Goshorn Wedding

A good friend of my family (one of my Dad's best friends) was married the weekend after Thanksgiving to one of my friends Mom's. They asked Josh to do the wedding and me to do the cupcakes! HA! :) It was fun to be apart of their special day. It was a small, intimate wedding in Donna's home with close family and friends. I'm so glad we were able to be there and to be apart of the ceremony. Thanks to Mam and Papaw for keeping Emma that day! :)

Pronounced: Husband and Wife

Mr. and Mrs. Tim Goshorn

The Goshorn/Thomas kids

Brad and Joey (on each end) are like brothers to me.

We lived close to one another in Florida, went to church together, Joey and I were in school and band together and our parents were good friends. We were together all the time. And Brad...he's just a mean older brother! ;)

the new family :) The Brady Bunch! Josh, Donna & Tim

The Happily Married Couple

Now, on to the reception...

The card reads "The Worlds Most Beautiful Jello (Sugar Free)

We got a good laugh out of it when we read it! Thanks Ellie for 'showing it off'!

Here it is: "The World's Most Beautiful Jello"

apparently it takes a while to make!

Wedding cupcakes made to the brides specifications.

She wanted chocolate and white chocolate cupcaies with polka dots.

I found the wrappers and the sprinkles to fit the theme! :)

Time for the Honey Moon

On their way!

Congratulations Tim and Donna!

We love you and are SO happy for you!

Chicken Burritos

So...I invented a new recipe...at least to me! :) The other day I realized I needed to do something to my defrosted chicken breasts before they went bad. So, I thought I would stick them in the crockpot, generously sprinkle them with taco seasoning and pour a can of rotel over them along with another can of water. I'm sure you could use less...but it worked out fine for us. I stuck them in the crockpot on high while we went to church. When we got home, I thought I would let them cook a little longer on low and then eventually turned the crockpot off and let them cool. I drained the juice and kept all the yummy tomatoes with the chicken, shredded it all and stuck it in the fridge for today. Took some large size, flour tortillas spread black beans down the center and topped it with shredded chicken, folded the ends in and rolled the tortilla's up. Topped them with cheese dip, coved the pan with foil and stuck it in the over on 350 while the rice cooked. DELISH. I think this concoction is a keeper...I might even serve it to guests. :)

Emma and Birds

On Black Friday before I took Emma to meet our friends at my favorite restaurant in Pensacola, The Fish House, for lunch, we went to a park downtown on the bay. We saw my favorite creature up close and personal...big birds. I have quite the "avian fear"...even though I got some cool photographs! :)

Us with the Pelican. Can you believe I got that close. Emma wasn't a fan of getting too close either! :)

Someone left popcorn for the birds to munch on. Emma didn't want to show her face. :)

I think this is cool. Em chasing the birds.

SOOOO cute!

Catching Up

My next few posts over the coming days will be A LOT of catching up. :) I think I'll start with December....*cringe*. Enjoy reminiscing with us! :P

Baking with Emma....

After dinner tonight I thought I would try another recipe out of something I've made before and couldn't find the recipe to again. Well, Emma decide she wanted to help me cook. :) She went up to her room, grabbed the cooking utensils from her kitchen and came down with "her" liquid measuring cup full of water ready to pour it in. Thankfully I was able to stop that before it ruined our recipe. :) I quickly found things for her to "help" with and mix. While I was turned away getting the water we needed, Emma managed to get some extra brown sugar out of the bag, taste it, spill it on the floor AND add some to the topping. We have a sticky mess in our house tonight. After our interesting and messy baking experience I realized I've never baked from scratch with Emma before...I think we'll be sticking to the boxes a while longer! :) Anyways, this recipe is EXACTLY what I've been looking for for over ten years now. It is delicious. I hope you will enjoy it! :) Chocolate Pudding/Chocolate Cobbler or whatever you wish to call it 1 c all purpose flour 2 tsp baking powder 1/4 tsp salt 7 T cocoa powder divided (3T and 4T) 1 1/4 c sugar divided (3/4c and 1/2c) 1/2 c milk 1/3 c melted butter 1 1/2 tsp vanilla extract (or more - I love it) 1/2 c light brown sugar, packed 1 1/2 c hot tap water Preheat oven to 350. First stir together, flour, baking powder, salt, 3T cocoa powder and 3/4 c sugar. Stir in milk, melted butter and vanilla into the flour mixture. Mix until smooth. Poor the mixture into an ungreased 8" baking dish. The small corningware dish is a good one. In a separate small bowl mix the remaining 1/2 c of sugar (or maybe a little more if Emma is helping), the brown sugar and remaining 4 T of cocoa. Sprinkle this mixture evenly over the batter. Pour the hot tap water of the all of the top. DO NOT stir. Bake for about 40 minutes or until the center is set. Let stand for a few minutes and serve with ice cream. DELISH!!!

Mother's Day

Mother's Day have always been days spent with my mom. The first mother's day I was away from my mom was in 2004, they lived in Virginia and I lived in Pensacola. I went to Mississippi that weekend to celebrate with one of my best friends and attend her sons baby dedication with all the family. It was a great and fun day for us. The following year 2005, I was in China. The day before Mother's Day I had just returned home from our May Holiday. I spent that week or so traveling to my students homes and spending time with them. The afternoon of Mother's Day (early morning in the US) I called mom and dad and woke them up telling them I was on my way to the hospital with severe stomach pains, uncontrolable puking and a high fever. I'm sure my mom went to church happy that Mother's Day. :P I was feeling horrible. I ended up staying the night at the hospital and went home late the following afternoon. I always think about that lovely day/night each Mother's Day. The following Mother's Day, 2006, I was pregnant with little Miss Emma (surprise). Mom and Dad came down to visit that weekend so we could all be together. I think I gave Mom a frame with Emma's ultrasound in it that year! :) The following year we were all together again for Mother's Day...this time with sweet Emma Grace. Each year since we have been apart since they have been living in Finland. I hope that after this year we can all get together on Mother's Day once again. I am so thankful for my mom and the impact she has had on my life. So thankful for all the lessons she taught me and for the woman that she helped me become. I hope and pray I can do the same for my little girl. I love you, Mom!