I've had a little conversation going on my facebook wall about the benefits of a kitchenaid mixer and a Bosch mixer...The results are in I am the new owner of a kitchenaid. Actually during the back and forth debate my aunt mentioned to my mom that there was a kitchenaid sitting at grandmas that no on was using and I was welcome to give it a go. Here are the results. I have a recipe I learned from a great lady at church that makes 2 loaves from grinding the wheat to coming out of the oven in about and hour and a half. We've made bread twice this week and my kids love it. Who am I kidding I love it. There is nothing like the smell of fresh baked bread. Forgive the pictures I haven't figured out how to make pretty bread, but boy is it yummy and that's all that matters right. Now, to see what else I can create.


The half and half wheat bread recipe
3 C. Whole wheat flour. We grind it our selves.
1/3 C. Gluten (bulk section at Fred Meyer or Winco)
2 T. instant dry yeast
1/3 C. brown sugar
3/4 C. Powdered Milk
2 C. warm water (I put cold water in the microwave for 2 min.)
2 t. salt
1/3 C. vegetable oil
2 1/2-3 C. White flour

Place 3 cups whole wheat flour, gluten, yeast, brown sugar, and powdered milk in bowl. Mix together and add warm water. Mix thoroughly. Let dough sponge for 10-15 min. (sponging makes lighter bread and reduces the kneading time.) Then add salt and oil and mix well. Gradually add the white flour 1/2 cup at at time until dough forms a ball and cleans the side of the bowl. The amount of flour needed may vary. Knead 5 minutes using a mixer. If mixing by hand, knead at least 10 minutes or until dough is smooth and elastic. Preheat oven to 150 degrees during this time. Lightly oil hands. Divide dough into two equal portions. Shape into loaves and place in greased bread pans. Turn off oven. Place bread in oven, arranging pans with space between to allow heat to circulate freely. let rise until almost double in bulk, approximately 20-30 minutes. Leave bread in oven and turn heat to 350 degrees. Bake for 25-30 minutes. Remove from pans immediately and cool on wire racks.

New Lessons to Learn

I have a new opportunity in our church. For quite awhile now I've been involved in our children's group (Primary), I've led the music and also been an activity day leader (it's like cub scouts for girls) and now I've been asked to teach in our women's organization (Relief Society). I'm a little nervous but it will be a great opportunity to learn and grow. My first lesson is this Sunday, wish me luck. I've also removed the primary helps on the side of my blog and have created a new blog list with some of my sisters newest obsession couponing blogs. I haven't ventured in to it like she has but just maybe I'll give it a try. Let me know if you have any other favorite coupon blogs.

The Inkom Flood

This was a 4th to remember... We had a great morning, enjoyed the parade and time with family. (Happy pictures to follow in a later post.) We went to soda to spend some time with Dustin's dad on his birthday and we got a call from a neighbor saying our street was a river and our home was flooding. There was a freak storm it rained for less then 15 minutes with golf ball sized hail. It caused awful damage farther up the creek and the culvert near our home was just one to be filled up with junk. We hurried home as quickly as possible and these are the pictures after the flood receded. We are so grateful for the wonderful friends and neighbors we have. Luckily we replaced the windows this spring and only one let some water in. We have a little carpet to clean and we'll see what happens with the yard in the days to come. We are really blessed no one was injured and hopefully everyone will sleep well after all of the excitement we had today.

Happy Birthday Week!!!

This week we have 3 birthdays in our immediate family. Sunday would have been Braxton's 13th. I can't believe I'm old enough to have a teenager.

We went to the cemetery with cake and balloons. I was a great day to remember a very special son.

Monday was Dustin's Birthday. He choose to have chocolate cream pie. This is his mom's recipe and it is so yummy. He is an incredible man and I'm so grateful he is a part of my life.





And last but not least. MaKady's 11th birthday was yesterday. She put in some suggestions for what she wanted for a cake and this is what we came up with. It was massive. I joked I was decorating my first wedding cake because it was so big. I got the opportunity to practice the chocolate roses I learned last week, and the daises and name are made with starburst fruit chews. It was a lot of fun to make. I can't believe MaKady is growing up so fast. She is turning into this incredible young woman and I'm really grateful she is a part of our family.

Cookies! Cookies! and more Cookies!

I had an awesome opportunity to get together with a friend from high school, we met up again through facebook. She had posted pictures of the most amazing sugar cookies and I was privileged to go to her home yesterday and have her share some of her serious cookie skills. The roses are all made of chocolate. I can't wait to try these on my own. It was a great day and look forward to doing it again sometime soon. Thanks Mary!

Time Out

I received the most wonderful gift from my amazing husband for mother's day. The chance to not be the mom for the day. He bought me a ticket to "Time Out For Women." It was an amazing Friday & Saturday. The theme for the weekend was Sweet Assurance- The certainty that comes when you know life's truths. We were challenged at the end of the conference to share with those we love and those around us what we know, no matter what. What are the things you know, with out any doubt, no matter what else happens? I know my Husband loves me. I know my kids love me and need me. I know that we will be an eternal family, we have one that is already in Heaven. And I know that even on those days that I don't like myself very much my Heavenly Father still loves me. Take a minute after you read this post and think about what you know, if you like leave a comment I'd love to hear your thoughts.

The Actual beginning of Summer Vacation

The last day of school photo. They have grown so much this last year. I know school's been out since May 21, but in our house the real break didn't begin til yesterday. Yesterday was the beginning of the bookmobile coming, the summer reading program, free lunch started at the park, and the mean mom that I am got the kids workbooks for the summer and the kids started those as well. So yesterday felt like the beginning of our summer routine. I used the free lunch in the park as an incentive for the kids last summer. If they got their things done in the morning we could go to the park and have lunch with their friends. We made it most of the summer. Here's hoping this summer goes as well.

Spring Flowers

I love Spring when everything comes back to life and it's just so green and pretty. These are just a few of the flowers we planted last fall. I think we'll plant more bulbs in the fall it was a lot of fun to watch them come up as the snow melted. I thought I would post these even though we've moved on and planted some summer flowers now. I'll post pictures of those later. Spring is such a hopeful season, don't you think?

Memorial Day

These are a few of the graves we were able to visit this weekend. I really do enjoy the peace we feel when we go to the cemetery. I thought I would post these for those in our family who weren't able to come visit this memorial day, maybe next year.
This is our son Braxton's I can't believe he would be 13 this summer.




These are my dad's, another I can't believe moment...it's been 5 years this summer.



These are our grandparents.




This is our niece Kaili. Her family lives far away and we thought they would enjoy getting to see all of the things that were left in memory of her.


And finally a little family picture these are all of our kids.

It's all gone!

Why is it you don't realize how much hair you actually cut off til you're in the shower the next day and you pour way too much shampoo? Time for a new look. I had 6 inches cut off last night and then decided to try and figure out what my real color just might be. It's kind of a light to medium brown now. I guess I should be grateful that every time I've colored this last 6 months it's come in darker not grayer. So I guess we'll give this color a chance and see how it goes. Maybe brunette can have more fun:-)