Saturday, January 30, 2010

Dad and Mom here - no photos yet -- We are about to head for Eldorado Springs for the water run with Boden - a beautiful day at the moment. I knew I wanted a new TV but when we got it before Christmas I never realized how mush use it would get! It entertained the Blackwells and now they are gone, we have been glued to it five hours a night getting our touch of Aussie sun watching the Open. The coverage has been great doing their afternoon session in our prime time and then their eveing session at 1:30 a.m. I can tape it so we've seen the semi finals. Look forward to the finals tonight!

Would love to hear more about the pup - good points of the breeds, where it came from, and how it spends the day when all are gone.

Love to all, Dad
Julie here,...in living color!
Mom and Dad (melanzana)-
Thank you for the birthday present! I love it - the color and the fuzzy warmness. Don't you think it highlights my blue (yuk, yuk) eyes?
Happy school days to Emily and Rachael! Rachael, go for it. Don't hold back. You'll never be here again.
Welcome to Chai! how adorable :)
Sarah is out and about again with mono behind her. In fact, there was a repeat event (Emily and Rachael) at Liam's house last night and she is sleeping over at her friend, Lauren's. I just hope she doesn't dive in too deep, too fast and have a relapse. There's so much social time to make up.
Take care, all, Julie

Friday, January 29, 2010

Rico here-
Sorry about the messed-up link to the Kauai photos- I'm working out the kinks! HAS fundraiser total is now over $8,500! I Can't believe the generosity of our school community. I'm working on figuring out ways to share photos and videos, so bear with me and stay tuned for more!
Cute puppy! Do we have a name yet? What was the motivation behind that wild decision? Good luck in your new school year, R & E!

Thursday, January 28, 2010

Mom and Dad

I just clicked on the shuttle pic web address on Rico's entry of earlier today and was faced with a address and password question. Can that be shared or do I sign in with my own address and create a password? We have not been to the site before. Would love to check the photos.

DAd


Soooooo, hasn't it been an eventful week in the Blackwell household!! On last Tuesday (Australia Day) we acquired a new member of our family, a 6-week old English Staffy/Beagle cross named Chai. She is very cute, as you can see from the attached pic (of which there will be many more to follow - the girls will make sure of that!) As I think you all know, I was the holdout on the dog for many reasons, both practical and emotional. It hasn't been an easy few days for me, but when I see the girls with the pup, I can't say that I regret getting her. We'll keep you posted!


Emily started Year 9 on Thursday, and was eager as ever to get back to school. She has a great timetable, "awesome" teachers, and is into the whole school thing wholeheartedly. Rachael is a bit more reluctant, but grasps the significance of starting her last year of compulsory schooling. She informed me yesterday that she only has 110 days left of school! Her timetable is not so great, but everything else seems "okay", and we hope she will take advantage of all the oportunities that being a senior has to offer!

Ken seemed to get back into the flow of work easily - I wonder if it will be the same for me?! I'll know more next Tuesday!
That's it from the underside of the world for now - be in touch! Love to all, Elli

Rico here- ( I've realized that we'll have to identify ourselves on the posts!)

Thanks for putting this togehter Rachael! Hope you're all settling back into life in Oz. Alden had a very nice birthday with big pink and blue cupcakes. School is busy with a Haiti fundraiser and all the other learning stuff. Kids are sick- what's new in January? I can't wait to mess around more with this and get everyone in more constant touch- I've wanted to for years! If you want to see more Colorado Kellogg doings, you can check out my youtube videos (just search rico kellogg on youtube) Also, here's a link to our shutterfly site with all the Hawaii photos: https://snowmass.bvsd.org/owa/redir.aspx?C=b45f18996e784a1b8522c744fcc12742&URL=http%3a%2f%2fkauainewyears200910.shutterfly.com%2f%3femail%3dhenry.kellogg%2540bvsd.org%23%253aemid%253dsite_addmembers%2526cid%253dSHARE3SXXXX

Travel News

Mom and I just put ourselves on the wait list for an Elderhostel Cruise to the Greek Islands and Turkey for early May. It is two weeks long and will take us back to some familiar spots and add a few new ones like Istanbul and Troy. We are excited and hope we get on. If we don't, we'll probably do something else at about the same time. We both liked the brochure - a medium size ship with an Elderhostel group on board. I think the cruise idea is good for me at this moment since there won't be a lot of cramped bus travel and sitting. We'll see and keep you posted. If we aren't on by March 22nd, we won't make it and will have six weeks to plan something else.

Also on the travel front, I'll be making reservations this weekend for the trip to Concord for the AP conference. There are already 187 students signed up for it so it is a go. We'll probably be away March 13 to 20 and fly into either Manchester or Boston. We'll be at a hotel in Concord three nights and with Ann Sayce for a couple. Our invitations for staying are shrinking as friends age or die. The down side of maturing!

Sunday, January 24, 2010

Well, we are on and have copied the recipe. Now to figure out how to post some pics but that won't be today. Julie and Sarah came out in Mom's favorite color combination - doubt if we will be as clairvoyant! Talked to Kate, Elli, and Julie in the past 12 hours - glad to hear Boden and Sarah seem to have turned the corner on their illnesses. We heard a great concert last night - 3 Bs. Bach's Brandenberg #3, Beethoven's 5th, and Brahms 1st piano concerto played by a Boulder native who is internationally known and a powerful player. The house was sold out, ovations were standing, and, I thought, the 5th was great. One I know done very crisply and full. Makes me think it is time to get new stereo equipment to try to recreate some of that in theater sound..

Friday, January 22, 2010

a very respectful child, pre-mono!

Texas Beef Skillet Recipe

Here is the recipe for Texas Beef Skillet, which we made at the Coburns. I know that Julie and Dad both asked for it, so here it is! It's easy, yummy, and very flexible - put in leftover veggies, etc.

TEXAS BEEF SKILLET
1 pound ground beef
3/4 cup chopped onion
2-3 cloves garlic
1 16-oz can chopped tomatoes
1 16-oz can red kidney beans
1/2 cup quick-cooking rice
3 Tbs. chopped green pepper
1-1/2 tsp. chilli powder
3/4 c. shredded cheese
corn chips, to serve
Brown onion, garlic, and beef in a large skillet until cooked. Drain off fat, and stir in the undrained tomatoes, undrained beans, green pepper, uncooked rice, green pepper, chilli powder, 1/2 cup water and 1/2 tsp salt. Bring to the boil, reduce heat, cover and simmer for 20 minutes, stirring occasionally. Top with cheese, cover and heat about 3 minutes until cheese melts. Serve with corn chips. Enjoy!! XO Elli

Wednesday, January 20, 2010

Welcome to all the Kelloggs, and their offspring!
Happy blogging
:)