He's back!

It has taken 3 months, but Orion is back home now!

Back in mid-September, we had some friends over one weekend evening. Orion had just finished molting his feathers and I was going to start training again the following Monday. I got Orion out for some up-and-close time with the kids from both families. Kimberly adores Orion and had been desperate to hold him. (Kim has talked repeatedly of becoming a falconer when she turns 14.) She knows enough about falconry that I let her hold him.

How did he escape? Good question...we were outside the whole time. Since there is little interaction during "the molt," most falconry birds revert to near wild. As Kim gave Orion back to me to put in the mews, there was a brief moment where neither Kim nor I had a good hold on him, and he bolted for the nearest tree. We weren't paying close enough attention to what we were doing!

A couple weeks later, I found Orion again...one block south of where I originally trapped him in Farmington! This started a two-and-a-half month process of trying to recapture Orion. Most of the small farm owners in the area were very generous letting me roam their pastures to set my traps. The biggest problem was the abundance of prey; my two mice in the trap weren't appealing enough. It was the recent storms that made prey scarce and my two mice more appealing.

Two other falconers were helping the day I recaptured him. He had garnered some limited celebrity that caught the DWR's attention. We actually caught him three times in a 90 minute period. Obviously, he escaped the traps twice. The third time we caught him, we actually caught the falconry jesses; he nearly escaped a third time.

I haven't heard Kim squeal in excitement that loud in a long time! It's great to have him back. He's already flying on call and we should be ready to hunt together shortly.

Pass the Pigs Feet Please

We went to a party on Friday night with some friends. Best part - adults only (other than our little babe, but she just sat in our arms the whole time good as gold. Why can't my other kids do that?)

The highlight of the evening was when someone opened the pig's feet we brought for the white elephant game. While most everyone was gasping at the sight, my friend who is part Hispanic and grew up in L.A. replied, "They are actually quite good. Here, let me try one!" She ate it like a chicken drumstick, even licking her fingers! Several other party goers attempted to eat one, but they all spit their bite out. Pigs feet are nothing compared to the other things true Mexicans enjoy eating (cow's tongue, stomach...etc.) I guess it's not much different than Japanese eating Sushi. All in how you look at it. I have a pretty weak stomach, but when John introduced me to sushi, I fell in love with the eel roll (cooked of course).

You go girl - especially since no one else could do it!!

Let There Be Lights.

Look closely - Can you find what's wrong with this picture?

No, the tree is not crooked, but can you tell where the old set of lights begin and the new LED lights begin? Probably not hard to figure out, huh.

Replacing old lights with led lights is not cheap, so we decided to do half at a time. The other half will be purchased next year, at which time our tree will then match.

Story of the Nativities

I pulled out some of my Christmas decorations this weekend, and as always, my favorite part is setting up the nativities. I have collected a few over the years and thought I would share them with you.

This is my very first nativity (and first Christmas decoration for that matter). John's mom gave it to us during our first year of marriage to help start our holiday collection. After 12 years of marriage, our decorations have grown, but I will always treasure this first one we received.

My sweet sister, Christy gave me this one after her trip to BYU-Jerusalem. It came with an Israeli card for my birthday (which I still have and read every time I pull out the nativity). She wrapped all of the figurines with their newspaper as well. I thought it was so cool that I have kept them wrapped in the same newspaper all of these years.

Our dear friends gave this nativity to us one year, only it didn't come in one piece. Ten days before Christmas, a small shepherd appeared on our doorstep with no note attached. I remember thinking it was a bit unusual, as I had no idea it was part of a set. The next night, a wise man appeared. Each night after that a piece of the nativity appeared on our doorstep until the last night when baby Jesus arrived with our friends finally in tow.

This is the last nativity added to my collection a couple of years ago when I made this nativity under the tutelage of my sister-in-law, Marian. She created one for our parents, and I fell in love with it, so had to make one for myself. The box took a slight spill yesterday as I was pulling it out, so John lovingly epoxied up the cracks since I don't want to make another one! Too many hot glue gun burns the first time around.

I love the holiday season and am looking forward to this Friday when we'll go pick up our tree. I hope you are all having a joyous season as well and enjoy reflecting on our Savior's birth.

Making Dinner and Fun in the Same Sentence?

Once again, the dreaded Sunday night chore was upon me yesterday...cooking dinner.

What is supposed to be a grand, lavish meal is in my fact my least-favorite meal to cook each week. I take Sunday rest to heart and truly don't feel up to snuff when it comes to lifting my fingers to make a sabbath feast. My ultimate favorite meal to make on Sunday is pancakes. Sigh...a meal made in heaven with minimal prep, eating, and clean-up.

Yesterday I had put off the inevitable as long as possible while the girls contently played Star Wars Monopoly with John and I made some phone calls to family. I found myself scouring through my cook book at 6:10 p.m. (I know, that is what time we should have been eating, not starting the meal process) trying to find something quick and easy when I came across an idea my sister, Marian shared with me many months ago.

Omelets in a Bag! I cut up ham, broccoli, cheese, and tomatoes and had the girls do their own meal prep (this I like). We opened up the Ziplock freezer bags, added 2 eggs to each bag and mooshed the eggs. Then we put the bag into a large cup so we could add our toppings without the bag tipping over, then squeezed out as much of the air as possible, sealed the bag and popped them into a large pot of boiling water. We cooked them for about 15 minutes, then slid the omelets out onto a plate and wa-la! I think I found a new favorite Sunday meal. Now to start the process all over again and figure out what we're making for dinner tonight.

Baby Kangaroo

A friend of mine through scouting has his own magic show. One of the programs he runs is for schools to promote reading. Through a series of tricks, he turns a book about Australia into a live Kangaroo. Meet Roxie, a very friendly 6-month old Red Kangaroo. Because one cannot own a Kangaroo, she is being leased to my friend from a local breeder. She gets a lot of attention wherever she goes.

Kimberly and Alicia got a pleasant surprise when they came with me to drop of some scouting things.

Preserving

I opened up the freezer and discovered this...


a bowlful of snow.

I guess the girls thought they wouldn't be seeing any more snow for awhile. Unfortunately...it has only just begun.