Snow Time Fun

When we first bought our place, we were informed by the neighbors behind us that our backyard and been the site of many an adventure for the neighborhood kids.  Last winter (March, I believe) the Upstate was hit with a hefty snow and our back yard's slope was a perfect location for sledding.  Well, winter hit Friday night and by Saturday morning, the Upstate was covered in snow that was covered in ice.  Without missing a beat, the kids behind us pulled out their sleds are were sliding into our backyard before we had finished our morning cup of coffee.  It took about 10 minutes more before Tim, and eventually I, joined them.  Here are a few pics of the winter fun followed by a picture of three "kids" worn out from the excitement:

The Bounty of Blogging

Sometimes, a lazy Sunday morning really pays off and you can experience the goodness of God in a way unlike the experiences had in church. It was quite cold and rainy this morning (as many locals know) and Tim and I had a difficult time getting motivated for the 11:00 am service. Instead, we turned on "The Barefoot Contessa" (a first for Mr. Brock) and enjoyed watching her create roasted fingerling potatoes with dill. Tim enjoyed this episode so much that it inspired tonight's meal. We had the Fresh Market on the docket for the day, so we checked for fingerling potatoes and didn't have any luck. We did find small red potatoes and decided these would suffice. Deciding on a protein to compliment took only a few seconds. We remembered the delicious flank steak recipe found on one of our favorite food blogs, Simply Recipes.  Being the brussel sprout lovers that we are, we decided this would finish the meal off nicely.  Andy and Mary had recommended a new way of making brussel sprouts where the sprouts are roasted with garlic.  When we returned home, I found a blog that highly recommended a wonderful roasted brussel sprout recipe.  Minus the balsamic vinegar, these were delightful!  To replicate the Contessa's potatoes, I searched Google and found yet another blog with raving reviews of Ina's dish.  The culmination of all of this blogging looked like this:

Obviously, the fact that I am taking time in the fleeting hours of my weekend to blog about this meal, we thoroughly enjoyed it.  If there were any doubts, the proof is on the plate:

Though we did skip out on church this morning, we were reminded of the wonderful ways in which our God takes care of his people and spoils them in ways they do not realize.  Thankfully, blogs make these experiences more easily accessible!  If you don't blog or pay attention to them, you may be missing out!  Everyone have a blessed week and remember to be thankful you are in a position to take advantage of the bounty of God's grace.

What's Happening at 516

Our newest addition, Tillie, has proven to be quite the fiesty one!  She has quickly put Rocky in his place, let us all know how loud her bark can be, and discovered that she does NOT like Children's Benedryl! She has also gone to the groomer once and the vet twice.  She's been quite the busy 12 week old!  Here a few photos of the dogs doing their thing...