Christmas in Mexico
Posted by helmut
I dreamed a couple of times that i made this post already, but realized the other day that i actually hadn’t posted anything since Hayden’s birthday. So here are some pictures from our stay in Mexico. We spent 4 days with Helmut’s family there over the Christmas break and had a really great time. Looking back all i can remember is eating. We ate ALOT. Nothing is quite as good as green salsa and corn tortillas. Just thinking about it now makes me want to go back.
We have Helmut’s biometrics meeting on wednesday for immigration. We’re so relieved that we’re not going to be interviewed again. Last time was such a nightmare (mostly because i was so nervous, the people there were really nice).
Helmut’s dad is baby proofing the screen door.
The very cool Christmas present turned weapon a few days ago, notice the cut under his left eye in the next picture…
Credit Card Debt Video
Posted by helmut
Hayden’s Birthday
Posted by helmut
Hayden turned 1 year old yesterday!! We had a great little birthday party for him with some great friends from church. We ate a huge chocolate cake and some ice cream. Here are some pictures of the event…
December 7, 2007
Posted by helmut
Helmut was out fixing the gutters the other day and left the ladder up next to the window. As you can see we’ve got a peeping tom. I blame Helmut….haha. Hayden is taking a nap at the moment and I am contemplating making some cookies. We finally got the immigration letter in the mail today so we are excited about going to Mexico soon and visiting with Helmut’s parents.
We had a great time with Dan and Erin on Monday and wished they could have stayed longer! They’re continuing to get support for Lahash, which is an organization that Dan started to support orphans and widows in Africa. It’s a really unique organization which Helmut and I fully support. At the moment they’re raising money for a number of things, one of which is a new school building for children in the Kibera slums. The school only costs 8,000 dollars and would mean a world of difference for those children and the people who have taken the responsibility of raising them. Hope is alive.
Mr. Ripley (the cat)
Posted by helmut
We recently had two of our cats go missing, so being the responsible pet owner that I am I decided to call the Humane Society and see if either of them had turned up there. They told me they had one that matched the description I was looking for and to make a long story short we ended up bringing home a cat that looked identical to one of those that we had lost. For the first 2 hours Helmut and I were convinced this was one of our missing cats, then the reality donned no us. Our cat had a notch in his ear and this one doesn’t. At the time we both thought this cat looked a little bit crazy in the eyes, but I just thought it was because he’d been locked in a cage for 2 months. NOPE. So here we are with a new cat which Hayden loves. He’s been chasing it around the house and pulling it’s tail to his hearts content. We decided to name him Mr. Ripley since he’s such a good look alike. In this picture he’s trying to follow the cat out the cat door to the garage.
All the cat chasing got him so excited that he stood up all by himself for the first time on monday….yay!!
November 27
Posted by Kari
Hey all, Things are going good here. We’re getting ready to celebrate Hayden’s 1st birthday in a couple of weeks. We went shopping on black friday and decided to get Hayden’s picture taken with Santa….so i thought i would share….on second thought i can’t seem to figure out how to get the picture to look bigger than a postage stamp, so i’m going to put up some different ones.
Happy Thanksgiving!
Posted by Kari
We had a nice and relaxed Thanksgiving here. We spent some of the day decorating for Christmas and the other half we spent baking and eating, then topped it off with two movies (Oceans 13 and License to Wed). Don’t ask me what i was thinking when i picked out a 16lb turkey for only the three of us. There’s about 15 1/2 lbs left in the fridge. That should last us right up until we get another turkey for Christmas. This year actually turned out good I think, the only thing that bombed was the gravy. Hayden enjoyed his first taste of cheesecake as well as turkey, cranberry sauce, mashed potatoes, sweet potatoes(of course) and homemade bread… Now the weather has dropped to the icy 50’s and we’re huddled up in our house trying to keep warm.
MSG Facts
Posted by helmut
Up until about a week ago I was under the impression that Monosodium Glutamate (MSG) (nicknamed “cancer fertilizer”) was only found in chinese food. After doing some of my own internet research I’ve found that it’s in nearly everything that comes in a bag, box or can. Sickening huh? All this time I thought we were eating an MSG free diet when in truth we are being inundated with the stuff. I’m doing my best to get the word out without freaking out, so I’m making a post about it for everyone who’s like me and just didn’t know.
Want to know what’s causing obesity in America?
Trying to eat an MSG free diet? It’s alot more difficult than you think. There are a few websites out there to help. I’m including the list of alias names for MSG for anyone that it might benefit…..
The following are a few products that ALWAYS contain MSG:
- Monosodium Glutamate (MSG)
- Hydrolyzed Protein: (plant, vegetable, any kind)
- Sodium or Calcium Caseinate
- Autolyzed Yeast, Yeast Extract
- Yeast Food, Yeast Nutrient
- Textured Protein
- Glutamic Acid
- Monopotassium Glutamate
- Gelatin
The following products may contain MSG or create MSG during processing:
- Natural Flavors, flavoring, flavors, natural �anything� flavor
- Bouillon or Stock
- Broth (chicken, beef, any kind)
- Carrageenan
- Whey protein, whey protein concentrate, whey protein isolate
- Soy sauce, soy protein isolate, soy protein concentrate
- Malt Extract or Flavoring, Malted Barley
- Maltodextrin
- Anything Protein fortified
- Anything Fermented
- Anything Ultra Pasteurized
- Anything Enzyme-modified
I wanted to come back to this post and add a few things that I’ve learned over the past few months of trying to eat an MSG free diet.
-when looking for minimally processed foods like tuna or mayo try the store brand. I’ve found that many of the store brand foods don’t contain MSG. Randal’s brand are sometimes good as well as target brand “archer farms.”
-some flavors of Wasa crackers come without MSG you just have to look. Hayden and i both like the “light rye” ones. they don’t contain any preservatives at all and are packed with fiber. There are also many other off brand crackers similiar to these that don’t contain msg.
-Whole Foods market sells chicken and vegetable broths that they make fresh daily.
-make sure the vitamins you’re taking don’t contain MSG. I was able to find some really good ones online at amazon that don’t have it.
-I’ve found one brand of pizza sauce and ketchup that doesn’t contain msg, it’s an organic brand called Muir Glen.
- I have yet to find a brand of ice cream that doesn’t have any MSG. I miss ice cream! If you find a brand that doesn’t have it let me know so i can add it to these updates.
November 5, 2007
Posted by Kari
Are vaccines good for babies or are they in fact killing babies and producing a more sickly society? This seems to be a touchy issue, but I challenge you to think outside the box and take a look at this video.
Then let me know what you think. I for one am not vaccinating my child or future children.
Learning to Blog
Posted by helmut
This picture was taken a couple months ago and Helmut is using this to help me learn how to manage our blog. This way i can update stuff regularly so the family can see it.