A Week to Remember

Reasons why this week will not be forgotten:

• Our last visits with James Walden, before he passed away on 12/27
• Special worker company this week
• Celebrating June's birthday on 12/25
• Good times with old friends who no longer live here - Jordan & family, Mike, Kay & family
• Amy, Ryan & Damion arrived on Friday!

This photo was taken in November when several families got together to sing hymns with James. We all really enjoyed that time with him.

Animal Fun

Benjamin gives his balloon doggy a drink of juice.
Isn't he cute??


Before Benjamin's animals eat their supper, they have to sing "Day Day" (aka Day By Day) and we are usually summoned to help sing.

Got Peppermints?

Here is a great recipe I made tonight. It'll be a tasty dessert for later this week with friends & family.

Peppermint Brownie Freeze

1 qt Peppermint Ice Cream, softened

Brownies, crumbled

Candy canes/peppermint candy

Fudge Sauce

Lightly coat an 8.5"x4.4" loaf pan with nonstick spray and line with plastic wrap.

Layer 1 1/2 - 2 cups of ice cream in the bottom of prepared pan.

Crumble several brownies (1-1 1/2 cups) over ice cream.

Repeat layering, until pan is full. End with brownies.

Fold plastic cover, and freeze for at least 8 hours.

Unfold the plastic; lift brownie freeze out by the plastic wrap.

Turn it brownie side down & peel off plastic. Slice.

Top with fudge sauce and crushed candy canes or peppermint candies.

Recipe shared by Renee Hedberg

Another new trick

I caught Benjamin using 2 of his wooden train pieces as 'skateboards'. This week he has used one a few times - and scooted around the house on it. He has seen some of the neighbor boys on their skateboards and has pick up this new trick. With 2, he doesn't make much progress & ends up doing the splits. What's next?

Mimi's Cafe

My mom shared this link with me. For those of you who don't know about Mimi's Cafe - it is a great family dining restaurant with a french flair. We just got our first one in Austin a few months ago. Prior to that, we'd have to find one in CA when we were visiting out there. I can't wait to make their buttermilk spice muffins. They are a treat!

Click here for Recipes from Mimi's Cafe.

Benjamin's Class

Benjamin loves his art class & playtime at the gym every week. He has gotten along well with the other kids & loves to interact & copy them. Benjamin has learned the little song they sing about 'Clean up' and sings it at home when we are picking up the toys. So, I'm happy he is actually learning something - besides just getting to make fun art projects at his class. I took my camera to class this week to capture a few fun moments...

All in One Week!

Well - we have lots of pictures from this week - ranging from Austin's 6th grade orchestra concert, Benjamin's art class, concrete pouring at the conv dining shed project, Andrea's concert with a local high school choir. So, I think we'll need a quiet weekend to recuperate and 'kick' the colds that have once again invaded our household. I don't remember this being an ongoing problem last year!

Suzuki students performing prior to the orchestra concert - the little ones did so well.
Darren B, Benjamin & Uncle Robert helping with the concrete pouring project
A mouth full of a cinnamon roll - yummy!
Playing the 'biolin' with the h.s. choir

Welcome to our New Blog!

We've changed blog names, so here we are. Glad you found us and we hope you'll visit often. More to come, but first I must finish the cinnamon rolls I'm in the process of making. What a fun activity on a cold & rainy day!(today - 37 degrees, yesterday - 72!!)