WE BEE BAKIN'

Maricela loves to make her Grandpa happy!
So, she has been practicing baking cakes!
She wants to make Grandpa a special cake for his birthday
on Jan. 31st.

WILL THE REAL "CAKE BOSS" PLEASED STAND UP?

I found two new cake recipes in a new cook book.
So, Mari and I decided to have a "baking with Grandma day".


This one had so many delicious ingredients that
it was sure to be a success!

This is Mari's beautiful hand...she did NOT

want me to take more pictures of her!

(What a silly girl! She will be seen by millions of people

when she becomes a famous pastry chef.)

THE MASTERPIECE!

This one has an intriguing name!

It looks pretty pitiful when it is finished.

However, it is delicious and very simple to make.
It does resemble an "earthquake", don't you think?

When the cakes were finished they underwent the

MISSIONARY TEST OF APPROVAL.

This is an Elder in our branch and Wendy's branch.

Elder Fowles reminds us of someone in our family.

(This is not a great picture of him. He is red-headed and has a nice smile.)

Who do you think he reminds us of?

The missionaries did like the Earthquake cake

and Mari and I plan on many more fun days of baking ahead!

(This year has just begun!)

JOY = ANCESTORS AND POSTERITY

"GENEALOGY I AM DOING IT" !I am so happy! I have been looking for the records of

my paternal ancestors for about four years!

I have this 12 generation chart that I keep all of my
records on. I have had a gap on the top portion which represents
my father's family. Yesterday I found their records going back
EIGHT GENERATIONS!
All of this time I have been looking for records from FRANCE
because that is where the 1800 Census said my great grandfather
was born. I was led to a web site called GENEALOGY OF CANADA,
and there were my very long lost ancestors!

This is my grandfather Eldridge Barabe'. I knew he was a
"French Canadian".


This is my Great grand father Antoine Barabe'. The Census says
he was born in France. Today I was having a conversation with
my grandson Nick and I mentioned that I did not understand why
the 1800 Census would say he was born in France when he was born in
Quebec, Canada! Nick looked at me and said something like . . .
"Well, when did Canada gain it's Independence from France?"!

Honestly, my first reaction was to say "HUH?". Then I came home and looked on
the internet at a time line of Canada history and sure enough
Quebec was "New France" when my great grand father was born.
My great grandmother's name was Marie Boyer. I found her information too
but I still have searching to do for her "family line".

I am so anxious to learn more about my family history. I can honestly say . . .
I LOVE MY ANCESTORS!

AND . . .


I LOVE MY POSTERITY!
How sad would life be without sons and daughters,
grandsons and granddaughters!

(Notice one granddaughter who did not want her

picture taken and thought she could escape the camera by ducking!)


Other grandkids love to be "models" for the camera.

Love you, Porter . . .

and Sam . . .(never met a food he didn't like!)

and Jake. . .loves that thumb

(I don't know where Ben is when I am taking pictures?)

and Joelle . . .

(With the cute new haircut, thank you Aunt Wendy!)

and Emma .. .

(With the cute new hat, thank you Grandma!)

and Jasmine . . .(With the cute new jacket, thank you Grandma!)

and Katiekins . . .(With the cute old grandpa, thank you Grandma for

marrying such a wonderful man!)

Nothing brings more "light" into our lives and joy to our hearts than

"FAMILY TIES"!

(Miss you my Texas and Arizona kids and grandkids!)

A GRAND DAY WITH GRANDKIDS

Here in Port Orford, one of our favorite places to spend time walking is an area called

"THE HEADS".

The view of the ocean is spectacular ! It is even a more wonderful place when we can share a day there with grandkids!

Wendy and Jose came to walk The Heads on New Years Day.

(Certainly, we had to crash their party)

Grandsons are a wonderful sight for sore eyes.

So is a son-in-law.


Another beautiful sight!

After we walked The Heads for about an hour we decided to
"drop in" on R.J. at his beautiful little house
on Garrison Lake.

I think the kids were literally "on the lake" within
ten minutes. Nick loves to canoe. Porter caught on very quickly.

COULD IT BE LEWIS AND CLARK?

Everyone caught the bug to explore the lake,

everyone but we sane people who are going to wait til summer!

(Wendy, Josh, Grandpa and Grandma.)

Even Lucy knows it is too cold to go on the lake in January!
Oh, but she was tempted!

Happy just uses the lake for her own personal water dish.

From The Heads to Garrison Lake, it was a wonderful way to spend

the first day of 2011. With people and pets we love.

"Julia and Julia"? Nope, guess again!

I have been promising a certain granddaughter that I would

show her how to make my "famous" cheese ball.

I did not get pictures of Maricela with her hands covered in cream cheese,

but it was a beautiful moment! Mari is so at home in the kitchen. She loves everthing about baking...
the final product as well as the process!

Dipping Oreos in white chocolate can be a fun
"finger-lickin good" activity.

Who gets to lick this spoon?

While waiting for the muffins to bake, Mari kept busy . . .

(All good chefs can multi-task!)

This was our own creation. I think we call it

WHITE CHOCOLATE OREO BRICK

(It tasted much better than it looked!)

Just when I thought the holiday sweets were gone for another year . . .

C-A-L-O-R-I-E-S!!!

Any time spent in the kitchen with a granddaughter is a

VERY SWEET EXPERIENCE!