2008 NNKC Awards Banquet

This year the awards banquet was held at the Rec Center in Sparks. It wasn't as "plush" as the hotel they usually had it in, but the club saved quite a bit of money (which is great!) and we all still had a very nice time! They had the meal catered by a BBQ company (they bring their big smokers etc. and they are outside-like big traileres) and they served tri tip with au jus and horseradish, salad, veggie platter, rice, steamed veggies and chicken thighs, breasts, wings and drumsticks. Very yummy!

Here is what the tables looked like. The chairs reminded John and I of being in school in the 80's and it was like being in the school gym. It was fun!

The cake was 2 layered, one chocolate and one vanilla with strawberries and whipped cream in the middle...Mmm!

Here is Justin with his 2nd place trophy and Trevor with his 1st. Trevor thanked Justin for making it such an exciting racing season. Justin only lost by 1 point...yes ONE! Sure made for some pretty exciting races!

Justin's trophy...they were the best trophies ever this year, in my opinion. Very nice, heavy and beautiful, not cheesy!

Jacob having a bit of frosting...

Justin with his Junior Rookie of the Year Award!

Isn't it beautiful?

Grandpa winning 3rd place in his class! The MC was joking about how he was the "rookie" of the class (it's his first year racing) but he wasn't a kid! The man on the left is Rich Adams, who took first place (his first year as well) and he's one of Justin's dentists!

Bob with his trophy.

Now introducting.....Junior Rookie of the Year!

Last night at the NNKC Awards Banquet Justin won a special award for Junior Rookie of the Year. He was so excited; as we were as well! It was such a surprise and just shows how much he's improved! His first year in this particular kart (with a totally different type of motor) and not only did he have to figure out how to drive it well, Dad had to figure out how to fix and "tweak" it when needed! And he managed to miss out on the championship by only ONE point! You go Jus!!!!

Indian Salmon

Linda and Bob came over for dinner last night and Linda made this delicious Indian Salmon. I am not a seafood fan, as most of you know, but this was really delicious and I think I've found a way to get some healthy salmon on my dinner table!

Jacob and Daddy were having some fun around the house...

Here is the Indian Salmon....

The yummy fresh salmon. Looks beautiful!

Now it is covered with mayonaise, parmesean cheese, slivered almonds and black pepper.

Here it is when it came out of the oven. Originally we put it in at 350º for 30 minutes, but ended up cranking it up a bit and having it go about 10 minutes longer...darned high altitude!

Here it is all cut and ready to be served!

We also had salad with Feta Cheese and a Girard's feta dressing, herb noodles, asparagus and some rolls! Mmm! It was a delicious meal!

Appliances and Such....

I tried to get some pictures today of the new appliances, but it was harder than I thought to get some good ones! Everything is installed except the washer and dryer.

The fridge.

Here is the compactor. I love having one! You sure can squish a lot of stuff in them!

The dishwasher.

Dishwasher again.

The stove.

The garage doors! The men finally came back and put the handles on. I think it dresses the doors up a lot!

The dryer.

The washer. Oooh lots of buttons :-)

Our shower; we had to get a special steam shower door due to the Mr. Steam steam shower we are having.

The doors (lacquered) and the door hardware.

The pocket doors to the laundry room. There is also a pocket door that goes into the part of the bathroom with the toilet and tub!

Crawling...sort of!

Jacob has been attempting to crawl for some time now. He used to roll all over the place to get from point A to point B (and he was FAST!) and he prefers to walk, holding your hands, but he's trying to crawl! He can do it (although he tends to go backwards more than forwards) but once he gets to where he wants to go he just lays on his stomach again! But I did catch a bit of him doing some crawling!

Dinner Last Night

Last night John made seared Ahi Tuna and I made an edamame salad to go with it and brown rice. The boys didn't really care for the bean salad, but I sure did! Mmm. More for me!

Edamame Salad:
1 pound shelled edamame
1 T sesame seed oil
1 T rice wine vinegar
2 T soy sauce
1 t chili sauce (I used chili oil)
1/4 cup sliced almonds, toasted (I did not have almonds so this was omitted)
1/4 cup chopped basic
1/4 cup chopped mint (I don't care for mint so I omitted)

Cook the edamame according to package directions. Drain and let cool. Mix everything else in a bowl. Toss the edamame in the dressing to coat.

Here are the ahi tuna steaks marinating. It's a simple marinade and I think it marinated about 3 hours or so.

Seared Ahi Tuna:

2 (6-8 oz.) ahi tuna steaks (3/4 of an inch thick)

2 T dark sesame oil

2 T soy sauce (or 2 t of wheat-free tamari for gluten-free option)

1 T of grated fresh ginger

1 clove garlic, minced

1 green onion (scallion) thinly slicked (a few slices reserved for garnish)

1 t lime juice

Mix the marinade ingredients together and coat the tuna steaks with the marinade, cover tightly, and refrigerate for at least an hour.

Heat a non-stick skillet over medium high to high heat. When the pan is hot, remove the tuna steaks from the marinade and sear them for a minute to a minute and a half on each side (even a little longer if you want the tuna less rare).

Remove from pan and slice into 1/4-inch thick slices. Sprinkle with a few green onion slices.

Here it is searing....

Here it is all finished! It was DELICIOUS and healthy! Yippee!!!

Floor and Fireplace

I went by the house today and got to see the fireplace tile on! It looks great! It isn't grouted yet and there are "spacers" between the tiles to keep them in place while they dry. It sure looks great!

Here is the floor in the living room/dining room! So far the living room, kitchen, front entry way, front entry closet, master bedroom and closets are finished. John was working on our bathroom and part of the hallway is finished....It's almost there!