Lazy Summer Days…

are the very best kind of days!

Beauty Tips by Dallin

Want luxurious shiny hair?  Dallin has the solution for you.  And I quote, “Mom, if you want to have shiny hair you should just rub your hair on the carpet.”

So the next time you see me laying on the floor rubbing my hair on the carpet you’ll know that it is because I am following the beauty advice of my son and not just a crazy person.

Creamy Chocolate Cheesecake

This cheesecake is not your normal thick New York Style cheesecake.  Instead it is wonderfully dreamy and creamy.  So delicious!

For the crust:
1 stick butter
2 rows of Oreo cookies from a standard package

To make crust:  In a food processor or blender, put in the cookies one row at a time and then pulse the machine until the cookies are tiny crumbs.  If the butter is not at room temperature, soften the butter a little bit in the microwave.  Mix butter and cookie crumbs together and then press into a 9 inch spring form pan.

For filling:

3 packages cream cheese, softened
3 eggs
1 stick butter, softened
3/4 cup sugar
1 tsp. vanilla
8 oz. of high quality dark chocolate

To make filling:  Melt chocolate on 1/2 power in microwave for 45 seconds at a time until melted.  Be SURE NOT to burn the chocolate.  It burns easily.  Set chocolate aside and allow it to cool a little.  While it is cooling, with a mixer, beat together the cream cheese, butter and sugar.  Continue beating and add in 1 egg at a time.  Beat until completely smooth.   Beat in vanilla.  Continue to mix and slowly pour in chocolate.  Continue mixing until the chocolate is completely mixed in. 

To Bake:  Pour filling into prepared Oreo crust.  Place spring form pan on a cookie sheet.   Bake cheesecake at 275 degrees for 25 minutes.

Allow to cool completely and then refrigerate.  Refrigerate at least 4 hours before serving.  Top with whipped cream if desired.

I’m telling you, you are going to love this creamy cheesecake.  It is amazing!

See some pictures of my first wedding shoot here and here.

A Month of Birthdays!

It seems that June is just our month for birthdays!  Last week we celebrated Deanna’s 19th birthday with her!  It was a fun party with a little pillow/floaty fighting,

wonderful presents (that couldn’t possibly be opened without the help of Layton and Mandy)

and some delicious (if I should say so myself) creamy chocolate cheesecake.

It was so yummy that Nathan couldn’t get enough of it – as evidenced by his teeth :)

I promise – I’ll post the recipe soon!

Happy Birthday Dallin

Seven years ago today at 1:30 in the afternoon, after 16 hours of labor, a little baby boy weighing 6 lbs 4 oz. was born into my world and changed it forever!  Boy am I happy about that change.  Except for one little thing.  My husband corrupted his mind and turned him into a Gator fan.  Imagine my horror when he told me he wanted to have a Gator football birthday party.  I almost died making his birthday invitation.

And I think making the cake took years off my life. 

It just goes to show you how much I love this crazy kid!

He had an awesome birthday party last Saturday!

Lots of friends and lots of swimming!

And lots and lots of presents!

   

Thank you to everyone that came, for all the gifts, and for just being there for Dallin on his special day!  We love you all.

P.S.  Today also happens to be my best friends birthday.  Happy Birthday Kylia!  Dallin sure is lucky to share your birthday!

Two

That is the only explanation I have for it.  He’s two and he just does what two year olds do.  I turn my back for a moment and there no telling where I might find him.

 

He is so ridiculously cute though, it is almost impossible to get mad at him even though I had rearrange all the medicine in the medicine cabinet.  I openly admit that instead of putting him in time-out for climbing up there that I just laughed at him and gave him a kiss.  I know, I know, I’m likely creating a monster, but he sure is a cute monster!

Father’s Day

You know, I was just going to skip on posting anything about Father’s Day.  Because to be honest, I have been a little bitter about the whole father situation.  To start off, we buried my dad on a Wednesday and then just 4 days later I had to watch Nathan celebrate his dad being home.

It was a moment that was a lot  more bitter than sweet.  It just didn’t seem fair.  Not that I wasn’t very happy to have Nathan’s dad home, it is just that it was like a punch in the gut that I would not get to experience a time like that with my dad until after this life is over and done with. 

And then to add insult to injury I was expected to celebrate Father’s Day just  a few weeks later.   The week before Father’s Day we planted a couple of gardenia bushes given to us by Nathan’s mom and by our sweet home teacher and his wife to serve as symbolic reminders of my dad. 

 

That too made me a little sad that instead of getting to see my dad I was planting a bush to help me remember him.  Like I said, I’ve been a little bitter.  But surprisingly, yesterday was better than I expected.  Rather than being a normal church service, we had Stake Conference.  The focus of the conference was family.  As I arrived there yesterday morning, I almost began crying before the opening song was even sung.  And so I said a little prayer.  Just asking to help me get through the day.  But Heavenly Father did better than that.  He helped me not only get through the day but to find joy in it.  The speakers were uplifting and inspiring and filled my heart with hope of great things to come.  But most of all as I watched Nathan with Mandy and Dallin as they gave him their special Coupon Books they had made, I was filled with gratitude knowing what a wonderful father my children have been blessed with.  Then as we spent the evening with Nathan’s family, my heart was again filled with gratitude knowing what a wonderful father my husband has and how grateful I am that I can count him as my father too. 

 

I know I will likely still have lots of moments of sadness when thinking of my dad, but I am so grateful for the gospel and knowing that our family is a Forever Family.

He’s 27…

At least that is what he told me this morning.  Really he’s a little older than that.  We’ve decided that his new nick name is “old man”.   I keep telling him that his distinctive little patch of gray hair in the front just makes him look more handsome :)

Whatever his age though, he had a very happy birthday.  Anyone that knows him, knows that he is obsessed with the Braves.  And I do not use that term obsessed lightly.  I’m being serious.  He has wanted an authentic Brave’s jersey for quite a while, so we finally got him one for his birthday.  He was super happy.  He was also pretty happy about this cake.

I have to admit, I was pretty excited about it too.  The chocolate ganache icing was to die for.  I was very impressed with myself!

End of School Accolades

Who doesn’t love getting an award???

Way to go Dallin for doing so great in Math the last nine weeks of school!

No Fear

Layton seriously has no fear of water.  All of our kids love swimming, but he is CRAZY!

He lines up to jump…

He jumps in…

Goes all the way under…

And then pops back up with a smile…

And then jumps and jumps and jumps and jumps and jumps and jumps and jumps – well you get the picture!  It sure makes for one happy Layton!

You just never know…

what you might find in the wilds of suburban Florida.

We certainly never expected to find a blackberry patch not 10 feet from our backyard behind our neighbor’s fence.  They sure were yummy!!!  Who knew that a subdivision was the perfect place to grow blackberries :)

Wakulla Springs

Have I ever mentioned how much I LOVE living in Florida?  There are so many beautiful places to see and things to do.  I am sure that could very likely be said of many many many places all over the US and the world.  I’m just a bit biased to Florida because Florida = Home.

One place that I have always loved is Wakulla Springs.  Talk about an interesting beautiful place with an interesting history.  The amount of wildlife that is easily visible in it’s natural habitat is always amazing to me.

And who doesn’t love a good dip in some freezing cold water!  Not me.  I only got my feet wet.  But the kids – well – even though they were a bit shocked by the cold they still loved it.

Thanks Meme for a beautiful day and a yummy lunch!  It was a great day, even if Layton did pee all over me!