Old Fashioned Taffy Pull!

Our superbowl party entertainment was an

Old Fashioned Taffy Pull.

Grandma invited to family over and while the superbowl

was playing in the background 

we worked hard for our dessert!

Dan's Grandma Ida was a huge fan of homemade taffy and had 

the recipe for the candy down to a science.  I remember pulling taffy at their house

with the church youth group that Dan and I hung with when were were teens

 and then later with the family one holiday.

We had also pulled taffy at Pastor Ed and Judy's house with the Berea youth group

we sponosed when the boys were little.  It's a fun interactive evening!

Our boys didn't remember taffy pulling so it was a new activity for them.

It's like the taffy you see being pulled in a candy shop, but the people are the "pullers".

 It starts small, caramel in color and pulls very hard.

But, the longer you pull the color lightens and it pulls easier and stretches long!

The kids all reappeared when the first batch was pulled and ready to be cut!

Yum! Homemade taffy!

Remembering Aunt Mary

Remembering Aunt Mary!

My Aunt Mary (my dad's youngest sister) passed away this month and 

we were able to celebrate her with family!

A favorite memory that I have is the Christmas that she made Sam a birthday cake.

She always makes a big deal about those that had a birthday around Christmas

and it blessed my heart when she made him a special cake!  

She loved to hear about what our family was up to.

I will miss her laugh and her sweet smile.

She also ALWAYS had the best nails and pretty eye make up.

She made the best dirt pudding and cherry delight!

I was blessed when my boys agreed to speak at her funeral.

Sam gave a reading and Joe helped cousin Ava with other petitions.

Many great grands read and it was a tribute to Aunt Mary!

And the icing on the cake was the Cardinals that were sent during the snow.

Mary LOVED the St. Louis Cardinals - she was buried in their sweatshirt.

She also loved to see the red birds...and were were blessed with many in the days around her funeral!

Baby Graham and All the Cute Faces!

I spy two boys that love their new cousin Graham.

I mean they can't get enough.

We snuck in a quick visit one night a week ago

and I caught this precious moment.

And they were the first down on the ground to show Graham 

himself in the mirror on his toy.  

They are constantly tell him that they are his favorite cousin.

Sam then Joe...its funny quite a competition.

 Look how Graham found himself in the mirror here, love that.

 We were at Blake and Noah's to watch the IU/PU game, pretty sure the boys enjoyed Graham more than the game since IU lost, ha!

And later that night we discoverered that Grandma and Grandpa had taught the boys to play Rook.

It's an all time family favorite.  

It was a good getaway but coming home to all these faces on Sunday was certainly the icing on the cake!