My Sister and My Closest Friend

Delightful Aroma

2011-12-30T13:37:00.001-06:00

Shoveling freshly fallen snow with Dad while waiting to eat the loaves of homemade bread in the oven...

now that's what I call a

good morning!

~Eliza

Sewing Day with Grandma

2011-12-23T13:00:00.000-06:00

We went with Grandma Ionne to a local quilt shop last week to make these adorable little snowman candle mats! Here is a peek into the process...

It was such a fun day, thank you Grandma!

I will try and post a picture of the finished products when everyone does their finishing work on them!

~Katelyn

Gooey Deliciousness

2011-12-22T13:59:00.000-06:00

Well...we taste-tested the caramels that we made yesterday and packaged them this morning. They're extra gooey, but I suppose that's better than being so soft you have to lick them out of the packaging - which we also have experienced in previous years! We won't mention what happened to the second batch... let's just say it easily reminded us of the caramel licking and caramel sauce year!

~Eliza

Christmas Goodies 2011

2011-12-21T15:26:00.000-06:00

This morning we made a chocolaty mess of Denise's kitchen, making our annual

Christmas goodies

Well...annual, but we missed a year. Yes, last year was a sad year with no tasty homemade truffles and caramels. So this year we made up for it by putting extra effort into the cuteness factor of our truffles. One of our favorite truffles that we made - silly as it may seem, we pick favorites of the tiny treats...or at least I do! - is the one above. We had the cutest little sprinkles to decorate with!

Rolling...

...sprinkling candy cane dust...

...drying...

...admiring and photographing...

...it's all a part of the process! :)

The caramels we made are yet to be packaged...and sampled...tomorrow!

~Eliza

From the Pacific to the Gulf

2011-12-13T09:03:00.001-06:00

It's funny how vivid a few memories are of our trip to the Pacific even though it was years ago while visiting relatives in Washington state. Many of them have to do with injuries to my poor little feet! At one point, I stepped on a bee in the grass and ended up in the lap of someone digging out a stinger from my heel as I cried and cried... the other clear memory was on the beach - I can almost still feel the stinging salty sea water and sand on my raw feet from barnacles on the rocks. I made my daddy carry me for awhile after that one! I have some happy memories of playing with cousins and making crafts, but - needless to say - they aren't quite as clear as the others!

At the Gulf, well...there are tons of memories there since it was only last year!

Mom didn't make it in the picture because she was the one taking it this time. But, we all were there and loved the powdery white sand between our toes!

It made me smile when I went looking through family pictures and found these two of the beaches. They sure bring back memories...some happy and some not so happy!

~Eliza

"Winterized"

2011-11-19T21:35:00.000-06:00

This afternoon, I read a text from my grandpa saying:

"R U 2 GIRLS WINTERIZED"?

I didn't realize how much this would apply to today until just a few hours later.

I found myself pulling out boots, scarfs, hats, mittens, coats...

and our family went on a walk in the cold wind and snow.

Then, I realized to the full extent what Grandpa meant!

I miss this bonfire we had on a warm summer night

with Grandpa and the rest of the family...it seems crazy that it was only a few months ago.

At the same time, I'm glad there is snow since we'll be celebrating Christmas with them next weekend before they head south!

Until then...

better stay warm and "winterized!"

~Eliza

Freshly Picked

2011-11-02T20:04:00.000-05:00

There's something extra delicious about

homegrown apples...

Mmmm.

Lip-smackin' Good!

~Eliza

In Grandma's Kitchen

2011-10-22T22:25:00.000-05:00

Lefse Day

A day I look forward to every year.

And each year, it seems to get harder to fit in between our ever increasingly busy schedules. It is truly a blessing to spend these hours with Grandma, talking and laughing together and making delicious treats for Thanksgiving and Christmas. We keep Grandma busy cleaning up after us as we mix and roll, making a mess of flour. As for Grandpa, we often keep him busy running uptown for missing ingredients! We all love it and hope to continue it for many more years.

At the end of the afternoon, we had made 3 1/2 batches (70 lefse)! We managed to whip up a batch of flatbread again this year too, even with our short timeline. Makes Mom happy...it's one of her favorites along with a cup of coffee!

~Eliza

2011-10-18T14:13:00.000-05:00

"Teach me your way, O LORD,

and I will walk in your truth;

give me an undivided heart,

that I may fear your name."

Psalm 86:11 NIV

The Return of Ms. Chubba Cheeks

2011-09-26T15:14:00.000-05:00

One October day, nearly 21 years ago, a baby girl was born.

In a few months she became known as "chubba cheeks."

As the days and months went by, these adorably squishy cheeks slowly faded away.

Until...

on Wednesday, September 21st at approximately 1:30 in the afternoon, Ms. Chubba cheeks returned!

Poor Katelyn had her wisdom teeth out and has been eating ice cream, pudding, and soup for days. Once again, these - maybe not so adorable in her mind - chubba cheeks are slowly fading.

The End

~Eliza

After over 20 years...

2011-08-16T10:28:00.006-05:00

...of white walls and the same old grey carpet, it was time for something new!

So, this spring we went to work on it. Here are some pictures of the process (especially for you, Aunt Sharon!).

-Before-

-During-

-After-

A Second Time...

2011-07-30T22:09:00.008-05:00

...doesn't necessarily mean an experienced time! We learned this when we met the wild blueberry patches again this year. Last year, we were successful in finding, picking, and baking with our blueberries. This year... well, this year was a little bit different! :) We knew a little more about what to look for, but there weren't as many big berries.

Together, we managed to pick enough to make a tart like we did before, and even though it was just as delicious...it was not quite as pretty!

Here is the comparison:

-last year-

-this year-

It definitely brought on a fit of laughter when we pulled it out of the pan!

~Eliza and Katelyn

Drenched and Refreshed

2011-07-17T16:26:00.005-05:00

A Glimpse into Our Day

This afternoon, we were seeking air conditioning and a good dose of shopping. With this weekend being predicted as dangerously hot for us northerners...which is still under 100 degrees :)...we were happy to be in a cooler place than our home, which only has a small-space air conditioner.

So...the story goes like this:

We shop until our cart is full, hearing that a downpour has begun by the sound echoing off the roof. By the time we reach the doors to leave the store, we decide to wait until it stops, taking an ice cream break. But then, we returned to the doors to find an even more torrential downpour. I was telling Katelyn and Mom something like "Let's just run!" and they are thinking "NO!" so we eventually compromised that I would run for the car and pull up to the door for them and the bags.

Ummm...lets just say it was more of a downpour than I thought! I was drenched and almost ran into another person who was running through the parking lot as I sloshed my way to the farther end of the lot for the car, laughing as I banged my head trying to get into it. Another thing that struck me funny is that I was still wearing my church clothes and I realized that this wasn't the first time that my skirt had been drenched in a downpour adventure! Last summer, I was on a walk/run with my friend in the same skirt...don't ask me why I was in a skirt - that's beyond the point...but it started pouring and we went at least another mile. Yep...that skirt has been through a lot! ;)

Well, at least this afternoon made for a very refreshing and cooling adventure and I'm almost dry now! The house has cooled off too. Maybe tonight we can still grill for supper...

(And no, I did not go back out in the rain for this picture...I took it earlier this summer when it was so beautiful out after a rainfall!)

~Eliza

Vacation {Part 6}

2011-05-14T10:45:00.000-05:00

Here is the rest of the story in pictures...

.Touring.

We visited the Edison and Ford Estates and their beautiful gardens!

That evening we were invited for supper and

.kayaking.

in the canals behind our friends' house.

After the fact, we were informed that there have been sharks, crocodiles, and water moccasins...yikes! Good thing they didn't tell us that before or the kayaking wouldn't have happened!

Next up:

.the white sand beach.

And then we were off to the airport...

.the end.

~Katelyn and Eliza

Intermission for Current Events

2011-04-11T16:55:00.007-05:00

With lots of homework, painting the walls, ripping out carpet, living on beds in the middle of bare bedrooms and out of a closet in the living room (but that's for a later post), and other not-so-ordinary everyday happenings...we've been trying to keep up with the usual spring pace of life!

In the midst of all of this indoor activity, wondrously warm weather and little bits of spring are showing up!

This brave little flower has peeked out through the stones in our flower garden.

How beautiful!

~Eliza

Vacation {Part 5}

2011-03-04T17:20:00.002-06:00

.the Sunset Cruise.

At Fisherman's Village we spontaneously decided to take in a sunset cruise on a river off of the Gulf. It was amazing!

(in the picture above: Dad and Katelyn are in front of our boat)

We were surprised with a visit from some dolphins who played alongside our boat.

Normally, they don't see dolphins on the sunset cruise, so it was extra special. The fact that only 2 other families were on the boat with us made it even easier to get so close to the dolphins that we could almost touch them! The louder you clap your hands, the higher they jump!

At one point, the captain announced that he would be playing some sunset music...let's just say we didn't expect what he put on, which made us laugh...it was great!

The crew was great and gave us candy canes! It seemed so funny to be eating candy canes, until we realized that Christmas was only a few days before...a fact we had obviously forgotten in the FL sunshine!

~Katelyn and Eliza

Vacation {Part 4}

2011-02-25T19:18:00.006-06:00

. the beach .

This river from the Gulf, with only a few feet of sand, would suffice as our first beach, according to Dad...

...however...

we thought we needed a bit more beach and later spent a beautiful sunny afternoon at this...

our first real Florida beach!

~Katelyn and Eliza

Vacation {Part 3}

2011-02-19T13:45:00.007-06:00

In Orlando, we went to the Holy Lands!

We'll let the pictures give you a glimpse of our day...

(This was a model of Jerusalem)

~Katelyn and Eliza

Vacation {Part 2}

2011-01-14T21:04:00.009-06:00

Day 3

Museum Day.

After the stay in our favorite hotel in Kentucky, we packed up and headed out a few miles to the Creation Museum! We highly recommend it...it was sooo much fun and so educational!

---Just for a minute here, we want to back up to "yesterday"...the day we came into Kentucky and checked into the hotel. As we were checking in, Eliza thought to herself about the receptionist "Hmmm...wonder where she's from??" only to realize that the lady was probably wondering where we were from! Just imagine a thick southern Kentucky accent and you'll know what I mean! ;)---

Anyway...back to the museum...

The exhibits were done so well! We spent the entire morning and afternoon just taking it all in. We also visited the special effects theatre while we were there. What a surprise to be shaken in our seats and sprayed with water in the face!

Dad especially enjoyed the Dinosaur exhibits...just watch and you'll see!

(sorry...the video is kinda short...but we had to RUN! ;)

After the museum, we hit the road in the late afternoon and got a couple more hours and a couple more miles out of the way. The landscape around there is definitely much different than up where we live! There were frozen water leaks out of the ragged rocky walls we drove through...fascinating...at least when you've been driving for the last few days. Don't get us wrong...we loved the whole trip including the car time! It was so relaxing to sit for hours with nothing needing to be done!

We spent the night in Tennessee.

-----

Day 4

Our longest day on the road yet!

We ended up in Orlando, FL!

...Palm Trees...

...NO snow...

(there was actually snow all the way until we stopped at a cafe in the southern tip of Georgia!!)

...No winter coats...

...SUNSHINE!...

Here we stayed for 2 nights...

We even swam one night in an outdoor pool in the middle of winter!

Still more to come...

~Katelyn and Eliza

Vacation {Part 1}

2011-01-06T13:06:00.011-06:00

After a crazy year, we decided we needed a little breather...

the word vacation sounded delightful! And so...we recruited our own personal travel agent and great friend Lyndi! With her expertice in such things we found great deals and family connections for a car to drive down in, lodgings, and super deals on plane tickets back home.

Sounds wonderful, right? It was.

(A huge thank you to Lyndi!)

Day 1

We drove.

...finally arriving in southern Wisconsin to find a hotel for the night.

Day 2

We drove.

We drove through 5 states in one day...quite an achievement for us inexperienced travelers especially after the previous day of driving through only 1 state.

Wisconsin

Illinois

Indiana

Ohio

Indiana (again :)

Kentucky

(I guess it is 6 if you count Indiana twice...because of the winding interstate, we barely touched Ohio before we were back in Indiana)

In Kentucky we settled down for the night in an amazing new hotel where we swam, ate pizza, and relaxed and stretched our legs after the long drive.

The lobby was decked out in curtains.

Dad and Eliza had fun taking pictures in the circle lit-up mirror in one of the two bathrooms with sliding doors...which reminds us that at least three of us---we won't say who---panicked and jiggled the door thinking it was stuck...only to remember that it slides, not opens normally!

Look carefully and notice the coordination of Katelyn's shirt, the couch, and our vending machine drink...which Dad picked out to match our room...seriously he did! :) If you ever visit Kentucky...make sure to eat this pizza. It was delicious! (sorry the picture is blurry, but Dad would not wait for a picture to eat his pizza!)

More to come...

~Katelyn and Eliza

Let the Baking Begin!

2010-12-21T20:58:00.004-06:00

Buttery cookies, creamy frosting, and a drizzle of chocolate...

The start to our Christmas baking was this morning in the kitchen with my friend, Roberta! I'm hoping it won't be the end to our Christmas baking as well...but our break from school is already pretty filled up! :)

~Eliza

Gingerbread Village

2010-12-20T11:46:00.001-06:00

On our first day free from homework, we headed uptown with our friend Carrie to find supplies to make gingerbread houses!

Carrie had also invited a few international students, who had never done this before...

they definitely thought we were crazy! :) One of them asked me what we do with the houses after making them...the conversation went a little like this...I replied "we throw them away"...to which I heard the response "WHAT?!?! After all that work?" :)

~Eliza

At last...

2010-12-19T13:00:00.000-06:00

...after many semesters filled with homework and studying and the past two weeks of wearing scrubs and working as a nurse...

I've graduated as a Practical Nurse!

After the pinning ceremony, we went out to supper at the Mexican restaurant with Grandpa Jim and Grandma Ionne!

~Eliza

Warm and Toasty...

2010-12-04T20:55:00.002-06:00

...on a cold December night

~Eliza

It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas...

2010-11-30T23:14:00.004-06:00

Thanksgiving

2010-11-26T18:07:00.008-06:00

Family

As we went around the room sharing what we're thankful for this year...we've once again realized just how blessed we are in family!

What a fun time we were able to spend together! We are so grateful that the weather was nice enough for them all to come...and this year all the family spent the night (which is very rare for Grandpa and Grandma since they live so close ;)

And, of course, we had an abundance of delicious food!

Games are especially fun with family...even more so with small families like ours because everyone knows each other so well!

~Eliza

More Signs of the Season

2010-11-14T16:59:00.007-06:00

...Snow...icicles...Christmas lights...

wait a minute...isn't Thanksgiving supposed to be during the season of autumn with falling leaves and a cool breeze?!?! ;)

~Eliza

A Sign of the Season

2010-11-12T17:05:00.005-06:00

Lefse day!

With school out for Veteran's day, we decided to take a trip to Grandma's to make lefse and continue our fall tradition! We were trying to figure out how many years we've been doing it now...and we're still trying to figure it out! :) We started pretty young, though, since Grandma said our lefse wasn't very round...so we had fun seeing different odd shapes, like Africa-shaped lefse! ;) Now, we have goals of round, almost transparently-thin lefse! :)

---

We were busy all day...messing up Grandma's kitchen and making enough lefse to feed our family for Thanksgiving and Christmas...as well as lots of extras to eat :)

This year we made 80 lefse (4 batches)...

and a batch of flatbread!

We even had time to kick our feet up and relax with a root-beer float break...reminiscing about family reunions and fun times together.

Speaking of memories...ever since we were little girls, we remember Grandma's "pink mints" in a jar on her counter. We LOVED them...probably because they are pink ;)

Obviously, hours on end of dusting with flour, scraping off "sticks", rolling, frying, and cooling lefse...well, it must get to you after awhile, since we soon took after each other with the lefse stick and rolling pin...

OK, so maybe this was a little staged ;)

We're so happy we were able to keep up the tradition once again this year!

~Eliza

Living for HIM

2010-10-15T15:46:00.003-05:00

"Therefore, my dear brothers, stand firm.

Let nothing move you.

Always give yourselves fully to the work of the Lord, because you know that your labor in the Lord is not in vain."

---1 Corinthians 15:58---

Happy Birthday to you...

2010-10-10T19:10:00.005-05:00

Happy Birthday

Katelyn!

I am so blessed to have you as my sister!

Love you tons!

~Eliza

Bakery for a Day

2010-09-06T13:18:00.002-05:00

The day before the weekend before school (continuing our summer posting backtrack) our kitchen turned into a bakery!

We had yet another day of bread-baking with our friends (posted before here and here).

This time our cousin Anna was able to join the fun...we brought her home for a visit the day before! :)

The process of grinding flour

We stood around the water...waiting for it to boil :)

(Anna wouldn't keep a straight face or smile for the pictures!)

The boiled bagels are then sprinkled with sesame seeds before baking.

Mmmm...freshly baked bread!

~Eliza

Visit to Grandpa & Grandma's

2010-09-04T12:19:00.003-05:00

I'll begin this posting backtrack of summertime fun with the weekend before school started...

a visit to Grandpa and Grandma's house!

It was a great way to spend the last few days of summer...with the people we love!

~Eliza

Summer has ended...

2010-08-28T09:59:00.012-05:00

...School has begun.

However, we want to backtrack a little bit on this blog of ours to post some of the fun times we've had in the last few weeks of summer...hopefully coming up soon! :)

***

As for today, I'll leave you with this...

Some exciting happenings in our backyard!

a HUGE hive

WAY up high in the tree

Our thoughts so far on how to get rid of it:

#1 Shoot an arrow at it from our deck to knock it down. Then, quickly run back inside the house to escape the angry swarm of bees! However, this somewhat crazy attempt isn't going to happen since we don't own a bow and arrows ;)

#2 Take the hose and power wash it down!

(the idea we've gone with so far)

#3 Leave it be...since we don't really have time to go in the backyard anyway! :)

If anyone has any better ideas, we'd be happy to hear them!

The Potted Garden

Our hopes for sun-ripened tomatoes have once again been denied...when will we learn our lesson to plant a little earlier?!?!

Still so very green!

So, to get a taste of the deliciousness of homegrown, sun-ripened tomatoes, we've been enjoying some of Grandma's and our Aunt's.

As for the peppers...well, they're doing a little better!

We have 3 decent sized ones that we'll be able to eat.

And there you have it...a little bit of the summertime happenings in our backyard! :)

~Eliza

And the answer is...

2010-08-20T09:07:00.003-05:00

a dog

Both of us would rather have a dog than a cat...that is if we ever got a pet ;)

One year and 104 posts ago...

2010-08-07T09:40:00.002-05:00

...we decided to start a blog!

So...we want to see how well you readers know us! :)

And now here is our question...

If we got a pet, would we rather have a dog or a cat?

(You must know that we have been a pet-less family---well, with the exception of our two little fish who sadly died soon after arriving due to over-feeding...and that was after teaching one to read by placing a book at its fishbowl!! :)

Please leave a comment with your answer!

~Katelyn and Eliza

Blueberry Baking

2010-07-31T13:52:00.017-05:00

Wild blueberry picking. Definitely an adventure for those who have never done it before...especially for those who don't really know what the plants look like, where they grow, or hardly at all what to expect!

Mom, Katelyn, and I headed out Thursday morning with our friend Lyndi, her little boy Cayden, and his grandma, having very different goals for our picking (Lyndi expected enough for treats and us only hoping to find a couple). :)

We just pulled off the road, walked through the woods and scanned the ground for little bits of blue until we came to a gravel road, crossed to the other side, and found so many blueberries that we had to be careful not to step on them!

***

The next morning we decided to make a treat with our bucket of berries...

which turned out to be enough for 3 delicious treats with some leftover berries!

Our morning's menu consisted of:

Blueberry Crumb Cake

for a before-brunch dessert :)

Blueberry Pancakes

for brunch

and

Blueberry Tart

for an after-brunch dessert

(we made some little heart-shaped tarts too!)

For the most part, Cayden was a good little helper picking berries and baking...however, I think his favorite part was eating as many blueberries as he could! :)

Delicious!!

~Eliza

Tonight's Catch makes 2

2010-07-20T20:54:00.004-05:00

We've had a chipmunk problem for a while and the recent solution has been a live trap!

The other day, we had our first catch which was taken out and released...

Tonight we caught another one...even with NO food in the trap!!

Now the trap is again set and ready for any more chipmunks that may be in our walls/ceiling/garage... (notice the nice little hole in our wall on the left!)

So, after the family trip out to release chipmunk #2 and the resulting excitement for the evening...we're off to enjoy a mother&daughters movie night! :)

***

Oh, and we now have buds on our pepper and tomato plants...maybe we weren't too late in planting them after all! :)

~Eliza

Carriage Ride!

2010-07-15T12:12:00.005-05:00

This morning, we enjoyed a fun carriage ride with our friend, Carrie!

We started off with Carrie pulling the carriage... ;)

...but soon headed to the stables to find a horse to pull us!

Thanks, Carrie, for the fun morning ride!!

~Eliza

Rejoice!

2010-07-12T13:37:00.002-05:00

The vibrant pink of these little flowers in the morning light inspired me to play around with one of the pictures I snapped after pulling out my camera!

They pretty much "shout" REJOICE! :)

~Eliza

A Succulent Summer Treat

2010-07-09T14:09:00.009-05:00

Step #1 Pick some juicy sun-ripened raspberries

Step #2 Put the berries in a pretty little bowl and

bathe them in cream

Step #3 Slowly savor each bite of

deliciousness!

~Eliza

Soaking up the Sun

2010-07-08T12:29:00.015-05:00

While we've been busy this past week with traveling and company, our garden has been soaking in lots of sunshine...and water when we get a chance to get out with the watering can!

We've been able to use some of the herbs so far...basil, parsley, oregano, cilantro, and chives. It's so great to step outside onto the deck to gather some fresh herbs while you're cooking!

We've now added a bell pepper plant,

11 tomato plants

and

over 20 basil plants

to our existing garden (and if you're wondering what those tall plants in the back are...they are our cilantro "trees" I guess we hadn't read up enough about them to expect that!)

So far, the easiest plants that we've grown from seed have been basil. After the slow process of sprouting and beginning to grow, they just take off!

Oh...and we can't forget the potted rhubarb!!! :)

Grandma had given us some to start our own plants in our yard. To keep them from withering away before we had a chance to plant them, they were stuck in a pot...and have been there growing ever since!

So, our garden has been soaking up the sun and we have been out enjoying it too, which is one of the factors that has contributed to our lack of posts in the past few weeks! Summer can get to be so busy, but it is also filled with fun...ice cream & movie nights, bike rides, baking, good books, and spending time with family and friends!

~Eliza

Happy Father's Day!

2010-06-20T12:48:00.003-05:00

Happy Father's

Day

to our wonderful Dad!

We love you!!!

~Katelyn and Eliza

Summer Fun

2010-06-18T15:37:00.004-05:00

Our inspiration came from a magazine's bright cover...

and from our over-abundance of mint leaves...

and the imaginations that come as a result of a sunny day after many cloudy, stormy ones! :)

So...my friend Tori and I came up with this cool summer drink consisting of:

mint leaves

pineapple

melon

orange juice

and

ice

and coined the name "minty pinemelange"

~Eliza

Not Again!!!!!

2010-06-14T14:37:00.004-05:00

They are back! I may have told some of you about my summer last year trying to destroy a MAJOR ant hill in our back yard.

It covered about a 4'x4' section of our back yard, and that was only what I could see above ground! Well, after many attempts and different brands of ant killer that you could by at the store, I decided to look online at different methods to get rid of ants.

There were many good ideas, but I don't think that the writers of these ideas had an ant problem of this scale!

So I decided why not try all the ideas at once!

My concoction:

Borax laundry detergent

Pepper

Vinegar

Hot water

You should have seen those ants go crazy!

Eventually I did get rid of them, but I am not sure which one of these things actually did the trick, but anyway, I was very excited to see that there were no ants in that spot this year...until now.

I was out watering our raspberry bushes that we planted this spring, and I was looking at the leaves wondering what in the world could be eating the leaves.

At that same time as this was going through my head, I feel this tickling on my foot, which is a feeling I know well from last year! I looked down and there was the biggest ant hill yet swarming around my foot! It was like a volcano erupting with ants and that is not an exaggeration! (Of course when I got mom to come and see it wasn't quite as bad, but that is the way it always works)

Here is the spot!

Quite hidden, you wouldn't even know it was there unless you stepped into it! My line of defense this time around. Do you know what this makes?

I am sure the ants were confused as to which season they were in when I poured the baking soda on the ground.

A sudden snowstorm?

I made a volcano of my own to try and get rid of the ants!

Later I will go see how it worked.

I will say it was quite funny to see tons of ants at the very tips of the grass trying to escape!

I will let you all know how this war with the ants turns out, because I am sure you are all wanting to know.

Now I feel like there are ants crawling all over me still.

Last year I even had nightmares about ants!

~Katelyn

After the Rain

2010-06-13T19:14:00.010-05:00

Everything seems so much brighter, greener, and newer after this long week of rain. As the sun began to set tonight, we went on a walk along the trail with Grandma...soaking in the warm rays of sunlight and spotting wildflowers left and right...wild roses, lilies, daisies...every once in a while, glimpsing a butterfly flutter by.

Walking in the bright and beautiful masterpiece of our amazing Creator is such a delight!

"May the glory of the LORD

endure forever;

may the LORD rejoice in his

works..."

Psalm 104:31

(We sure did stop to admire the many details of the flowers on our walk...and I sure did wish I had brought my camera...but I didn't! Instead, a picture of our blossoming garden at home will have to suffice ;)

~Eliza

We did it!!!

2010-06-07T22:13:00.003-05:00

Yay! We completed our picture challenge of posting a photo a day!

Congratulations to the other fellow bloggers who joined us in our challenge: Grace, Lauren, and Melanie. Great job everyone...we enjoyed each "snapshot" into the days of your week!

~Katelyn & Eliza

10:25 PM (Yesterday)

2010-06-07T15:21:00.006-05:00

Blogger is finally working again!!!!

Here is my post from last night.

Looking at my schedule for the week, which inclueds Jury Duty!

***

Picture Challenge Day 7

~Katelyn

1:25 PM

2010-06-06T13:28:00.003-05:00

Needlework for a rainy afternoon

***

Picture Challenge day 7

~Eliza

12:48 PM

2010-06-05T19:45:00.003-05:00

An afternoon biking with a friend

***

Picture Challenge day 6

~Eliza

1:08 PM

2010-06-05T13:36:00.003-05:00

Laundry

A very interesting post, right? :)

Well I couldn't let you think that all we do is bake, read, and bike!

***

Picture Challenge day 6

~Katelyn

9:08 PM

2010-06-04T23:08:00.001-05:00

Ice Cream, popcorn, and a sad but good movie!

***

Picture Challenge day 5

~Katelyn

12:02 PM

2010-06-04T12:14:00.003-05:00

Bike Ride

***

Picture Challenge day 5

~Eliza

6:21 PM

2010-06-03T21:16:00.003-05:00

Look who came for supper tonight...

Grandpa and Grandma!

It was a "thumbs-up" meal :)

***

Picture Challenge day 4

~Eliza

11:27 AM

2010-06-03T12:14:00.002-05:00

Re-reading a great book.

Some friends and Eliza and I are getting together this summer to read and discuss this book.

***

Picture Challenge Day 4

~Katelyn

9:40 PM

2010-06-02T21:41:00.003-05:00

Looks so inviting! Time for bed soon. :)

***

Picture Challange Day 3

~Katelyn

12:09 PM

2010-06-02T12:13:00.003-05:00

The end to a 2 hour violin practice

***

Picture Challenge day 3

~Eliza

12:04 PM

2010-06-01T21:06:00.005-05:00

Baking Day

--stage two of this morning's cookie dough--

(I was going to post about something other than food today...but tonight I've realized that food pretty much consumed our day, since the one batch of cookies lead to more and more baking!)

***

Picture Challenge day 2

~Eliza

10:43 AM

2010-06-01T10:49:00.003-05:00

Mixing up a batch of cookies in my mixer!

***

Picture Challenge day 2

~Katelyn

2:44 PM

2010-05-31T14:52:00.005-05:00

Off to work!

***

Picture Challenge Day 1

~Katelyn

9:11AM ...I think ;)

2010-05-31T09:40:00.003-05:00

Breakfast: fresh strawberries and puff-puff pancakes...

Mmmm, Mmmm Good!

***

Picture Challenge day 1

~Eliza

Picture Challenge!

2010-05-31T09:01:00.004-05:00

This week, we decided to each post a picture from our day.

If any of you fellow bloggers are up for this challenge...

please join in!

There are only 2 rules:

#1 The picture must be from a part of your day

#2 The exact time the picture was taken should be posted

Let's see if we can keep up with this idea until next Monday, June 7th.

~Katelyn and Eliza

Recipes Overboard!!

2010-05-30T15:06:00.008-05:00

The other day, we decided to work on writing down some of our family favorite recipes for our recipe boxes and---well...to say the least---we went a little overboard decorating the cards and hardly had a chance to write any! :)

Like we said...

OVERBOARD!

*89 recipe cards*

~Katelyn and Eliza

Our Growing Garden

2010-05-25T21:36:00.005-05:00

Our garden is growing...both in size and height! :)

(this picture kinda makes it look like a tangled-up overgrown mess...but it is actually a nice variety of potted herbs! :) We'll probably have to transplant them soon because this is the way we got them and they are getting pretty crowded.)

We have now added:

parsley

sage

chives

cilantro

and

lavender

to our basil, raspberries, and strawberries!

However, our plans are still much bigger... (...if we find the time to work on it!)

~Eliza

Graduations Galore! [Part 2]

2010-05-24T21:57:00.001-05:00

Eliza's Graduation

May 16th, 2010

~*~

Guests began to arrive at the open house and the entry quickly started to fill up with shoes! :)

Lots of Delicious Food!

It was so much fun to see so many friends...

...and relatives all in one day!!!

Here are a few senior pictures...

~Eliza

Graduations Galore! [Part 1]

2010-05-20T13:42:00.026-05:00

Katelyn's LPN Graduation Ceremony

May 7th, 2010

~*~

getting all ready...

Before the ceremony, we had some tasty pizza...

...and root beer floats!

YUMMY!

Here we are having some fun with the camera while we wait for the ceremony to start:

(Gilles seemed to have missed the instructions because he is smiling on the crazy picture and being crazy on the smiling picture!!! ;)

And then...

let the ceremony begin! The following morning, before breakfast, Grandpa, Grandma, Katelyn, and I decided to have a drawing contest! Our subject was the rabbit in the newspaper ;) Can you guess who each bunny drawing belongs to?

Congratulations Big Sister!!!

I love you!

~Eliza

(Finally...more than 6 hours after beginning this post I am now publishing it---in between now and then I took many laundry breaks, made some cookies, went biking, ate supper, took a break to visit with a neighbor, and the list goes on... :) I also wrote some other posts which I'm going to try to "schedule" to be published on different days! So, stay tuned...I hope it works!)

Snapshots of life lately

2010-05-12T13:50:00.016-05:00

There is no way we can write about all that has been going on lately, so to catch-up on our neglected blog I figured we could post some pictures and snippets of what we've been up to.

We've been...

...spending time with family and friends...

Now that this semester of school is done, we've had more time to catch-up and enjoy time with the people we love! Grandparents have returned from their winter---or should I say summer ;) ---down south and were greeted with lots of hugs! We have also been enjoying some fun movie nights. Oh, and of course we've made some time for shopping among the many other things! :)

***

...making music again...

We have been taking our violins out of their cases much more often than we were during school which is so much fun!

We've also been singing together, especially for Grandpa! ;)

***

...campaigning for Dad...

This has been keeping us busy...especially Katelyn because she has been going to some of the conventions, handing out campaign literature!

***

...planting herbs and planning our garden (which will hopefully be bigger and better than last year)...

Yep...this is as far as we've gotten in planting so far this year. However, our plans are bigger. ;)

***

...cleaning, organizing, rearranging furniture, and otherwise preparing for graduations...

Yesterday, we went to Denise's to make truffles for graduation. It was a perfect day to be inside baking when there was a continuous sprinkling rain outside! A few minutes ago, I caught Mom fixing our off-balance dishwasher and I just had to throw this picture in here! :) We've been getting all sorts of house projects done lately.

(Katelyn's LPN graduation ceremony will be a future post because this post is becoming ridiculously long!)

***

...and enjoying the snowfall in May!?!?!?!...

(which, thankfully, has since melted away)

***

Hopefully this helps to make up for our lack of posts lately and will get us back on track for posting more often...we'll see! :)

~Eliza

Budding Anticipation

2010-04-20T15:04:00.011-05:00

As I was lying on my bed reading my textbook with the glorious sunshine on me, I glanced up and saw...

budding spring-green leaves!!!

I just had to grab my camera, open my window wide, and try to capture this beautiful sight ;)

So...as I was leaning halfway out my window, my dad asks me what in the world I am taking a picture of---scaring me half to death, almost making me fall out my window!!!

Here he was...out enjoying the warm weather and swinging a golf club!

At last...summer is on it's way!

...and the countdown until school ends continues: only 10 more days to go! :)

Now, after this fun-filled break of 15minutes, I'd better get back to the books!

~Eliza

On the Road Again!

2010-04-16T11:07:00.007-05:00

It's campaign season again at our house!

And I am loving it!

Last weekend Dad and I went down to our Congressional Convention.

He was a delegate and I was an alternate. (Actually I was elected alternate even though I wasn't at our county convention! Dad nominated me and they voted me in!)

We also had a table for people to come and get literature.

The people there were great! Dad was able to speak for a few minutes and when he went up there he was greeted with clapping and cheering. I was so proud!

In two weeks we get to go the the State convention.

On a side note:

It was very funny because people kept asking if I was Dad's campaign manager. When I told them that I was his daughter they didn't believe it. I guess Dad looks too young (or else I look too old!). But campaign manager is better than when people used to ask me if I was his wife! NO, he is my dad!

(Edit: Now I just found out that I am his campaign manager for the State Convention! So I guess I am his daughter and campaign manager, that is pretty good!)

~Katelyn

It was a really windy day...

2010-04-13T20:10:00.004-05:00

...and there's not much else to say...

but

Hurray!!!

Only 2 weeks and 3 days left of school! :)

He Is Risen!

2010-04-04T11:26:00.011-05:00

"The angel said to the women, 'Do not be afraid, for I know that you are looking for Jesus, who was crucified.

He is not here;

he has risen, just as he said.

Come and see the place where he lay.'"

~Matthew 28: 5-6 (NIV)

(We've been working on this song lately, which we played at church this morning)

Let us celebrate...

for he has risen, and HE IS ALIVE!!!

His Eye Is on the Sparrow...

2010-04-02T20:07:00.012-05:00

...and I know He watches me!

This morning is evidence! :) First of all, let me back up a few hours...

Ok...so yesterday I knew I would be up late into the night working on my clinical assignments for school (since you don't get your assignments until noon on Thurs. and they are due early Fri. morning!). I have another class that is later in the afternoon, and this cuts out a few hours from the time I have to write up all my super long assignments and review my nursing "skills"!

Long story short...I was up until midnight working on them and then finally collapsed into bed, after setting my two alarm clocks to get up at 5:15am (one for back-up just in case the other doesn't, for some odd reason, go off! ;)

Anyway, this morning I woke up to my dad asking me if I should be getting up and ready to go (to which I was thinking that I had left myself plenty of time to get ready before I had to be at clinicals at 6:45). When I looked over at my clock...to my petrified demise, it was 6:15...the time I was planning on leaving!!! Now, before you all freak-out and lose sleep from worring about me ;)...I'll just tell you that I made it there 5min early! (yep...now you know how fast I can get ready if I need to---and I sure was glad that I planned last night to get there extra-early---SIDE NOTE: my family knows that I can take the fastest or the longest shower...and nowhere in between! :) Although...today there was absolutely no time for even my fastest!

It was just amazing how everything worked out with such a late start:

my super-dad got me up just in the nick-of-time,

my wonderful sister whipped up a sandwich for my lunch, and

all of my nursing supplies and my scrubs were laid out to grab and go (which I had--not by chance--done last night)

Then, as I was driving there, I started singing praise to Him who is in control...when I was reminded of the verse I had read late last night right before I went to sleep:

"Because you are my help,

I sing in the shadow of your wings."

~Psalm 63:7

Our Lord watches over the entire universe...yet His eye is on each one of us!

Praise the LORD!

~Eliza

Christmas!

2010-03-22T15:01:00.011-05:00

I'm sure you are thinking "What? They are posting on Christmas at the end of March!" Well we are! We just had our Christmas celebration with my Mom's brother Randy.

Because of the snowstorm at Christmas, Uncle Randy wasn't able to make it for Christmas, so we had him over now for a very belated celebration.

We had a lot of fun playing the Wii games that he brought.

These pictures are probably very boring to you, but we had fun, because we never grew up playing video games. Needless to say, we were pretty bad at it, but I think we improved at the end of the weekend. Thanks Uncle Randy for bringing it!

*****

Here is a picture of Mom and Uncle Randy.

A little sibling rivalry?

I guess driving a race car is pretty tough, because my tounge is out. I was concentrating! I think my average score was about 11th place out of 12! The next day we all were wondering why our arms were so sore! We figured it out, it was tennis and bowling. Yep, it was a tough weekend!

~Katelyn

Recital

2010-03-21T20:27:00.006-05:00

This past year I have had the pleasure of teaching these two young ladies, Vanessa and Sarah.

Vanessa has been playing the violin, and Sarah the guitar.

They are pretty much the best students that you could ever ask for!

Practice, Practice, Practice!

Vanessa was telling me that she practiced for 2 hours! Way to go, Vanessa!

Tonight we had our first recital at Vanessa's house.

Enjoy the pictures!

Sarah and Vanessa waiting for the recital to start!

Vanessa and I

Sarah and I

Above is a picture of Sarah and I doing a guitar duet.

Below is Vanessa and I playing our violin duet. Of course there was great food!

They gave me the most beautiful flowers and each of them wrote something very special to say to me. Thank you ladies! Fun Times! I am so proud of Sarah and Vanessa! They have been so great to work with. Great Job Sarah and Vanessa! :)

As requested...

2010-03-12T19:28:00.003-06:00

Tiramisu-Toffee Dessert recipe

Enjoy!

(We made more than a few tweaks to the recipe due to lack of ingredients, but overall this is pretty close!)

Cooking with Gilles

2010-03-12T14:28:00.004-06:00

When cooking with our "big brother" Gilles, the kitchen is filled with spicy aromas and laughter! :)

This time, the menu was chicken curry and rice.

And for dessert...

Tiramisu-Toffee Dessert

Mmmm, Mmmm Good!!!

~Katelyn and Eliza

A new way to exercise

2010-03-12T11:36:00.008-06:00

Forget the gym...just fit a lot of activities into your daily life at home! ;)

In just a few hours one morning I burned: 133 calories cleaning and 67 calories cooking

I also found it pretty interesting that playing my violin for 1 hour burns almost as many calories as cleaning with "vigorous effort" for the same amount of time...it uses up 111 calories!

At this website there is a list of many different activities, from pushing a stroller to running, where you can calculate the calories burned!

Disclaimer: just to clear things up...I am NOT counting my calories---no way---I just thought I'd share these fun facts after finding this website

(http://www.myfitnesspal.com/exercise/lookup)

for a project in school! :)

Also, I'm not saying you shouldn't exercise apart from your daily activities...nope, sorry! Exercise is very important in order to stay healthy---coming from one who usually gets around to it once a week! ;)

So...enjoy your cooking and cleaning a bit more this week as you "feel the burn" ;)

~Eliza

Results

2010-03-08T14:26:00.004-06:00

I Passed!!!!!!!

I am so excited!

I also just got a letter of acceptance to the RN school at NTC!

Here are some flowers that my friend Julie gave me before I left for my test.

They are soooo beautiful!

Thanks Julie!

~Katelyn

2010-03-07T20:16:00.004-06:00

Well I took my NCLEX exam yesterday, and I don't think I did to great. I won't get my results until Tuesday or Wednesday, but it was really hard! The way the test is made, when you get one wrong, you get more of that same type of question. Such as if you get a question about a drug and you get it wrong, you get more questions about drugs! So I had one area that I hadn't even thought of studying, and almost all my questions were from this area! Oh well, that's how you learn. Mom and I had a GREAT trip though, it was fun to just do something mother and daughter! We went down on Friday night and found our hotel, we got a good deal on a suite, so we had a full sized kitchen and a king size bed (we slept good!). After checking in we went to Olive Garden and had a great meal, went in the hot tub, then went to bed. The next morning we got up and we were heading out the door and I totally SLID down the ramp! We didn't notice we had an ice storm in the middle of the night and it was glare ice! When we got to the car, we had to crack a hole in the 1/2 inch thick ice that layered our car so that we could get down to the windshield and scrape. Wow did we scrape, we were running late at this point so I was trying to go so fast and pieces of ice were flying everywhere! We made it there safely and right on time, even though we couldn't go past about 5 miles an hour. But I did forget it was slippery and almost did the splits getting out of the car again! At the check in for the test they took my drivers license, took my picture, did a vein scan on both hands a few times, took my finger print 3 times, then before entering the room checked my ID again and did another vein scan! Wow! They they go on to tell you that you will be video taped and audio taped! Talk about security! After the test Mom and I went for coffee and shopped till we dropped! It was a fun weekend, but knowing if I passed or not will top it off! Thanks for all you prayers, they were really appreciated! ~Katelyn

Spring Fever

2010-03-02T13:47:00.006-06:00

The other day, a friend and I were thinking about how, in the corner of the world we live in, we have about 2 months of spring, 1 month of summer, and 2 months of fall...which leaves us 7 months of winter! ;)

Anyway, we have all been feeling a bit of "Spring fever" lately and so the past few days of warmer weather have been just absolutely wonderful! Which must be where we got the idea to make a bunny out of candy dishes...

Yes, our lovely bunny is quite cute! Especially considering that it has delicious treats in it to eat during a movie night with our friends, the Guntzel girls. :)

~Eliza

Next Saturday

2010-02-27T19:11:00.005-06:00

Next Saturday is the big day. That is when I will take my state boards, the NCLEX-PN exam to get my LPN license! We have 6 hours to take it and can have anywhere from 85 questions to 205 questions, you keep going until the computer decides if you passed or not. I won't know the results for a while after the test but I will be sure to let you know. This past week and this coming week are filled with studying for what seems to be an overwhelming task. They could ask you ANYTHING that you have learned, or haven't learned because there is no possible way to know it all! I guess it pays to build up your critical thinking skills! Mom and I will go down to Fargo next Friday night and I take the test at 8:00 am. I could really use your prayers because I am pretty nervous! Thanks!

~Katelyn

Adventure

2010-02-16T16:46:00.013-06:00

You've gotta love it when something small becomes an adventure...

***

For instance...this afternoon, while my friend and I were videotaping a nursing skills test-out, the fire alarm went off!!! Students are told to NEVER stop the video tape during a test-out. So, of course, we took that very seriously...to the extent that we didn't dare turn it off even when there could be a fire---this goes to show how dedicated nurses are ;)---and we decided to keep going unless someone came to tell us to stop. Part of our reasoning behind this is that almost every time a fire alarm goes off, there isn't a fire...as was the case today. A few minutes later, it turned off and we continued our test-out in peace! ;)

Probably the funniest part of this little "adventure" was that the video was running the entire time that we stood there, stunned, wondering and discussing about what we should do! It should definitely make our teacher laugh when she watches it!

It sure made us laugh!!!

Isn't it great when things happen totally out of the blue and help to break up the day? ;)

(You all are probably thinking at this point that I am crazy to be thinking of this as an adventure...but when you spend hours studying, little things become much bigger!)

~Eliza

the Deepest love

2010-02-14T18:42:00.003-06:00

How deep the Father's love for us

how vast beyond all measure

That He would give His only Son

to make a wretch His treasure

(How Deep the Father's Love for Us by Stuart Townend)

There is no greater love than this. We can know where to look for the perfect example of love...in HIM!

~Eliza

So Cute!

2010-02-12T22:40:00.004-06:00

I just had to post this one...

(Katelyn and our cousin Aaron)

***

~Eliza

2010-02-10T18:36:00.004-06:00

(Well...sorry we are delayed in our posting about love. We thought it would be a good idea to get some ideas flowing for our lack of posts lately...but, you see, it just isn't working (along with the fact that we've been way too busy)!)

***

OK...so maybe this is stretching it a bit...

***

We LOVE to bake!!!

tonight our specialty is toffee-chocolate chip shortbread cookies for our Dad :)

...because we LOVE him!!

***

We hope to post a more relevant post someday before our deadline of Valentine's day. We plan to post about how the Lord teaches us to live each day showing love towards others.

Wow, this isn't as easy as we thought...so much for a theme! ;)

~Katelyn and Eliza

February

2010-02-08T09:34:00.002-06:00

This week, we've decided to post with a theme. Since Valentine's day is coming up on Sunday, we thought it would be fun to post throughout this week in the theme of love.

Stay tuned... ;)

Whirlwind of a Week

2010-01-31T16:20:00.011-06:00

Goodness gracious...this was a crazy busy week!

All the first tests of the semester seem to always fall together on the same week---and this often happens throughout the semester too. :) So, I had test after test with a few "nursing skills" test-outs thrown in there (where you perform a nursing skill in front of your instructor), and a lot of homework due. To top it off, we had our first day of clinicals working as student nurses with patients on Friday. It was a week of little sleep and lots of stress at our house! ;)

Yesterday, we went on a planned last-minute trip---you know...the kind that you know you are going to take but aren't sure when you'll actually be able to do it. We went to the cities to visit a really close family friend in the hospital who was diagnosed with a brain tumor a few weeks ago. (Thanks to all of you who have been praying...he is doing better and was able to talk to us for a while yesterday.) Psalm 105:4 has had even more meaning to me this week as I've relied on His strength and not my own! I've been learning so much more about that and dying to self and living for HIM!

We stayed at our aunt and uncle's house last night and were able to have our very belated Christmas together this morning before heading back home.

Now...I'm back at home with a list of things to do and not much time to do them...can anyone relate? ;)

~Eliza

A good laugh!

2010-01-25T19:53:00.005-06:00

I found this funny story today and just had to share it! Enjoy!

The Middle Wife by an Anonymous 2nd grade teacher

I've been teaching now for about fifteen years. I have two kids myself, but the best birth story I know is the one I saw in my own second grade classroom a few years back. When I was a kid, I loved show-and-tell. So I always have a few sessions with my students. It helps them get over shyness and usually, show-and-tell is pretty tame. Kids bring in pet turtles, model airplanes, pictures of fish they catch, stuff like that. And I never, ever place any boundaries or limitations on them. If they want to lug it in to school and talk about it, they're welcome.

Well, one day this little girl, Erica, a very bright, very outgoing kid, takes her turn and waddles up to the front of the class with a pillow stuffed under her sweater. She holds up a snapshot of an infant. 'This is Luke, my baby brother, and I'm going to tell you about his birthday.' 'First, Mom and Dad made him as a symbol of their love, and then Dad put a seed in my Mom's stomach, and Luke grew in there. He ate for nine months through an umbrella cord.'

She's standing there with her hands on the pillow, and I'm trying not to laugh and wishing I had my camcorder with me. The kids are watching her in amazement. 'Then, about two Saturdays ago, my Mom starts saying and going, 'Oh, Oh, Oh, Oh!' Erica puts a hand behind her back and groans. 'She walked around the house for, like an hour, 'Oh, oh, oh!' (Now this kid is doing a hysterical duck walk and groaning.) 'My Dad called the middle wife. She delivers babies, but she doesn't have a sign on the car like the Domino's man.

They got my Mom to lie down in bed like this.' (Then Erica lies down with her back against the wall.) 'And then, pop! My Mom had this bag of water she kept in there in case he got thirsty, and it just blew up and spilled all over the bed, like psshhheew!' (This kid has her legs spread with her little hands miming water flowing away. It was too much!)

'Then the middle wife starts saying 'push, push,' and 'breathe, breathe. They started counting, but never even got past ten.. Then, all of a sudden, out comes my brother. He was covered in yucky stuff that they all said it was from Mom's play-center, (placenta) so there must be a lot of toys inside there. When he got out, the middle wife spanked him for crawling up in there.'

Then Erica stood up, took a big theatrical bow and returned to her seat. I'm sure I applauded the loudest... Ever since then, when it's show-and-tell day, I bring my camcorder, just in case another 'Middle Wife' comes along.

~Katelyn

Squeaky Clean!

2010-01-21T21:24:00.000-06:00

One of the last few days of our break from school was spent making soap!

It was really fascinating to learn the entire soap-making process and we had so much fun doing it together with friends! Alisa and Sarah were the experts, who had made batch after batch in time for Christmas gifts of all sorts of amazing scents---Chocolate Espresso, Cranberry Fig, Orange and Lavender...

We went over there to help "package" the soaps by tying bows and putting on labels so they would be ready for gifts. After Christmas, we were invited over to learn how to make soaps and to mix up some other fun spa products---which we had done together in the past.

The finished products: Soaps, Tropical Eye Cream, and Greek Cold Cream

~ White Willow and Green Tea Soaps~

~Energy Soap (a mixture of citrus with extra grapefruit oils)~ (the colors of these soaps were intended to be stripes of bright yellow orange and pink, but it turned out to be more of the "earth-tone" colors---if that makes any sense ;)---the stripes worked great, though!) Here are a few more pictures of the process... The ingredients had to be measured to exact weights on a scale...and NO mistakes could be made because the ingredients were mixed!!! We sure shared a lot of laughter with all our nerves in doing that! :) When working with the lye we had to wear goggles...so I just had to post a picture of us wearing such "sporty" eye wear! ;) The soap was poured into molds and then sat for 24 hours.... and the next afternoon we were back to cut the soaps.

(sweet baby Zoe was enjoying her new Christmas gift her daddy made for her)

She also loved smelling the soaps...so CUTE! :)

It was so great to get together with our friends again and to work on a super fun project together!

~Eliza

Joy

2010-01-15T14:16:00.003-06:00

Jesus first

Others next

You last!

The Chocolate Cake

2010-01-14T16:33:00.002-06:00

I forgot to post the picture of the chocolate cake that we made with Harvey.

I talked about it but didn't remember to post it!

~Katelyn

Bathroom Makeover

2010-01-13T09:33:00.002-06:00

During our Christmas break, I decided to repaint our garage bathroom. Mom had painted it back when sponge painting was the "in" style. It was very pretty for a while, but we wanted a change from the Easter colors. I tried the green color from our front entry, but it was incredibly bright in such a little room! So Mom and I painted a cream color over it. I turned out to be like a light gold. Not bad for using leftover paints!

Before

After ~Katelyn

Making Pizza with Harvey

2010-01-12T12:06:00.000-06:00

During our years of Freedom's Call, we had the privilege of going out to Harvey's Farm for a Sunday morning Church service. It was always a highlight of the summer. Click here to see pictures of our day at Harvey's this past summer. Harvey said he wanted to come over and bless us by teaching us how to make his famous pizza and chocolate cake, and he sure did!

Harvey mixing up the huge batch of dough.

Below is the dough before we let it rise,

we had enough to make 7 big pizzas and a batch of rolls!

Harvey even had his own recipe for pizza sauce.

Harvey made sure we got it all written down right!!

We also were able to make his famous chocolate cake with chocolate marshmallow frosting!

It was a great day! You really did bless us Harvey!

~Katelyn

Psalm 105:1-4

2010-01-06T17:03:00.010-06:00

(photography by Melanie)

"Give thanks to the LORD, call

on his name;

make known among the

nations what he has

done.

Sing to him, sing praise to

him;

tell of all his wonderful acts.

Glory in his holy name;

let the hearts of those who

seek the LORD rejoice.

Look to the LORD and his

strength;

seek his face always."

~Psalm 105: 1-4~

2010 arrived...

2010-01-03T13:21:00.010-06:00

...with fabulous friends, tasty treats, and a great time to be had by all!

We enjoyed a little New Year's Eve party with some of our friends, watching a movie and eating lots of food!

We had such a fun time together!!!

Our table laden with goodies...

...a cheese ball...

...truffles and caramels...

...and lots of other treats and snacks like little glasses of egg nog, crackers, biscotti...

Our 8 o'clock toast with sparkling grape juice celebrating the new year! ;)

We took breaks for food and celebrating throughout our 4 hour long movie: North & South (which--by the way--is a great movie!). In the end, we ended up staying up past midnight watching the movie right through the start of the new year! But, then again, we had already celebrated at 8 and the movie was just too good to stop! :)

Happy New Year!

Chocolate Biscotti

2009-12-31T11:55:00.006-06:00

Yesterday--after exercise and a quick lunch of leftovers ;)--Amy and I sat down to chat and have coffee together. Well...that is if you count hot chocolate with a little coffee and cream poured in it to be a Mocha like we do!! Oh, and don't forget the marshmallows! :)

Along with our "coffee" we enjoyed some Chocolate Cranberry Biscotti. My grandma had sent me the recipe to try and I really liked it so I thought I'd share it:

Yummy!

~Eliza

Over the river and through the woods...

2009-12-28T18:13:00.007-06:00

...to Grandmother's house we go!!!

We decided to brave the icy roads and head out to our Grandparents' house on Saturday. We found out just how icy the roads truly were when we saw a car ahead of us spin on the ice and slide into the ditch!!! Yikes! Dad drove slowly and very carefully and we made it safe and sound! When we got there, Grandma and Grandpa kept saying how happy they were that we were able to come and that they'd felt so lonely on Christmas. It was great to be able to spend a little Christmas with them...we loved it!

Since only about half of the crew was able to make it to Christmas (my aunt, uncle, and cousins, and other uncle all lived too far away to be able to drive in the bad weather), we certainly had plenty of food to eat for Christmas dinner!

Grandma made a delicious meal for us of Swedish Meatballs, scalloped potatoes, corn, peas, squash, cranberry sauce, lefse, flatbread, and sparkling juice!

Here is Grandma's beautifully decorated table, ready for the meal!

---You've probably noticed by now that we have a few Scandinavian traditions :)---

After dinner, we opened our presents...

...and then went back to the table for dessert: Grandma's traditional "Grasshopper Pie"

Yummy!!!

(One year, when I was little, Dad told me that there were real grasshoppers in it!!! I don't think I ate quite as much of it that year! ;)

The pie also served as a birthday cake for Dad who turned 50!!!

Later that evening, we sat around the living room and listened to stories from Grandma and Grandpa about their Christmas memories from when they were little. It was so much fun! I just loved being able to catch a glimpse of what their lives were like and learning a little more family history!

With the help of the weather we were able to convince Mom and Dad to spend the night ;) (it actually didn't take much convincing this time) and we headed home after church and a scrumptious Sunday brunch the next morning.

THE END

(I just had to add that, because it sounded like I was telling a story ;)

~Eliza

Christmas Canceled?!?!?

2009-12-26T10:56:00.005-06:00

Well...all that beautiful snow ended up canceling our Christmas! :(

We postponed Christmas Eve to Christmas Day when we first started planning our Christmas with family. Then, when all the winter storm warnings came about and both of us got really sick on Christmas Eve we decided to postpone it again to Saturday (today). Now, there is so much snow and ice and the roads are so bad that our family isn't able to come at all!

So, we thought we'd post our table that Katelyn decorated for our Christmas Eve dinner so that our relatives could see it anyway ;)

(We added santa hats to keep everyone warm ;)

(Note to cousin Anna: We MISS you!!! Wish you were here! Love ya! :)

~Katelyn and Eliza

Winter Wonderland

2009-12-26T10:23:00.004-06:00

Here is what I found when I looked out the window this morning...

Tons of Beautiful SNOW!!!

~Eliza

Merry Christmas!

2009-12-24T14:43:00.001-06:00

Christmas Goodies

2009-12-24T14:15:00.006-06:00

We continued our tradition---which we started last year :)---of an afternoon set aside for making Christmas goodies with our friend Denise.

We made...

...and gingerbread men with the boys (who we've babysat for years) after we picked them up from school. Oh, and I can't forget our disaster of saltwater taffy!!! We didn't boil it long enough and so it never did turn out quite right. It ended up covering our hands to the point where you could see no skin (when we made an attempt at pulling the taffy) and then we had to scrape it off with butter knives! Yep...it was a disaster...but it sure was a fun disaster ;) and we will definitely have memories to laugh about!

~Eliza