Parentheticals

 Last Monday we brought dinner to Grandma Sheila because she had foot surgery. We made chicken noodle soup with chicken bone broth. It ended up really good, so we are going to remember the recipe: Add 10 chicken wings (bone in with skin) to a slow cooker and enough water to cover them slow cook until the meat is done. Pull out the wings and remove meat from them. Set aside meat in refrigerator. throw back the skin, fat and bones back into the water add five celery, an onion cut in half, two carrots, lots of garlic and then slow cook overnight. The next day toss out everything but the broth. Re-add the meat and then add carrots, celery, egg noodles and salt to taste. Cook as long as it takes egg noodles to be done. Serves multiple people. The first half of the week Mike was working on his final project for his Masters degree. He submitted it Wednesday and it has since been graded and he passed the class and earned his master's degree. Last Thursday we cleaned the church. We did...

On Monday we celebrated the 4th of July with a barbecue. We had Amy, Sheila, and their respective families attend. The kids played, the adults talked, and all had a good time. We did fireworks toward the end. The kids all got scared from the morning glories, and lit the grass on fire (fast stomping by the ladies put it out). The 'Bestest Crackering Ballz' were aptly named. Sara chose them because of the glittery pink and purple wrapping, and they were amazing. We did scare Dustin into a screaming fit because all of the cheap crackling balls we had done before were so pitiful that we were standing very close when the "Bestest Crackering Ball" went off, and it was surprising! Even Dustin enjoyed the later ones. After the extended family went home we went off to the park on the hill and watched every firework show in the valley at the same time. It was very fun, and the kids loved running around with other kids at the park in the dark. Next year, we need to bring ...