Sledding with the family on Valentines Day

We all went up to the mountains to go sledding on Valentines day.

6 kids + 8 adults + $2 inner tubes = the most fun we have ever had.

These are the most fun pictures you'll ever see.






Chara took all of these photos and they are all great. The rest of the pictures are on facebook.

11 years ago today

We were married.

these are not the droids you are looking for

Some good simple food rules

saw this and really liked it

When it comes to our diet, we often get advice to “eat healthier” or to “eat more fresh foods and less junk.” But those recommendations are too fuzzy to be effective. For people to change, they’ve got to know exactly what’s expected of them.

Enter Michael Pollan, whose Food Rules are clear and pragmatic:

#11 Avoid foods you see advertised on television.

#36 Don’t eat breakfast cereals that change the color of the milk.

#58 Do all your eating at a table.

For more rules and Pollan’s explanations for each one, check out this article.

If you are trying to change behavior at home or at work — even if the change has nothing to do with nutrition — you’d do well to use these rules as a template.

Think i'll try to incorporate some of them into this next years resolutions of eating healthy

Ben...

Vegas baby

Vegas was great. The Muse concert was amazing. Chara and i both getting sick was unplanned for and not all that appreciated. But we had a good time and are happy to be home

Christmas Desserts

Despite cutting my thumb with our new knives that are WAY too sharp, i still made some awesome desserts

Chocolate Eclair Dessert
Eclair Dessert recipe:

Ingredients

• 3 individual packages graham crackers
• 2 (3 ounce) packages instant french vanilla pudding mix
• 3 cups milk
• 1 (8 ounce) container frozen whipped topping, thawed
• 1 (16 ounce) package prepared chocolate fudge frosting

Directions

Line the bottom of a 9x13-inch pan with graham crackers. In a large bowl, combine pudding mix and milk. Stir well. Stir in whipped topping to pudding mixture. Spread mixture over graham cracker layer. Top with another layer of graham crackers (you can frost these too) and remaining pudding. Top all with a final layer of graham crackers and frost with chocolate frosting. Refrigerate until serving.

Apple Crumble Pie

This was just some apple crumble mix thing i bought at the store and added butter to. no recipe.

December Nights

December Nights in Balboa Park was awesome. We had a great time with friends, had some great food and just had a great time.

More Pumpkins

Pumpkin Carving party

The Nail and Sail

OK here's the gist. You get 2 hours, a limited ammount of materials (wood, nails, caulk), you bring your own tools, and you build a boat, and then decorate it, and then sail it against the others

this was our first year of entering the Nail and Sail which was apart of Oceanside's Harbor days and it was a blast. We had so much fun...despite the outcome of the boat.

The 3 man build team consisted of myself, Joe and Kevyn

I know how to work a caulking gun

Joe rocking some lumberour boat coming together

Kevyn was the man with the woodworking

and this is what we made...

The team by our creation
All you need is love people...


And here was our epic sailing adventure caught on video:




And then our boat was in the dumpster...

next year we will win it all..