Oh Baby...

Baby showers are so much fun, I can't wait until I get to have one. Last night I went to the Quad Cities for my friend Crystal's shower. Crystal and I have been friends since we were little girls playing together at LA camp. Her baby is not due until July but her Grandmother was in town and so they had the shower early, so she could have some family there.

Doesn't she look so cute.
This is the best picture I got of the bib and burp cloth I knitted for her, I was

writing the gifts down for her. By the way, she loved the set. (Yeah)

Here are a few of us that were at the party. We all were at BMI at the

same time. Melanie Cable, Me, Crystal Gilchirst, Tammy Fruh.

Crystal and Tammy are due about a week apart and both

are supposed to have girls.

Well anyway as you can tell I had a wonderful time, the two hour drive there and back weren't so bad after all. It is so much fun to get to be with

my friends again. I would love to spend some time with some of you friends too.

Favorite Cookbook?

Yesterday I cleaned out my kitchen cabinets and got all my cookbook out. I decided they needed to be in a handier location than on the top cabinet shelf. As you can tell I love Gooseberry Patch books. They have wonderful recipes made with everyday ingredients, I dislike cookbooks that use things I can't even say. I would love to know if any of you have a favorite cookbook or recipe.

Here are all my Gooseberry books. Eric took a look at the shelf and said "And you want more?"
My entire collection of cookbooks (for now) . Here is one of our favorite recipes from the book Almost Homemade by Gooseberry Patch.

Fiesta Taco Pie
8-oz. tube refrigerated crescent rolls

8-oz. can tomato sauce

1 c. nacho cheese chips crushed and divided

1-1/4 oz. pkg. taco seasoning mix

1 lb. ground beef

3 T. sour cream

1 onion, chopped

1 c. shredded Cheddar cheese

Separate crescent rolls and line an ungreased 9" pie plate with them; press together to form a pie crust. Sprinkle with 1/3 cup crushed tortilla chips and set aside. Brown ground beef and onion in a skillet; drain. Add tomato sauce and taco seasoning; simmer for 5 minutes. Pour into pie plate. Spread sour cream over top; sprinkle cheese and remaining chips. Bake at 350 degrees for 20 minutes. Makes 6 to 8 servings. Enjoy!

Easter Pictures

Well we had a very good Easter, except for me having a very bad cold. Here are a few pictures that we took after church. I actually got Eric to wear his suit and take some pics before he hurriedly changed out of it.

My Handsome Husband!
The Happy Couple
And little old me.

Happy Easter

Happy Easter from our house to yours. We trust everyone has a wonderful Easter and remember the reason why we have this holiday. Let us not forget that Jesus died and rose again to make a way for us to live with him forever. Have a blessed Easter Weekend and don't forget to eat lots of candy. Love, Eric & Melissa

A day with Payton.

Well yesterday started out as a beautiful day, the sun was shining and the temperature was rising. So Eric kindly took Payton and I on a four wheeler ride, that little chatter box talked to entire time we were riding. When it came time for Eric to go to work she kept asking for more rides, I believe spring fever has even hit the two year old.
After Payton got up from her nap we dyed some eggs. She thought this was very fun and I had to make sure she did not drink the water. Yuck! It all turned out OK, and we ended up with some pretty eggs. I still love to dye eggs, I guess I am still a kid at heart.
Here are some of the finished product. Payton was quite proud of the eggs and wanted to eat them, she does not realize that they are boiled. Maybe I will let her try one on Monday.

Giraffes and Donuts

I LOVE my Mother in-law. Well to explain my show of extreme gratitude I will tell you one of the things I love most in life is Krispy Kreme donuts. I can eat them hot, cold or even a couple days old. As you can tell I really do like them, in fact I even have two different Krispy Kreme Christmas ornaments. :) Well to make a long story short me mother in-law went to Des Moines yesterday for business and brought me (well I guess us) a dozen donuts. I am in Heaven.
Payton was playing in the closet today and found a giraffe costume I have. She wanted to wear it, I couldn't resist getting a few pics of her. I thought this one turned out so cute.

The goings on...

Well not much has been happening in the great Midwest since the last time I updated my wonderful fan club. Sunday was our foreign missions tour and so we had a potluck after church, that make it real nice not having to fix a whole meal but come Monday it's not so fun when you remember you don't have leftovers for your husbands lunch.
Anyway I thought I would tell you about a blog my mom told me about. It is a decorating blog with so very neat ideas and links. It is a holiness woman's blog, she is also the editor of "Ladies Companion" a holiness paper for ladies. It is a very good paper recipes, decorating tips and spiritual articles. I highly recommend the paper. Well enough of my rambling here is the link. Until next time!

Spring or not?

Hello to everyone out in blogging world. We have not been doing much around here except hanging out and enjoying the spring weather, the last few days have been in the 50's and 60's. Payton has loved being able to play outside, playing on the swing set, picking up sticks and having Melissa chase her are just a few of the things she like to do when we are able to go out.

Here is the little trucker, she loved "driving" and honking the air horn. Eric just had to show her where the horn was. :)
Finally getting to swing, it has been a long winter and it is not quite over.
After those few days of nice weather, we woke up to this. I don't know what is going on, I think spring is just trying to tempt us by poking it's head out now and them. I am ready for this white stuff to go away for good. Well I hope everyone has a wonderful weekend.

Spring is coming...

Well we are still alive around here and spring is trying to poke it's head out. I don't have a good excuse for not blogging in the last few days except I just didn't feel like it. Yesterday the weather was warmer in the low 50's, Payton was very happy to get to play on her swing set for
awhile and it was nice to just breath in some fresh air. Just wanted to let all my fan's know that we are OK up here in Iowa. Well got to go clean a grain truck for Eric, what fun.

More about my birthday...

Here is a picture of the Lemon Pie, I had for my birthday. Grandma Shaffer made it for me and it was very tasty. We had a great time eating and visiting together and of course me opening presents. No matter how old you are I don't think you ever get tired of opening presents.

This Boyds bear is from Aaron and Ashley(Eric's sister and husband). Her name I "Nora Knittinnothin", the book beside her chair is"How to knit you stress away." I just loved it, she knows my weakness.
I also got another set of china and of course money. I really had a wonderful day.
Payton wanted to help me open the gifts from Mom and Dad. I got many wonderful things from them, including another Cricut cartridge and this cute apron I am wearing. Thank you Mom and Dad I love everything.
And a big Thank You to everyone that called or sent me a card, you really helped to make to day so much more enjoyable. Well now I am off to get ready for a friends 50th birthday party, just wait in a few short years we will be celebrating my 50th.

A great birthday!

Thanks to everyone that left me birthday greetings. I enjoyed reading everyone, they helped make the day special. The celebration last night was nice, I will post pictures of it later. Just wanted to tell everyone Thanks for making the day wonderful.

Come one, come all and spend the day with me. How I wish I could have all of my friends over to help me celebrate my birthday today. Payton and I are going to do a little celebrating, open a few presents and such. Tonight Eric and I are going over to his parents for a small celebration, hopefully complete with Lemon Pie, which I requested. Sure wish all of you could be with us to help me celebrate this mile stone in my life, I am now a quarter of a century. Time sure flies when you are having fun.

"I'm a sweetheart."

OK maybe I am not a sweetheart but Payton thinks she is. Yesterday were talking about Eric being a boy, Melissa is a girl and then I asked her "What are you?" She replied "I'm a sweetheart." Well at least she is honest. This morning her mom told me that before they ate the other day Payton wanted to pray, she took their hands and said "thank you for the food Amen." I guess she is learning something, I just pray the Lord helps me be a good example for her little life. Well our weather has been crazy, Sunday it was almost 70 degrees and by Monday morning their was snow on the ground and it never got above 25 degrees all day. I don't think we need to be worried about global warming up here.

Sunny day...

Well we finally had two nice days. Yesterday and today were sunny and it was in the forties. I think spring is trying to peek it's head out. Eric's cousin Charlin is spending the weekend with us. We went shopping today, a six year old does not have much interest in "looking" for a bargain. Oh well, we are surviving and having good time. Hope everyone has a good weekend!