Sugar Pie Honey Bunch!

Our little bundle of joy is now two years old! She is full of life and constantly trying to keep up with her sisters. From time to time, she takes a break from running to cuddle with her mom or dad.
She started the "Terrific Twos" this morning with chocolate chip pancakes. We topped the pancake with whipped topping and 2 candles. She blew the candles out before I even picked up my camera. (We tried it again, just for the picture.)
This morning, she had to go to daycare for a couple hours and while we were there, some friends wished her a happy birthday, to which she responded by making a blowing out the candles jesture....too cute!
With Derrick out of town and her party with some family friends not until Friday, we celebrate this evening with a trip to McDonalds where she got her "nugs," "sli," and "ice," (translation: chicken nuggets, slide and icecream.) Big sisters were equally excited to celebrate with her.

39 quarts later...

A week before Labor Day, Derrick and I decided to take a quick trip to Minnesota over the long weekend. Although the time was short, we had a great time reconnecting with great-grands, grandparents, cousins and even the Pizza Ranch! (Look at all those Tevas! Thanks grandma Linda!)

At the DeWilde farm, we were able to gleam the apple trees and scored ourselves 6 1/2 boxes of apples. I'm relieved we thought to give one box away to ambitious cousins and bake an apple pie at my mom's to share with everyone. So, 39 quarts of apples later, we have given a few bags away to neighbors and are eating apple everything..apple bread, apple french toast, apple bread pudding, apple peanut butter smoothies, applesauce, apple crisp....

On a comical note, Derrick told me that Aliya successfully killed two bugs yesterday by getting a shoe from the garage, returning to the bug and smashing it with the shoe. And Madison informed Derrick and I that she killed two grasshoppers at one time yesterday while they were "tackling." Umm, I didn't know it was that time of year for the grasshoppers.

Our girls!

We now have a Kindergartner AND first grader in our home! Breanne started Kindergarten on August 25. She was very excited and not nervous a bit. It was like she's been ready for this since January. She chose what to wear the first day of school. Interestingly to me, she picked out the same dress she wore on the first day of preschool.

The picture looks just the same as last year, except for the new backpack. She got a new haircut the day before school too.

When we got to school, Madison and Breanne took off.

They obviously didn't need dad and mom. They walked circle together and met up with one of Madison's friends, Alyssa. After the bell and pledge of Allegiance, they lined up with their teachers and they were gone.

About an hour after getting home and telling me all about it, Breanne sighed and said, "I just can't wait for Kindergarten tomorrow!" I think that says it all! A week into it, she's learning friends' names and singing songs she's learning.

Friday after work, we headed out to camp with friends in Cody, WY. We got to spend time with friends who moved there a year ago and see the ranch that he works at. Two families in our small group joined us on Saturday. Unfortunately, it rained off and on Saturday afternoon and evening. We saw the first wave of rain coming across the lake which looked really awesome and when it came in, it met us with hail and high winds.

However, we did get to enjoy some s'mores. Derrick and I adored the JUMBO marshmallows! You could never have too much mallow! When it got dark and time for headlights, Aliya was not without!

Thanks to the rain, I got to play a razzing game of Sequence with the girls and got some reading done.

On Sunday afternoon, we rolled into Billings just before a big storm that we watched brew all the way home. The lighting was flashing so we all headed inside for cover. As it started to blow and rain, we noticed the hail coming AGAIN. Derrick got the truck in the garage just before the hail really started pelting. We had marble size hail for about 5 minutes. Needless to say, I think the garden is done. I've never before seen hail in Billings and this year I've seen it 4 times! Just bizarre!

..take me away..

Remember that old Dixie Chicks song, "Cowboy take me away..." It was popular when Derrick and I got engaged. I remember daydreaming, thinking about camping with Derrick, laying under the stars... (I'll stop there.) Well, that song came to mind (except for the "cowboy" part) this weekend as Derrick and I headed out to East Rosebud to go backpacking together...just the two of us.

We were blessed again by our friends the Ottenbachers who agreed to have three extra kiddos this weekend so Derrick and I could celebrate nine years of marriage by backpacking together.

With my brother-in-law in mind, I "purposely" left my camera home. (I didn't want to make you stumble Mike. That or I didn't want to carry an extra 4.5 pounds on my back.) We hiked in 7-miles and saw four mountain lakes, each one further in more breath-taking than the one before. The last two mountain lakes had a bright, blue-green tint to the water. The waterfalls were spectacular as we hiked along the East Rosebud Creek and through the canyon.

This was my first backpacking experience and I enjoyed it. Derrick coined me, "The Master Trout Slayer," for catching three good looking trout. I'm sure I looked like a kid at Christmas reeling in those strong rainbow trout. My favorite thing was the peacefulness and tranquility sitting by the lake or at our campsite. (Derrick thought it might be him "cooking" for me...dinner and breakfast!)

Just two more days until Madison and Breanne start school. They are packed and ready. Pictures to follow..

Small indulgence...

I don't usually post recipes on my blog, but my mom asked for this recipe and after I made it yesterday for the second time, Derrick told me (twice) that I could make those scones any time I'd like, I figured it might be worth passing along. I made them for the first time on my birthday (a treat to me) just as the recipe reads. Yesterday, I made them with fresh blueberries in place of the cranberries. Also, you might note that they taste best right out of the oven. I share them with friends but if you have extras, the best way to reheat them is in the oven so they regain some of the flaky texture. Happy baking!

Cream Scones

½ c. heavy cream, plus extra for brushing the scones before baking

1 egg

1 t. lemon extract

3 T. sugar, plus extra for sprinkling on scones

2 ¼ c. flour

½ t. salt

1 T. baking powder

6 T. cold butter, cut into bits

½ c. dried cranberries

Preheat oven to 400.

In a bowl whisk together cream, egg, lemon and sugar until well combined.

In another bowl stir together flour, salt and baking powder; blend in the butter wih your fingers until the mixture resembles coarse meal.

Stir in the cranberries and the cream mixture with a fork until the mixture just forms a sticky but manageable dough.

Knead the dough gently on a lightly floured surface for 30 seconds, pat it into a ½-inch-thick rectangle. Cut into 4 rectangles and then cut each rectangle diagonally (making 8 triangles). Place on ungreased baking sheet. Brush with cream and sprinkle with sugar. Bake the scones in the middle of the oven for 15 to 18 minutes or until golden.

Grandma Great & Cousins

We were tickled this past weekend to have my grandma Veldkamp and the VanKlei family join us in Billings for a day and a half.

The girls were eager to show grandma great their room, play croquet and show off. What they didn't know is how much they would adore my cousins as well. Alyssa, Kyli and Riley were all excellent at playing and interacting with the girls. Aliya especially took a liking to Riley.

The big girls had fun tubing with the VanKlei kids and Alyssa

and Kyli colored, built sand castles and even painted their fingernails. Great memories being made!

We were also fortunate to spend some time relaxing with our good friends the Eknesses this weekend.

Today, I overheard Aliya humming loudly outside, so when I peeked out to see what her and Breanne were up to...I had to grab my camera. Enjoy!

Sechlers, you may not want to view this...

Only 4 short weekends left until school begins…YIKES, we’d better pack the camper and head for the mountains. We were a bit helter-skelter leaving. Derrick returned from Butte shortly before 4pm and we left our house about 4:15. Needless to say, we forgot some stuff. You always make do, right?

We headed up to the Crazy Mountains. We’ve only seen this small range from the Interstate and never driven into them. It’s a relatively small mountain range that is truly “crazy” because it’s surrounded by rolling prairie on every side. By the time we navigated the gravel roads, it was after 6:30 and the campground was full. The off-roading sites were limited so we were forced to make do with what we could find.

We couldn’t believe how bad the mosquitoes were (you’d think we’d learn after our adventure with Melissa and Ben.) Thankfully, we made friends with some other campers who were also too late to get a site at the campground who very graciously shared some bug spray with us.

I awoke in the middle of the night and heard this distant ringing bell. I figured it was just a camper who put out bells at night to scare away bears. Soon, the ringing was closer and I hear a loud, “Bluuuuuuu.” Derrick (who was dead asleep until this) jumped up in bed and is ready to engage the bear spray. “What was that?” I think it’s a horse. As we mustered up enough courage to open the window and peer outside, we saw about a dozen horses grazing right up next to our camper. The moon was so bright, you could see everything. After the sun rose, we heard the owner call the horses and they all went home apparently.

There aren’t many trails through this mountain range and besides the Big Timber Creek that ran through the valley we camped it, there were no lakes except for those up the trail. With the extreme heat predicted for the day, we figured our best bet was to make it to the lake. Unfortunately, the lake was a 9-mile round trip hike. I won’t say it was all roses getting Madison and Breanne motivated to get there.

However, it bewilders me to no end to see how much energy they can muster up when we arrive at our destination. Let’s just say there was an endless supply of Gatorade, motivational speeches, “talkings to,” and a bit of bribing along the way.

The return trip, was marked by a mid-afternoon mountain thunderstorm which Madison and Breanne were not excited about. After the rain quit and the sun came out they were little chatter-boxes all the way back to the camper.

That evening Madison was so tired she could barely eat dinner and shortly after eating a little, she went to bed (even without having a s’more.) Our night owl Breanne did enjoy a s’more with dad and soon after, we all retired for the evening.

Everyone slept in Sunday morning and enjoyed a camping breakfast that Derrick made for us. It was great to get away and now, it’s great to be home…in air conditioning!