Sweet Tomatoes – Tomato and Onion Soup

Here is the recipe for the soup in my last post for those that are interested in trying it. The grilled cheese sandwiches are my own basic way of doing grilled cheese. Use whatever kind of cheese you like. Our favorite is American, Havarti and colby jack. I usually use at least two cheeses. I butter the outside of the bread on one side of the sandwich and then put it in the pan on medium heat. Next I butter the other side and sprinkle with garlic salt (sometimes). Brown both sides and the cheese will be all melty and yummy. I hope you like this, it's a great combination.

Sweet Tomatoes – Tomato and Onion Soup

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Food from the Garden

This might seem like a boring post to put on a blog but for me this was the excitement of my day today. (I know kind of pathetic) Exciting because I used tomatoes, basil, oregano from my garden to make home-made tomato onion soup for dinner. I knew the kids wouldn't be too thrilled with the soup so I added grilled cheese sandwiches made on fresh sourdough bread with three cheeses and grilled in butter and garlic. I have to say that the the soup and sandwich combo was a winner! I love cooking with fresh ingredients from my garden, it is so rewarding!!!

Connor Goes to Preschool

Connor had his first day of preschool on Monday. We are so excited that he got into the school district preschool. It is a totally lucky turn of events. Connor qualified for the preschool because he needs speech therapy for a condition called "screamers nodules". The surgeon that took his tonsils out found these nodules in his throat. They are caused my screaming and talking too loud. I had never even heard of that before. So because he qualifies for the speech therapy they accepted him into the preschool where he will occasionally receive the speech therapy. Yeah, lucky me, now I don't have to pay for preschool and he even gets transportation, isn't that awesome? So I thought he might be scared to get on the bus and go but he wasn't. He just got right on and could care less that he was leaving his poor mom home alone :). I thought I would be a little bit sad to see him go but I was fine too. It's only twice a week, geez....!

Waiting for the bus.
Here it is!!There goes my baby!
It was funny to watch the bus ladies trying to figure out how they were going to put Connor in a car seat. He weighs 80 lbs!! Not going to happen. They said they are supposed to be in one until they are 5. Connor will be 5 in a week so they will only have to break their rule one more time.

We have a new niece!!

SADIE NOELLE HANCOCK

8 lbs. 3 oz. 21 inches

Proud parents of their 3rd beautiful daugher! Congratulations Shawn and Missy!

I was so lucky and privileged to be at the hospital when my niece, Sadie was born. Shawn and Missy asked me to come and take pictures for them. I hope I didn't disappoint them and they like the pictures I got. Sadie arrived by c-section around 12:45 p.m. I waited outside the delivery room for Shawn to bring the baby out. I fell in love at my first glimpse of her. She is so cute, I can't even emphasize it enough!! I followed Shawn to the nursery and watched while they checked her and started to clean her up. She was having a hard time getting her oxygen levels high enough so they needed to give her oxygen for the first day. It was a long day for Missy because they didn't take the baby to her until about 5-6 hours after she delivered her. It was such a tender moment to see Missy hold her for the first time. I felt so blessed to witness that moment. Those special moments in life are rare and so precious. Thank you Missy and Shawn for allowing me to be there for such a special event. I'll keep trying to be the "favorite" aunt!! Even if it doesn't happen it sure is fun trying!

My first peek at Sadie.

Fresh out of the oven! Still Crisco coated!
Look at all that beautiful hair!

Mommy and her new angel.

Cambree loves her new baby sister! Brinley was still thinking about it.

Happy Grandma Hancock, grandchild #18.

The First Day of School a.k.a the best day of the year!

My favorite day of the year has come and gone! yes, the first day of school is a happy day for us. The kids are just as ready as I am for school to start. We had a fun summer, and don't get me wrong I love having my kids at home, but 3 months is a long time. So off they go to fill their brains with meaningful facts and knowledge. No more getting up at 10:00 and playing Wii all day! (just kidding, I'm not that lame of a parent, they have to stop to eat mac and cheese and otter pops and go to the bathroom occasionally.)

Bye Bye Darlings!!

They both picked their own outfits. I gave up some control and let them

be "individuals". I'm a little bit worried about Marlie...... okay she's only 11 there's still hope.


"mom, it's too early....."

Aaahhhh the Ocean!!

Anyone that knows me knows how much I love the ocean! It's my favorite part about going to California. Bryce and I spent a day at the coast. We went to Capitola beach, one of our favorites because of the cute town. It was a perfect beach day; sunny, breezy and not too crowded. I loved being alone with Bryce. It was very peaceful and reminded me of old times way back when we were always "alone". We had a lot of fun on our trip and can't wait to do it again!

Notice the yellow crime scene tape? It was there because there had been a shark attack and it wasn't safe to go in the water. Kinda scary....
See the dolphins?!!! It was so cool! I have never seen dolphins from the beach.

This is Marianne's in Santa Cruz. It is our tradition to go there after we go to the beach. I have to say that it is one of my favorite traditions! The ice cream is the best!!

This is one of my favorites, Mandarin Chocolate,YUM!

California Reunion Trip

Bryce and I went to California for his 25 year high school reunion. I didn't think I would have fun since I wouldn't know hardly anyone but I actually had a great time. Bryce had a lot of fun seeing all of his great friends from high school. The first party we went to was for his show choir group The Madrigals. They were such a close group. They went on a trip to Switzerland their senior year and there was a lot of reminiscing about that and all of the good times they had. Their director Mr.Lindsay came, pretty amazing after all these years.

Scott and Wendy laughing at old pictures.


Pete Lenz, Andy Fiala, Todd Moreno and Bryce

The next night was the high school reunion. It was in Campbell at a restaraunt called Sonoma Chicken Coop. It was a long night for me! It was fun to see Bryce connecting with all of his old classmates but just a little bit exhausting. I'm glad Bryce had fun and was able to see some of his friends he hadn't see in years.

Bryce, Valerie, Beth and Gary, these four were great friends.

Bryce with Jill Fletcher and John Bauer. They all grew up on the same street when they were kids. It was fun hearing some of their memories of Bryce.
Scott and Shannon. Scott was Bryce's best friend in high school. We went to their house and got to see their two beautiful daughters. We went to breakfast with them one day too. It was fun getting to know them, they are amazing people.