Cinnamon Roll Recipe

Today was Kansas Day, and Kansas Day always makes Kristina think about her family back in Kansas.  Cooking is a very strong bond in Kristina's family -- originating with her maternal Grandmother and continuing with both she and her brother.  Well, one of the yummiest things her Grandmother used to make them children was homemade cinnamon rolls.  That being said, Kristina is always on the lookout for a new recipe; her brother George always believes he has perfected the recipe.  Kristina found a new recipe and while the dough turned out spectacular; the frosting was just okay.  Here's a look at her latest creating...

Cinnamon Rolls with Maple Frosting

The recipe made a ton of rolls, so Jared took the "extra" to work.  Everyone seemed to love them.  Kristina plans on making them again, but with a different frosting.  We'll keep you posted! 

Jared's Birthday Dinner...in January?

Some of you reading this might be thinking, "Jared's birthday isn't until February".  Well, it is also incredibly close to Valentine's Day, and each year, we have two really nice dinners within a week of each other.  That being said, Kristina asked Jared what he thought about moving his birthday dinner into mid-January to "spread out the good dinners".  He thought that sounded like fantastic idea, so Kristina made it happen.  On Saturday, we went out for 

Jared's Birthday Dinner.  It was just the two of us, and it was a very nice evening.  The restaurant has two "signature desserts" that they do table-side:  bananas foster and cherries jubilee.  Since it was Jared's celebration, he got to choose and it was bananas foster!  Yum!

We are SO over the SNOW!

We are sooooooo over the snow (even though Indy is enjoying the snow in the following picture).  It started snowing on Saturday, January 14th, and it basically did not stop snowing until Friday, January 20th.  Some of you reading this might be thinking, "What's the big deal -- it is just a little snow.".  Well, as far as we can tell, we had over SIXTEEN inches of snow at our house. Combine the amount of snow we received with the narrow, curvy, hilly roads in Woodinville, and you are pretty much stuck at home -- unless you have a 4-wheel drive vehicle -- with chains or studded tires!  Let's just say it a good thing that Kristina is a master at creating a stockpile of groceries, AND we now have FOUR chains for each of the tires on the Titan!

Here's a snowy picture of the Tolt Pipleine Trail behind our house:

Here's another snowy picture of the Tolt Pipleine Trail behind our house:

Here's a snowy picture of the back of our house from the Tolt Pipleine Trail:

Snow Day!

Well, it is Tuesday, and it is still snowing.  When we woke up this morning, it was raining, so we thought the snow was "over" and it wouldn't be long before it all melted.  In between the time we got up to go to work and when we left for work, the weather was quite different.  The snow had started again.

We both headed off to work without really thinking much about it, other than be careful and watch out for the other crazy drivers.  However, after arriving to work, it was apparent that it was going to snow and it meant business.  It snowed for 3 hours straight this morning -- around lunch time, we both had decided that we had enough and we were going to head towards home.  Some of you are probably thinking, "Head home after a little snow?".  Around here if you don't leave when you have the opportunity, you may not make it home (seriously).  Since it doesn't snow in the Seattle area frequently (or at least that is what they tell us), the city and state do not have enough resources to take care of the roads when it does snow.  Needless to say, the roads become quite dangerous since there are so many hills and curves.  Hence the "heading home" approach.

When it finally stopped we had at least another two inches at our house, and we were both glad we left when we did.  Jared had a tougher time than Kristina since he encountered a sideways bus, but he managed to navigate through the maze and get home unscathed.  Thank goodness for those snow chains on the Maxima!

Up close shot of the chains!

Snowy birdhouse -- and we bought the "disc" to protect the birds from the rain!

Snowy tree branch

Needless to say, all of the schools were out of school today -- SNOW DAY!  We were happy to see the kids, adults, and dogs enjoying the trail behind our house.  Everyone was having a great time sledding.  It brings back memories, huh?

The other direction on the trail -- doesn't it look serene?

The front of the house

Winter (and Snow) Continues!

Winter continues for us, and the snow too.  While it seemed to take a while for the snow to start, it looks like it has started and is going to be with us for a while (to say the very least).  So yesterday was our first day of snow; we both didn't think it would turn out to be much and that it would probably all melt today.  However, we were quite wrong.  It snowed another 4" at our house and accumulated.  It was a wet snow (perfect for snowballs and snowmen).  We didn't venture out into it too much, except to take a walk with Indy and to clean off the walkways (to keep from packing it down).  It is very pretty as long as you don't have to drive in it.

Snow coming down in the backyard!

A look "down" on the Tolt Pipeline Trail 

Indy showing us her preference for snow.  We shoveled off part of the deck so that should didn't have to be in the snow, and this is where she chooses to rest!  What a goofy animal! 

It is a good thing that tomorrow is Martin Luther King Day -- this way, we have a day to "recover" before the masses have to get back out into the snow and drive in order to get some where.

2012 -- A Winter Day

Happy 2012!

It has been a much needed quiet start to the new year for the Edmonson-Harp Residence.  We went back to work on January 3rd and since that time we have been busy with work and life in general; Jared's workload seems to have picked up a little bit and Kristina's workload remains high.  So, by the time the weekends come around, we are definitely ready for them.

We haven't been doing a whole lot outdoors; the weather has been drier than usual, but colder than usual as well.  Of course, this is nothing to complain about considering that last year we were pretty "socked in" with moisture all fall, winter, and spring.  However, since the weather isn't ideal, we have taken this opportunity to work on the inside of the house.  The main goal of January has been to re-organize the mudroom -- yes, in Washington, you need a mudroom.  Pictures of the newly updated mudroom will come later after its completion...so stay tuned for a future blog.

This morning we woke up to rain falling outside and squirrels frolicking in the backyard.  It was also pretty chilly -- mid 30's -- and it looked like it was going to be a day of rain.  However, the rain never deters the squirrels and they provide quite the entertainment for Indy.

A squirrel checking out the new treat we put out for them to munch on and keep them entertained!

Some of our "other" squirrels searching for morsels on the ground.

Indy in the family room watching the squirrels through the windows.

Note:  She does this several time a day and EVERY day.

More acrobatics for a treat!

Here's a squirrel eating upside down -- how do they do that?

Anyway, as the day progressed, the weather changed more than we thought it would as well.  Within 2 hours, we went from raining to snowing.  It literally happened like a flip of a switch!  All of the pictures on this blog post were taken on the same day and fairly close to each other in time.  And look at the difference...

Indy decided to move to the deck to watch the squirrel action.

A close-up of a very snowy dog back!

The snow doesn't deter the squirrels either!

A wintry shot through the trees in the backyard!

Our Beloved Logan -- the end of an era

The end of 2011 didn't turn out to be quite what we had expected...

Logan hadn't been feeling well for a couple of weeks – we thought he had a virus, so we switched to a bland diet and took it easy for a few days.  He seemed to recover, so we thought all was good and that he had just gotten into something that he shouldn't have gotten into, or he had a virus and it was running its course through his system.

On Thursday evening though, he started acting oddly again, so Jared took him to our vet on 12/23, and she checked him out.  She thought that he was probably fine, but took blood to be sure (her diagnosis without seeing the blood work results was just a virus).  Well that evening his blood work results came back and they weren't good on many different levels, so that night we rushed to the ER vet for further diagnosis (our vet thought he might be crashing that night).  The ER took some x-rays and found some weirdness in his abdomen that they couldn't explain.  They needed to do an ultrasound, but that doctor wouldn't be available until 12/24. 

We opted to take Logan home that night and then we brought him back at 6am on 12/24 (he was acting fine and looked more annoyed that we were dragging him all around town).  When the doctor came in, she did the ultrasound and found at least 3 large masses in his abdomen.  The diagnosis was that he had cancer.  They asked us if we wanted to put him down and we said definitely no (as we said, he had been acting okay, eating okay, and even playing with Indy).

He had a magnificent Christmas – tons of ENERGY and more “play” in him than we have seen in quite some time.  We also enjoyed a great day with him on the day after (12/26).  However, things started going downhill that night though, and on Tuesday he was more lethargic and had less energy.  He still managed to go on out into the backyard to explore and sniff around the trees.  Wednesday came and he was about the same that morning, and even managed to make a short walk down the trail out back, but then started to tumble downwards through the afternoon and evening.  By that night Logan could barely walk and he was breathing hard while simply trying to rest.  We sat with him for a while and wondered what he wanted us to do.  It is such a horrible situation, hold the life of such a beautiful animal in your hands.  We felt that he was no longer the Logan that made him happy with barely being able to stand and losing all of his appetite.  He also seemed to be uncomfortable.  So on December 28, at around 11:30pm, we took Logan to the Emergency Vet and he took his final nap.

Logan gave us a lot over the years.  He taught us patience, gave us joy and unconditional love, and only a single instance of sorrow.  We will miss him greatly.

Happy Logan on Christmas Day