All Things Food

You may (or may not) be wondering what we did for Dave's birthday --- We both had Monday evening activities, so we had dessert when we got home and celebrated with some of his friends by going boating & grilling out on Tuesday evening. I gave Dave roller-blades for his birthday - something he has never done, and he wasn't too sure if it was "cool" for a guy to go roller-blading, but I assured him that it is.... Plus, Snickers loves to go - and it will be nice to have him along. (Hopefully we do not have any injuries in the learning process, we'll let you know!) This was his birthday breakfast treat, French Breakfast Puffs (aka Sugar Muffins):

So, back to the food discussion.... The pressure was on as I made another attempt at the Baked Alaska, this time for a birthday dessert... (last attempt was Feb for Valentine's day) Please see the link above for previous pictures. You will all be impressed that I achieved the desired dessert this time!! I know Dave was quite proud of me:

The inside ice cream/brownie... Mmmmmm :

And Finally - we attend a Tapas Party this weekend - Tapas are like Spanish Appetizers. So, I made a dip with homeade pita chips...that's right, I cut them up - seasoned them - and toasted them... they were deeeeeeelicious:

JSUK - we have a new family member!

Just So You Know - We are a new Aunt & Uncle today!! Joey & Maritza (my brother and his wife) had a baby girl at 4:15am (on their anniversary, nonetheless), California time.... Cecilia JoHanna, 7lbs 1 oz, 20 inches long. Here she is:

JSUK - It's Dave's Birthday Today!!!

Happy Birthday to my Handsome Husband!! :) He turns 31 today - wow! I remember when 30 was old...we, of course, don't feel that way any longer.

One of the lines from the song we danced to at our wedding, "Better Than I Was, More Than I am." Which is what we feel like we are together, in our marriage - with Christ at the center of it every day. I'm so blessed to have him in my life, and we try to remember to not take any of our days for granted.

Favorite Photo Friday

Snicker-doodle
Dec. 2006
I love this picture when he still had his "puppy hair" that stuck up in every direction. He doesn't have any puppy hair anymore ---- but he is much better behaved now, than he was back then.

A Harvest Moon for your Birthday

Happy Birthday Dad (Dave's dad)! We admire you for all of your wisdom - and the great example that you are to us. I can tell you, without a doubt, that there is absolutely nothing David would rather be doing this week (if he could have) than harvesting with you in Kansas. We were just admiring the Harvest Moon as we drove home from our softball game this evening. It was beautiful.

I'm not sure how old David is in this picture, but he sure is adorable!! He seems very interested in the book....

It's Raining...It's Pouring ---

Something fun to do on a rainy afternoon - see how you might have looked through the years in different styles of clothes - but mostly ----just different styles of hair!!! Yearbookyourself.com (There are more of Dave, I was having so much more fun with those..although, I'm digging some of my 'do's)

Favorite Photo Friday

"Fast Jimmy" - aka James, aka JJ, aka my nephew

Summer 2007

In Honor of Sept. 11th, Patriots Day - how about this little Patriot? They don't get any cuter! This is right about the time he was reciting something really important that he learned at school:

This is my right hand, I hold it up high,

This is my left hand, I reach for the sky;

Right hand, Left Hand - Pound, Pound, Pound

Are you looking at the flag? Yes, I am!

Are you standing tall and proud? Yes, I am!

I pledge allegiance to the flag of the Unites State of America, and to the Republic, for which it stands, One Nation, Under God, Indivisible with Liberty, and Justice for ALL!

My nephew knows he is supposed to stand tall and proud for the USA.....every day - not just on 9/11 or 7/4.

2 Very Important Ladies in our Lives

We'd like to wish a Happy Birthday to Mom Harder & Ava Braithwaite (our niece)!! Mom had her birthday on Sept 5th, age unknown ;) , and Ava's was Sept. 7th, Age 3. I am just now getting around to scanning a couple of cute pictures!

This is Dave's mom holding him at about 2months old:

I am not saying this because I know they are reading my blog - I promise --- I had the privilege of gaining the best in-laws with the Harder's. I am so thankful for all of them, and for welcoming me into their family the way they have done over the past two years. Back to the birthday wishes - I know that Dave is the man he is because of all of the many valuable lessons that you taught him over the years. (He even hangs his clothes up when he gets home from work!)

Ava - our niece (Esther's little girl) turned 3...and while we do not get to see her as often as we wish - we enjoy the many stories we hear as she is growing up!! It sounds like she is a load of laughs!! Here is a picture of Dave holding her when she was pretty little:

JSUK Monday - Jonas Brothers

Just So You Know - - 21 is not too young to marry someone 31...according to a 6th grader.

My new friend, Jessica, and I began our first season as drama leaders for 6th, 7th, and 8th graders at our church this evening. It is called "Impact" and those kids that volunteer to be part of several ministries, will minister to other kids on Sunday mornings at the Youth Center.

So, when one little girl asked me if I knew who the "Jonas Brothers" were, I thought she would surely follow the comment that she thought one of them was cute - or boyfriend material. BUT, she actually told me that the oldest one is old enough to marry her mom. And even though he would be her dad, she'd probably just call him "Joe." She is quite a talker, and very ambitious about drama.

Hopefully we can develop some other areas of their lives in positive directions, besides just drama.

Alright - who has advice on how to constructively keep a chattery 6th grader to a level where other kids can get a word in edgewise??

Here are the Jonas Brothers:

Favorite Photo Friday

My Brothers....evidence of silliness during pictures:





These are favorite photos because they are so true to real life - one or both of them is always hamming it up for pictures... I could produce mountains of evidence to this fact. :) They used to both ask me which brother I liked better... I would tell them that I liked them equally the same.

What to do if a hummingbird is trapped in your garage....

Now we know, because it happened to us, and knowing is half the battle... or is it the truth that is half the battle? Anyway, remember this guy from earlier this summer? :


Well, we found him trapped in our garage just as we were heading out to our softball game this evening.

Did you know that hummingbirds are attracted to the red emergency handles that hang from your garage door for an emergency situation? They are the culprit- apparently they look like one of their favorite flowers, the Trumpet Creeper. Once they are trapped, having no concept of a ceiling, they immediately fly up and keep bumping into the ceiling.

See the similarities? :


So, we left for our game --- leaving all of the doors open and hoping that he would fly out while we were gone. But, when we got home he was still trapped. I consulted "google" for the situation, and got some answers. We were able to turn off all of the lights, and using a flashlight to get him to land nearby...we covered him with a towel and carried him outside. All the while he was squeaking like a lost puppy. You can all breathe easy, he flew away - happily into the evening air.

They say if you have this problem you should paint your emergency handles black, or roll them up!

Best Anniversary EVER!!!!

Well - it's only our 2nd, you may be saying --- but, it was super awesome.

Well - any of you that know me very well, have undoubtedly heard me talking about Jeep Wrangler's, and how I would like to have one.... in fact that would have been my last vehicle - but seeing that I drive 45K miles a year, and they do not have very good gas mileage, that just wasn't possible. My dad had a Jeep when we were kids - which is probably why we (me and my brothers) all LOVE Jeeps.....especially top off, doors off - freedom in the wind.

So, back to the anniversary - we went on a 5-hour Jeep Wrangler Excursion - where we had our own Jeeps to drive through the Manistee forest, and various other places in Northeast Michigan. We basically went mudding. It was awesome. :) We also stayed at a very cute Bed & Breakfast - the antiques they had in the house were amazing. And the breakfast was astounding... The place where we went for our Jeep excursion was in Mears, MI - they also have Sand Dunes there. Those were cool to see - they are huge, and you can actually drive on them. We saw a lot of "dune buggy's" - which I had heard of, and probably even seen somewhere - but never realized what their true sand potential might be...until I saw the sand dunes of Mears, MI. Our guide on our excursion said that there is a man who spends thousands of dollars every year to have the sand dug out around his house - or his house would be buried about it. (Reminds me of a bible story of the man who built his house on sinking sand.)

Here is a video from when our guide got stuck in the "jeep eater" - he though it'd be safe to get through...but it wasn't. We had to pull him out with a tow rope:


This next video was a really fun part - it doesn't quite do justice to how steep this hill was, and how deep the craters were that we were driving through: