Happy 96th Birthday, Granny!

Today Granny turned 96!  Yes, I said 96!  Pretty neat, huh?!  We had her birthday party at the park again this year and thank goodness it was a lot cooler today than last year!  There was a nice breeze and the rain held off.

The Birthday Girl!  Kathryn Elizabeth White.

A little fun was had with her cake... she didn't want the candles to actually say 96, so they say 54 instead!
The icing still said 96.  Since we had a 9, 6, 5, and 4 we tried to talk her into being 9, 654!  Didn't work though. 

This knife is not usually for cake cutting.  It is a watermelon knife, but worked well for cutting her large cake!

Here we go again, the annual Payton v. Dustin battle!  They are having a lot of fun, but it looks like Dustin is winning!

Still having fun!

Part of the gang

This is becoming a yearly event too... hanging Payton's shoes by the rafters!  See HERE for last year's pics.

What you cannot see in this picture is Dustin is holding Payton down so Riley can pour a bottle of cold
water on him.  Notice that her hair is wet.... he got her first and now she is getting even!

Run Payton, Run!

Good Cookie Recipe

A friend at work brought in cookies that she made with egg whites and black walnuts... they were called Black Walnut Meringue cookies.  I LOVE meringue.  Don't even care to eat the pie that it might be attached to, just want the meringue!  We were talking "cookies" and thought this recipe would be even better with.... chocolate!  So, I came home did a search and found this recipe.  Made them during our latest ice storm and we all loved them, so I had to share the recipe here.

Meringue always reminds me of Grandma Denny and Granny.  They always had the best chocolate pies with even better meringue on top!  I loved it when it would get a little too brown...yum that was the best!

I made these cookies again tonight, but this time I used Splenda instead of sugar.  This makes the calories and the carbs even less.  Not sure the exact carb count with Splenda, but guessing around 7 instead of 10.

Chocolate Chip Meringue Cookies Recipe

Photo by: Taste of Home

24 Servings

• Prep: 20 min. + standing Bake: 20 min.

Ingredients

• 3 egg whites
• 1/4 teaspoon cream of tartar
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1 cup sugar
• 3 tablespoons baking cocoa
• 3 tablespoons miniature semisweet chocolate chips
• 3 tablespoons finely crushed almonds or walnuts, optional

Directions

• Place egg whites in a large bowl; let stand at room temperature for 30 minutes. Beat egg whites until foamy. Add cream of tartar and salt; beat until soft peaks form. Gradually add sugar, 1 tablespoon at a time, beating on high speed until stiff peaks form, about 6 minutes. Beat in cocoa. Fold in chocolate chips and nuts if desired.
• Cut a small hole in the corner of a pastry or plastic bag; insert # 806 round pastry tip. Fill the bag with meringue. Pipe 1-1/2-in. hearts 2 in. apart onto lightly greased baking sheets. Bake at 300° for 20-25 minutes or until firm to the touch. Remove to wire racks to cool. Store in an airtight container. Yield: 2 dozen. 
  
  Editor's Note: Meringue can be dropped by rounded tablespoonfuls onto lightly greased baking sheets. Bake as directed.

Nutrition Facts: 1 serving (1 each) equals 43 calories, trace fat (trace saturated fat), 0 cholesterol, 32 mg sodium, 10 g carbohydrate, trace fiber, 1 g protein.

A little Photo "catch-up"

I love taking pictures of Grandma's barn.   

Looking towards the bridge from down below the house at Grandma's.

Standing along the tree line behind Grandma's house looking up towards the house and barn.  You can see my mom and dad's house in the upper right of the picture.  Right beside where I am standing is where Scott's deer was on the edge of the field in the tree line.

Payton and Mason wishing this buck was theirs!

Mason was telling us how nice of a buck this was and how nice it's body was!

Scott's daughter, Raylan loves to go deer hunting with her daddy!  She wasn't along for this one, but enjoyed being there when they brought it in.

Scott helping Riley and Payton get through the barb wire fence.

Granny, Riley, and Payton at Uncle Raymond's on Thanksgiving Day.  Can you believe that this was Granny's 96th Thanksgiving?  Wow!  (counting her first one when she was 5 months old)

Jerilynn, Riley, Payton, and Anna on Thanksgiving Day.

Riley and Payton playing a DS game together at Grandma and Grandpa T's house the day after Thanksgiving.

Riley was all ready to watch Ramona and Beezus with me and pooped out about half way through!  However, I finished the movie by myself and cried my eyes out!  It's such a good movie.  Gotta love the nice, feel-good movies!

Not many people believe us when we tell them that Buki and Barkley have a very close relationship... honestly -- they do!  They eat out of the same bowl together, at the same time.  They sleep next to each other.  And they love to play together.  If Barkley isn't starting it, Buki is!  Oh, and if you haven't guessed it, Buki is now an inside cat.  We still aren't exactly sure how this happened, but it has something to do with Riley becoming extremely attached to him!

Jon, the kids, and I stayed at my Mom and Dad's until the Sunday after Grandma's funeral.  It was nice to just be there on the farm and enjoy being with family.  It was hard to look down at her house and think that she wasn't there.  It still just didn't seem real.

Saturday we went to visit Grandma Denny (my Mom's Mom) at the nursing home in Brazil.  She was sleeping and was hard to wake up, so we tried to talk with her a little bit, but our visit was short.

Saturday evening, Jon and I went to dinner together in Greencastle, while the kids went over to Aunt Loretta's to play with Mason, Jocelyn, and the rest of the crew.  Jessica had to learn all the in's and out's of diabetes in record time and she did a great job!  It was awesome to have a chance to have dinner with Jon.  Afterwards, we went back to get the kids and sat out by a fire with Jess, Jeff, Scott, Gwen, and all of the kids.  Just being together brought back so many memories of being kids and running around my Grandma's and Aunt Loretta's together.  I'm sorry that it has been so long since we've seen each other and especially sorry that it took a funeral to make it happen.

Sunday morning is when Scott got his buck and I took the pictures of the barn, house, field, etc.  My kiddos were so excited to be a part of the deer experience... such city kids, I know!  I remember being a kid and laughing at friends who would come down and be mesmerized when the hunters would get a deer... now it's my 2 that are mesmerized -- how funny!

Celebrating 95 Years!

One week ago today, my Great Grandma (AKA Granny) celebrated 95 glorious years!  Happy Birthday, Granny!  We had a party for her on Saturday and it was a lot of fun having everyone get together in honor of our Granny.