Guess who's one!

Henry we love you so much and are so grateful that you unexpectedly came into our lives. You are such a character and you make us laugh everyday. Your energy is at the crazy level, but you keep us on our toes and we love it! Thank you for letting us be your parents for this great year! We love you so much!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY BABY HENRY

Who is the happiest?

Heidi and I decided to travel to Florida to visit her parents for Christmas. I was excited for a lot of reasons but one item of business was traveling through the Deep South, something I have never done before. I can now officially check of Mississippi and Alabama from the states I have at least passed through.

I thought I was a lot closer to making all fifty but I still have to visit (not including airports) Hawaii, Tennessee, Montana, the Carolinas, Alaska, the Dakotas, Arkansas, Georgia, Oklahoma, Minnesota, Wisconsin, Kansas, Rhode Island, Michigan and Connecticut.

But as we were driving I thought of a recent study by Live Science. They wanted to find out which states were the happiest. They did so by dealing out surveys to 1.3 million Americans to determine their personal level of happiness. The second part was a look at objective measures including crowding, air quality, home prices and other factors that impact the quality of life. This is what they found beginning with the most happy:

1. Louisiana
2. Hawaii
3. Florida
4. Tennessee
5. Arizona
6. Mississippi
7. Montana
8. South Carolina
9. Alabama
10. Maine
11. Alaska
12. North Carolina
13. Wyoming
14. Idaho
15. South Dakota
16. Texas
17. Arkansas
18. Vermont
19. Georgia
20. Oklahoma
21. Colorado
22. Delaware
23. Utah
24. New Mexico
25. North Dakota
26. Minnesota
27. New Hampshire
28. Virginia
29. Wisconsin
30. Oregon
31. Iowa
32. Kansas
33. Nebraska
34. West Virginia
35. Kentucky
36. Washington
37. District of Columbia
38. Missouri
39. Nevada
40. Maryland
41. Pennsylvania
42. Rhode Island
43. Massachusetts
44. Ohio
45. Illinois
46. California
47. Indiana
48. Michigan
49. New Jersey
50. Connecticut
51. New York

So where does your state rank? The study found that warmer states seem to be the happier place. I guess they avoid Seasonal Affective Disorder. But what really caught my attention was that the wealthiest states were not necessarily the happiest. I mean come on, Mississippi is #6 and they are the poorest state in the country. Money really can't buy happiness. Of course that is easy for a poor guy like myself to say.

I look at this list and think about where we have lived and I don't know if I agree. We loved Las Vegas but Nevada is a whopping #39 . I can see that though, there is a lot of opportunities for misery there. We also really enjoyed Maryland but at #40 it is even lower than Nevada. Texas is #16 but I thought it would be much higher as most Texans feel the state is the greatest in the nation. It is no secret I cannot stand Utah but it is ranked #23.

Well, what do you think? Heidi and I are still debating what state should be our ultimate home or whether we should remain nomads. According to this list Louisiana would probably make us happier. I do love eating fried dough in the most corrupt city in the country. Hmm.

P.S. Heidi's parents are moving from Florida and the name of their realtor's name is Andrew Barnard. Hee hee hee.

Family Photos

A few weeks ago we got our pictures taken.
Thanks Christa (Sherrard Photography)!

I think we're pretty cute. Here are my favorites:

And here is our Lovely.

Doesn't he just melt your heart?

Happy Christmas Everyone!!!

For this I have thanks

I know, I know, Thanksgiving is over.
But I am counting my blessings today.
And I am grateful for all things, including:

Miracles

Stink Face

Angel Eyes

Mischief

First Meetings

and most importantly,

Eternal Families

Thanksgiving Menu

Our 2009 Adopted Turkey-Gideon

On Saturday we were able to share a compassionate Thanksgiving meal with a local group, The Society of Peace. We had a great meal, a good time, and we won a massage and a gift certificate to a vegan restaurant. Of course we are going to have our own Thanksgiving meal on Thursday and I thought I would share with you our vegetarian menu...and hopefully you will rethink what you are eating for Thanksgiving.

We are not going to be making all of this food, but this is a sample of all of the food you could make! Possibilities are endless!

APPETIZERS:
Mini zucchini and hummus
Pumpkin dip with cinnamon crisps (thanks Nicole)
Carrot dip and crunchy breadsticks

ENTREES:

Roasted Acorn Squash with wild rice stuffing

Vegetable Stew in a Pumpkin

Butternut Squash with Whole Wheat, Wild Rice and Onion Stuffing (not pictured)

Thanksgiving Tofu Loaf

This year we are going to have Quorn Turk'y Roast. It is made from mycoprotien and it actually tastes just like turkey!

SIDE DISHES:

Sensational Sweet Potato Bake

3-4 sweet potatoes, pre-cooked

1/3 cup orange juice

1 tsp ginger powder

¼ cup flour

½ cup pecans, chopped

1/3 cup brown sugar

2 Tbs. margarine

½ tsp. cinnamon

dash nutmeg

Mash sweet potatoes with orange juice, ginger powder and spoon into casserole dish. Mix flour, pecans, sugar and margarine until well combined. Spoon pecan mixture over sweet potatoes and sprinkle with cinnamon and nutmeg.

Green Bean Casserole

Mashed potatoes

Herb Gravy

½ cup whole wheat pastry flour

3 cups vegetable broth

1 to 2 tsp dried herbs, such as thyme, sage, rosemary, or tarragon

Salt and Pepper to taste

In a small bowl, whisk together flour with 1 cup broth. Pour into a saucepan and add remaining broth and herbs of your choice. Bring to a gentle boil over medium-high heat while whisking. Reduce heat to low and simmer until desired consistency is achieved. Add salt and pepper to taste. If necessary, adjust consistency by adding more diluted flour to make thicker, or more broth to make thinner

Fruit and Nut Stuffing (This is the BEST stuffing I've ever had!)

1 Tbsp. margarine

3 Tbsp. minced onion

3 Tbsp. finely chopped celery

3 Tbsp. chopped pecans

2 Tbsp. copped, dried apricots

2 Tbsp. dried cranberries

2 Tbsp. raisins

4 cups cubed, day old bread

1 egg

1/3 cup vegetable broth

¼ cup milk or soy milk

1/8 tsp. salt and pepper

Pre-heat oven to 375 degrees. Melt margarine in large skillet and stir in onions and celery. Sauté 3-5 minutes and add pecans, apricots, cranberries, and raisins. Sauté 2-3 minutes longer; stir in bread. Whisk together egg, vegetable broth, milk, salt and pepper. Gently stir well into bread mixture. Place into a greased 8-inch loaf and cover with aluminum foil. Bake 20 minutes, remove foil and bake 5-8 minutes longer or until top is lightly browned.

Cranberry Sauce

¾ cup sugar

2/3 cup water

1/3 cup orange juice

½ cup crushed pineapple

4 cups fresh or frozen cranberries

1 Tbs. cinnamon

1 Tbs. nutmeg

orange zest

½ cup pecans, chopped

Bring to boil water, orange juice, and sugar stirring until sugar dissolves. Add cranberries and pineapple and return to boil. Reduce heat, simmer until berries burst. Add orange zest, cinnamon, nutmeg, and pecans. Remove from heat; cool completely at room temperature. Chill, sauce will thicken as it cools.

Spinach and Strawberry Salad

Dinner rolls

DESSERTS:
Poached Pears
Roasted Apples
Blueberry Crisp

Perfect Pumpkin Pie

2 cups canned pumpkin

1 cup vanilla soymilk

¾ cup brown sugar

¼ cup cornstarch

1 Tbs. molasses

1 tsp. vanilla

2 tsp. pumpkin pie spice

¼ tsp. ground allspice

In a blender combine ingredients and pour into 9” pastry crust. Bake at 350 degrees for 40 minutes, cover edges with foil and bake another 20 minutes. Cool before serving.

BEVERAGES:
Silk Nog (hmmmm....)
Sparkling Apple Cider

If anyone wants to come to Thanksgiving Dinner, let us know...you are all invited!