Random Happenings

As you can see from the numerous posts I have a bit of free time right now. We spent all morning at a CC function and then the grocery store and library. Info meetings and such always drain the boys and me. Tegan and Conner are now huddled on the bed downstairs reading (Tegan insisted on checking out a book at the library as he thought Conner would love it so he's reading it out loud to him right now - Conner must love it because they've been reading for over an hour). Riley really wanted to play Scrabble. So, to make it easier on my back we play online on FB, each of us on a different computer and he logs into Andy's account (this probably hurts Andy's stats a little, but it's a great way to do it since I can lie on my bed). It's a wonderful rainy day for these activities and I get a chance to catch up online while waiting for Riley to complete his turn in Scrabble.

Conner finally lost another tooth. He lost one over a year ago and then had a second one pulled. Since then he's been anxiously awaiting the loss of another tooth. It finally happened and I keep praying he'll lose the other top one soon, but it probably won't happen. I love when both the front teeth are missing at the same time. It's so cute!

 

Bread baking has been quite the fiasco at this altitude. After 4 failed tries I finally got a batch to work out so then I got a bit over confident and decided to try a sourdough recipe that I've been itching to try for over a year. It took a week to make the sourdough starter and it didn't quite work the way the recipe said it would, but I decided to go ahead with the bread baking anyway. I mixed the dough and got it in the pans for the rising. This rising was supposed to take 4 to 12 hours which worked out good for the day I had planned. I figured the time would be on the shorter end because of the altitude so I left for a few errands but returned after it had only been rising for 1 hour and 45 minutes. I found the dough spilling out onto the counter and spreading quickly so I tried to gently tuck it back into the three different pans and get it into the oven before it could rise anymore. Ten minutes into the one hour baking time I smelled something burning. I opened the oven door to find my very own, secret bread cave complete with stalagtites and stalagmites stretching from each pan, through the oven racks and down to the floor of the oven. I just shut the door and let the bread finish baking. The loaves turned out okay, but there was sure a mess to clean up afterward. Unfortunately, I didn't take a picture before I removed the bread, but here's a small example of what I was dealing with. I haven't made bread since.

 

Mimmy joined us on a short hike in Eldorado Canyon. It was a fairly hot day so the freezing creek felt good to everyone, even Kemah. This canyon is known for it's rock climbing walls and we got to see some amazing climbs in progress. It brought back fun memories of when I used to climb these same walls. The boys could hardly believe that. We also found a great cave to explore along the way.

 

My back continues to be a problem and unfortunately our summer seems to revolve around various appointments made in an effort to heal my back. Yesterday I had an MRI as I begin down the track towards surgery. However, as I wait for the various appointments to get me to surgery I am still exploring the chiropractic route in hopes that the pain will be gone by the time the surgery day arrives. No success yet, but I continue to hope.