Sleepless in Tokyo... with my Moosey

Well... Moose and I were flying to Manila today and ended up getting stranded in Tokyo (where Moosey happily remembered Savannah lived). We ended up getting a night at the Radisson on Delta with meals, shuttle service, etc. I used my sweet demeanor to get us 35,000 miles, rerouted to Hong Kong directly (we were going there the next day) in business class, a $100 off coupon for another flight and a meal at Narita.
We decided to take a dip in the pool the next morning... it was outside and FREEZING cold... I was hoping to trick Myla and acted like it was nice and warm when touching it with my toes... before I could coax her to jump in she gave me a big push... WONDERFUL WAY TO WAKE UP IN THE MORNING... seriously must have been in the low 60's.
After Myla finally stopped laughing at me screaming and paddling my hardest to get out quickly we went to the indoor pool where we had to wear swimming hats (until the lady left anyway).
I wasn't the best example for the other little boys playing... I got Myla to skim board and they started doing it until their GOOD mother quickly put an end to it and an evil eye in my direction.

That didn't slow Myla and I down though... when everyone left we had contests to see who could sling the float boards the farthest. :)

These pictures reminded me of a time not so long ago (2001)in Florida swimming with Moose... tattoo and all...

More to come on Myla and Dusty's adventure to the Orient... Jane and Kiana are at nationals in L.A. while KJ and Sela are having fun with their aunts in Nevada.

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for july 18th through october 1st, 2009.

we're outta here!

in three directions...

kiana and i are headed to beverly hills,
dance nationals.

dusty and myla are headed to hong kong and the philippines.

kj and sela are headed to nevada for some auntie time...

grandma is going to hold down the fort at home.

we'll be gone ten days!

i'll be checking in when i can...to twitter, facebook, and blog!
see you later!

frozen grapes

back when we went on this trip, the resort/casino we were staying at did this really awesome thing.

each afternoon when we'd be hanging out poolside, about once an hour the pool attendants would bring around trays of snacks/treats to sample. one of those treats, were sweetened frozen grapes.

now, when you're sitting poolside in las vegas and it's topping one hundred degreezzzz...almost anything frozen is going to be perfect. but these sweetened frozen grapes were so good!

so, i had the pool attendant ask the kitchen what they put on them and tried to make them in my own kitchen for the fourth of july...

i think they were a hit-i took bags of red grapes, washed, and pulled from the vine...

on a jelly roll pan, i piled them high.

poured kara syrup over them, a little sweetened condensed milk, and topped with sprinkles of sugar.

froze overnight.

then served in individual little cups.

they were perfect for our sun-filled holiday!

if you try them out, let me know what you think!!!

{in the future, i am going freeze them with sprinkles of water & splenda.}

our fourth of july, polaroids.

bouncers, food, friends, wiffle ball, swimming, more food, sunshine.

it couldn't have been any better.

our fourth of july

if you have tickets to the stadium of fire tonight at byu,

kiana is performing.

she will be dancing with the stadium of fire dancers,

but,

the center stage dancers will be on the square stage in the middle of the field.

at times, she has a cane as a prop...keep an eye out for her!

happy 4th of july!

ice age: dawn of the dinosaurs

good. cute. not great - starting to feel a bit over-sequel-ish to me.these two bush-babies {shown above} still remind me of our dog, kaymen.

a change of shoes

as of today.

my myla decided to hang up her dance shoes.

she has spent seven years dancing.

jazz. ballet. ballroom. hip-hop. tumbling. tap.

she has had incredible coaches, and teachers...


but from here on out,

she plans on spending more time in cleats, and tennis shoes doing things like this...

and of course, ART!

we'll be cheering for you moosey!!!

*****

because of this change of shoes, we have lots of dance items available for sale. if you need a ballroom costume in about a size 5-6-7-8 or skirt, we have a few you can look at...

also, we have a dozen or so pairs of ballroom shoes. some very worn. others nearly new. email me if interested - great prices!

homemade ice cream sandwiches

this recipe comes straight from the kitchen of Dusty's mom,

grandma connie.

we made a double batch of homemade ice cream sandwiches tonight.
we're gearing up for our fourth of july weekend festivities!

and can i just say, i loooove it when my man helps me in the kitchen!

*****

HOMEMADE ICE CREAM SANDWICHES

TEXAS CAKE

combine:
2 cups flour
2 cups sugar

bring the following ingredients to a boil and add to dry ingredients:
1 cup water
1/4 cup cocoa
1 cup margarine

mix well and add:
1/2 cup buttermilk
1 tsp. baking soda
2 eggs
1 tsp. vanilla

mix well and pour into jelly roll pan,
bake at 400 degrees for 20 minutes.

if you do not want to make ice cream sandwiches, but just want the texas cake, which is also delicious alone...i recommend this frosting:

Bring to a boil:
1/2 cup margarine
1/4 cup cocoa
5 tbsp. cream

Add approximately 4 cups powdered sugar, nuts {optional}, and 1 tsp. vanilla. Frost cake while hot.

to make the ice cream bars - make two pans of the texas cake recipe.

and follow pictures below -

i lay out wax paper on our kitchen counter top to flip over one sheet of texas cake. we use generic vanilla ice cream, and prefer the boxed ice cream. it makes it easier to open and slice to place it between the cakes.
creatively, we get the other cake flipped over on a sheet of wax paper and re-flip it on top, so it's face-up. does that make sense??? this definitely takes two people in my home, i'm pretty sure my mother-in-law had a trick to do this herself!

{see my man - he ran in the kitchen to help me at this point! love that.}
then, because i like squares...i cut the ice cream sandwiches into 3 x 3 inch squares. we wrap them individually in plastic wrap and freeze.
ta-da! our freezer stocked full of homemade ice cream sandwiches.

let me tell you, they are to die for! sometime in the next three days, we will all be having a sugar-high!
my other helper -