Strawberry Fest

Last weekend we went to the Cedarburg Strawberry Festival.  We got there right when it started and it was already pretty busy.  There was a lot of good smelling food, and I finally got a caramel apple at Amy’s.  I’ve wanted to for a while because we’ve heard about them so many times, but I always thought $8.50 was a bit expensive for a caramel apple.  Casey made me buy one and I’m glad I finally did! I got a caramel apple dipped in chocolate… It was really good.

Carly had fun people watching and being held by us - that girl hates to sit down in anything!  We always take a stroller just in case she decides she wants to sit down and give us a break.  She at least sat down in it without screaming for 10 minutes this time!  I  seriously have large arm muscles now from carrying her EVERYWHERE we go.

We had a really good time.  I love love love Wisconsin Summers.  They are so fun, beautiful and full of festivals.

Things I love Fridays – POPCORN!

I love popcorn.  All types, flavors, whatever.    I do have some favorite types though.  I love Pop Weaver Light microwave popcorn.  I’ve only seen it at Walmart.  I love it because it’s cheap (as much as store brand), tasty, and the kernels are huge so you get more fluffy popcorn and less kernelage.

My all time favorite kind of popcorn is homemade caramel popcorn. I’m not talking about that oven, crispy, yucky stuff.  It has to be gooey!  My sister, Kari, gave me the best recipe for caramel popcorn where you actually use microwave popcorn so you get buttery, caramelly deliciousness. 

My other popcorn loves include, kettle corn and white chocolate popcorn. 

Comment and let me know what your popcorn favorites are!

Strawberry Pickin’ and Jam Makin’

On Saturday we went strawberry picking at Barthel Farm.   During our 3 years in Wisconsin we have never been strawberry picking.  I have never wanted to pick my own fruit (and pay for it!) after spending my childhood Summer Saturdays picking apples, apricots, peaches, cherries, plums and apples in our back yard.  I remember hurrying to fill up a bucket of fruit so I could go play with my friends.  This year I decided to put my painful fruit-picking past behind me and finally go strawberry picking. We only have 5 more weeks left in Wisconsin and I don’t want to leave anything out. 

To make a long story kind of short, I am so glad we went.  It was such a fun Saturday morning, family activity.  The strawberries were huge and delicious.  We ended up picking 13 pounds of strawberries (partly on accident).  They give you a large crate to put your berries in and you think you should fill it, and fill it we did.   After picking such a large quantity of strawberries Karen and I made tons of jam.  I’ve always made freezer jam but because we have to move the jam to Utah we tried canning it this time.  I LOVED canning it.  I don’t think I'm ever going to make freezer jam again.  It just takes up room in the freezer and looks ugly in those Ziploc containers. 

After canning 29 jars of jam I still had a lot of strawberries left.  So we ate a ton and froze some.

Things I love Fridays – Dad Edition

 

I love my dad so much.  He is such an amazing man.  He has taught me so many important things.  When I was little I remember climbing up on my dad’s lap and asking for him to tickle me.  It’s so fun to see Carly giggle when grandpa tickles her now. 

My dad is one of the funniest people I know.  He always has jokes to tell.  I owe my sense of humor to him.  Growing up our house was always full of laughter and I loved it.  When my family gets together I always end up laughing so hard that my stomach hurts. 

My dad taught me the importance of education and hard work.  My dad told Casey that he’d let him marry me if Casey promised that I’d graduate from college.   I DID graduate from college (thank goodness for Casey). 

My dad also taught me the importance of learning how to use tools and fix things.  Casey is especially grateful for this one!  My dad can build anything and fix anything.   He is also an amazing, self-taught woodworker. 

My dad is an amazing pianist. Growing up I loved hearing him play Beatles songs, and classics on the piano.

I am so grateful for the example that my dad has always been to me.  He has always taken care of his family.  I love that I always could and still can go to my dad for a blessing.  I love that he not only taught me how important the gospel is but he has showed me how I should live my life and how I can be happy.

Happy Fathers day Dad!  I love you!

Carly’s new hideout

 

 

Carly likes to play in the dryer.  She opens it up and climbs into it.  One afternoon I was folding laundry in her bedroom and I heard her whining in the kitchen, I walked into the kitchen expecting to find her trying to get her sippy cup out of the fridge, but instead I found her stuck trying to get into the dryer.  Now she’s mastered climbing into it.   If I try to pull her out she freaks out.  At least it’s not the toilet anymore.

Things I love Fridays – Aveda Rosemary Mint Shampoo/Conditioner

I love how this shampoo and conditioner smell.  They are my absolute favorite shampoo and conditioner in the world.  I don’t buy them very often because they’re a boat-load of money. But  I’ve noticed in the past few years a lot of other, cheaper brands are coming out with rosemary mint scents too.  Today while I was shopping at Target I even noticed that Suave has a rosemary mint scent now.  I haven’t tried any other brands so I can’t compare them but I’m all for buying cheap, good-smelling shampoo and then spending more money on styling products. 

My Birthday and a wedding

I had a great birthday.  I received so many calls, texts, and facebook messages from friends and family members.  Thank you, thank you everyone!  On my birthday Casey and I went to a wedding in Elkhart Lake, WI.  One of Casey’s coworkers got married. It was a gorgeous 70 minute drive.  We drove right by Kettle Moraine State Forest and Long Lake.  The wedding was at The Osthoff Resort which is right on Lake Elkhart.  The resort and the wedding were beautiful.  I felt like I was in a movie during the wedding because of the beautiful ambience.  The Farrenkopfs watched Carly all day while we went to the wedding festivities, what an awesome birthday present that was!

After the wedding:

We spent the day with this lovely couple too: Jen and Josh.  Jen is another one of Casey’s coworkers.

The only picture I got of Travis and Theresa:

AND Casey surprised me with some new running clothes and this:

A  ipod Nano 5th generation 16gb! I’ve wanted a new ipod for a long time.  I had a 3rd generation ipod and the battery only stayed charged for about 20 minutes.  I love how this has a radio tuner, a pedometer, and a video camera on it!  I LOVE it!

Things I love Fridays – Birthdays!

Since TOMORROW is my birthday, this morning I was reminiscing about some of my birthdays when I was young.  I remember how I would always get so excited to have a big outdoor party, usually a swimming party.  Every year my mom would make me a cut-out cake and I got to decide what it would be. I still get really excited for my birthday.  I love that it’s one day when I can feel extra special and not feel bad for being selfish!  I pulled out some old scrapbooks and loved looking at pictures of past birthdays.  For some reason I couldn’t get my scanner to scan my scrapbook pages so here are some milestone pictures of little me.

 

Me just minutes old.

 

 

   

18 month pictures

 

Wisconsin Dells!

Last week Casey got off work Friday for Memorial Day weekend so we decided to take a trip with The Callisters to the Dells.  For those who haven’t heard of the Dells it’s the “Waterpark Capital of the World.”  There are multiple waterparks with indoor and outdoor attractions.  We stayed overnight at Wilderness on the Lake and then on Friday we hit up all of Wilderness’ waterparks -They have 3 indoor and 4 outdoor waterparks. Our condo was really nice, it had a nice big kitchen and an enclosed deck that looked out over beautiful Lake Delton. 

 

I couldn’t leave a picture of Karen out!

 

Carly had an awesome time playing in the water and going down all the kiddie slides.  It was so hard to break her away from one pool to go to another! 

It’s so nice to not have to carry up any tubes to the top of the slides.  They have conveyor belts that bring them up for you!  Thanks to Karen for these last two pictures.