My Zoocrew: July 2008

Tuesday, July 22, 2008

Rainbow Cake

In January I acquired the secret recipe of the Rainbow Cake. It has quickly become a favorite for birthdays. It is fun to make, but even more fun to eat.

Ready to go in the oven. The batter is divided into 6 bowls for coloring. The kids argue to clean out the bowl of their favorite color.

Autumn doesn't want to miss a drop of purple.

Jaden did an excellent job cleaning out the green.

The cake is good, but it's the frosting recipe I got with the cake recipe that makes it great.

Happy 18th Birthday Josiah

Josiah Joe Hoyt

My 6 sons, my how they've grown. 4 are now taller then me.

It is hard to believe, 7 years ago today I met Josiah for the first time. I went to hear his Dad speak at a church in Harvey, Iowa. Josiah got to come along because it was his birthday. Little did I know when I met this friendly, talkative, 11 year old boy that I would be blessed to call him my son. The years have passed quickly as he has grown into the wonderful, young man that he is today. I am so blessed to have him call me Mom. God is so good.

RAGBRAI ~ Selling Sno-Balls

Here they come... the crew drumming up business

Those that stopped said the Sno-balls were "awesome", "best they've had".

"You Crave It, We Shave It!"

Our Sno-Ball operation~12 flavors to choose from

Riders went by like this for 6 hours... a constant, steady stream of bikes

It was too good of an opportunity to pass up with RAGBRAI going right by our house. Thanks to friends we aquired a Southern Snow ice shaving machine and decided to sell Sno-Balls to the riders. Mostly we wanted an excuse to be out there watching them ride by. We didn't sell tons, something like 130, but we had fun watching and visiting with those that did stop in. We did learn how important location is, location IS everything. I have experienced RAGBRAI before, but I am still in awe of the numbers of riders and how far some travel to bicycle across our beautiful state of IOWA.

Monday, July 21, 2008

Almost Blown Away

This storm hit us fast and hard at 2:30 am. By the time we got everyone awake and to the basement the worst was over. In a matter of minutes it went from no wind to the house being shaken by the wind. Radar showed rotation in our area, although it is said to have only been high winds clocked in excess of 90 mph.

When we went back to bed around 3:30 we had a pretty good idea of the extent of the damage. Although it always looks different in the light. We lost a small shed that was by the pool. Most of the stuff that didn't blow away was left almost in place.

The largest extent of the damage was limbs from trees that came down all over.

The walnut tree didn't fair to well

This is what was left of a grain bin 1/4 mile west of our drive.

The largest share of the bin blew across the road, through the corn field north of our house...

and ended up 1/2 mile away to the east of our house in Dunbar Slough.

Randy checks out the damage at his brother Ricks place.

More of the damage a few miles to our east.

We went to bed praising God for His protection of our family, home and pets. The kids slept better once all the pets were located and they knew they were safe. Luckily it didn't take us long to find them. Our 2 scared dogs practically ran in the door when we opened it. The 4 mother cats and 11 kittens soon came out of hiding. There is a lot of clean up to be done, but we realize how blessed we are. This was only the start of a busy day as RAGBRAI was headed our way later today.

Saturday, July 12, 2008

Family~What a Blessing!

Jensen & Ruby

What a wonderful visit back home. Jensen & I spent 5 days visiting family & friends. We spent time with my sister Julia and her 4 girls, Hope, Trudi, Violet & Ruby. We stopped by the hospital several times to visit my Dad. I am happy to report that he is recovering well. He has a lot less pain then before the surgery which is very good. He still has a lengthy stay ahead of him, time for the new hip to get set and the infection to be treated. I pray for healing and time to pass quickly for him. I thank God also for blessing me with such a wonderful family. I love and miss them all.

Sunday, July 6, 2008

Off To Camp They Go, Back Home I Go!

All packed and ready to go.

Avery trying to not look too excited.

Elijah, Autumn & Reid, almost there.

The long awaited day has finally come. Elijah, Hannah, Reid, Avery & Autumn went to camp today and won't be home until Saturday. They are fortunate to have a wonderful church camp only 10 miles from home. They went for the first time last year and absolutely loved it. They have been counting down the days for weeks. This is the first year that all 5 are gone at the same time. I couldn't pass up such a perfect opportunity, so I am going back home for a long overdue visit.

Dusty has kittens

How exciting...more kittens. What started out as a nice gesture last night turned into quite a game of Hide & Seek this morning. Somehow in the commotion of getting kids to bed no one remembered to put Dusty outside for the night. This morning we turned the house upside down looking for her. Every bed in the house had been looked under more then once. Finally under Simon's bed as far back in a corner as she could get we found her along with 4 baby kittens. These 4 bring our total to 11 kittens.

Wednesday, July 2, 2008

Grandpa and His Girls

I wanted to share this picture of Avery & Autumn with my Dad. He has been on my mind a lot because he had surgery yesterday to take care of problems and an infection in his hip. He had a hip replacement done 3 years ago and has problems with it ever since. It was hard to not be able to make it back for the surgery, but with at least 6 weeks in the hospital, I decided a later visit will be enjoyed more.

The Pizza Cake

I got this idea watching Food Network one night. I quickly did some research online to find some instructions. I went to http://mypizzacake.com/ and got ideas. Then I found this blog, http://smoothstonesacademy.blogspot.com/2007/12/pizza-cake.html that gave me directions and even more inspiration. I made this cake and entered it in the cake contest during Scranton Fun Day last week. This being my first attempt, I was pleased with how it turned out. I even won first place for the Most Unusual Cake. This cake was a lot of fun to make, and everyone seemed to enjoy it.