YUMMY!!

I had a white cake mix on hand and a new recipe for frosting so I decided to make cupcakes in addition to Jon's Recees Peanut Butter Pie for the birthday celebration. Needless to say they were a big hit and the frosting is very yummy. It passed the yumm yumm test by little T.:) Here is the frosting recipe if anyone wants to try it.

Vanilla Sour Cream Icing:

1 cup butter @ room temp

2/3 cup sour cream

1 tsp. vanilla

6 cups powdered sugar

beat butter and sour cr. until smooth, add vanilla

add powdered sugar 1/2 c @ a time

beat med./high for 1 minute

cover and chill for 30 minutes

ENJOY!!

Happy Birthday Firstborn

July 27,1991 a lifechanging event took place - Jonathan Daniel entered the world, making me a mom. We celebrated his 17th bday yesterday. As I went into his room to wake him I thought about the contrast between looking into a crib at a 7#14oz baby who woke me at the crack of dawn and 17 years later looking at a 6'4" young man who is content to sleep until noon. The smooth baby skin that is now sprouting whiskers. One thing that remains the same is the GREAT love I have for this boy that I carried within me, held in my arms and who now has to bend over to give me a hug(which he does often). I love you Jonny Boy and I am soooo blessed you are my son!

HORSE CAMP

Lizzie was able to attend 4 days of a horse camp that was offered by the riding school she takes lessons at. It was from 6:00am -11:00am(thanks PaPa for doing the early morning drop-off). On the last day they had a "graduation" and performed some of what they learned for the parents. Lizzie did barrel racing. She loved it - even though she had a horse that made it clear it was just WAY too hot to be racing around anything! At one point the horse did a half buck/sidestep move in an attempt to scare or dismount his rider. Lizzie hung tough and when asked later by one of the girls if she was scared she quickly replied "No, I was just frustrated that the horse wouldn't do what I wanted!"

Summer Fun!

Today we met with my brother & family at the local pool. Of course, normally you can plan anything anytime outdoors and not have to worry about weather conditions. However, today while we waited for the 3 T's to get to the pool we watched big dark clouds get closer and closer. By the time they arrived the wind had picked up, but we decided to stick it out until it started to rain or lightning. We enjoyed about 20 minutes of watching little T have fun in the pool before we saw lightning and the call came from the lifeguards to get out of the pool. We all headed to our house for Pizza and dessert(thanks mom) and the fun continued.

"It's Raining, It's Pouring..."

For those of you who are unfamiliar with life in the desert, it is VERY exciting when it rains. My children love it when it rains here and insist on going out and playing in it. All week the skies have looked threatening, with big dark clouds but no rain. However, tonight at 8pm with a flash of lightning and a boom of thunder the rain came!! We all ran out to the patio with shouts of excitement. What can I say, we are easily amused.:)

explanation of roadtrip pictures

Due to my lack of blogging skills the pictures from our trip start at the end of our trip and go to the beginning.:(

ROADTRIP!

WE DID IT!

We traveled 5800 miles in a van with 2 adults, 2 teenagers and 1 pre-teen and lived to tell about it! Everything went really well and we were sooo blessed by family and friends who were willing to host our family along our journey. A HUGE thank you to all of you who did this and those who had us over for meals, etc... I made the comment to a few people that if there is such a thing as overdosing on family time we've done it. We left our house on May 29th and returned home(after a 14 1/2 hour day) on June 22. Our stops along the way were as follows: Topeka, KS to see our dear friends the Brown's and Pruett's. Manitoba, Canada - relatives on my side. Bismark, ND- Daniel's family, including 102 yr old grandma LuLu. Jamestown, ND - lunch with my cousin Renee. Duluth, MN - Daniel's sister, niece and husband and our great-niece. Hudson,WI - my friend Annie and family.While there had a gathering with "the girls" and families, about 30 people in all. Moundsview, MN - my friend Sandy and family. 2 nights at the Boddy's lake place in WI where much fun was had by all. Rapid City, SD - Mt. Rushmore. Broomfield, CO - My Aunt Marty and Uncle Lanny. In between we visited and reconnected with many friends and family, went to Como Zoo, Mall of America and Gooseberry Falls. The memories we made and fun we had will be cherished for years to come.