And one more shout out..

To my totally awesome, absolutely amazing MOM!

My Mom had been saying for a couple of weeks that she was putting together a "Halloween Box" for Landon, and would put it in the mail soon.  So, when it arrived on Friday, Landon was already SUPER excited about his "treat."

What my Mom DIDN'T say, was that she was sending a "treat" for ALL of us!  The box was full of really great "home" stuff, just as I was starting to feel homesick again.  She sent Jon 2 bags of Pepperoni rolls, which are our FAVORITE Ohio snack.  They're made in a little Italian Bakery in Chardon, and you can't beat 'em!  She sent me my favorite Chocolate Coconut Bars that you can't find ANYWHERE anymore, except this one little bakery, and she sent me a pair of new PJ's featuring my high school mascot!

And Oh Boy, the treats she sent Landon.  There were new cars, and books, and coloring books, and pumpkin peeps, and a whole BUNCH of new clothes, including some REALLY cute Halloween PJ's.  She even made him his own photo book with all of the family from home so that he could carry them with him all the time, which he does!

I'm lucky to have a Mom like that, and Landon's lucky to have a Gee Gee who's so thoughtful and sweet!  What a great surprise, it definitely made my week!

Just for the record...

I just wanted to take a minute to make sure that everyone knows that I have an AMAZING husband.

Jon has always been a kind, considerate man, but lately he has just gone above and beyond to let me know he's on my side, and is always thinking about me.  He's brought home flowers several times since we've been back from Ohio, and helped with Landon, and cleaned the house, He bought me a new laptop, and camera, and surprised me with a fancy dinner out JUST BECAUSE I was having a bad day.   Then, on Monday, he volunteered to take my car for an oil change and he surprised me by having it COMPLETELY DETAILED while he waited (for over an hour on a work day).  

He just makes me feel so special and loved, and I can't believe how lucky I am to have him.  Agreeing to marry him was THE single best decision I've ever made.  I only pray I do just as well showing him how much he means to me.

Utah State Fair and other goings on...

This Saturday, we had the opportunity to go to the Utah State Fair with Dayne&Sarah, and their kiddos, and Anne and Granger, and their growing bean! We had a really great time!

By far, Landon's favorite activity was the giant yellow slide, which he got to ride twice, once with Mommy, and once with Daddy. His smiles and laughs were worth every penny, even if it was a pretty penny for those two rides!




He also rode the train with Mommy, and loved waving to Aunt Sarah, Brookie, Jackson and Daddy:


We were also able to see (and smell!) plenty of animals. Landon's favorite was the pigs (a true Southern boy for sure).


As a family:


Since Dayne's gotten here, the boys have been obcessed (VERY obcessed) with golfing, much to their wives' dismay. So, to appease the women, they bought a practice net for the backyard, so that they didn't have to go to the driving range all of the time. It's been fun for everyone, except maybe the neighbors, since it sounds like a shotgun blast when the fast-moving ball hits the net. Landon has been having a ball sticking his head through the hole, and being the bullseye!



And in continuing the nostalgia theme from my last post, Jon, Dayne and Granger were delighted to find some old, VERY TINY, lawn chairs in the garage, from when they were kids in California. And Landon appropriated one for his very own (it's the little things in life, ya know)!

The Sweet Smell of Nostalgia

What is it about the smell of buttermilk that can almost bring me to tears?

This past summer, while we were in Ohio, my Mammal taught me to make biscuits. This might sound like no big deal to you "yankees," but to us Southerners, and us Zirkles in particular, making biscuits is a sacred rite of passage. Up until now, the only person in my family who's been able to make biscuits has been my Mammal. She tried to teach my Mom, and pass it down, but in her own words, she can't make biscuits to save her life. I've (luckily, perhaps?) never been on the receiving end of these biscuits, but I've been told that they can function as bricks, if you ever need to ward off an attacker, or break a window! (Love you, Mom!). So, I was beyond excited to learn the secret, and I think my Mom was just as excited for me to learn.

The first thing that's important to note in the art of biscuit making (and the only tip I'm going to give away) is that in REALLY GOOD, true Southern biscuits, there is NO RECIPE. Okay, maybe this isn't much of a tip, because most of our home-cooked Zirkle family "recipes" read something like "a bunch of flour," or "a little bit of sugar," or "enough sugar to make it taste right," but biscuits are a whole new level of "guesstimate." They really are a "guess and check" (like the math reference? Algebra here I come!), kind of recipe that takes a long time to perfect.

Since Jon is going on an impromptu trip to Idaho this afternoon, and since he's been such a great support to me lately (well, always, to be honest), I thought I'd take another page out of the Zirkle Family Handbook and send him off with some homemade goodies. It seemed like the perfect opportunity to perfect my recipe, because even if they don't taste that great, he and Dayne will still scarf them down at warp speed! So, I set my oven (my OLD oven, hopefully next time I make these, it will be in the NEW one) to 500* and got to work! (Ooops, another tip).

There's just something magical that happens when the jug of buttermilk is opened. There's something about that smell, the sweet smell of buttermilk that takes me back. It transports me out of Orem, across several states (skipping ugly Nebraska, of course) back into my Mammal's kitchen. It wraps up years of memories and almost brings me to tears. And the smell of the biscuits, fresh out of the oven, seems to seamlessly integrate the child I was, in my Mammal's kitchen, with the mother I am now, in my own kitchen, sharing the biscuits, and the sacred rites that come along with them, with my own child. It's more than buttermilk and flour, it's magic!

The biscuits turned out GREAT! A little crispy on the bottom, but fluffy and light brown on top, and really yummy! But, before you ask, I have to say, that NOPE! I can't share the recipe! This is ONE recipe (probably the ONLY recipe) that I will keep close to my chest, sealed up tight, until I pass the Zirkle magic onto Landon. But, I'll be happy to share my attempts at perfecting the recipe with all of you anytime!