brownie lovin'

i thought it was just me, but seriously, these are the best brownies. ever.  lara jane found the recipe at allrecipe and they are titled "best brownies", and they are.  the year that lara and i lived together, i think we made a batch every-other-week.  they are most certainly that-time-of-the-month approved, tested by two ladies who without fail, each month fall victim to the raging choco-craving hormones.
these brownies are also the same recipe that i used to make jon's rich and delicious mint brownie ice cream cake, and this was a huge hit... so next time you think brownie, put the box down, i promise you won't be sorry!

1/2 c. butter
1 c. white sugar
2 eggs
1 tsp. vanilla
1/3 c. unsweetened cocoa powder
1/2 c. flour
1/4 tsp. salt
1/2 tsp. baking powder

in a sauce pan melt butter (just on low heat, you don't need to create bubbles).  once its all melted remove from heat and mix in sugar, eggs (i beat them a little before adding them to the mix) vanilla, cocoa (this will take a little bit of time to mix in), flour, salt and baking powder -i just mix everything in the same sauce pan you melted the butter in.  once everything is combined pour into an 8 inch square pan that has been greased and floured. bake at 350 for 25-30 min.

they are great smeared with peanut butter or nutella or added to an ice cream sunday.  these babies are a perfect midnight treat, or cut up into bite-size pieces and put in the freezer for a sweet bite.  but i think they are best right out the pan, shared with someone you love, and a glass of milk.

29

my sweet, handsome, doesn't-look-a-day-older than 19, husband turned 29 over our vacation in traverse city.  i love to see how people react when i tell them how old he is; there is usually a gasp of disbelief followed by, "nowayyoucantbeserious!"  yes folks, i am.  serious as a heart attack.  although it used to sound old, like when everyone else i knew turned 29... but really it's not, jon is just as much a kid as I am, or any of my other siblings, actually.

anyways, jon's birthday was a beautiful day, celebrated with beautiful people, out of this world food, hanging streamers, and even a little dancing!  and i have to give a big thanks to my family for helping me make this day e.x.t.r.a special!

i won't bore you with all the details, but it started with b.ball with my brothers{at an unreasonably early hour i might add} and followed by potter's doughnuts {only the best doughnuts in the whole world}.  later that afternoon i sent jon along with my brothers seth, miles, dave, and mark for the royal treatment- i'm talking about a foot soaking, paraffin wax dipping pedicure.  nails were clipped, feet were rubbed.  oh-yeah they loved it {i'm only sad that i wasn't along to take some pictures of all five guys lined up, living life}.

meanwhile, back at the homestead, the girls were working away furiously to get the finishing touches put together.  there were streamers, a hanging birthday banner, home cooked- from scratch meal, presents, a flowing chocolate fountain, a melting ice cream brownie cake and lots {i mean lots} of love!  i'm so grateful for my siblings&inlaws+parents+grandpa+nieces&nephews for all their help and hard work.  when the boys got home we sang happy birthday and the festivities began.  the boys bbq-ed their hearts out, there were plenty of children to go around, lots of laughing and more eating than necessary.  we ate, then ate some more, and a little while later we ate again.   to top it all off {i couldn't have planned it better myself} we went out to the new airport control tower to watch the end of cherry fest fireworks.  it was a great view of traverse and a beautiful display of fireworks!  

but i think the best thing about the whole day was just to see how happy jon was.  just glowing.  i love this boy so, and this was just a tiny little token of how much he means to me.  he's my everything.

guess who's got the cherry!

next stop, cherry festival.  in actuality i avoid cherry fest like i would a pack of swarming bees.  it's just not really my thing anymore.  i would rather enjoy a quieter, cleaner, less congested traverse city in the summer time.  but it's hard to avoid the cherry fest when your niece is the cherry princess for her first grade class!
after getting home from our excursion in tennessee at 8pm on a saturday night i worked like a mad woman to get us ready for our trip to traverse the next morning at 7am.  we unpacked, washed all our clothes and repacked for another 8 days of fun in the sun!  we were up there in time to surprise everyone at church in the morning.

it was so wonderful to be reunited with family, where do i even begin?!  the first few days there were spent with miles & austin,  seth & chels, lil plus all the little ones.  a few days later we were joined by dave, megan & mark, nate & anna and all the children.  in total with everyone here we were 14 adults and 18 children {hard to believe there are still 3 more adults + 4 children that were not present}!  it was total chaos at times but totally wonderful and natural.  we all just seem to fall into sync when we get together.  it was our heavenly father's plan at its best.    

after several days of practically no sleep, the days just seemed to blend together. to begin the week though, we went to the cherry pie eating contest... everything else that follows is in no particular order; we enjoyed beautiful lake michigan {several times}, stayed up into the wee hours of the night playing nerts and the classic ellsworth bowl game {similar to catch phrase}, ate lots of delicious food {got my bubba's fix; and move over moomers, there is a new kid in town. sugarkissed the new frozen yogurt place has won my heart}, we treated ourselves to multiple boston coolers, i held a baby {thanks austin, for sharing adelaide with me last week!} and cheered on the participants {one of which was a float crafted by my handy brother seth, that carried princess jenna}  at the junior royal parade.  the guys + chelsea played basketball a few times and some of us did some shopping. we even had a birthday celebration just for jon- fireworks included {more to come about the birthday boy later}.  again there was so much fun to be had by all that i slacked on getting pictures of everyone...

the pictures show northern michigan at its summer time best.  i'm so grateful to be able to call this home and have such wonderful family to go along with it.  as the week ended we were not ready to back to our "home"{the apartment in lansing that held all our belongings}... home is where the heart is, and ours is definitely with family.