Junior Groomsman

Last week, Uncle Phil got married. He had asked me to one of his Jr. Groomsmen. I wasn’t sure what to expect until the practice.Â Then I sorta knew 🙂

Congratulations Uncle Phil and Aunt Michelle!

Momma let Adrian post the pictures that he took of the wedding.Â You can see them on Momma’s blog.

Daring Momma

The other day Momma, Audrey, Adrian and Megan came to see the Alpacas while Andrea and I worked.

When we feed the Alpacas, we takeÂ Queen Amidala and Ruby Tuesday out to get some exercise. We took them out the easiest way; that is to carry Queen Amidala!

Before we wentÂ back in,Â I dared Mommy to holdÂ Queen Amidala.Â Momma does not usually hold animals. She said she would if she had her camera. So Momma ran home to get her camera and we took some pictures.

Then I took the alpacas in. Before I brought “the Queen” in to her stall, I gave her to Momma! Momma thought Queen was soft.

Hula Hoop Contest

When we were at the Kalahari,Â Daddy treated us to a restaurant called The Reserve.Â They had contests, like picture drawing. Everyone got a prize.

There was also a Limbo Contest.Â Megan would have been good at it if she wold not go on her hands.

There was a Hula Hoop Contest. Audrey and I tied, so we had to have a tie breaker. I won and Audrey got second place!Â The prize was a “game card” for the “noisy-obnoxious-why-do-they- have- it” arcade and a cows tail. We did bowling for the game. It was the only thing that was not noisy or obnoxious and it was the one thing we were allowed to do. It was fun.

Greek Cooking, Dolmades

On New Year’s Eve, we made this recipe.Â Daddy has a friend that he asked for a good Greek recipe.Â Mrs. Rankin says that her family makes a huge amount ofÂ Dolmades for Christmas Eve every year.

We had to hunt for ground lamb. It is hard to find where we live. We also had to find grape leaves, lemons and dried mint. We already had everything else atÂ home.

We mixed the lamb, dried mint, rice and spices in a big bowl. Then we made them into logs and wrapped them in grape leaves. When they were done, they looked like miniature green burritos.

Then we simmered them in chicken broth with a plate over the top. Then Daddy made a sauce out of the broth, lemon and egg yolk.Â To eat them, you put a few on your plate and pour the sauce over them if you want to. Sprinkle Feta cheese and black olives over them if you have them.

It was rather easy, but took a long time. It was good. We are divided on whether they were too lemony or not. I hope that we make it again.

Rock Hounds

We went to the Upper Peninsula on vacation last month!

It was fun! We went to Copper Harbor. It is a small town. It was so small there was no cellphone signal!

There were loooots and looots of rocks up there. We went looking for copper, green stones and other fun rocks! We found some copper and maybe green stone at a mine dump. We also found agates and other colorful and some almost perfectly round rocks by Lake Superior.

The Cliff Mine is a dead mine and they made a pile of the stuff they do not need. If you are up there, you can go there and look for neat rocks and artifacts. Momma went up there looking for copper when she was little. I found lots of neat rocks. We think some of it is Greenstone. I found three rusty nails, one broken. I also found one “thing”. If anyone knows what it is part of,Â please let me know 🙂 . While there, Adrian was looking in the water. He found some polished rose quartz,Â he held it up high and shouted, “I found a diamond!”

Artifacts found at Cliff Mine — Do you know what the "thing" on the right is?

We had fun!

Collecting Rocks
Unknown Author

I think that there shall never be an ignoramus just like me
Who roams the hills throughout the day
To pick up rocks that do not pay,
For thereâ€™s one thing Iâ€™ve been told
I take the rocks and leave the gold

Oâ€™er deserts wild or mountains blue
I search for rocks of varied hue.
A hundred pounds or more I pack,

Some of the neat rocks Found — Greenstone, copper, agates, Petoskey Stones, fossils and other fun stones

With blistered feet and aching back.
And after this is said and done
I cannot name a single one.
I pick up rocks where â€˜ere I go
The reasons why, I do not know
For rocks are found by fools like me
Where God intended them to be.