Annual Montana Trip

Since I grew up in Montana and still have family there, we try to visit every Summer. Son and I flew out this time for a week and enjoyed ourselves! We stayed with my dad, visited family, did a few fun things, and relaxed.

I'll just share a few photo highlights with you:

This is how you know you're in Montana - one of the displays in the airport. :)

Saw the fireworks show after an annual Summer concert on the college lawn!

Visited my sister!

Scored some awesome golf shoes in my size for $5 at a thrift store.

New golf shoes did not improve my score when we golfed 9 holes together. Dad won of course - how can you go wrong when you start out with 7 pars in a row? Now if they would make it a Par 7 course instead of Par 3, I would be considered an awesome golfer. ;)

Went to the museum that I hadn't been to since childhood and was glad to see a couple things that I remembered, including this white buffalo named "Big Medicine."

I never miss a chance to go to The Parrot! I did share this sundae with my dad - all the ice cream is homemade and so are the toppings. SO delicious!!

My Aunt & Uncle gave us some hand-picked raspberries, so dad and I made raspberry freezer jam. I did get to taste it before I left - delish!!

We did a few other things that I didn't get pics of and I visited a few relatives on both sides of the family. And we ate out...a LOT. Mostly we enjoyed not getting up too early, hanging out with dad, and playing card games in the evening. Other than flight delays there and back, the trip was a good one!

Do you take a family trip in the Summer? Have you been to Montana?

Have a blessed day friends!

Birthday Memories

With my birthday almost here {I'll be 43!}, I've been remembering birthdays from childhood. Ah yes, the days *before* parties at restaurants, giving goody bags to guests, and special themes. :)

I didn't have many formal parties - they were mainly family parties. That meant that we went to my grandparents' house to have cake and ice cream! And it also meant that there would be one of 2 cakes - strawberry cake made by my grandmother or a made-from-scratch and decorated with homemade frosting sheet cake made by my great aunts!

This was one of those Strawberry Cake birthdays {17th birthday, I think - and, yes it was the 80's}.

I did have a big 16th birthday party with friends who also had their 16th birthdays around the same times. We had a costume party at my dad's place - very fun! That's me on the right and my "costume" is just that of a party girl - LOL! I rented a vintage dress from a shop and wore my mother's rhinestone necklace.

But the party that sticks out in my mind is from 4th grade. I have a pic of it somewhere, but I don't know where {I can picture the photo in my mind, including me in my favorite light blue floral dress from K-Mart with my light blue windbreaker over it}. That was the year I actually had a party with some female classmates invited over!

Mom made the cake with her homemade boiled frosting {seems like it's called 7-minute frosting}, topped with sprinkles. There was no party plan - the girls just came over and we had cake and ice cream and played games. That was all good, except that it didn't end well. My memory is very blurred on this, but I believe we were playing outside and I became unhappy with how things were going - either people weren't doing what I wanted {'cause I was a very bossy child} or a couple girls were being mean in my opinion. Basically, as far as I can remember, I told them all to go home! Nice, huh?! And I think they did leave early or they all went inside and waited for their parents while I stayed outside.

Um, maybe the birthday girl should have had a talking-to? Maybe my mom did talk to me. If so, I guarantee that I strongly justified my actions because of how truly wronged I was and at my very own party too! Such a strong-willed stubborn girl - sigh.

Good times - LOL! Overall though, my birthdays were good! It's fun to think back through them and see how times and people have changed. {Hopefully I've changed for the better - yikes!}

Did you have big birthday parties as a child? What birthday memories do you have?

This is Post 8 of my blogging challenge - I'm running behind!

Have a blessed day friends!

My 5 Year Blogaversary!

Since I still wasn't feeling well, I did not get this posted in time. But let's pretend like I did {I'll even backdate it} - LOL! So that means YESTERDAY TODAY is my 5 Year Blogaversary!!! Woo Hoo!!! That's like...1/20th of a century! :)

It's an amazing feeling to have been blogging for 5 years! That's a long time to keep up with something, especially for me! I think that might even be an example of my 2013 One Word: Diligence! :) How many posts is that? Well, with blogging breaks and all, it comes out to 943 published posts. Getting close to 1000 - yay!

Thank you for being here and for reading my blog!! Without you, I wouldn't be here. Really. Just knowing that somebody is out there reading {even if you don't comment!} helps me to keep on going. I truly appreciate you.

I thought it would be fun to share a few past posts in groups of 5 to reflect back a little. And yes, I thought 5 groups of 5 would be cool, but I thought it was just too much - so I went with 3. You're welcome. :)

5 Posts To Help You Know Me Better:

• Just One Son
• Honoring My Hubby
• Why The Garbage Truck Makes Me Smile
• A Little Something About Me
• Sharing Childhood Stories ~ Dads Can Be Embarassing

5 Posts of Fave Chocolate Recipes:

Double Chocolate Walnut Biscotti

 

Flourless Chocolate Cake with Chocolate Glaze

Mix-In-The-Pan Chocolate Cake

Toffee Cookies

Frozen Chocolate Mousse

5 Top-Viewed Posts {That aren't recipes or giveaways}: 

• No Shampoo: Baking Soda & ACV Hair Update Part 3
• Chocolate Friday: Chocolate Chat on Cocoa Powder
• Florida Trip ~ Creatures on the Beach
• My Mother Was Mentally Ill
• Coffee Break In-a-Box

Always interesting to look back at what's been written. What kinds of posts might be written in the next 5 years? I really don't know! Maybe we can find out together! :)

Time for a surprise giveaway in honor of my Blogaversary! Aren't you glad you read all the way down to here?! To help you stop and smell the chocolates - one sweet reader will win the following...

 All you have to do is use the handy dandy Rafflecopter widget below to enter {just follow the instructions - it's not hard!}. Do tell me in the comments if you like/don't like using Rafflecopter to enter a giveaway.


a Rafflecopter giveaway

Whether or not you're entering the giveaway, I'd love to read your comments on any feedback you have if you've been following along here for a while. 

Or tell me about a favorite post I did, or a series that you liked, or a recipe that you found here and use all the time! 

If you're new here {or even if you're not!} - what do you see that makes you want to come back again?  

Thanks again for reading my blog and making 5 years possible! Hugs to all!! :)

Are you a blogger or do you want to start a blog? Start one now or restart one or post more on the blog you have! If I can stick around for 5 years, then I know you can manage a few blog posts! You can do it! :)

This makes Post 7 of my 22-post challenge, though I'm off by a day so will have to double up somewhere!

Have a blessed day friends!

Remembering Buster

We had to say good-bye to our Basset Hound, Buster, this past week. He had been very sick for quite a while and we knew it was time. He was 12 1/2 years old and had a good old spoiled life here with us! Still it was hard to say good-bye and we are trying to get used to not having him as a part of our daily lives. I thought I'd just share some Buster pics from the blog today - hope you don't mind!

If you're interested in reading any of the Buster posts, you can find them here. As you can see, most of the pics show Buster doing what he liked best - laying around and taking it easy! :)

Buster will be missed.

Have you had to say good-bye to a pet? Would love to hear about your sweet pets of the past in the comments!

Have a blessed day friends!

Five Minute Friday ~ Wonder

This is the last Five Minute Friday with The Gypsy Mama for this year {coming back in January}! Even though I haven't participated many times, I have really enjoyed it! To take part, just follow the one-word prompt, write for 5 minutes without editing {obviously I fix misspellings, etc.} or over-thinking, post it, link it, and visit other 5 Minute Friday writers.

Start...
 
Wonder

When I think of wonder I think of child-like wonder and it brings me back to a specific memory from my childhood.

I was very young and in church with my parents - not our usual church, so we must have been attending with the grandparents. This church had a steeple that was open and above the altar. It had pretty stained glass in the top and large wooden beams going across the opening.

I whispered to my mom - Where does Jesus live? She silently pointed & looked up - meaning Heaven of course. But I was young and I took her meaning literally.

In wonder and amazement, I looked toward the steeple - I could only see partway into it. That was where Jesus lived! I pictured him carefully balancing, hopping from one beam to the other so he wouldn't fall through. And I wondered how he got his food and water up there - did he come down into the church at night for it? I kept trying to catch a glimpse of the bottom of his brown robe, but never did.

Of course I learned the truth later, but if anything the feeling of wonder has only grown over the years as I learn more about Jesus and even my grownup mind cannot fully comprehend it all.

May we all look to Jesus with child-like wonder.

Stop.

Let me know if you are joining in for Five Minute Friday so I can come read! Even if you're not a blogger, this is a great writing exercise to do - and hey - it only takes 5 minutes! :)

If you enjoyed stopping and smelling the chocolates with me, I'd love it if you click to Subscribe to Stop and Smell the Chocolates by Email or RSS!

Have a blessed day friends!

13 Years of Birthday Treats

My kiddo is having a birthday this week - he'll be 13!!! I'll be the mom of a teenager! Crazy! Of course hubs and I have been thinking about years past with our son - so many wonderful memories. Since I'm such a dessert-lover, I thought it would be fun to look back by remembering his birthday cakes/treats!

1st Birthday: Costco cake for all the people (big party/barbecue with church friends and relatives in the park) and I made a little cake for kiddo with a box cake mix and a can of frosting! He loved destroying that!

2nd Birthday: I think Costco cake again! We had a party at a park with family.

3rd Birthday: Cupcakes & frosting from a mix, with an Elmo theme! We went to Chuck E Cheese and kiddo loved it!

4th Birthday: Hmmm...kind of a blur as we were moving right around then. I think we may have gone to Chuck E Cheese again and we probably had cupcakes again.

5th Birthday: Costco cake - for the many people! Big party in the park and then rented out the play pool section at the local pool. So much fun on a hot day!!

6th Birthday: Cupcakes (probably from a mix again) while we got together with another family at Chuck E Cheese. Incredibles theme that time!

7th Birthday: My homemade extravaganza year - the Chocolate-Malt Ice Cream Cake. Yum. We had it at home after kiddo went mini-golfing and out to lunch with a couple friends.

8th Birthday: I *think* I bought a cake or cupcakes and we had it at the bowling alley where he bowled with 3 friends.

9th Birthday: Stuck out-of-state (my Stepmother had passed away), but kiddo asked me to make Cookies & Cream Dessert for that one.

10th Birthday: Kiddo likes vanilla, so I made him a from-scratch white cake with vanilla butter cream frosting. He enjoyed it but said it didn't compare with store-bought cake...meaning the store-bought was better - LOL! More bowling with friends before coming home for cake and ice cream that year!

11th Birthday: A quiet birthday, but I made him Classic Pound Cake. Kiddo LOVED it!!

12th Birthday: Another quiet one as he came back from a back-packing trip - but a couple days later I made him Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough Cupcakes (from TidyMom). Yummy!

13th Birthday: Kiddo decided that this year he wants Creamy Baked Cheesecake, with some sliced fresh strawberries on the side. And then after he told me that, he asked me to stop talking about it because it was making his mouth water - LOL!! I thought I would be planning a big party, but I got out of it! Turns out hubs will be taking kiddo and friends to an amusement park for the day - kiddo's first time there!

Do you buy cakes or make cakes for your kiddos' birthdays? Or do they choose different types of birthday desserts?


Oh, and any advice for raising a teenager?! :)

If you enjoyed stopping and smelling the chocolates with me, I'd love it if you click to Subscribe to Stop and Smell the Chocolates by Email or RSS!  


Have a blessed day filled with special memories and lots of love!

Sharing Childhood Stories {Dads Can Be So Embarrassing}

My son likes hearing stories from my childhood. He especially enjoys hearing stories of how my dad embarrassed me. My son laughs and laughs and asks to hear those stories again.

1988 {Yes, I'm THAT old}

As if the black dress socks with shorts weren't embarrassing enough! 

When I was a teenager, Dad and I would often head to fast food restaurants for lunch after church. When we would go to McDonald's - I would place my order and then the cashier would ask dad what he wanted. He would look up and look over the menu - undecided, as if he hadn't seen the menu a hundred times before. And then this is what he would say {every.time.}:

"Hmmm...what's that, uh, Happy Meal there? Is that any good?"

As an adult, I would just laugh at this! As a teenager, I wanted to sink into the floor. I would inform him that it was a meal for KIDS. And then he would chuckle and order something else.

There was another fast food place where he would order the same thing every time - the fish sandwich. Except that this place didn't have a fish sandwich, which he knew quite well. And every time, I wanted to hide my face in my hands and shake my head. LOL!

Of course, there was also the time that Dad was driving and me, my sis and 2 cousins were in the back seat, admiring a handsome young man on a motorcycle. Dad made sure to honk a few times, wave at the guy, and point to us in the back seat. We all sunk down as low as we could!! "Daaaaaaaad!!!!" How *could* he?! 

By the way, Dad still likes to embarrass me - he managed to do it in a retirement home last year {look at #10 in the post!}.

Love you Dad!!!  :)

These are little stories and not anything all that traumatic, but they stuck in my memory and oh how my son loves to hear them. I enjoy passing on the little day-to-day stories that give my son snapshots of my life as a kid. We shouldn't forget to share these stories with our children - they find them fascinating {you know, like how we had to rent a VCR to watch a movie or how we didn't own a microwave - *gasp*}!

Do you share your childhood stories with your kids? What are their favorite things to hear about?

Maybe you can stop and share a story right now! Start out...Did I ever tell you about the time...

If you like "hanging out" with me while we stop and smell the chocolates, feel free to "Like" my Facebook page!

Have a blessed and hopefully not embarrassing day friends!! :)

The Story Of The Styles, Part 1

Did you enjoy checking out my 80's hairstyles yesterday?  I thought you might enjoy some of the explanations, but I'll break it up into parts and share over the next week or so.

Ah yes, this first pic is my school pic for Sophmore year.  Not the best angle to appreciate the hairstyle, but I was enjoying the shorter hair and side part (new to me)!  I also had just had a friend help me with highlighting my hair (you can hardly tell - LOL).  Remember the plastic cap with holes and the hook you used to pull little pieces of hair through to highlight?  Ouch!  I love this pic because of the double collars standing up and all the color coordination - hee,hee!  Sooooo 80's.

This pic is about 6 months later - so what happened??  LOL!  This does have a story!

Well, my friends and I heard about a hair show and went to sign up for it.  It was a show for hair stylists to see the new styles and ways to cut hair.  The "models" had no say in what kind of haircut they would get.  I think there were at least 15-20 of us "models."  The stylists were going to cut some of the hair backstage and then show it off on the runway, but they chose me to cut on stage during the show.  They asked me if I was willing to go *shorter* and I said yes as I was excited about a new stylish cut!

They told us to come back the day of the show wearing men's clothing (since that was a cool look at the time) and they helped us with our makeup backstage.  My friends got their haircuts and looked cute (though they weren't necessarily happy with them at the time).  Then it was my turn!

Out on stage I went and sat in the chair with stage lights on me!  I bent my head down and then I heard a noise...clippers!!!  Oh yes!!!  They started buzzing the hair off the back of my head and the sides too.  Wow - wonder what my facial expression was - LOL!  Then they used scissors on the top and cut longer pieces for a sort of "new wave" look.  Then I had to get up and walk the runway to show everybody and I had NO IDEA what my hair looked like!!!

I was quite shocked but I actually did like it!  It was cool and I liked the attention at school.  And my philosophy always was "Hair grows back."  The pic above was taken by my Dad after I came home from the show!  Can you imagine what he was thinking?  His semi-normal daughter left for a hair show and came back with no hair - LOL!!  And that blazer, shirt and tie all came out of my Dad's closet - a bit of leftover wardrobe from the 60's-70's I guess!  In case you were wondering, that was my "serious model look."  I would have done a hair toss if I had any left.  :)

Such fun memories!  I'll cover Part 2 next week, 'cause you're fascinated, I know.

Don't forget: tomorrow is CHOCOLATE Friday!!  Write up a chocolate post or find an old one and bring it here to link up!

Have a great day friends!

Wordless Wednesday: It Was All About The Hair

I finally found some pics that I knew I had put *somewhere safe* (and then couldn't find for a couple years)!  I just knew you were wanting to see the good old 80's hair days and how many different hairstyles I had - LOL!  I decided not to explain any of the pics today.  I'll give you some of the stories behind the pics tomorrow!  Raise your hand if you had one of these styles...

That's me in the mustard yellow jacket!

For more fun pics, stop by Wordless Wednesday at 5 Minutes For Mom!

Have a wonderful day friends!