TRIBUTE TO MY MOM

Recently, I watched a live cooking video of someone demonstrating a recipe that I would like to try.  During the feed, viewers made comments or asked questions.  One person asked how the presenter came up with her recipes.  She answered that a lot of them come from her mother and grandmother.  

Me, a granddaughter, and my Mom

It made me think of my Mom and some of her recipes that I still make today.   That almost brought me to tears because she passed away about 3 months ago and now so many little things just hit me and make me cry when I think about her.   It is really hard to lose your mom.   I helped my sister take care of her towards the end and even though it sounds weird, that is probably one of the times that I felt the closest to my mom—when I was able to do something for her that she couldn’t do for herself.  I didn’t help nearly enough and I regret not being there more for her and my dad and my sister.  

At her funeral, two of her culinary specialties were mentioned by every speaker.  Ice Box Rolls and Ice Water Cake.  My Mom made the best rolls and they were one of the things that we looked forward to at big family dinners and holidays.  We didn’t care about anything else—as long as she made her rolls. I don’t try to make homemade rolls very often, but when I do, I always wish that they tasted as good as my Mom’s always did. 

Ice Water Cake was my favorite cake when I was a kid.  It was a chocolate cake with vanilla frosting and I loved the chocolate/vanilla combination.  I never knew why the recipe called for ice water and I don’t know if my Mom knew either.  I have done a little research on that topic and it has been suggested that scientifically, the ice water slows down the melting of the butter as the cake is baking, which makes the cake rise more and have a softer crumb.

I am not sure if that is the secret of this cake or not because to me—this cake is a little denser than that explanation suggests.  Whether it makes a difference or not, one thing is for sure, in our family, my Mom was famous for Ice Water Cake.

ICE WATER CAKE

2/3 cup butter (room temperature)
1 ¾ cup sugar
2 eggs (room temperature)
1 tsp vanilla
2 squares of Baker’s unsweetened chocolate, melted and cooled
(Substitutions for Baker's chocolate are:  6 melted squares of a Lindt Chocolate bar OR 6 heaping tablespoons of unsweetened cocoa powder with two extra tablespoons of butter)  
2 ½ cups flour, sifted
1 ¼ tsp baking soda 
¼ tsp salt
1 ½ cups ice water

Put ice in water and let it get very cold before measuring.
Cream butter and sugar until very fluffy. 
Beat in eggs, one at a time on high speed. 
Add vanilla. 
Mix in melted chocolate.
Scrape sides of bowl.
Stir baking soda and salt into the measured flour.
On low speed slowly add a small amount of flour, followed by a small amount of water.
Continually add flour and water alternately until combined. 
Scrape sides of bowl and briefly mix.

Bake in a 9 x 13 pan, sprayed with cooking spray, for 35-40 minutes or until knife inserted into center comes out clean. 
Let cool.
Frost with vanilla or chocolate buttercream frosting.

My Mom wasn’t really a gourmet cook and didn’t make a huge variety of foods for our meals, but one thing that I remember the most about my Mom’s cooking is that most things did not have a recipe.  I had to learn to cook by watching her.  When I would ask her about amounts, she would say, “I don’t know, you just shake some in until it seems right.”  I think I frustrated her with my questions, but I also frustrated her because I was such a picky eater.  She had to alter many of her dishes just so that I would eat them. 

One recipe that she didn't have to change and that I loved was her version of Goulash. 

This is how I learned how to make it: 

Boil elbow macaroni or small pasta shells until tender.  Use about 1 handful of dry pasta per person—unless you are cooking for a big eater like Hunter Man and then use two handfuls per person.  Drain. 

Brown 1 pound of hamburger sprinkled with salt and pepper.

In the same pan that the macaroni was boiled in:

Add 1 quart of home bottled tomato juice.
Add two small cans of tomato sauce.
Add a handful of sugar, some splashes of hot sauce, and a couple of spoonfuls of chili powder to the juice. 
Mix in the hamburger and macaroni.
Bring to a simmer over medium heat, stirring often.
Taste and add more sugar, or hot sauce, or chili powder until it tastes just right. 

This dish should be juicy—with a generous tomato sauce to pasta ratio.   

When I make Goulash now, I usually use one half pound of hamburger, one can of petite diced tomatoes instead of tomato juice (because I don’t do home canning anymore), and a small can or two of tomato sauce—depending on how many noodles I end up with.  

I am only cooking for two, so if you are cooking for a family, double the tomatoes.  I still season it just like my mom with a small handful of sugar (about 1 T or so), about one tablespoon of hot sauce, and one tablespoon of chili powder.   You may need to add more of each seasoning, but it is best to start with a lesser amount, than wish you hadn’t put as much in at first.  I wish I could tell you what it really is supposed to taste like.  I guess I could say that it is a sweet and spicy/hot mixture.

We always had a big serving of cottage cheese on the side, along with home canned green beans. 

Cottage Cheese, Goulash, and Parmesan Green Beans

Two fun things that have evolved out of my Mom’s Goulash:

Hunter Man’s Mom’s Goulash-ish and GoulyMac. 

Hunter Man’s Mom used to make her own version of Goulash with canned tomatoes and ONIONS, covered with grated cheese, and sprinkled with Salt and Pepper, which was then baked in the oven until the cheese melted.  She did not use the seasonings that my Mom did.  Now, sometimes, Hunter Man will make his Mom’s Goulash-ish (without the onions) out of my Goulash just for himself.  It is a good way to make another meal out of leftover Goulash.

Another meal that evolved out of leftover Goulash is:  
Gouly Mac.  It is made with one box of prepared Kraft Macaroni and Cheese, one can of Hormel Chili with Beans, 1 cup of grated Cheddar Cheese, and leftover Goulash.  Mix everything together in a saucepan until it is heated throughout.  My daughter, Kj used to like it when we had enough leftovers to make Gouly Mac.

Thanks Mom--for teaching me how to cook and for helping me create some food memories for my family.

Thermal Cooked Ribs

Two days ago, it was soooo hot that I had water dripping off of my head as we went on a Labor Day Weekend hike with our grandchildren.  Today, it is hurricane weather (in Utah!) and so cold that it actually snowed.  Here in northern Utah, over 100,000 people are said to be without power because trees have uprooted and fallen on power lines. 

I started this post a couple of weeks ago, and then, of course life got in the way of finishing it.  But, today seems like a good day to wrap it up since people might wish they knew of a way to prepare a meal without electricity in their homes.   

It seems like we have had the hottest summer in history.  

Although we do have a swamp cooler, which sits on top of the house and blows cold air down a shaft, we have had no type of air conditioning in our house all summer.   Every previous summer, Hunter Man has turned on the water that runs to the cooler, climbed up on the roof, worked his magic, and voila, we have had cool air blowing down the stairs and throughout the house, making it cool enough on most days to feel comfortable.  I have no idea why that did not take place this summer.  

In June, after the first hot night of the summer, I told Hunter Man that I had just had the worst night of sleep, ever.  Later that day, he called me and announced that we were going to get a bid on a central air system.   The summer went on and the days with temperatures over 95 degrees just kept adding up and we still had no central air conditioning system or swamp cooler.   One thing about Hunter Man is that once he has had an idea, he either goes forward with it and completes it---or in his mind, because he talked about it—it is almost done.   No complaints or hints or anything that I said got the swamp cooler started.  One day, he said, “It won’t be this bad if we can just hang on until it is below 100 degrees outside.”  What?!!  I never wanted September to come as bad as I did this year.  

Then, September came and we had extremely high winds with snow on the 8^th day!  That is not exactly what I wished for. 

It was so hot that it seemed like when it was over 100 degrees outside, it was 200 degrees inside.  The floors were hot, the countertops were hot, and I found out I couldn’t even touch the chocolate chips because they melted if I even moved them.  One day, I made a small pan of chocolate chip cookie bars (in the air fryer because it was too hot to turn on the oven) and when I put the chocolate chips in the dough, they were already so soft they just spread out.  I wish I would have thought to move the chocolate chips down to the basement when the hot streak started.  It is so much cooler down there.  

And that brings me to Hunter Man’s 2020 air conditioning system.  He bought a giant fan to put at the bottom of the basement stairs.  It blows the cool basement air up to another fan at the top of those stairs which blows that semi-cool air into the family room and kind of around the main level of the house.  The family room was slightly bearable on most days.  But, our bedrooms are on the top floor of our 3 story house and heat rises!  And, the kitchen was extremely hot whenever I tried to prepare any meals.  The only way I could cook in there was with the air fryer and the microwave.  Using the oven was out of the question.  

But there came a day when I had a rack of pork ribs that I wanted to make for dinner.  We don’t have a smoker and our only barbecue is at our mountain property (which we refer to as Camelot).  So, unless I am having the best ribs around from R & R Barbecue, I usually just put ribs in the crock pot for the day with some seasonings and Cherry Coke, and then when it is time to eat, I take them out of the crock pot, put barbecue sauce on them, and broil them for a few minutes.  They always fall off the bones and are very tender.   I love these ribs!

With it being 200 degrees in the house, I didn’t even want to add to the temperature with the crock pot sitting there producing heat all day long.   Thus, came the Thermal Cooker experiment for preparing the ribs.  Thermal cooking means cooking with retained heat, over a period of time.  The main premise is to boil whatever you are making for 15 minutes before placing it in some kind of device that holds the heat inside it for 3 to 8 hours.

I encourage you to learn and research as much as you can from experts on retained heat cooking before you try it so that you will feel confident enough to attempt this type of food preparation.   A very important tip is that when you remove the food from the thermal cooker, the temperature of the food should be at least 160 to 190 degrees.  At the end of this post, I will provide some links for sites that contain very good information.  I do not claim to be an expert on this subject.

I do not have a purchased thermal cooker.  There are many ways to make a home made thermal cooker.  The first time, I tried this method of cooking, I used the camping cooler method.  I made lasagna and it worked out really well.  I thought I might as well try the same method to make barbecued ribs.  

First, I cut the ribs into individual pieces, seasoned them, and put them in a zippered plastic bag to rest while I prepared the thermal cooker.  

These are the ingredients that I used:  Brown sugar, mustard powder, oregano, chili powder, onion powder, paprika, cumin, and Mrs. Dash Garlic Flavoring.

 

Second, I made the liquid.  I used Cherry Pepsi, apple juice, barbecue sauce, Worcestershire sauce, liquid smoke, and seasonings.  

I used a medium sized pan that has a tight fitting lid and put it on the stove with all of the ingredients and brought it to a boil.  Then, I added the ribs, brought it back to a boil and let it continue to boil for 15 minutes.  

In the meantime, I prepared the cooler.  I put a pillow in the bottom, followed by a kids slumber style sleeping bag pushed down in the center and draped over the two sides.  I covered that with two large black trash bags to protect the sleeping bag in case something spilled.  I put towels over the trash bags. 

 After the 15 minutes of boiling, I put the lid on the pan and carefully set it in the middle of the cooler nest that I had made.  I brought the towels in to cover it, then folded in the sides of the sleeping bag, and shut the cooler lid.  

6 hours later, Hunter Man came home from work and was ready to eat.  We opened the cooler, uncovered the pan, and discovered that it was still so hot, we couldn’t lift it out without hot pads.  That meant that the thermal cooker did not lose very much heat at all during those 6 hours.  

I placed the amount of ribs that we were going to eat that night in the air fryer basket, covered them with barbecue sauce, and 'broiled' them for about 5 minutes.   They looked so delicious and I couldn't wait to eat them.  The real test is always whether Hunter Man says, “That was good.  I really liked this or that about it.”  He did!  And when he ate them as leftovers the next day, he said they were even better.  I thought the texture of the ribs was a little different than they would have been if they had been smoked or baked, but they were still very good.  

I considered it a successful experiment.  If there ever is an emergency where fuel is limited,  knowing how to use retained heat cooking will come in handy.  If there is no access to electrical power, you can use other fuel sources like campfires or propane stoves for the beginning of the food preparation.  

Sometime, I am going to try the retained heat cooking method when we are going on one of Hunter Man’s long drives through the mountains looking for the perfect fly fishing stream or hunting location.  I will make something like taco soup, use the retained heat cooler system, put it in the back of the truck, and then have dinner ready to eat wherever we happen to end up.  Of course, we could end up with soup spilled all over the inside of the cooler from driving on bumpy, dirt roads, but it will be fun to try.  

Here is a link to the Provident Prepper’s web page about thermal cooking.  It has a lot of good information on it.  https://theprovidentprepper.org/thermal-cookers-powerful-solution-for-efficient-emergency-cooking/

Another expert is Cindy McMullin Miller, who wrote the book “Let’s Make Sense of Thermal Cooking.”  https://www.amazon.com/Lets-Sense-Thermal-Cooking-Cookbook/dp/0996242899/ref=sr_1_4?dchild=1&keywords=retained+heat+cooker&qid=1597896469&sr=8-4  I have attended a couple of demonstrations that she has presented.  She is very passionate about thermal cooking and even teaches it to people in other countries.   
 

The home page of  the thermal cooking.net website shows a picture of the variety of thermal cookers that are available.  https://www.thermalcooking.net/

 

Here is the link to a page of thermal cooker options.  https://www.thermalcooking.net/online-store

This link also has information on retained heat cooking. 
http://myfoodstoragecookbook.com/category/wonder-oven-cooking/

 

Tuscan Soup

Wow!  It has been years since I have posted anything here!

That IS crazy!

I always have good intentions, but usually have some kind of craziness going on in my life, which I started this blog to talk about, and then it is exactly what keeps me from posting.

We have been trying not to eat out as much as we have been for the last few years.  There are just two of us at home and we are busy, therefore, between 3 and 5 times a week, we bring something home at night or go out.  At the beginning of this year, I saw a meme that said, "I will not eat my money."  And that really struck a chord with me!  We are eating a lot of money!

I do not like having the same thing over and over again, though.  It is fun for me to look for new recipes online and then try them out on Hunter Man.  He is usually a good sport about it.  Just don't ask him how he liked the beef enchiladas that I made last week.  Oh my!  I started eating mine and thought, "Maybe if I top them with some sour cream, they won't seem as hot."  Nope! 

Hunter Man said, "They taste good--but they are so hot that I just can't eat them."  They really did have some intense heat going on!  My advice--don't add all of the liquid from a can of chipotle peppers to your enchilada sauce!  Luckily, I had also made some queso to go along with the enchiladas.  Our dinner that night consisted of chips and queso.  He followed his up with a big bowl of cereal.  I told him that I felt like we went out to eat and then only had the appetizer. 

Tonight, I tried a bean soup recipe, but by the time I finished tweaking it and adding ingredients that weren't called for, it became my own recipe. 

Hunter Man LIKED it a lot!

(Just remember:  I don't like using real onions and garlic, so I used prepared spices ALL the time in my recipes and they always turn out good--in my opinion!)

TUSCAN SOUP

Ingredients

1 medium sized, white sweet potato, diced
8 petite carrots, diced
1 lb turkey sausage
1 c chopped spinach leaves
1/2 package sliced, fresh mushrooms
2 T butter
2 T flour
1 can evaporated milk
2 t minced garlic from a jar
2 t onion powder
1 can low sodium chicken broth
2 cans Cannelini beans
1 t paprika
1 t garlic powder
1/2 t oregano
1/2 t basil
pinch or two of red pepper flakes
Salt and Pepper to taste
Shredded Jarlsberg Cheese



Directions

Boil the diced sweet potato and diced carrots until tender in a medium saucepan.  Use the water as the beginning base for the soup. 

Brown the turkey sausage in a large frying pan.  When it is about half done, add the chopped spinach leaves and mushrooms.  Continue to cook.  When the sausage is browned, drain the sausage/spinach/mushroom mixture on a plate covered with paper towels. 

In the same pan that the sausage was browned in, make the milk roux.  Over medium heat, melt the 2 T butter.  Add the 2 T flour and whisk until smooth for about 1 minute or so.  Pour in the evaporated milk and continue whisking until it thickens.  Add the garlic and onion powder. 

In the saucepan with the sweet potato, carrots, and water:  add the chicken broth and beans.  Dump in the drained sausage mixture, followed by the milk roux.  Stir to combine well.  Add the paprika, garlic powder, oregano, basil, and red pepper flakes.  Sprinkle in some salt and pepper (not too much salt) and adjust spices to taste. 

Continue to simmer the soup over low heat for at least 20 minutes.  If I were going to have a busy day, I would probably put everything in the crock pot on low and just let it cook all day. 

Serve with a good sized sprinkle of shredded Jarlsberg Cheese on top of each bowl of soup. 

Hunter Man requested that I make this soup again sometime--with garlic breadsticks as a side. 

That means I will have to go spend some money on Crazy Bread!   

I Am Crazy

I am crazy. 

One of the parent eagles
earlier in the summer

I am at our property at Camelot by myself.  Hunter Man has had to work for two Saturdays in a row now and it is really cramping our summer style, so I decided that I would rather NOT sit home doing everything that I do every other day of the week again and I made the drive alone.  I love being able to get away from home for a day or two. 

I have been enjoying my solitary weekend very much.  I would rather have someone to talk to and be with while I am here, but it isn’t that bad when no one else is here.

I have read, scrapbooked, worked on blog posts, watered the lawn ten times (which was the one thing that Hunter Man really wanted me to accomplish because the sprinkler system timer is not working right), taken a walk, and sat by the river and enjoyed the sound of it rushing by.

Parent flying, parent on cliff
and eaglet in the nest earlier
this summer

And the crazy thing that I am doing is:  EVERY SINGLE TIME that I hear the sounds of eagles calling to each other, I jump up, grab my camera and begin searching the sky to see if I can see where they are.  Anything that I am doing just gets thrown to the side.  (Except my laptop.  I do not throw it)!

Parent on the nest/eaglet in the nest earlier in the summer

I have been valiantly trying to see this year’s eaglet.  Because we haven’t been able to come here as often as I would have liked so far this summer, I didn’t get to see it as it was getting ready to leave the nest.  Last year, it was incredible to see it sitting on the edge trying to work up the courage to fly. 

Also, last summer, watching it learning to fly a few feet above the ground high up at the base of the cliffs/mountain area was awesome.

It hasn’t been like that this summer, though.  The last time I got to come here on the fourth of July weekend, I could only spend one day and saw that the eaglet had already left the nest and had started to be able to fly higher in the sky.  It seems like it grew up faster this summer.

I have been getting my exercise today getting up as fast as I can to try to get some shots with my camera.  But, most of the time, as I grabbed my camera and ran out onto the lawn to look, I wasn’t getting very many photographic opportunities.  I looked and looked up at the cliffs trying to figure out where it was resting between flights so that I could watch that place more closely.  Sometimes I can’t see any of them at all and other times one of them will make a brief appearance before disappearing again.  Their coloring blends in so well with the topography of the cliffs and the trees that I can literally hear them right above me and can’t figure out where they are until they fly up against the blue sky or clouds.  Where is that $2,000.00 camera lens that I have been dreaming about it when I really need it?

The eaglet is almost right in the center of this
picture after being told to STAY

Yesterday I saw something funny right after I got here.  I saw two eagles flying along in front of the cliffs and saw them land on an outcropping of dirt and grass.  Then, they both started to fly away, but one of them turned around and seriously seemed to say to the other one, “No, you stay here and rest, I don’t want you to move from this spot until I tell you to.”  And then it flew away while the other one stayed in that spot for about two hours.

I watched it as best as I could, but of course, I missed it when it finally got permission to move. 

But, just in the last couple of hours, I have had some of the photo experiences that I have been waiting for.   The first time, I finally I saw an eagle flying along the cliffs, so I grabbed my camera and ran out on to the lawn to watch it.  And I took picture after picture as it soared along the cliffs, then flew up into the sky and around in the clouds.  It was amazing and on one of its passes when the light and the angle of its wings was just right, I saw that it WAS the eaglet (because apparently, Golden Eagles have a white circle on each wing when they are young). 

I was so happy.  

When I saw it land on a certain place on the cliff and it seemed to be staying there for awhile, I ran to change lenses to a lens that has the potential of getting a closer shot even though it isn’t the most high quality lens that I own.   It made me wish that I not only had the $2,000.00 lens, but also another camera body so that I wouldn’t have to trade lenses.  I don’t wish for much, do I? 

To say that I get a little bit obsessed with the eagles when I am here, is putting it lightly. 

But, I just want to take advantage of seeing them when I can, because you never know if the parents will come back and lay another egg in that nest high on the cliff next year, or not. 

I do love this place.  Not only for the eagles, but for the quietness, the beauty, the sound of the wind in the trees, the blue, blue sky, and the chance that it gives me to escape from life for awhile.  I wish our property had the river running by it, (I have to walk down to H.M.’s grandparent’s property to hang out by the river), but I still love the beauty that surrounds me as I sit on the deck reading, typing, scrapbooking, eating, and relaxing. 

 

I am also so happy when the rest of the family can come with me. 

 I love playing with the grandkids, shooting marshmallow guns, playing 

on the playground, 

climbing the mountain, playing games, 

and hearing them call, 

“Grandma, Grandma……”  

as they find another thing that they

would like to do with me.  

                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                          

 I like going for walks at night with H.M. and looking at the stars. 

I like it when my friend Barb can come to visit and we tube down the river and laugh and laugh as crazy things happen to us (like the time a bear came streaking across the road in front of us when we were taking a walk or the time we watched the meteor shower at 2:00 a.m.). 

I like having Jer around, watching him be able to relax and let go for awhile.  I look forward to the times that he brings his family up here because they don’t happen enough for me. 

 

It kind of makes me sad that Kj and her family haven’t been able to fit Camelot into any of their visits because I love seeing the little grandchildren experience this place for the first time at their different ages and stages.  Every summer as they are another year older, it seems like everything up here is a new discovery for them.  

I feel bad that Jayden and Carter can’t experience that.  Kj said that the last time they came to Utah, Jayden was sad that he couldn’t go to Camelot but it was because he wasn’t going to be able to swing on our tire swing! 

As a little boy, Ty used to have so much fun at Camelot. His favorite person to play with was his big sister.  When she stopped going with us as much, he stopped wanting to go.  It has been a long time since Ty has gone to Camelot. I wonder if he ever will again?  

When we came for the Memorial Day weekend, Bridge decided he was old enough to climb the mountain by himself.  It made me nervous, but he had every confidence that he could do it.  Even though climbing the mountain can get a little bit tiring, not hearing him say, “Grandma, can we climb the mountain again?” over and over will be a little sad for me.  I hope he will still ask me to do it anyway. 

And now it is time for me to pack up and go back home.  I always wish I could delay leaving by just one more day. 

In fact……maybe I won’t go home tonight. 

(I wrote this at Camelot and did not post it immediately after I got back).

Jer

Our oldest child, Jer is amazing, smart, talented, wise, handsome, hard-working, and did I say, amazing?  

Becoming his mom was right up there with the best things that have ever happened to me.  He was a great baby and I loved every minute of being a new mother to him.  Every single thing that he did was remarkable to me and I just knew he was the smartest baby ever born.   When his little sister came along, he was the best big brother that a baby girl could ask for.  He was a good helper and he never stopped finding fun in everything that he did and he was always so happy.   

I remember when he started kindergarten. I just did not want to let him go even though I tried to make him believe that starting school was going to be exciting.  I didn't want him to grow up so fast.  On his first day, after he got on the bus, I panicked because I didn't tell the bus driver to take him to the public school, not the Catholic school in our little town of Smithton, Illinois (where the school bus picked up kids for both schools, although I think the bus driver might have been able to figure it out by who was wearing uniforms and who wasn't)!  Then, I cried because I forgot to put a napkin in his lunch box.  I think I really was so emotional because I missed him already.  

He was so smart that everything in school seemed to come easily to him.  During his last two years of high school, not only did he finish his coursework and get good grades, he was in the electrical apprenticeship program at Salt Lake Community College and worked after school for our contracting business.

After he graduated from high school, he only had two years left to work toward his Journeyman Electrical certificate and license.  He continued to work and also got engaged to his beautiful girlfriend who is now my favorite daughter-in-law!  Tass is a fantastic wife and mother and is very devoted to her family. 

Jer eventually evolved our electrical business into a subsidiary field that has become his specialty.  We now have two divisions and his –called All Metro Tech—is very successful and he does a great job running it. 

https://www.facebook.com/allmetrotechpartner/?fref=ts

He can do anything that you would want to have done on your home or business that involves technology, audio/video, lighting control, home automation….you name it.  He is highly sought after and his clients all give him great reviews.  He makes sure that every project that he works on his done in the most high quality way that it can be done.  I am very proud of his work ethic and integrity. 

Here is his website:     http://allmetrotech.com/

Being in business together is hard, though and at times takes a bit of a toll on family relationships.  Sometimes it is hard to keep business separate from real life when you each have different expectations.  We always get past it though and it makes me happy to see father and son doing non-business things together—and wish that family side of our life was stronger so that we could have more together time with each other.  I love just being able to be around him having fun and I look forward to every opportunity that comes along. 

He is a great dad.  A few weeks ago, on Father’s Day, he gave a talk in church about being a father.  It was fabulous and made me glad that I get to be his mom and so pleased with the man he has become.  He really is a terrific dad, husband, and son.

I enjoy watching him interact with his kids.  They love him so much and just yearn for every bit of attention that he gives them because he is such a fun dad.  

He is always looking for ways to make his kids and his wife happy.  He puts them first and works so hard to make sure they have everything they need.  

He spends a lot of time helping his children learn new things and gives them so much encouragement and support.

I love him to pieces and could not fill this blog with enough words to express my gratitude for such a great son.