Nutty Double Chocolate Chip Cookies

The weather has been spectacular here lately. In the high 70s and low 80 degrees. Sunny, colorful autumn days. No rain except a bit as necessary to keep things hydrated. Not too much to make the shoes muddy or the spirits damp. Perfection really.

And where have I been? In the kitchen. Baking, of course. Not out in my gardens planting tulips. But I tell myself it's okay. With the lovely weather I can have the windows wide open, I don't have to feed the woodstove (hurray for that!) and I don't have to dodge rain and wind loading pies into my van. I can still enjoy the great weather from inside my kitchen.

I've also accepted the fact that this in not my year to garden or to throw pots- it is my year to bake.

With the wonderful weather the apple pickers are out in force at the farm stands. People come from the cities to wander the orchards with their baskets in hand playing country girl (0r boy) for an afternoon. On their way out they take a fresh homebaked pie from my kitchen (made right I may say, from fresh fruit and real butter!) or apple pastries or even just a cookie.

Here is a divine recipe from the Williams-Sonoma Baking Book for a cookie that is a big hit at the farm stands as well as at Expertec Automotive. It is fudgy, almost like a brownie, with crisp edges and moist centers. If you can resist eating all the dough straight out of the bowl you are a better man then I.



Beat until fluffy:
1 cup softened butter
1 1/3 cup brown sugar
1/2 cup white sugar

Add and beat, scraping the bowl:
2 eggs
2 teaspoons vanilla
2 ounces unsweetened chocolate, melted

Add and incorporate completely, scraping the bowl as necessary:
2 cups all purpose flour
1 Tablespoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt

Stir in:
2 cups semi-sweet chocolate chips
1 cup coarsely chopped walnuts or pecans

Bake at 350 degrees for 14-15 minutes.
Make four dozen cookies.

Haircut.



Life with Kerri changes.

The hospital visit.

Today Kerri missed school because she had an appointment with an expert in pediatric dermatology at the Children's Hospital. The expert confirmed her diagnosis of Plaque Psoriasis, and advised Kerri was in remission. The white spots left behind are not scars, but hyper-pigmentation. And in time, they may disappear and her skin tone may come back. But, she will have this auto-immune disease her entire life, and she will probably break out again.

The expert also agreed with me that the steroid/cortisone medications were not the answer. He confirmed my suspicions that the light of the sun was what healed her, and that she is an excellent candidate for photo therapy - but not while she is in remission. He gave us a new prescription medication to try, and advised there was another alternative (something with "tar" in it) but that he did not recommend it for Kerri since it would stain. We have a follow up appointment at the hospital in mid January, to see how she handles the winter weather - we both agree the lack of sun exposure and the temperatures are what trigger the outbreaks. And at that time, we will re-visit the photo therapy option. Like any treatment, there is a risk of sun cancer, since the exposure is done without sunblock protection. It is the harmful rays that actually heal her. She is at less risk because of her skin coloring, but the risk is there regardless.

When we were leaving, Kerri met the hospital clown, who makes her rounds visiting children at the hospital. The waiting room was full, but it was Kerri who captivated the clown's attention, and then the entire waiting room.

We all watched as they performed magic, clowned around, and spent a good fifteen minutes getting to know each other.

And the room was filled with laughter and smiles.

When we said our goodbyes, Kerri commented that she was lucky to have Psoriasis. I asked her why, and she said: "Because I have Psoriasis, I got to meet a real live clown and do a real magic trick!" I assure you, there was not a dry eye in the room, and the smiles were magical.

After our eventful morning, we had a lunch date, then had a meeting with Kerri's teacher at her school. The teacher and I were upset that no one had told her about the bully boy, who not only is now in her class full time, but sitting right across from Kerri, face to face. No wonder Kerri came home upset the other day and said she was scared. Kerri's teacher was moving bully boy to the other side of the room first thing in the morning, and strongly encouraged me to call the principal and the superintendent regarding this issue.

Then we were off to get a haircut, and then Kung Fu, followed by a great BBQ dinner prepared by Daddy. We had a full day!

Life with Kerri keeps us smiling.

Nana visits.

Whenever Nana visits, her phone is never far from her reach.

And Kerri loves when Nana takes pictures of her with the phone. Or records her voice.

But mostly, Kerri just loves hanging out with her Nana Jessica.

And I think Nana loves hanging out with her cousin too.

It's always fun to see the bond our two girls share. And to think that Daddy has changed both their diapers once upon a time!

Life with Kerri is fun when Nana visits.

September Blooms

For years I have been trying very unsuccessfully to grow tuberous begonias.

It seemed that no matter where I planted them they would inevitably get stomped by children or dogs just as they began to make flower buds.

Last spring I again succumbed to the call of the tubers in Costco. The Call of the Tubers. Sounds like some weird Return of the Blob type movie. But they do call to me and I can't leave the store without at least one bag in my cart even though I know the odds of successful begonia growing are not in my favor.

But I got smart and planted the tubers in pots and hid them on my deck out of the path of marauding boys and stampeding dogs. The plants were slow, -very slow- to grow but eventually, when the heat of summer finally arrived around August 20, the plants had reached a mature size and started forming flower buds.

And now my patience and perseverance has paid off!




I want to guard and protect them from wagging tails and flailing feet.
And heaven forbid we get any kind of frost before November 1!!




And there is one more September bloom that takes my breath away every time I see it...

I think this is the best dahlia ever!

Shad's Summer Mancations

My manly husband in Alaska.

Shad's Silver Salmon.


Shad and Mark. Shad and Clark.

They got to fish in a river that you could only get to by plane. The fishing guide came with them and took them out on the river.

Shad and Mark



I think they "borrowed" a bear rug out of the store while they were waiting for their fishing guide. This is them playing around with it. The bottom picture on the right is Shad eating Salmon caviar straight from the fish they caught. Wow. I love it on sushi, but that looks disgusting to me.

Ice/glacier pieces they flew over on the way to their fishing river. Shad talked a lot about this part. He said it was amazing, that he'd never seen anything like it. I guess they are gigantic but you can't tell from the pictures.

This is a separate Boston Trip, that he and Mark went on to do a presentation to some clients. They took a side trip to Martha's Vineyard. Together. Doesn't that just sound funny? Shad and Mark spending the weekend in Martha's Vineyard?

It started with a winter "mancation". About 4 years ago. Now it's an unbreakable tradition. You can't even deliver a baby around that time and expect your husband not to go (ahem....last winter when I delivered Elle and Shad took off 6 days later). Shad loves it and I wouldn't want him to miss it for the world. It's his one break from everything. Even us. I think everyone needs that once in a while.

Well, two summers ago he got invited to go on a trip with some buddies of his. Ocean spearhead fishing in Mexico. "It'll be cheap Liz. We're sleeping on the beach, we'll eat the fish we catch, only be gone the weekend." Alright, alright. It sounded horrific to me, but to each his own. He came back with a whole set of spearhead fishing gear, announcing that he loved it.

Summer Mancation was born.

Then an Alaskan fishing trip came to surface this summer. "It's a once in a life-time opportunity Liz. Alaska. I'll never be able to do it again." Can you tell he's a salesman? I said I would be fully supportive if he agreed to take a full week of work of next 4th of July and take the kids and I up to the Oregon Coast to stay with my parents.

Deal.

Then he had to take a work trip to Boston a couple of weeks back. He and Mark had a couple of free days so they toured the sites in Boston.

I found out last night that they landed the account in Alaska (one reason for the trip) and they'll need to do a "yearly review" with the clients. Bummer for him. Now he gets a yearly trip to Alaska with the boys.

Probably to an outsider he looks like a jerk. Leaving me at home with the kids while he goes off and has fun. But I'm going to defend him. Fully. When I'm not nursing and I'm able to go out of town, he's so supportive. I've flown to NYC , met Rebecca there, and we went to a Martha Stewart expose. Gone to San Diego with my girlfriends, flown up to Oregon to visit my family alone, while I left the kids with Shad. And he knows as soon as I'm done nursing Elle, that I'm cashing in.

I think this time around he felt bad that he'd been gone so much. Because, he came home from Alaska and said, "Hey Liz. Maybe since I went to Alaska, you should get a Mac." What?! I didn't argue. I had one ordered within a couple of days. Gotta love him. I figure it's all a win-win.

I love you Shad.

Not spontaneous, but fun nonetheless

We had a whirlwind weekend.  On Saturday, we went to a local orchard to pick apples.  P is the type who drags his feet when it comes to planned family events but once he gets there, he is totally into it.  We started with a walk through a farm area where one can feed fat goats and whatnot.  Then we headed over to the main building to get the scoop on the apples. A tractor-drawn cart transported us out into the orchard. The tractor driver would periodically stop and yell things like "Get off here if you want Macintosh!" We don't know one apple from another, so we just stayed on board until we got to a spot where everyone else seemed to want to get off. The trees were marked with ribbons.  White was Jonagold, red was Red Delicious, and so forth.  Well, P was bound and determined that we would find a tree with every possible ribbon color.  We did find most of them, and grabbed an apple or two from each.  However, the problem was that we tossed them all into the same bag.  All we know now is that they're all red. My goal was to get some for eating and some for baking.  Personally, I do not care for fruit pies.  Pies and cheesecake are pretty much the only vices I don't have (well, except for smoking and illegal drugs, I guess).  I'm more of a straight-up chocolate brownie kind of girl.  However, I did tell my other half that I would bake something or other for him because he gets very excited about baked goods full of slimy fruit. He'd better fix my frickin' brake light in return, though.

After the orchard, we went to an arts-n-crafts festibul downtown.  P was less enthusiastic about that event.  The kid made some sand art (which promptly spilled in my purse later on) and spent some time using sidewalk chalk to draw on the sidewalk.  She drew a picture of me and also wrote "I like Mama and Daddy."  For whatever reason, she is more adept at writing "like" than "love."  I told her dad that in a few years she will probably be writing something more like, "I scarcely tolerate Mom and Dad." 

Later that day, the kid and I traveled to the home of a friend of mine for a slumber party.  We invited ourselves.  You see, my friend lives an hour and a half closer to a major amusement park, and we had tickets for Sunday.  I figured it would make my life easier to break up the trip a bit (I still can't believe I am planning to drive to Oklahoma with miss-aren't-we-there-yet).  Sunday morning, A and I got up early and headed to the park.  We got there just as the gates opened at 10.  She was so excited to get on the rides.  I was excited, too, but my stomach tried to stay in the car. 

We started out with the carousel.  So far, so good. Then we hit the first roller coaster she was tall enough to ride.  I was a little apprehensive; it had been a while since I was on a roller coaster.  I've always liked roller coasters, particularly old-school wooden ones.  When I was a kid, I rode The Swamp Fox in Myrtle Beach about a skillion times.  Anyway, I was game to try this one.  I've determined that I just need to avoid rides that involve spinning or anything remotely close to a circular motion. With this roller coaster, we were seated so that I was in the back and my daughter was wedged between my legs, with her head against my chest.  Well, as soon as the car whipped around the first curve, she was giggling madly.  It was just about the cutest thing ever.  As soon as we got off, she announced that we had to go again.  And we did, too - we rode that same coaster right before we left in the afternoon, with two other coasters in between.  She ended up riding just about anything she was eligible to ride, even choosing the front car on one of the roller coasters (right after I said, "Sure, sweetie, pick any car - just not the front.") 

My stomach did make it through the day.  I did make one mistake, which was to allow myself to be coerced into riding this big ship that swings like a pendulum.  As the end of the boat swung high into the air and then back down again, I tried to focus on one spot, thinking maybe it would help with the nausea (you know, like ice skaters do when they spin).  No dice.  I thought a little snack would help my stomach, so we decided to split an order of fries and a Sprite.  The price ($9.82) caused a whole new wave of nausea.  Later, we stopped in a gift shop and the kid persuaded me to buy her a bag of magnetic rocks.  Because if there's one thing her bedroom needs, it's one more piece of useless crap.

All in all, it was a good day, a good weekend.  Listening to my daughter's exhilarated giggling on the first coaster made the trip worthwhile.  And the minor bout with nausea, I guess.  When we got home, I asked her, "What was your favorite thing about today?"

"The roller coaster that we rode two times!"

 "Yeah, what else?" I asked.

"My other favorite thing was that you bought me those magnet rocks."  Crap. I mean to tell you I had already unpacked and I cannot find those buggers anywhere.  So, I quickly hopped online and ordered a set.  I'm hoping they arrive before she remembers/notices she hasn't seen the others.  The things we do, I tell ya.

Conversations with Kerri.

Kerri: "Are you adopted Mommy?"
Mommy: "No Kerri, I was not adopted. But I have cousins that were adopted. And your Daddy has a brother that was adopted."
Kerri: "OK, just checking."
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Kerri: "I don't want to go to school today."
Mommy: "It is your responsibility and obligation to go to school, just like it is Daddy's to go to work."
Kerri: "I don't care. It should be illegal to go to school."
Mommy: "If you didn't go to school, how would you learn everything you want and need to know?"
Kerri: "From you of course!"
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Kerri: "I don't like your rules. I shouldn't have to have rules."
Mommy: "Well, someday when you live on your own you can make up your own rules."
Kerri: "I am going to move out and build a house and you are going to come live with me and you are going to have to follow my rules!"
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Kerri: "I love you Mommy, big to the sky."
Mommy: "I love you more Kerri, big to the stars."
Kerri: "I love you most Mommy, big to China and back."
Mommy: "Wow, that's a long way Kerri."
Kerri: "Did I win?"
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Life with Kerri is a non stop conversation.

my latest obsession...


I can't get her music out of my head.

My favorites are Crazy Love, California, Anchor, All the Pennies....okay, I pretty much love all of it

Bec played it for me when I was up in Pasadena last weekend. Bought the her whole album, Anchor, on iTunes the very next day. I can't remember the last time I bought an entire album vs. a song or two from a specific artist.

Anyhow, it's just too great not to share. Check her out. I think you'll fall in love too.

Fruitful Harvest

I live in the fruitful Hood River Valley in the shadow of Mount Hood.


The temperate climate, the rich volcanic soil and the rain, rain, rain, combine to make a unique agricultural area. The premium crops for a hundred years have been apples and pears.




In the spring we are surrounded by fragrant blossoming orchards. It's a glorious season.




Now we are in the harvest season, the pinnacle of the agricultural year.

All over the valley there are dozens of farm stands selling fruit and the bounty of the area.


Coming from Michigan, another farming state, it took me a while to get acquainted with the different apple varieties here. The temperate climate in Oregon prevents growing certain types of apples that require cold hard winters. In the northern midwest I was used to eating Cortlands and MacIntosh apples, as well as Winesaps and Empires. I have never seen any of those varieties here.





But there are plenty of varieties to choose from that grow abundantly in this climate.





We even have some festival weekends devoted to different varieties of fruit. The Gravenstein apple weekend kicks off the season. Next weekend is the Honeycrisp harvest celebration.



There are just as many amazing pear varieties as there are apples.



It's fun to try new ones and there is always something new to try.




Along side the bins of apples and pears there are many more kinds of fruit and lots of pie potential!





There is absolutely no reason not to eat well with such abundance available.




The farm stands daily sell garden vegetables that will rival any city's farmers market.




This stand sells grass fed beef and lamb as well as fruits and vegetables.




And a few pies out of my kitchen too.



There is so much to be thankful for here.

Decadent Chocolate Cheesecake with Chocolate Walnut Crust

Last night we indulged in a decadent double chocolate cheesecake for a birthday celebration. I have been asked many times for the recipe so at long last, here it is!

I have so many recipes to keep track of that I try to keep things simple when I can. After trying several different chocolate cheesecake recipes and never remembering which one I liked best, I now use my basic cheesecake recipe and alter it for variations by adding chocolate, or lemon, or espresso powder (cappuccino cheesecake!) when I want a new flavor. So this chocolate cheesecake is very similar to the Lemon Cheesecake recipe I have on this blog. For more cheesecake tips and step by step photos, check out that lemon cheesecake post.


Decadent Chocolate Cheesecake with Chocolate Walnut Crust
Chocolate Walnut Crust:
1 cup chopped walnuts
1/2 cup all-purpose flour
2 Tablespoons good quality cocoa (or dutch processed)
3 tablespoon sugar
a pinch of salt
1/2 cup cold butter cut into pieces

Press into a ten inch spring form pan lined with parchment paper and bake in a preheated oven at 375 degrees for 12 minutes. Remove from oven and cool while you mix the batter. Turn the oven to 325 degrees and place a large pan of hot water on the bottom rack of the oven.

Batter:
2 1/4 pounds cream cheese
2 cups sugar
1/3 cup good quality cocoa (or dutch processed)
2 teaspoons vanilla
6 whole eggs

Beat the cream cheese. Mix together the sugar and cocoa powder and gradually add to the cheese, beating well and scraping the bowl. Add the vanilla then the eggs one at a time beating well after each. Scrape the sides of the bowl to ensure that all the cream cheese is flavored with the chocolate and that there are no large lumps. Pour into the pan. Put the cheesecake on the oven rack directly above the water pan. Bake at 325 degrees for one hour.

Leaving the cheesecake in the oven, turn off the oven and prop open the door.
Let the cheesecake remain in the oven another thirty minutes. This step will help your cheesecake to cool slowly enough that it won't crack. Remove and let cool completely then cover and refrigerate for at least three hours (or overnight) before removing it from pan for serving.


P.S. This makes a large ten inch cheesecake that serves 20. I have halved the recipe and used a six inch spring form pan with good results. That size will serve 8-10

A big bucket of self-esteem

My daughter is learning to write bona fide English words and recently strung together her first sentence unassisted. Well, she had written phonetically-spelled phrases like “I lv u” in the past and had asked for help in spelling various words, but this was the first time I’d seen her write a fully-formed sentence with no help. What did she write, you ask?

“I like me.”

This short phrase is so telling of my daughter’s personality. She does like herself – quite a lot, actually. She also assumes that everyone else digs her in equal measure. I have no idea what it’s like to go through life with such high self-esteem. I step into the world every morning with the assumption that a) I look like shit, and b) everyone else agrees with my assessment. My daughter steps into the world every morning with the thought that a) it’s too frickin’ early (she’s not a morning person), b) she’s adorable, and c) everyone agrees with her assessment.

She’s not just confident, though. She’s also highly social (I suppose the two go hand-in-hand). She told me the other day that she “just likes meeting new people.” A waves to strangers everywhere we go, chatting them up if they get within range. Therefore, it’s not too surprising that her teacher sent home this note the other day:



Mrs L wrote it at the top of a blank worksheet, which was supposed to be filled out by my daughter during class. The worksheet was blank because apparently my little buttercup has better things to do than to learn about the letter T.

I told A that she missed her chance to learn about the letter T, and now she'll have to go through the rest of her life not understanding its correct usage. She likes herself, though, and that's the important thing.

Our lucky girl.

Even though we have both been sick, I decided to take Kerri to Kung Fu today. She was so happy she was going to class, and had been practicing all day. On the way, we found Daddy walking home from the bus stop, so we picked him up and brought him along.

My first surprise was that Sifu and his wife thanked me for referring our neighbor to their school. My neighbor signed up 3 of her children to attend Kerri's class, and as a thank you, the Sifu advised he is giving us a 15% discount on next year's dues. And another 5% off for every future referral. Hubby joked that if I referred 17 more students, Kerri would be attending for free. I pointed out that saving that much money a year was no laughing matter.

My next surprise was when I had a conversation with Sifu's wife. She commented on how beautiful Kerri was, and what lovely lips and smile she had. And added that Kerri was smart and funny. I told her I wished we could meet Kerri's biological family, to thank them and show them what an amazing little girl Kerri was. And then she told me what a lucky girl Kerri was. Of course, I answered that we were the lucky ones. But it never ceases to amaze me how every Chinese person we have met has said those words: "she is a lucky girl."

Well, my lucky girl had a fantastic class today. She had the best splits, and awesome kicks. She still has a long way to go on her stances and punches, but she is determined, focused, and loving Kung Fu. And I still think we are the lucky ones, that get to watch her grow and flourish. And charm the pants off of everyone she meets.

Life with Kerri is our good fortune.

catch up

Tanner's first day of school:

Aunt Amy:


Miss Kate:

Kate and I playing with the new computer camera:

  • Tanner loves school. I mean, he really, really loves it. It's more than I could've dreamed. He can't wait to get there EARLY every morning so he has more time to play on the playground. I'm pretty sure he plays on the monkey bars his whole recess. Just last night 3 blisters popped on his hand from all that climbing. He gets to buy a frozen treat at school every Friday for 50 cents, which he loves. I forgot we did that growing up too. Except ours was popcorn. He loves his "school clothes"....navy shorts with a school shirt on and loves his new shoes. We pack him the same snack every day for recess. Ice water and grapes. After about 8 days of this, I asked him if he wanted a different snack, and he very firmly replied, that we always do grapes and we always will do grapes. Last night was his open house and he was so excited to show me everything in his classroom. He has told me that, "Kindergarten is so fun Mom. It's better than preschool. I love it."
  • Elle is sick. She had a sky high temp for 3 days and a bad cold. Her fever finally broke today. She's been sleeping like crazy, which is honestly, wonderful. I get so much more done with her taking real naps, and actually working with both of my hands, versus cleaning and cooking one-handed while I hold her with the other. When she has been awake she's been so sleepy, just lying on my shoulder. Today she woke up smiling and kissing me again. Even though it was nice to have her nap more, I missed her. The real her with her sweet personality.
  • I'm pretty sure Elle is in love with me. All my kids have loved me, but they've loved Shad just as much or more. But little Elle, just can't get enough. And as hard as it is sometimes that she only wants me, secretly I love it. It's so nice to have someone that just loves me unconditionally, that doesn't yell at me or say I'm a mean Mom. She loves me all the time no matter what.
  • I got a new phone. The reason that it's blog-worthy, is that I am moving forward (or catching up you could say) to the rest of America and can now text and email from my phone. I still feel like an idiot, but I'm getting used to it. This has been a hard move for me, because I love the simplicity of a simple phone with no bells and whistles. No complications, no worries if it accidently gets soaked in a glass of chocolate milk over night , no worries that your baby will suck on it and end up corroding the charging part so you can no longer charge the phone, no worries that you'll set your purse on the ground next to your chair and then scoot your chair in and somehow end up with the chair leg on top of the phone, which is located in your purse, causing the screen to go black for the rest of it's life. Not that I would do any of that. When I bought the phone, I asked the guy to set up my email on it and show me how to text. He looked at me sort of funny. I said, "I bet you've never met anyone my age who's never texted before." He thought for a while and said, "Nope, I haven't".
  • Got a new computer. Been trying to download all of my programs and get used to the new operating system. I'm getting there. That's why it's taken my 2 1/2 weeks to finish this one post. Yep.
  • Our house is for sale. Not too suprising if you know us very well. Shad's getting antsy...it's been 2 years. = ) We have an offer in on another home that's a short sale. We really hope the bank will accept the offer. I guess it can take any where from 4 months to years for the bank to come through. So we'll see. It's on 2 acres....which I'm so excited about, but a little nervous. We can barley take care of our back porch, even with the help of Ricardo. I'm afraid to see what 2 acres would look like. We'll see if we even get it.
  • Went to a grain seminar a couple of weekend ago with my sister Rebecca. LOVED it. I'm pretty much obsessed with knowledge on whole grains. I'm weird. There is a whole world out there of grains, and we pretty much use just wheat, which so many people are intolerant of. I've been trying to incorporate more grains in my cooking, so we've been eating a mix of cracked spelt, barley, brown rice, popcorn as hot cereal in the mornings. Shad, Elle and I love it. I put coconut oil, pure maple syrup and berries in it. It is really, really good. I also made a taco salad last week and made the ground beef, 1/2 beef and 1/2 red quinoa. It was good.
  • On the flip side of my weird health conscious self, I am still totally and completely obsessed with sugar. I hate it. I really do. I feel like I should check myself into some rehab clinic for sugar addicts. The thing is, I'm not joking. I'm not being sarcastic. I feel like I'm more hooked on treats than I've ever been in my life. And I'm gradually getting larger. Remember a while back when I posted that I was going off sugar for 5 weeks? Well, I did and I got down to my pre-baby weight. Felt great. Felt so in control. Then, when I started eating it again, the addiction came right back. And now, all of my pre-baby clothes that were oh so comfortable a couple of months back, are now oh so tight. Even, more than the weight part of it, I really just want to feel more in control of my body. I also notice that if I stop eating treats, the whole family stops eating them. When I'm hooked on treats, it's the first thing the kids ask for when they wake up and after every meal they eat, they ask, "Can I have a treat since I ate my dinner?" Shad and the kids eat so much healthier, when I eat healthier. I wonder sometimes if I should just never eat treats again. But what a bummer that would be. If anyone has any great words of wisdom for me...I'm all ears.
  • Rebecca moved to Redlands. My older sister who I've talked to every morning on the phone, for years. I can't even describe how wonderful it is and how blessed I feel to live by one of my sisters. Tanner and Kate are thrilled to live by their cousins as well.
  • Amy visited Rebecca to help her move in last month. Of course it's always so fun to see Amy. She's a happy and fun person. Very creative and full of great ideas. She really needs to be a professional organizer....she's amazing. Anyhow, the kids adore her and are always so sad to see her go. Kate talked about her for days after she left and still asks to talk to her on the phone.
Have a happy Friday.