Hold on a sec...Lindsay is 19?

Is it just me? Or do the years seem to be flying by?

LOVE having Lindsay closer to home...Spokane is a whole LOT closer than Arizona and we get to have her to ourselves So much more!

Happy Birthday to a very special girl...LINDSAY...who turned 19 today!! Ron, McKenna and I had a great day out in Spokane (Dan would have joined us, absolutely, until the time changed from afternoon LazerTag to morning shopping..can you really blame him? He did leave a sleepy sounding message for Lindz around 1:00 pm ish!)

We are very proud of Lindsay, she has become both her parents and her siblings very good friend and confidant.

She is the child that has always had a plan, though the plan may vary, it is always there and Lindsay will succeed!

Brand New Lindsay!
Ron with Lu (probably watching some game!)
Lu and her proud Mom
Ron with Dan and his new little sister (Danny really wasn't sure that crying thing should come home with us!)

Big brother helping out and feeding Lindsay (or at least making her stop crying for a minute!)

Lindsay did have a "Black Light Party" with her friends and I have the pics on my phone that show them in a black light with their light up wands and white t's...but can NOT figure out how to get those pics from my phone to my computer! So...

Happy Birthday Lindsay! We all love you!!

Happy Halloween!

We had another of our annual Pumpkin Carving Parties and they get more fun every year!! Once again, I have to say, we have the best friends that love to decorate/carve/spray paint/light and/or flame their pumpkins!!

We had our next generation show up this year! My kids babysitter, Rachelle and her husband Chris came with their brand new 4 week old son LEVI!! Love that this tradition will continue!

I honestly can say that this is the THING that I look forward to doing every year! And to top it off, all my kids were back this year to celebrate with us!! Can not beat that!

The Carving - Dan and Reilly

Reilly's "Pumpkin Pi"
Lindsay

Lindsay's "Purr-ty" kitty
McKenna carved a pumpkin to look like NICOLE!
The Gang
Some of the non-carving: Becky and Kim

Scott, Leslie and Rosalie

Curtis (did not ever see him go near a pumpkin!)

Rachelle (excused from carving) with Levi, whom you can't see because my dog Fletcher is determined to steal the spotlight!
Brandon
Ron! Did we wait too long to carve!!?
Some of my favorite people!
Reilly, Lindsay and DannyCaitlynn and Elliott

Sam, Brandon and Mom Michelle
Cloe and StephanieThe Flaming Finale!Dan's WSU!

McKenna's Homecoming Dance!

McKenna went to her first dance at the high school last night! She could not have had a better date, her best friend Jacob! They grew up together, living across the street and it is so crazy to see them grown up, dressed up and going to a dance!

The theme for the dance was "Vegas" and Jacob's mom and I were hosting the dinner for their group with the help of all the parents. So of course we had to have an "All You Can Eat" buffet and Michelle and I put up a backdrop in her garage for the pictures!

All the kids looked fabulous, the food was excellent and they had a great time!

McKenna and Jacob

The Corsage
Beautiful!
The Boutonniere
Hailey, McKenna & Haley getting ready at the house
Ciarra and McKenna
The Girls
The Guys
The Group
Dinner!

Backtrack...

Okay, lets backtrack a little and catch up on other things that went on this past summer!

4th of July (Alec, Reilly, Dan, Grant)

McKenna and Mia

Ron and John with Zane

Lindsay and ZaneLindsay and McKenna taking off!
AdriaMcKenna throwing out the first pitch at a Pirates Game here in Moses Lake
McKenna got to help out the Rodeo Queen at the Kiddie Roundup at the fair
I turned another year older!
McKenna getting asked to Homecoming! Each poster has a huge letter on it spelling out Homecoming...she and Jacob will have a great time - more pics on that coming after the big event!!

And that sums up the rest of our summer!

Gardens Bounty

The girls and I love anything having to do with fresh tomatoes and basil...since our tomatoes are coming in, I have made a few things lately and tonight I made THE best spaghetti sauce! Ron would have liked some spicy meatballs to go with it, but to me, this was Pasta Nirvana!

Spaghetti with Tomato and Basil Sauce

1/2 cup plus 2 TB extra virgin olive oil
3 -4 cloves garlic minced
20 or so fresh tomatoes, peeled and seeded
Salt and pepper
1 teaspoon red pepper flakes
1 1/2 pounds dried spaghetti
1 TB butter
8 basil leaves, cut into a fine chiffonade
1/4 cup freshly grated Parmigiano-Reggiano

Add the olive oil and garlic to a pan and heat until it begins to smoke lightly. Add the tomatoes, salt, pepper and red pepper flakes, taking into account that the sauce will reduce and the salt will become concentrated. Crush the tomatoes with a potato masher to release all their liquid. Cook for 25 minutes over medium to medium-high heat, until the tomatoes form a semi-chunky sauce.

Meanwhile, bring a pot of salted water to a boil and add the spaghetti. When it is three-quarters cooked, drain the pasta and reserve the water. Add the spaghetti to the sauce and cook over med-high heat until all the liquid is absorbed and the pasta is al dente, stirring occasionally. If the sauce becomes too thick, add a little of the pasta water to thin out the sauce. Remove from the heat and just before serving, add the butter, basil and cheese, mixing thoroughly until the pasta is an orange hue. Season with salt to taste.

YUM!

Africa Family Vacation 2010

I know I haven't posted about many things that happened in July, like the 4th, when most of our (Reis) family comes for the weekend and McKenna throwing the first pitch at the local Pirates game...I will get to that, I promise! But let me throw in a few pics of our Family Vacation! This is something that has been happening with my side of the family for many years now. We go somewhere every other year and this year we went back to Africa. Danny could not join us this year, he had a commitment at WSU to work in a Fellowship Program with the Psychology lab and really learned that it sometimes sucks to grow up and be responsible!! He was definitely missed!First stop...spent the weekend in Libreville at a very nice hotel La Residence Maisha...these are my CUTE girls!!
Drive by shots in Libreville

Relaxing in the lounge with my mom, McKenna, Lindsay, me, the kids cousin Alex, Uncle Oscar Grandpa and cousin John

Fly into Bayanga and first thing out of the plane, we get to go on an Elephant hike!

Dirty shoes
Isn't this the best!

Stay at Dzanga Sangha Reserve and hike to view the Mangabay (Monkey) and the gorilla close up...best day ever!

On the way through the village for the "hunt"

My groups hunt team

Lindsay balancing a saber on her head!

Move to Loango Lodge...seriously roughing it now!
Boating over to Akaka Camp

Lots of wildlife

Grandpa...now THAT'S wildlife :)

The girls and I and Uncle Oscar in one of the cabins

This is our really rough dining room!!!

Pte. Ste. Catherine Beach Camp. Unfortunately the wells had dried up and we couldn't stay there, but we went for a couple of day trips and had a private beach and a chef that came with us! Now THAT is what I call camping!!

My girls and their grandpa

The girls sea shell collection...they actually took a couple of live ones home...ewwwwww
McKenna and her Uncle Oscar. Last night at Akaka, boating over to a neighboring camp to see some local dancing.

One of our last stops, Evengue Island, that hosts the Fernan-Vaz Gorilla Project which is a rescue program that plans to hopefully rehabilitate and reintroduce gorillas who have become ophans due to bush meat trade back into the wild.

Another CUTE pic of the girls

Boating over to Port Gentil, our last stop...many of the boats do not survive the water and the weight they put on the boats, and most do not have the safety measures like life jackets to help.

This is how I spent most of the 4 hour trip!!

Crocodile viewing on the way