Tahlequah

For the third year in a row, two neighbor families go to Tahlequah, Oklahoma for a week of cabin "camping." This year, we brought down our tent and joined them for a day. We headed down on Sunday and back last night. (We got in late - about 1 am). The main event was a (lazy river) rafting trip down the Illinois river.

Wayne spent a lot more time out of the raft than in it. He had a great time!

We picked up a puppy en route. Apparently, he had ridden in about 5-6 other group's rafts throughout the day before ours. Later, someone at the campsite volunteered to take care of him. Though, I witnessed lots of delicious treats being given by different campers. I think he may have hit a gold mine!

We're home, now getting ready for a trip to Delaware on Thursday!

Matt and Becca

Last night, I went to a lovely wedding. Matt and Becca go to our church, and I work with Becca's mother, Carol.

Here are Matt and Becca, as bobbleheads.

Carol is a wonderful mother and grandmother. She taught me how to knit and crochet. She is kind, grounded, and strong. As with Carol, I have grown to feel like my Greiffenstein support staff is a second family. Here are some of us:

(From the left) Barb (our hilarious secretary), Carol, Jessie (former Greiffensteiner) and Stephanie (fellow therapist).

The wedding cake


And, the groom's cake.
Those "glass" bottles are edible. It was quite impressive!

Peaches and Cream Cake

I feel like I've only been posting recipes lately, but bear with me. I tried a new recipe this week for a carry-in at work. I don't normally go for recipes using a lot of prepackaged foods. But, alas, I think this is a keeper. It seems just right to serve in the summer with the yummy peaches. And, you know, it does have cream cheese in it. For me sometimes that's all it takes. :)

Peaches and Cream Cake
By Carol Peters from the cookbook, Edible.

1 box yellow cake mix
4 eggs
1 cup water
1 (3.4 oz) box instant vanilla pudding
1 cup oil

Combine the above ingredients. Pour into a greased and floured 9"x13" pan.

1 (29 oz) can sliced peaches
1 (8 oz) pkg. cream cheese, softened
1/2 cup sugar
whipped topping

Drain peaches, reserving the liquid. Arrange sliced peaches over cake batter. Combine cream cheese, sugar and 4-6 tablespoons peach liquid, beating until smooth. Pour over cake mixture. Bake at 350 degrees for 40-50 minutes. Top each serving with a dollop of whipped topping.

Chocolate Chip Cookies

Growing up, every Monday, my chores included baking cookies, and sweeping and mopping the kitchen floor. I'm not sure why I remember that. But it was my favorite chore day of the week. I love cookies. Chocolate chip cookies are my father's favorite and we always made the Toll house cookie recipe.

When I was in college, a friend gave me a recipe she had gotten from Sarah for chocolate chip cookies. This recipe has replaced the Toll house recipe as my favorite. I substitute margarine instead of butter due to the advice of my friend, Lisa. I think they turn out chewier and a little less flat, which I prefer. Back in college, when I wrote down the recipe, I didn't include any baking instructions, so I just followed standard cookie baking instructions.

Chocolate Chip Cookies

Preheat oven to 375 degrees.

Cream together:
1 cup margarine (2 sticks)
1 cup granulated sugar
1 cup brown sugar

Add and beat well:
2 eggs
2 tablespoons hot water
2 teaspoons vanilla

Add:
3 cups flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon salt

Add:
1 package chocolate chips (I prefer Nestle semi-sweet morsels)

Scoop by tablespoons (I use a size 60 scoop) onto ungreased cookie sheets. Bake 10 minutes. Let cool 2 minutes on the pan, then move to a baking rack to cool.

Pregnancy update

For the past few weeks, I've been feeling quite a bit better. Nausea and such have nearly disappeared and I don't have to have a nap after work these days. Although, they sure are nice. And I took one this afternoon. Ahhh... naps are just heavenly.

Anyway, the mysteries of this unborn child abound. There are the options of tests to be run, for someone as old as I am having a baby. Those kinds of mysteries are kind of disconcerting. Of course, whether Tyler will have a little brother or a little sister is one I think about more often. I don't really have any "intuition" telling me it's a boy or a girl. And I'm not really hoping for one or the other, because I can think of great reasons to have either one. Anyway, I'm curious about your opinion about what we're having. For fun, vote on the side for what you think we're going to have.

Limeade

We've been enjoying fresh squeezed limeades quite a bit this summer. Thanks to my friend, Michelle, who started us on making these.

Limeade

1 cup sugar
1 cup water
7 cups cold water
fresh limes

Heat 1 cup water and 1 cup sugar, until sugar is completely dissolved. (It usually has to just come to boiling). Add to 7 cups cold water. Chill. When ready to serve, add fresh lime juice to taste.

The juice of 1 lime with something like 1 1/2 cups of the sugar water (and a little ice) is just right for us. Enjoy!

Reunion

I'm very late in writing about it, but on the weekend of July 4, we had a Yoder family reunion in an itty bitty little country town, Partridge, Kansas. Wayne had the camera, and I didn't realize until now that he only got a series of Tyler and Brennan eating. I guess this is appropriate, because Tyler and Brennan spent the weekend playing together...and we all did a lot of eating good food together. They planned kids' games that were reminiscent of our childhood reunion games - water balloon toss and a treasure hunt. They had a corn hole tournament for the adults. And in the evenings each family shared. Of course, the time went too quickly. Even though I was tired out from the late evenings (ok, anything's late when you're used to going to bed at 9 or 9:30) and getting up early, but I was still not done with the weekend when it was all over.

I'm already looking forward to next summer, when I'm planning on another summer visit to Indiana.

Loading

The other day, I got home from work, and Tyler was giving me hugs and kisses. He just had his lips on mine, so I kissed him. He said "no, stay here until I finish the kiss."

So, we sat there for a few seconds and, with his lips still pressed against mine, I heard him say,


"loading...loading."

Apparently computer game lingo gets in a little boys brain. :)

Father's Day

Yesterday, we stopped at Kohl's. Wayne stayed in the car and Tyler came in with me. While we were there, I saw some neckties and decided it was time to update Wayne's selection (since his only ties are from high school and college...and are a bit outdated). We purchased two neckties and I told Tyler that they are for Wayne for Father's Day. I neglected to say that this was a secret.

We got into the car and Wayne asked what we got. I told him about the clothes I had gotten. Tyler piped up, "and we got you three bow ties." OK, so he wasn't really paying attention, but close enough I guess.

Wayne asked Tyler whether it was supposed to be a secret. I looked at Tyler and nodded, that yes, it was supposed to be a secret. Tyler looked uncomfortable. To Wayne, I said, "well, that's not quite right anyway." Like that's really tricky of me. Ha ha.

Tyler, in the meantime, sat quietly then piped up, "actually, we got you two plants for the garden." Then grabbed my face and whispered, "I'm tricking him."

I love that he tried to fix it and came up with his own creative explanation. As long as he learns only to tell little white lies when it is something like this. Never mind that we all know you can't buy plants at Kohl's. :)

Happy Father's Day, Wayne. And, to our fathers, Norm and Ted. We love you and appreciate you!

Kansas City

Last weekend, we went to Kansas City with Wayne's parents, Ted and Sue. We had a great time and packed in quite a few fun activities.

On Friday evening and Sunday afternoon, we took in KC Royals vs Cincinnati Reds baseball games. (And ate lots of ballgame food). Tyler whispered in my ear, asking which team we were cheering for. I explained which team we were going for, especially Grandpa. But, I explained he could cheer for the Royals since they are our Kansas team. He looked aghast and whispered that he would not cheer for the Royals! How dare I suggest such a thing? :) Sadly, the Reds lost both games. But, I must admit that it was neat to see the home team win. Tyler had a hard time sitting through the games, so a lot of time was spent walking and playing. I wonder how many more years it will be until he actually enjoys the game.

Saturday morning, we ventured to a local restaurant, Fritz's, where your food is delivered via a little train.

Tyler had been up late with us at the game/fireworks, so he was a little hard to get going in the morning. He was not quite ready to wear his engineer hat. Here I am, trying to make him jealous by wearing it myself. (It didn't work).

He did finally wear the hat, with his fake smile and glazed over eyes, obliging his father for the sake of the picture.

Tyler wanted to show Grandpa and Grandma T-Rex Cafe. He had a great time, and it was hard to convince him to leave.

Ted and Sue took Tyler to see Up. Wayne and I enjoyed the rare treat of seeing a movie together and saw The Taking of Pelham 123.

Sunday, we enjoyed a morning at the Kansas City Zoo. We loved the solitude and serenity. There were hills!! and lots of trees!! and water and birds singing and we just loved soaking in the feeling that we were far away from the city. It is huge, which is probably why we didn't see many people, and we didn't get to see nearly all of it. But, we'll just have an excuse to come back another time.

We all especially enjoyed the sea lion show.

Of course, there were yummy meals, swimming, some shopping, and relaxing thrown in too. We had a great time. Thanks, Ted and Sue!