My Family Geneaology

I decided to do my family genealogy. I was surprised by how difficult this actually was. I went on to ancestry.com and started to map out what I knew. I called my mom's mom (my grandma) and got names connecting to us. I enjoyed hearing a story about how my great grandma and grandpa got together. She was half Mexican and it was a scandal because he was supposed to marry a full blooded German girl his family picked out for him. Instead he fell in love with Dorothy. His family would not speak to him for a couple years after they first got married. It was like connecting to people that are apart of my history. If they never had fallen in love I wouldn't be born.

 

 

I know the picture is small with the actual family tree but you can enlarge it if you click on it. I tried copying and pasting it from word but it altered it a lot. I also tried copying from ancestry.com and it didn't work.

This is my family tree... or part of it.

 

Making Scottish Oatcakes

I decided to make something from my cultural background. I have a strong Scottish lineage so I searched traditional Scottish recipes online and found Scottish oatcakes. Oatcakes are kind of like crackers mixed with pita bread. Many people in Scotland still eat these for breakfast in a similar fashion to toast. You can put jelly, butter and numerous other toppings to add flavor.

I did realize my lack of expertise in cooking when I saw the recipe and had no idea what shortening was. When my mother and I went to the store we bought the ingredients. Sadly I couldn't have my mother make these as I sit and watch because I get my lack of cooking skills from mother so I was on own.

Here is the recipe for the Scottish Oatcakes.

Ingredients

• 1 1/2 cups old-fashioned oats
• 1 cup all purpose flour
• 1/2 cup sugar
• 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 cup chilled solid vegetable shortening, cut into pieces
• 1/4 cup buttermilk

Preparation

Preheat oven to 350°F. Butter 2 heavy large baking sheets. Place oats in large bowl. Sift flour, sugar, baking soda and salt into same bowl. Using fingertips, rub in shortening until mixture resembles coarse meal. Add buttermilk; stir until dough forms. Transfer dough to floured surface. Roll out dough to 1/4-inch thickness. Using 2 1/2-inch round cookie cutter, cut out rounds. Arrange on prepared sheets, spacing apart. Gather scraps, reroll and cut out additional rounds.

Bake oatcakes until edges are pale golden, about 12 minutes. Transfer baking sheets to racks and cool 5 minutes. Transfer cakes to racks; cool completely. (Can be prepared 3 days ahead. Store in airtight container at room temperature.)
 

 

                                                                    Oats that I used.

                                                                   All the ingredients.

                                                           Measuring out the sugar.

 

                                                        First batch coming out the oven.

                                                                    Second batch.

                                                               Top view of oatcakes.

                                                                         Side view.

 

Visiting the San Jacinto Monument

Yesterday I went with my family to the San Jacinto Monument. I haven't been to the monument since a field trip in 4th grade. I didn't remember how bad the area was. It is very industrialized near the monument. My little brother and sister have both not been to the monument before. My favorite part was going to the observation deck which was a lot higher than I thought. You can see across the whole ship channel which was really cool. I do wish it hadn't been so dreary outside it was like grey. Luckily as we were leaving the weather cleared up and I got some good pictures of the monument. I guess because I haven't been since I was so young I forgot how huge the monument was. I learned from the elevator operator that its taller then the Washington monument.

 When we were going to the monument we planned on taking the ferry but we did not check when it opened. Thus the ferry was closed and we had to drive around to the bridge. I was a little disappointed that we didn't get to ride on the ferry.

                                         Far away view of the monument as we drive up.

                                                              Stairs of the monument.

                                                                        Sister posing.

                                                             Glass case in the foyer.

                                                           Information about the battle.

                                                                     Texas forever.

                                                      Information about the monument.

                                                           Paintings about the battle.

                                               View of the little museum in the monument.

                                                                  Sam Houston info.

                                       Guns from the battle. (my little brothers favorite part)

                                                                           Tea pots.

                                                       View from the observation deck.

                                                  Another view from the observation deck.

                              Bottom view of monument. (sun finally came out as we were leaving)

                                                              Monuments with clouds.

                                                      View of the monument as leaving.

Camping Attempt

So I attempted to camp this weekend. I realized camping is not my forte.
Step 1: Gather supplies

• Water
• Food
• Blankets
• Tent
• Flashlight
• Bug Spray
• Lantern

Step 2: Set up tent. I realized this step is not as easy as it seems. I will be honest and admit it took me about an hour to complete putting up my tent with the help of my sister.
Step 3: Set up the inside of the tent and put away gear.
Step 4: Spend the night.
Step 5: Take the tent back down. This was even harder than putting it up! Trying to fit it back in the bag was impossible, I had to get my dad to help.

I went camping in my backyard as I'm not an expert camper...(and I couldn't get my parents to agree to go with me to a camping ground yet they still wouldn't let me go with friends). I bribed my little sister to go with me because I needed someone to kill the spiders if we encountered any. We gave our phones to my mom Friday night around 8 then put up our tent and spent the night outside. We brought books and board games out in the tent with us. Our dogs loved the tent and spent the night with us because my dad made them stay outside instead of letting them in the house to protect us, and our spoiled dogs cant seem to sleep on the floor with some padding. We have two Rottweilers and a Jack Russell so to it was a tight fit with them spread out. I did like having time to read without any distractions but then I always love reading.

                                                                 Putting in the stakes.

                                                                Framework of the tent.

Tent laid out.

Sister helping put up tent.

                                                                           My bed.

                                                                     Door of the tent.

                                                               Side view of the tent.

                                                                   Other side of tent.

                                                            Door view from inside.

                                                                    Inside view of tent.   

                                                     Another inside view with windows.

                                                                   Me inside the tent.

                                                           Sunset through the window.

 

Building a Fire

When I was younger my grandpa and I would build fire together when it got cold and my family would gather around the bonfire and roast marshmallows. That's why I choose to attempt building a fire by myself.
Step 1: Don't spend 30 minutes collecting wood then leave it outside when its supposed to rain.
Step 2: Recollect wood the next day. Collect dry, dead leaves.
Step 3: Arrange wood in a fire pit or designated area. I formed my wood in a tee pee like design structure.
Step 4: Put leaves under and on top of wood.
Step 5: Spend a hour trying to Bear Grylls and rub two sticks together trying to create a spark to light the fire.
Step 6: Realize you need a matches.
Step 7: Search for a matches.
Step 8: Light the leaves.
Step 9: Continue to add leaves until the wood has caught the fire.
Step 10: Add wood whenever the fire starts to go down.
Step 11: Completely put out the fire before leaving. I first put it out with water then covered the ashes with dirt. The second part was mostly so my dogs would not eat the ashes.

I actually had a lot of fun building the fire. I was surprised by how fun getting to do that with my sibling was. I plan on building one again when it gets colder!!

Putting the first layer of leaves down in the hole I dug.

                                                                 Small sticks next.

More leaves piled up.

                                               Larger pieces of wood in a tee pee structure.

                                                                 Top view of structure.

                                                                 Starting the fire!!

                                                                Early stages of the fire.

 

                                                        As the fire starts to burn stronger.

                                                        Trying to roast Marshmallows.

                                                                    Another fire pic.

                                                  Brother Robbie roasting marshmallows.

                                                 Sister Amber also roasting marshmallows.

                                                             After the fire burned down.