Goin' "Up River"

Well, if you live in Lewiston or Clarkston, you are very familiar with this term. It is what all "Valley" folk live for... goin up the Snake River and playing on the beach. I officially got my first full body sunburn of the season and Sam once again proved to me that all Nielsons love to invent games and turn every possible moment into a competition.

For example, could Sam jump completely over a 10' raft? You be the judge...

(*note: This is TOTALLY worth watching, and is only 3 seconds long. Ok, you might not think it's as funny as I do, but it makes me laugh when I watch it... every. single. time.)

And, wanna know how I know Sam is going to be a great dad? This video is a 10 second snippet of what he spent 4 hours on the beach in 95 degree weather doing. I kinda like this guy.

Early Morning Adventure

This weekend is the 3rd Annual Nielson Family Reunion. It is taking place in exciting Clarkston, WA... Sam's homeland. We had to work Thursday and wanted to be there as early as possible on Friday, so rather than leaving after work for the 6 hour drive and arriving at 1 or 2 am, we opted to get a few hours of sleep and set out first thing in the morning.

Well, apparently my definition of early morning is a bit different than Sam's. I was thinking we'd leave around 4 or 5ish, no sweat, I get up that early to go to the gym all the time. Sam on the other hand had his mind set on getting up at 2am and being on the road by 2:30. He's a bit eager for some Nielson family bonding. I said, more power to ya Samm-o, long as you take that first shift of driving. And that's exactly what happened. We were all packed up the night before and set out at 2:30 am in PJs, with Dominoe and a bag of Costco muffins, Friendship Bread, and assorted fruit in tow. I love this kinda stuff cuz it makes me feel like a kid again, and like we're on some sort of crazy adventure.

You know who else likes this stuff?

Dominoe!!


I already have all kinds of pics from stuff we've done since we've been here... but that will have to be saved for another post!

Pineapple Caking and Friendship Bread Making

So I have been super busy this week with all sorts of crazy shenanigans going on each night... every night there has been some sort of activity I've got to get through, and tonight was no different.

Tonight I had to do two very important things: ONE - Make up some Amish Friendship Bread from a 10 day old start I got from a lady in Relief Society (now before you go off thinking 10 days old is gross, it's kinda the whole point to the Amish bread thing... there's supposed to be some analogy that goes along with it about how we hurry through life and there's some value to making a bread that takes 10 days to make, yadda yadda yadda... whatever, I don't have time to explain, I gotta get through this blog) and TWO - make a Pineapple Upside Down Cake for a girl I work with who is leaving Ecology to go to grad school. I know, you're beginning to see what an exciting life I lead. Just hang on tight people, wait til I start throwin in pictures of the dang cake! You will be wishing this title had contained a warning!!

So anyways I blog to you now at 10:30, Wednesday night, while I wait for the Pineapple Cake to cool down so I can flip it over and officially make it an Upside Down Cake. I'm nervous though, because I've already done this once tonight only to find gooey white cake batter puddled in the middle of what should be nothing but the brown sugar and pineapple topping. Thank goodness for springform pans and a gas oven that heats back up in a jiffy. I really checked it good this time, as you can see here.

Yeah, notice all the stabbing and cracking that has taken place? Hopefully being turned upside down pans out well for this guy.

Well, it's official. I flipped the cake over and this is what we got:

Doesn't look half bad, eh?? Just ignore the evidence of unrest there in the middle. Don't worry, it's done. Now I just have to hurry and get this thing out of my house before I eat it all!!

Let me tell you people, this cake is amazing. I got it from this site: Simply Recipes. You will want to make it (like I did last weekend when I found the recipe) and you will want to then find future reasons to make it again (like I did when I heard it was Abby's favorite kind of cake and she was leaving Ecology).

Well, my cake is done, my night of baking has seemingly come to an end, and now all that is left to do is to get out of this chair and go to bed. So much for that 5 am class at the gym! Oh well, who needs the gym when you have a cake that has 3 sticks of butter in it?

It Was Bound to Happen...

It was only a matter of time... it has become one of the major rites of passage in our lives today. Creating a blog. As much as I have resisted (not really), as much as they annoy me (not at all actually), and as cheesy as most of them are (actually I love reading 99% of all blogs I've come across), I have decided to create my own!

So here it is! Enjoy it, love it, hate it, whatever, it is here now and we'll see how long I can keep it up. Thanks for visiting!