Lunch With Great Grandma and Gus

Bryson loves his Great Grandparents...and Long John's!

Great Grandma admiring the curls.

Touchdown is appropriate at any occasion.

Loves his Grandma too!

Kickin back with Grams Grewe.

Showing Grandpa the way.

Pretty blue eyes.

What a fun day!

Jessica Simpson

Last night was a very exciting night for me. I finally got to see Jessica Simpson in concert! I dragged Brett with me (thanks honey) and we had a really good time. Jessica is just darling, and funny, and a great singer. She sang a bunch of new songs that will be on her country album which comes out September 9th. She really puts her emotions in her songs. She even cried a little during this one song about breaking up. She commented that was a hard song to get through. She talked about her boyfriend, Tony Romo from the Dallas Cowboys, and said how in love she is. She really puts herself out there, wears her heart on her sleeve. She forgot the lyrics to "Whose bed have your boots been under" (originally by Shania Twain) and it was funny. She stopped the song and asked the audience to help her remember the lyrics. Then she started it over. After the concert Brett and I decided to take advantage of the night and we went and rode the ferris wheel (the concert was at the State Fair) and then we (Brett) won a bear for Bryson. It really was a fun date for us, we don't get to do that too often. The weather was perfect and the night was so enjoyable. I'll never forget it!

Twilight

Can't wait for the movie. I jumped on the vampire bandwagon and I finished the first two books this week. Not sure if I'm team Edward or team Jacob yet. How about you?

Just Because It Was Thursday

Elsa Letterseed Update

Good news, I won best actress for the Norther California Film Festival!
I didn't want to offically blog about it until I had the certificate in hand. Here it is!

This is a flyer from the festival.

I even got to keep a movie poster, thanks Sarah!



Brett had taken me to Modesto (where the festival was held) so we could show our support. We only stayed for the Q and A after the movie had shown and mingled with some of the crew afterwards. Some I hadn't seen in years. They all loved meeting Bryson and couldn't believe how cute he was. We didn't stay for the awards ceremony, so Sarah (the writer, director, producer of the film) called me later that night to tell me I had won.
The film also won best feature film along with two other awards. There was another Film Festival in L.A. just before this one that Sarah said we won an award for best editing.
If anyone would like a copy of the film you can check out elsaletterseed.com and you can purchase a dvd. I also have some copies I can sell to you for $10. The money will go to Sarah to help her pay off some of the bills from making "Elsa". My friend Brooke wants to have a movie night so all my friends can finally see it. I'm toying with the idea. It is cool to see someone you know in a film, I could understand that, and since I'm not very humble...maybe I will have a movie night and promote shamelessly how amazing an actress I am.

Bryson's Walking

Bryson's been walking for a while, but just yesterday he finally let go of the couch and walked into the middle of the room by himself. No help from mom or dad, just him, ready to take off and explore the world....or just the living room. Now he's been working on standing up from a squat. Today squats, tomorrow, President of the United States!

Old Friends Found

When I came back from Oregon, I was suprised to come across some new comments from my old friends on my blog. Maryann and Cathy. Of course I had to look through my photos and find them. I'm sure they'll be stunned to see their photos on my blog! These were from one of our trips to the Ashland, Oregon Shakespear festival. It was a highschool field trip, can't remember which year...1993, 94? not sure.
Check out the Flight Jackets and Doc Marten shoes, we were so in style!
From left to right, Cathy, Maryann, and me.





This was another trip. The Exploratorium in San Fran with the youth.
Me, Michelle, Maryann (standing) and Raegan (another blogging friend)

A young womens activity to the ocean. That was a fun trip. We stayed in a cabin.

Back to Ashland. Sorry they're out of order.
Whatever happened to Stewart? Anyone know where he is nowadays?


Maryann, you havent' changed a bit. That's what I love about you, steadfast and true.

It was fun looking back on some fun times. So glad we were able to find eachother again and stay in touch. Isn't technology a wonderful thing?

Choo Choo

There's something about engineer overalls that are so cute on a kid. Makes me want to go for a ride on the Skunk Train. Yes, that's really the name of a train we went on when we were kids.

Elsa Letterseed

Remember the independent film I was in? It's been nominated for best feature film at the Northern California Film Festival happening this weekend, August 16th, in Modesto. I'm also up for best actress! Can you believe it? How exciting. I'm meeting the cast and crew there for an "Elsa Letterseed" reunion. I can't wait! The screening for "Elsa" is at 11:30 am at the State Theatre in Modesto. Then they want to do a Q and A with us around 1pm. The awards ceremony is later that night at 8pm. It's going to be a long day, so I'm leaving Bryson home with Brett, but I'm still very excited to go. In case some of you haven't heard about my movie, here's the website, elsaletterseed.com. Check out the fun facts and the behind the scenes photos, fun.
Also, here's the website to the film festival, norcalfilmfest.com.
Wish me luck. Last I looked, there was only one other girl up for best actress, so I have a good shot!

About "Elsa Letterseed":

Elsa Letterseed is a dramatic narrative accounting the life of a young woman trying to regain her purpose and redeem her value as an individual. Elsa was a rich and famous violin prodigy as a child. A phenomenon which sometimes occurs during puberty leaves Elsa without her gift and unable to continue performing. Her parents put her into a hospital to ‘rest’ overnight which turns into a 5 year stay. After committing Elsa her parents lavish lifestyle is cut short when they are  killed in a plane accident while running off to South America. The story begins as Elsa, now out of the Hospital, is destitute and struggling merely to survive. She has been forced to sell almost all of her valued possessions to stay alive and is now reaching the end, both materially and mentally. And that’s just the beginning…

Elsa’s life is an intricate puzzle of great successes and greater deception as she leads a life of suffering at the hands of those she loved and trusted most. Along the tortured path of her life there are unexpected sources of support that protect and guide her through a maze of truly extraordinary events. Elsa’s journey from despair, to the beginning of a new life brings together an intriguing cast of characters, each seeking hope and purpose.  With the help of her family and friends, Elsa learns that every life is important - and that IS the purpose of life, to see EVERY life as important.

This is an inspirational film with a great, intriguing story, without gratuitous sex, violence or language.

Applesauce Muffins (with butternut squash puree)

This is a good way to hide your veggies in something sweet! The cookbook tells you how to make the purees and you just pull them out of the freezer, thaw them out, and cook away. My favorite (obviously) is the butternut squash puree, but there's also recipes for sweet potato, cauliflower, carrot, red pepper, broccoli, zucchini, mushroom, yellow squash...etc. It's also good to have the purees for baby food.

Topping
2/3 cup old fashioned oats
1/4 cup firmly packed light or dark brown sugar
1 teaspoon cinnamon
2 tablespoons trans-fat-free soft tub margarine spread, melted

Batter
1 1/2 cups all purpose flour
1 cup old fashioned oats
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
1 cup unsweetened applesauce
1/2 cup nonfat (skim) milk
1/2 cup butternut squash or carrot puree
1/2 cup firmly packed light or dark brown sugar
1/4 cup vegetable or canola oil
1 large egg


1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Coat a 12 cup muffin tin with cooking spray or line with paper baking cups.
2. To make the topping, stir together the oats, sugar, and cinnamon in a bowl. Stir in the margarine
3. To make the batter, combine the flour, oats, baking powder, baking soda, and cinnamon in a large mixing bowl or zipperlock bag and stir or shake to mix. In a second bowl, mix the applesauce with the milk, vegetable puree, sugar, oil, and egg with a wooden spoon. Add the flour mixture slowly, stirring until just moistened. Do not overmix - the batter is supposed to be lumpy.
4. Divide the batter evenly among the muffin cups and sprinkle with the streusel topping. Bake until the topping is lightly browned and a toothpick comes out clean when inserted into the center of the muffins, 18 to 20 minutes. Turn the muffins out onto a rack and serve warm or cold.

These are so good for breakfast and also great for a snack! Yum Yum.

Bryson could eat a whole one, no problem! For lunch were going to try the grilled cheese sandwiches with butternut squash puree.

More Oregon Photos

Here's some more photos from Oregon, thanks Dad!
Me and my hubby, with our precious Raptors.

More quality time at the Ocean.

Don't worry baby Bryson, you're guaranteed to be tall one day.

Jayden and Lauren, best friends.

Patrice in her "granny" outfit, enjoying the breakfast of champions. You crack me up Patrice!

Winchester Bay

We're back from Oregon, and it was a blast! We drove to Medford the first day, and spent the next day at Crater Lake. It was beautiful there.



My parents had brought my nephew Jayden with them. I loved spending so much time with him. He seemed to have a great time too!


Then it was on to Winchester Bay to camp at the dunes. Bryson loved going for rides in my dad's Razor.

Lacy is so cute in her "sand gear".

Tiffany, me and Lexi take a break from our riding to snap a picture. So cute with our pink helmets.

This was Bryson's first time to actually play in the sand. All the other trips we just held him because he only knew how to "soldier crawl" and I couldn't bear to let him crawl in the sand. Now he's a big boy and can play with all the cousins.

We spent a lot of time in a circle around the campfire. The fire was going 24/7 because it was overcast and never reached above 65 degrees. It even rained on us the last day we were there. I loved it! It was a nice change of pace to get away from the triple digits.

We enjoyed some family time at the ocean.





Troy in his "riding gear". We start them young!

Bryson in his "sand gear".

Cheese balls, breakfast of champions.

Family shot, our last day there. The only day the sun came out.
From Left to Right:
Jeremy (Brett's oldest brother), his wife Julie and two girls Lauren and Laci
Me Brett and Bryson
Tiffany and Patrice (with Troy)
Jeff (Brett's other older brother), his wife Alexis and three boys Dallas, Cole and Troy (and their dog Bella)

Another family shot, with Jeremy's Grizzley and Patrice's Rhino.

All the brothers have their own Toy Haulers for their family. This is ours. Very comfy!

Oregon was a beautiful place. I loved bonding with the family and enjoyed riding our quads. Can't wait to come back next year!