Cheap, cheap, cheap

We got our chickens. We had been wanting fresh (and not store bought eggs) for some time, and broke down this last month and ordered 9 chickens. I built a chicken coop (kids helped me paint it red) and plan on building a fence over the next couple of weeks to keep the predators out and our chickens safe.

ViviAnne and I had set the alarm for 5:15 this morning, but had drifted back to sleep, when we got a call on the home phone from the post office that our baby chicks had arrived. We quickly went down stairs and had breakfast before sun up and I drove into town to pick them up. ViviAnne set up the brooder box in the basement bathroom while I was getting them. At the post office I was presented with a chirping box, which I needed to sign for and then headed back home.

Once home we all opened up the box and scooped our chicks into our brooder box and turned on our heat light. They are really cute and after 15 minutes or so they started to warm up and look around for food and water (which they found). I am pretty excited to go home tonight and play with them a little.

Can't wait to have a real egg and not the store bought variety.

First Time Skiing

It is the day after Christmas and ViviAnne and I took Kayleen, Katie, Darcy and Liam skiing at Schweitzer Mountain. It was Kayleen, Katie and Darcy's first time skiing. Ever. They had a blast. Each of them mastered the bunny hill and wanted to continue skiing even after the sun had long sense set and the slopes where dark and cold.

I love skiing with new skiers. They do some of the funniest stuff. For instance: Liam forgot to get off the ski lift and ended up jumping off. Katie and Kayleen both dropped a ski pole (which I had to go get). For the first run of the day, Kayleen just starts skiing and ends up going all the way down the hill without crashing (until the end) and going as fast as she can because she doesn't know how to stop.

Liam is fearless, he has only been skiing a couple of times, but has already started trying to go off jumps in the terrain park along side the bunny hill run. He is doing fantastic, by the way, and can ride the ski lift by himself too. Plus he likes to ski through the little trails that weave in and out of the trees on the sides of the ski run.

We couldn't have asked for better weather. Sun, sun sun and crystal clear blue skies with beautiful views of the lake. I love it up here. Currently, I am sitting in the cabin while ViviAnne and Asa play checkers. I love it up here. What a great day!

Fish Anyone?

When ViviAnne and I got married, our friend Emily gave us a wedding present. It was a card, that said she would catch us a delicious bass and cook it for us. Right from the movie Napoleon Dynamite. Well, nine and a half years later, she is going to come good on her gift. Emily and her fiancee Berkley are coming over to dinner tonight with a halibut that she got in Alaska. I am going to cook up a Mixed Seafood Risotto and a Tang of Red Onion and Lime to go with it. Should be good, and I will post the recipes soon.

I am going to cook for their weeding rehearsal dinner as well. I am cooking up a pork roast marinated in Thai spices, Chile spiced Edemame, Chicken Curry and Rice. I will post any recipes from the event that I haven't posted already.

I think I may start calling my chicken curry, bandicoot curry, I like the sound of that!