Living on Tulsa Time

The whole family packed up and headed to the midwest this past week. It was a wonderful trip with of course not enough time. Some of the highlights:

Waiting for the bus to PDX:


Entertaining ourselves during the layover in Denver:


G's first time on a boat. Thanks Pop Roy!
Leaning over the edge is always the best view:

Of course you have got to drive:


And fish:

The Fraziers came to town and we got to play in the kiddie pool at their hotel. Cousin Carter was a pro:

My girlfriend Virgina was kind enough to open up her home for a high school reunion of sorts. It was soooo much fun!
Here is G and V's daughter Meira playing in the deer corn:

The ladies love that corn! Gunnar and Keira:

Taking full advantage of the Gleason girls' Jeep when it was free:

On Friday night we had dinner at Chimi's with our old high school friends sans kids:

It was very touching for so many to take time out of their busy lives to say hi.
The purpose of the trip was to see family and there was a ton. My eldest brother Doug and his amazing wife Wendy were kind enough to open up their home for a family gathering. Here are some of us:

G and his great grandma Bess:

Gunnar and Bess went for a ride around her nursing home and it was a hit for all involved. Check on the frenchie on G's shirt from his grandma!

Gunnar and his 2nd cousin Tristan:

Tristan knows all the fun places to play.


We love you Tulsa friends and family. Now come visit!

Pumpkin Patch!

A couple weekends ago G and I took advantage of a nice weekend day to hit the pumpkin patch. I have never done a northwest pumpkin patch before and was blown away by the extravagance. And we didn't even go to one of the "biggies". We went to Liepold farm and thoroughly enjoyed ourselves.

We went on the hay ride:

Gunnar's favorite part was that he got to sit next to a doggy on the wagon.

They had those cutouts you can take your picture with and since it was just the two of us, this is how it went:


Hilarious! I think in that last shot you can really tell that his eyes are trying to change to hazel.

Obligatory pumpkin shot:

Nighttime lovies

Every night after bath time Gunnar like to go snuggle with his animals while I finish cleaning up the kitchen and getting his bottle ready. Friday night I guess Truck was feeling extra giving as he actually held still for the lovin' long enough for me to snap a few pics:

Well hello doggie:

I LOVE YOU!

In the kitchen

With fall upon us and a garden going to seed I have been cooking and canning up a storm.
My girlfriend was kind enough to give us some tomatoes from her grandpa's garden so last weekend I canned those plus the excess beans from our garden.

Then I tackled some recipes from my new favorite blog Smitten Kitchen to help with the additional excess from our garden.

The roasted tomato soup with cheddar toasts has been my favorite dish so far.

The herbed summer squash and potato torte was also yummy.

And then there were the apple pancakes. Delicious and a huge hit with Gunnar. That boy loves his breakfast foods!

That recipe sparked my inner baker so this morning I made the Pioneer Woman's buttermilk biscuits. They didn't turn out as pretty as the picture in her cookbook but they were amazing. Light but durable.

We topped them with the blackberry jam Nick made and some strawberry preserves from the neighbor. Add on a side of sausage patty and it was a hit!

Better hid the chickens!

No deer yet this deer season but Nick "shot" this coyote trucking through today.