Creamy Peanut Butter Fudge

While at the cabin, my sister requested some recipes from my recipe book. This is one of them:

Creamy Peanut Butter Fudge- 9x13 pan
4 c. white sugar
1 c. brown sugar
1/2 c. butter
1 (12 oz.) can evaporated milk
1 (7 oz.) jar marshmallow creme
1 (16 oz.) jar peanut butter
1 tsp. vanilla

Grease a 9x13 pan. In a medium saucepan over medium heat, combine sugars, butter and evaporated milk. Bring to a boil, stirring constantly. Boil for 7 minutes. Remove from heat. Stir in marshmallow creme until smooth and well incorporated. Stir in peanut butter and vanilla until smooth. Spread in prepared pan. Let cool before cutting into squares.

Wonderful Wildflowers

My sister got a really nice new camera for Mother's Day this year, so we all took lots of pictures at the cabin. Here she is trying not to fall into the river while taking "that perfect shot".
Wildflowers in just about every color were blooming:Such a beautiful place!

The Perfect Puppy

Yesterday, I mentioned Ollie, my sister's new puppy. He is honestly the perfect puppy with perfect manners. Tell him to sit on the mat by the door and he stays. He doesn't jump on people, dig in the garbage or try to steal food. He just does what he's told, like a good dog. He IS in the chewy stage, and loves his chewy bones, or pieces of wood, or bed posts, or carpet, or BABY BIRDS:
Yes, these 3 baby birds decided that last Thursday would be a good day to become grown ups and leave their nest. They chose poorly, considering that a black lab puppy, training to be a retriever, was on the property. To the trauma of all, none survived the day.But, we still love Ollie. He is an active pup, and difficult to take a decent picture of because he's always on the move. Most of the pictures I took of him look like this- kind of blurry:If Ollie ever needs a different home, I can think of at least 4 of us who would take him, gladly!

For the last few days, I've been here:
Yeah, it's pretty amazing. I was there with my mom, my sisters, my niece and perfect Ollie.
No TV, no phone, no cell phone service, no Demands of the World. Just quiet and pine trees. All of the necessities, including hot water, plugs and a gourmet kitchen.

The hummingbirds entertained us with their WWII, flying-ace aerial acrobatics.
Not as many chipmunks were out this time, but maybe Ollie had something to do with that. I did get a shot of this little guy, though.We ate like queens, talked for hours, took nature walk with our cameras and probably set Ollie back several weeks in his training by spoiling him rotten. But he is SUCH a good puppy! We also made crafts. I barely finished my stitching in time...It was downright cold at night, which made for perfect sleeping- I sleep like a baby at the cabin. I definitely didn't want to leave, but if I'm a good girl and don't tease my sister too much, then maybe I'll be invited back! Thanks, C, for letting us come!

You Ate WHAT?

My youngest, Peter, is on a church mission on the south island of New Zealand. He's having a great time and we're really glad he's there, even though we miss him like crazy. You wouldn't think that NZ would be a place where people ate strange and exotic foods. Wrong! He works with lots of people of island descent, and apparently their food palate is a bit more broad than mine. In this week's letter, Peter explained to us in great detail how he ate horse, then suggested that we fatten Rocko up so that when he gets home, he can cook Rocko up in coconut cream. Are you kidding? Here's Peter, eating said horse:He's also eaten dog and pig brain. I hope he's not expecting anything that crazy for dinner when he gets home...

Anniversary #2

Happy 1st anniversary to Brian and Lindsey!! They were married one year ago today. Such a cute and happy couple who loves to squish each other!

'Maters

In my sea of weeds, which is really my garden, I can see baby tomatoes. Soon we will have Home Grown Tomatoes! (But not soon enough for me!)

It's Anniversary Week!

My kids planned well and smooshed their wedding anniversaries into the same week! Today is Shannon and Ben's 3rd anniversary. Congrats, you two!

It's July, and at my house that means the Tour de France is in full swing! 21 days of non-stop cycling! Every night we watch the latest stage and cheer for our favorite riders and boo the riders we hate. We also really like seeing the French countryside roll by. The TV helicopters give us a bird's eye view of abbys, castles and such. We were big Lance Armstrong fans, but he had a big crash on Sunday and got too far behind to ever catch up. Too bad.Now we are hoping that another favorite, Andy Schleck, can win!

We All Scream For...

This is my awesome, circa 1982 ice cream maker. Sure, it's not at hands-on as the cranking kind, but it gets the job done. Last Saturday was a busy day at my house. I was at the parade, but Brian and Bruce went on a 70 mile bike ride up in Morgan County. Yep, 70 miles! Needless to say, we were all pretty beat by the end of the day. So, Shannon and Ben came over and we grilled burgers, played a rousing game of Cancun Flash and made ice cream. I really like this recipe- it's light, quick and yummy:Vanilla Ice Cream- makes 4 quarts.
4 eggs
2 1/2 c. white sugar
2 c. heavy cream
2 c. evaporated milk
5 c. whole milk (I just use what I have in the fridge.)
2 1/4 tsp. vanilla extract
1/2 tsp. salt

In a mixing bowl, beat eggs and sugar until stiff. Stir in cream, evaporated milk, whole milk, vanilla and salt until combined. Pour into freezer container of an ice cream maker and freeze.

Farmington Parade

Every summer, Kari (the horse trainer), gets it in her head to take our precious horses and make them be in a parade. Let me say right here that our personal horses, Griffin, Sophie and Rocko, have never been in a parade and never will be. What a crazy idea! Children yelling, balloons, brass bands, poppers- all those things that send horses right over the edge into insanity. Sure, Kari gives all the horses what she calls a "cocktail" (a tranquilizer), but really, why take the chance? Shannon once rode a barn horse in the Layton parade, but it was a BARN horse, not one of my beloved babies. For occasions like this, I become the barn photographer. Fine with me! Yesterday was the Farmington parade. Here are a few highlights:
The semi gets a fresh wash and wax, in preparation for decorating:The barn pets get to come too! There is Piglet, Jingles with Jennifer, and Alverson my goat friend with Jennifer's dad, Steve, who just finished a tour in Korea.
Slinky, the worst dog ever, needed some help from Joy to get on the semi:Stave and Janet's twins, Luke and Logan, were the pooper skooppers. They got to drive the lawn mower, which is a big deal when you are 10!Kari found a candy prize on the parade route:Some of our riders: Deb and Killian:
Lexi and Sysco:Tara with Pop Tart and Janet with Zoe:Lollie and Horace:This is Ivan. He is a veteran of Desert Storm, where he piloted Blackhawk helicopters. In the parade, he wore his Bronze Star and his Purple Heart. When in Iraq, he was exposed to chemicals that caused different types of cancer in his body. He has had multiple surgeries and has had some of his internal organs removed, resulting in permanent drainage tubes. Ivan undergoes regular radiation treatments and uses "special suckers" to control the constant pain he feels. He is in and out of the hospital with infections. But Ivan loves to ride! He has been riding Pistol for about 8 months, going to shows and winning ribbons. To be honest, it makes us all nervous to have him ride, because if he fell off, who knows what would happen to him. But at the same time, he inspires us with his will to continue doing the things he loves to do, even with the pain. It was a fun parade!

Sweet and Spicy Roses

I have a few roses bushes in my yard. I can't say as I've become a pro at pruning them, and I'm sure they would do much better if I had pruning skills. I guess that's one of those things I'm going to have to put on my "Things To Learn" list. Anyway, I made a bouquet of roses the other day. The pink ones smell sweet and the yellow ones smell deliciously spicy. Makes me feel all old-fashioned to have roses on my table.

Cute Kids

Just a few more cute pics from Bear Lake:Lindsey is completely brainwashed now...