Memorial Day

For Memorial Day my cousins and aunt and uncle joined us at my parent's house for a pool party and a cookout. While the pool babysat the kids the men played horseshoes in the yard.

Here's my sis and that crazy-faced guy she's going to marry.

The ladies sat and talked. This is my cousin, my mom, and my aunt.

And the kids. They had no fear. Who knew that the hot tub could be used as a diving board?? Needless to say I was too intimidated to venture in with 7 kids in the pool. I really don't like splashing!

This is my cousin Samuel taking the plunge.

My cousin Brady following suit.

Shelton and Brady...

Ava and Samuel...

My uncle and hubby playing horseshoes.

My cousin Ronnie.

All the kids jumped in at once on the count of 3.

We had them do it twice for the sake of the photographer!

After we ate we celebrated the twin's bdays (Ava and Brady).

Here's Brady with his dad.

Here is my dad playing some kind of baseball type game with one of my older cousins.

He likes to tease. His shirt stands for Skeeter Performance Fishing Boats.

And bday candles to blow out!

Me and my hubby still dry because we all got in the hot tub after everyone left.

Celebrations

Korey and I celebrated our 6 month anniversary at Maggiano's earlier this month.

This is Korey protecting our leftovers of Rigatoni D.
For Mother's Day I made my mom a photo book on snapfish that had pics from the wedding in it plus some pics from way back when. This is the front cover.

This is the pic on the last page.For my bday my sister gave my dad some camo flip flops. He likes anything that is camo.

Since asparagus is in season I gave it a try by roasting it in the oven. This isn't really a celebration but I wanted to show off that I actually attempted a vegetable other than broccoli or green beans.

The card I made for my mom's bday.

Frisco Rough Riders

Korey and I attended a Frisco Rough Riders game for Paint the Ballpark Blue night. We got free tickets with the purchase of ours so we invited our friends Fabian and Becky to join us. Fabian was our wedding minister and we hadn't seen him and Becky since November!

Here is my sis and Frydaddy. It seems like every pic I take of him he's always making a crazy face.

Oh wait maybe he's rubbing off on my sister now.

My sister likes to label people.

Apparently the crazy faces are rubbing off on Korey and Fabian.

Korey and Fabian got picked to do a skit in between innings. I snuck down to the first row by the dugout to wait for him to go on the field. Meanwhile this was happening...

Did you know there is a bathroom in the dugout?? I didn't either but apparently I could see right into the bathroom door when they opened it so I had to change my view.

Here they are lined up at the starting line. Korey is in the dark blue shirt and Fabian is in the lighter blue shirt in the middle. The guy in the white is the enemy.

Apparently riding a horse is not the easiest thing to do.

Korey tried to take out the guy in the white but he missed and the enemy won. Fabian came in last but that's ok because they had fun and Becky and I had fun watching them.

Camo is Queen

This is Camo. She is our female dog. She is also our Alpha dog. This makes her Queen. Here she is on one of her many thrones.

But sometimes queens can have bad days just like everyone else. Here she has gotten stuck in a hole in the grill cover. (This hole was created by her and her brother when they were puppies).

Don't worry Camo. We'll save you!

How to Make a Cookie Monster

Every year for my dad's birthday instead of making him a cake, I make him a cookie monster. I learned how to do make this while I was living in Thailand from my supervisor. He did his in a cast iron skillet but mine was looking kind of rusty so I used a pie pan. If you've ever had one of those hot cookies served in a skillet at a restaurant with stuff piled on top...well this is the same thing.

First, comes the cookie dough. I make mine from scratch but you could get away with using storebought. Press it into a pie pan or cast iron skillet and bake at 350 for about 20-25 min. We don't like crispy cookies in our family so I settle on this time limit to still have the slightly underdone effect.

Next, you want to add scoops of vanilla ice cream or the flavor of your choice while the cookie is still hot. You have to get the hot-cold contrast in order for it to have maximum flavor.

Spray whipped cream on top. Go ahead. Don't be scared. Pile it on.

Chocolate syrup! Yum!! Drizzle that stuff on.

We always add pecans in our family. Everyone is a nut lover.

Finally, you add cherries! I don't eat these but they add color. And taste for those of you that like them. Isn't it pretty!

Then you show it to the birthday boy to see what he thinks about it.

Since Thailand, being an Asian country, is very community-oriented no one gets their own dessert here. You all share. Grab a spoon!

1, 2, 3..GO!

And the joy of it, after the 30 seconds it took for 6 people to devour it, is that you only ate with a spoon while you were fighting other people's hands so calories consumed are MINIMAL.

P.S. Thanks go to my sister for being the hand model/assembler demonstrator.