Joy in the Kitchen!

I decided I needed to blog about cooking. Cooking and baking are two of my favorite hobbies... playing on the internet is another! What a great combination! I also thought my older children who've moved away from home could find use in my blog because I'll post the recipes of some of their favorite foods so they can learn to make them themselves. :)

Check it out at http://joy-ajoyfullife.blogspot.com/

Let me know what you think!

Joy

The Back To School Parade

One day a week or so before school started, Grandma Bolander invited us all over for a Back to School Parade. :) The girls were SO excited to decorate their bikes and take them to Grandma's. They paraded up and down the driveway, ending up in the orchard and then when Grandpa came out, they did it all over again! Grandma served cookies and punch in the shade of the orchard. What a fun day full of memory making!

Here are a few pictures.... We had McKay & Wesley leading with the lawnmower, Jaylyn and Nicole on bikes, and then Myelle was pushing Bentley in the stroller with Grandma helping. Notice that Grandma is carrying her school books. :)

Traveling and Traveling!

Dave & I counted up on the calendar last night & we've been away from home a total of 13 days this month! No wonder I feel like I can't keep up with the house! We've been camping, family reunioning, rescuing kids, and lastly, we drove a propane truck back to Minnesota and then after Dave attended a few meetings we flew home.

Here are a few pictures of our adventure!

Dave & I as we were ready to leave...



The Minnesota Twins vs. Chicago White Sox game we got to attend courtesy of CHS!



Our Cushy ride there....



The Wrangler Inn in Mobridge, SD - fun little hotel & terrific restaurant!





Meeting Dave's Mom's second cousin Bernice & her husband Warren in South Dakota! We had so much fun catching up and meeting in person after exchanging a few letters over the past 15 years.

Family Reunion Fun!

We hosted our McKinnon family reunion this year at Bear Lake. What fun it was to see everyone again and meet for the first time younger cousins and in-laws! It had been over 10 years since we attended this reunion. We'd forgotten how much we love you guys!

Here are a few pictures...

McKay Rash

Holiday Food Art!

Occasionally I find the urge to be creative. Not often, but once in a while. We had a small party for the 4th of July and I (with the inspiration of another) spent about an hour creating our centerpiece.


Here is a picture of a much fancier design that inspired me... absolutely beautiful.



It was a lot of fun letting the little girls help thread the skewers and they had so much fun eating their creations! We'll definitely try this again.

Early Summer Fun!

We've had a busy schedule since Memorial Weekend! We had our usual campout in Mom & Dad's orchard and this year we had a photographer come to get a few family pictures!

Here is one of Mom & Dad with their children and spouses...


And few more with just the kids in the orchard where we were camping:



We also went camping at Stoddard Creek the next weekend - we had fun! Here are a couple of pics of the kids there....


Myelle and Wesley usually have fun playing together. They're buddies. :) Audra & Erick & Mom & Dad all came with us. We rode 4-wheelers that Mom & Dad shared, ate wonderful food, hiked and biked, and relaxed and visited around the campfire. Best of all Dad played his harmonica - my favorite part of campfires. Brett & Brianna joined us for the evening on Friday... we had fun visiting with them as well! Next time we'll have to try to get the whole family camping at once!

Many more activities planned & hopefully I'll have myself organized enough to post more often this summer!