April 21st

April has always been my least favorite month of the year... and most specifically, the 21st is my least favorite day. Besides the fact that I get seasonal depression in this month, I lost both of my parents in April... dad in 2004 and mom in 2006. Although they passed on different days, my last good-bye to each of them was on the 21st.

Here they are back in their day... quite beautiful people.

This photo was taken in 1988. Things were good then and this is how I remember them most in my mind.

God bless you mom and dad. Thank you so much for being wonderful parents. Everything good inside of me is because of the both of you. ♥

Hash Brown Casserole

On of my favorite dishes to take to a party is my Hash Brown Casserole. Being Easter, I decided to make it a little extra special. It was extra yummy!

First start by coarsely chopped a large onion and two green peppers. Saute them lightly in a half a stick of butter.


While those are simmering away, making your kitchen smell wonderful, into a large bowl dump in one can cream of chicken soup, one can cream of celery soup and one cup sour cream. I also like to add some fresh ground pepper at this point so it gets mixed in well.


I bought really good aged cheddar cheese. After all, Easter only comes once a year. A little of a half a pound was plenty.



Shred a good pile, at least two cups worth.


Add the cheese to the soups and stir well. Next add in 3 pounds of thawed hash brown potatoes and mix again.


Back to the onions and peppers. Add in a stick and the half stick of butter to the pan and shut the heat off as soon as it melts. Stir this yummy stuff into the potatoes.


Use your prettiest 9x13" baking dish :-)


Bake at 350° for 1 1/2 hours until bubbly and slightly browned.



It actually got a little bit browner than this photo shows as I finished the baking when I got to my SIL's house. I think sauteing the onions and peppers added a little specialness and using aged cheese instead of of regular stuff gave the dish a nice sharp taste. Worth the extra effort!

Enjoy! ♥

my Grandma

Yesterday, I had a nice visit with my cousin Dee. She gave me some wonderful family treasures. The best was this portrait of my grandma from 1895. She was the only grandparent I ever knew.

Isn't this a pretty little face? I knew by the eyes and the crooked smile that yup, this was her.

And here is the last photo I took of her, not long before she passed in 1990, with Steven cuddling in her lap.


Thanks Dee! I will find a special spot on my wall for her. ♥

Cinnamon Meltaways

I haven't scrapped yet this weekend, but I did bake some fabulous cookies last night.



Cinnamon Meltaways

1 c. butter
1 c. sugar
3 oz. cream cheese
1 egg yolk
1 tsp. vanilla

Combine above ingredients & then add 2.5 cups flour. Shape into 1" balls and roll into cinnamon/sugar. Bake at 350 for 10 min.

♥Enjoy♥

22nd Birthday

I started this one a couple of weeks ago at Mimi's house, but finally put all the finishing touches on it today. It's not my favorite, but it's done.

Got KICK?

I did this one from a sketch from my online friend Kristie. The photos are from my friend, MaryJoy. (MJ... if you see this before May, send me another set to scrap for the swap)

Meow Card

I love following Sketches! {by tamara}. She has great weekly challenges that have been inspiring me lately. Here is the one I've done from her card sketch this week.

Buster's duck

Buster carries this stuffed duck around the house just like a dog. I guess I better had a bit of journaling to this page ;-)
I did this one for a challenge from Sketches! {by tamara} on Facebook.

Snuggle

Here is a layout that I did at my scrap club last night. I used a sketch from PageMaps. I also did this week's Recipe Challenge from Sketches! {by tamara} using felt, embossing and vellum.

A few layouts

Here are a few layouts that I've done so far this year.

This is my favorite. I still have to put a bit of journaling on it in the upper left corner and I forgot to dot the i before I snapped the photo.

This is from a day trip that Rick and I made to the winery in Michigan last fall.

Steven & Genay bought the kitties a laser light for Christmas.

Steven and Genay's 1st anniversary.

Buster playing under mom's hutch and getting into my scrap stuff.

2010

Well, it's been almost a year since I've last posted. My New Year's resolution was to post at least once a week, but since 2010 started very badly, that didn't happen.
Anyway, I am going to try to get the weekly posts going now. So...

HAPPY NEW YEAR 2010!!!

Day 7 - Last Full Day

Today was our last day. We spend most of the day at the beach getting as much sun as we could. Here are a few photos from the past few days.

Rum Point is very colorful...

And they have the best Rum drinks :)

This sign speaks for itself...

Here we are at dinner on Wednesday night... oops, sorry got a little out of order.

Here is the Barefoot Man...

Doesn't Eddie look fabulous!

We were on our way out on Friday night...

Here is us at dinner... we ate at a great little bar not far from our place.
So tomorrow we will have a long traveling day, but we are planning to get up early to enjoy just one more walk along the beautiful beach before we have to say good-bye.

It's been an awesome vacation! Thanks Eddie!

Day 5 & 6 - Busy Being Lazy

Wednesday morning we found out that the snorkeling excursion was canceled because the water was choppy, so we decided to just hit the beach for the day. Eddie snorkeled and I walked some, but mostly enjoyed a book and a rum punch. At 3:00, a gray cloud passed over with a couple of raindrops, and figured it was our sign to get out of the sun. We changed then drove just a mile or two down the road to a cute little art store we kept passing and bought a few trinkets. It was right across the street from a nice looking restaurant called Portifinos so decided we were ready for dinner even though it was only 5:00. It was delicious except for the rum coffee drink that Eddie had with dessert... bleh... too strong. On the drive back we decided to take a little drive past our place to see where it would lead us, and found it to be a very nice ride along the north coast. Beautiful homes and we finally found another restaurant that we had been looking for called Over the Edge. Found out this one is open for breakfast, so decide to come back in the morning. We get back to our place and there is a one man band playing at the beach bar. He is ok. We dance just a bit, then call it a night.

Thursday morning we had breakfast out, then drove to Rum Point. It's a pretty little beach on the northwest tip of West Bay. We walked and just hung out... and of course had to try a rum drink while we were there. A little shopping in the gift shop, then we have to get back... because we had our Spa appointments at 2:00. Let me just say, if you have never had a hot stone massage, I highly recommend it! Dinner was at our resort while we watched The Barefoot Man for a 3 hour show. He was great! A glass of wine and after that massage, I was very relaxed when we ended our night.

Sorry, no photos this morning... I'm heading down to the beach to get as much sun, surf and sand as I can on my last full day here. :)

Day 4 - Turtles, Dolphins & Chickens, Oh My!

I'm not going to journal today... just post some fun photos.

Rick.... yes, you can get your favorite coffee here...

7 Mile Beach...

Boats...

Turtle...

Little Turtle...

My Favorite Photo of the day.... Allegra the dolphin

Run Chicken RUN!

The Northwest Point of the Island...

HELL!

More HELL!

Eddie was scared of HELL!

We had dinner outside on a pier at sunset...
Eddie relaxing before dinner...

I loved the way the sunset was shining on this house...

Eddie & I enjoyed the view...

Pirates at Sunset...

Day 4 - Dolphin Video

Day 3 - Let's Shop!

It's Monday. We go to the sales talk to get a really good coupon to use on our Tuesday adventure, then it's off to town. We stop and take photos along the way. Parking in town was a little challenging, but we finally found a spot where we were safe from "the boot". We are ready for lunch so we decide to hit Margaritaville for a Cheeseburger in Paradise. Very tasty. We sat outside on the balcony facing the harbour. After we walked and shopped and shopped and walked. I only bought a few trinkets, not too much.

Back at the resort, it's BBQ on the Beach night, with a fun DJ. I made it to the final round of Name that Tune... only because it was 70's music.

Here's our cute little car in front of our resort...

You have to be very careful when driving in the Caymans...

Here we are at lunch...

Margaritaville...

George Town...

The start of 7 mile beach...

The locals...

These fish make me think of the Sopranos.... :)

A rooster and a chicken on a date... I think they were going to pick out a ring. :)

And learning to cross the road in traffic...