Brad turns...

and Hannah and Brad both work on their cake decorating skills.

This is as far as we got until we just wanted to eat it.



I wanted to practice some decorating so I put half the cake in the freezer for decorating later and we both played around with this one for fun.

The Bosch

So for my birthday Brad picked up this Bosch mixer for me. It looked about 100 years old when I first saw it but with a little elbow grease and a dish washer it looks only 30 years old now. But it works great. It is just like the one I grew up with; a little bit of home in this far away country. Bonus: it came with a bushel of attachments that I had never seen before.


So, I decided to try them out. We have been getting onions every week in our CSA bag. That's great, but we use them really slowly and I have a serious problems with onions, the kill my eyes. So I like to cut a bunch up at once (or make Brad do it) and freeze them for later use. Here's what I did today.

onions- I had to peel, chop off ends and cut into quarters if large, but that's it


Knife blade on the Bosch, the lid has a chimney and a stuffer thing (you can see it in the above picture)


and a whole bowl of cut onions !


All bagged up and headed to the freezer.


This thing worked like a charm. I did shed a few tears but it was doable. Plus, I have onions in the freezer for the next year! They work great on anything you are cooking, soups, pizza, stir-fry, vegetable stock, pot roast, eggs...

There are also shredder attachments that I want to try, like for zucchini/carrots/cheese etc. I also am pretty sure the blender is way better than the one we bought at Target. I will try that out and let you know.
The other bonus, everything goes in the dish washer on air dry and your done!
Happy Happy Birthday indeed!

Catch up

My mom made this adorable baby sweater to match the blanket that I am making. She finished it in about 6 days, while the blanket will probably take me several months. Isn't it lovely? Soft and white.



This is the part of the blanket that I have done, it has a star pattern throughout and is actually pretty complicated; that why it's taking me a long time.



In other news, we have wanted a dish washer for a while but just couldn't decide what to get and if it was worth it/would fit/would even work. But, our friends bought one and then we got really jealous and had to have one for ourselves. It's like we're some rich couple in a ritzy apartment now, us and our dishwasher. It already has stuff piled on it; frankly our kitchen is just small.



And now our dish rack is so lonely and empty all the time, I should put some flowers in it or something.

It may be small but it's always open

That's my new slogan for Hotel Rochester. I really had a blast with Mom and Evey here to visit. I got to make delicious foods, stay up late watching Heroes, go shopping with sister and mother with similar tastes and body types, visit all the fun places around Rochester and forget all my regular schedules and activities. Sound good to anyone else? We would love to have anyone come who wants to.

Here are some highlights from the trip.

Erie Canal Trail

Easy Apple Cake (actually not so easy, but yummy)

live chickens at the Public Market



lots of flowers at the market

and two words, funnel cakes, Mom didn't know that she was taking a video and neither did we! but it sure was funny to watch us get ready to take a picture.

Looking at fall colors in the Sacred Grove


Looking up at the Palmyra Temple


Fall colors at "Thundering Waters" or Niagara


Moroni Monument atop Hill Cumorah, we took the dirt-path less traveled and it was special and unique



This little guy was visiting Niagara(well he probably lived there) and we almost stepped on him




Thanks for the fun visit and come again soon!

Oh Fall

I can't believe it. I was walking yesterday and heard the crunch of dried leaves under my feet. I wore a sweatshirt to go running in yesterday morning. We have already closed the windows at night and I am thinking about putting an extra blanket on the bed. What is this? It can't be fall already cause we never even had summer.

Granted, fall is a really beautiful time here. But, all I can think about is winter and COLD. So, for the record, I am not happy that it is cooling off. I would love to send a few more months at the pool, or going out in my flip flops, or eating ice cream in the sunshine. Maybe I should get myself a new coat to help ease the transition, what do you think?

In other news we want to have one more fling outdoors. Anyone want to join us? It means getting all our camping gear dirty and we probably have to bring extra jackets and blankets but it will be worth it.

Also, I made a tasty rhubarb crumble from grandma Hyatt's recipe except I added strawberries from grandma Carter's recipe and I think it turned out great. I hope our kids will be as good a blend as the crumble was. Thanks Grandmas!

Oh the joys of life

Brad said we should write in our journals and he did his, but I realized that I just wanted to wrote on the blog. It's more interactive and people give me their sympathy. ;)

Today I am starting to feel normal again, not completely, but I at least feel in control of myself again. Brad and I were so excited when we learned that we were finally pregnant. Then we learned that our baby was not "viable" at 7 weeks. Then we waited for the inevitable bleeding and cramping to start. We waited and we waited. All the time I am trying to convince myself that the baby really is not "viable" and that it is not just slow-growing but going to be fine. Oh, and also all the time I am on the verge of throwing up, bloated and grumpy. At week 12 we had another look and yes, "the pregnancy is breaking up." I took misoprostol because it was "that or a D&C", according to my Dr. That was one month ago.

Now, after being pregnant then having to"deliver" over the course of a week or so, I think my hormones are starting to get back to normal. Though, if I start bawling in your kitchen just pat my back and don't bring it up again (thanks Jodie). And if I come up with crazy ideas or drastic life changes just go along with it (as long as I don't spend too much money) and let me come to my own senses (thanks everyone, especially Brad). And if I want to eat Fruit Loops every morning don't finish the box! (you know who you are)

Thanks to everyone for being so supportive and helpful.

We are excited to try, try again for a baby. I wonder what kind of mom I will be, especially after an experience like this. Will I be patient enough? Will I have enough love to get through the tantrums and "I hate you" years? I hope that, if anything, I am learning patience through all of this. I don't think I have had to wait or work very hard for many things in my life; I'll be the first to admit that I have had it easy. So maybe it was time for my lesson in life. I am starting to think that we all have to have this lesson in some form: no one gets off easy. So those of you out there who feel that you have it easy, don't get too comfortable!

Now I can go write in my journal for reals.

The cake!

I made the frosting with real semi-sweet chocolate squares (something I never do) boy was it good! I put most of it in the freezer cause how are we supposed to eat all that? But, we are eating it pretty fast nonetheless.

Thank You All!

We got Brad's board score yesterday. It was a ray of sunshine in a dreary week. We are very surprised and delighted; he did very well. Good enough to get him where he wants to go. We really appreciate all the thoughts and prayers that have been heading this way. We don't know how we got through it but we know we have been upheld by all of you! I am making him (and me) a chocolate cake with chocolate frosting.

Brad is now busy in his OB rotation. He has been working with infertility this last week which we thought was ironic and convenient (for several reasons). He does the night shift next week at the hospital.

"hopefully I will deliver some babies, well actually it's the mothers who really deliver the babies but maybe I will get to be there to catch" -classic Brad

Forked Lake, Adirondacks

Hannah and I went on a 4-day camping trip to enjoy the summertime and to celebrate the completion of my board exam. We've been wanting to go to the Adirondacks since we moved here, and someone recommended Forked Lake (said "fork-ed," similar to "crooked"). The drive was about 5 hours, and it was well worth it. Hannah had selected a secluded campsite; the only way to get there was by canoe.

Here we are loading the canoe. We had some rain, but we never got soaked through; our stuff stayed dry for the most part.

Hannah and I both improved our rowing/paddling skills. Our first trip to the campsite took about 45 minutes, but by the last day, we did it in 25 minutes.

Here's a view of our campsite.

In this close-up you can see our bear box and the "facilities."

Before we had the canoe unloaded, Hannah had her new hamock up and running. She was really excited about it. We both enjoyed reading and relaxing in the hamock.

This is one of the hikes we went on; these are called "Buttermilk Falls."

I had a lot of chopping to get out of my system after being stuck in class all year.

We hiked the tallest peak in the region, "Blue Mountain." It was a steep hike, with lots of slick rock like this.

At the peak, they had this tower so you could get above the trees and take in the view.

Here is one of the many lakes you can see from the top of the tower.
Here we are in the tower.

As I mentioned before, our campsite was very secluded. One day I decided to take a bath in the lake. Hannah stood on our dock to hold my towel and soap. After about 2 minutes of being in the water, I felt a sharp bite in an unmentionable spot and jumped out of the water. We're pretty sure it was the small fish that hung out around the dock. We saw them come up when we rinsed our dishes--they were there for the food. At one point they also nibbled my toes and my fingers. We were really surprized at how tame they were. I hit a few with a stick, but I wasn't able to catch them with my hands. They were some mean fish!

Lastly, this is one of Hannah's magic tricks. It may look like she doesn't have any legs, but actually she's just snuggled into a tiny ball. Thanks Hannah for planning such a fun trip!

Off to the Strawberry Patch

Aren't they beautiful?





This is as many as we though we could use before they went bad.





We've been eating them on granola, in yogurt, on cake, in a tall glass of ice water, dipped in chocolate, and I have plans for a shortcake here pretty soon. Also got some sweet peas at this same farm, very tasty. If you want to go just give me a call, I want to go back again soon.