Speaking of Yellow Hodgepodge

My sisters in a field of daffodils in Mount Vernon, Washington State. We enjoyed a sister weekend back in March of 2016. I think it’s high time we had another sister weekend!!

It’s Wednesday and that means it’s time for Wednesday Hodgepodge! Thank you Jo for the questions and the link-up!

1. It’s National Popcorn Day-my favorite! Are you a fan?

Yes

Sweet or salty?

Both. Give me some good Garrett Chicago Blend, cheddar and caramel!

A good or great movie you’ve seen recently (at home or in a theater, either one)?

We haven’t watched many movies recently. I can’t remember the last time I was in a theater. We did watch ‘The Blind Side’ recently and it was good.

Some ‘great’ movies we’ve watched in the past: Fiddler on the Roof, Sound of Music, Lord of the Rings.

2. What’s something you didn’t realize was going to take so much of your time as an adult?

Preparing all the things for the Tax man! We are now at a stage of life that this is not daunting anymore.

3. Your favorite yellow something?

Daffodils, the flower that makes me smile because it heralds Spring!

4. Why do you write?

I write to bring clarity to my jumbled thoughts. Things become clearer to me as I write. My thoughts can be so unorganized but when I write them out they make better sense. Writing out prayers is a good exercise for me.

5. Share a favorite memory associated with snow.

Christmas 2020 we had snow that was just right for building a snowman. Our whole family enjoyed creating Ami the Amish Snowman!

6. Insert your own random thought here.

Happy Birthday to our firstborn son! He is God’s unique creation. He’s a great son, husband, brother, uncle, friend and boss. A great encourager who is giving, kind, dependable and hardworking. We are so thankful to God that He gave you to us and that He saved you and continues to lead and guide you. We love you Joshie!

Baking and Snowmageddon!

For Katie’s birthday Addy and JJ helped me mix up the cake.

Thank you to Laura for capturing the moments.

Macarons ~ a small round cake with a meringue-like consistency, made with egg whites, sugar, and powdered almonds and consisting of two halves sandwiching a creamy filling.

Our son Dan surprised us all with his perfected Macarons for us to try. They were amazing!

We had our first snowstorm of 2022 starting late Sunday night into Monday the 3rd of January. It snowed all day on Monday. We shoveled off the deck but kept a section to measure our snow falls. Our neighbor plowed our front drive up to our garage on Monday and for that we are grateful. Here are photos of our snow piles!

The photo above is just for perspective. It was taken on Christmas. Notice how far up off the snow laden deck Joseph, Mary and the Baby Jesus are.

Here was the snowfall from early Monday morning with Mary just barely visible.

After we shoveled off the deck.

We have an accumulation of about 20 inches out in our yard right now. This is the most snow we’ve had accumulate since we moved here in 2018. Other years the snow melted off in between storms. This year is different with temps low enough that the snow has not melted off. We have more snow coming.

Snow hats all around!

Hope 2022 is starting off well for you!

Celebrating Katie

Everyone gathered at our country bungalow for Katie’s birthday on the 27th of December. Be forewarned that this post has an overload of photos.

We started the day with Dear’s traditional Swedish pancakes that shifted from Christmas morning to Katie’s birthday morning. Dear is the partial Swede who cooks the pancakes perfectly and the accompaniments are always the same. Besides the pancakes you’ll find little smokies (all beef), sour cream, real maple syrup, fake maple syrup, boysenberry syrup, and non dairy yogurt and coffee.

Addy and JJ found the leftover ‘Christmas Crackers’ to pop!

Auntie LoLo and the littles ready to layer up and go outside and enjoy some snow.

We put on all our layers and headed outside for a little snow time. It didn’t last too long because we were in the single digits and teens for temps. That didn’t stop some of us from making snow angels!

It’s fun having a winter wonderland out your back door.

JJ needed help navigating the deep snow.

Dan worked on blazing a trail.

This snow was not compatible to sticking together to create a snowman.

Time to go back inside for a warm-up and some lunch. Errands, a nap for JJ and it was time for dinner and birthday cake!

We had Raclette for Katie’s birthday dinner. Everyone enjoyed cooking their meat and veggies and melting their butter and cheese.

Time for the family favorite Applesauce Spice Cake and some Creme Brulee.

“Happy birthday dear Katie, Happy birthday to you!

It was a Happy Birthday we all enjoyed.

Katie and Andrew hit the road for home early on Tuesday and we were grateful to get the texts along the way letting us know about their journey and the text that said they were ‘Home Sweet Home’.

Butter-Pecan Pumpkin Bars

These Butter-Pecan Pumpkin Squares would be a nice alternative to Pumpkin Pie. They have a good base and the filling stays moist and is very similar to pumpkin pie filling.

Base Ingredients:

1/2 cup sugar
1-1/2 cups flour
1/2 cup butter, softened

Filling Ingredients:

1 – 15oz. can of pure pumpkin (2 cups pumpkin if you make your own)
1/4 cup milk
2 eggs, beaten
3/4 cup sugar
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg
1/2 teaspoon salt

Topping Ingredients:

1/2 cup brown sugar
2 tablespoons butter, softened
1/2 cup chopped pecans

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

1. To prepare base: Combine sugar, flour and butter in a bowl with pastry cutter until crumbly. Press into 12 x 8 x 2 inch greased baking dish. Bake in preheated oven for 8 to 10 minutes until slightly browned and puffed. Set aside to cool.
2. To prepare filling: Combine pumpkin, milk, eggs, sugar, cinnamon, nutmeg, and salt with electric mixer until smooth. Pour over baked crust. Bake in preheated oven for 30 to 40 minutes or until slightly firm.
3. To prepare topping: Combine brown sugar and butter in small bowl with pastry blender until crumbly. Add nuts and stir to mix. Sprinkle over pumpkin filling and return to oven for about 10 more minutes until mixture is bubbly and browned.
4. Cool thoroughly before cutting into squares.
Yield: Approximately 36 squares, 2 by 2 inches.

I know, I know, you are all full with all the Christmas delights you had this past week. I found this recipe in my draft and wanted to post it so it would be handy for me to make for a little open house we are having on Sunday the 2nd of January. Today I’m busy preparing Katie’s birthday dinner and dessert treats. These pumpkin bars aren’t on the list for today. Hope all is well in your corner.

This is from Katie’s party in 2020. This cake will be prepared again today because it is her favorite. Happy Birthday to our dear daughter.

Happy Birthday Dear!

Happy Birthday to Dear who is still younger than me. This photo is from 38 years ago for his birthday in our 2nd home in Huntington Beach, California.

Another blast from the past for a birthday celebration in Southern California about 12 years ago.

Birthday brunch with our ‘coast’ kids in 2017

A little celebration last year at El Ranchito where every visit there is like a birthday.

I’m so thankful to God for the man I married.

He is smart, reliable, thorough, faithful, a hard worker, a good cook, a good teacher, a good dad, a willing servant and easy to live with.

Praying that God continues to grow your faith and your love for our Triune God.

Happy Birthday Dear, I love you.

P.S. And what is he doing on his birthday? He’s painting our Master Bedroom.

This and That

It was a beautiful day on Friday and we did some mowing since the ground was still somewhat wet from rain we had into Thursday that means not as much dust kicked up. After mowing the front we worked on the back and we moved on to weeding and clearing some areas of rock. We didn’t hear the commotion on the road.

We had several law enforcement agencies show up after a car ended up in a ditch on our road.

I brought in the first of the peonies that are blooming. We have a total of 5 bushes of this deep blush variety.

The Columbines are opening up. We have at least three different color varieties.

The Hostas are filling out nicely.

Thankfully these visitors don’t like to eat Columbine.

We enjoyed leftovers for our main meals on Friday and Saturday and then cooked up these shrimp for something different. Delicious with sweet chili sauce.

Sunday was our oldest sister’s 75th birthday so us sisters sent her a bouquet of flowers delivered on Saturday.

We were so pleased that the bouquet was as advertised and shown on the website. Our sister was celebrated well and it was fun to see all the special things she was treated with.

This is a busy week coming up for us here in Colville. Hope you all had a good weekend and your new week goes well.

The Presents and Cake

This is a long post as I included all the rest of the fun we had at JJ’s fishing birthday party and the 2nd party on that day for his Uncle Andrew. The venues changed but the fun continued.

When it was time for present opening our little fisherman was getting very tired from all the excitement and he quickly had a melt down but then daddy stepped in and held him and helped him through.

He was pretty disappointed with that underwear but don’t worry Baba and Gramps bought you a bicycle, too.

The fish cake that JJ’s mommy made for him was really cool. The sand is graham cracker crumbs.

Happy 2nd birthday to our precious grandson. He is full of life. He has a few clear words but regardless has many a tale to tell and we are excited for the day the words become clear and we understand the whole story. He loves to do whatever big sister is doing. He enjoys food and is verbal while eating letting everyone know his enjoyment. He loves sticks and rocks and yard equipment.

After cake and before his nap there was time to play with some of the new toys he got for his birthday.

After naps the party venue moved to our country bungalow for a belated Steak birthday dinner for Uncle Andrew who was another year older the week before.

We had birthday pie!

The other birthday boy got to try some Root Beer!

What a fun full day we all had.

The Fishing Crew

These are the people who made up the fishing crew for JJ’s birthday party back on April 17th.

I’ve got a couple more posts to complete our Jaymison’s birthday party fun for the history books.

This week we mowed the lawn for the first time since the beginning of Fall and we have been clearing out some stuff out of the garage and visiting Habitat for Humanity with donations. Hard to believe today is the last day of April. What will May bring? Time will tell.

Casting Techniques

Continuing with JJ’s Fishing party and the fun we had watching JJ and Addy casting their fishing line to catch some treats.

Enjoying his ‘catch’.

This girl has form!

There was some fishing out of doors, too.

Fishing was fun and we still have more to share from this special day.

This week we have a forecast of temps that rise each day reaching a forecast of 77 degrees this Thursday! What’s happening in your corner of the world?