PUMPKIN BREAD

I'm trying to create the illusion that it is fall. After 13 years of living in the Phoenix valley, it is still hard to pretend that the season's have changed when the daytime tempatures still hover around 100 degrees outside. The smell of pumpkins seems to help though, so I think it's time to bake some bread. My favorite pumpkin bread recipe is still my Mom's. I don't know where she got the recipe from, but it is amazingly good everytime.

Pumpkin Bread

3 c. flour
1 tsp. baking powder
1/2 tsp. baking soda
1/2 tsp. cinnamon
1/2 tsp. ground cloves
1/2 tsp. nutmeg
1 tsp. salt
1 c. soft butter
3 c. sugar
3 eggs
2 c. canned pumpkin

Preheat oven to 350 F. Mix butter and sugar until blended. Add eggs and canned pumpkin and stir until smooth. Mix in cinnamon, cloves, and nutmeg. Stir in remaining dry ingredients and blend well. Divide evenly between 2 large loaf pans. Bake 1 hour or until tester comes out clean. Cool in pan 10 minutes.

Disneyland - California Adventure

Robert and I went to Disneyland in August without the kids. It was AWESOME! Since we have year passes to Disneyland we decided to go for our 15th Anniversary. Robert took some video of the new Carsland rides. So if your interested in the new rides, here they are:

Mater's Junkyard Jamboree: http://youtu.be/NCW9rDEEGUA

Luigi's Flying Tires: http://youtu.be/R7gwf4jnCQg

Radiator Springs Racers: http://youtu.be/PQyWLbdiExU

Girls Tumbling recital

The girls had a little tumbling recital in May. It was super cute. Here are some pics. I'll try and add the video when I can figure it all out.

New Floors

We finally did it! It took a really really really long time, but we finally picked out flooring that we both like. It was crazy around here the past week, but I think it was totally worth the madness. Here are pictures of the new floors:

Zach Little League T-Ball

Our little Red Wing. I don't know what the deal is with the fingers. He said he just thought it would be a cool way to pose.

Zach had his first game of Desert Ridge Little League T-Ball today. He loves it. He has big smiles after every practice and he was so excited after his first game today. Here are some pictures of his new uniform and his cute little team. Ten boys and one girl.

The Red Wings listening to their coach. Hopefully they continue to listen throughout the season.

Zach paying attention to the coach...or at least giving a real good impression of listening.

Zach was the "pitcher" for the first two innings.

Our little hitter.

Taking the bases.

It was a real nail bitter. Actually, they don't keep score. They all get to hit the ball and run all the bases. Awesome time for the 5 year olds!

Kids Spring Pictures

Emilee - age 8



Zachary - age 5



Alyssa - age 3




We decided to get the kids pictures taken for Easter since we missed Christmas. Here are the three of them together.

A Day at the Phoenix Zoo

Last year when we purchased our zoo membership, Zach received a new "zoo" shirt. Last Saturday he put the shirt on and declared that anytime he wears the shirt we must go to the zoo. As the weather was perfect that day we decided that was a brilliant idea. Here are some pictures from that day.


Zach is learning about "Z" this week so we thought Zach needed to pose in front of the zebra at the Zoo.



Emilee...our little monkey.




We brought Emilee's friend Bailey with us.