The week in review (tornado trauma)

As you all may know, a terrible tornado ripped through Windsor and Weld County, and even the farm. We are so thankful our family is all ok. We lost a couple of sheds out there, but no damage was done to the house. The Lord was watching over my folks out there as not even one window was broken on the whole farm!! We had to get two tractors out from under the sheds that fell down, and trim up the trees pretty good. It could have been way worse as we saw what happened to the barn on the next farm to the west. The tornado splintered it to pieces. Part of that barn sliced into four fences in a row on the bottom of our farm.

As for the little town of Windsor that we all here dearly love, it is very heartbreaking to see. We just continue to pray that the Lord will bring some good out of all that is bad there.

Yes, there is a Rebekah

Rebekah is our sweet little princess. We feel like we have only talked about Thomas and Zachary. She just goes about her business and is very quiet. Sometimes she talks and will talk so fast that you can't understand her in the little chipmunk voice. She is so helpful and does chores without ever asking. She can be moody :(, but hey, she is a little lady. :)

Zachary, Zachary, Zachary (installment #1)

What can I say, but Jeni and I love our Zachary! By far our most challenging child yet, but has moments of sure sweetness. There we were getting away for a day at the Flat Irons Mall, and decided the stroller was a must for this walk. Zachary doesn't like the stroller at all! :( He screamed his head off all the way through Dillards. We found ourselves hustling through the department store like we were running to a fire! Zachary might not have the loudest scream in the world, but I bet it is second.
Eventually, he calmed down and then preceded to point and ooh and ah at us smiling. This was good! We headed off to Dave and Buster's to play some games and all was fine there to with Z. A nice plastic maraca really made him happy. This was good considering dinner time was now upon us and sit down restaruants are always a challenge.
Joe's Crab shack was the location and chaos was the game. The fun started when Zachary shattered the maraca while tapping it on the table, sending beads everywhere on the table and in the food! Next was eating crayons and crowding his sister! This was followed by trying to get into the trash bucket and playing with the blinds (No we don't normally let him do this, but you try to hold a little one in a booster while breaking and eating crab!!)
Whew! We made it through another meal. Thisk will go down as another small victory for Jeni and I with our little Z.

Delicious Recipe - Morton's Legendary Hot Chocolate Cake

We first had this delicious little cake when my parents took us down to the Morton's restaurant (kids and all...believe that) in Denver. What a delicious dinner and a fabulous dessert. Anyways my Mom got the recipe book and made them for Christmas dinner, and for Mother's Day dinner. They are so good, they are a must try.



Morton's Legendary Hot Chocolate Cake (Serves 6)



1 1/2 cups unsalted butter, at room temp, plus more for the souffle cups

Granulated sugar

12 oz. bittersweet or semisweet chocolate, coarsley chopped

8 large egg yolks, plus 7 large eggs

1 1/2 cups confectioners' sugar

3/4 cup all-purpose flour

18 fresh raspberries

6 scoops vanilla ice cream

1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Generously butter six - 6 ounve souffle cups and sprinkle each with granulated sugar. Tap out the excess sugar.
2. In the top of a double boiler set over barely simmering water, melt the butter and chocolate together. Remove the top of the double boiler pan from the heat.
3. In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the whisk attachment and set on low speed, beat the egg yolks and eggs for about 2 minutes, or until light and smooth. With the mixer running, pour the melted chocolate into the bowl and mix for about 2 minutes longer.
4. Put the confectioners' sugar and flour in a fine-mesh sieve and sprinkle into the chocolate mixture. With the mixer on medium speed, beat for 30 seconds, or until well mixed.
5. Pour the batter into the prepared souffle cups, leaving about 1/4 inch of space below the rim. Set the souffle cups on a baking sheet and bake for 18 to 20 minutes, or until puffed and about 1 inch higher than the rim. The centers will be soft but not sticky.
6. Remove the cakes from the oven and immediately invert each onto a serving plate. Remove the cup and garnish each plate with three raspberries and a scoop of vanilla ice cream.

PURE HEAVEN!!

The van

Yep, we did it! We got a van, and you know what? We love it. It is so much easier to load kids into. I can't believe I am going to say this, but it is fun to drive! It is safe and reliable! Who knew? Actually our Uncle and Aunt did (thank you by the way!)
Perhaps more fun was had trying to keep Zachary contained at the dealer. He gets board easy, and then it is time to explore. Filing cabinets, ficus trees, desks and much more. We did our best, but after awhile he needed to run around somewhat.

Neat Quote

I received this quote in an email and thought it was pretty neat to share:

We live in an awesome world.

Make it an awesome day.

Peace To All and May God Bless You.

Live simply.

Love generously.

Care deeply.

Speak kindly.

Leave the rest to God.

Springtime

I love Spring time. It is finally nice enough to go outside and let the kids play. The trees are blooming and some flowers are starting to appear. Here are pictures of the kids enjoying some time outside in front of our blossoming Crabapple tree and the newly painted wagon (notice it is John Deere now...the little red wagon we had was getting to faded from the sun so we decided to add a little bit of a personal touch by painting it John Deere). Zachary isn't very happy, but Thomas and Rebekah are enjoying the picture time!!

A week in review

Another week Jeni and I will always remember! Why? Zachary of course! We found out how blessed we are when children are healthy. Needless to say Zachary got sick! We are assuming it was caused by the vaccine he received Thursday. Jeni wanted to take us out to Bisetti's to celebrate my 7 years with Sunstate (yeah I think) and thats when Zachary started screaming. We had just been seated and ordered our meal. Consoling our son as I thought I must, he covered me with you know what! Sometimes I appreciate cold and windy days as we brought our jackets along and I needed it. Quickly Zachary and I retreated for the door, while Jeni did the best she could to get everything to go and apologize.
This sickness continued well into the weekend and during Thomas's birthday (the big 6!!!). This year Thomas didn't want a party, so we went bowling with a few friends instead. Thomas has been running around saying"I scored! I scored" What he failed to mention, is the fact that he had the bumpers to pad his 104 score!
Lastly, oh yes, the mini van discussion! We told ourselves this would never be us, but with 3 kids and one on the way, it has become a strong possibility. We aren't searching for style anymore, but room and practicality are our new key points. We will see how this plays out. (Jeni still wants me to trade the old Dodge in but I wear the pants in this family!!! (sometimes)