3393 Miles in the Blue Van

I am finally starting to recover from our vacation and getting back into the swing of things. It didn't help that Dan went out of town for three days, a day after we got home. Here's a glimpse of our trip!


We took a little trip to my Grandma and Aunt and Uncles' farm. We were hoping to catch my Grandma, but she was attending a funeral. We still looked around at some of the huge renovations taking place on the farm. They are installing a robotic milker! (and bunch of other improvements) My Uncle Jeff suffers from MS, so this is going to make farming much easier for him and his family.
 

Of course we had to stop and see some cows. 

 

I love the landscape in Barre Mills. 

Molly got right up close with those cows! She loved it.

 

Then we headed over to Dan's sister's house. Dan's brother from California and Dan's parents were also there. Anna and Molly got some quality time with their cousins and aunts and uncles.

 

We visited a nearby farm. My niece, Greta, has no fear. She held this chicken with no hesitation!

Of course Anna sat in poop.

 

Cousins!
Anna-2, Molly-1, William-3, Henry-8 months, Greta-2

 

 

 

 

Anna loved their dog, Martini. My Dad and Peggy also have a golden retriever named Ginger who she loves as well. 

On Thursday, Dan and I left the girls and started our journey to Georgia! We stopped in Nashville the first night and went to a couple of bars. This bar has dollar bills that people write on taped all over their walls.

 

These are our good friends and travel companions, Cassie and Jeremy Husby.

A good friend of ours who is a pastor in a suburb of Atlanta was getting married and Dan was a groomsman. Here we are before the wedding.

Jeremy, Dan (the groom), and Dan.

It was HOT everywhere we went, but it was especially bad this day, because the reception was outdoors!

The wedding favors were fans. Dan was trying to cool off. 

After the wedding, we headed back to WI to my brother's house. The girls had been there the whole weekend. Here is my niece, Emma, showing off the afghan I made her. :)

We went to the pool a couple of times to cool off. 

Of course we attempted another cousin picture, and once again, Molly was screaming. 

Anna-2, Chloe-7, Ben-3, Molly-1, Emma-10, Aidan-6

All in all, it was a great vacation. The 3393 miles spent in the van were not that fun, but it saved us a lot of money, and could have been worse! We are happy to be home, but are already looking forward to heading back next June for my cousin's wedding!

My First Afghan!

I just finished my first afghan! I'm pretty proud of myself. I've never done anything bigger than a hat or scarf, so this was definitely a big project. I started plenty early (February, I think?) because I knew it would take a while for me to complete. I'm glad I did, because I lost motivation as our temperatures started to rise and the last thing I wanted on my lap was a blanket! I finished it just in time to give to my niece and god-daughter, Emma, who turned 10 on the 11th. We'll give it to her when we see her next week!



It's a simple chevron pattern in green, yellow, and white... Packers colors! I found this great pattern here. It's by no means perfect. I'm mostly a self-taught crocheter, so I'm sure there a billion mistakes. The edges are not completely straight and it's not quite as long as I hoped. I hope Emma enjoys it all the same. It seems like a great blanket to curl up with a book.

Jenni- don't let Emma see this! ;)

Back to packing. We leave tomorrow!! 

Giggling goodness

It's was a busy week last week. Dan was gone until Wednesday, we went to two Brewers games (unfortunately, they stunk it up big time), we celebrated my birthday, our 6 year anniversary and Father's day all in the same weekend! Anna was so confused by the end, since we were telling her to say something different everyday. This week is VBS and getting ready for our vacation! We leave on Sunday! Yipee!! Because of that, I'll be MIA for a while, but here is some giggling goodness to get you through. :)

Deanna Rose Children's Farmstead

Dan has been away at district convention in the sprawling metropolis of Waco, Nebraska since Sunday night. The girls have been doing really well for me, thankfully. That doesn't mean I'm not counting down the minutes until bedtime each night, but overall, they've been nice to me. To break up some of the long days, I had planned to go to a children's farmstead with a friend and her kids on Monday. That morning, I got an early text message from her husband, telling me that she was in the hospital in labor! She wasn't due for another 4 weeks, so it was bit of a shock. She gave birth to a beautiful baby boy that day and God kept his loving and protective hand over them. They are both doing well, and he was released from the NICU this morning! It worked out well for the girls and I to stay home that day, since it had been a very busy weekend.  Yesterday, I was feeling brave and ambitious, and decided I would take the girls to the farm myself. I always hesitate to take them places by myself since it can be hard to keep two toddlers in tow. I was worried it would be a disastrous trip when Anna had a tantrum in the parking lot because I put her in the wagon, instead of letting her do it herself. (Miss Independent!) Thankfully, a threat to go back home calmed her down and she was fine the rest of the day. I'm so glad we went. The the farm had a ton of animals, beautiful gardens, and lot of things to keep little hands busy,



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There was a pen of baby goats. Anna and Molly loved chasing after all the little goats, trying to pet them.



Molly had no fear, and was very excited to touch them!

She was loving life. :)

This one thought her sandals looked tasty.

I was an unprepared mommy, and didn't have any quarters to buy food to feed the goats, so Anna tried to improvise with some rocks. The goat wasn't having it. 

 

 

 

 

They had bigger goats in pens, and the girls loved them, too. 

They also had some calves and a grown cow the girls LOVED. It must be the Berg in them. :)

 

 

We didn't stay very long. We could have stayed much longer if lunch and naps weren't a necessity. I'm sure we will be going back soon. The best part was that admission was free! I'm looking forward to taking the girls back with Dan. 

Grandma Frey's German Chocolate cake

Every year, Dan wants two things on his birthday. Beef Stroganoff and German Chocolate Cake. I wasn't thinking when I planned our menu, and we had Beef Stroganoff last week, so instead we had another favorite of his, Granmda Frey's Spaghetti. He did get his German Chocolate Cake. It's another recipe from his Grandma Frey. Dan's mom has made it for him on his birthday since he can remember, so when we got married... I was given the recipe. I'm not a fan of coconut, so Dan usually gets to eat the whole thing by himself, which he has no complaints about. 

German Chocolate Cake  from Grandma Frey

½ C. Boiling water

1 bar (4oz.) Sweet German  Cooking Chocolate

2 C. Sugar

1 C. Margarine

4 egg yolks

1 tsp. vanilla

2 ½ C. flour

1 tsp. baking soda

1 tsp. salt

1 C. buttermilk

4 egg whites, stiffly beaten

Pour boiling water on chocolate in small bowl. Stir until melted. Mix sugar, margarine- beat until fluffy. Add egg yolks, one at a time. Beat in chocolate and vanilla. Add soda, salt, and flour, alternately with buttermilk. Beat until smooth. Fold in egg whites. Bake 45-50 minutes at 350 degrees in either 9 X 13 or two 8” pans.

Coconut/Walnut Frosting

1 C. Sugar

1 C. evaporated milk

½ C. margarine

3 egg yolks

1 tsp. vanilla

2 C. coconut

1 C. chopped walnuts

Mix sugar, milk, margarine, egg yolks  and vanilla in sauce pan. Cook over medium heat, stirring occasionally, until thick- about 12 minutes. Stir in coconut and walnuts. 

Happy 30th Birthday, to my wonderful husband, Dan!

 

 

 

  

 

Cinnamon Pull-Apart Bread

I've tried quite a few Pinterest recipes so far. Some have been pretty good, some... not so much. This however, is the best I've found. I've already made it multiple times.

It's Cinnamon Pull-Apart Bread from Joy the Baker.

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I was going to take some picture of the bread I made, but I couldn't even wait that long before I started digging in. It's that yummy. I snapped one today, of our half eaten loaf.