Payoff

I worked really hard in the spring and then all throughout the summer.  And now I am proud to present the yard transformation!  I'm excited for next spring when the grass is even healthier!

Before

Before

After

(I used a seed/fertilizer/mulch mix that Scott's makes for patching lawns)

Before

Scott's patch mix

After

(lawn did great, tree from costco, not so much...)

Before

After

After

Before

After

Before

After

Before

After

I grew my tomatoes vertically this year on some poles.  Worked excellent!  They grew so tall that there were tomatoes growing 10 feet high in the neighbor's hedge!

My beautiful Zucchini plant that was taller than Mei.

(I say was because the last few cold nights has turned the whole plant black and soggy...)

I hate watching all my plants slowly die.  We had a wonderful garden two years in a row!

Can't wait for the next growing season.

Sofie is 4!!

Wow, she's 4!

For lunch we took her to Pizza Factory, they do a birthday pizza in the shape of your age.

\

She got a new doll house for her birthday.

The night of her birthday I made cute pink cupcakes and we celebrated with a few cousins that were over.

That weekend we had a birthday party in the park.

Rainbow!

This cake turned out so cute!

But it was the biggest pain in the neck to make!

Delicious! 

The fam, minus Dia because she was taking the picture.

Lotsa friends and family and food.

I love the fact that her birthday is at the end of the summer.  It's a little cooler, but perfect for an outdoor party.  The kids are entertained without games, lots of space for crazy kids, clean up is much easier!

I found this perfect rainbow number 4 pinata!

The kids loved it!

Stuffing Ourselves Hungarian Style

One of the many advantages to hosting an exchange student.

Exotic cuisine :)

First we made Toltot Paprika.  Stuffed peppers.

Rice, Meat, Onion, Spices, stuffed into a pepper, covered in a tomato sauce.

We only had bell peppers, I'd love to try it in a Hungarian "T.V. Pepper"

Dia says it wasn't her grandma's Toltot Paprika, but we got close.

For dessert we made Turorudi Torta.

The only way I can explain this is to compare it to a cheesecake.

It's made from turo, a Hungarian cheese that is usually called "cottage cheese" but is way different. The closest we could get to was Ricotta.  

It's basically cheese, eggs, sugar, a little flour.  This was an apricot Turorudi, so we added apricot jam and dried apricots.  The bottom of the cake is made from spongecake.

It was FANTASTIC!

Then of course, it has to have chocolate.

Turorudi is actually a Hungarian candy bar made from turo cheese and then dipped in chocolate.

So, the turorudi cake is a dessert fashioned after the candy bar.

I could eat it every day.

Here's Meili pigging out on a palacsinta.

The Hungarians eat this often.  You may know it better as a crepe.

And if there's anything else I could eat everyday...

Paprikas Cserke on Galuska.

Paprika chicken on egg noodles.

Basically it's chicken cooked in onion, broth, paprika, and then covered in a paprika and sour cream sauce.  The noodles are very unique because they're more like a droplet of dough about the size of a skinny wiggly almond. :)  I love them and years ago I bought Derek a Galuska maker...

Now I'm hungry.

The LOST trip to Colorado: Part 2

My brother Tom was married in the mountains in Colorado, and we were all lucky enough to go and enjoy it with him!  We stayed in a big cabin in the middle of the nowhere and it was gorgeous!! (and I saw a real live bear...)

Hanging out the day before the wedding.  Tom made this man-size Jenga game to play!

Mei and Noah chillin'

Checking out the surroundings with Mei.  

I LOVE the mountains.

Breakfast in the cabin.

Our view from the cabin porch.

A bunch of us went hiking around the area to a place called "Lost Lake."

Later that afternoon the storm clouds rolled in.  

Just in time for the wedding...

This is Sofie and I walking up to the meadow where the ceremony would take place.

It poured during the entire ceremony.

The lightning was spectacular and the thunder sometimes made it difficult to hear the ceremony!

So much fun!

(Meili loved it)

This was supposed to be symbolic of them bringing soil from each family, and nurturing the plant together.  However, the irony of watering a plant in the pouring rain had everybody laughing.

Good thing Scott was there as Best Man to hold the umbrella.

The rain was dripping off Tom's nose, making everybody laugh.

Finally married!!

The dinner party afterward.

My Oreo truffles :)  I made about 500 of them.

Hiding from the rain.

And of course, the skies cleared as soon as the ceremony was over.

I've never seen Tom so happy.

Congrats!!!

The LOST trip to Colorado: Part 1

Roadtrip out to Steamboat Springs, CO!!

In July my oldest brother Tom got married to his darling Renee.  They had a mountain wedding up in the Never Summer Mountain Range of Colorado, so we hopped in the car with the kiddos.  

Halfway-ish we stopped in Steamboat Springs and stayed in a fancy condo with my sister and her family.  It was a lot of fun and way too short.

One of the stinky springs in Steamboat.

Sofie's first experience with a teeter-totter 

Hopefully Mom's last experience with a teeter-totter.

Cooling off in the river with cousins.

Resting in the condo. 

Hiking to some falls.