Hannah's Cake

Hannah has been diligently working on yet another cake to enter in our local county fair.  The theme of this year's fair is "Fill Up On Fun."  So, she came up with the idea to have a bottle pouring things that you would associate with the fair into a cup, thus "filling up on fun."  A pretty ambitious idea and, as she discovered, difficult to execute when you are an amateur cake decorator.  However, she rose to the task and the end result turned out to be pretty great!

sketch of her idea

the beginning

hard at work

adding some final touches

the final product

proud Hannah

Summer BBQ

Last night we grilled out. It was one of those rare, perfect, Wyoming summer nights - great for grilling. The meal was divine! We grilled ribs & corn on the cob and I made a "Loaded Baked Potato Salad" {special thanks to my sis-in-law Sarah for this to-die-for recipe}.
What a fabulous night!

Loaded Baked Potato Salad

1 1/4 lbs. small unpeeled red potatoes, cubed
1/4 t salt
1/2 t pepper
2 hard cooked eggs
1/4 c cooked and crumbled bacon
1/2 c shredded cheddar
1/2 c chopped onion
1 dill pickle, chopped
1/3 c sour cream
1/4 c mayo
1 t mustard

Place potatoes in greased baking pan and sprinkle with salt and pepper. Bake at 425 for 40-45 min. In a large bowl, combine potatoes, eggs, bacon, cheese, onion, and pickles. In a small bowl, combine mayo, mustard and sour cream. Pour over potato mixture and toss to coat. Serve immediately.

Independence Day

We had a WONDERFUL 4th of July celebration
this year complete with family, fireworks and fun!


•yummy crepes•
{and very patriotic too}


•festive cupcakes•
{decorated by Sophie & Hannah}


•stars & stripes•


•sparklers•


•Hannah•


•poppers•


all of the noise made Harry nervous
and made him
S•M•I•L•E


•backyard badminton•


•Hannah & Aubrey•


•cute cousins•


•Bella & Toby•

•Poppy's cake•

{forever 29}

•JTS & I•

I'm Gonna Miss This

I'm staring at a mountain of laundry and a floor scattered with Legos. I'm looking at four girls' bedrooms in desperate need of an overhaul and a messy kitchen with its endless stack of dirty dishes because of the four little people that are now home with me all day. I'm listening to the endless sound of siblings arguing & laughing and every TV blaring, set to Nickelodeon and wondering if I'll survive the summer; always feeling two steps behind. And then, as if a sign, this song comes on the radio:

How apropos.

A Summer Meal

Here is a recipe perfect for those warm summer nights.
It can stand alone as a meal or you could
serve it with a meat or as an appetizer.

Italian Salad Pizza


Loaded with veggies, easy to make
and so yummy!

I paired the pizza with my favorite go to
grilled chicken seasoned with Adobo.
Easy and delicious everytime!

Italian Salad Pizza

{serves 6}

1-10 oz. prebaked pizza crust, such as Boboli
2 C shredded romaine lettuce
1 tomato, seeded and chopped
1 small red onion, thinly sliced
2 carrots, shredded
1 C peeled, seeded and chopped cucumber
5 pitted kalamata olives
2 T balsamic vinegar
1 1/2 T extra-virgin olive oil
1/2 t dried oregano
2 T grated Parmesan cheese

1. Place the pizza crust directly on an oven rack and turn the oven to 450 degrees. Bake 10 minutes.
2. Meanwhile, combine the lettuce, tomato, onion, carrots, cucumber, olives, vinegar, oil and oregano in a large bowl. Top the pizza crust evenly with the salad mixture, leaving 1/2-inch border. Sprinkle with the Parmesan and cut into wedges and serve.

Summer lilacs

We went over to my inlaws for dinner tonight.

This is what their lilac bush looked like
in their backyard:


AMAZING!
{and it smells divine}

and now we have these beauties
on our kitchen table!

SuMMeR

Summer has FINALLY arrived in Wyoming {and I do mean finally, and should possibly be saying barely, as our temps are about to take another nosedive}!

We have a FABULOUS vacay planned!

7-day Alaskan cruise

where we hope we get to see some:

other things on tap for our summer:


{family BBQ's}

{our lamb & cake decorating projects}



{Sophie was accepted into a D.A.R.E. summer camp}




{because we can't ever seem to stay away for very long}

{hopefully we'll get in some family camping}

What are your summer plans?