One of my favorite things about vacation is trying new foods. When on vacation, worrying about calories goes out the window. My parents lovingly watched all the grandkids one night so that we could go out to our favorite restaurant, Mama's Fish House. It never disappoints. I ordered a macadamia nut encrusted pork tenderloin with mashed sweet potatoes. I was so excited to eat it, I forgot to take a picture first! I think Cory was relieved, but then I did remember to bring out my camera and take a picture of our desserts.Creme brulee topped with a passion fruit sauce. Locally grown strawberries layered with a Tahitian vanilla cream. These babies are macadamia nut sticky buns from a local bakery. Oh yeah! We also enjoyed eating at Kimo's, Alexander's Fish Co, and Pita Paradise.

The boys loved hanging out on the beach. We had a blast watching them play in the water and sand, boogie boarding, paddle boarding, and hunting for sand crabs. Hey there little crabby patty, you've got sand in your eyes!The paddle boarding was really fun, but did require a lot of balance. My dad thought it was so easy, he just started doing cool tricks on it. :-)

Today we drove out to Schnepf Farms to meet up with some friends and pick us some peaches.    We also rode the train and played on the playground at the farm.  It was warm, but worth it! Hoping to make a fresh peach pie today!

Just had one of those milestone kind of birthdays.  My mom, grandma, aunt, sister, and cousins and I all went out for lunch to celebrate.  I felt very loved!  I took pictures of my food because Cory wasn't there to tell me not to :-)

Catching up a little bit, we were able to spend a long weekend up at the cabin for New Years.  There was just a little bit of snow on the ground... enough to justify getting all bundled up to feel it crunch under your boots.  Caleb, you can go play in the snow next year!We just relaxed...Read books...Stayed up too late...Happy New Years 2010!

Can I just say, I am a COOKIE person!  I love cake, pie, ice cream, and candy, but most of all I love cookies!  So I get a little excited when this day rolls around each year.  It's quite chaotic with all the kiddos underfoot, and this year they really wanted to help (can't blame them, but yuck), but we managed to get it all done.  These are my favorite Christmas cookie recipes, and a few pictures of all the fun.  

Uncle Jeffy and Aunt Jenna are here for Thanksgiving, and we spent time with them yesterday at our beloved train park.  After we had a nice dinner all together at my parent's house last night, Jenna introduced us to this little number... Chocolate Croissant Bread Pudding. Here is the recipe.  If you like bread pudding, you've got to try this!What a lovely way to end the day!

Since our airplane ride home was leaving from Louisville in the evening, we decided to make the  1.5 hour drive from Wilmore to Louisville after stopping at a quaint breakfast place, and then spend the rest of the day at the Louisville Zoo before heading to the airport to catch our flight.  This little cafe was called "Main and Maple" and they had really good cinnamon rolls with cream cheese frosting. I also tried "grits" for the first time, seeing as how I was in the South. They are um... gritty. It was a nice zoo, and the animals were pretty active and out in the open, but pictures of animals at a zoo are rarely impressive, so I'll just post the ones I took of the humans there.  The zoo had a really cute train ride that was broken down that day, and Noah was a little disappointed. But, then he loved being able to walk on the tracks (since the train was not running). Noah also loved (as I knew he would) riding in the airplane. When the plane was getting ready to lift off, he would look out the window and say, "Faster, faster airplane, you can do it!" Once we had been flying for a little while and had leveled off, he asked "Why did the plane stop?" It is kind of funny how the sensation of movement goes away after a while. Thanks for the lovely visit, Kristin and Laney! We can't wait to see you at Christmas!

After our coffee, we headed out to visit Asbury's Equine Center.  This is the road we took to get there, and I had to ask to pull over for some pictures. Kaelyn was the only one who would get out of the car with me, so we took pictures of each other. We thought the kids would love the horses, which they did, but Noah was also interested in this "newer fsphreder"  (manure spreader?).  I have no idea if that is an actual manure spreader, but Noah said it was, and they were fast friends.  From there we went to Boyd's Apple Orchard. We played on the slides, climbed hay bales, went on a hay ride tour of the orchard, and rode horses. When we went inside for lunch, we thoroughly enjoyed ourselves and did not hold back. They had so many apple desserts! I didn't know where to start! Fried apple pie, funnel cake, carmel apples, and apple cider donuts!After a sleepy drive home, we read books, watched football and rested.  We grabbed a quick bite to eat to dinner, showered the kids and put them to bed. Kristin and I stayed up late catching up. Such a great day!

We love it when my brother Jeff and his beautiful wife Jenna come and visit!  They are so much fun, and it's great to have time together as a family.  Here are some pictures from our weekend, courtesy of Cory's phone. 

This is a random post about one of my favorite vegetables.  Meet asparagus.  

Nothing says love like sugar, fat, and chocolate topped with pink sprinkles... Yes, donuts are my lOvE language. Hope your day was just as sweet!

Last night we visited a family farm in Queen Creek called Schnepf Farms.  It was so much fun! We ate grilled corn on the cob and homemade apple pie.  Noah loved the tractor trikes, pumpkins, pig races, and fireworks!   Noah threw a little fit when we made him get off the tractor trike because they were so much fun to ride around the hay bale track and through the tire tunnel. Noah was a little nervous about this bumblebee ride, and when we asked him if he liked it said very seriously, "No. No like it."  He says that about a lot of things these days. These little carts were like Mr. Toad's Wild Ride goes off roading. Erin and I screamed our heads off the whole time!  Of course the boys were laughing.   Noah saw his first fireworks show. He kept yelling, "Bang! Bang!" I told Noah to go and put his arm around a pumpkin and smile so I could take his picture and this is what I got. This was about 10pm, so he was a little tired! No pictures of Caleb, as he was asleep in the stroller the whole time. Can't wait to go next year!

Okay so I made my FIFTH pan of these brownies tonight!  I realized kind of last minute that I had signed up to bring dessert to Bible study tomorrow, and I had all the ingredients on hand.  Cory took some pictures of Noah "helping".  Thanks little buddy!

I'm finally finding a minute to post pictures from this past weekend... My brother and sister in law came to visit us.  We had so much fun, as always.  Our weekend was filled with swimming, watching olympics, laughing at the kids, passing the baby, and eating at home and out.  Speaking of eating, we love Culver's!  Can you believe we actually ate all that food?  And then we got frozen custard for dessert!  The picture of Noah with my dad is of them tasting the table salt.  Whatever keeps him entertained is fine by me!

We also got to spend some time with Cory's cousin Lacee and her five adorable kids visiting from Wisconsin this weekend.  Here are some pictures from our ice cream night at Joe's Farm Grill.   Noah and I highly recommend the fresh strawberry shake!

Well not so much the weather, but at least the food!

We had a volunteer appreciation lunch for our women's ministry at church, and I was asked to make some cupcakes for dessert.  My friend Jennifer made oreo truffles, and we sprinkled fresh raspberries around the platter to garnish.  I think cupcakes are so cute, but I have to admit, they never seem to taste as good as they look!

Sometimes Noah can really eat... This morning for breakfast, Cory gave him a banana and a piece of whole wheat toast with some juice.  "Ahhhhlllllll done!" he says.  Then I woke up (Cory and I take turns getting up with Noah and it was my morning to sleep in), and he asked for another piece of toast.  "Ahhhllllllll done!" he says and the toast is gone.  A half hour later, as I am making a raspberry jello salad for Cory's birthday dinner with my family tonight, he asks for some applesauce.  Two bowls of applesauce later, he says, "Mah?" (more).  I'm thinking he has had enough applesauce, so I give him a slice of cheese.  "Mah?" Hmmm.... no more cheese, how about some leftover roasted asparagus and red peppers from last night?  "Okey!" he says.  He polishes off the veggies, and says one more time, "Ahhhhllllll done!"  It's now 9:30am.  I understand that he is a growing boy, but he can really put the food away!

My sweet husband spontaneously decided to redesign our blog, and I am so impressed!  Happy Valentine's Day to me!  I made a nice, but simple dinner for us last night (grilled London Broil, roasted vegetables, and baked potatoes).  After Noah went to bed, we spent the evening relaxing, eating Dibs, and watching Survivor.  Once again, a nice night in.  

Tonight we ventured out to Tempe Marketplace to eat at Lucille's.  I split the baby back ribs with my mom, and Cory had the pulled pork sandwich.  This place was hoppin, and seeing that it was a Saturday night, there was a live blues band.  If you go, try the strawberry lemonade.  I love it when drinks are served in gigantic mason jars.  I would have to rate Lucille's a close second to Joe's BBQ.  Sorry no pictures, I was too busy keeping Noah occupied, and besides that, I forgot my little camera.  

These croissants are so good! My mom ordered them from Williams-Sonoma. The croissants are shipped from Williams-Sonoma as a frozen dough. When you are ready to make them, they set out on a baking sheet to thaw and rise overnight. In the morning, they are ready to go into the oven for 15 minutes. The two on the left are plain croissants, and the two on the right are chocolate filled. Oh my goodness...

My friend Candace had this idea to emulate "Phoenix's Best Of" magazine that comes out periodically and come up with our own favorites in our hometowns (check out her more comprehensive list). I've lived here 22 years, and I tend to be negative about my little Mesa, because its kind of a "big small town". By that I mean that there are a lot of people who live here, but not a whole lot of interesting things to do. But I'm sure I would miss this big little city if I have to leave it. For now, I'll tell you my three favorite places to eat. For a casual date night... Rancho de Tia Rosa'sI almost always get the salmon salad. Cory always orders two chicken tacos, and we share fried ice cream. We love sitting on the patio, and on the weekends a mariachi band serenades. We usually eat here at least a couple of times a month. For a family night out... Joe's Farm GrillThis place is in Gilbert, and is a remodeled farmhouse. It is a retro-modern diner, and they specialize in burgers and BBQ pork sandwiches. Try the sweet potato french fries, and the fried zucchini! For a sophisticated girly lunch... Arcadia FarmsNestled in downtown Scottsdale, this little house converted to a restaurant serves a wonderful strawberry chicken salad, and the most beautiful fancy desserts. They also have patio seating, and when the weather is nice it is heavenly!