end of summer, start of school

Not too much to post.

We had a slightly longer than normal summer since school was starting later this year, but it's still hard to believe summer vacation is over.

On one of our last morning walks of the summer, Glen and I watched this beautiful sunrise on 8-20:

Eric had his one and only wisdom tooth removed last week and is healing nicely. Thankfully, no photos of that.

Pictures from the first day of school:

Glen starting his 24th year teaching, Hannah starting 11th grade

Alex starting 6th grade

Andrew, Hannah, and Alex started the new school year on Monday. The first meeting of my mosaic/stained glass class at the community college will start on the 4th. Ryan has to wait until September 10th to start college, though we leave on the 5th to get him up to Rexburg for freshman orientation.

family reunion, the kitten, and Hannah walked 22 miles

It was Perazzo Clan vacation time this past week--it's been a very interesting week, too. We had fewer numbers than usual--only 24. I think our high one year was about 40.

We got to camp for a few days at Lake Almanor before being booted out because of a near-by forest fire at Butt Lake. We then continued our now-revised activities here.

Saturday we spent some time at the lake. Glen and I did a little canoeing. Some of the kids went tubing. And of course, we played lots of games and got some volleyball in. I wish I had video. We are a riot,even if I do say so myself, and have a great time playing.


Sunday we attended church with the Clear Creek ward and nearly doubled their numbers. It was excellent--great teachers, great spirit. More games that afternoon.

Thomas and Alex playing Dominion

Michael (and several others) really liked this Perplexus Epic ball...you "navigate" a steel ball around a track

Hannah went back to Fallon for tennis try-outs and was supposed to come back on Tuesday (Hannah went with Maddie who went to volleyball try-outs). One disappointment--it was supposed to be the big night for viewing the Perseid meteor shower, but there was no visibility due to the smoke.

smokey sky

Monday we had a friend of Andrew's, Caleb, come up from Reno to spend the day with us. Volleyball again, games, and of course, food galore.

We thought the smoke made the lake look like a foggy ocean beach

the ash collected on the lake's surface and then washed ashore

Joseph and Andrew playing pinochle

Grandpa and Grandma cheering on their grandchildren

Michael serving, with Glen, Thomas, Sarah, and Joseph

the sky looked pretty good (no smoke) after we were told we'd need to evacuate

Monday evening is when we got the word that we would have to leave the next morning...the evacuation was voluntary for residents, but we weren't residents. Funny thing was...there was less smoke on Monday than there had been all week-end. I even got to see a few meteors that night.

Tuesday we came home. That evening we went roller skating. At first I wasn't going to skate, but Glen and the boys were...and everyone was wobbly, so I thought I could look as unskilled as the rest of them. I'm so glad I did. I had an absolute BLAST. And by some miracle I managed not to fall.

Ryan, (Eric), Alex, Andrew...and friend, Glen, Beth

Ryan, Eric, Alex, Andrew, Glen, and Beth (Hannah was in Fallon)

Andrew having a good time at the roller rink

Ryan remaining upright

Alex playing along with a roller skating game...and he won! His prize was a treat from the snackbar

Glen being out-manuevered by Brent (weren't we all?)

Wednesday we just played more games at Grandma and Grandpa's. Glen and I lost the pinochle tournament that we all had started on Monday to Brent and Andrew.

Thursday was bowling. I wish I had used the bumpers. And I forgot my camera...

And Friday morning, we all went to the Reno temple together. Alex was too young to go in, but the rest of us were there together. It was very special. Afterwards, Grandma and Grandpa treated us all to Kings Buffet. Thanks for a great week, Mom and Dad P!

So, how did the sports try-outs wind up? Hannah and Joseph made the tennis teams and Maddie made the JV volleyball team. Way to go!

When we got back from Almanor, Hannah got her kitten, Steve-- after Steve Rogers the super hero. He was the runt of the litter and is tiny and adorable.

Andrew and cousin Sarah flew back to Provo today. It was so great having him around. We will miss him.

Hannah had a special Young Women's activity today. There was a man, Bro. John Rowe Moyle, who was a stone mason on the Salt Lake Temple. Each week he walked 22 miles to Salt Lake from his home to work on the temple, and then at the end of the week, he'd walk back home. Even after he lost his leg in an accident, he walked the 22 miles each way with a wooden leg. His story was turned into a 15 minute video by the church that can be seen here:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2yXylS9ujxc

This morning, the young women, their leaders, and some others walked 22 miles from Meadowood Mall in south Reno to the temple in west Reno. They got up at 2:30 am, drove to Reno, and started walking at 4:30 am and arrived a little after 2 at the temple (about 9 1/2-10 hours). They couldn't have picked a better summer day as it was overcast and there was actually a cool breeze occasionally.

on the street below, Hannah was the 2nd young woman to come into view

since the 1st young woman who came into view (Al) stopped to eat more wild blackberries than Hannah did, Hannah was the first YW to arrive on the temple grounds. Here she is with Joseph and Nathaniel (the boys only walked the last 3 miles with the girls).

the conquering heroes

trimming trees, the garden, and stamping

Glen spent some time in the bucket of the tractor with a chain saw to trim some bug-eaten elm trees. Wish we had taken a "before" photo. It made a very nice pile that burned quickly because the wood was so dry:

Our garden, though growing well enough and producing, is sad looking as it's being overrun by salt grass, which is very hard to get rid of:

Had stamping this week. It was kind of funny...Becky and I brought the same thing: jalapeño popper dip (I posted the link to the recipe last time). We've never had that happen before.

Michelle's card

my card

Toni's card

Becky's card

family update and some pinterest recipe reports

Andrew continues to work hard, do well in school, and have an active social life.   We look forward to seeing him in a week!

Eric made the Dean's List at WNC. Right now we are working on submitting his mission papers (he won't be called to a proselyting mission but will be released from serving due to his Asperger's). Then we will work on finding him a service mission to serve in.

Ryan just had his wisdom teeth out on Tuesday...and it went so well (so far) that I'm amazed (I'm still afraid he'll wind up with dry socket, because nothing should be that easy). He only took a few advil here and there.  We have him at home only one more month before he heads off to BYU-I.

Hannah's trying out for the tennis team again. And she's getting a kitten. His name is Steve (Steve Rogers, because he's the runt of the litter just like Captain America was).

Alex...I don't know how he is as he seems to currently be living at his cousins' Ben and Thomas's house. I think he basically only sleeps here these days. I also think we need to send some grocery money over to them, not that he eats much. I guess he's doing OK, or they would send him home to us, right?

Glen keeps very busy. He's been working on the yard as well as on his family history lately. I'm still feeling like we have a lot of summer left, for some weird reason (maybe because it's a whole month before Ryan leaves), but Glen is starting to feel the pressure of summer winding down and him needing to get ready for the new school year...his 24th year of teaching.

We bought another "new to us" car...Glen gets to use it and Hannah will mainly use the mini-van. Glen's new car is a fraternal twin to mine...they are both 2000 Camrys, but mine is a gold color and his is a ... taupe? type color. I realized when Andrew got his license, he was only a few months away from leaving for college, and the same thing for Ryan. Whereas Hannah has 27 months here before she goes off to college. Life will be easier with another car...of course the mini-van has over 200,000 miles on it and might not last much longer, but I hope it will last.

Glen has also been having fun making his own yogurt and putting it in his frozen ice cream/yogurt maker he bought at a yard sale in Oregon. Good stuff. Most of us also enjoy the yogurt without freezing it.

I have stopped working on home projects and have been working on my family history, reading, and being less productive.  I have also made some recipes found online and at pinterest lately and thought I'd mention some here. These are loosely in order of what we liked most to what we liked least:

Our favorite, hands down, was the "One that almost got away"--Raspberry Cream Cheese Bars...only I had blueberries and not raspberries, so we had Blueberry Cream Cheese Bars and they were fabulous. Just realize that after baking and cooling, it needs to go into the fridge for a bit, so it's not a recipe for when you need something in a hurry.
http://tofw.com/story/641-our-best-bites-the-recipe-that-almost-got-away

Next up is the Jalapeño Popper Dip that was really, really good, and so easy, though next time I might just make 1/2 a batch as it's dangerous to have around.
http://www.bigredkitchen.com/2008/10/jalapeno-popper-dip/

Hannah discovered this Cheesy Garlic Bread Stick recipe that we like--you dip it in marinara sauce (and she makes it better than I do):
http://www.laurenslatest.com/fail-proof-pizza-dough-and-cheesy-garlic-bread-sticks-just-like-in-restaurants/

Last night I made some Garden Marinara to go with it (though we don't have enough tomatoes yet and I had to use canned tomatoes). I liked it well enough...and it uses zucchinis!  (Glen liked it quite a bit, too)
http://www.simplehealthytasty.com/2012/08/garden-marinara.html

I really liked the Cream of Zucchini Soup. I might need to make more today.
http://www.skinnytaste.com/2008/03/cream-of-zucchini-soup-1-ww-point.html

And then there's the Crockpot Cashew Chicken, which Glen really liked and I thought it was OK...maybe had too much ginger in it (couldn't put my finger on what wasn't quite right to me):
http://preppypaleo.blogspot.ca/2012/01/crock-pot-cashew-chicken.html

The one recipe we didn't like was the Sweet Potato Cauliflower soup:
http://www.manifestvegan.com/2011/10/sweet-potato-cauliflower-soup/