Sunny Days & A Start to Summer!

I keep waiting for the time of year when life "slows down",

but I don't think that time exists. So on we go, plowing through!

Jeremy {and his best friend, and my dad} all went on their annual bear hunting trip

the middle of last month.  

The weather finally started to shape up, so they took the opportunity to get away.

And they had a great time!

I've been working on a Busy Book to send to our friends who are making the looooong trek from 

Maine to Oregon in LESS THAN A WEEK!

Two babies 3 and under . . . on a plane cross country . . .

girlfriend's gonna need some magic tricks.

Last week we got to have dinner at the Wooden Shoe Tulip Farm.

It was such fun; a beautiful evening for an outside dinner amidst a gorgeous backdrop.

We love visiting Wooden Shoe each April to ooooh and ahhhhh over the tulips,

but visiting in June was a whole new experience!

So many gorgeous blooms.

And we've even gotten in plenty of family visit time.

The girls' cousin, Kuaile, got to come out for a couple of days, and it was NON STOP fun!

And we made our annual trip to Lincoln City with Jeremy's side of the family last month.

{Photos to follow soon}.

25 people in one beach house . . . there were so many memories to be made!

What does the start to your Summer look like?

It's Baking Season

If it were up to me, it would always be baking season. 
At our house, it pretty much is.
Hello, my name is Liz, and I'm a cookie-aholic.

Have you ever noticed that cookies and, well, everything taste so much better when you use "real" ingredients?  {Real butter, and we're blessed to have fresh eggs daily, and mmmmmm, vanilla}.  A good vanilla makes all the difference, in my opinion.  And I use vanilla in EVERYTHING, whether it calls for it or not ;)

Ever thought about making your own?
Me neither.
Until I started cringing every time I had to fork out lots o' bucks for tiny little bottles of vanilla {which was pretty frequently}, and until I kept reading about how easy it is to make your own!  And until I thought, 'hey, this is a great gift idea!'

All you need are glass bottles, vanilla beans, and vodka ;)

I purchased my glass bottles on Amazon, and I think I got 12 of them for about $10, including shipping.
I got the vanilla beans through Beanilla.  They offer a HUGE assortment of different types of beans.  I chose the Madagascar ones because of their flavor and price.

And I can't even tell you what kind of vodka I used.  A cheap kind.  Jeremy picked it up for me ;)

You just take and slice the beans down the middle, drop a couple of them in each bottle, add the vodka, and voila!  Let it sit for a few weeks, and you have your very own vanilla.  The best part?  When you're running low, top it off with more vodka, and perhaps another bean.  Easy peasy.



Oh, and did I mention they make the cutest gifts?