Bye-Bye, Blonds

Looks kinda devilish here, doesn't he?

(Review this before proceeding.)  We thoroughly enjoyed hosting Cassie, Davis, Jerrett, and Roger these past few days.  Roger stayed at his own place here in town each night; and Jerrett stayed overnight with us just Monday before returning home to Mandan, ND last night.  However, we got to have Cassie and Davis here the whole time and play with Davis during the day and help get him ready for bed at night and greet him when he awoke in the morning . . . oh, and visit with Cassie, too, of course!  Also, we all stopped by the nursing home yesterday to see Susan's grandma Laura, and she seemed delighted to visit her grandkids and great-grandkids.

Yesterday and today, Cassie helped Susan out at Bible school, which was better today after a stressful start Monday and a fist fight between two volunteers yesterday!  Yep, two middle-school-aged helpers engaged in fisticuffs when one irritated the other; and Susan found herself breaking it up, contacting the parents, cleaning up the blood, and figuring out a way to go without those two boys' assistance when she was already short-staffed as it was.  Having a cute toddler waiting for her at home was probably therapeutic for her this week!

Unfortunately Davis and Cassie had to leave today.  Cassie's husband Nick was due to arrive at his parents' home in MN, so Cassie and Davis made their way to him by hitching a ride with Nick's brother Louie, who stopped in Dickinson with his son Dominic en route from their home in CO.  We're grateful that Cassie and Davis made time for us!  It's not easy to travel with a small child, and we realize the inconvenience and expense they deal with when "coming home."  But we love that they come home anyway, and it's always great having them here!

Davis snuggles with his aunt Susan

Davis grins with his uncle Kevin

Cassie notices that her nieces are catching up to her in height!  Left to right: Suzanna, Hillary, Cassie, Davis, and Abigail

P.S.  I used a couple new recipes tonight and invited Roger over to try them out.  One was grilled salmon and halibut skewers.  I cut the fish fillets into cubes and marinated them in olive oil, fresh lemon juice, soy sauce, Dijon mustard, black pepper, salt, and the juice of an onion.  Then I alternated them with red onion, red pepper, and yellow pepper on skewers and grilled them.  They were so delicious!  Hillary called them "fish kebabs."

The other was a recipe for strawberry parfaits with a couple twists.  I made an unusual syrup by boiling down balsamic vinegar, sugar, and lemon juice.  Then I made whipped cream (heavy cream, sugar, vanilla extract) but added mascarpone cheese to it.  I cut up fresh strawberries and tossed them in the syrup before filling parfait glasses with alternating layers of strawberries and whipped cream.  The balsamic syrup looked like chocolate but certainly didn't taste like it, and the mascarpone cheese gave the whipped cream extra body but also a slightly tangy taste.  The overall result was a less-sweet version of strawberries-and-cream than we're used to, but it was an interesting variation.