Bright Stars for Dena

Bright Stars for Dena, originally uploaded by RabidChipmunks.

Look at what Brittany made for me. Can't wait for my Star Quilt to come home.

Thanks Brittany. SO WORTH THE WAIT!!!!!!

It's been 10 Years

I went to my first cycling class in ten years. I used to love to work out like this and would take my 4 and 2 yr old little girls to the daycare at the gym and sweat my butt off. A friend and co-worker invited me to a class this weekend. Mind you, she is a cute thing in her 20's, but I excepted with the promise she not laugh when I threw up or fell off the bike. Thankfully, neither of those things happened and I re-discovered a past love. Good news- I could walk the next day. Looking forward to my next class. Lesson- you don't know unless you try. You might be surprised.

pumpkin coffee cake

Ingredients:

• ⅓ cups Water
• 1 can Pureed Pumpkin (15 Oz)
• 2 whole Eggs
• 1 Tablespoon Vanilla Extract
• 2 teaspoons Pumpkin Pie Spice
• 1 box Yellow Cake Mix (18 Ounce Box)
• 1 teaspoon Baking Soda
• 1 cup Brown Sugar, Divided
• ½ cups Flour
• 4 Tablespoons Butter, Melted
• ¼ cups Granulated Sugar
• 1 teaspoon Vanilla Extract
• ¼ cups Heavy Whipping Cream

Instructions:

Preheat the oven to 350F.

In a large bowl mix together the water, pumpkin, eggs, 1 Tablespoon of vanilla, and pumpkin pie spice until well combined. Add the cake mix and baking soda and mix until just combined.

Grease a 9×13 pan with butter and pour batter into pan.

In a small bowl mix together 1/2 cup of brown sugar, 1/2 cup flour and melted butter. Use your fingers to sprinkle over the top of the cake. Bake at 350 for 25-30 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted comes out clean.

For the glaze, combine the other 1/2 cup brown sugar, granulated sugar, 1 teaspoon vanilla, and heavy cream in a saucepan and bring to a simmer. Remove from heat and stir until all sugar is dissolved.

When cake is finished baking, poke holes in the top with a toothpick. Pour glaze over the cake, making sure to cover all surfaces. Serve cake warm or at room temperature.

 

One of the many wonderful things we are doing this weekend:)

Happy Anniversary Baby

18 years wed        20 years together        best friends still
                                     Priceless

Homecoming 2012

 When did this happen?! I still see that little 2 year old dancing at family Thanksgiving shaking her boncas. Thank you Lord for protecting our girl on this night and her having fun and being safe. And thank you for hair color to cover my gray.

 It was a group affair of 13 boys and 9 girls. They met for pictures, then dinner at Scarpas and then dance at the covention center.

Love you Avery Rose and proud of the young woman you are becoming.

One Week Ago

 I was in California seeing my mom and dad

 And my sisters.....

 My sisters and I met up with our cousin and took BART into S.F. to register for the Nike Women's Marathon Benefitting Leukemia. We signed up for this shortly after we learned that was what Dad was diagnosed with.

 We got up at 4am and drove in from Pleasanton, had a nice breakfast of oatmeal at Denny's and then lined up in the dark with about 24,996 other people

 FIT comes in all shapes and sizes. I learned a lot this day. So many reasons to be thankful and always be true to yourself.

 It's all about the outfits! We saw all kinds including fairies and pigs

And after making our way through the 13.1 miles we put on our "Finisher" T shirts and had a yummy lunch. I won't lie- we took showers and laid in bed the rest of the day. Tee hee. I never thought this was something I would do but I'm glad I did it. I can see why people get into marathons and my goal now is to finish the 83 miles I have left to complete 400 miles in 2012.
 As Nike says  "JUST DO IT"
Dad is doing good and God is with him. Love my family so much and it was so good to be with them.

Krista's Quilt

 This was the last round of Free Form Group with Across the Pond and Around the Bend. Krista's quilt had to live with me for a while before I could wrap my mind around it and last week it was talking to me up a storm. I did the bottom two rows with embroidered undies and more black and white squares. I enjoyed this group and format so much I signed up for a second round.

For the next round my theme is going to be scrappy squares. This is my starting block.

A Family Drive

 We took a drive yesterday to the Jemez Mountains.

 I made an appointment with my family a few weeks in advance

 For us all to be together and explore our state- Battleship Rock

 I thought we might get out of the car and hike some but that wasn't to be. All of these pictures are taken from the car- not even stopping. I did a pretty good job huh?

 We got to see some fall colors from the poplar and cottonwood trees

 Lots of signs of elk crossing but no elk- it is hunting season

 We did get to see the damage to the Bandelier forest from last years fire.  Though not in the picture above.

 Learned that it was home to a major volcano and this rock is what the indians dug their caves into. There are lots of hiking trails and ruins to explore and I hope we can do that one day.

I enjoyed our drive very much and hope to schedule another one next month.