Kelly Times Two

My sister kept telling me about these smoothies that she's been whipping up, and they honestly sounded disgusting and I could not bring myself to making it. Then Lindsey visited her in Utah a few weeks ago, and was a guinea pig for the concoction and she loved it! Three times, in the past three days, we have now made the Popeye Smoothies, as I've renamed them. Julie refers to her chilly beverage as an elixir, which suits her Wicked passion. Christopher and I photographed the recipe to show everyone, and if you're brave, try for yourself. Step 1: add 4 ounces of white grape juice concentrate and 4 ounces of water to the blender Step 2: add 2 (heaping) cups ice cubes Step 3: add 2 (heaping) cups fresh baby spinch leaves Step 4: add 1 stick butter (just kidding, that WOULD be gross) it's a pineapple wedge Step 5: add one (ping-pong ball sized) lime--the seeds, imperfect looking peeling, pith, pulp, and all Step 6: put the lid on tightly and blend until smooth. It makes ...

Today was Lindsey's 18th birthday and we had a fun weekend celebrating. The next 18 pictures will show how we partied the last two days, and highlight some recent pictures of the birthday girl. So here we go--18 REASONS WHY I LOVE MY DAUGHTER, LINDSEY: #1. She loves her family and truly adds light to our home. She's a Daddy's girl. And a Mommy's girl. #2. She's a wonderful, kind, big sister and an excellent example for her brother. #3. It's SO awesome to have a daughter. Lindsey is fun to cook with, shop with, watch chick flicks with, talk to about anything and everything, and adds joy to my life. #4. She's a goal setter and hard worker in school, and puts forth a lot of effort to succeed. She's looking forward to applying for college and having a fun senior year of high school. #5. She likes surprises. (I don't.) Tonight we made her wait upstairs while Kelly, Christopher, and I decorated the dinner table and dining room to create the ambiance fo...

My Grandma Jackson had this incredible carrot cake recipe that everyone in our family loved. I've made a few updates to Grandma's yummy dessert, like buying a 16-ounce bag of baby carrots, which are already peeled, then grinding them in a food processor--not grating them, and adding a little coconut to make it even more moist and fabulous. Sometimes I make this recipe as cupcakes, which everyone goes crazy over, so I thought I would share this family recipe for all to enjoy. This version is for a three-layer cake. 2 cups all purpose flour 2 cups granulated sugar 2 teaspoons baking powder 2 teaspoons baking soda 2 teaspoons cinnamon 1 teaspoon salt 16 ounces baby carrots, finely chopped in food processor (3 cups) 1 cup vegetable oil 4 eggs 1 cup chopped pecans 1/2 cup coconut Sift together flour, sugar, baking powder, baking soda, cinnamon, and salt. Set aside. Mix together chopped carrots, oil, eggs, pecans, and coconut until well blended. Add the flour mixture. Lightl...

Blogger frustration. Doesn't it annoy you when you finish a post and realize that you left out a couple of pictures, and you have wasted enough time that you don't want to redo the whole thing? Well, here's a picture that falls in that category, my friends Stephanie and Barb, enjoying getting their mani-pedis after a long plane flight. Totally out of order from my post below, but oh, well. And I also realized that somehow I didn't add a picture of Barb in the pool yet, so here's proof that she took a dip at least once with us. Now you can read where the post was supposed to start, following this picture. Welcome to Austin, Barbara and Stephanie, my two good buddies from Colorado! You know how it is when you often invite friends and family to come visit you and usually they say they will. But they never do? Well, when I texted one of my friends and told her that our kids were in Colorado for 19 days, and that she should come visit, she took me up on the offer! And ...