The Fish Bowl

This ONES for you Steve!!!

2009-07-16T04:55:00.000-07:00

FINALLY, my #1 Blog Fan will be excited to see that I have FINALLY posted pictures from our very fun Long Barn 4th of July Weekend! We had a great weekend with my entire family!

A definite highlight to our weekend was the Twain Hart 4th of July Parade. Uncle Steve entered his jeep into the parade for the first time and made sure he had the cutest FLAG WAVERS ride with him.

Tyler got to ride with Uncle Steve from Long Barn down to Twain Hart. What a fun experience for Tyler!!! This Jeep is extra special because it is from Steve's Grandpa. Then Steve in honor of my Grandpa painted his WW2 numbers on the front of the jeep.

"Bird hunting" first thing in the morning....

Lots and lots of swimming

On our way to the parade we went to a Pancake Breakfast at Miwuk's Firehouse.

4th of July Night - We head to Pinecrest Lake to watch the animated movie UP at their outdoor theater.

FISHING WITH THE FISH HEADS!
We love fishing at the Twain Hart Ditch. Everyone was able to catch at least ONE fish this time!

The funny story about fishing this year - Uncle Steve sent out an email saying to bring POWER BAIT, SALMON EGGS and WHITE GRUBS for bait. About 1/2 throught our Fishing Adventure I realize that our Uncle Steve isn't using any of that bait - he brought SPINNERS! No wonder he was catching so many fish. I guess the pressure is really on to catch the 1st fish and the most fish when you are a Fish and Game Warden!!!

CLEANING AND GUTTING THE FISH...
Uncle Steve is a really good teacher. Two summers ago he taught Tyler how to Clean and Gut fish for the Fishing merit badge he was earning for Scouting. Now Jake is earning his Fishing Merit Badge and it is his turn to learn how to Clean and Gut a fish (I should say, he's been a pro at chopping off their heads for years)!

Fish Fry and Dutch Oven Cooking in the Marino Family Cabin!!!
Another part of the Fishing Merit Badge is cooking the fish you caught. Thanks to Aunt E for teaching Jake FISH FRYING techniques!

Tyler's Dutch Oven BBQ Chicken...

Devin's Dutch Oven Potatoes (well, really Tyler and I did all the CHOPPING for this)!

Michael's YUMMY Peach Cobbler....

Cousins eating smores...

I love SWIM TEAM!

2009-07-15T04:07:00.000-07:00

For years, our school friends have been trying to talk us into join our neighborhood SWIM TEAM. I thought they were CRAZY! Who wants a busy schedule over summer and have every Saturday busy with a LONG swim meet (7:45am - 2:00pm). I finally caved in this year. Emily really wanted to do it cause all her good girlfriends have been on the team for 2 years. I never hear of swimmers breaking any BONES so I told Jake he needed to give it a try. So by default, Tyler got to do it too - heck, we were already going to be there so why not have him do it too!

I know this might be hard to believe (even for me) but I NEVER got a picture of ALL 3 FISH HEADS TOGETHER!!! The below picture is from their first ever Swim Meet in June. Tyler was at a Scout Campout. One of Emily's favorite things to do is write all over herself (and her friends) using SHARPIE MARKERS!

Jake practices are from 7:30am - 8:45am 5x's a week.
Emily from 9:30am - 10:30am
Tyler from 10:45am - 12noon 3x's a week because he has Water Polo 4x's a week.

I have to say - this has been the BEST summer ever! My kids have not said they are BORED (well, I take that back. Emily said it I'M BORED once but it was a Sunday - the only day of the week she isn't swimming laps). We should have done swim team years ago. It is so much fun and such a healthy sport. I can't believe how many laps they swim during practice....wow! And swim team consists of the nicest kids and families!

Emily and all her school best friends. Swim team for Emily was a SOCIAL EVENT!!! We barely saw her during the Swim Meets - she was always playing with all her girlfriends and their little sisters!

The REAL reason why the boys liked Swim Team - The Mister Softie ice cream truck!

Emily posing with Grandpa after she won 1st place in her heat for Breatstroke.

Tyler doing the backstroke.

Emily and her girlfriends cheering on Jake!!!!

Jake winning 1st place for Breastroke.

Jake told me to post this picture of his NICEEEEEE bottom!

Here's Emily (pink cap) doing the BUTTERFLY. This is the hardest stroke to learn.

Here is Emily getting read for her free style heat. Her coach kneeling down next to her with the orange shoes is Brian Tucker. If you can believe it, Brian and I have been friends since High School.

Emily won 1st in her heat for free style.

Here's Emily getting ready for the backstroke. I love watching her do the backstroke cause she SMILES the whole way across the pool!

Fun times with Judy, Dave and Rhyen!

2009-06-22T08:29:00.000-07:00

[Shopping with Grandma Judy. She bought them each a webkinz and matching flip flops for the girls]

[Last day of school. Rhyen got to Emily's last 10 minutes of class where they were celebrating Emily's birthday.]

[A fun day in San Francisco's Chinatown]

[I never thought I'd see the day with DAVE on a LAP TOP - I guess Devin has rubbed off on his Dad]

[Cousin Rhyen with her 2 BIG cousins]

[Jake was hoping to be TALLER than his Grandpa Dave while wearing his football gear!]

[Dance Party]

Emily's Baptism

2009-06-22T07:49:00.001-07:00

This month has been a busy one. I feel like my children are growing up too fast these days. When they were little I used to think "if only" they were out of diapers, or could sleep through the night, or ride a bike, etc. Now I'm wanting to FREEZE them at the stages they are right now! Emily got baptized on her 8th birthday (June 6th). It seemed to take Tyler FOREVER before he turned 8. And it is the opposite with Emily - it seems just like yesterday she was a toddler and now she is baptized and going into 3rd grade.

[The Alfano Clan]

[Emily with her grandma and grandpa]

[Emily with her Tooele grandparents and cousin Rhyen]

[GIRL COUSINS! We were soooo excited that Rhyen was able to come to Emily's baptism. We had fun with her]

[We love our Alfano cousins]

[The Alfano family]

[The "B girls" as Emily calls them]

[Super special friends]

[Emily with the Myer girls]

[Emily and Olivia]

After Emily's Baptism we headed to Livermore to play bocce ball. That was a lot of fun.

It' Official! There's a DON living in MY home!

2009-06-22T07:14:00.000-07:00

Those are hard words for a FALCON to say but it is true! Tyler just graduated from 8th grade and is now going to be FRESHMAN at Amador! Wow! After his 8th grade promotion we went to Hana Japan for dinner with grandma, grandpa, Uncle Michael and Cousin Joey! It was fun and extra special for me because we went to that same restaurant after my 8th grade promotion.

And JAKE is now a 6th Grader in Middle School!

Here is Jake on the last day of school with two of his buddies!

And Emily is a 3rd Grader! Watch out - there's a 3rd grade silly girl in our home!

Memorial Day Weekend Fun!

2009-06-22T06:32:00.000-07:00

Celebrating Memorial Day with our Veteran! As Emily recently said, "I'm so glad Mondo is still alive!" And I agree with her! Mondo turns any day into a special day! Here are Jake and Mondo (our two blondies) eager to dig into a cherry cheesecake!

Memorial Day Weekend fun at the Marino Ranch!!! This is paradise for my THREE Fisher Boys and we girls didn't think it was that bad either! Steve (and all his parent's amazing properties) are such a FUN addition to our family!

Easter Vacation Fun!

2009-05-09T15:35:00.000-07:00

We surprised the Fish Heads with an overnight trip to Windsor during Spring Break (thanks to Chad and Becky for their timeshare)! We were only gone for 2 days but it seemed much longer (in a good way). Just the perfect little get away. We had a scavenger hunt for them to discover that we were going on a road trip.

Here's a few of our favorite spots we discovered:

BODAGA BAY:

Sea anemones...Jake has always been our "discoverer." And since he had just gone on his 5th Grade trip to Pigeon Point he was quite knowledgeable on these creatures.

STINSON BEACH:

MUIR BEACH:
Old military bunkers.

IN SEARCH OF A PINK HOME:
To distract Emily through the curvy/windy roads of Highway 1 - we told her to keep her eye open for a pink house. We had no idea that a PINK and WHITE building even existed on our trip. You can only imagine how thrilled she was to come across this Emily Perfect Building!

MUIR WOODS:
Hiking, really "walking" through the Muir Woods. We realized we hadn't taken Emily there since she was a baby. We really should go here more often - such an easy hike for the family to do together.

Easter Sunday

2009-05-09T15:30:00.000-07:00

I finally had a LIGHT BULB moment - well, maybe it was finally coming up with a way to JUSTIFY ALWAYS making sure Emily gets a new Easter Dress with all the Fisher Boys complaining about! I mean, hello, every girl should get a new EASTER DRESS each year...right? So, why not include the boys in on the new wardrobe too. I bought them each a new tie and white sunday dress shirt. Hee hee hee - there was no complaining this year that THEIR SISTER got more items in their EASTER BASKET! I'm sooo smart!

Happy Easter!

2009-05-03T21:01:00.000-07:00

My Aunt Marie and Uncle Al found a box of handmade painted Chicks that my grandpa had made decades ago. In honor of their Great Grandpa Joe - Marie and Al put a $5 bill in each beak and presented it to the little cousins. That was a super sweet thing to do and a great flashback memory for me. My grandpa was known for giving these chicks to everyone (he'd even leave his tip in it's beak at restaurants for the waitress).

Cousin Justin "carving" the ham....hee, hee, hee.

Mondo anxiously awaiting his Easter Dinner.

Every little kid LOVES big Tyler!

Grandma entertaining Luke!

Baby Jackson and me!!!

Lukey-Luke...

Matty-moo...

Chick Races - THE OLDER 20-30 year old cousins vs THE YOUNGIN's....

Hula Hoop Contest....

Happy St. Patrick's Day 2009

2009-03-18T09:51:00.001-07:00

We had Grandma, Grandpa and Uncle Mondo over for our annual GREEN dinner. Everyone had a great time and survived the HYPER, CRAZY 3 Fish Heads trying to dance the night away!

Check out FISH FOOD for other St. Patrick Day activities we did.

SNOW much fun!

2009-02-20T08:34:00.000-08:00

For Valentine's Weekend (and President's Day Weekend) we took off to my brother-in-law's family cabin! We wanted a SNOW weekend and that is exactly what we got! We literally had to hike in to the cabin with all our gear through 2 feet of fresh powder (untouched, beautiful white and clean snow)! Uncle Steve brought his snow shoes and made a "path" for us. Jake however wanted to make his own path.

The cabin to the left is NOT ours. So we had to hike up past that cabin another 30-40 yards? So fun for the kids!

THANK HEAVENS for THREE Pack Mules (Devin, Tyler and Jake)!

Snowball fights!!! BTW - everyone should own a couple of these snowball makers! They work great and are snow much fun!

Sledding!!!

Me and my Fish Heads!!!

You can't tell but the below picture was taken at 7:00am! Tyler (the boss) and Jake (the real hard worker) would fill up the sled 2x's each morning to get wood and start the fire! Good job boys!

Our spray bottle didn't want to work. So this was all we could make for our Valentine Heart. (Add a couple drops of food coloring to water in a spray bottle) and have fun painting in the snow!

Trying to head out! We had over a foot of snow fall during the night. We were 20 feet to the paved road - and got stuck!

Come check out FISH FOOD

2009-02-13T08:27:00.000-08:00

I've started another blog called FISH FOOD. It is still a work in progress but thought I should post what I have done already - who knows - it might never get 100% finished.

FISH FOOD has some of my Fish Head's favorite recipes and traditions. I have learned over the years that FAMILY, FRIENDS and FOOD equals FUN.

Enjoy!

What's for dinner?

2009-02-13T08:22:00.000-08:00

February 8th - 14th

Sunday: Cold Cereal

Monday: Tyler's BBQing Hamburgers!

Tuesday: Scrambled Eggs with Ham

Wednesday: Pancakes (chocolate chip or blueberry)

Thursday: Cheesy Potato Soup with Ham & Swiss Grilled Cheese Sandwiches

Friday: Heart shaped pizzas

Saturday: Valoy's Taco Soup

My new favorite find!!!

2009-02-11T08:21:00.000-08:00

My mom bought these hooks and I was a little skeptical at first. But THEY TOTALLY WORK! Man, I wish I had these about 7 years ago - my walls are filled with large holes from all the picture frames I have hanging up.

You don't even need a hammer to use these. Just push and twist them in. They are really sturdy and amazingly, it really does hold. And my FAVORITE part - it only leaves a tiny hole behind (like the size of a push pin)!!!!

Jake is ELEVEN

2009-02-05T08:42:00.000-08:00

Last week, Jake turned ELEVEN!!!!

Emily and I surprised Jake and a Birthday Bowl of Cereal!!! Man, I should have been doing this for years! What an easy thing to do to make their birthday morning seem extra special on a school day.

Jake's primary teacher (Sarah Gasper) brought over this birthday cookie for Jake. Jake was so thrilled and truly enjoyed EATING it (he even shared some of it).

Jake LOVED his money bag from his Tooele grandparents.

Tyler didn't have school on Jake's birthday - I know, not fair! So Tyler brought Jake lunch at school.

We even put in those party paper blowers and he and his friends LOVED them!

It was a great day (birthday party at Super Frank's and two of Jake's cousins were in town - Joey and Matty to help celebrate)!

The Birthday group....

Cousins -- Matty and Emily

Jake and Alex teaming up against Devin

Cousins - Tyler and Matty

Cousin Joey

Birthday Ice Cream at Ice Creamery

2009-02-05T08:30:00.000-08:00

January Fun at the park with family!!!

2009-02-05T08:20:00.000-08:00

Thanks Aunt Nic for doing Emily's hair in under 2 minutes!

Luke LOVES Uncle Devin - especially when Uncle Devin pushed him all over the park on a scooter.

Football game with Uncle Michael...

Rock Climbing with the 11-year Scouts!

2009-02-05T08:10:00.000-08:00

What's for dinner?

2009-02-02T16:53:00.000-08:00

February 1st - 7th

Sunday: Super Bowl Dinner
Buffalo Wings, Steak Bites, Cheese and Olive Bread

Monday: Breakfast for Dinner
Scrambled Eggs and Chorizo

Tuesday: Chicken Cordon Bleu Casserole

Wednesday: Mac-n-cheese (from a box)!

Thursday: National NUTELLA Day
Crepes with Nutella, strawberries, bananas and whip cream

Friday: Kim Miller's Yummy Crockpot Chicken

Saturday:

Last week's dinner menu for
January 25th - 31st was:

Sunday: Taco Salad (at our church's Linger Longer)

Monday: Jake's Birthday (and party)

Tuesday: Cousin Matty's Birthday (more pizza)!

Wednesday: Becky's mom Taco Soup
served over Frito Chips

Thursday: Left overs

Friday: Chicken Parmigena

Saturday: Out for Chinese
to celebrate Chinese New Year

got dinner?

2009-01-21T17:25:00.000-08:00

I'm going to start reposting my weekly dinner menus. It saves me a lot of time each week when I have planned our dinners ahead of time.

I'm also doing something new this year. I want my children to know a little something and/or remember their great-grandparents who have passed on. So on each of these special great grandparents birthday week we will make one of their favorite meals or memorable meals and talk about that ancestor. So far in January, we've already celebrated Devin's grandma England by making her famous Hash and Chocolate Chip Cookies. And this week was my Grandpa Reeve's birthday who was definitely known for his blueberry pancakes!

January 18th - 24th

Sunday: Pineapple & Cheese Enchiladas made by Devin!
We had "pineapple and cheese" enchiladas on our first date in Park City at Utah Coal & Lumber.

Monday: Taco Night
Devin made homemade carnitas with homemade chips! Delish!

Tuesday: All American Dinner
OBAMA burgers, BUSH baked beans, red and blue fruit kabobs and homemade cherry pie

Wednesday: Blueberry Pancakes & bacon
(In honor of my Grandpa Reeve's birthday. He used to always make us Blueberry pancakes when he came to visit).

Thursday: Roast & roasted potatoes

Friday:

Saturday:

got dinner?

2009-01-21T17:19:00.000-08:00

January 11th - 17th

Sunday: Kim's Crockpot Chicken & Grandma England's Chocolate Chip Cookies (made by Tyler)

Monday: SOUP NIGHT
Potato, Corn Chowder

Tuesday: Scrambled eggs and bacon

Wednesday: Roast and baked potatoes

Thursday: Leftovers

Friday: Grandma England's Hash -- made by Devin
(In memory of Grandma England's birthday week)

Saturday: Out to dinner with Grandpa Joe

What's for dinner?

2009-01-10T09:15:00.000-08:00

Sunday: Kalua Pork and rice

Monday: SOUP NIGHT
Split Pea Soup with ham

Tuesday: Meatloaf, baked potatoes & corn

Wednesday: Pizza (birthday party)

Thursday: Egg Salad Sandwiches

Friday: Top Round Roast with roasted potatoes and salad

Saturday: Date night (I hope)!

Ringing in 2009....

2009-01-07T07:49:00.000-08:00

We went bowling on New Year's Eve this year. It was a SUPER fun time for all of us friends.

The Girvans, the Fishers and the Highfills....

Emily LOVED hanging/bowling/dancing with the BIG GIRLS! She was is GIRL HEAVEN!

Purple boots

2008-12-30T11:28:00.000-08:00

One reason why I LOVE having a daughter - PURPLE BOOTS!

Emily and all her accessories pose for a quick picture before she leaves to go to work with Dad for the day - Is The Gap ready for Emily?

Chinatown SF

2008-12-30T11:03:00.001-08:00

Every Christmas we take BART into SF. It is a fun tradition with started with my Dad years ago. We take the kids on BART while Devin works a half day and then he comes and picks us up. This year Devin took Emily with him to work so it was just me, Grandpa, Tyler and Jake on BART - easy!

Tyler and Jake stock up on their favorite firework stuff....

Jake bought Emily a chinese fan - she loves it!

We stopped by Macy's to check out their store windows (Emily was DONE taking pictures - can't you tell?)

We actually hit two Dim Sum places yesterday. The first one was new to us. It was too "American" for our liking - white table clothes and too touristy. But it was fun that they brought carts of Dim Sum to your table and you just picked and choosed. And it was going to be way to expensive to fill up my guys on the "smaller" serving sizes.

So we ordered a few things to try and then headed to our favorite Dim Sum place....

Our last stop of the day....BEARD PAPA for cream puffs! Yummy!