from taking their time.
Here we are waiting to eat very delicious lamb Shashliki(skewered meat.) Probably our favorite thing we ate there (besides our aunt Shaura's curry). Most Americans would have a hard time stomaching much Russian food because it is bland and greasy but there were some foods we loved there. Our favorites include Russian ice cream (it's way better there,) blini(crepes,) cearok (cheesecake candy bars,) and kabob tacos. About 10 minutes after this picture was taken a rat was chewing on a broom right where this picture was taken.

In Moscow you can't get away from Lenin. His face is everywhere along with hammer and sickles, and depictions of robust field workers carrying weapons. Even though communism is gone its propaganda is still very much part of the Moscow scenery.

Russian women are overly trendy, kinda late 90s-ish. They wear tall spikey heels, and lots of bold, shiny, metalic colors. In the states these nails would be reserved for halloween, in Russia they are perfect for a night on the town.
This picture was taken at a fine Russian restaurant named "Pushkin." It's named after their most famous poet and has an 1800's Russia theme. Waiters wear traditional Russian clothing and the restaurant itself used to be the mansion of a wealthy aristocrat.

The Kremlin

A Day in Paris

I spent Friday afternoon in Paris. I saw the Eifel tower and walked around downtown and ate at a cafe and was happy to close my trip with a new adventure. Maybe it's because I just had been wowed by Moscow, but Paris to me seemed entirely over rated and definately not worth a flight out of the United States. Correct me if I'm wrong

I was expecting to be greeted by a city just oozing with culture and romance. I was expecting to have a "I can't believe this is happening to me" feeling as I meandered around the city. It was a let down. Maybe I just didn't go to the right places or commit enough time.

The Eifel tower wasn't accented with lush gardens and fountains like I had pictured in my mind. Instead, it's actually wedged between a freeway and a dying field of grass. The highly anticipated french pastery was overpriced and grocery store quality. Maybe next time I'll come with my husband and then it will be the Paris of my dreams.

Liam's pumpkins are finally ripe. They spontaneously grew in our compost covered flower bed and Liam has been keeping daily tabs on them. He'd say "Nope... still baby pumpkins" which developed into "dey're gettin' berry orange".

Funny story. So our neighbor has a tree with orange berry clumps which Liam likes to pick and use to bomb things with (the neighbors cat, the neighbor, his toys..) I said "Liam those aren't your berries honey. Come back" His smarty pants response- "But mom are they YOUR berries?"

While I was thinking of a response, he moved right along to "Mom, just go... umm...chop some begetables, okay?."

Ha! "Chop some vegetables?" :) First of all that's funny that according to my 2 year old, that's what I do with my spare time and second, I thought kids weren't supposed to be smart with their parents like this for at least a few more years.

The Importance of Exercise Buddies

Mint City 10 Miler- Our running group.

So this summer I have run significantly less but enjoyed running significantly more. I'm down to running just 3 days a week but have sped up quite a bit. The difference? Running with a running group.

Two days a week we get together and run while our kids all play together. It's amazing how more more enjoyable it is to exercise, and how much harder you can push yourself when you are working out with friends.

Our ages span from 25-51. The group is a happy, uplifting bunch. It's been fun making friends with people I wouldn't normally have gotten to know. In the group we have a certified Master Gardener, a home mortgage consultant, interior design guru, an HR rep, pastry chef, dental hygienist, city treasurer, and fitness trainer. It makes for interesting discussions. Having the extra encouragement and entertainment makes a world of difference.