I scream, you scream...

WE ALL SCREAM FOR ICE CREAM!

Tuesday night, we got to use our brand new ice cream maker! Nate got an ice cream maker from my mom as part of his 'welcome home' package.
It is electric but still uses ice and rock salt (the messier the better for Nate!) We had a really fun time getting ready and figuring out how to make the thing work. We used packets of ice cream mix for our first experiment with this machine. Creamy Vanilla was the flavor of choice.
Only to realize as we poured the mixture into the ice cream maker that we only have 2 quarts of mix for a 4 quart maker. FYI, that won't work so well in our machine; so says the instruction booklet. So, after a "quick" trip to WalMart, we were cuttin' up like cheetah again.

Here's a shot of the machine in the sink as we were layering in the salt and ice.
And another shot of the machine as it had a cool penguin on the side that became visible after the whole thing started to chill. Neato!
And after about 35 minutes of churning, VOILA, ICE CREAM!
It was about 9:45pm when it finished and since Nate was part of a big change of command this week and he was getting up at like 4:30am. We quickly froze it and went to bed.

Here's the final product in the ice cream bucket.
Tonight, after some yummy spaghetti, Nate and a friend had some homemade vanilla ice cream with fresh strawberries on top. I just had the fresh strawberries but we will be trying out some sorbet and non-dairy homemade ice cream recipes after these 4 quarts are gone.

~N&S

P.S. And, of course, our spoiled pooch had to get in on the food action Tuesday night. He got a Frosty Paw, though! If you haven't seen him eat these, it is hilarious!

Check out that tongue!

Note that he is keeping an eye out for anyone trying to take his Frosty Paw! And that's my hand holding the plate because he'll chase it all over the kitchen licking at his dessert.

The Game

As you all know, we are without many of our "normal" electronic devices as of late. So, while watching Nate play PS2 (the one that didn't get fried!) on the TV in our bedroom, I was randomly surfing the internet (aka wasting time) when I found this neat idea! It seems it's very popular around the net, so I talked Nate into doing one for each of us. Here's how it works:

The concept:

1. Type your answer to each of the questions below into Flickr Search.
2. Using only the first page, pick an image.
3. Copy and paste each of the URLs for the images into fd’s Mosaic Maker.

The Questions:

1. What is your first name?
2. What is your favorite food?
3. What high school did you go to?
4. What is your favorite color?
5. Who is your celebrity crush?
6. Favorite drink?
7. Dream vacation?
8. Favorite dessert?
9. What you want to be when you grow up?
10. What do you love most in life?
11. One Word to describe you.
12. Your flickr name

Here is Nate's mosaic:

1. Nate and the Tornado, 2. New York Steak, 3. Enid Oklahoma Infrared, Meadow Lake Park ...,
4. Eyes of the hunter, 5. Stephanie Swift, 6. Strobist_Turns_One, 7. Valletta - Malta,
8. tiramisu, 9. Peterbilt Jettruck,......awesome!!!!, 10. after SEX, 11. Mysterious*, 12. Cerberus

And my mosaic:

1. his + hers, 2. alex's chicken marsala, 3. Warpipe Celtic Pipe Band, 4. Soft purple,
5. Face Josh, 6. water droplets in the shower - o.k. bokeh, 7. Positano, 8. Strawberry,
9. Bubbles of Pink, 10. spreading the love, 11. he loves me/he loves me not., 12. "Invasion of Time"

Hope you enjoy! If you happen to make one, too...post a comment and share it with us! :) We'd love to see them!

~S

Welcome Home Nate!!

It has been a hectic week but we wanted to let you all know that last Saturday night, Nate made it home a-okay! YAY YAY YAY! We couldn't be happier! Here's a shot of us at the airport.

Nate was such a sweetheart and brought me some of my favorite...CINNABON!! Here he is (with Taz in the corner) after he checked in and we got home around midnight. Nate was really fortunate as there were only 2 team members who got on the flight they all thought they were scheduled for. Long story short; the whole team showed up at the airport without tickets paid for and Nate happened be the second and last guy to get a ticket before it was booked full. After a confusing couple of days, the rest of the guys made it home in good condition and they have been given a 4 day weekend to rest up!

Oh yeah, first meal home - Sunday lunch....Long John Silver's!And of course, Taz and Nate had some serious bonding time!
THAT face deserves a close up!

Last night, we had a little cookout at our house in Nate's honor. A lot of the decorations have been up since Nate walked through the door last Saturday but hopefully you can get the fun feel from some pics!
Grilling outside of our garage because it poured down rain yesterday afternoon and our back patio was soaked.
Hotdogs. Hamburgers. Shrimp. YUM!There was tons of food inside! You may notice the lack of males at our party. Most of Nate's friends are currently deployed (thus their wives were there!) or they are at school/training right now. Steph and Ashley made cupcakes that said "WELCOME HOME NATE"
And, yes, Ashley's shirt says Virginia Western for those Roanoke people reading this...she's from Shawsville!


N&S (finally back together again!)

4th of July

HAPPY FOURTH OF JULY!!

Nate should be leaving Africa in the next hour and will be back in the states tomorrow! Keep him in your prayers for safe travels!

God Bless America!

~S