SUMMER...and getting ready for...THE 4TH of JULY

"I PLEDGE ALLEGIANCE TO THE FLAG OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA

AND TO THE REPUBLIC FOR WHICH IT STANDS, ONE NATION UNDER GOD

INDIVISIBLE, WITH LIBERTY AND JUSTICE FOR ALL."

(And as my two year old grandson adds..."To infinity and beyond!")
Maybe we should all add that, it makes me feel the spirit of it all.

Here's a great dessert for the 4th

" RED, WHITE and BLUE PARFAITS "

1 1/3 cups Cool Whip
1 (80z.) Sour Cream
1/3 cup Powdered Sugar
6 cups fresh raspberries, halved strawberries or both
6 cups fresh blueberries
(You can add granola too if desired.)

In a large bowl, combine whipping cream,
sour cream and powdered sugar.
Beat with mixer on med. until mixture thickens
and holds soft peaks. You can serve right away or
cover and chill up to 24 hours.(Cream may thicken if chilled)
Stir before serving. To serve...
alternate layers of berries with the whipped cream mixture
in twelve (160z.) glasses or bowls.
Yields: 12 servings

This is to refreshing and delicious, a great treat anytime!

I love these images from this months "VICTORIA" magazine...

I guess it's easy to see that...I LOVE CHERRIES

Just by looking at my blog back ground you can see that...

They just make me...HAPPY!


I hope you are all getting excited and ready for the 4th of July...
I love this time of year with such a great thing to celebrate.

So when you salute our flag, remember...
"To infinity and beyond!"

...Have a great 4th...

HAPPINESS WITH COUGAR.. and.. COOKING!

I drove 2 hours to find this Tuff Toy for my boy
(not really, I went shopping and found this along the way)

He can chew up anything, so it had to be a super strong one and it is.
This is a happy boy with his toy!

Cougar loves it....

See him smiling as he chunks on it!


...Now some Cooking...

You need to go check out Darla.... her blog.... "My Country Blog of This and That" http://mycountryblogofthisandthat.blogspot.com I liked what she wrote this morning... so good!

Anyway, I won this cookbook from her and received it a few days ago in the mail. It's full of the best recipes, all donated by her family.

It is dedicated to Mom and Dad Loveless... for their years of prayers prayed, laughter shared, tears shed, and love and understanding given to each of their children and grand children.


Like all family cook books, this it is full of the best recipes ever...I tried a couple of them
a few days ago and will share them with you here.

" GERMAN CHOCOLATE UPSIDE DOWN CAKE "

1 Cup pecans, broken
1 Cup coconut

Grease and flour a 9x13 pan.
Sprinkle nuts and coconut over bottom of pan.

1 Box German Chocolate cake mix
Mix according to directions.
Spoon mix over nuts and coconut.

2 Sticks, margarine, melted & cooled
1 Box Powdered Sugar
1 (8oz.) pkg. cream cheese

Beat margarine, powdered sugar
and cream cheese until smooth.
Spoon over top of cake.

Bake at 350* for 40-50 minutes
Let cool, (20 min.) then dump cake (upside down)
on a platter.

This was so delicious and so easy!


And this one...

" EASY PEANUT BUTTER AND CHOCOLATE ECLAIR DESSERT "

1 3/4 cup cold milk
1 (4 oz.) pkg. Jell-O Vanilla
Instant pie filling.

Pour milk into a large bowl.
Add dry pudding mix.
Beat with wire whisk 2 minutes
or until well-blended.

Add: 1/4 cup peanut butter
and mix well

Gently stir in: 1 (80z.) Cool Whip

...Use 24 Graham crackers...

Layer 8 crackers and half
of the pudding mixture in a
9x13 dish.

Repeat layers...Top with the
remaining graham crackers.

Microwave:
6 squares semi-sweet baking chocolate
and 3 T. butter
for 2 minutes...stirring after
1 minute.

Stir until chocolate is completely
melted and mixture is blended.

Spread immediately over graham crackers.
(and I added a few nuts too)

Store in refrigerator.

(Darla's recipe)

As you can see...this was so delicious!
When I bake like this, I have to immediately
cut it up and put it on paper plates and go deliver it
to friends and family or I would be double my weight!

I hope you are enjoying Summer...I sure am!

A THUMBS-UP WEEKEND.....

This past Saturday my husband and I went to our SIL's trials competition for the...
"Utah Summer Games."
My daughter Lindsey, who is a graphic arts designer, was asked to design the T-shirts and this what she came up with.
The owner who was sponsoring here her husband was really happy about her design.This the front of the shirts...

And the back of the shirts...

And this is my daughters logo and web site for her designs,
she can design anything! (www.LINDSEYNDESIGN.com)

This is our SIL Michael who was competing....every break he was looking after his

sweet wife Lindsey, who is due to have their baby in a couple of weeks!

She was such a good sport to follow him all over in the wind and sun!

Michael can fly up and down the steepest places with such ease!

My husband....he loves to sleep on rocks in the sun...quite the sun lizard!

Michael won the whole thing! He is the...

"Utah State Summers Games Champion"

Way to go Michael!

Michael with his Gold Medal...

we are so proud of him, he is such a kind, good young man.

Lindsey and Michael...a great team...they will be such good parents.

It was a windy weekend but the sun felt so good....

On Sunday we went to church with our daughters
and then we all had dinner together. Our little 2 year old
grandson Caleb with his new neighbor and friend, Ada.
She is a year older than him, so he is getting schooled about how girls are!

Our little 10 month old grand daughter Ella...squeezing the love out of Tinkerbell!

My daughter Tiffany's little ones...this reminds me of when their mommie

was tiny and how she loved the piano so much when she was just this age.

She grew up to be an excellent pianist on this very same piano!

Little Ella just started walking 2 weeks ago, this is the first I have seen her walking~
her little feet are so fat that shoes don't fit her.....too cute!

I love bath time with the grands...

This is darling baby "Tinkerbell"... she is Lindsey's new puppy~

Such a cute little girl~

And this is sweet "Ollie"...he belongs to Tiffany. We have lots of little dogs in our family.

It's quite the circus when we all get together but so fun!


Well, we had a really fun Fathers Day weekend, I hope you all did too.
It's good to be home... Summer is here, it's so mild and sweet and I
am loving it so much!
I need to get up earlier though for my morning walks
it's too hot for me and my dogs at even 60 degrees in the AM...then about 80 in the day.

~I hope you all have a great week~

THE WINNER...and...GOOD OLD SUMMERTIME....

The WINNER of my GIVE A WAY is.....

MARY SUE...from the blog....SNICKERDOODLES

Congratulations Mary...send me your address and

I will get this mailed off to you this week!

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

I can tell it's Summer time, even though this weather is still so crazy!
We are seeing lots of bikers go by and lots of Harley Davidsons roaring past.

Lots of tourist stopping everyday to take pictures of us...

I think they love the red mountains behind our home.

Cougar says; "Welcome to our front porch!"

I have had this forever, love it...

This sits to the right of our front door....

This to the left of the front door....

And this is us..."The olde Farmhouse"....come visit us!

I took my new car for that spin the other day....it was so fun to sail
over the mountains,
watching the beautiful clouds dance across the sky!

"There are no rules of architecture for a castle in the clouds."

I drove along...taking pictures...it's a long drive and a wide road...it is just breathtaking!

"When you have only two pennies left in the world,

buy a loaf of bread and a lily with the other."

"Perfumes are the "feelings" of flowers!"

"Arranging a bowl of flowers in the morning can give a sense of quiet in a crowded day....

like writing a poem or saying a prayer."

"God writes the Gospel not only in the scriptures alone,

but also in the flowers and clouds and stars."

"Let us dance in the sun, wearing wild flowers in our hair!"

"Bless the flowers and the weeds, the birds and the bees!"

(Can you see the little bumblebee?)

This is our little Jack....he is a special needs kind of kitty.

He came limping up to me on three legs one morning as I was out on a walk.

He had a broken shoulder and injuries...I had to bring him home with me!

Jack has recovered nicely but Cougar loves to drag him around the yard...

loving on him too roughly...chewing on him a bit! And Jack just lets him!

So I have him in the house for some R&R...he is doing better...as you can see,

he loves our parakeets!

Hope Summer has come to where you are...it's just getting here
and I am loving the warmth on my back and mild peacefulness of it all.
Yay for "Good Old Summertime!"