Cooking Club

A few weeks ago my friend invited me to be a part of a cooking club. How could I resist a night out dedicated to fun time with friends and good food?! The concepts are.... (1) no husbands allowed, (2) kids are allowed, (3) hostess makes an entree dish to serve the ladies, (4) everyone else brings one thing... a bottle of wine, an appetizer, a salad, a dessert, or kid-friendly food. And the last, most important concept is that you have to share the recipe! (Thanks, Michelle...you put it so nicely. :) ) Last night I brought the dessert, Chocolate Addiction Cake. We all had so much fun eating, chatting, laughing and well...eating. Our Summer Harvest menu featured the following yummy food:


I'm already looking forward to next month and more opportunities to hang out with some of my new girlfriends.

swimming

BIBLE!

Garden

Have I mentioned that my garden has done incredibly well this summer?? I can hardly believe how much I have harvested. The week we were at camp I harvested 37 cucumbers (i have 2 cucumber plants) 9 on Monday before we left and 28 when we returned home! I have given neighbors and friends buckets of cucumbers, bell peppers, tomatoes and jalapenos. It has been so much fun. I have 3 or 4 ears of corn that are ready to be picked and my watermelon is almost ready too. Here's a few updated pictures:

One of my big loads of cucumbers

The watermelon plant has grown crazy big!

The fruit is getting big too!

This is my corn about 3 weeks ago

Camp

We love going to summer camp with the youth group!! We set up our own little camp and had a great time with everyone.

Elliana is ready for some mountain biking:

Noah too!
So very handsome
This one is super blurry, but so, so sweet
Bath time camp style:

Dentist

Noah had his second dentist appointment this month. Well, it was the second appointment, but first real appointment. He did awesome. He had fun using all of the instruments and was so cooperative the entire time. And most importantly, he has a mouth full of perfectly healthy teeth. :)

Honestly, he's the most handsome 3 year old I know. :)

Minnesota

Last week Hylke and I left the kiddos and headed to Minnesota for our dear friends wedding. We took a red eye early Thursday morning and returned Sunday afternoon. We had so much fun with our college friends. We all (well, most of us) rented a house and spent lots of time laughing, sharing and crying (mostly from the laughing). It had been 5 or 6 years since we'd seen most of these friends, and yet, it was though no time had passed at all. The group of us came from California, Illinois, Virgina, Massachusetts, Ohio and Yemen! I got to know some new girls while the guys spent a night camping. Girl time anywhere is a good time. :) One thing I've realized this summer (actually...I've always known) I'm terrible at taking pictures. I bring my camera, and never take pictures. I never remember extra charged batteries and I really don't know the best settings on my camera. All that to say...here are some pictures of our weekend...unfortunately there aren't many great pictures!

Hylke and Jamie at the rehearsal:

The kiss
one of the few of just us

The first dance

After a night full of dancing. We were soooo gross!

long time, no post

What can I say? It's been a full summer! I promise to get back on the blogging bandwagon...soon. :) I'm actually up at camp this week (yay for wireless internet at camp!) but wanted to share this picture:
I'm continuing to have so much fun with my garden!! I picked all of these before I left for camp on Monday morning. I know I will have a ton waiting for me when I return. We've had such a great crop of cucumbers, tomatoes, bell peppers jalapeno peppers, cilantro and basil.