Fishing Fathers

We got in some good family time last night with our Iowa friends. We started off the evening with everyone making their own pizzas.  Don't tell the picky eaters that they had GF crusts and healthy toppings. We battled heat & 100% humidity to fish a little and then finished the night with a sleepover. (We made the parents go home)

There's a beautiful little park not far from our home with a small lake/pond smack dab in the middle.  Everyone had some success in catching fish and no one fell in the water. I guess not everyone caught fish...the dads were too busy fixing line, putting worms on and pulling hooks from fish to do any casting of their own. Chris reminded me that is why he doesn't take the girls fishing when he actually wants to fish.

 Em, Addy and Liv

 As you can see, none of these are keepers, they all get thrown back in the water.

 Liv caught 3 different species of fish, this one is a pretty good sized catfish for a little girl to reel in.

 Can you even see that tiny fish on the end of the line?

Our adopted daughter for the week, Heidi, showed up for a little fishing too.

We got to know Heidi in GI both in church and on the softball diamond. Over the last nine years we have watched her develop into a wonderful young lady who loves life just as much as she loves the Lord. Please join us in praying for her over the next several weeks while she is in China playing softball and serving God.

  

Halle and Reags

By the end of the evening we saw a family of raccoons come out of a tree, bats flying around and a maggot filled fish.  eww! But several fish and lightning bugs were caught and everyone had a great time.

Frosty S'mores

There is some wonderful cook out there in blogger land who dreamed up this recipe.  In no way do I want to take credit for her mad cooking skillz!!  I just don't know who to give the credit to...sorry!  However I will say that my friend Tammy in AZ brought my attention to this recipe.  LOVE IT!!

This is super yummy and really not good for you but I did try to use ingredients with the least bad stuff in them like real whipped cream in a can (or make your own) instead of nasty cool whip.  Dark chocolate chips instead of milk chocolate...a good brand.  I really don't know what to do to replace the chocolate pudding.  Oh well, this is not something we will have very often.  Reagan made these with a little bit of help from me.  It was a fun mom and daughter cooking time this morning.

INGREDIENTS:

·             18 graham cracker squares (9 sheets)

·             1/3 c. butter

·             1/2 c. milk chocolate chips or dark chocolate

·             1/4 c. whipping cream

·             2 c. mini marshmallows

·             1 1/2 c. cold milk

·             1 box (4 servings, 3.9 oz)instant chocolate pudding

·             1 (8 oz) container of Cool Whip (thawed in fridge) 

(I DON'T USE COOL WHIP...I use real whip cream in a can...NO Hydrogenated oils)

·             1/4 c. mini chocolate chips (as topping)

DIRECTIONS

    ·             Crush graham crackers into fine crumbs.

·             Melt butter and add to graham crackers, mixing until well combined to make crust.

·             Prepare pan by placing disks into the bottom of each cup.

(I used small wax cups because I don't have one of these special pans)

·             Evenly divide crust mixture into all 12 cups, saving about 1/4 cup to use as topping later. (I used a Mini Tart Shaper to press crumbs firmly into the bottom of each cup).

·             Place milk chocolate chips and whipping cream into a small bowl and microwave in 30 second increments, stirring in between, until melted and smooth.

·             Spoon chocolate into a zip top bag, cut a tip off and evenly pipe chocolate into the center of each cup, on top of the crust.

·             Divide Marshmallows among cups.

·             Mix cold milk with pudding on medium speed for 2 minutes. Fold in 1/2 of the Cool Whip container (the rest will be used as topping).

·             Spoon filling into a large zip top bag (and ZIP it or you might have a mess!) Clip a corner off and pipe pudding into each cup evenly. Try to pipe it in between the marshmallows so that the whole cup is filled.

·             Use a knife to smooth the tops level with the top of the pan.

·             Freeze for at least a couple of hours.

·             Allow the pan to warm just a bit before popping each dessert cup out. Poke a finger up through the hole in the bottom of the pan and grab that s’mores cup by its crust. Remove the disk from the bottom and you are ready to add topping.

·             For topping, I just piped a little bit of the left over Cool Whip on each dessert using a decorating tip. Then I sprinkled the remaining crust and mini chocolate chips on top.

·             Serve cold right away– or put them in a sealed container and freeze until you are ready to serve.

KID APPROVED!!!!

Tonya Ratliff Photography

Gotta start with a silly one.

Chris and I are coming up on our 16th wedding anniversary.  It's hard to believe we've been married that long.  I love this guy like crazy!  Chris, you are my rock!

Our friend Tonya Ratliff took these amazing pictures of our family

There are so many more, I don't know how I will ever pick which ones I will frame.

He's such a great daddy!

Chris' girls

Kris Walter Soccer Tourney

Olivia had a blast with her friend.  

They ran around, got grandmas to buy them treats, yelled cheers for their sisters 

and ready for more in a couple weeks.

 Reagan in the Norfolk (pronounced Nor.fork) game

 Reagan sending the ball to the other side of the field

Cousins, Bailey and Lauren got to play against each other.

 Look at that stretch!

 Our first class goalie...great job this weekend!!

Playing OFC Gold division 1 

This kind of pushing was typical all weekend.

Be strong Ky!

 Can you see how much smaller we are?

Great things come in small packages!

Great job #7

 Go Gab!!

Reagan powering in another corner kick against Lincoln Shock
This game was a heart breaker.  As far as skills go, this Lincoln team really wasn't that great and yet we lost to them 2-1.  I'm not sure what happened to our intensity.
Their 2 goals were not earned.  Goal #1 was headed in by Reagan...poor dear was devastated that she scored the tying goal for the other team in the first half.  Goal #2 came in the second half.  It bounced off of our goalie's hands and trickled into the goal.
These things happen and it's nothing for the girls to hang their heads about.

 Is there anything better than girls having a blast?

 Mentally getting ready for the championship game against Columbus

 Parent meeting after our final game.

Look to the left...Heidi made it to a couple games.

 Reagan receiving her medal from Coach Boatwright

Proud of these girls!! 

It was a hot weekend in Lincoln but so much fun.

The girls won their bracket and made it to the championship game today.

We came up against a great U11 team from Columbus.  

The Fusion girls brought home a 2nd place trophy.  Great Job!!!

Always gotta have the silly picture!