Yesterday's

lettuce wraps were presented along with these scrumptious skewers.  Orange zest, juice, soy sauce, garlic, chili sauce and flank steak!

                                                                   Fiesta Family!

Our family has a tradition of using Fiestaware dishes from Homer Laughlin.  We love the colors, shapes, sturdiness and cheerfulness of these dishes.  So far, one sister-inlaw, one niece, two nephews, and three daughters use it besides myself.  I even got my florist friend started for her birthday!

                                                              Who will be next?

                                                         Orange Poppyseed Scones!

I made these this hot 104 degree day because I was hungry and bored of hiding inside.  Boy, were they good!  The recipe called for lemon instead of orange, but since I didn't have lemon, orange was it and was a big hit!  I got the recipe from ourbestbites.com and want to try a lime, coconut version.

Sacramento Temple Wedding

We've been waiting for more wedding photos from our third daughter and here are a few.  We can't wait to spend time with them when they come to California in September. 

Eunice Reasor Brown, joined the church in 1840.  She is a neice to my 3rd great grandmother

William Whitcher has a long line of early American history attatched to the Olson family.

GENEALOGY

We have been very busy doing family history for the past two or three years.  It is so rewarding to find your ancestors that you have been searching for.  Sometimes we find wonderful stories, obituaries, and pictures.  As we visit our family each Sunday during our dinners, we know how important it is to pass it on forward to the next generation.  Doing family history reminds us of where we came from, where we have been, and where we are going.

Romance

Finding photos of us dancing are few and far between. We have been married 28 years now!   I really like the ceiling of the wedding at San Jose.  It was made with butcher paper and twinkle lights. 

Sydney is our dog.  She barks a lot.  She begs for food and treats from all at our Sunday dinners.  She loves napping with a friend nearby on the bed.  Syd is having a crisis.  Her favorite thing in the world is taking walks on her leash.  She even likes wearing her leash just for fun.  Lately, when we walk her, she gets scared of loud noises and turns herself around during the walk and points herself home.  You can try to reason with her, but to no avail.  She will  not budge.  She wants to go home.  When she hears a loud noise, she stops, looks up at me, and then slowly turns herself the opposite direction towards home.  She is basically saying, "I'm going home now.  I don't like this anymore."  Who ever heard of a dog who turns herself around and wants to go home on a walk?  Tonight, she only got two houses away from home and she turned herself around and pulled me home.  Odd dog.

This week we had a graduation and party.  All sorts of family and friends helped us celebrate and we had a terrific time celebrating our girl! Congrats!  Of course, grandma thought our girl had graduated from 8th grade!  She hasn't let anyone age past 2008, because that is when she last remembered things and how they were.  It was so fun to have our grandson here to entertain us along with all of our married girls too!

Who is this bride?

Sibling Sunday afternoons can be very interesting when Grandma is here.  Imagine explaining a daughter's marriage more than 20 times in one night?  If you can imagine that, try imagining it twice !  Two weddings.  Two brides. Two grooms.  Two beautiful dresses and bouquets.  Twice as nice .... and also twice as confusing and entertaining to Grandma!

Flowers By Lisa's Flor Decor

Photos by Ian McDowell and Libby Tolman

Launching into the unknown with Sibling Sundays

    Every Sunday we gather at my house, or another family member's home to share fresh food, good company and have a competitive game of dominoes with Great Grandma .  As she has aged, she has lost all of her short term memory so dining always comes with lots of fun and repeated questions.  We are all starting to learn just how fun aging can be. We know her days are numbered, and falling like dominoes one by one, so we thoroughly enjoy being patient with her and laughing over and over with her at repetitiive sayings and jokes.  She just enjoys the moment she is in and doesn't worry about what was before, or what will be.  We should all be more like that! Spending time with each other has created many memories as we talk about the future and the past with our loved ones.  Sometimes we look at pictures, repeat sayings, dances, and stories.  My sister-in-law was talking to others about how we always gather and celebrate our family and she coined the term, "Sibling Sunday," so I thought I would write about our adventures. 

     I love to cook meals to share that are simple, tasty, fresh and healthy.  I've discovered the two blogs, "Our Best Bites," and "Favorite Family Recipes," which are fantastic resources! I also use a lot of my own recipes, some from my mom, daughters and sister-in-laws.