Stetson Steve and Chimis

Our good friend Steve turned thirty this year on July 4th.  He is now an assistant coach at Stetson University and we are so proud of him!  He's such a good guy, and that statement is very true.  Steve is one of the friendliest people you will meet.  And in 2000 he was assigned Adam Mark as his roommate, the world's least friendliest person you will meet (not anymore).  Steve quickly became Mr. Belmont and knew everyone on campus.  One of the first mornings that I was walking to class, I heard someone trotting behind me and it was Steve catching up to me to introduce himself and walk to campus with me.  He had a big part in getting Adam and I together. 

Steve and Adam getting directions from coach Byrd

Steve put up with a lot having Adam as a roommate.  Adam snored.  Adam sang.  And Adam didn't talk much the whole first semester they were together.  It took a snowball incident in the dorm rooms for them to finally open up.  But Adam still had a lot of room to grow.  Steve ended up breaking his hand their freshman year and needed a lot of assistance with simple things like tying his shoes, carrying a bag.  Adam was getting pretty pissed about having to always tie Steve's shoes and tuck in his shirt, that one morning he left the hotel room to go to the lobby early just so he didn't have to get Steve ready.  Poor Steve came down to the lobby with his shirt mis-buttoned, not tucked in, he had missed two belt loops, and his pants were tucked into his socks.  Luckily Jese felt sorry for him and helped him out.  They soon became close friends and he's truly one of my favorite people.  Happy Birthday Steve!!

Another one of my favorite Aubrie pictures.  This is Steve and his beautiful wife Brittany trying to pose with her on their wedding day. 



Adam and Aubrie on the pier



We're still having a good time at the lake, aside from Emilie not wanting to sleep at night.  We've been working on about 5 hours of sleep for the past 3 days.  We're trying a new sleeping arrangement tonight.  The poor girl has allergies on top of all that.  But it didn't stop her from....CRAWLING!!  I know!  My 8 month old little princess is crawling.  I can't believe it.  We were all running around the cottage, getting beds ready and bags put away for bedtime and I looked over and she was crawling.  I was shocked!!  She's so precious.  On top of all that, Aubrie's talking like there is no tomorrow.  She's putting together 7 plus word sentences.  She loves coming outside and yelling "I pooh pooh in the potty!!!" for all the neighbors to hear.  Luckily they think she is cute.  :)  We had Nick Otis, and his wonderful fiance Ashlie come visit us yesterday.  Nick played basketball with Adam and he went to the same high school as Steve.  He's now a lawyer in LaPorte, Indiana.  He's so lucky to have found Ashlie.  She's so talented and will be a wonderful mom...my girls just take to her.  And you know Emilie is not easy to handle (referring to her reputation with the YMCA childcare)  I hope they have six kids!  :)  It's always good catching up with good friends.



Granny putting Emilie to sleep on the porch swing



Gaga playing with Emilie

I made chimichangas and Lemon cake the other day while Nick and Ashlie were here.  I'm not a fan of lemon deserts, but this one is something else.  It is the perfect cold desert for a hot summer day.  You'll want to try it out because it is so moist and delicious.  Ashlie pointed out that you can probably do it using different flavors than lemon! 

Lickety Split Lemon Cake

1 lemon cake mix
2 boxes lemon jello (3 oz)
1 1/2 cups boiling water
1 1/2 cups lemon lime soda
3 1/2 oz package of lemon instant pudding
1 1/3 cups cold milk
1 cup of whipping cream, whipped

Bake the lemon cake mix as directed for a 13 x 9 pan.  While cake is baking, dissolve the jello with the boiling water and soda, but add them slowly and stir.  Once dissolved, put it in the fridge until the cake is finished.  Once the cake is done baking, remove it from the oven and take a fork and poke the top of the cake everywhere, making lots of tiny holes.  Pour soda-jello mix over the top of the cake and return the cake to the fridge.  Mix the pudding mix with the cold milk and let sit for 5 minutes.  Whip the whipping cream (or cheat like me and use the tub of whipping cream) and then fold he pudding into the cream.  Ice the cake and return it to the fridge. 

Chimichangas

3  or 4 lb chuck or arm roast
1 cup of Pace picante sauce
1  small can of diced green chilies (4 oz)

Season meat with salt, pepper, and garlic powder and cook it in crock pot.  Once meat is cooked, shred it with a fork and return it to crock pot after draining out all the juice.  You may want to keep some of the juice for later to make the meat moist when re-heating it.  Once meat is back in crock pot, add the picante sauce and green chilies.  Just roll meat into burritos or you can put them in taco shells and fry them. 
Cook in crock pot on high for 4-5 hours
Cook on low for 8-10 hours

This is Adam's favorite!!!!  But I guess he deserves to eat his favorite after riding on the smallest ride to make his daughter happy.  Love to all!!

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