Maleficent

Audrey and I went with Kathy Cutler to see Disney's Maleficent at the Wandermere Theatre. What a great story line! Who knew Maleficent was a good person until she was betrayed and went seeking revenge. A great twist on the classic story. We all enjoyed it immensely. Afterward we headed to Applebee's for some lunch.

Enjoyable Saturday

Audrey and I went to the Valley Mall to see Dragon 2. It was a cute second edition to the series. Hiccup and Toothless chart un-mapped territories and discover a secret ice cave, home to the Dragon Rider. There was a sad part of the movie - why I need to bring tissues even to cartoons!

This weekend was the Stake Youth Conference and they had the youth go into "missions". On Friday they started by finding out about their area and eating food from that region or country. On Saturday they went on actual splits with the missionaries assigned to our area. And then in the evening, a family would feed them dinner. That's where we came in. We drove out to the stake center, brought the two young men to our home, fed them dinner, let them teach us a short lesson, and then we drove them back to the stake center for the remainder of their conference.  We served them spaghetti, veggies, olive cheese bread and blueberry parfaits.

OLIVE CHEESE BREAD
1 loaf French bread
6 ounces Pimiento-stuffed green olives
6 ounces black olives
2 stalks green onions
1 stick butter, room temperature
1/2 cup mayonnaise
3/4 pounds Monterey Jack Cheese, grated

Roughly chop both black olives and pimiento-stuffed green olives. Slice green onions into thin pieces. Combine butter, mayonnaise, cheese, olives and green onions in a mixing bowl. Stir together until thoroughly combined. Spread mixture onto French bread that has been sliced lengthwise. Bake at 325 degrees for 25-30 minutes or until cheese is melted and browning. Mixture can also be refrigerated (up to two days) and used as a dip with crackers.

Note: This was tasty. Made a lot! I would half the recipe. Plus, the French bread was really hard to cut once it was cooked (crunchy), plus cutting around the hot cheese. So perhaps putting this on sliced French bread rolls on a cookie sheet would be an easier way to bake and serve.

BLUEBERRY CHEESECAKE JARS
serves 6
For the graham cracker crust layer:
1 heaping cup of graham cracker crumbs
3 tablespoons brown sugar
1/4 teaspoon cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/4 cup melted butter
Combine all ingredients and "tamp" about 3 tablespoons into each jar or cup.
For the cheesecake layer:
8 oz cream cheese, room temperature
1/2 cup sugar
1/2 cup sour cream
2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1 teaspoon lemon or orange zest
Place all of the cheesecake ingredients in the bowl and with a hand mixer, whip until smooth and fluffy. Divide evenly among the 6 containers, placing on top of the graham cracker crust layer.
For the blueberry layer:
1 (20oz) can blueberry pie filling
1/4 teaspoon pure almond extract
Mix fruit filling with extract and divide evenly among the 6 containers.

Father's Day Celebrations

For Father's Day we celebrated all weekend! Saturday we went downtown to the AMC theaters to see Edge of Tomorrow. It starred Emily Blunt and Tom Cruise. Cruise played a military officer who has never seen a day of combat when he is dropped into an alien war. Killed within minutes, he finds himself in a time loop, forcing him to live out the same combat over and over. With each battle he increases his skill and begins to work alongside the Emily Blunt, a Special Forces warrior. The movie had lots of action, suspense and even some funny moments.

Afterward we headed back to where we parked, but stopped to check out the recently renovated Huntington Park. The park features viewpoints where you can see the lower Spokane Falls below the new City Hall Plaza. Signs tell you about the hydroelectric history of the region.

Next up was lunch (or breakfast) at Old European restaurant. Audrey got the crepes filled with sweet cream, I got potato pancakes served with applesauce and John ordered a club sandwich.

Because John had meetings on Sunday, we decided to do the present opening on Saturday. Sidney Kitty even decided to help. John got 2 new dress shirts and a couple of blu-rays, including the Oceans Trilogy. The bag labeled "Dad's secret stache" was full of candy bars that Audrey had bought for John.

Sunday: John asked me to make Chicken Enchiladas for dinner. This is an oldie-but-goodie recipe that I had not made in awhile. Then the Cleaver's had us over for homemade ice cream that evening. Alyx made a cinnamon crunch ice cream (with rice krispies) and a raspberry sorbet. *I'll update the post if I get the recipes from her :)

CHICKEN ENCHILADAS
3-4 chicken breasts, cooked and cubed
Grated cheddar cheese
2 cans (10 3/4 oz) Cream of Chicken soup
1 pint sour cream
1 onion, chopped
1 can (7 oz) diced green chilies
1 pkg flour tortillas
1 can olives, sliced

Brown chicken, onions and chilies in a pan. Add soup, sour cream and cheese to mixture. In a greased 9x13 pan fill flour tortillas with sop/chicken mixture. Roll and fill entire pan, with seam down. Pour remaining soup/chicken mixture over top. Cover with cheese. Bake 350 degrees for 45 minutes or until well heated.

Captain America

We went to AMC theaters and saw Captain America: The Winter Soldier today. Great movie - lots of action and adventure! Plot follows Steve Rogers as he works to embrace his role in the modern world. He battles a new threat, the Soviet agent known as the Winter Soldier.

April Activities

We had a free movie ticket so went to see Muppets Most Wanted on Saturday evening (4/5). It was "ok". Not my favorite Muppets movie. In fact, John fell asleep! The plot had the Muppets on a world tour and found themselves wrapped into a jewel-heist caper headed by a Kermit the Frog look-alike.

John started a mini-yard project. The paving blocks that surrounded a flower bed (between the cement patio and deck) had settled over the years. He removed them and then put them back after leveling the base.

Audrey Birthday Movie

Today we celebrated Audrey's birthday with her choice of movie and lunch. Audrey and I went downtown with Misit Munns, Kathy Cutler, and Shaylin Munns and met up with Mariska and Tyler to see the movie Non-Stop. (John was busy helping a friend, but was able to meet us later for lunch).

Non-Stop is about a US air marshal on a flight to London who receives a series of text messages demanding that he instruct the airline to transfer $150 million into an offshore account or a passenger will die every 20 minutes. There was a lot of suspense throughout the movie - you did not know who to trust or what to believe. Good action / thriller.

After the movie we headed to the valley for Cafe Rio. And to finish off our day we went to Steve and Angela's for dinner (lasagna, bread and salad). Great day!

Monuments Men

Went to Riverpark Square and saw Monuments Men today. The movie was directed by George Clooney. Starred George Clooney, Matt Damon, Bill Murray, John Goodman, Jean Dujardin, Bob Balabn, Hugh Bonneville and Cate Blanchett. "The Monuments Men" is a group of men (in real life around 350, and in this film 7) who are tasked with finding and saving the historically and culturally significant fine art, monuments and archives that had been stolen by the Nazis during World War II. I enjoyed the historical aspect of the film and the stories of the main characters. It was interesting to me as it was not something I was aware had happened during WWII.

Jack Ryan: Shadow Recruit

We went to see the new Jack Ryan movie with John's brother, Steve, while his wife (Angela) and daughter (Katie) saw another movie (Saving Mr Banks).

I did not know this, but the Jack Ryan character has been around for awhile - Alec Baldwin in The Hunt for Red October; Harrison Ford in Patriot Games and Clear and Present Danger; and Ben Affleck in The Sum of All Fears. This movie stars Chris Pine as Jack Ryan with Kevin Costner and Kiera Knightley in main roles. Jack as a covert CIA analyst uncovers a Russian plot to crash the US economy with a terrorist attack. It was a enjoyable way to spend a Saturday!

Busy Weekend

John's weekend was busy with the Klondike Derby on Friday night and all day Saturday. Who thinks of this stuff.... camping in the snow? He came home with everything soaking wet and smelling like a campfire. I know it is to teach outdoor survival skills, but perhaps the bigger lesson is a grateful heart for the warm clothes and home to return to?

While John froze, Audrey and I went downtown to Aunties Bookstore to pick up a particular journal Audrey needed in one of her EWU classes. Then we drove by the Display House and stopped to check out their going-out-of-business sale. The store has been in business for 30 years and was always a fun place to browse or purchase party supplies and costumes. With other retail options available to consumers, they have had to cut back in recent years and finally close their doors in early 2014. We were able to buy some fun costumes at a great deal (Muppets, Munsters, Werewolf).

When we got home from our errands, we had a message from the Thompson's inviting us to see the Saratov Approach at the Garland. The Saratov Approach recounts the true story of two missionaries for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints who were abducted in Russia in March 1998. While following up on a teaching contact, Elder Tuttle and Propst arrive at an apartment, are jumped and beaten by two captors and taken to a remote location. The missionaries find themselves in the middle of a terrifying hostage situation with a $300,000 ransom. Even though I knew the outcome, it was still interesting to watch the plot unfold. After the movie they had a Q&A session with Andrew Propst. It was interesting to hear his answers to some of the questions that were not addressed during the film. Thanks to the Thompson's for inviting us!

Saving Mr Banks

We went to the Valley Mall to see Saving Mr. Banks today. I love everything about Mary Poppins, so was rather excited to see this movie. Having Tom Hanks and Emma Thompson in the movie was a plus. It is the story of P.L. Travers very reluctant meeting with Walt Disney as he seeks to gain the rights for and adapt her Mary Poppins book into a movie. From the trailers it seemed like it would be a fun, light-hearted movie about the 'making' of Mary Poppins. However, it was full of emotion and depth in addition to music and humor. We got a glimpse into Traver's childhood in Australia, her relationship with her father, and why she was so against Disney transforming her story into a film. Bring a hankie!

Belated Birthday Celebration

December certainly gets busy, so we held off on my birthday movie and lunch until today.  Saw The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug (second in the series) at AMC. Loved it! Of course Audrey made me watch the first movie (An Unexpected Journey) before we went so I would be "caught up". I had read the J.R.R. Tolkien story as a youth so was familiar with the plot line. Knew the spiders were going to make an appearance! Audrey laughed when I was squirming in my seat.

Then we went to Clinkerdagger's for a late lunch. They seated us by the window.

Audrey ordered the fettuccine and John ordered the turkey combo sandwich. He started eating before we could snap a picture! Audrey thought hers was too spicy (it was) so John traded with her halfway.

I ordered my favorite, the open-faced crab sandwich with the Broadway pea salad. Yum!

Bro Date

John went to the movies with his older brothers, Steve and Ralph. They saw the latest Hunger Games movie, Catching Fire. He said they had a good time and the movie was great!

Frozen

We met up with Marcie and the kids downtown to see Frozen! We loved it!! The songs are catchy, the story line is interesting, the characters are fun - especially Olaf! I would watch this movie again and again and again!

John's Birthday Movie & Dinner

Today we celebrated John's birthday. He'll be 51 in a couple days, but since going to movies is a fun Saturday event - we decided to sneak it in a few days early. The birthday boy either was teasing us or had a hard time choosing which movie to go to. Finally he told us he had picked "Thor". Since I had not watched the first Thor movie, Audrey said it was mandatory that I watched it before seeing the second Thor movie. So we woke up really early this morning and watched it, then cleaned the house, and then headed downtown to see Thor. It was great! And Audrey was correct, I did need to see the first movie so I was thoroughly caught up with the plot. I like how the Marvel movies throw in action and humor. And I do enjoy the Stan Lee cameos.

Since we had popcorn during the movie, we were not ready for the celebration meal until later. So after doing some errands, we went to Casa de Oro for dinner. Always good service and quick seating. Thanks John for giving us an excuse for a movie and dinner!

Drive Inn Movies

We heard the drive-in located in Colville might be closing if they did not raise enough money to convert to the new required digital format, so thought we'd take a drive up there to catch it one last time. We drove up early on Saturday and spent the day checking out the local shops. We explored a place called Barmans right on Main Street. Had a lunch counter and a soda fountain, antiques for sale and 2 upper floors that are currently being restored. We then went to a scrapbook and antique store (Forget Me Not) and then drove over to where the Colville Fair was taking place. It was rainy so we decided to drive to Kettle Falls instead and checked out a few more antique shops (A Kick in the Attic and Red Apple Trading Post). We drove back to Colville and went to Stephani's Oak for dinner. Ordered chicken fettuccine, a Cajun fish dish and a Canadian Bacon and chicken dish. Way too much food for us to finish!

We stopped at our hotel (Comfort Inn) and relaxed until it was time to go to the movies. Since they don't open until "dusk" we had plenty of time. Tonight's double feature was Turbo and Wolverine.

A lot of the attendees drove up in their vintage cars - it was fun to see all the different cars that had been restored. We felt like we were ruining their groove because we were the only newer car in the back row (for awhile). When it got closer to movie time, it packed in nicely with folks in the back of truck beds and vans full of kids. I slept during a big part of both movies (no surprise to Audrey) so thankfully we had gotten the hotel to stay in. We spent the night and drove home the next day.

Graduation Celebration

Audrey just finished her AA degree from Spokane Community College so we decided to celebrate today. We went to see Red 2 at the Village Center Cinemas and then went to Franks Diner for dinner (well, breakfast for some of us). We absolutely loved Red, so very excited to see Red 2. Did not disappoint! Congratulations to Audrey!

Homework

Well, this is my idea of homework. Audrey had one last class at SCC, a literature class. Besides reading "The Great Gatsby" they could also see the movie to write a paper comparing the two. Audrey found it playing at the Garland (since it was no longer a first run movie) so right after work I headed over and we watched a movie "for homework". Movie was kind of intense. Definitely had to pay attention to get the entire plot. Later when Audrey read the book and had to list out what was different between the movie and the story, she was able to share with me the differences before turning in her paper. Interesting!

Family Events

James came to Spokane from Denver to spend some time with Grandma McMackin. We were able to get together with him on Saturday afternoon (7/20) and take him to see Lone Ranger. We met up with the Heerdink's at the CDA Riverstone Regal cinemas. Got the unlimited popcorn and pop for all. Loved the movie! And of course Audrey was more than willing to see it again. Funny, interesting, good story line. I'd watch it again.

Afterwards we stopped by the Heerdink's new house in Post Falls as they had recently moved. After visiting awhile, we went back to Grandma McMackin's house to meet with her and discuss dinner and the rest of the evening plans. We ended up playing pool for a couple hours (super fun and she is very good) and then we all went to Noodle Express. Grandma treated us all (thanks!). We were able to have a wonderful day!!

On Sunday after church we went up to the Gramlow's for Cheyenne's birthday party. James and Grandma McMackin were able to join us. They had a taco bar (either soft or taco salad fix-ins) and fresh watermelon. I made a jello salad and it was a hit with everyone, but especially the pop lovers in the crowd. It was a great weekend. We love doing things with adopted Grandma McMackin and it was a sincere pleasure to hang around with James. We don't see him often enough and he was a delight.

Cherry Cola Jello Salad
1 can (20 oz) crushed pineapple with juice
1/2 cup water
2 quantity (3 oz) packages cherry flavored jello
1 can (21 oz) cherry pie filling
3/4 cup cola
Drain pineapple (save the juice) and set the fruit aside. In a saucepan, bring the pineapple juice and water to a boil. Add jello and stir until it's completely dissolved. Stir in the cola, pineapple, and the pie filling and mix until completely incorporated. Pour jello into a large serving bowl or 9x11 pan. Refrigerate until firm (about 4 hours).

Busy Weekend

John and his brothers (Steve, Ralph, Robert) went to the Arlington Fly in. He left on Thursday evening so they were able to spend all day Friday and Saturday at the airshow and drive home on Sunday. He called a couple times so I asked him what they did. "Looked at airplanes, saw air shows, saw a WWII re-creation, went to the outdoor movie "Always", played dice games. Had chicken salad sandwiches for dinner and Subway for one of the other meals". When he got home we also heard about the proximity of their tent to the Honey Buckets. You can imagine some of the issues, but he said the worst was when they were still sleeping, early in the morning, they would hear the back-up beeping of the truck to empty the Honey Buckets ...beep, beep, beep. Then the noise while the trucks actually emptied. Lovely....

While John was on his Bro-Weekend, Audrey and I had our own fun! Friday we had oriental food and watched Skyfall. On Saturday we went to Meredith's baby shower at the Cliffords. Everything was pink - punch, cake pops and Italian buttercream frosting. Remind me to look up a recipe for Italian Buttercream frosting - it was delicious. Then we went home, made no-bake cookies and brought them with us to the Thompsons to watch Red. Bob and Kathy had never seen Red, and it is one of our favorite movies. They also had fun exercise equipment to try (a Bow-Flex and a Vibratrim 400).

Lone Ranger

Audrey could not get her parents to stay up and go to the late premier showing of Lone Ranger, but she did get together with Jill Nelson and her girls and they all went to the showing tonight. Audrey loved it!!