The Open House Back at the Coffey's

It was so good to see all of the Griffins and the Coffeys. We just love them so much and miss them. Here is BJ and Ema and Kimber and little Tucker.
Greg and Debbie haven't changed a bit.

Grandma Coffey looks the same she did that last time I saw her. Everyone looks so good.

Katie (16 1/2) and Kristi (14)...both are adorable.

Jonathan with Aaron

Candace, McKay and Kimber

Whoops!

Spencer and Leslie

Melissa and her youngest daughter, Aubrey (18 mo.)

Joseph, Annette and Kimball

Nathan and Valerie (expecting their first)

Mandy & Jonathan

Well they did it! They tied the knot! What a beautiful couple!

Look how cute Melissa is...35 weeks along and glowing like an angel.

Joseph's family. That little Kimball is adorable, he looks so much like his daddy.

Hello St. Louis

Yesterday Michael and I flew into St. Louis to meet up with the Coffeys and the Griffins for Mandy and Jonathan's wedding which will be at the St. Louis LDS temple. We are having so much fun. Yesterday we toured through historical down town St. Charles. It was so cool because it felt like we went back into time. I left my camera back at the hotel and didn't get any photos but maybe we can get back there before we leave for home.

We are in our Southwest plane on our way.
We touched down in Kansas City Mo. for a 20 minute layover.
Today we went with the Coffeys and the Griffins to this cool attraction in St. Louis called the City Museum. They took this old, huge building and turned it into a giant maze type playground with several stories. Click here for more info.

Michael getting ready to eat a snack on one of the many levels. Everything around him is recycled.
The happy couple pretending that they are already married.
My leg muscles were so sore from all the climbing.

Katie and McKay playing a duet on this carved up piano. (Ali...what are you doing?)
Crystal just loves be a new Grandma!

Michael talking to Auntie Kimber and little Tucker.
Spencer and his gorgeous wife Leslie.They have been married for almost a year.

Wow! check out these drawers.
This museum is so cool because everything is hands on and I was have a blast playing with this old fashion cash register.

BJ playing with Tucker. (Sorry Ema for the getting a shot of your back side)
Michael climbed into one of the many cages made with re bar.

The Museum also has an outside part where you can climb into that airplane that you see up there. Check out the school bus hanging off the edge of the building.

After the City Museum, Michael and I went to the Gateway Arch. We wanted to ride the tram to the top but it was sold out. We might try again tomorrow.
Cool picture if you don't count my chins.

This is the Mississippi River. The water level so high that it was covering the parking lot.

See what I mean...That is a statue that is not supposed to be in the water.

We drove by the St. Louis Cardinals' Stadium, I think that it is called Busch Field.

Michael and I drove into this neighborhood where there were nothing but mansions. Beautiful single family homes on gorgeous tree-lined streets.
I wanted so badly to go into these home and check out this inside.

It's funny because this is a gated community except there is one entrance that is not gated, just a sign that said "Private, residents only"...well that sign didn't stop us. I wonder when all of these homes were built and who originally owned them. They look like they have been there for many many decades. I wish we could have taken pictures of all of the mansions.

Hopefully tomorrow I will be able to post more.

MMMM Homemade Whole Wheat Bread

Soooo....I know that it has been a very long time since I have updated my blog. I have been so busy...I will try to catch up a little later. Lately I have been making my own wheat bread. I have had whole grain wheat in my emergency food storage for over fifteen years and really had no means to do anything with it. I have been wanting to buy my own mill so that I could grind it into flour and use it. Wheat can store for over 40 years but I didn't want to wait that long to try it out. So at Easter time I talked to Kirsten and she told me that she makes her own bread for her family out of her wheat storage and she got me started on purchasing the things that I needed to get going. She even gave me her recipe that is just...outa-this-world!!
Here is what I start with, hard white wheat, I mix it half and half with hard red wheat.

This is my new mill. It is amazing how fast it mills the wheat into fine flour.

Here is the flour. I also use it to make these outa-this-world cookies.

This is my Bosch mixer. This is a must-have for bread making. This is also what I use to make my famous rolls. I have had it for about 25 years and it is a work horse.

The recipe makes four loaves. Here they are rising. They need to rise for at least an hour.

Now it is time to put them into the oven. Oh ... the aroma!

Now they are cooling on the rack and now the whole house smell just wonderful.

The only thing better than homemade bread is homemade bread with homemade jam! I had some strawberries starting to get old in the fridge so I made a small batch of strawberry jam...mmmm

Here is Ada my quality control tester....she says "Yummy"
Peanut butter & jelly.

Calvin agrees!

It also is good with lunch meat. (dig that plate)

MMMMMM