The Newest Fleschner!

Well, she's finally arrived. Just a couple days behind schedule, but in quite a rush to make up for lost time, Georgia Lee Fleschner was born at 2:07am on August 22, 2008. She weighs 8 pounds, 12 ounces, measures 21.5 inches long, has a ton of dark hair, and dark blue eyes, at least for now. Sebastian pretty much ignores her in favor of everyone else that's around to welcome her to the world, and big sister Eloise can't stop patting and touching her. Very cute! Lots of stories to tell about the eventful end to a very uneventful and quick labor, but this will have to do for right now as Mommy G is a wee bit tired, and both the girls are sleeping. Can't wait for you all to meet our little peach!

Something we're good at....recipe testing!

My friend Julie Richardson, owner of the fabulous Baker & Spice, is writing a book about rustic seasonal desserts. You can bet when she mentioned she needed some folks to test recipes, we were first in line. Our recent tests included Vanilla Bean Shortbread, Rhubarb Cherry Betty, Apple Rhubarb Pandowdy, Rhubarb Oat Pecan Crumble, Peach Slump, and the surprisingly delicious Pear Chocolate Upside Down Cake. Here's a pic of Sebastian, "helping" with the upside down cake. I think our favorite so far would have to be the shortbread, pandowdy & the betty. For those of you unfamiliar with all these odd names, Pandowdy is basically a lazy pie (pie filling topped with crust), Slump is like cobbler but cooked on the stove like chicken & dumplings instead of baked in the oven, and Betty? Crush up a bunch of the vanilla bean shortbread, top with fruit, then more cookie crumbles, bake and enjoy. SO tasty! Thanks for letting us "help" Julie!! We can't wait for the next batch of fun...

Reunion Weekend in Spokane

My motto of late has been "Sanity has never been my strong suit". Fly to Spokane 2 weeks before the baby is due? Why not. The entire Duvoisin clan was descending upon Spokane for a mini-reunion, it was Bebe's birthday, Daddy D was on tour in Nevada and California and the aunties were headed up there as well. What was left in Portland? As it turned out, Bebe had a wedding to attend in Vancouver, WA, so she was able to fly to Spokane with Sebastian, Eloise & I. We spent the weekend lounging by the pool, eating WAY too much delicious food, and catching up with the other 20+ aunts, uncles, cousins, etc who had come to do the same. What fun! I only wish I had had more energy for contributing to the feasts we had. And while sanity might not be my strong suit, I still opted NOT to compete in the cannon ball competition. Pics here of Grandpa and Eloise lounging in the pool, the boys plotting their next round of cannon balls, jack knives, and the like, Bebe snuggling up with Sebastian & Eloise after a long swim (and the three of them napping shortly after), and Grandpa on the plane with Sebastian & Eloise. That's right. Not wanting to let us fly home alone, Grandpa surprised us at the airport in Spokane to escort us back to Portland. Thank you Bebe & Grandpa for taking such good care of us!!