Wednesday, August 25, 2021

2021 Blue Jeans Week 33

 School has officially started here.  Mr J started mid week.  Junior year here we go!  It was Miss E's last week of work before she goes back to school.  Busy week!  It was a good week.  Take a look....

We have one apple tree in our backyard.  We really do nothing to take care of them.  It is a pretty old tree, but about every 3 years it produces a pretty good crop.  Mr J went out and got a few of them today.  They are not sweet, eating apples, but they make great apple sauce, apple crisp, and apple pies!

Happy first day of school for Mr J!  Hello junior year of high school!

Making some yummy granola for quick breakfasts before school. Recipe from Mel's Kitchen Cafe here

This girl has been working so hard this summer as a phlebotomist at two different hospitals.  She is amazing!  This week is her last week of work before she heads back to school next week.  I admire her so much!

We picked the rest of our apples this week.  They are ready pretty early.  Looking forward to making some applesauce!

My cake for this month was a citrus olive oil cake with a browned butter frosting.  I got it from the Female foodie here.  It was so moist and the frosting was amazing!!

Thanks for visiting!  Hope you are healthy and safe and well!  Have a great week!

Wednesday, August 18, 2021

Catching up 2021 Weeks 31 and 32

Catching up.  This is a long post with lots of photos!  We had a family vacation the last week and a half.  We all met up at a little ski town in the mountains of Colorado where the highs were not above 75 and no one has A/C up there and the lows in the morning were in the low 40's. It was heavenly!  Our whole family was there for a glorious week and Ben's parents joined us for a few days which we all loved.  So this is catching up on 2 weeks.  Take a look....
Miss E continues to make amazing bread each week!  This is whole wheat quinoa bread and it is so good!  I am sooo going to miss her when she goes back to college in a few weeks!

My mom is an amazing quilter, and she is slowly making all her kids and grandkids their own flannel quilt.  This is Miss E's that she got done in time for her to take back to college, and Miss E is so exited!  love it and all the colors!  Miss E picked out the pattern and colors, and it totally fits her.

On our way to Colorado.  At a gas station break Miss E and Mr J found a new friend.

We are all together!!!  Miss O brought her boyfriend who we have met virtually and talked to often, but this was the first time we have met him in person, and we loved having him with us for the week!  

This was my cake for July that I made and froze and took to Colorado to share with all my family.  It is a marshmallow moon cake from Cake by Courtney, and it was yummy!  Vanilla cake, chocolate ganache, toasted graham crackers and a toasted marshmallow buttercream.  Loved it!  So fun to share it with everyone!

Checking out the river by where we were staying.  Such a beautiful place!

All together!   Love it!

Went on some hikes.

We found some rocks that reminded everyone of the rock people in Frozen.  :)

Hiked to this lily pad lake which was so cool!

We played pickle ball a lot.  This is something we all enjoy. 

We tried to have unique activities each day.  One day we divided into pairs and made boats that we raced down the river.  The kids letting them go.  My in-laws' boat won!  

Our very unique boats that we all made.

One day we started the day by heading down the Vail pass.  14 miles downhill, and it is my favorite and one of the most beautiful rides ever!  So fun to go together!  We took our bikes and enjoyed biking around some each day.

Another day's activity was sculpting marzipan.  That is an almond flour based sweet dough/candy.  It is really common in Europe, and it tastes so yummy!  Miss E made a few batches of it before we left and we froze it to bring it with us.

These are our marzipan creations that we all made and then enjoyed eating after!

One day we went disc golfing on a beautiful course right by the lake.

So pretty and so much fun!  Love being with these people!

We brought lots of board/card games and puzzles that we also did each day.  Ben with his parents.  His mom especially likes doing puzzles.

Having fun at the river again!

One day we did apple tasting.  We got 7 different apples and cut them up, and everyone had to rate their favorite by taste.  We had marked what kind each was separately so no one knew.  Our top favorites were Pink Lady, Honey Crisp and Fuji.  Our least favorites were Gala, red delicious and Granny Smith. Ambrosia was the middle one.

Hiking one day all together with beautiful views!

One day we made bows out of popsicle sticks and arrows out of straws.  It was something Miss E had done her first year of college with a group of friends, so she taught us.

Making our bows and arrows.

We had a contest in the basement parking garage of the condo where we stayed to see who could shoot them the farthest.  I think I won :)

Then one day we did a Jelly Belly jelly bean tasting contest.  We had 44 different jelly beans that we tasted and had to decide what flavor.  I think the most anyone got right was 22.  Yummy!  Miss E did a lot of work to get this game ready!

Ben and Mr and Mrs A went down the Vail pass another day together while everyone else went riding around the lake.  Such beautiful country!

And we played games every day.  Sometimes on the porch, sometimes inside.  We had a lot of fun, made great memories!  So grateful we were able to do it and get everyone there! That was a huge blessing!

Thanks for visiting!  Hope you are safe and healthy and well!  School starts here this week, so good-bye summer!  Hope your beginning of school goes well!

Monday, August 2, 2021

2021 Blue Jeans Week 30

We have had a super hot and humid summer week this week.  It is a week to definitely stay indoors which is good because the Olympics are on and we love watching those.  Can't believe August has hit and school starting in just a few weeks!  We are healthy and well and so grateful for that!  Take a look at our week...
Mr J in his free time has been doing old Lego sets.  These were this week's creations and then he takes them apart and gets out new ones.  It makes me happy to see them.  You are never too old for Legos!

In our back field they are bailing hay this week.  I love to watch them do that!  The bailer is like magic!  Yes, I am a country girl!

Happy birthday to my amazing Mom!  Sure love her!  For her birthday "cake" I made her this heavenly blueberries and cream angel food cake dessert from none other than the amazing Mel's Kitchen Cafe here.  SO good!  She has a raspberry version we have made too, and it is also to die for!


Mr J helping me make cookies this week.  We made the double chocolate s'mores cookies from again the amazing Mel's Kitchen Cafe here.  I seriously make a recipe of her's almost daily.

These two wanted to help me grocery shop this week.  For the last year and a half since COVID started I have limited my grocery store visits to once every two weeks.  It has been good and challenging, but menu planning helps make it work.  So today was my two week trip, and these two joined me.  

Happy national cheesecake day!  When I saw it was National Cheesecake day I knew I had to make some!  So I made these super easy mini cheesecakes that is my mom's recipe from when I was a little kid.  Vanilla wafer in the bottom of the foil cupcake liner, then beat 2 eggs and add 3/4 cup sugar, beat, then add 2 (8 oz) package cream cheese (softened)  and 1 tsp vanilla.  Beat well and divide batter into cup cake liners. Bake 325 for 15 minutes. Top with fruit or eat plain.  Makes about 20

A sign that you live in a small town when this is in front of you going down the road.  We pulled up behind this and just had to laugh as we followed it down the street.  We love where we live!

Thanks for visiting!  Hope you have a great week!  Stay safe and healthy and happy!