Good Eats

First Weekend @ Home

1. Barely beat the rain while updating our Heilman family picture.  

It worked out great!  

We posed outside at my parent's house.  

It was hella hot but worth it.

2. We met friends at Hacienda for dinner and got a mudslide.

3. Got to go to church with the whole family.  

Then went shopping with most of the girls.

4. Allie waved bye bye to me, smiled, said bye 

and reached for a hug!  She's getting so big!!

5. LOTS of family time

6. My MIL invited us over for a dinner of homemade deliciousness.  Friend chicken, chicken & dumplings, homemade mashed potatoes, black eyed peas, and chocolate cake for dessert!

Packing

 Packing at my house looks like this:
1. Topher trying to find a way into our suitcases.
2. Oliver knows we are leaving and eats to comfort himself :)
3. iPad charged and ready to go with our latest music
4. Best. travel. snack. ever.
5. No trip is complete without Vera!
6. Husband signing in to Southwest ASAP so we are "A"s and get to pick the best window seats on the plane where I can look at the window when it gets bumpy to ensure that we are not going down.
7.  Lengthy instructions for our kittysitter (includes important info like Pet ER, the boys likes/dislikes, pictures and way too many VITAL instructions so that our boys are REALLY well taken care of), chocolates & payment too!
8. My "Must Pack" and "Must Do" Lists before flying out!

Summer Tutoring

I gave each of my students a yummy bag of treats with a note saying that it was a treat to work with them this summer.

Almost didn't want to open it because it was so pretty!

I found these adorable cupcake measuring spoons inside along with a gift card to one of my favorite little shops.  They know I love to bake so it was extra thoughtful and unexpected.

Summer Treats

Smoothie: 2 ripe bananas, handful of fresh strawberries, frozen peaches, blueberries and raspberries.  Blend (my $13 blender does a great job!)  Eat your heart out Jamba Juice.

 I was inspired to make these cupcakes by this link blueberry-lemon cupcakes.  I followed most of the recipe but only used one lemon and one small container of blueberries.  I also added more confectioners sugar to the icing recipe.  I'd suggest juicing your lemon in a small glass instead of directly into the mixer so you avoid having to fish lemon seeds out of the cake batter.  Not that I know anything about that...  I also thought they were best right out of the oven when they had slightly cooled.

Boys

I've been hanging out with these boys all summer.  We have been working hard to keep their school skills sharp and just enjoy each others company.  Since it was our last day together, I decided to plan an afternoon of fun for them.

After lunch at Paradise Cafe, we came to meet the cats.  Sorry for the blurry picture!  I was laughing because the cats loved the boys SO much!  Oliver gave J-D lots of kitty kisses :)

We fed the ducks.

C got really good at this... notice the duck in mid jump to get the bread out of his hand? 

The boys were like duck whisperers.  They had ducks eating out of their hands right and left.

Mesmerized by bread crumbs.

Oliver is a big boy and he loved the attention that he got from the boys today.  We headed out for some ice cream to wrap up the afternoon.

Please keep these boys in your prayers because...
1. They lost their mom about 7 months ago.
     for more details see this post: Mrs. Berg
2. Their dad travels with his job and they are in need of a GREAT nanny.
3. They are only 8 and 11 and have a lot on their plate right now.
4. They are missing their mom and trying to define a new normal.
5. Their dad needs prayers too as he's trying to care for 3 kids alone

Highlights of the day:
1. Listening to the boys giggle in the backseat
as I drove them around today.
2. JD showed me his iPhone to check out his apps
and the background picture is of his mom... .
3. We laughed the afternoon away playing Apples to Apples.
4. We talked about the upcoming football season
and how we were looking forward to watching games again.
5. They are cat lovers and really enjoyed meeting
Oliver and Topher.
6. They had never fed ducks before.

Cupcake Love

Kevin had a really busy day today 

so I figured he might appreciate a sweet treat 

to celebrate making it through his L-O-N-G day.  

I got a chocolate and PB for me, 

Cookies and Cream for him 

and a Fairyfetti for us to share :)

     

7th Anniversary

Our Park City anniversary get away included shopping at the outlet malls, visiting the mall cookie shop, Kevin swimming at the hotel and the two of us lounged in the sun & enjoyed the cooler temps up in the mountains.

Garlic knots with homemade marinara dipping sauce were DELISH!

Happy 7th Anniversary!  We ate on the patio of NYPC and enjoyed the view.  I was sitting facing the mountains so I offered to switch Kevin seats so he could have the lovely, moutainy view.  He wouldn't take my offer because he said that he had a lovely view from his seat of ME!  Silly Kevin...

Strolled through the streets of Park City.  They had strings of lights strung up everywhere.

Wrapped up the evening with a brownie/Snickers treat from Coldstone and watched Iron Man.

Lazy Afternoons

Afternoons at our house involve a lot of kitty snoozing!  They find a comfy spot (favorite is an unmade bed) and sleep the day away. 
Look at these cute paws :) 

Lucky Number 7

Our wedding was perfect... 

Exactly 7 months after Kevin proposed 

on Christmas Eve.

We spend months planning and everything came together without a hitch.

July 24, 2004 was an unseasonably cool, slightly cloud covered day in Indiana.

The perfect combination of hot pink and light pink with gray black tuxes.

Pink programs

Beautiful wedding music

Classic car escort

Hot pink and light pink roses everywhere

candlelight

Square cake to match my princess cut ring.

Lots of family and friends came.

The first Heilman kid wedding was a BIG success.

This picture captures our excitement for the big day perfectly :)

All time favorite picture of my parents.

Funny fact: We didn't get a chance to eat ANY of our cake that night.  Mom & Dad took home the top level and put it in the freezer for a year.  We thawed it out and at it on our one year anniversary!  Surprisingly, it tasted great!

C.L.A.S.S.I.C... would love to have this framed GIANT size someday...

Not the traditional book but it was my mom's great idea.  It is hanging in our dining room now; we look at it daily and think of all the fun people that were at our wedding!