Chickens, Chickens, and More Chickens

***CAUTION: This post contains headless chickens and chicken guts. Look away if you get queasy or if you love chickens and don't want to see where the stuff you eat really comes from.***

On July 25, I went with the in-laws to slaughter 27 chickens with the extended family.

I made a Chicken Music Mix CD, which was filled with fun songs like "Chicken Fried," "Brown Chicken, Brown Cow," "Sic 'Em On A Chicken," "Chicken Dumplings," and "C-H-I-C-K-E-N" (which me, The Dad, and Elise are dancing to), along with the classic Bill Cosby skit, "Chicken Heart That Ate New York City." Everyone said the CD was great and helped make the chore more fun.


Uncle Dan (who cut off the heads) and The Dad (who held the wings down and got covered in blood) pulling the skin and feathers off of the chickens.


Me gutting a chicken. I am crying and I almost threw up. It was still warm inside! Grandma S. was helping me. She kept saying how proud she was that we girls would have skills needed when the Lord calls us to Missouri. Sorry, when the Lord calls us to Missouri, I don't think we'll be gutting chickens, and we might not even eat meat. I guess I have these skills for when our government and economy collapse, so Andrew and I have to feed our families with what we can hunt or raise.


That's me with the chicken that I gutted.


All I can say is that Andrew really missed out. And that was quite the experience.

Friends at Lake Sacagawea

We met some of our good friends in the middle. We drove from Washington and they drove from Oregon. We haven't seen them since last November, so it was great to spend time with them.

Jared fishing with N (on the lap) and J (standing). I love this picture. It is so cute.

I kept telling Andrew that this was the future. Just imagine: Andrew trying to get toddlers to fish but they just want to splash the water with the fishing rods.


Some friendly ducks. Sandra was throwing them some delicious tortilla chips.


J with his drum that we brought him from Hong Kong.


N kept sitting on the cooler and then tipping it so he would fall off. It was so funny.


After our friends left with two sleepy boys, we kept trying to fish. We fished for three hours. Andrew was determined to catch a fish. We could not leave until he caught one.

Frustrated, Andrew just started to run his lure along some rocks. This little fella just attacked the lure! Super aggressive fish can come is very small packages.

The fish.

It was a good day. I was happy and sunburned, even though I didn't catch a fish.

Let's Go Fly A Kite!

Andrew bought a kite. He really likes to fly it. Last Friday, we went to Mukilteo Beach to fly the kite and we had a good time.


Andrew flying the kite. He always makes me try. I did well this time! I'm not very patient so I make big moves, but you just need to guide it gently. I flew the kite the best I ever have. But, I always get frustrated cuz no matter how soft I am, it always crashes into the ground. Andrew is good at flying the kite. He is trying to learn how to do some tricks.


Andrew and the kite. It's very colorful. The model is called Jazz.


Andrew's cute girlfriend who wanted to fly the kite. Her mom said she couldn't.


The kite from Andrew's point of view.

He is very focused.

You might be able to see a few other kites in this picture. There were about six other kites up. Andrew has the coolest one! You can actually steer it cuz it has two strings. It is really fast and makes a loud zipping noise in the wind. I think Andrew just likes aerodynamics.

My Truck

I'm borrowing this guy from my Grandpa. It is awesome. I love wearing cute shirts and carrying around cute bags or lugging around hot-pink polka-dotted luggage (which I LOVE) in the truck. It makes me feel... chic? awesome? redneck? Maybe all three.

And yes, I tied my suitcase down. I'm not sure how much I trust trucks to keep everything in the bed.

Remember that Dress?

I'm really really hard on jeans. I go through them like tissues. I think, on average, I buy about 3 pairs a year--every year--cuz the ones I bought last year died. I just wear through them really really fast, mostly in between my thighs they just wear through. It is sad. I also really hate buying jeans cuz I have such a hard time finding ones that aren't too long, fit my thighs, and don't fall off my butt. Usually these shopping trips include tears and frustrated grunts in the dressing room.

Anyway, when people are trying to lose weight, they hold their high school jeans as their goal. That won't work for me. They fell apart years ago. As did the ones from all through college. So jeans aren't a realistic way for me to measure weight loss.'

I have to use dresses. I have a bunch of dresses (15 full dresses and 21 skirts--not including formals or the wedding gown) and should probably get rid of some, but I can't. I fluctuate so much in size, that I wear different ones all the time.

Anyway, this last year I have not been happy with my weight and size.


Unflattering Easter picture. Not happy about this.

More flattering Easter picture--but still...

So instead, I have to measure my size by which dress I fit into.

I made this super super cute dress as a freshman. It fit on-and-off well and sometimes snug over the years. I haven't been able to wear it since 2009.

Today, I tried it on. And it fit! Snug, yes, but it fit. I even think I could have zipped it up all the way, but I had no one to zip the top up for me (the sleeves were tight, I need to tone my arms). YAY! I was really really really excited and happy.

Other dresses to fit into in the future include:

My wedding luncheon dress (and corresponding underskirt so it is modest).


And this beautiful girl--which I fit into at the most athletic and toned part of my life ever.

You may think, wow Sarah, you aren't even that skinny. I do not care. I don't believe that skinniness determines health. I know plenty of 100-pound women who cannot lift anything, swim a mile, run a 5k. What matters to me is muscle and tone, which actually weighs more than fat, so if I weigh 150 pounds because of muscle, that would be awesome.

And if it doesn't happen, that is OK. But I felt so good and healthy when I wore those dresses, why wouldn't I want to aim for that state of health again?

Swimming Party!

Our apartment area had a swimming party. We got into the pool for freeeeeee! Since I'm a fake-single for the summer, I went and tagged along with the people with kids.


Heather, Tim, Caleb, and Audrey were way excited to see me!


T-Roy and Kaylee. The sun was in their eyes.


Little Emma in her floaty toy.


The kids having fun! Such a great picture. I love Emma's face just peaking above her floaty. Audrey is jumping and Caleb is splashing.


Me with Kaylee, post-swim when it started to get cold. I'm such a great fake aunt.


For cutes!

If you didn't know, I just LOVE to swim. I could swim all day. I am definitely a little fish. I really would like to go water skiing and boating sometime this summer. We'll see if it happens. If not, at least I got to have fun tonight!

Andrew's Post

So, my wife has been bugging me to write a post for probably over two years. So here goes nothing.

I did something amazing today. I made Eggs Benedict and it turned out great! Here's a picture.

So, my Hollandaise sauce turned out pretty good. It didn't separate at all. I halved it, and probably put in a little too much lemon juice, and I cooked my poached egg with a piece of shell in it, but all in all it was great! Doesn't it look good?

Moments that Matter Most

This Mormon Message made me cry today. It was beautiful. I am grateful for the people in my life that make it so meaningful to me. I hope that each day I take time to recognize them and they other gifts that God has given me.

Wir kommen von der Bergen - Leavenworth, WA

We decided to spend our Saturday in Leavenworth. It is a little German town in the American Alps (aka the Cascades), see also Washington vs. Switzerland.


We saw a cherry stand! So we had to, of course, stop and buy some.

And they were so so good.

Don't you just want some fresh Washington cherries?


Welcome to Leavenworth! It was so festive.


Even the gas station was in German script.


The Alpen Folk playing music and yodeling! This is why I told Andrew we HAD to go. Yes, we bought the CD.

A delicious pretzel and amazingly delicious mustard. (Today was funny face day for me, FYI).


Pizza und Brats - Das ist Gut Ja? Andrew had a brat and sauerkraut--both of which he said were OK (he is really spoiled when it comes to German food) and I had a delicious hot dog (I don't like brats).


Bienenstich! This is my absolute FAVORITE German dessert, which I have loved since I first tried it at one of Andrew's family parties. It means Bee Sting Cake. It has almonds and a toffee-like thing on the top, then a light cake, some creamy filling, and more light cake. I LOVE IT SO MUCH!! And I'm so glad we bought this.


Me making a Barbara Streisand pose in front of the Hello Dolly Doll Shop.


The nutcracker store.



Andrew looking smooth and sophisticated and European in front of a painted landscape.



The human and dog drinking fountain. Humans on the upper two, and dogs at the lower one.


We really should have bought this apron for Andrew to wear. Sehr Sexy, Ja?


We went on a hike near Leavenworth, called Eight-Mile Lake. It was three miles to the first lake and one more to the second lake, so the total mileage for the round trip was eight.

The mountains.


The pretty purple wildflowers. :)



Me amongst the purple wildflowers, sticking out my tongue.


The second lake.

The first lake.


The raging river of snowmelt.


Me and this tree were the same height.


Can you see me? My shirt matches the flowers!


And we were starving so went back in to Leavenworth for a German dinner.
Andrew eating Schnitzel with noodles (spaetzla). The Brot (bread) was also very good. The Sauerkraut and Rotkohl were not very good. I'm not the biggest Sauerkraut fan but I do like Rotkohl, and it was disappointing. Andrew realized how truly truly spoiled he has been growing up as a little German boy eating delicious German food.

We then got gelato and mocked the people who just bought ice cream. They had no idea what they were missing. :D