First Day of PJC and driving range

Today was Michael's first day as a full time college student. He took some classes his senior year, and took a Summer 1 class, so he has 18 hours going into this semester. He didn't have his first class until 11:15 today, so this is the only picture I got of him. He growled at me, so I figured the pic was good enough. I can't believe he is in college now!

After supper, everyone decided to go to the driving range to hit some golf balls to de-stress.

Courtney working on her swing

A picture of Court at her Regional tournament this past May

Court posing

Michael at his Regional tournament in May

Lining it up

Meatball Kabobs

We have had a pretty quite Saturday. I have been trying to catch up on laundry today - I didn't realize how much Court actually helped with that this summer. We went and looked at 2 houses today, and made an offer on one - so hopefully that will work out for us. I made meatball kabobs for supper tonight, and thought I would share the recipe. They are really EASY to make:

Ingredients:

1 bag of frozen fully cooked meatballs (thawed)

1 Red pepper, cut into 1-inch squares

1 Green pepper, cut into 1-inch squares

1 Yellow pepper, cut into 1-inch squares

1 Orange pepper, cut into 1-inch squares

1 onion

1/2 cup Apricot jam

1/2 Barbecue Sauce (Sweet Baby Ray's is our favorite)

cut peppers and onions into 1 inch pieces

Grab one of your kids who is complaining that they are starving, and put them to work threading the meatballs, peppers and onions


Microwave Jam in small microwaveable bowl on HIGH for 20 sec. Stir in barbecue sauce, brush half ont kabobs.





Grill 8 to 10min or until meatballs are heated through, turning occasionally and brushing with remaining jam mixture the last 2 min.

I served with a green salad and grilled potatoes and onions.

Pulley visit

Several weeks ago some good friends, who moved to Michigan about 3 years ago, came home to Texas for a visit. James, Patricia, Nicholas and Chase were in the area for several days and we enjoyed getting to see them. It was the first time that we have seen Chase in person (he just turned a year old) and for some reason, I did not get a picture of him or Patricia. And only one picture of James and Nicholas turned out - the rest were blurry or dark. Chase is such a cute little baby and he looks just like I remember Nicholas when he was a baby. And Nicholas has grown SO much since the last time we had seen him. And wow, is he very knowledgeable about dinosaurs! Earl and Lenita cooked fish and several of us went over there to eat and visit with the Pulley's before they had to leave. We really hope they can move back home soon!

Nicholas was shy at first....but with the mention of dinosaurs he came alive!

Baby Caleb was there. He is SO CUTE!!

When we went outside we saw this beautiful rainbow
Hailey & Courtney went for a paddle boat ride

Courtney & Michael riding the Mule

The baby elk

Courtney & Hailey with Abby

Not sure, but it looks like the fish is telling Michael to put him back in the water

Thanks Earl & Lenita for having us over! We had a great time!

Pork Tenderloin

When I was thinking about starting this blog up, I thought about what I would post on it. Then one night as I was flipping through the TV channels, I saw that "Julia and Julia" was on. I went to the theaters to watch this movie when it came out, and really enjoyed it. So tonight I will do like Julia did on the movie, and post a recipe. This recipe is one of my family's favorites and is requested on a regular basis. I got this recipe off of Paula Deen's website. It's easy and SO good!!!

Marinade:

1/2 cup soy sauce

2 oranges, juices ( I used clementines)

1 lime, juiced

1/2 cup tamarind (I have no idea what this is, and have never been able to find any - so I just skip it)

1 tablespoon Dijon mustard

1 teaspoon ground ginger

1 clove garlic, crushed

1 tablespoon chopped scallions

1 pork tenderloin

Olive oil, for brushing

Combine marinade ingredients in measuring cup and stir to combine. Place the pork tenderloin in a large bowl and pour marinade over the tenderloin. Cover tightly. Marinate overnight in the refrigerator.

Preheat outdoor grill or oven to 350 degrees F.



Remove pork tenderloin from marinade and pat dry. Brush olive oil onto grill and over meat for extra flavor. Reserve marinade. Grill tenderloin until cooked through, about 30 minutes to 40 minutes over medium heat. Or roast in oven for 35 to 45 minutes. Allow meat to rest about 10 minutes before cutting into 2-inch serving pieces.

While meat is grilling, bring reserved marinade to a boil in a small saucepan, then lower the heat and gently simmer until it is reduced to about 2 tablespoons. Stir occasionally. Drizzle a small amount of marinade over each piece of meat.

I forgot to take a picture of this after I took it out of the oven. I usually serve with mashed potatoes, corn and a green salad. It would also be good over rice and with some steamed vegetables.

Summer Youth Series

This summer, our church youth group has participated in a "Summer Youth Series" which has been held on Monday nights throughout the summer at different congregations in the area. Tonight was the last series for this summer, and it was held in Blodgett, which is between Mt. Vernon and Mt. Pleasant. The kids have been having so much fun spending time together and with Lanny and Amy who they dearly love. Tonight the topic was "Fact or Myth: 'Culture - God is allowed in School?" The visiting minister did an excellent job and everyone there really enjoyed the sermon.

Michael ended up having to work late, so rather than hold up the church van, we just drove down there in our own vehicle as soon as he and Rod got off of work. We made if from Paris to Blodgett in 51 minutes driving way to fast. We were only 1 minute late.

Courtney, Hailey and Michael on way to Blodgett

There were 17 from Blossom that attended. Here are some of the vip's:

A couple of weeks ago, the series was held in Talco. This is a picture from that night.


Another picture from the Talco series. Amy getting something out of JoJo's hair.


There were about 20 from our church that went to Talco
The following pictures are from the series that was held in Blossom. I am still trying to figure blogger out, so these are in reverse order.

Thes kids hanging out after the meal. I love how all get along and love hanging out with one another.

Waiting in line for tacos

I can't remember the exact number, but I think we had close to 180 in attendance

The Summer Youth Series has been a great success, and I am a little sad that it is ending. What am I going to do on Monday nights now?? Oh yeah, Monday night football will be starting in a couple of weeks. Is it weird that I am a girl and I like to watch football as much as my husband?

Cowboy Stadium

This past Saturday Rod had the day off, so we went over to Dallas to tour the new Cowboy Stadium and to eat. The stadium was so awesome! Here we all standing on the star in the middle of the field.

Rod and Michael taking it all in

Michael and Courtney getting ready to tackle each other. Alot like it is at home.

The screens are HUGE! And it looks like it would be very easy for the punter to hit them.

Rod and Michael getting ready to enter the cheerleader locker room

Standing next to my locker :)

Courtney striking a pose

This is taken in the middle of the cowboys locker room

This is in the Cowboys media room. The kids had fun acting like they were talking to the media.

So much fun, that Rod wanted to join in on the action. He was a little more serious with the make believe reporters.

The final stop on the tour

After we left the stadium, we went to Carrabba's and ate some great Italian food. It was tax free weekend in Texas, so all the malls and shoppings centers were super busy. Luckily, we had already bought all the new school clothes we needed. All Court really needed was a new pair of tennis shoes, and we found those in Paris when we got home.