Visit with Caleb's Family!

We had so much fun last weekend visiting all of Caleb's brothers and friends. And of course our MAIN reason was to see baby Gianna in person! She is so tiny and precious.
Here are some pics of our trip:

Headache

Next time you think YOU have a headache...........

OUCH!

The 15 year old boy in this x-ray was stabbed at a bus stop in London. He LIVED!

Element Softball

Well last night was our 4th game of the season! Well, I say "our" game like I'm on the team. I didnt have the guts to join =) I do, however, go support the team each week! (unless its at 9pm) =) So anyways, I took some pics this time. Unfortunately, we got creamed! After winning 3 games in a row as "undefeated", we lost 12-2. Yikes! It was still fun to be there with everyone.

Jen, Jess, Mikey, Me, John and Dad watching the game, it was cold! Caleb was there but I made him take the picture =)


Elmer, our mastcott!


Aaron, up to bat


Aaron and some of the team hangin' out in the dug out


Jen and Jess!

This is a photo from another game night a couple of weeks ago...
Cara, Karin, Mikey, Me, my dad, John.....

Gianna Marie - The Newest Addition

Baby Gianna Marie is Caleb's Brother Jeremy's brand new baby girl! She was born 10 days early last Wednesday Sept. 24th. She is the first baby out of all the Tammar kids! Caleb is a proud uncle =) She is beautiful and has her mom and dad's red hair for sure! We are so excited, after thinking we'd have to wait until Christmas to see her, we get to drive up with Caleb's step dad Jim next weekend for a quick visit. Thanks to Jim for offering to drive us up with him!! We can't wait to see everyone and especially to meet cutie Gianna. =)

Another Bonfire!

This past weekend we had another bonfire with friends (though we missed the ones who couldn't make it! Kaleb & Whitney, Melinda & Ryan and a few others). It was such a nice evening! We started earlier this time, around 4 to give more daylight time. I got there around 3 to reserve the pit and thankfully I was able to get one right away. While I was driving through Pismo on my way there I got nervous because it was 80's in Santa Maria....but then lot 60's and extremely foggy in Pismo (typical) and then at Avila it was thankfully nice and warm in the upper 70's and clear. I spent some time by the water while I was waiting for everyone to show up (there's a pic of me with my feet by the water below). Everyone came between 4:30 and 5 and we started up the grill and the bonfire and just had a lot of fun with eachother! I put some pictures below =)

Enjoy!



Jen roasting her marshmallow


Jess being cute while Ollie is begging for Tom's food!


Roasting Marshmallows!


Cool Fire =)


John made a bridge out of the leftover wood - typical engineer!


Cara with Luke's Camera


Some of our burgers, thanks Shawn and Cara!


Right before this photo was taken, Mason threw one of the balls and it hit me right in the chest! He seems to be proud of this....


Catch!


Hi Matt!


So pretty!


I love living near the beach and don't take advantage of it near enough!


Dan and Luke juggled..........


Carrie with her adorable son Mason


Shawn cooking our food on the tiny oak pit. Thanks Shawn!

Tattoo Part II

Ok it's finished, it has the color (obviously), the verse reference and on his wrist it says "Crucified with Christ". I think it looks great...! He is excited but of course it hurts and is swollen for the next few days.
Yay for Caleb! ;-)

End of Summer Activities

Wow I'm sorry it's been so long since I updated! In fact I still haven't uploaded the pictures from my camera yet for the past few weeks so this will be a picture-less post.
We've had a blast the past few weeks with friends! Lots of dinners, hang outs, and time to relax. We are just so thankful for the people we are surrounded by!
Last night we went to support our church softball team at Hagerman field. It was a lot of fun, and we won too! Caleb & I aren't playing (though I think Caleb is regretting not signing up) but we were great chearleaders. :-) It's so much fun to have this new found sense of community within Element Christian Church. It is so much like a family! I went to another church in town for more than 15 years and don't get me wrong it was a great church and still is - however after a while as I got older it just wasnt the right fit anymore. Every week I feel like I'm seeing my family and to do things like softball games and BBQs really helps build our sense of community. It's exciting!
Switching gears now, Caleb recently had a chance for about a month to do some after hours hospice care to an eldery lady with cancer. Her husband is in fine health but just couldn't care for his wife as he needed to. I was so impressed with my husband and how it takes such a special heart to serve people as he does. Yes, he is goofy and yes he has a tatoo on his forearm now, but his heart is soft and open to what God has for him. It also provided extra cash that helped pay for his tatoo, and also for his school books (thank God for that!). The timing of everything was just perfect and really proved once again how God is providing for us even in small ways. Susanne, the lady with cancer, passed away last Thursday. However there may be more cases like this, Caleb is now on a list to be called when care is needed so it could continue to be an opportunity for him to make more money.
We are loving him working the day shift, same hours as me (pretty much) 7 am to 3:30 pm. Quite a shift from 3 pm to 11:30 pm! Though he had to take a paycut to work the day shift, it's well worth it. Though I will admit it was a bit of an adjustment. Don't get me wrong I LOVE my husband and missed him like crazy. I hated being alone every single night and also missing out on activities with friends because of his schedule. However I think I underestimated how it is to have free reign of the T.V. and dinner time and computer time! LoL! Suddenly I had this man in the house wanting to watch different shows than me and wanting dinner earlier than I was used to cooking it! After a month we have gotten the hang of it and I really do love having him around. I feel like a "normal" couple now!
Well that's about it for now, we have just been spending lots of time with eachother and lots of time with friends and I'm kind of sad for summer to be ending!
I'll try to post pics soon :-)

A Tattoo and a Bonfire

This weekend was a lot of fun! Caleb got his long awaited tattoo (see the bottom of this post for pics) and we had a bonfire with a bunch of friends! I love being able to spend time with friends and have a good time - it reminds me how blessed we are to have such great people in our life! Here are some of the highlights :)


A homeless person was trying to get our drinks!!!!
Oh, wait, I think that was me.............
That Ice was cold and my Smirnoff was all the way at the bottom!!!!

I love summer bonfire days!!!

Becky "Crazy Eyes" Tammar and her side-kick Jen :)


Karin, warming herself :)

A somewhat blurry view of part of his tattoo later that night.


How many guys does it take?


Finally, a fire!


Friends hanging out :)


If you are ever wondering what happens if you drop your camera in the sand, this is what happens. It gets blurry and won't zoom right. We called it the "Magic Photo" camera beacuse they started to look like the pics at the place in the mall.


Cara and Shawn at the bonfire!



Anxiously waiting!

Later, at the beach, all wrapped up!

Getting his arm shaved!

Here is Caleb in various stages of getting his long awated tattoo! The whole thing reads: "From now on, let no one cause me trouble for I bear on my body the mark of Jesus". It's Galatians 6:17. He has to go back one more time for some additional shading/coloring and to have the verse reference added.
All in all we are extremely happy with the work that Scottie at Copper Coffin did. It looks amazing!!!

Recipes!

So, first I'll start by saying I'm sorry - I don't have pictures to post with these recipes! They were so good that Caleb & I ate them too fast for pictures, hehe. You'll just have to take my word for it that I did make them :)
These are both sandwich recipes but they are not your normal sandwiches!

Sandwich #1 - "Steak & Carmalized Onion"

Ingredients (I dont have the exact measurements with me, but honestly I don't use them anyways, I just eyeball and it always turns out okay)

• 1 lb flank steak or any kind of top round (cheaper, and thin cut)
• Red wine vineager
• Olive oil
• Dried herbs (thyme, basil, oregano)
• Garlic
• Salt/Pepper
• Soy Sauce
• Onion (3 or 4 sweet onions, just depends on how much you want, however keep in mind that the onions cook down considerably, and also, it's good to have extra because these keep great in the fridge for over a week and you can use them on lots of other things!)
• Sugar
• Balsamic Vineager
• Dijon Mustard
• Rye Bread (though any will work, I like the dill rye)

Okay - so for the steak you put it in a large plastic bag (or big tupperware, whatever you like) and mix in about 3 tbls. red wine vineager, 2 tbls. olive oil, 2 tbls. soy sauce (again, this is all just a guess, you just can eyeball it it turns out great either way), a couple cloves of garlic minced (i just use the pre-minced jared garlic for a time saver), some shakes of the dried herbs and salt/pepper. Mix it all around and let marinate for as short as 30 minutes, but up to a whole day if you like.

For the onions - these are very easy. People tend to hear "carmalized onions" and think it's some fancy process. It's not! Slice the onions very thin, and put in a large sautee pan with just a bit of olive oil in the pan. Put the lid on for about 5 minutes and then stir them around a bit. Continue the process until they have cooked down a bit. (about 10, 15 minutes) Then add sugar (now, the recipe calls for some teaspoons of sugar, however I like mine sweeter so I add a tablespoon or more (depending on how large the batch)! :) Then add some dried thyme, just a few shakes (maybe a teaspoon or two).........stir up and put the lid back on. You'll see they'll start to cook down even more. When they look soft and transparent, add a couple teaspoons of balsamic vineager. Stir quickly as vineager evaporates, add a small amount of salt and pepper, then that's it, YOU'RE DONE! Remove from heat and you can just refrigerate them - they're yummy :).

Now you just have to put the steak that's been marinading under the broiler for a few minutes (it is thin so you dont need long at all, you dont want it tough!), then slice thin across the grain. You can toast your rye bread if you like, but just put some dijon mustard on the bread, add the onions and steak, maybe some tomato slices, and that's it! :) This is definately a favorite of Caleb's (mine too!) and I'm sure you'll like it too...........!

Sandwich #2 - Chicken/Cheese Panini

• Fresh basil leaves
• Sun dried tomatoes (though the recipe calls for roasted red peppers, I dont like those, so I substituted with the tomatoes and it was awesome!
• Sliced Cheese (the recipe calls for Swiss, but I used Monterey Jack. I have a feeling Mozarella would be great!)'
• 1 cup of so of cooked diced chicken. (I just cooked up some boneless skinless tenders with garlic, salt and pepper and cut it up small. I think you could just the canned chicken if you wanted!)
• Fat Free or light mayo
• Balsamic Vineager
• Whole grain bread

Mix 2 tbls. mayo with 1 or 2 teaspoons balsamic vineager. Spread mixture on bread, then lay basil leaves on 1 side of each sandwich. Add sun dried tomatoes (or roasted red peppers if you like), cheese, and chicken. I put mine in a George Forman grill though you could probably put them in a skillet or even a fancy panini maker. :)

Cook until bread is grilled to your liking, let cool before cutting.

Oh my gosh this was excellent, I made it last night for dinner and it was one of the best tasting sandwiches with the basil, and the sun dried tomatoes, yummmmm. :-)

Try one or both of these out & let me know what you think or if you made any changes like I did to make it your own! :)

Again-sorry no pictures!! :(

Being Sick Sucks

So this past weekend was supposed to be an awesome weekend. The last weekend with my brother and his family in town (they have now moved 1/2 way across the world for missions work)............we were all supposed to go to the beach with my niece & nephew Saturday, then hang out with friends Saturday night, Sunday was church and a good bye party for my brother. Well Saturday morning I got up feeling sick!!! I had a sore throat, really congested and my head was pounding. It got worse all weekend. :-( So, today is Monday and I had to stay home from work today because I was so busy all weekend I couldn't rest like my body needed. I'm feeling better than Saturday and Sunday, but I still have a cough and I'm congested.

My honey is so sweet though, he had to work today but when he came home, he had flowers for me!!! I love him so much. I love having him home each evening now!!!

And to make things even more awesome we got 2 unexpected checks in the mail today that we are putting towards his tatoo next week - which definately makes it easier to pay for. Yay :)

I need to get to bed early today and go to work tomorrow even though I know I wont be fully recovered yet. :(

Look at my pretty flowers!!