WILLOW WAY KNITTING

August. Seriously???

2011-08-02T14:43:00.027-05:00

So much for good intentions. I really had hoped to make more frequent updates, but here it has been over a month since my last post... What happened to the month of July anyways?? How can it possibly be August?

July does happen to be the month of my birthday, and this year it was a big one. I hate to admit it, but I often use the fact that it is my birthday month to try and manipulate my family into letting me win a game here and there. It never works. But always worth a try!!

We just returned from a wonderful family trip out to Breckenridge, Colorado where I celebrated my birthday the very best way possible.. surrounded by my wonderful family!

I have always loved the mountains and love to get there as often as I can. Now with A & C living there and several other good friends, I foresee several trips a year in order! I have hundreds of pictures I could share.. so will just give you a snapshot of our trip...

R entertains A while we are shopping by making the Rocky Mountain Chocolate Factory bear come to life.

Steve usually really dislikes shopping, but made an exception today when he got to sit out in the beautiful scenery and watch little A. During naptime, he strolled up and down the sidewalk while A slept. Yep. No complaints from grandpa today!

Diaper changing options can be tricky downtown Breckenridge in the hot mountain sun.. UNLESS you have enough people. 4 seems to do the trick!

Short drives and hikes up in the mountains were wonderful. Makes for some great photo ops with fun poses as well!

And lots of time for grandma and grandpa to enjoy little A!

Loved having some time with A & C! Sure miss having them live closer... but love that they are enjoying Colorado.

It's just a blessing to be able to spend extended time together and I hope it's something we are able to do every year.

It's especially fun to get to know little A and his daily routine and his sweet little personality. K loved making fun noises with fingers and lips.

One of the highlights of the trips was an early morning surprise the day of my birthday. I was quite surprised when the alarm on Steve's phone went off at 4:45. He wished me Happy Birthday and said we had to go meet someone. My first fear was that it was a Hot Air Balloon ride.... I really am quite afraid of heights and really don't like to fly...

Let's just say I conquered one of my fears that day because it was indeed a Hot Air Balloon ride!!!

It was a perfect day.. Not a cloud in the sky and no wind. My heart raced a bit as we took off, but the peacefulness of the ride quickly calmed my fears. The landing was soft with barely a bump. Here is our basket of 12 as we prepare to touchdown...

Out of the basket and happy to have both feet on solid ground again. I just hope he doesn't surprise me with skydiving someday.....

The ride included a delicious breakfast afterwards including champagne. Would I do it again? Yes... on a cloudless, windless day. But there are other things on my 'bucket list' that must come first!

More surprises lay in store for me that day. The girls dressed me up royally in red and purple; complete with crown and wand and took me into Breckenridge for a coffee date.

Let's just say that I acted the part. And the girls all still acknowledged that they were with me!!

The last surprise of the day was a fun game that M had come up with which had clues to objects/things/people who were born/created the same year I was born. The clues would come up on the screen and we had to blow a whistle and guess what it was. Who knew that these things and more are as old as I am?

We cooked many of our meals in, but going out to eat is part of the fun of vacation. Twice we were able to meet up with dear friends. Paul and Sheri recently moved to Colorado and it was fun to not only meet up with them in Breckenridge, but visit their new home at the end of the week. A bit jealous that they now live in Colorado.. I'm also excited for them to be living their dream. (Their son also visited us as well!)

Jim and Beth are dear friends who lived near us for many years here in Iowa until The Navigators took them to Colorado. It was so hard to have them leave, but love the times that we are able to get together.. here and in Colorado. (With us here with their oldest son as well...) Already counting the days until we can head to Colorado again!

One of the special meals that we made in July for my and K's birthdays were these unbelievable steaks from my friend Mary's gluten free blog. I don't know if I have linked to it before, but she has amazing recipes. This is here recipe for Steak Au Poivre. My mouth waters just thinking about it!!

And it involves fire. How fun is that?

I would have loved to have taken Sophie with us to the mountains. She would love it there. But it's a 13 hour car ride, which is a bit much. She stayed here with a friend of ours and was well care for. I'm sure she'll be happy to have more visits from little A in the near future!! They are bonding quite nicely!

I will end with this final shot taken from our balcony the last morning in Colorado. Steve and A are pointing at a nearby mountain and making plans to climb it together someday. I hope they can.

So so thankful for the blessings of family and friends!!

Until Next Time....

Felting Frenzy.....

2011-07-01T15:15:00.015-05:00

There has been a frenzy around our house lately. Several frenzies in fact. One being felted bags!! I'm not sure why we have decided that the hottest days of the summer are the best time to knit large bags with wool. Very curious. This is the first time that K has knit a felted bag. She started with this Ball Band bag.* Here it is before it's trip into the washing machine.....

And here it is magically transformed into this great bag. There is something so magical about the world of felting. And I think that K is now hooked......

She immediately picked out some fun bright colors and started on a Big Bag. Unfortunately we don't seem to have gotten a picture of it felted before she gave it away to a dear friend of hers... A very happy bag!!

I had a bag on my needles from who knows when, and decided it was high time I finish it. I decided to add the handles like the Big Bag onto my Ballband bag. Love how it came out. I actually think I am going to keep this one...

K immediately started another Big Bag and two days later had it in the washing machine felting. She is crazy fast!!! She's working on creating some fun striping patterns.... I see more of this coming of the needles in the near future. (In fact I can hear the clicking of the needles even as I type now!!!)

Most of this knitting was done during our 'girls time' when Steve was in Africa. He had a great trip and has been home for a few days. I've definitely decided that if he goes again next year that I will be by his side once more. I realized how much these people have come to mean to us over the past couple of years.

M came over several times while Steve was in Africa as well. I was glad that he had hung little A's swing before he left.

I had a surprise envelope in the mail today. My AARP card. I'm still in a little bit of shock. (And denial). I'm pretty sure it must be some kind of mistake. I mean I know I have a big birthday coming up and all, but do they really need to rub it in my face???? (Steve hasn't gotten his card yet and is having a little too much fun with this. Just saying.)

Sophie is thankful to be an indoor dog during these very warm days!!! She especially loves having her girl home for these months.

Next post I will share a bit of the baking frenzy that had been going on. Wish I could literally share some of the yummy things that have been coming out of the kitchen. If you are ever in the area, do stop by. Chances are pretty good something will be cooling on the counter....

Until Next Time....

*I adapted this pattern just slightly by casting on 41 stitches so that the pattern is the same all the way around the bag.....

Whirlwind...

2011-06-14T06:30:00.022-05:00

Lately it has been a bit of a whirlwind around here. Lots of coming and going and different things happening! Took a very quick trip to Minneapolis last week for Y's final fling before she heads back to China tomorrow! I had found a great deal on Travelzoo* for the Radisson hotel with the big waterpark by the Mall, so K, Y and I headed up for a quick girls trip.

While the two of them enjoyed pizza and a movie and yet another trip to the waterpark, I went and had dinner with my two dear friends and met the new grandson who I was busy knitting the blanket for! Renae (the one in the middle with her grandbaby) and I have been friends since we were 4 years old. Hard to believe that was 46 years ago and that we are now both grandmas. Just doesn't seem possible....

He seemed to like his new blanket.. at least he was dressed in a matching outfit!! I already have more yarn ready to cast on another one!

We weren't home but a few minutes when my parents arrived for the weekend to visit and to help us celebrate little A's dedication on Sunday. They hadn't seen him since he was just a little guy in December! He had changed quite a bit!!!

We took a trip down to the Amana colonies. My folks had a bought a clock here years ago and needed to have it repaired. A great excuse for a fun outing of shopping and lunch at a yummy German restaurant.

They are also famous for their woolen mill. They have the mill open and running so that you can see the large looms in action.

M came along with little A. He is such a great traveler. And he travels in style. From his comfy stroller....

To the Baby Bjorn that is a little easier to navigate the stores with and gives little A a great view. One does have to watch his little hands as he loves to reach out and grab things off the shelves!!

He also was just held and carried by lucky arms that were quite willing to take him whenever!!

Sunday was a busy day as well. It was Y's final Sunday at church. She wore her beautiful Chinese dress that she has brought from home. We will miss her very much but can only imagine how excited her family is to have her home again!!

R and M had little A dedicated to the Lord on Sunday. It was a wonderful celebration and they were surrounded by many friends and family. Little A really was most interested in Pastor Johns beard however.....

All of the excitement totally wore him out.....

But by the time we were back at their house for a celebration lunch, he was awake and full of smiles again. He really is the happiest little guy

And I do think he's going to be an early walker.... Loves the feeling of the grass between his toes...

We ended the evening with a surprise going away party for Y.. which I will blog about in my next post... We are busy getting her packed to head home and Steve packed for his trip to Nigeria. The house is going to be far too quiet by the end of the week!!!

Fortunately the kitchen will still be humming with yummy creations by K. Lately she has been looking to perfect her 'made from scratch' Angel Food cake. Yesterday I think she achieved perfection, but I'm not going to tell her because I really want her to 'practice' a few more times. She may have guessed, however, by the lightening speed by which we consumed the whole thing...

She offered to share her recipe...

Angel Food Cake

12 egg whites
1 1/4 cup powdered sugar
1 cup cake flour
1 1/2 tsp. cream of tartar
1 1/2 tsp vanilla extract
1/2 tsp almond extract
1/4 tsp salt
1 cup sugar

Directions:

· Measure egg whites to be equal to 1½ cups. Place in mixing bowl with paddle attachment and let stand at room temperature for 30 minutes.

· Meanwhile, sift powdered sugar and flour together three times; set aside.

· Add cream of tartar, extracts and salt to egg whites. Beat on high speed.

· Gradually add sugar, beating on high speed (#8 of 10) until sugar is dissolved and stiff peaks form.

· Fold in flour mixture on lowest speed or with spatula, ¼ cup at a time. Gently spoon into pan. Cut through batter with a knife to remove air pockets.

· Bake at 350 degrees for 40-45 minutes or until cake springs back when lightly touched.

· Immediately invert pan over a bottle with a couple cans under the sides for balance; cool completely before removing cake from pan.

· Serve with cool-whip and strawberries.

Kirstin’s Notes:

· Cold eggs are easier to divide. Divide one egg at a time. If any egg yolk gets in, don’t use that egg for the cake. The tiniest bit of yolk will color the whole cake.

· Always use a metal bowl

· Keep batter away from any grease!! Never grease the angel food cake pan

· Don’t skip the sifting—gives the cake a nice velvety texture.

· Beware of “mice” while the cake is cooling

Well.. off to get ready for another day.

Until then, a few more excerpts from my '1000 gifts' journal....
#80. Medicines that work...
#83. Knitting needles and the gift of knitting..
#86. Friends and family...

Until Next Time....

'I will give thanks to you, O LORD, among the peoples. I will sing praises to you among the nations.' Psalm 57:9

*If you subscribe to Travelzoo, every week they send you an email of their top 20 deals of the week. It's one of my favorite emails as I love to pour through all of the many possibilities for exciting travel. Just wish I had unlimited time and money to take advantage of more of them!!!

Loving Life...

2011-06-11T08:41:00.000-05:00

I am loving this summer already. I know that it is going to go too fast, but I'm going to try to take each day and savor it. I start by savoring my morning cup of coffee.... My friend Sheri introduced me to this new coffee machine. Love it.

I especially love brewing an additional cup in the morning and putting it in the fridge and making an iced coffee later in the day.
Placed inside my favorite Tervis Tumbler covered in Japanese Cherry blossoms.

I also savor whatever K is cooking up for breakfast. Lately she has been experimenting with her Abelskiver pan.

These were filled with cream cheese and then covered in whipped cream and strawberries. I hope she feels the need to practice these often in the time she is home this summer!!

Loving the time that we are having with family. Have been able to spend some fun time with M and little A in the past week. He is such a cute 'thing'... :)

And he is so good to take out and about. We have had several shopping trips lately. Here we are in a new store downtown Cedar Falls.. Sweet Basil Market. Very cute shop. If you have never shopped downtown Cedar Falls, you really should. There are some very cute stores. Yesterday we took a shopping adventure to the Amana Colonies... More on that in a day or two...

K continues to enjoy doing fun nails for friends and family. What a great opportunity to spend some time visiting and catching up. Here she is with a dear friend of mine... I know that she'll be back for future manicures this summer!!

Here is just one close up sample... Aren't they fun? It's amazing how many people comment on them when we are out and about. If you are in the area and want your nails done, just give a call or stop by.... K would be happy to oblige.

Sophie is spending some final time with Y. She heads back to Beijing on Wednesday. We will miss her! It has been so fun having her with us for these 10 months and Steve and I are already planning on visiting her in China as soon as possible. But poor Sophie won't be able to come..

Busy weekend here. My folks are visiting and we will be celebrating little A's dedication tomorrow. More on that later next week.

Until then, a few more excerpts from my '1000 gifts' journal....
#67. Popcorn and M&M's...
#70. Your mercies... New every morning...
#72. Blue skies and sunny days...
#78. Sophies toys scattered around the house with purpose...

Until Next Time....

'Give thanks to the LORD, for he is good, for his steadfast love endures forever.' Psalm 136:1

Hello June!

2011-06-02T09:53:00.009-05:00

Wow... for so long June has seemed so far away and now suddenly it is upon us. I look out and the leaves are in full bloom; the fields are planted; the dandelions have come and gone. Summer is here. I love summer. One of my favorite flowers is this purple Cematis that grows outside our front door. It is so beautiful.

I decided to celebrate summer I would get a new fun cover for my Iphone. This one grabbed my eye. Loved the color and the fun design. I've only had my phone for about a month and I love it. Steve has wanted one for so long and finally made the switch. He hadn't had his 4 hours before I knew that I wanted one as well. His and Hers. Very fun. (Although he has decided he doesn't need a fun summer cover for his.. black is just fine.) Not sure if you can see my fingernails, but that is K's latest venture....

K is learning how to do fancy manicures to use in her ministry to college women next year. Who doesn't love to have their nails done and what a great opportunity to spend time together and talk face to face. And I told her if she can make MY nails look nice, she can beautify anyones!! She is going to redo them today for me and next post I'll share some that she has done.

Steve is preparing for his second trip to Jos Nigeria which is coming up two weeks from today! I've decided to stay home this year for a number of reasons, but am hoping to go back in the very near future. We met over the weekend with part of the team that will be going. I will dearly miss being able to see the many friends we made last year, but know that for this year being home is the best decision.

Even with the wonderful weather, Sophie chooses to be inside with us rather than outside. This is a very familiar sight as she sits very patiently waiting for us to let her in. She is not a barker. Not even when someone comes to the door.. which I kind of wish she would do. She is a licker, however. Sure wish I could break her of that habit....

And I readily admit that she is spoiled. And I readily admit that I am the key spoiler. Anyone who wonders whether it truly is a dogs life or not just needs to meet Sophie to know that it is....

We are reaping the yummy rewards of having K home with what is coming out of the kitchen. Homemade Angel Food cake; cookies and delicious curry! This is a batch of Masaman curry and I am already watching the clock closely so that when it is a respectable time for lunch I can heat up a bowl. Yum!!!

And so I look forward to June. To summer. To warm weather.

A few excerpts from my 1000 gifts journal:
#67. Popcorn and M&M's..
#75. God's steadfast love...
#76. Naps that refresh...
#85. Painted toenails....

Until Next Time....

Ephesians 5:20 'Giving thanks always and for everything to God the Father in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ.'

Anniversaries

2011-05-29T09:41:00.007-05:00

This past week we celebrated two anniversaries here at our house. A & C were here and celebrating their one year anniversary. Hard to believe that it has been a year already!! We had the top of their cake in the freezer and took it out to enjoy after dinner Friday night. The cake was absolutely delicious even after a year in the freezer!!!! (It was one that K had made with a strawberry glaze and cream cheese frosting filling.)

The cake, however, did not survive the thawing out process as well on the dining room table. We came home from our dinner out and this is what we found. Sophie had gone into the dining room (which she NEVER does) and licked this entire section of frosting off of the cake while it was on the table. (Which she has NEVER done). I am honestly still in shock. Usually when she gets mad at us leaving, she shakes rugs and scatters them around. She has taken it to a whole new level....

And there was a witness.... This squirrel came up while we were sitting there and chattered on and on. I really believe the squirrel was trying to tell us that he saw the whole thing!! But with as many squirrels as we have running around, I'm not sure we could find him again if we needed him to testify....

Steve and I also celebrated an anniversary this week. 28 years!! These flowers arrived part way through the day. Steve sent an explanation..

'Do you see the different colors? 28 reds for each year you have made my life complete, 5 whites for the amazing children God has given us, and 1 multicolor rose for little A.'

I told him the probation period is over. I'll keep him!! :)

So much to be thankful for. Even a naughty dog who still has me a bit shell shocked from her cake eating escapade.

A few excerpts from my '1000 gifts' journal...
#38. Inside jokes between friends....
#46. Precious conversations around the table...
#53. Anticipation of vacations - even months in advance...
#60. An owl in flight...

Until Next Time...

1 Thessalonians 5:18 'Give thanks in all circumstances; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you.'

Giving Thanks.....

2011-05-26T09:09:00.013-05:00

I recently was given a book that started me on a journey. 'One Thousand Gifts' by Ann Voskamp. It's a challenge to cultivate a heart of thanksgiving. I have started my journal of 1000 'gifts'. It's amazing the change in one's perspective as you look to find things to be thankful for in each and every situation. The good days. The bad days. It's nearly impossible to grumble and complain when one is looking for ways to be thankful. I hope to share glimpses into my journal in the days; weeks and months to come.

Yes.. I'm going to make a concentrated effort to blog more. I can't really explain my absence from the blogging world. Just needed a break, I guess. I'm thankful to back. :)

Life has been marching forward. It is hard to believe that little A is 6 1/2 months old. He is such a happy little guy. I think I could fill my journal with every time he makes me smile!!! He recently took his first plane ride and apparently was a 'rockstar' traveler! He's currently enjoying his first vacation to the ocean. Wish I was on the beach with them!!

K graduated from college a few weeks ago. So proud of her! She is joining the Navigators College Ministry team for the coming year and is excited for what the year holds.

Sophie is almost 3 now and still very much a puppy. Sigh. She still LOVES her toys and will run and get one as soon as you come home just in case you have a need to play.

If you don't want to play, this is what you get.... sad eyes looking at you while she protects those things most precious to her. (Her toys...)

In the knitting world I am working fast and furiously on a baby blanket for my friend's baby who is due any day.... Love this pattern. I'm making it with Blue Sky Worsted Cotton. It is so soft and yummy. I hope it becomes one of baby G's favorites!!

In the food department (because food is one of the things I am VERY thankful for!!!), my focus will be on a good burger! A few weeks ago, a few friends from our small group took a trip up to Gunder Iowa, which is home of the famous Gunderburger. They start with 20 ounces of meat which cooks down to a one pound hamburger. I had mine loaded with ketchup and sauteed onions. Yes, I was in heaven.

I would say that is is impossible to finish one of these, but that would not be true. Steve ate his whole burger as well as all of his hash brown potatoes. And he didn't even seem that miserable. I will say it was a good 24 hours before he was hungry again....

I'm looking forward to grilling some good, but smaller burgers this coming weekend. Our good friend and fellow Gunderburger consumer, shared the following burger recipe that they had made for our small group one night. (They gave me measurements, but said they usually just toss in ingredients and don't measure....Yikes. I could never do that.)

John's Better Burgers

5 pounds lean hamburger
2 eggs
1/2 cup corn flake crumbs
one finely chopped onion
1 tsp garlic powder
2 TBSP Greek seasoning
1/4 cup BBQ sauce (Sweet Baby Ray's)

Mix all together and form patties.

I did a half batch and made 8 good size burgers (5.7 ounce each) with a tiny burger that I threw on my George Foreman for a quick lunch.

Hope you all have a wonderful Memorial Day Weekend. We're looking forward to A and C being with us from Colorado! I'm sure I'll have many things to add to my journal.....

A few excerpts...
# 9. Fresh pineapple that tastes like candy...
#13. My green and white polka dot mug brimming with morning coffee...
#15. Seeing Steve walk out to meet me as I walk Sophie in the back field...
#25. Bags of cakeballs in the freezer ready to be dipped and shared...
#31. Pulling up the blinds to a new day...

Until Next Time....

Psalm 107:22 'And let them offer sacrifices of thanksgiving and tell of his deed in songs of joy.'

Oh The JOY....

2011-03-29T06:32:00.013-05:00

Oh the JOY of being a grandma!!! Hard to believe that I have almost 5 months of experience already!!! Thought I would give you a peek at little A. (Well.. not so little anymore!!) There is just nothing like a baby to attract attention and smiles!!

He has gotten so big! He has always had quite the fascination with his tongue and it's fun to watch him stick it in and out.

He smiles and laughs often! And it is contagious!!
I'm pretty sure he is totally unaware how much joy he has brought into the lives of so many!!

He has made friends with people from all over the world. One of our dear friends from Nigeria was visiting and taught M how to wrap and carry A in true African style.

R & M are getting him started early on the piano. It may be a little while before he plays solo!!

Joy is also found in time spent with all of our kids. Had the chance to see A & C in January while we were in Colorado for a conference. Oh how I miss these two!!! Thankfully we have several visits coming up in the months to come.

Y (our foreign exchange student from China) is still with us for a few more months. She has been helping us as we have basically repainted most of the house. It was hard to paint over her awesome writing on the walls of the hall!

K is finishing up her final semester of college. So hard to believe. She still LOVES to spend time in the kitchen and occasionally even does a few orders for her baking business.

I'm wrapping up another tax season. Looking forward to having 1040's behind me for another year! More time to spend with family!!

Oh the joy......

Until Next Time...

Happy New Year!!

2010-12-31T13:50:00.003-06:00

Wishing you all a Happy New Year!!!! 2010 was filled with many blessings for us.. Looking forward to all that 2011 holds. Especially excited about watching this little one grow. Everyone who told me that grandparenthood is THE BEST was right!!!!!

Blessings to you and your family.

Grandbaby!!!!

2010-11-13T11:05:00.001-06:00

After 39 weeks of great anticipation, our grandson has arrived!!!! Because GB was breech, a C-Section was scheduled for Monday morning, November 8th. All went well and we are so thankful for his safe delivery.

We were waiting at the hospital with the other set of excited grandparents. Tears flowed when the nurse came out to let us know that all was well and that our grandson was absolutely 'beautiful'!!!

I was so excited just knowing that he was finally in the arms of his mommy and daddy!!!

Of course, us grandparents were excited to hold our first grandchild as well!! How we have prayed for this little one!! And now to have him here is such a joy!!!

M's parents have also anticipated this moment and beamed when they held him for the first time.

After I sent a text to K letting her know that the baby had been born, she immediately skipped her next class and hopped in the car to come and meet him.

M's sister B was there waiting as well to meet him for the first time. He is a lucky baby to have 3 very loving Aunts!!! (A & C will be here this Monday to meet him!!)

Steve wanted to give him a complete physical. Reminded me of when our son was born when Steve was in medical school. Poor baby got a complete physical multiple times a day from a dad in training!!

It was neat when Steve's dad came for a visit to get a picture of 4 generations!!!

Proud daddy and grandpas admiring him.

Sweet dreams little one. You are loved.

Until Next Time.....

MOM....

2010-10-05T10:27:00.024-05:00

Mom, you HAVE to update your blog!!

I have been hearing this for several weeks. Ok, maybe months. I really don't know what has happened to the last 3 months. Blogging just kind of took a back burner. I'm still not sure how often I'll get to it, but I am here today and will try to give a very brief synopsis of where we've been and where we're at and where we're heading!!

The big news it that grandparenthood is now just a few weeks away!! I'm not sure how clear this picture will be, but it is a ultrasound photo of our grandson at 34 weeks. How amazing is that? His chubby little cheeks remind me of R's cheeks when he was a baby. I cannot wait to hold this little one and cover those cheeks with kisses!!!

I did finish the pinwheel blanket I was knitting for him and LOVED how it turned out. The all cotton yarn is so soft and wonderful. I think I need to cast on another. I have a beautiful pink in this yarn that is just begging to be a pinwheel.

We have had a few adventures since I last blogged. The first being our annual trip to Bayfield Wisconsin. We do love that area. This year we rented some mopeds on Madeline Island which was a blast.

But I think the highlight this year was going on a Sea Kayak adventure out on Lake Superior. Steve and I went in a double kayak and did quite well.

The rock formations are amazing and you are able to kayak right up to them and into several of the caves!

We ended up in some pretty close quarters in some of the caves!!! Certainly not for the claustrophobic!!

In August we headed to Minnesota for the wedding of the daughter of one of the Triple R gang! The three of us girls have been friends forever and all married guys whose last name began with R. And the Triple R gang was born. So blessed to have such dear friends!!! Cheryl and I had the honor of reading scripture at the wedding. And we didn't even mess up!!

R& M (expecting grandbaby) and K also came up for the wedding. A & C are now in Colorado, so were unable to make it. It was a beautiful wedding and so wonderful to be able to be there and share in their day.

Labor Day weekend we FINALLY were able to get out to Colorado to visit A & C! Oh how much we have missed them!!!! I have to say I am quite jealous of where they are living. I have always wanted to live in Colorado. At least now we have a really good reason to get there as often as we can!!!!

We took a drive on the highest paved road in North America and saw some beautiful views!!!!
You may notice a new face in the picture! This is YS - our foreign exchange student from Beijing who is living with us for the school year. She is a junior in high school and just a delight. She had only been in the country for 36 hours when we hopped in the car and headed to Denver.

The whole gang!! I do LOVE the mountains!!!

We stopped in Winter Park at one of our favorite pizza places. There was a bit of a wait, but no one seemed to mind. Just so nice to be together.

And the pizza makes it totally worth the wait. YS thought it was very strange that we put honey on the crust. Of course she thinks that many of the things that we eat are strange. There is a BIG difference in food between our two countries. But we will learn. It was hard to leave A&C, but hoping to see them for the upcoming holidays!!

In September the Triple R gang founders spent the weekend at a cabin in northern Minnesota. Another area of great beauty. I have to say, I think I could do this every weekend. It was so great to spend time with such good friends.

Sophie made the 7 hour+ ride with us and has decided she wants to be a cabin dog! She did great in the car; loved boat rides and had a keen sense of how to get back to the right cabin when out on walks. (More than some of us can claim!) She HATED being left behind when Steve and I took a ride on the SeaDoo.

She quickly forgave us of course. There really wasn't room for her on there with us. Plus, at 70 miles per hour I don't think she could have hung on without opposable thumbs!!

Well, that's about it. The last 3 months in a nutshell. I won't make any promises of how often I'll blog, but I will try to not wait so long. Maybe I'll post a few new recipes. Until then, I will at least direct you to an incredible recipe blog that a friend of mine from high school has created. It is a gluten free recipe blog, but any recipe can be made with ingredients that aren't gluten free if you want. Every recipe looks amazing.

Until Next Time.....

Amsterdam

2010-07-09T10:42:00.018-05:00

No, we did not take Sophie with us to Amsterdam, but I did want to mention before I share more of our trip that Sophie just celebrated her 2nd birthday on Wednesday. Happy Birthday Miss Sophie!!!!

One other exciting piece of news is that R & M had an ultrasound while we were in Africa and discovered that they are having a BOY!!!!! A grandson. Wow. I have now cast on my first knitting project for him - a pinwheel baby blanket in Cotton Supreme. It is a fun, easy pattern and this yarn is so soft and yummy!!! Not sure what I will knit after this.... Any one have a 'favorite' baby item that they have knit?? I am so excited to meet this little one.

Ok, now on to Amsterdam. We decided to take a few days after Africa to unwind and process all that we had experienced before jumping back into everyday life. We had a wonderful couple of days.

Amsterdam is a city that is actually below sea level and is kept dry by a series of dams and canals or something like that. We toured much of the city by boat. This was the canal that was right out front of the bed and breakfast that we stayed in.

The cobbled streets lined with quaint shops were one of my favorite places to explore.

We happened to be there during one of the World Cup games that Holland was playing in. The town was CRAZY.... filled with orange people!!!! And rightfully so..... Holland plays Sunday for the Championship. Cheering with you, Rolf!!!! Hup Hup Holland!!

One thing that is so cool is the number of people who used bicycles as their primary form of transportation. Bikes are every where!! And what is nice is that they have bike lanes along every street, complete with their own traffic lights and road signs. I think that this really contributes to the fact that obesity doesn't seem to be an issue. Very few people own cars. They either bike or walk. I don't think I've ever walked as much in recent months as I did during our days there.

As is true of most of our travels, we experience a new place through the food!!! (What can I say, I like to eat!!) This was one of maybe several gelatto cones that we consumed during our visit...

Poffertjes are tiny pancakes that they COVER with whipped cream; powdered sugar and fresh strawberries. Oh yeah. They were yummy!!!

I was determined to experience their french fries that they cover with mayonaise of some sort instead of the typical ketchup. I went with a curried mayonaise which was pretty good. But I honestly think I would have preferred ketchup. But when in Rome... (or Amsterdam in this case)

Finding quaint cafes to have an early dinner at is always fun as well. The pace is unhurried. You practically have to beg for your check and they look at you quizzically wondering why you want to leave. Relax. Slow down. Enjoy.

The Dutch are very in to their cheese and there are some amazing cheese shops to go into and sample. We brought home a few small rounds which we have been enjoying.

We did take a short day trip to Harleem, Holland, which turned out to be a wonderful, quaint city. I think next time I would opt to stay in Harleem and take day trips to Amsterdam!!! One of the places we visited was the Corrie ten Boom house. It was here that Corrie and her family hid Jews and members of the Underground during the war. We also visited the Anne Frank house in Amsterdam. The horror of war becomes more real when you go to the actual sites of events you have read about for years.

The weather was perfect while we were there. We enjoyed long walks along the canals and in the parks. We stopped and rested and enjoyed reading in the sun; talking through our Africa trip and just being together.

Now we are home and pressing on. We have a quiet rest of the summer and hope to get some things done around the house.

And dreaming of Africa.....

Until Next Time....

Jos, Nigeria... (Part 3)

2010-07-05T14:14:00.013-05:00

In this final post on our trip to Nigeria I want to share what really made this trip so special, and that is the people and the relationships that we developed with them during our time there. Not only with the other members of our team, but with the many Nigerians that we worked alongside. This has been the hardest post to write.. having to confine what I feel to words and keeping it short when there is so much to write. Suffice it to say this just barely scratches the surface.....

Our team was composed mostly of doctors from around the world. I was one of the few non-medical team members. I was kind of hoping for a honorary medical degree after sitting through the many talks on the diabetic foot; advances in breast surgery; mesh hernia repair etc... I think my inability to look at the pictures automatically disqualified me!

This doctor with Steve was one of the main planners of the CME conference and used to be the Dean of JUTH. He and his wife (an opthamologist) now run their own hospital in Jos and are starting up a teaching hospital in a town several hours from Jos as well. He was very open about the many challenges they face in both situations.

His son is a computer software genius and was at the conference as one of the IT guys. He and Steve bonded despite the fact that he is not a MAC guy. (He does have an IPhone which did carry some points!!)

Keith and Carol were the leaders of our team. They had lived in Nigeria for 20+ years as Keith worked as a doctor and worked with and mentored medical students. Many of those students are now doctors in positions of great influence and are mentoring the next generation of medical students. For Keith and Carol, going to Nigeria is going home to family. This woman is the daughter of a couple they had in Bible study when they first moved to Africa. How exciting to be working along side the next generation!

Esther is a lawyer who has taken time off of work to raise their daughter. Her husband is a surgeon who was part of the team putting on the conference. She is currently learning how to sew clothes for herself and her family and explained to me the process of choosing fabrics; patterns etc.. as well as demonstrating how to secure a little one onto your back. She even made a few wraps for me to bring home for M to use with our grandbaby.

I had the privilege of babysitting Esther's little one during some of the retreat. What a precious little girl.

Bash and Esther reminded me so much of Steve and I years and years ago with 2 little boys and a third one on the way.

Steve and Zack - the head of The Navigators in Nigeria. How exciting to meet him and hear more about the Navigator Ministry in Nigeria

One thing that struck me is the names of many of the people. They are rich in meaning.
Here is a young man named Godsend with his wife and son.

Carol and Comfort. Comfort is one of the physicians who works at the HIV clinic I spoke of in the previous post.

Blessed. That is his name. Very fitting.

And then there were the Steves. Lot of them. Here are just 4 of the 6 or 7 that were a part of the week. My Steve pretty much stopped responding to his name because it was said so often.

Bart and Rolf were two of the docs on the team. Bart is an endocrinologist from Mayo Clinic in Rochester and Rolf is a pediatric gastroenterologist from Holland. So enjoyed getting to know both of them. Rolf kept us all cheering for The Netherlands in 'football'. Hup Hup Holland!!

Curt and Linda are both surgeons from North Dakota. They had lived for the Congo for many years and had stories that were absolutely amazing. What a gift to spend time with these two. Well, with everybody.

I wish I could list every body on the team; at the conference and at the retreat, but that would be too difficult so I will end here, holding this precious little girl with Carol and Brenda (a nurse from Texas). Note the mammoth mango in Carol's hand. Yum!! I am already looking forward to our next opportunity to go to Nigeria.

Oh, I wanted to also introduce you to someone I have 'met' since my return from Nigeria. Sandi commented on my first Nigeria post and I have since learned that her daughter lives in Jos and has an incredible ministry working with HIV/Aids victims. Check out Mary Beth's blog here. Turns out that some of the items I purchased (and can be found here) to bring home were made by the women that Mary Beth has taught to sew. Next time we go to Nigeria we will meet in person. I'm looking forward to that.

Next post I will share about the few days we spend in Amsterdam on our way back to the states. Hup Hup Holland!!!

Until Next Time....

Jos, Nigeria... (Part 2)

2010-07-03T13:12:00.013-05:00

We had one day that we were taken around Jos. We boarded the bus provided by JUTH and experienced more of the sights and sounds of Africa.

The traffic convinced me that I would NEVER want to drive a car in Nigeria!! Motorcycles loaded with 2-3 people weave in and out of the traffic constantly. The driver honks when he passes; when he turns; when he cuts in; when he does anything, basically! Times that by EVERY driver on the road and all one hears is the honking of horns!! I lost track of the number of what I felt were 'close calls'.

The roadsides were filled with open markets and people selling their wares. Chicken anyone?

Or perhaps a small bag of peanuts from the top of one of these precious girls heads? How I would have loved to know the life story of one of these girls.....

The fruit stands are amazing and we had fresh fruit each day.. usually for dessert.

We went by the sight of a market that had been burned during one of the many uprisings. The couple we were with who had been missionaries there for 20 years spoke fondly of their many shopping experiences at the market and ached for lives and livihood lost in the devastation.

We did stop at 2 small shops and I was able to purchase a few things to bring back from our trip. Maybe another year things will be not quite as tense and we can move around more freely. For now being cautious was just ok by me.

Mangoes anyone?

Two of the Nigerian physicians that we came to know both work at the PEPFAR Aids clinic in Jos. We were able to get a tour of the clinic and hear about this AIDS relief program put into place by George Bush in 2003. Whatever your personal feelings are about Bush, this single act has saved thousands and thousands of lives. The Africans LOVE him and many are alive today because of this initiative. And Obama gets a Nobel Peace Prize. Go figure......

The children waiting in the children's waiting room were the hardest to see. AIDS continues to be epidemic in Africa. The clinic is currently treating over 20,000 Aids patients and diagnosis's 20 new cases every day. But the clinic has given them hope.

It was an incredible day. We then headed to a retreat center 20 miles out of Jos. More to come on our time there in my next post. I will also 'introduce' you to some of the people who we now call 'friend'.

Until Next Time....

Jos, Nigeria.... (Part 1)

2010-07-02T10:49:00.011-05:00

Two weeks ago today, Steve and I boarded a plane headed to Abuja, Nigeria and then boarded a bus and headed up to Jos. We were so thankful for the support and prayers of friends and family as we entered into an area which the State Department has listed as an area for 'essential travel only' due to the unstable atmosphere and recent unrest. We were part of a team of doctors representing 'Africa Medical Partners' (under The Navigator ministry) who were going to teach at a Continuing Medical Education Conference at Jos University Teaching Hospital. (JUTH). Half of our time was spent at the conference; followed by a 3 day spiritual retreat for the African Physicians and their families. What an incredible experience!!! It is hard to even know where to begin.

After roughly 24 hours of travel, we landed in Abuja, Nigeria and were taken to a guest house for the night where we met up with some of the rest of the team members. We also begin to meet some of the many incredible Nigerians who became near and dear to us during our short stay.

The following morning, we loaded a bus and started on the 4 hours ride up to Jos. The traffic is unbelievable. Words cannot describe the sights and sounds.

And then there were the 20+ military check points that we had to go through with guards posted carrying AK-47's.... We were certainly not in Iowa anymore! (Sorry Paul, I decided against your advice of photographing the guards.....)

Cows on the road was another detour that we seldom see in Iowa. (ok.. NEVER see in Iowa!) They have the right away and it is best to stop!

We arrived at the guest house in Jos Sunday evening and unloaded the suitcases. Most of these suitcases contained medical equipment that had been donated to the doctors and the hospital. There were also suitcases full of requested books and items for the Navigator team ministering in Nigeria.

Late that evening there was a get together in the back garden of the guest house to meet some of the conference planning committee; hospital officials and a few government officials. Anyone who has been to Africa will tell you of the gift of hospitality they have. One feels instantly welcomed and a part of the family. And laugh. We decided they have a part of their brain just designated for laughter!

Monday morning found as at JUTH for day one of the conference. The 600 bed hospital was started 20 years ago, but due to disruption (and corruption) in the government, it was only completed last year. From the outside it looks incredibly nice, but they deal with power outages; lack of running water (imagine running an operating room without running water!) and a leaky roof.

Steve gave the first talk during the opening session. It was on the role of computers in medicine. He had been told there may or may not be power for his presentation, which made him a little nervous. Fortunately, the power stayed on for the duration of his talk, which went extremely well and was well received! (The power did go out about an hour later and remained off the rest of the afternoon!) This photo shows Steve getting me ready to run his slide show for his talk. Rolf, a pediatrician from Holland, looks on.

Steve and Rolf did several workshops in neonatal resuscitation. Steve is a natural teacher and was very much in his element.

His first group of students through the session.

Later he did a smaller hands-on workshop to give the attendees a taste of what is available to help with medical practices on their PDA'a and computers. It was fun to see them all hover around him and his IPad!

My 'official' role was that of photographer. We are working on a DVD and brochure that could be used to encourage doctors to be willing to participate in the conference in the years to come.

We board the bus and head back to the guest house after a long day. The leaders of the conference have decided to not take us out at night as they have done in the past for safety reasons. That is just fine as we are all exhausted and ready for some sleep.

Tomorrow I will share some of what we experienced out and about in Nigeria.

Until Next Time....

Wedding Fun!

2010-06-17T14:43:00.017-05:00

Ok... so I had hoped it would be easier to choose some of my favorite photos from the wedding and do a 'quick post'. HA! Gone are the days when you had 80 'proofs' to choose from and decisions were fairly easy. Here, in the age of digital, you are given 1600 digital pictures to 'choose' from. Impossible. I've chosen just a few to share for now. We are crazy busy getting A and C packed up for their move to Colorado. Steve and I are also heading off on an adventure, so time is limited. But I wanted to share a few more...

Guys room. Things look different with a bunch of guys getting ready and waiting for the appointed hour. Rock Band. Go figure.

Girls room. Focus is TOTALLY on the bride. Totally. As it should be.

Down to the very detail of each hair.

New family photo with our parents. Such a happy day. Surrounded by so many dear family and friends. We are so blessed!

First to come in were R & M (and my grandbaby!!!)

Followed by K and A's roomie.

The ceremony was so meaningful and so beautiful..

It is so easy to see how much they love each other.
This is one of my favorite pictures.....

They made their way through a tunnel of bubbles and out into A's grandpa's convertible for a ride to the reception

Where they made their grand entrance! The whole wedding party was decked out in sunglasses and really grooving to the music!

After a delicious dinner and some wonderful toasts, the dancing begun!!! What a celebration! I think the dance floor was packed all night.

Again, surrounded by friends and family, what better way to celebrate the beginning of a new marriage!

Blessings to you dear A & C!!!!!! So blessed to have a new daughter in law.

Well.. that is just a taste. I keep seeing more and more pictures that I would love to be able to share with you. If you are ever in the neighborhood and have some time, stop by!!!

My next post will be in a few weeks and filled with our next incredible adventure.

Stay tuned.

Until Next Time....

Quick Wedding Recap....

2010-05-26T14:41:00.014-05:00

What a wonderful weekend we had! I am still flying high on all the wonderful memories! I don't have a lot of pictures to share with you, but thought I would share the few I have, and do a more detailed post later when the professional pictures come back!!!

I'll start with the baking! We spent Thursday dipping the 250 cakeballs that K made and then Thursday night we invited some friends and family over for 'box night' where we put together 250 favor boxes; placed a cakeball inside and then tied it all with a purple ribbon. There was one of each of these at each place setting.

The cupcakes that we made on Monday were frozen and taken out of the freezer Saturday morning. After approximately 2 hours of thawing on cooling racks, we placed them on the cupcake stand. My mom and dad showed up and were put to work!!

The oreos were added just before we placed them on the stand.. but we have found that the buttercream freezes well, and sure saved time not having to frost all of these on Saturday!! The DJ who was working at the reception said it was the best buttercream he has had.... and I imagine he eats a lot of buttercream. I think he was pretty happy with the dozen cupcakes he ended up taking home after the reception! (We had a GREAT DJ who made for a GREAT time of celebrating!!!) I admit to having blisters on my feet from all of the dancing!!

Steve and K were thinking they looked pretty cool!!!

CB (Now CR) was a radiant bride!!!! She just looked absolutely stunning!!! Here she is surrounded by all of her sisters now!

A was quite a dashing groom - if I can say that as mother of the groom!!! Seemed quite content catching kisses from the bridesmaids!

Steve and I - Parent's of the Groom.

The reception was a blast!! So fun to be surrounded by friends and family. My friends who I have known since I was young (like 4 years old) were there with their families.

One of my favorite dances was the 'sibling' dance where anyone with siblings were invited out on the dance floor. I was out there with my 4 brothers, who all made the trip down from Minnesota. Later on, we were all back on the dance floor with my parents looking very cool. This is the family I grew up in. Yes, I was the only girl. You can feel sorry for me..... :-)

Well, that is a brief recap. I'll do a more detailed post when I have more pictures..... Let's just say it tied R & M's wedding day as on of the happiest days of our life!!!

Until Next Time....

Final Countdown....

2010-05-19T09:16:00.017-05:00

One thing I have found true in life is that time just keeps marching forward... even during times when one needs it to slow down just a little!!! We are in the final days before the wedding and are busy with all of the preparations. So far things have been going well. We are all still smiling and enjoying the process. Excited that the forecast is for sunny skies and 82 degrees. Now to just keep pressing on and making every moment count.

But the wedding isn't the only thing that has been going on! Both A and CB graduated from college! Here we are at A's celebration!

CB's family joined us as well! This is A's soon to be second family. How blessed he is with such wonderful in-laws!!

CB's graduation was the next day! Congratulations to both of you!!!!

During it all I kept knitting away on my Multnomah shawl. I had a bit of a set back and had to rip out several rows, but got all the stitches safely back on the needles and pressed on. And actually finished a week ahead of the wedding. The only bummer is that when I tried it on with my dress, it didn't go at all with the style of the dress!!! Oh well. I will figure out how to wear it to the rehearsal!!!

In the midst of graduation and wedding, we are also trying to stay on top of our plans for our trip to Africa which is coming up quickly. We've been applying for visa's; meeting with the team and getting our shots. 4 of them in one day for me!!! Fortunately they had fun bandaids which always helps!!!

K is home now and we are getting ALL the baking done for the wedding. Cakeballs are done and in the freezer. Cookie dough is made and ready to bake. Cupcakes are now all done and ready for the reception. Phew.

My job was making the buttercream (7 batches!!) and frosting the over 290 cupcakes that K made. Probably the most one decorator bag has been used in this house!!!

We did crown the bride 'sprinkle girl' and she was quite good at adding the finishing touches to the cupcakes!!! (With A's encouragement and support!!)

But the mastermind and chief chef of the day was K!!

So today she is taking a little break and soaking in the sun with Sophie enjoying it with her. Tomorrow is another big day in the kitchen dipping all the cakeballs and baking and dipping cookies. Yum.

Until Next Time...

New News.......

2010-04-28T12:26:00.011-05:00

Made this tray of cookies and cupcakes to take up to M's school yesterday. The colors of the drizzle were chosen very strategically to help announce the big news.......

R&M are expecting!!! I am going to be a GRANDMA!!!! How amazing is that??? Here is how it was announced yesterday... with fun letters being revealed during a class photo when M said "Everyone say - 'Mrs. R is having a baby!'".... So they got fun expressions from all of the class reacting. (Which of course I can't post online...) I think she is puffing baby out a bit in this picture for effect.... but she is definitely starting to show. They couldn't have kept it a secret much longer!!! Need to start thinking about all the baby knitting I will want to do!!!!

Got lots of knitting inspiration this past weekend at Sheri's annual Spring Fling in St. Louis. This is always such a highlight of the year for me. Great knitting; great classes; great food and always amazing friends.. both from years past and brand new!!!

I didn't take many photos and always kick myself for this. (As soon as I figure out how to download from Flickr in usable format I will post more..) I spend most of my time playing Loopy Elf. I even graduated to an official Loopy Elf which is shown by this official Loopy Elf coffee mug that Sheri ordered for me. (ALL of the elves have them). I got to take mine home, but will certainly be bringing it will me whenever I go to St.. Louis to play elf!!

This is the first year that I actually snuck in to one of the classes that were being taught. This is Jared Flood (who is very well known in the knitting world...) and he was teaching how to knit a sweater without a pattern. I totally left that class with the confidence that I could cast on and knit my first sweater. And I plan to as soon as I cross many of the other 'need to knit' items off my list. (Which now includes MANY baby items!!!) He is a great teacher and it was a GREAT class. I just wish I could have taken classes from all of the teachers (Wendy Johnson, The Sanguine Gryphon, and Anne Hanson) that were there. Maybe next year.....

I did watch as Gryphon taught Sheri how to knit backwards. Very interesting concept and I need to see if I can remember how she was doing that.....

K came down for part of the weekend and made Cake Balls for Saturday night. Over 300 of the tasty treats and there were very few left over!!! Yum.

I came home and immediately cast on my first shawl. It is in Dream in Color Starry in the Plum Paisley colorway. My hope is to have it ready to wear to A and CB's wedding in a few weeks. I obviously have some knitting to do......

We are getting very very excited around here. Wedding.. baby.... Life is good.

Until Next time...

Less Than 6 Weeks....

2010-04-13T10:25:00.011-05:00

Until the big day! May 22nd we will be celebrating the marriage of our son A to CB. We are so excited to be adding another beautiful daughter in law to our family. We consider ourselves extremely blessed!!!!

On Sunday we drove up to Minneapolis for a bridal shower for Carol, put on by my wonderful sister-in-laws. (And Sue!) Thanks for such a wonderful day!! This picture shows 3 of the 4.... Sure missed you Robin! Thanks to everyone who planned it and who came for showering CB with your love and wonderful gifts!!

It was the first shower that CB has had and it was fun to see the themes of their future home coming through in the colors and items that they have chosen.

In preparation for the wedding, we have been running different experiments. One is trying to find 'the perfect' size cakeball. Yes, these are 4 different sizes! Fortunately for us, Steve volunteered to eat the samples. Just don't know what we would have done without him!!!! Today's experiment involves eating cupcakes. I'm doing the work for this one on my own!!!!

We had a fun Easter weekend with a visit from my parents. All of the kids were around and the house was full of laughter. That always makes me happy. (And it REALLY makes Sophie happy!!) Made Strawberry Cream Cheese French toast for breakfast. Always a hit!

For our main meal on Easter, I decided to cook Prime Rib. I have done it a few other times, but I think this was the best one yet. If you are interested in cooking a prime rib, here is what I did.

You need a good deep pan with a wire rack so air circulates around the meat. I sliced two onions and put them on the bottom of the pan. (Next time I will double the number of onions!) Place the meat fat side up on the rack. I rubbed chili flavored olive oil over the entire thing and then covered it with course sea salt and cracked black pepper. (Next time I would not rub the two ends with salt and pepper.. just the oil. It made those cuts of meat too salty to eat!!) The next step is CRITICAL!!! Insert a GOOD meat thermometer into the center of the meat. (I have a digital one I purchased at a kitchen store that I love!!) Preheat oven to 500 degrees and put meat in for 20 minutes. Reduce the temperature to 225 degrees and cook until the thermometer reads 135 degrees. Remove from oven and cover with foil for 15-20 minutes. Slice and ENJOY!!! We used the onions in the juices as our 'aus jus'. Yum!! As far as time.. We had an 8 pound prime rib. We started it at 10:30 am and we ate at 2:15 or so. Well worth the wait!!!!

Sophie was outside smelling the meat cooking and begged to come in. We let her and even gave her a little taste. Fortunately she is still willing to eat her dry dog food after tasting such yumminess!!!

Until Next Time....

I'm Still Here.....

2010-03-23T08:12:00.020-05:00

Well, rumor on the street is that some people are getting a little tired of looking at the big bowl of gummy bears from my last post and are ready for me to update. Honestly, it feels like just yesterday when I did that one.... (although the gummy bears are long gone......)

Things are getting pretty exciting around our house as we have less than 2 months until A and CB's wedding!!!! Lots to do and think about. We are all trying hard to not stress out! We want to keep the planning fun. So far, so good I think!!!

Speaking of weddings, we had the privilege of flying to San Diego this past weekend to share in the wedding of our dear friend's son. It was an outdoor wedding in the most beautiful setting. And the day was perfect in every respect. Steve had the honor of being a groomsman!

It was fun to be able to be there celebrating with our friends. Here are the parents and sister of the groom. I have to say, marriage is such an exciting way to add another beautiful daughter to the family and I know they are thrilled with their new daughter-in-love!

The groom is in the navy, and one of the traditions at a naval wedding is the arch of swords. After the couple is wed, they must pass through the swords. At each sword barrier, they are told 'KISS TO PASS' and they must kiss before the swords are lifted and they can pass through. At the last sword stop, the bride is gently swatted on the bottom with the sword as she passes as the officer says 'WELCOME TO THE NAVY'..... very cute.

Steve also got to pass under the arch of swords with not one, but TWO bridesmaids hanging one on each arm. I think it was his favorite part of the service!!!! (Although I think he was really hoping he would get to carry a sword....)

Congratulations to M & J!! Thanks for letting us be part of your special day.

We had a little time for sightseeing while we were there. Went to La Jolla and enjoyed walking along the beach. Even got to see a Harbor Seal 'nursery'.... Lots of baby seals.

Spent some time on Coronado Island as well. Great view of San Diego from there.

Found a favorite new coffee shop. Made a couple of visits.... (And may or may not have brought some home with me!!)

I actually also added a 'Peets Coffee and Tea' mug to my collection. And, of course, a Starbucks City mug. (although I never actually drank coffee at Starbucks on this trip....). I LOVE collecting mugs when we travel. They are fun to display and make a great, inexpensive souvenir.

One of our adventures came in the form of new technology... The car we rented was electric and we were pretty clueless on even how to START the thing!!! (Especially when we first picked it up at midnight!) The guys especially seemed to enjoy gathering around and reading the manual and seeing what all it could do. Weird. I was glad to get home to our car that you actually used a key to start...

Sophie was glad to see us when we got home, but had a great time with the kids over the weekend. She has a new bed that she absolutely LOVES. She especially loves to be able to lay on it and have the window cracked so she can breathe in the fresh air and keep track of what is going on outside. I admit that she is hopelessly spoiled....

And now that the snow is gone and Spring is in the air, she and Steve have started running again. And they both lived happily ever after.....

Until Next Time.....

Life Goes On.....

2010-02-26T15:11:00.011-06:00

First of all, let me say a big 'THANK YOU' for all of your kind comments; prayers and words of sympathy. They all mean so much. I am comforted most by knowing that it was time and that it was the best thing to do for Sumo.

I am also comforted by 3 pounds of gummy bears. That's right. 3 pounds. I didn't even know that they came in such large bags. Under normal circumstances, I would have resisted and bought the 2 ounce single serving size. But when one is shopping for 'comfort' food.. bigger is always better. I thought I would splurge on the 8 oz package. And then I saw the 3 pounder and in my emotional state I bought it. That's my story....

And, of course, there is Sophie.... She reminds us that life goes on. It's hard not to smile when she is around. I thought I would take you along on our walk this morning....

We head out behind the deck and in front of the treehouse....

And under the evergreen, past the stone marking the final resting place of Nikko and Sumo.

Through the people gate on the west side of the barn....

A mad dash though the small pasture to the gate that leads to the back field....

And then around and around a couple of times. Today the trees were covered in frost and when the sun hit them it looked like they were covered in diamonds. Absolutely beautiful! Quite a different landscape than where Steve and K will be in less than 24 hours. They are enroute as I write this to:

Haiti! They are embarking on a 10 day missions trip to a field hospital in Port au Prince. K has set up a blog and we are hoping that their 3G towers will be up and running so that she can blog and send pictures while they are there. Check it out at www.trinitytohaiti.com.

Off to have a few more gummy bears....

Until Next Time...

His Final Adventure...

2010-02-23T09:10:00.005-06:00

It is with great sorrow that I write this post..... but I wanted to let you all know that at 9:30 this morning our precious Sumo took his final breath as we made that difficult decision that every pet owner has to make. I can honestly say, and I have never kept this a secret, that Sumo was by far my favorite. I was there when he was born 14 years ago and I knew right away we had to have him. (Even though it meant convincing Steve that 2 dogs really were better than one. It didn't take much convincing!!) And I was there this morning holding his sweet head and telling him how much we loved him as he took his final breath. Rest in peace my dear sweet Sumo.

And if you see Nikko, give her our love, and don't let her get you into too much trouble!!!

Until Next Time....

Haiti Bound...

2010-02-19T12:31:00.011-06:00

A week from today, Steve and K will be bound for Haiti as part of a medical missions team from our church. It is an exciting opportunity to be a small part of bringing some relief to those who have been through so much. The needs are so great. One of the greatest challenges is trying to determine what to bring in the way of medical supplies.... K is going to photo journal the experience, and to be a general helper to the doctors and nurses.

As a 'filler' in the suitcases, the team is packing beanie babies to take to give to the children. I put a request out on Facebook, and the beanies have started to arrive in preparation for their one way trip to Haiti. This box arrived from my friend Karen!! Don't they look eager to continue their journey into the arms of a child.

I will keep you posted on the team's journey. K will be setting up a blog, and I will be sure and let you know how you can access it!

In the meantime, we continue to have one of the snowiest winters on record. I have to admit, there is a beauty to it, but I prefer the beauty of warm sunny skies and lush green grass. (This picture is taken looking over at our neighbors house...)

The snow has made it difficult for Sumo to get around. Every once in awhile he will still follow us out for a part of our walk. It is painful to watch him, but he has a determined spirit. Sophie, on the other hand, bounds effortlessly through the huge drifts. Aaah, youth!

Sumo is always up for a little pep talk and sometimes needs a little encouragement to finish the journey back home.

We had a wonderful weekend this past weekend, FULL of family and friends. All of the kids were home; Paul and Sheri were visiting from St. Louis and A's soon to be father in law was here. In the hustle and bustle the camera did not come out!!! (The one time I went to take a picture the batteries were completely dead!!) Suffice it to say we had a wonderful time!!

I have cast on a ballband bag as part of the Ravelympics on Ravelry. It is going to be a gray base with 3 colors of green gradually changing as they go up the bag. Never done it before, so we will see how it turns out. At this point the bag is going to be for me.. but I never seem to be able to hang on to something for long before it is 'perfect' for someone else....

Just finished a yummy lunch of Masaman curry.... K has introduced us to all kinds of different curry. I think this one is my favorite.... So simple. I do change the directions a bit on the can and use half coconut milk and half skim milk to keep the fat content down a bit...

A scoop of this over rice makes a very warm, yummy meal. My kind of 'comfort' food.

Off to work. A final glimpse of Sumo. He turns 14 in less than 2 weeks. He is feeling his age and ready for the winter to be over.

Until Next Time...

Not So Happy Toes....

2010-02-09T09:51:00.009-06:00

When the kids were little, every time they were barefoot we would call their toes 'happy toes' because they didn't have to be cooped up in shoes and socks etc.. How they loved their happy toes!!

Two weeks ago, I had happy toes. Oh, they were so happy to be in the warmth of the sand and the sea.

Today it is a different story. My toes are about as cooped up as they can get! And they are not happy.... not happy Bob! A foot of snow in the last 24 hours has me donning the snowshoes to take out the one who DOES have happy toes.....

Sophie!!!! Oh how she LOVES the snow. She runs and leaps and buries her face and looks at me with such delight. Like I somehow provided this opportunity for her. If she only knew....

The past few weeks have been filled once again with 1040's; Schedules A; C; D etc.. Yes, tax season is upon us once again. I am only working part time this year (30 hours week) which is nice. Leaves some time for knitting and baking. (Still haven't figured out how to squeeze in cleaning and grocery shopping, but I'll get there!)

I made this tray of cookies and cake balls this past weekend for a Super Bowl Party. Wish my Vikings could have been playing, but it was not to be. These are K's recipes from her As You Wish baking business, which she has started up once again down at school. I miss having her at home, but am excited to see what this semester holds for her. Plus I am pretty good at coming up with reasons for going down to visit.....

Until Next Time....

A Week Ago Today.....

2010-01-26T09:11:00.014-06:00

A week ago today I was somewhere warm and sunny. A lot changes in a week. Today it is cold; the snow is blowing; the schools are delayed and I am wondering why I got on that flight back.

I thought I would share a few of the hundreds of photos that we took.

It started with the three of us. We have been friends FOREVER. In fact, I met Renae (the one on the right) when I was 4 and Cheryl (on left) in early elementary school. We graduated from high school together; got married around the same time; had kids the same ages and always said that the first year that we were all empty-nesters we would take our husbands and the 6 of us would go on a trip. I guess I never really thought that this day would ever come! But this was the year, so we put our heads together and booked passage on....

The Independence of the Sea cruise ship bound for Belize; Costa Maya and Cozumel. We had an incredible trip with perfect weather every day. And as fun as the cruise was, the REAL highlight was being together with such dear friends and laughing until our sides hurt and we could laugh no more.

Our first port of call was Belize where we hopped on a water taxi and headed over to the island of Caye Caulker. This is probably one of the most laid back places I have been in my life. We had hired a guide to take us snorkeling and he pulled up in his boat just minutes after we got out of the water taxi.

We followed him down one of the few streets to his shop where he fit us with snorkeling gear and got us ready for our adventure out on the coral reef.

On the 25 minute ride to the reef we saw several dolphins swimming nearby. Very cool. And then we anchored and spotted our first shark. Nurse sharks populate the area and are supposedly afraid of man. At least that is what our guide assured us of!! By the end of our day, we had seen and been quite close to 10 sharks. I even jumped in to the water shortly after we stopped at our third snorkeling location so I could get closer to the shark. What is wrong with that picture??? Me who has an ENORMOUS fear of sharks!!

We also saw sea turtles; several kinds of sting rays; a moray eel and over 50 varieties of brightly colored fish. A huge WOW factor for me! And I think Steve loved it as well!!

We then hopped back on the tender back to the boat. (Ok, in reality, this was probably taken on the tender TO Belize for everyone looked a little water logged after the day snorkeling!!!) But you get the idea!!!

It was a great day swimming in the ocean and feeling the ocean breeze and the warmth of the sun on my face.

The day in Costa Maya found us ziplining over the canopy of the forest. Unfortunately they wouldn't let us bring our cameras so I can't share much about that. It was a neat experience, but it was a very short ride with lots and lots of waiting time. Fortunately we were all together and made the most of it.

Our third port of call was Cozumel where we headed to a private beach for a lazy day of laying in the sun and boogie boarding. I think this is my new 'happy place' to go to when I need a mental escape!!

We all spent a little time trying to find the perfect wave. It eluded most of us. But fun to try!!

Mostly we lounged on the chairs and enjoyed unlimited food and drinks.

The guacamole was fantastic and I may or may not have eaten more than I should have of it!!

The days at sea on the boat were great as well. These ships have everything!!! Sitting on the upper deck and watching the activity in the pools below is great fun.

And when you get hungry.. it is not far to a nearby restaurant that serves everything from burgers and fries to prime rib and lobster!! Here we enjoy a burger, fries and malt from Johnny Rockets!

On the sports deck, one can rock climb; play miniature golf or ride the Flow rider! Us girls decided to give the flow rider a shot.

Here goes nothing... It was actually quite fun. And after getting the feel of it, I was actually able to get on my knees and let go of my hands and sit up. A wrong turn, however, and I found myself back up at the top in a crumpled heap laughing as I tried to regain my footing. Not easy with the current.

Steve pretty much was a master at it and was on his knees; doing rolls and looking pretty cool!!

And after a full day outside, we'd get ready and head down for a nice dinner and an evening of shows and lively conversation. (well..not always so lively.) Vacation can be exhausting!

But much too quickly, our trip was over and we were on a plane heading back to the snow and ice of Minnesota. Our plane landed at 3:20 on Saturday and we made a mad dash in an attempt to attend my nephews 4:00 wedding. We were too late for the wedding but enjoyed family and friends at the beautiful reception. Here I am with my mom.

Steve hangs out with my 4 brothers. 2nd one from the left is the proud father of the groom!!

And my parents win the 'anniversary' dance being the longest married couple in attendance. 57 years!!!! Way to go mom and dad!!

Congratulations Mike and Marie!!! Love you both!

And now back to reality.....

Until next time...

Mostly Knitting.....

2010-01-09T15:26:00.008-06:00

Yes, this is actually a post that contains mostly knitting. Since this originally started out as a knitting blog, I thought maybe it would be appropriate! I do know, however, that there are some of you out there who actually SKIP the knitting content! (Not that I would ever mention any names... Michael..)

I have decided that my very favorite thing to knit is felted bags, and my favorite bag to knit is the Ballband Bag, originally designed by Monica. I think the reason that these are my favorite is because I actually see them being used all the time by the ones I have made them for. M, K and CB carry theirs all winter, and it makes me smile to see how much they enjoy them. So I decided I have two 'adopted' daughters that I need to make bags for before the start of this semester. K chose the colors, as they are friends of hers, and I got started. Here is the first one ready to felt....

And here it is, ready for the snaps. I knit it double stranded with Cascade 220. I had two skeins of each color, but didn't quite have enough of the brown to do the whole strap, hence the red section. But I think it works. I am hoping the one I made it for well love it as much as I enjoyed making it for her.

I have the second bag well under way and hope to finish it later tomorrow. The color is a bit off in this photo, but it is brown and a beautiful lavender color. Perfect for it's intended target.. I mean, recipient! I have made a slight adjustment to the original pattern that I am happy to share if you decide to cast one on. Just shoot me an email from my profile page and I will share with you what it is.

Earlier this Fall, I traded some knitting with K. I knit her a couple of pair of fingerless gloves in exchange for her knitting me this scarf. She WAY got the short end of the deal - but don't tell her!!! This is commonly referred to as 'The Scarf That Never Ends'..... You cast on 70 stitches onto a size 5 16" circular needle - join it into a circle and knit around and around and around until you either go crazy or it is as long as you need. Whatever comes first. This is made out of Alpaca With A Twist Baby Alpaca, and I will tell you this is the warmest scarf you will ever feel. I'm trying to talk her into making one for herself.

It really helps to keep one warm on these days that the temperature is WAY below zero. And it has been that cold for days and days and days it seems! I am thankful for my knight in shining snow pants who is so willing to don the snowshoes and take Sophie out on her field walks. If you could see under his coat, you would see he has on his Alpaca Never Ending Scarf on that K made him last year. He is now a firm believer in scarves and wears it ALL the time.

Well, time for more knitting.

Until Next Time.....

Goodbye 2009! Hello 2010!

2009-12-31T19:28:00.012-06:00

My husband looked at me over dinner tonight and told me it had been almost a month since I updated my blog. It made me smile. I think he has missed reading what we've been up to!

I do admit that I spend very little time on the computer these days and it seldom occurs to me that I should be looking for things to blog about. I've just been enjoying time with family and friends and looking forward to a new year. Let's see.... here is a brief recap of the last few weeks....

We hosted the main meal for a progressive dinner with some students from the university here in town. What a FUN bunch of young women. There were several international students who came as well. I LOVE connecting with students from other countries and hearing about how they came to study here.

Snow has been a major factor in our lives in the past weeks, and has led to the cancellations of many key events. Christmas Eve service was cancelled; Steve had his first 'snow day' from the office in the 14 years we have been here; and the most devastating for me, is that it prevented us from making the trip to Minnesota to spend Christmas with my family when they celebrated. That day is always such a highlight for me and it saddens me to think I have to wait another year for it to roll around again!! Sumo is somehow managing to make the pilgrimage around the back field each day, but it is pretty slow and go.

Steve and K took a surprise trip to New York City one weekend and even took a helicopter ride over Manhattan! They had quite the view!! They packed a lot into their weekend and have lots of fun memories. I'm excited to get there someday...

They did go to M&M world and brought me back this fun sweatshirt for Christmas! It is my new favorite!!! The really fun thing about this picture is that I took it with my phone and just learned how to transfer it to the computer via bluetooth. :-) I LOVE learning new (well, at least new to me) technology!

I loved having time with everyone home over the weekend! We played lots of games; ate lots of yummy food; laughed a bunch and just enjoyed being together! I just happen to be blessed with the best kids on the planet.

I did get the fingerless mitts done in time for the girls and they loved them. The next pair I knit will be for myself. I just can't decide which yarn I want!

K made this photo frame for R & M with pictures she took in and around our house. They were really excited about it. They may have to keep an eye on it when I come to visit because I have the PERFECT spot for it to hang in my house!!!

I will leave you with a final recipe for the year ..... Strawberry and Cream Cheese Stuffed French Toast. I made it for the kids for breakfast this morning; and for Steve when he got home from work. Everyone gave it two thumbs up!

Strawberry and Cream Cheese Stuffed French Toast

2 slices Texas Toast per serving
eggs
milk
fresh strawberries, sliced
cream cheese frosting*

1. Beat eggs (1-2 per serving) with a splash of milk until well mixed.

2. Melt 1 tsp or so of butter in fry pan over medium heat.

3. Spread one piece of Texas Toast with cream cheese frosting.

4. Layer with fresh strawberries and top with second slice of Texas Toast.

5. Dip in egg mixture and coat each side really well.

6. Place in fry pan and cook until each side is golden brown.

7. Sprinkle with powdered sugar and ENJOY!!!

Cream Cheese Frosting:
(This can be made ahead of time and kept in the fridge. Bring to room temperature before making French Toast)

8 oz Cream Cheese
1 cup butter
1 pound powdered sugar
1 tsp vanilla
1 tsp lemon juice

1. Allow cream cheese and butter to get to room temperature

2. Beat butter and cream cheese together in a large bowl with mixer

3. Slowly add in the powdered sugar.

4. After all the powdered sugar is added, mix for 12 minutes. (Do not mix less than that)

5. When almost done, add in the vanilla and lemon juice

Happy New Years to all of you! May God richly bless you in the coming year!

Until Next Time....

Snow Day!!!

2009-12-09T19:54:00.014-06:00

It started yesterday. The predictions were for lots of snow. I hoped they were wrong. But it was not to be. 15 inches at last report. We kept a close watch on this happy garden guy in the front of the house, watching as the snow accumulated up all around him. Poor guy!!

Sophie has been pouting all day because she didn't get to go on either of her field walks. She won't even look at me. Maybe tomorrow Sophie......

Sumo loves to go out and eat the snow. I have been thankful for his sake that the snow has held off as long as it has. It is going to be hard for him to navigate these deep drifts. I think it is safe to say that his walks in the back field have come to a halt, at least for now.

K took this picture of our winter wonderland out the back window. It is pretty and certainly does get one in the Christmas spirit!! For Steve, it was his first SNOW DAY that he has had since we moved here 14+ years ago!!! Pretty crazy!! It was fun to have him around all day.

Since it has been a few weeks since my last post, I will do a quick 'catch up' of what we have been up to. We had a great Thanksgiving day. K invited some good friends to spend a few days with us, which was so fun. I love these two!!! And am happy to be their American 'mom' while they are studying here in the U.S.

We played games; ate turkey; went 'Black Friday' shopping; and played more games!! R & M were around Thanksgiving day, but A & CB were at her folks. We'll get to see more of them over the Christmas break.

This past weekend, K and I made a quick trip to Chicago for a 'girls weekend' with Sheri and her knitting daughter. Shopping; knitting; catching up and eating at fun restaurants are all important components of a girls weekend. We found a GREAT pizza place to have Chicago style pizza. Very yummy! They even ship over 250,000 pizzas a year all over the states!!!

Breakfast is one of my favorite meals to eat out, and we found a GREAT breakfast place just a stone's throw from our hotel. These are my yummy yummy crepes that I had. I think I may have to make crepes some time this weekend!

We stayed right by the IKEA store and took K there for the first time. I LOVE this store and made many very fun purchases! Several things for our living room which we are in the process of redoing. Sure would love to have an IKEA store closer to home!!!!

In knitting news, I have finished the first of CB's mitt and hope to cast on the second one later this week. I just can't say enough about this pattern. My friend Sheri has mentioned it so much on her blog that the gal who wrote the pattern made it available on a blog post as well as on ravelry. You can get the free pattern here.

I also started an alpaca tubular scarf with some yarn that Sheri gave me when we were in Chicago. These are probably the warmest scarves on the planet!!!! You cast on 70 stitches onto a size 5 - 16" circular needle and then just knit away. I am striping mine, changing colors every 5 rows. When it is as long as you want, you seam the ends; add some fringe and enjoy it's incredible warmth!!!!

Until Next Time....

Rolling, Rolling, Rolling......

2009-11-24T10:22:00.009-06:00

It is lefse season here at our house!! Today I have 6 batches that I am going to try and get rolled out and packaged for our Distinctive Design Open House this Sunday! I LOVE the way this makes the house smell. Smells like Christmas..... (For my recipe and step by step instructions on how to make lefse, see this post.)

There is nothing yummier than a piece of lefse hot off the grill with a little butter on it. I confess that sometimes I even have dreams about it. Today that dream will probably come true several times! Yum!!

K will be at the Open House selling cupcakes from her 'As You Wish' Bakery. This order went out this morning and looked so good. I wonder if they would have noticed one missing.....

I am happy to report that Sumo no longer has bad breath. We are all thankful. I had suspected it was because his teeth needed to be cleaned, but was afraid to have him put under general anesthetic at his age.... They had to keep him at the vet for quite awhile as he had a very hard time coming around - but all is well now and he has minty fresh breath!! (Well, not minty maybe, but better than it was!!!) He got a thumbs up from the vet for being in pretty good shape for an old man, and I was told it is probably the 2x daily walks in the back field that are keeping him going. He is down 30 pounds from when he was in his prime, but it is probably better for him with his arthritis.

Sophie hated having him gone and kept looking for him in his usual sleeping spots. What a happy reunion when he returned!! (Happy for her, anyways. I think Sumo rather enjoyed a little time away from her enthusiasm!)

I finished another pair of 100% cotton fingerless gloves for K. They turned out so soft, which is nice. (The other cotton ones I have made for her are just a little stiff...) I used this yarn from KnitPicks. One skein was all it took, so they are very reasonable to make. I am totally addicted to this pattern and have a gazillion more I want to make!

I have already cast on another pair. I want to make a pair for both M and CB. I wonder if they can guess who these are for? The purple will give it away, I am sure!!!

Time to roll out more lefse.

Until Next Time....

Knitting and Chocolate Dipping....

2009-11-11T12:08:00.014-06:00

I enjoy both...knitting and chocolate dipping!! And today has already had a little of both!!! We started with big marshmallows to make snowmen on a stick. (We dipped the two bottom layers and put a plain marshmallow on top for the head...)

Still working on the best ways to decorate the little guys. I think a red licorice scarf would be cute and maybe some pretzel arms. We have also tried dipping the head marshmallow in white chocolate which also works well.

And, of course, one needs to dip mini-marshmallows to create snowman poop. These are very dangerous to have laying around however. They are so yummy!!!!!

If you haven't tried this chocolate yet for dipping, I HIGHLY recommend it!! It is THE BEST dipping chocolate ever. It is a available now for a limited time at Sam's Club. Definitely worth stocking up on! (I bought 85 pounds worth if that gives you any idea how much we like it!!)

I won't tell you how much of the snowman poop I have already consumed today. It's just not something I want to confess to!

In knitting news, I am still working on the fingerless mitts. I finished the yummy blue ones and I LOVE how they turned out. And although these will soon be on their way to China, I have enough to make myself a matching pair!!! (Steve just wanted reassurance that I won't need a new coat to go with them..... hmmmm, do you suppose I have a bit of a coat issue???) Some of asked what yarn this is, it is Fiesta Boomerang.

As it turns out, my friends daughter in China has two teammates that she is there with, so I am knitting fast and furious to get 3 pair ready to send by this Thursday. Here is the first mitt of the 3rd pair. (I am half way done with the second mitt as well, so I should be able to have them ready!!) I am totally addicted to this pattern. Totally. (This is also Fiesta Boomerang)

I felt bad about the condition of Sophie's toys after my last post, so I broke down and bought her a couple of new ones. I don't know why. This one already has rips in it and stuffing is laying all over the house. Not sure I will ever learn.

Oh, and the fresh breath rinse and mints are doing NOTHING for Sumo's bad breath. Sigh. It was worth a shot.

Until Next Time....

Four Things....

2009-11-04T14:31:00.010-06:00

that make me laugh, when they should probably make me cry....

1. Our current Loopy Ewe water bottle situation. These are by far my favorite water bottles and I used them all the time. My sweet husband, however, was too efficient in doing the dishes the other day and put the two blue ones in the dishwasher. NOT a good idea. I probably should throw them away (and I will be ordering more when they are back in stock) but it makes me laugh to look at them. Not sure why......

2. The concrete evidence of mice in the house. Yes, these dissected cupcakes clearly indicate the presence of mice. Mice in the form of humans who decide it's ok to eat just the part of an existing cupcake that sounds good at the moment...... So sad. (Note: the piece of chocolate and remaining buttercream disappeared shortly after this photo was taken. I don't think the fact that I am the only one home necessarily implies that I am guilty.....)

3. The items that I had to purchase yesterday for Sumo. Yes you see correctly. Doggy breath mints and mouth wash to add to his water. The reality is Sumo's breath smells like dead fish. No kidding!!! And when he starts to pant, it about knocks you out. It's suppose to take a few days for these items to take effect. I will keep you posted!!! In the meantime, I am just thankful that Sumo has never been one to lick!!

4. The state of Sophie's toys. Yes, these are her toys. At one time they were new and cute and many of them had squeakers that actually worked!! Now it is just a collection of strings; monkey limbs; duck heads etc... She still seems to like them, so I guess that is all that matters.

In knitting news, I finished K's mitts and am very happy how they turned out. They are 100% cotton and not quite as soft as some of the others I have made, but they will be kinder to her skin. I have to say that I am in love with this pattern!! (Link takes you to Ravelry, where the pattern is)

In fact, I have already started another pair!! This one is for a friend's daughter who is currently living in China. I'm loving the feel and color of this yarn and am glad there is enough to make at least 2 pair, as I have a feeling I will want some for myself!!!

Oh, and Sophie wants to show you her 1 toy that still looks pretty much like it did when we gave it to her. A raggedy rope that she loves to play tug-of-war and keep-away with. It definitely has signs of 'Sophie-wear', but it is hanging in there!!!

Until Next Time....

So Long October....

2009-10-31T21:04:00.010-05:00

Wow! Last day of October. I can't say that I am sorry to see it leave. It was a cold, rainy month. I am hoping that November is going to be nicer!!! It did make for a few nice days to curl up and do a little knitting, however. I got these mitts done and I LOVE them!!

I decided that a scarf would go well with the, so decided to finally tackle the Irish Hiking Scarf which I have wanted to do since I started knitting. It's hard to see the cables in the yarn, but there are three of them across the scarf. I thought it would match the above mitts nicely. Hopefully I will get it done in a few weeks.

I also have swapped a knitting project with K. I am very excited. I purchased this yummy Baby Twist Alpaca from The Loopy Ewe and K is going to knit me one of those tubular scarfs that transition from one color to the other. I think it is my favorite scarf of all time. I thought the light purple/charcoal gray would be a beautiful combination!

In exchange, I am knitting her a pair of fingerless mitts like the ones I just finished out of 100% cotton. (Wool is not kind to her sensitive skin!!) I have had to restart these a couple of times, but I think I finally got it right. It will be a good project to work on during the Vikings - Packers game tomorrow!!! (GO VIKINGS!!!)

I have been doing some large group cooking these past few weeks. We host a Marriage Course at our church and we provide a candlelit meal for the couples before the session. Tonight was Week 4 of 7. Penne was the main dish. I tried something new and cooked it (4 batches) totally in my roaster. It worked great!!!! I love my roaster.

I had some fun shopping on Etsy a few weeks ago. I found someone who did custom aprons and hats. I couldn't resist and ordered K some aprons and a hat for her business. She was thrilled. Now I want a hat for myself!!!!

I will leave you with this picture of her chocolate-dipped peanut butter cookie. (Just to be kind of mean!!) They are very very yummy. If you are in the neighborhood stop on by and we'll give you a sample!!

Here's to a sunny, warm November!!! We can only hope!

Until Next Time...

Knitting again.....

2009-10-21T08:33:00.011-05:00

It's true. I actually have been doing some knitting. I won't say that my knitting mojo is back, exactly... but I have been doing a little each day and am enjoying seeing some progress...even if they are little things!!!! The one I am most excited about is this fingerless glove that Sheri mentioned on her blog. It was exactly what I was looking for. I still have to finish the thumb (oh, and the second glove), but I will be starting that today. The yarn is some I got at The Fold. There is enough to do several pairs and a scarf and maybe a fun hat....

I also cast on a felted bowl out of some wool I had in my stash. I am hoping to get several of these knit up for an upcoming event at my neighbors house... we will see. My mind is thinking of all the fun fingerless gloves I want to make for Christmas gifts...

And I have some felted coasters on the needles and a lot of additional colors I want to make up into coasters for a fun set. Like I said, nothing to amazing, but all fun.

Sophie continues to grow and keep us laughing with her quirky ways. Definitely the weirdest lab I have ever known.. but in a good way. She INSISTS on her morning and evening field walks, which are a good thing. I think the best thing they do is keep Sumo moving.....

Sumo is moving slow, but he is moving! He does at least one lap around the field both morning and night and even makes attempts at running. Thanks for hanging in there, old man!

I'm pretty sure that Sophie would be lost without him!!! She is very protective of him on the one hand, but can bowl him over with her enthusiasm on the other.

Cakes, cupcakes, cake balls and cookies are still being produced by the dozens in our kitchen. Makes for a yummy smelling house! Here are a couple of cakes that K took to a tailgating party last weekend. As a Hawkeye fan, it kind of killed her to make these, but you do what you have to do!!!!

She also made some fun cake balls that surrounded the football cake. I think it was enjoyed by all. I'm pretty sure the next ones she makes will be black and gold though!

It's another cloudy day. We have had lots of those lately!!! Sunshine seems to be in short supply. At least it's warm out. And hey, there are cupcakes on the counter... how bad can life be?

Until Next Time....

Monday...

2009-10-05T08:19:00.016-05:00

Well, it is Monday again and I am looking back and realizing that much has happened since my last post.

First, however, I must put a plug out there for my football team, the Minnesota Vikings!!! Tonight is a BIG GAME - going against the Packers with Brett Favre facing the green and yellow in purple. I know his return to football is controversial, but the guy just loves to play, so I say let him play!! And if he's wearing purple, then I will be cheering for him! And as Sophie demonstrates, we will be cheering against the Packers. Sorry Packer fans!

Sumo really won't be doing much cheering at all. This is pretty much the position he will be in. In fact, he is often in this position if you stop by. He may get up to greet you, but more than likely not. That's ok. Sophie greets enough for the two of them!

The last few weeks have been very busy for K with the article about her 'As You Wish' Bakery business coming out in the paper. If you haven't visited her website, you should!! Just click here. Steve and K have been working hard getting it set up. The incredible pictures are possible because of the incredible light box our friend Paul made for K. Sorry we haven't figured out how to make the cupcakes come out of your computer screen!
(Visit her blog here).

Steve celebrated a birthday last week. I surprised him with a little utility trailer that he has wanted. He really liked it. I'm glad. Tools, trailers and trucks. They're guy things, I guess...

We headed to Des Moines to see WICKED to celebrate his birthday. Unfortunately at the last moment he got called to an emergency and wasn't able to go. Very disappointing!! We still had a good time, and I promised him we'd head to Chicago sometime and see it again.

To celebrate we had dinner at a local Irish pub where R & M's friend is the chef. It was very yummy!!! We will definitely be going back!

This past weekend, Steve and I made the 7 hour drive to see my folks in Western Minnesota. Had a great visit, but forgot to get my camera out often enough! We did take a few pictures when we went out to my brothers place. The first was of these beautiful horses that belong to my cousin.

Steve took the liberty of sitting in my brothers Smart car. These things are so cute. Both he and his girlfriend have one.

And I got to meet their sweet little poodle puppy, Millie. What a doll! They are planning on breeding Golden Doodles in the near future. I wonder if Sophie will want a play mate by then? They may be too cute to resist!!!!!

Back home now and ready for another week.

Until Next Time....

14 days......

2009-09-24T06:52:00.010-05:00

Yes, I think that it is official... this has been the longest stretch that I have gone without posting. It's not that things haven't been happening... it is just that too much has been happening and I have had to put some things (including blogging) on the back burner. So, I will attempt to give a brief summary of the past few weeks - not necessarily in chronological order......

First off, let me reassure you that life has still been filled with cupcakes!! And lots of them. Here are some of the mini-cupcakes that K made for a women's retreat that we cooked for this past weekend. They were a big hit!! There was even rumored to be contests happening as to who could eat the most mini's before noon. I participated and was in the running for first place!!!

It was a pleasure and a joy to spend a whole weekend with some wonderful women at a neat retreat center tucked away on 100 acres of rolling hills and pasture in the center of Iowa. It was especially fun for me as K, M and CB were all able to come and spend the weekend.

I think the hit of all of our cooking, however, were the mini-cupcakes; cake balls and warm homemade cookies that K provided. She was quite busy in the days before the retreat getting them all made. And it looks like she is going to stay quite busy! Yesterday her 'As You Wish' Bakery was featured in our local paper!!!! Check it out here. The orders started coming in pretty quickly. We are busy getting a website; brochure and price list ready... hopefully in the next day or two. Feel free to reach into your computer screen and help yourself to one of these Decadent Chocolate Chip mini cupcakes!!!!

But we haven't just been baking! We are in the process of doing some redecorating! The first room to get a facelift was the upstairs bathroom. Here is the before....

And the after:

We still have some finishing touches to put on it, but it is on it's way to being complete!

Also in the past 14 days, was a quick trip to Chicago to be with our friends Paul and Sheri. Sheri and I's destination was Stitches Midwest, which was full of fibery fun as well as running into several women from my knitting circle of friends!!! Steve and Paul headed downtown and enjoyed the beautiful parks; fountains etc... I do think that Chicago is one of my favorite cities. I love that it is only 4.5 hours away... an easy weekend destination!!

Since the camera was with Steve, I didn't get any pictures at Stitches, but we have lots of the guys downtown. About half of his pictures seem to be pictures of themselves taking pictures of themselves in this Cloud Gate structure. Must be fun photographically!!!

Well, I know several of you are wondering if there will EVER be knitting content on my blog again.. after all, it is titled 'Willow Way Knitting'.. and I ask you not to give up!!! Life is starting to settle into a routine and I think I will be getting my pointy sticks out again soon.... so stay tuned!

Until Next Time....

Morning Meet and Greet....

2009-09-10T14:06:00.011-05:00

Morning comes early here at our house. I'm a morning person, so that suits me fine!! I am usually up before the sun spending some nice quiet time reading and journaling and starting in on the first pot of coffee for the day. I LOVE my mornings!!! I don't know about you, but I have a favorite mug for my morning java. This is it. I love the polka dots and it holds just the right amount.

Mugs are actually something that I LOVE to collect. I especially like the Starbuck City and Country mugs. I collect them whenever we travel, and it is the perfect souvenir. And it is fun when the kids bring me them home from their travels as well. These are two I got this summer. The Wales one from R and M and the Jordan one from K.

Sophie humors me in the morning and stays contently in her area until I am ready for the next part of the morning..... our walk in the back field!! We have done this morning and evening for over a year and Sophie still gets as excited as if it were her first time!! I adore her enthusiasm for life!!!

She runs to greet the sun...

She cautiously greets the cows that live in the field to the West of us.... Heaven forbid they are still laying down happily chewing their cud! Sophie will bark until she gets them up on their feet. It's time to start the day, after all!!!

Then it's over to the East pasture fence where the llamas greet her cautiously. There will come a day when she will get spit on. It hasn't happened yet, but I think the writing is on the wall.... When it does happen it will entail a bath, that is for sure!

Sumo tags along most mornings, but sticks to the paths and leaves the meeting and greeting to his younger counterpart. These cooler mornings are heavenly to him, and sometimes he even breaks into his version of a run. Through it all, I do believe he is smiling!

Sophie does pause now and then just long enough to plan out her next mad dash.

When the walk is over, we saunter back to the house and I pour another cup of coffee and look to see if there are any of K's cupcakes needing 'sampling'. Here is her new creation from yesterday - Chocolate Peanut butter cupcake with chocolate buttercream frosting and a mini reeses peanut butter cup. Yeah... they are as yummy as they look!! Come on over! I am happy to share both coffee and cupcake. You can even join us on a field walk if you'd like!!!

Until Next Time...

One Year.......

2009-09-01T08:38:00.014-05:00

Well, today is the one year anniversary of the arrival of that adorable golden bundle of energy we named Sophie. And life hasn't quite been the same since!!!! She was so cute back then. Sigh.

Sumo tried to warn us about the hazards of getting a puppy. I remember his looks of 'What WERE you thinking?????' We still get those looks from him a year later. Often with reason!!

Like yesterday when she got the top off of the puppy safe package container on the front step and destroyed the mail inside. I wasn't so mad about the credit card bill she ripped to shreds (pretty sure I'm exempt from having to pay it now!!!) but I was a little mad about one of CB's text books that came.

Her life was spared, however, by her good fortune that the calendar I had ordered from my friend Claudia in Germany had come registered mail and was NOT left in the puppy package box. Never was I so happy to make a trip to the post office to pick up a package!! I hate to think what would have happened to her had she shredded this!!! It was so fun to get this after hearing Claudia and her husband Andreas talk about the idea of it at the Spring Fling in April. It is a calendar of Claudia's AMAZING yarn strategically placed on the male models. (Her husband is one of the models!) All of the proceeds go to charity..... If you are interested in one, you can purchase it from Claudia here. But be warned - if you are offended by bare b*tts, you may not be interested. But it is done in good taste and the calendar is wonderful!!

We had a great weekend and got to make a quick trip to see A in his new apartment. Lunch at Hickory Park is always a treat as well!!

K made an incredible birthday cake over the weekend for a 60th birthday party. It was 3 tiered and covered with amazing flowers. (That she had made with homemade gumpaste). It was breath taking.

She also got a request for a cupcake that was coffee flavored with a hint of toffee. After researching recipes and combining ideas, she came up with these. The frosting is an espresso buttercream that is unbelievable. I couldn't stop eating it!! She is trying to decide what to call them. Head over to her blog and cast your vote: As You Wish

With some leftover fondant and frosting, I succeeded in decorating my first fondant cake. A football!! I was really excited how it turned out. I think I see more of these in my future....

Until Next Time...

Cousins, Corn and Cupcakes, Oh My!

2009-08-26T15:44:00.014-05:00

This past weekend we had a mini reunion for Steve's family here at our house. Everyone was able to make it except R & M who had a wedding they were in out of town. It was great to have everyone together and the weather was fabulous!! Steve enjoyed giving rides to his niece's 4 children. (I think he may even have enjoyed it more than they did!!!)

We got to have a great bonfire on the new pit we put in late last fall. Hoping to see many more as the weather gets cooler and Fall arrives. I just LOVE a good bonfire complete with gourmet smores!!! (Smores with the traditional graham crackers; chocolate and marshmallows - just add strawberries; Andes Mints; bananas; etc...!) Yum!

And since this was an Iowa reunion, we had to have sweet corn!!! It's amazing how quickly 2 dozen can get shucked with this many hands!!!

Had other yummy food as well. For lunch we had one of my favorite sandwiches, The Savory Sandwich Ring. This is an easy sandwich to fix and always a hit!!!!

K has been busy with her baking business. She is fine tuning her cupcakes and they are incredible, if I have to say so myself!

My personal favorite are these almond cupcakes with vanilla buttercream frosting. They are heavenly. I dream about them. I eat them for breakfast. I may have to set a rule that they can not be in the house.

These decadent chocolate chip cupcakes with chocolate buttercream frosting and mini oreos are Steve's favorite. I am pretty sure he could set a world record in cupcake eating if given the chance!!!!

The chai cupcake with chai spice buttercream frosting is a favorite of all. In this picture you see my very important role in the cupcake preparation. The placing of the little 'extras'. It is a very important job. I do confess to sticking some of the bears head first into the frosting. I think it's more realistic of what a bear would actually do given the chance to attack the cupcake.

Finally, a peek at the tray that K created for the teacher's lounge at the elementary school that M teaches at. Cake balls surrounded by her special chocolate chip cookies - some of them dipped in chocolate with sprinkles. I guess the word 'divine' came up by some of those who got to eat from the tray!!!

Until Next Time.....

Monday again.....

2009-08-17T06:32:00.012-05:00

Wow! Where does time go? Has it really been over 3 years since I started blogging? (My first post was August 7th of 2006! Crazy!!) It has also been over 10 days since my last post, but it seems like I posted just yesterday. Time is truly a funny thing!! It's also interesting how my blog has evolved. It started TOTALLY as a knitting blog (hence the name) but has turned into more of a journal about life - including family stories; favorite recipes, and yes, even some occasional knitting. (Which I hope to resume again soon!!!!) Maybe today I will knit. Maybe.

We had a busy weekend!!!! It was one of those 'divide and conquer' weekends where we headed in different directions and wished we could be in two places at one time!! Steve, along with A & CB headed to Chicago to pick up R & M!!! I cannot begin to tell you how great it is to have them home again!!! They also picked up some dear friends of R & M's who had flown in for a wedding last night.

K & I headed north to Minneapolis for the wedding shower of my niece. It was great to be among family for the day and celebrate my niece's up coming wedding. One of the things us aunts did was bring our head pieces/veils from our weddings and had her model them and try to guess who they belonged to. This was the hat that I wore over 26 years ago when Steve and I married. I thought it looked kind of cute on her!!!

We also delivered a 50th birthday cake to my brother Brad that K had made for him. Unfortunately I was not feeling well and so we had to take off before his birthday celebration. A very Happy Birthday to my older brother!!!! :-)!!

When we got home, K immediately started work dipping 250 cake balls for the wedding we went to Sunday evening. They turned out beautifully and were a huge hit at the wedding! (Steve confessed later to eating 6 of them!!)

R and M were pretty awake and had a great time at the wedding, even though they hadn't been home yet for even 24 hours. The bride has been a friend of R's for years and I know they were excited to be able to be home in time to attend. I still can't believe they're home!!

A and CB enjoyed the wedding and were taking mental notes for their wedding which is now only 9 months away. It was a beautiful outdoor wedding and I absolutely loved it.

There was dancing on the deck. Steve and I tried to remember some of the steps from our dancing lessons. Pretty sure we may need to take a refresher course before too long!!

It was so wonderful to see K & M have some time together at the wedding as well. We have all missed them so much this summer. I feel so incredibly blessed by the children God has given me. Life is good!

One of the final shots of the evening was the famous pyramid that R's group of friends has done at every wedding. (Ok, I didn't get a shot of the actual pyramid.. but will post one when I do!) This is the shot before the pyramid. It is an incredible group of friends and I love them all dearly!! So happy for each of them, but sure miss having them hanging out. (hint hint) Come visit soon!!!

And, of course, no blog post would be complete without some Sophie story. She has decided that she is also a 'papasan chair' dog as well. Ok, but this is it, family!!! I don't want to catch her up on couches, chairs or beds. I know that she is cute, but don't spoil her, for Pete's sake!!!

Until Next Time....

Little Bit Of Everything......

2009-08-06T09:38:00.011-05:00

It is hard to believe that we are into August. For one thing we have had the coolest summer that I can ever remember. I keep waiting for it to get unbearably hot and humid, and it just hasn't happened yet. I'm not complaining. It just seems strange.

K and I took a quick weekend trip down to St. Louis and had a great time. Took K down to see The Cupcakery. We have had these cupcakes the last two years at the Spring Fling and they are incredible. What a treat to get one in between Flings!!!

We also did some shopping. Well, Sheri and I shopped while J & K went to the 'Build A Bear' workshop and made these bears. K named hers 'Isaiah' and he has become a special friend.

And we ate well, which is always the case when we go for a visit. Sheri always has THE BEST salad recipes. She made this one for us and it was incredible. I think I had at least 3 helpings. She added cooked chicken to it and a little extra of the oil/vinegar combo. (Check out the Pioneer Woman's website.. FULL of great recipes!!)

Got word from R & M that they have finished their time in Uganda and are now in England for 10 days. They had an incredible time in Africa working with orphans and the local churches.

They posted some photos on Facebook, so I decided to share a few here. I will definitely have them do some guest posts on their return.

We have really missed them this summer and look forward to them coming home next weekend!!

We have REALLY been enjoying having CB living with us this summer and having her and A around much of the time. They are both busy with work, but we catch what time we can. And they have been very helpful with eating some of the 'samples' that K has been producing as she moves forward with her business. She now even has a website!!! Check it out here. She has named her business 'As You Wish.... Custom Oven Creations'. Yummy stuff.

Sophie is her usual cute, pathetic self. One of her many quirks is jumping into ANY car that has a door open or hatch open and sitting there. I think that she has figured out that it is the car that takes us away, and perhaps if she just stays in there, we won't be able to leave her. I think that is what she thinks, anyways!

And she will wait!!!! Here she is an hour later. Still waiting. Steve finally felt sorry for her and made her get out. Now she is sitting at my feet while I update my blog. She's a funny girl. We love her!!!

Until Next Time....

Took The Plunge....

2009-07-31T05:40:00.014-05:00

Well, for those that know me well, it is no secret that I have always wanted a tattoo. I don't know why. Just something inside of me. But I didn't just want to get any old tattoo. I wanted it to have meaning. I knew someday that it would come to me. And it did.

26.2. Those are numbers that mean something to me. It is the number of miles in a marathon, which I have now 'run' two of. (The word 'run' being used lightly here....). But on Monday, when I went for my tattoo, it was 26 years 2 months from the day we got married - a marriage marathon. All done with my wonderful husband and best friend and I thank him for running beside me all of those miles and all of these years. I don't plan on 'running' any more marathons with my feet, but am hoping for at least one more 'marriage marathon'!!!

K is in the process of starting a baking business. "As You Wish" custom cakes, pastries etc... She's doing a lot of baking and is starting to get orders, which is exciting. She got her first cake order for a friend's adult son who is a huge Harry Potter fan. This is what she came up with... The Sorting Hat. It turned out amazing.

I thought I would share just a few of the other 'samples' that she has been creating as she learns the ins and outs of fondant; frosting; flowers etc..

Marbled with white roses.

Sunflower with large chocolate chips for seeds.... Mmmmmm...

Little baby cakes for fun.

Whimsical cupcakes. The turtle was my favorite. But the Prince Charming frog had his appeal! (Oh, and the cow and pig had awful cute backsides!!!)

I even got to create my own plate of fun cupcakes!!! It's like being a kid again playing with playdough!!!! (Only you get to EAT it!!) Yum!

Well, K and I are off to St. Louis to visit friends. While there, K is also going to be taking a class at the Viking Cooking School. Stay tuned......

Until Next Time.....

It's Offcial!

2009-07-26T05:22:00.009-05:00

It's official. I'm another year older. And I'm ok with that! Old. Young. They are just words. I know I don't 'feel' as old as I am; and those around me would certainly verify that I don't 'act' as old as I am. (I choose not to ask them what age I do act like.....). Bottom line is, I feel good.

K made me this wonderful M&M birthday cake! The fondant M&M's and M&M bag are so adorable! She made a confetti cake and frosted it with my favorite 7-minute frosting (which she did not even know was my favorite) and covered it with M&M's. Yum. I wish I could share a piece with all of you!!

We had what we are now referring to as 'A Bayfield Day'. The weather was gorgeous (sunny and 78 degrees) and we had no agenda. We relaxed; played games; read; layed in the hammock; ate etc.... It was perfect. (Although no one saw fit to actually let me WIN a game, which I think is quite rude on someone's birthday!!) Still a fun day. Steve and Sophie enjoyed some time on the lounge chairs. Steve was borrowing my birthday present. (A Kindle from Amazon.. which I LOVE!!) I think he is going to put one on his birthday list now!!

Had sweet corn for the first time this season. It was so yummy. There is just nothing like good ole Iowa sweet corn!!! A and K got it all husked and ready for dinner. Under Sophies supervision, of course!!

Sophie ended the day with a romp through the creek in our back field. She loves to bury her face in the muck at the bottom. This picture was taken with a flash, so doesn't show the extent of the mud on her face. It was pretty much covered. And she still looks cute!!

But muddy puppies are not allowed in the house, no matter how cute they are and so we had to get the hose out for a late night bath. Not one of Sophie's favorite activities!! I don't think her brain is capable of making the connection of ' if you get muddy, you get a bath'. It's just the way it is!

In the baking world, K has been cooking up a storm. She made several of these almond pastries the other day and is working on perfecting her recipe, as well as trying different fillings etc.. Let's just say that our house has been smelling VERY good lately!! Good thing we have good friends and family who LOVE to receive her 'samples'. I would hate to think what would happen if it all stayed here...... (Well, I KNOW what would happen! I would eat it all!!)

Looks like it is going to be another beautiful day. Gee, maybe another 'Bayfield Day'. That would be ok by me!

Until Next Time.....

Bayfield - A Place Of Perfect Peace (And Yummy Sweet Potato Fries)....

2009-07-23T06:07:00.017-05:00

For the past 5 days, Steve and I (along with some dear friends) have been tucked away in Bayfield Wisconsin (a tiny town of 611), having the most relaxing vacation of our life!! Everything about it EXCEEDED our expectations, which is hard to do anymore. Steve and I had been to Bayfield over 27 years ago and had fallen in love with the town then. When my brother and his wife went there last year for vacation, I just knew I had to go back. Little has changed in the town. And I fell in love all over again. And when I said 'tucked away', I meant it. Here is a picture of our cottage which was barely visible from our car. It was perfect. Not a clock in the place and no sounds or lights from anywhere around. Perfect Peace.

And the funny thing is, look at the road that it was on. Yep. Sophie Lane. This sign would always make me think of her and wonder what kind of trouble she was getting into back home. (And she certainly had her naughty moments while we were gone!!!). I think she was quite upset with me for leaving home and not taking her with!

EVERY meal that we had was amazing. One of the highlights for me were the sweet potato fries that we found at Maggies. Oh my, were they yummy!!! (Everything else there was yummy as well - especially the burgers!!!) We usually only ate out one meal a day, which was plenty. But we did make several visits to the local bakery/ice cream store. Just saying.

For the most part, our trip was meant to be a time away to renew and reenergize. And we did plenty of that. We also had some fun!! One of the highlights was going out sailing on Lake Superior.
Here are the four of us ready to set sail!!!!

It was one of those rides that you can choose to just relax and enjoy the ride; or you can help in every aspect of the sailing. We all chose to help. Our captain was great and quickly taught us the ropes and had us sailing away!!

I loved being able to steer the boat and had a great wind for going about as fast as the boat could go! (I LOVE speed!!!) I got it up to 6.4 knots. Steve didn't quite get that high and blames it on the wind. And I have to admit, there is an element of truth to what he says. I did have great wind. The bottom line, however, is that I was faster.

Steve and I also got tickets and went to the Big Top Chautauqua for a show. It was a blast!! We had heard about it for years from our dear neighbors who use to travel to Bayfield every year. I can't tell you how many times we thought of them while we were there!!!

And remember the part about ice cream cones and bakery (and I didn't mention the best part - SALT WATER TAFFY!!), this is the home of all of that. We spent maybe too much time not only in this shop; but thinking about this shop and all of the yumminess inside. Let's just say we ordered several baked goods to pick up on our way out of town so we could have it to 'share'. (Ok, so we could continue to enjoy it ourselves!!!) And I refuse to confess to how much salt water taffy I brought home.

We also did a little shopping in the shops downtown. There are several wonderful shops. Not too many; not too few. Just enough. Full of unique and fun things and each shop has it's own flavor. It's not like you start to see the same thing shop after shop. One of my 'surprise' finds was this wonderful yarn store above one of the shops. I didn't even know that it was there. It had great yarn and lots of yummy seating that, if I would have had the time, I would loved to have curled up and knit away.

Berries being in season was another delightful surprise! We had fresh raspberries everyday. On our way out of town, we stopped and picked up some to bring home with us. (Again to 'share'.) We bought them right from the gal that was out in the bushes picking them to sell on the street corner in town that day (where we had usually picked them up).

And home we came. It was time. We were rested and refreshed and ready to return. (LOVE being back home with the kids and the dogs... even if Sophie is naughty!!). I do know, however, that I will have times that I look on this picture (which is now my screensaver) and take a quick mental trip back to the place of perfect peace.

Until Next Time...

Cake 101

2009-07-15T22:10:00.009-05:00

K has always LOVED being in the kitchen and has always wanted to pursue cake decorating; baking; etc... She did some research and has taught herself how to make fondant and use it to decorate cakes; cake balls etc...

She found a picture of a whimsical cake online that she wanted to make and so she got started. She made 3 circular almond cakes and then proceeded to teach herself how to make fondant. She got to play with lots of bright colors. The fondant actually reminds me of an edible playdough!!

So, after lots of coloring; kneading; rolling; and circle cutting of the fondant, she had created this happy cake!!! Just in time to celebrate her birthday tomorrow!! Happy Birthday K!!! (Thanks for making your own cake!!!!!)

I spent part of the day cleaning out the refrigerator. It had gotten fairly neglected over these past couple of weeks. (Found several 'science experiments' as we like to call them....) I also found these 3 containers of sour cream. (All pretty much full). Now the funny thing is, none of us really LIKE sour cream!! Their existence is still a bit of a mystery to me!

Also spent a bit of time on the hammock today with Sophie. (Was trying to catch up on a little sleep after going to the midnight showing of Harry Potter last night!). Sophie has learned that she needs a person on the hammock to make it possible to be on there. Quite the entertainment watching her attempt to get on the hammock by herself. Probably could win some kind of award on some funny video show.

We have had some beautiful sunny days here recently and hope they continue. I love to feel the warmth on my face.

Until Next Time....

Life Is Not Always Easy....

2009-07-13T05:49:00.007-05:00

That is just one of the truths that I have learned over the years. Sometimes life is hard. But I have also learned the incredible truth that God is good. It doesn't always FEEL good, however!!!

We have been walking through a difficult few weeks. (Hence the blogging absence - Well, that and the fact that our internet provider informed us they can no longer provide service for us unless a couple of large trees come down on the property down the road. This probably would have happened in the storm that hit our town Friday had we been located a mile North of where we are).

But we are coming through on the other side. Through it all, Sophie has been a source of laughter and licks. (Laughter ALWAYS appreciated; licks not so much!!) She has decided she is a hammock dog. It took a bit for her to get the hang of it, but once she did, she was hooked!!

She let K know how much she appreciated helping her transition from 'non-hammock' dog to 'hammock dog'. Oh yeah, can't you just feel the love?

Sophie is also busy keeping watch over Sumo, who is almost aging before our eyes. We've spent more time just loving on him; brushing him and taking him on an occasional walk up the road. (Still one of the highlights of his life).

It's corn season in more ways than one. I am looking forward to my first sweet corn of the season, as I was unable to eat any last year due to the absence of my front tooth. I can't wait for my first bite!!! It is also nearing the beginning of 'detasseling' season. If you are not from Iowa (or another state that grows corn), detasseling is the thrilling work of walking up rows of corn and pulling the tassels off the top of the stalks. Yep. It's not real exciting, but it pays well, and for A that is important as he has not been able to land a summer job. Will keep him busy for the next 3-4 weeks.
Well, gotta run. Busy day.

Until Next Time...

Disconnected....

2009-06-28T18:19:00.015-05:00

Well, our internet provider has been having major problems and we have been without internet for several days. It has been quite eye opening to me how much I have come to rely on it for so many things! In some ways it is good to have to take a forced 'fast' so to speak from it all! But I do hope they get us up and running this week!!!

This past weekend has been Sturgis Falls days... our towns yearly celebration. It's one of my favorite events of the year. I love going downtown, listening to music, seeing friends and eating all kinds of yummy junk food!! The last few years we have also been taking the llamas and walking in the parade.

K wasn't able to come home for it, but her llama, Sebastian, was along and was the lead llama! The girl next door had done an incredible job getting all the llamas groomed and ready for the big day! A lot of work!!

The theme of the celebration was 'Dancing in the Streets', so we had the llamas doing the 'Llama Llimbo' during the parade!! Played limbo music and would have the llamas duck and walk under a pole. It was very cute. The crowd always LOVES the llamas!!!

The hardest part of the day is always the waiting as you have to get there early to get lined up etc.. This shot cracked me up of the Baridons as it looked as though they were waiting to catch a bus. Good luck getting a bus driver to let you take those llamas on the bus with you!!

Shortly after getting home from the parade, CB arrived home from her second week of counseling at our church camp. She brought along 4 students from Bethany Bible College in New Brunswick who had been at camp with her as counselors and needed a place to stay for the night before they headed to Michigan. What a neat group of kids! Loved having them. I just LOVE a house full of kids and the noise and laughter that it fills the home with!!

Well, lastly a bit of knitting news!! I have joined Sheri's Girasole KAL (Knit A Long) and am well into chart D. For those not familiar with knitting or this pattern, the Girasole is a round afghan with a beautiful lace pattern. I keep telling Steve that if I succeed in knitting this successfully, I will feel like a 'real' knitter!! So far, so good. I do think I am going to learn how to put in a life line, however, just to be on the safe side.

Well, the next post will be written by K on her recent trip to Amman. Stay tuned!!

Until Next Time...

I'm Still Here....

2009-06-22T11:42:00.010-05:00

So, I realize that it has been over a week since my last post and there are a myriad of reasons for it!! First off being the total crash of my desktop computer. Fortunately, the hard drive is still in tact, so no information was lost. It did, however, leave me computer-less for almost a week! We finally made the trip to the Apple Store in Des Moines and picked up my new toy. It's pretty sweet!

We have also been in the middle of the comings and goings of our kids! K and SC returned from Amman Jordan last week and had an incredible time. When the dust settles, they promise to do a guest post or two and share with all of you about their trip! R & M have left for their 2 month mission trip to Uganda. I'm so jealous of all of these incredible trips that our kids have been taking, but excited that they have these opportunities!!

M's parents came to town to pick the kids up and take them home for a few days before they flew off on their adventure. It is always wonderful to see them! I am so incredibly thankful for the families that our children have and will be marrying into. They are all wonderful!!!

This past week Steve had several days off which we spent enjoying the kids, but also cleaning out rooms; closets; the barn etc... It feels good, but is not overly exciting!! We did get some games of ladder golf in, which is fun!

Sophie LOVES LOVES LOVES having all of the kids around! (I'm not so sure that they are always as crazy about her....) She is growing up some and mellowing out, but she is still very much a puppy!! Hard to believe she will be a year old soon!

Sumo is still hanging on. He is content to hang inside most days. He is always up for a short walk down the road, but can't make it too far. He's happiest when Sophie is not bugging him, which she seems to be doing less and less. I think if he could talk, he would say life is good!

And Sophie really does adore him. She just shows it in weird ways sometimes!

Well, I am hoping that I am going to be able to cast on my Girasole today. That is the plan. We'll see how it goes.

Until Next Time....

WWKIP Day!

2009-06-13T16:08:00.015-05:00

Yes, today is World Wide Knit In Public Day!!! So, how many of you were out there knitting in public? I went downtown for a bit and knit in front of the Crazy Girl Yarn Shop with Leslie, the owner. It was a little chilly, actually, hence the lap blanket and felted hat on Leslie!! It also happened to be sidewalk sale day in town, so there were lots of people walking by making comments about the 'crazy knitters'! Success!!

Made another quick trip to MPLS this past week for another graduation open house. This time R & M came with and were actually put to work slicing the buns for the yummy sandwiches.

Enjoyed beautiful weather sitting out by my friends pool. The time went far too quickly and we had to pack it up and head back home. I am thankful though that it is a doable day trip. For years we lived so far away that it would have been impossible to have made it to events like these.

The cake balls that we made for this open house (A and I dipped over 350 cake balls the day before we left!!) were a big hit. We brought a few home, but they are already history. I thought I would share the recipe here, even though you can google cake balls and find the recipe right on line.

Cake Balls

1 cake mix
½ - 1 can prepared frosting
Melting chocolate*

1. Prepare cake mix according to directions in a 9 X 13 pan. Let cool.
2. Crumble cake into a large bowl. Add ½ to 1 can of prepared frosting.
(The more frosting you add, the creamier the texture; if you add less, the
cakier the texture)
3. Refrigerate mixture for 2-3 hours.
4. Using a small cookie scoop, form balls with the mixture and place on
wax paper on a cookie sheet. I like to ﬁrmly pack the mixture into the
scoop with my hand.
5. Place in freezer for several hours or overnight. (Or until needed)
6. Melt chocolate. Take out 15-20 cake balls at a time (The colder the cake ball the better!) and dip each ball in the chocolate and let drain and place on wax paper. (I use two forks to lift ball out of chocolate and let drain)
7. Drizzle with opposite type chocolate if desired
8. Trim excess chocolate around base and place in mini paper cupcake holder.

Examples of combinations you could try:

White cake mix and mint chocolate chip icing - Dipped in chocolate confectioners coating.• French vanilla cake with white chocolate almond icing. – Dipped in chocolate confectioners coating.• Red velvet with cream cheese icing and vanilla confectioners coating. • Red velvet with cream cheese icing dipped into milk chocolate coating.• Chocolate cake, milk chocolate icing, dipped into chocolate bark. • Lemon cake with lemon frosting and dip them in whit chocolate. • Lemon cake mixed in white chocolate chips and lemon frosting, dipped in white chocolate. • Spice cake with cream cheese frosting and coated them with white chocolate coating. • Cherry chip cake mix and cream cheese frosting dipped in white chocolate.• Fudge cake, mixed in peppermint chips and fudge frosting. Dip in dark chocolate. • Chocolate fudge cake mix and coconut pecan frosting dipped into chocolate.• Chocolate cake, butter cream icing, and dark chocolate coating.• Chocolate cake/chocolate icing and dipped into raspberry/chocolate chips are melted with a bit of oil.• German chocolate cake mix with coconut pecan frosting & dipped in melted semi sweet chocolate chips. • Strawberry with vanilla frosting, dipped in chocolate. • Carrot cake with cream cheese frosting

*I like Ghiradelli’s dipping and candy making chocolate, but it is seasonal. Wiltons makes a good dipping chocolate – which can be found in cake decorating aisles at Walmart; Michaels etc… (With the Wiltons I mix the light and dark chocolate wafers 50/50 when melting)

Nothing says I love you more than a nice big tray of cake balls. Well, that may be exaggerating, but I guarantee you will be popular if you show up some place with a tray of these!!

Until Next Time....

Here Llama Llama.....

2009-06-08T19:38:00.012-05:00

I was in the middle of making cookies this morning when I got the phone call..... It was my neighbor calling to let me know that a gate had accidentally been left open and all of the llamas were out and heading Northeast. I threw on my boots and called A who jumped on the 4-wheeler and we were off.

The biggest problem was with all of the rain lately, the fields were very muddy and we were not able to drive even the 4-wheeler into them. So everything had to be done on foot. After well over an hour, several llamas had been caught and haltered and the parade back home had begun. (Usually if you can halter 3-4 of the 'key' llamas, the rest will follow)

It was quite the adventure and just about all the llamas behaved and followed the herd back to the pasture. All but K's llama Sebastian. He decided to hang back and enjoy his freedom a while longer. But in the end we prevailed, and all of the llamas were tucked safely back into their pasture with all of the gates checked and rechecked to make sure they were latched.

Here is my friend and neighbor Marilyn who joined in the pursuit of the llamas. (Her children own several of the llamas that we were chasing!) At one point she had to choose between loosing her shoes in the mud or letting go of the llama she was holding. She chose the llama and walked the rest of the way barefoot and carrying her now mud-encased shoes. Yuck!

A group shot of the llama rescuers seemed in order. K's llama, Sebastian, is the llama on the left next to A. He's promised to be a good llama from now on.

I got home to a slip saying that our mailman had tried to deliver a registered package, so I hopped in the car and headed to the post office to see what it could be. I was thinking it might be the final installment of the Wollmeise Sock club and it was!! I think these are my favorite colors yet!! And the sock pattern was written by my new friend Maria who I met at the Spring Fling. Of course there is always a small package of gummy bears that I always rip open and eat right away. I love them!! I am excited to go to Germany in 2010 to visit Claudia, Andreas, Dani and Maria (Steve has said we could! Sheri, you and Paul are coming too, right?)

I also got a fun package of yarn from The Loopy Ewe this week. Sheri has started a KAL (Knit-A-Long) making the Girasole shawl/blanket pattern. I ordered the amazingly soft Eco-Alpaca to make the blanket out of. I am way excited (and nervous) to start it. It will be a real stretch for my knitting ability, I think.

Have been enjoying a few quick trips here and there in the past few weeks. A couple of my dear friends have sons graduating from high school this year, so we are making quick dashes up to Minneapolis to attend their open houses. A and CB joined us last weekend and R and M will be coming with us this Thursday. These are the last to graduate from the Triple R gang (three families and all of our last names begin with R, so we have called ourselves the "Triple R Gang"). Hmmm, that makes us all empty nesters now and I see some fun traveling in the upcoming years, right guys?

Sophie and Sumo continue to hold down the fort at home. Sumo is aging rapidly and no longer goes with us on our field walks. He still gets along quite well as long as Sophie isn't pestering him! Sophie tries to be respectful and even waits her turn to drink from our fancy water bucket. Sigh. She is still getting over not being able to help 'herd' the llamas this morning! Boy, now that would have been an adventure!!!! Maybe next time.....

Until Next Time...

His Story/Her Story

2009-06-04T17:13:00.025-05:00

Hello to all of my mom's blog readers! It is time for another guest post from A, and this time, I'll be joined by CB as well! This post is on the recent trip I made to Spain to visit CB during her last week studying in Spain. It all started during a conversation I was having with CB on Skype in February. I had been playing with the idea of visiting her, and I finally decided to do it. So, I bought the tickets for my trip to Spain. Then, as we continued to talk, CB suggested we go to Paris since I had taken 4 years of French in high school. I had always wanted to go to Paris, so of course, I agreed, and we had tickets for Paris soon after.

My first flight took off at 1:25 pm on May 17th, and then, after stops in Boston and Madrid, I finally made it to CB in Oviedo at 9:50am (which, to me, felt more like 2:50 due to the time difference, but it was enough to make me very tired). So, after grabbing a bite to eat with CB, I went to the host family of her friend, T, who allowed me to stay with him. I immediately collapsed, and slept for 5 hours. I woke up for a few hours before going right back to bed.

The next day, CB took me on a tour of the city, and we spent quite a bit of time in a park, where there were several peacocks, ducks, turtles, and other birds that were all very pretty. CB had a final that she had to take, so we went to her campus, where she finished her schoolwork fo the semester. The rest of the day was spent in the apartment that CB stayed at during her stay in Spain. Her host mom made Spanish tortillas for dinner, which were very delicious.

Then, on Wednesday, we got up early and went to the bus station, where we caught a bus to the airport. This was the part of trip that I had been waiting for: Paris! We had a bit of a layover in Barcelona, but we arrived in Paris at about 5pm, which gave us plenty of time to find the hostel where we stayed for the two nights that we were there. It was a nice little hostel, and we got into a 4-person room. The first night, we had a roommate from Brazil stay with us and we got to talk to her.

After dropping our stuff off at the hostel, we went to the Arc de Triomphe. It was quite a sight, right in the center of a turn-about with 12 road branching out from it. We went over and saw all the cool carvings on the Arc, as well as the tomb of the Unknown Soldier which is right under it. Then we climbed up the stairs to the top of the Arc, where we had a lovely view of the Eiffel Tower, as well as the rest of the city. We were up at the top when the sun went down, and then, at 10pm, the Eiffel Tower had a light show! It was beautiful. It lasted 5 minutes, after which, we decided to call it a day and headed back to the hostel.

The next morning, we headed out to the first of our two major stops for the day, and that was the Notre Dame Cathedral. We waited in line for quite a while, but the wait was made fun by a man who wore a mask and scared passers-by. Very entertaining. When we got to the top, we got to see the bell made famous by The Hunchback of Notre Dame. So, of course, I felt the need to make an appropriate pose.

The next stop is the ever-famous Eiffel Tower! No trip to Paris is complete without going to see this awesome monument. We bought our tickets and walked up several flights of stairs to the second level of the tower before catching a lift up to the very top. The view was absolutely stunning! And now is when the story gets really exciting. Because it is here that I brought about the workings of my evil scheme: to propose in Paris! Yes, that's right, I had bought the ring in April and had devised a scheme to propose on top of the Eiffel Tower during our trip to Paris! Things didn't go exactly as planned, but when the moment of truth came, I was down on one knee, and said those four little words, "Will you marry me?" After receiving an excited "Yes!", I was back on my feet with a grin on my face, and I was officially engaged!

For those of you who are curious as to why things didn't go exactly as planned, here's the scoop. When I was in Argentina, I had bought CB a necklace that came in a little penguin that was just like a ring box, so I had planned on using that when I proposed, but it was unfortunately broken during CB's stay in Spain and fell apart in my pocket. I had also planned on having someone taking our picture while I proposed, but we couldn't find any native English speakers to take our picture, and the guy we did give our camera to didn't know how to work a camera very well, so that was out. But in the end, she still said "Yes", so all's well that ends well.

And if that wasn't a big enough of a surprise for her, I had my parents waiting for us at the airport in Chicago, which she wasn't expecting (she had thought that I was going to drive her to her parent's place), and then, when we stopped for dinner on the way home, her family was waiting for her there! It was a wonderful way to finish off the trip. Here is a picture of us all at the restaurant celebrating our engagement. And now, to tell you her version of the story, is CB.

Here is one of my first pictures with the soon to be infamous Eiffel Tower. At this point I was just so happy to be in Paris with A. This was actually my second visit to Paris while I was in Europe, and I didn't get to go on top of the Arc de Triomphe my first time so I was doubly excited! Little did I know...

Ah yes on top of Notre Dame. In just a few short minutes I would hear the story of a girl we met at Notre Dame about her engagement and how she still had no idea what was happening. I thought come on he was down on one knee! How could you not figure out he was proposing? Of course I wasn't even thinking that A would be proposing to me at our very next stop.

This is one of my favorite pictures because this was taken before we even got in line to climb the Eiffel Tower. I just laugh now because at the very top A would get down on one knee and say the four words I'd been praying that he would say to me one day, "Will you marry me?" God is good.

A thought this would be a great picture to have. The significance behind this photo is that A and I had agreed that we would wait to say, "I love you," until we were engaged.

Here I am as we're leaving the hostel showing off my engagement ring! Quick rewind: So we get to the top and are going around taking in the view. Normally A likes to take his time, so I thought since we were taking a while, A must be taking in the view and really soaking it up. I briefly turned away from him to catch another glimpse at the Arc de Triomphe and by the time I turned around he was down on one knee asking me to marry him. Going back to that other girl, so very clear, but what is my first response, "What?!?...YES!" Now there wasn't much pause in between those two, but I still had to pinch myself to check if I was really awake.

And that's our story, and we're sticking to it.

May 27th.....

2009-05-27T07:52:00.008-05:00

This is an important date for me! It's our anniversary! So I want to thank Steve for 26 wonderful years. (Well, most of them have been wonderful... some were harder than others!!!) But life is good and I am looking forward to the next 26 years, Lord willing!!

We had a very fun weekend in Chicago! One of the first stops we made was to The Fold. I have heard so much about this place that I just had to check it out for myself! I'm so glad I did!

I didn't buy much. A few skeins of Blue Mountain Socks that Rock and a skein of Twisted. I wish I had been ready to purchase some fun roving because there was a TON, but I need some more time behind the wheel to appreciate different fibers, I think. Next Time!

In the car I kept plugging away on my lengthwise Feather and Fan Scarf. I LOVE doing this scarf lengthwise!! 418 stitches is a long row, but the 3 plain rows are great mindless knitting. The pattern row takes a little concentration and I have to say, every time I do it and come out right I feel like doing a little dance. I see lots of these scarves in my future!!

The highlight of the weekend was picking up A and CB at the airport! So fun to hear all of their stories in the car as we drove to Peoria to meet up with her family. But per your requests, I am going to have them do a guest post on their trip when they get back to our house! (A did such a great job on his Antartica post so I think you'll enjoy his post on this trip as well!)

A fun surprise at the airport was a quick visit from Sheri's son who was leaving in a few hours for a backpacking trip around Europe. Lucky guy! To say I was jealous is an understatement! Good thing I didn't have my passport on me or I might have been tempted to tag along!

And I did some baking!! I was shocked when I checked my recipe blog and realized that I had never posted the recipe for our favorite caramel bars. I almost feel the need to apologize for not having done this sooner!!!! These are so yummy and are always a hit! Enjoy!

Caramel Bars

3/4 cup melted butter
1/3 cup evaporated milk
German chocolate cake mix
50 caramels
1/3 cup evaporated milk
12 ounce bag chocolate chips

1. Mix ﬁrst 3 ingredients together.
2. Pat 1/2 of the mixture into a 9 X 13 pan.
3. Unwrap caramels. Melt with 1/3 cup evaporated milk.
4. Pour caramel mixture over top of cake mix in pan.
5. Sprinkle with 12 oz. of chocolate chips.
6. Spread remained cake mix over top of chocolate chips. *
7. Bake at 350 degrees for 20 minutes.
8. Cool on the counter and then in the fridge to help the chocolate and caramel set.

* This is easier said then done. It won't exactly 'spread'. I find it easiest to take a small handful and flatten in out in my palms and then lay it on top of the chocolate chips.

Until Next Time...