Number One Son

Keiler turns fifteen today (Dec. 26th)! Happy birthday! That's him, standing with his namesake outside the hunting and fishing museum in Munich. Rowdy thought that he was just making up that name, but it turns out that "keiler" means "warthog" in German.

Of the three kids, Keiler is the most like me. Funny how that happened without me having anything to do with bringing him into the world and not even knowing him until 2005. He, like me, is the second-born, so I think that's why I feel like we're similar and I can understand him. He definitely wants to stand out and not follow in his sister's footsteps. Fortunately, that doesn't include being a wild child.

He's a very intelligent young man, with dreams of becoming an electrical or mechanical engineer. Someday, he'll design something really impressive that we'll all use. We like to encourage his mechanical skills and buy him things like build-your-own-robot kits and computer programs. He's a reader and a thinker, not an extrovert at all.

Usually, he's pretty shy and not ready to start charming the ladies. However, he's been watching his dad and picking up tips that will help him in his future relationships. For instance, Keiler almost always opens the car door for me, because he's seen Rowdy do it. He's very good about asking me if he can carry something for me or if I need help in the kitchen or when I am trying to get things together for Primary on Sunday. (I hope that he does the same things for his mom, Julie.)

Keiler and Jordan are doing different tasks around the house to earn money for EFY. We decided to add some things to demonstrate their spiritual fitness, as well as their ability to work. Keiler recited several scriptures from memory, as well as some Articles of Faith. These were not "Jesus wept," or "and my father dwelt in a tent". We discussed the meaning of the scriptures, and he had some really good insights. He will be a good missionary, and he's already a good Aaronic Priesthood holder.

It's great to watch Keiler grow into such a fine young man. I'm proud and honored to have him in my life, and I love him very much.

We Love Sea World, Too!

It's not just Luke who loves Sea World (check out We're SWELL!)--the Briccos love it, too.

One of the nice things about living in Sandy Lameo is that you can purchase a year-round pass for the same price as a single-admission ticket and be sure to make it worth your while.

My favorite part was the dolphin encounter. I love dolphins, and it was so fun to be able to pet one and feed him. I'm definitely signing up to do the more intense encounter, when you can put on the wetsuit and get in the water with the dolphins and their trainers.

The only time I've been very close to a dolphin in the wild was in Costa Rica on our honeymoon. Rowdy saw dolphins swimming along beside me as I was surfing. Since I was concentrating on not falling, I missed it. It would've made a cool picture.

(That's me on the far right. I had 10 inches cut off my hair last Wednesday.)

O Tannenbaum

We discovered that we had very few Christmas ornaments, particularly ones that were "ours" as opposed to "mine". We have tried to buy ornaments as we have traveled--a camel in Morocco, glass ornaments in Italy, etc. The other night, we made a trip to Crate and Barrel and got some very cute ornaments. Our favorites are the bristly squirrel and rabbit, the bark bear and the penguin.

Weapon of Mass Distraction

Rowdy discovered the website http://dangerouslyfun.com/. As you may imagine, it is not for everyone.

This is my very first time on stilts! It's much easier than I thought, but of course I was only 1.5 feet off of the ground. It will be tricker at 3'.

Another cool thing Rowdy made from a design on dangerouslyfun was a ping pong ball gun. Oh, the fun a boy can have with a cardboard tube, duct tape, an exacto knife, hairspray, a pingpong ball and a pietzo lighter. And how much more fun can a man have with PVC pipe, a flint for a lantern, hairspray and a pingpong ball?

More Deliciousness Chez Bricault

Today, we had salmon with a dijon mustard sauce and pasta with sauteed vegetables; to drink, grapefruit juice mixed with ginger ale.

Salmon with Mustard Sauce

2 salmon filets

olive oil

lemon pepper seasoning

1/2 tbs butter

1/4 c. chicken broth, divided

1 tsp. dijon mustard

Brush olive oil on both sides of the filets. On medium-high heat, brown the fish on one side (about 3-4 minutes). Turn the fish and sprinkle on the seasoning. Cover and cook on medium heat for 2 minutes. Uncover and add 1/8 c. broth and the butter. Cook uncovered until the sauce is reduced and the fish is translucent (about 4-6 minutes for frozen fish and 2 minutes for fresh). Remove the fish and add the rest of the broth to the pan to deglaze, then whisk in the mustard. Serve over the fish.

Sauteed Vegetables and Pasta

I sauteed chinese eggplant, yellow pepper, zucchini and green onion in olive oil with some fresh-ground pepper, a little lemon pepper and some sea salt. Once the pasta was cooked and drained (I used penne), I added that to the vegetables and cooked it together over medium heat. To finish it, I added some chopped fresh tomato and some parmesan cheese.