Patrea's INCREDIBLE AMAZING MOIST CAKE!!!

When we were up in Utah a couple of weeks ago we were visiting Todd and Patrea late one evening... and when we walked in Jana and I spotted this cake on her counter! We looked at each other like "hmmmm, what's this?" so we had to get a big bite! And WOW!!! I love german chocolate cake and it's amazing homemade frosting that goes along with it, but I do believe I have found my new favorite! this cake is soooo moist and the frosting is very similar to that on a german choc cake. If you make it I promise you will not be disappointed! Thanks Patrea for the recipe!!! (I believe it is her great grandmothers recipe, so thank you too :))




Oatmeal Spice Cake

Mix together and set aside:
1 Cup quick oats
1 1/4 Cups boiling water

Cream Together:
1 Cup brown sugar
1 Cup white sugar
1 Cube butter or 1/2 cup vegetable oil
2 Eggs
1 tsp. Vanilla

Sift Together: (I don't sift it, I just mix it well in a bowl with a whisk or pastry cutter)
1 1/2 Cups Flour
1 tsp. Baking Soda
1 tsp. Cinnamon
pinch of salt

Mix dry ingredients with wet. Then mix oats into creamed mixture and beat thoroughly by hand.

Bake in a floured 9x13 pan for 35 min in a 350 degree oven.

* 1-1/2 times the recipe for a sheet cake pan. Place parchment paper in the bottom rather than flour pan. Bake at 350 degrees for 25 - 30 min.

Icing:
3/4 Cup butter
1 Cup brown sugar
1/4 Cup milk
1 Cup coconut
1/2 Cup chopped nuts (I use finely chops pecans)

Mix icing and melt. Remove from heat and add coconut and nuts. Spread on warm cake. cook under broiler one minute or until nicely browned.

* if making a sheet cake, 1-1/2 times the icing recipe or double it and its just all the yummier.


Enjoy!

I'm feeling the love just typing this recipe.

xoxo

Wendy's Artisan Egg Sandwich w Bacon... yummmmmmm

OK, I will admit my new obsession! Ha! This is the best good morning to ya sandwich!!! I have them squeeze extra hollandaise sauce and it is so extremely nummy! I just thought I would mention this to you all while I was thinking about it! Good Morning!!!

Fall Break... Utah October 2010

We had the most amazing time for fall break! We got there the night before Hailey and Olivia's baptism. It was a special day that we are so grateful to be a part of!
We got to see grandparents and great grandparents and lots of cousins and aunts and uncles!!! Aunt Jana was the BEST hostess as usual! She was in the chaos of trying to finish her basement apartment... she never stopped. We went to Cornbelly's, glass blowing and pony riding at Thanksgiving Point, Gardner Village, saw movies, ate LOTS of good food!
Aunt Patrea took Grayson and Becca horseback riding with Madison and Olivia... she says that they are "born to ride"... They are quite the equestrians.
We are such a blessed family to share the love that we have for one another...
I love my family and appreciate how they keep me grounded and excited for tomorrow...

very sorry... i need to figure out how to turn that picture upside down... off to ask Eli...

Sunday Drive

We were loafing around Sunday afternoon, when we decided to go for a drive... we just started heading south...
I remembered the ostrich ranch, I thought the kids would enjoy those huge birds! Well, they have built this fencing all around them and you can't see them at all :(
We headed for Picacho Peak... and found this great little deserted train off the side of the road.
Eli whipped out his camera and viola! He takes some great spur of the moment pics!
If it wasn't for him I wouldn't have many pictures that grace this fun blog!
I think we need to make a Sunday drive a family tradition!

My New Obsession...

I can't get enough of this movie!
Pride and Prejudice is a comedy of manners novel that criticizes the social structure between the rich and poor and the role of women in the family. News of a wealthy young man named Charles Bingley stirs up the hearts of women in the town and the girls in the Bennet family are one of them. Accompanying Charles Bingley is the wealthiest man in the area, Mr. Darcy. Mr. Darcy meets Elizabeth Bennet at Bingley's ball and other social conjunctions over the next few weeks. He soon finds himself attracted to Elizabeth, but Elizabeth is utterly disgusted by his wealth, status, and arrogance. Through a series of unfortunate events that turn her family and her sisters upside down, Mr. Darcy is the last person Elizabeth expects to marry. Nonetheless, Mr. Darcy confesses his love for her and even proposes to no luck. Elizabeth doesn't agree to his proposal until Mr. Darcy explains himself, secretly fixes her family's problems, and humbles himself before her. The stumbling blocks of this love story begins with the tension created by the lover's personalities. Elizabeth is prideful and Mr. Darcy is prejudice. Despite their attitudes toward each other, their love for each other overcomes their pride and prejudice...

Swimming Update! (By Becca)

THE FOLLOWING MESSAGE WAS TYPED BY BECCA, (sorry if there are any misspellings!): Swimming! I have gone swimming everyday in the past 3 days!It's OOBER fun! (That one's for you, Connie) I am learning how to dive; I never realized that you have to squat and all that junk. I finally can now go under water for like 6 seconds, and I don't have to hold my nose (that much). And, instead of going leg by leg underwater, I just jump in. Sometimes, the pool will sway when me and Grayson jump in.

I've even made a boat! I got a lawn chair and all the pool NOODLES (I love saying the word "noodles")and tried to place 3 going vertical and 3 going horizontal. Except, I cant lay down in it. I'll just flop over!

I'll have my mom take a picture and post it here! (Of my boat, of course)

A Palace!!!who knew?

C.S. Lewis put it well when he gave us the analogy of remodeling the human soul and a living house: " Imagine yourself as a living house. God comes in to rebuild that house. At first, perhaps, you can understand what He is doing. He is getting the drains right and stopping the leaks in the roof and so on: you knew that those jobs needed doing and so you are not surprised. But presently, He starts knocking the house about in a way that hurts abominably and does not seem to make sense. What on earth is He up to? The explanation is that He is building quite a different house from the one you thought of--throwing out a new wing here, putting on an extra floor there, running up towers, making courtyards. You thought you were going to be made into a decent little cottage: but He is building a palace."