Ear Tube Surgery

Little Jared had surgery 7/19/12 to put tubes in his ears. The surgery was at Redwood Area Hospital.

We needed to be there by 8am for 9am surgery. By 10:30am we were back home. 

 Jared did great overall. All these pictures are before surgery.

They gave him something to drink that would make him a little tired, so he is starting to get a little loopy.

 Then off to surgery he goes. 

 Hopefully this helps and we don't have to hassle with those nasty ear infections or fluid in his ears any more. 

Love you bunches little guy!!!

Willmar Fest Parade

At the end of June we made it to our annual parade which is the Willmar Fest Parade. 

The kids got lots of candy and had a great time eating it!

Then this year after the parade we went down to the fire station and feasted on the Fireman's Pancake Feed.

We filled our tummy's and then the kids jumped in the bouncer.

 We got to check out the fire trucks too.

Great family day!

Jared 1st words

Well after 3 kids, the third one finally got it right and said "Mom, Mom, Mom" first instead of the "Da, Da, Da" Gracie and Zach did first. Me and Jared we are buddies! This was back in June when he was about 9 months old.

Then this video was to cute to not show off. He jumped himself to sleep. Zach used to do this too.

Gracie riding bike - Zach hotwheels

Gracie got it figured out this year how to ride bike without the training wheels. It was like one day it all just clicked and off she went. 

And then we have little Zachy who can do a mean ride on the Barbie Hotwheels. 

Don't get in this guys way... he is fast!

Swimming Pool

With all the heat the summer has brought we have spent a lot of time in the pool.

Gracie and Zach are little fish and Jared seems to like the water too.

 Marley is turning out to be quite the little water lover too!

He also like to put everything in his mouth and then run around with it.

Swimming with some of the cousins: Rochelle, Makayla, and Taylor

Sohre 5

Ok these are some crazy pictures below. Over the 4th of July week my family all gathered for several days at the Cabin.  Somewhere a few months back someone came up with having a run on the 4th. As the conversations kept going it picked up the name of "The Sohre 5"  which was originally was going to be the 5 kids running with the 5 out-laws, running 5 miles at 5pm. Well the extreme heat had us cut down the course to 1.7 miles and then each family had to set up an obstacle during the course.   Also every family was to create a costume.  Mom and Dad were the time keepers and judges. 

Don't ask me how this all really came to be... but it did and it was a hoot.

I mean really what could be more fun than 10 adults with kids running in ridiculous looking outfits at 5pm on the 4th of July when it was close to a real feel of 100 degrees. Seems perfectly normal to me!!

I am sure the people that were driving by in there cars were sure we had broke loose from the local Nut House.

 So above we have the Malecek Team.

 Then we have the Hodgkin team.

 Next below, is the Daly team.

 And then the Cornish team. Boy they are sexy!!!

 And then above is the Sohre team... not the most creative for costumes.

And below is our judges: Mom and Dad.

And the race began. We had it all marked out. Obstacles were BB gun shooting, water gun shooting, singing, reciting the 10 commandments, and swimming. Then of course the running. 

 GOOD TIMES PEOPLE THAT IS WHAT IT IS ALL ABOUT!

Dollies and Tractors

Who says boys and girls can't play together?

Who says dollies and tractors don't go together?

 Well my Gracie and Zachy have figured out a way to make it work.

 They came up with this all on their own. They were playing so good together in the toy room and soon come out to the kitchen with this tractor convoy.

 And look at that baby dolly and Grandma dolly get to drive the tractors. 

 The rest get hauled in the wagon.

I just love it when kids use their imaginations and play so good together.

Angel Food Cake

My Grandma Summers, the one that just passed away, was legendary for her Angel Food Cakes.

At her funeral many conversations were started around this very topic.

I happen to have her recipe written in her own hand writing and some of the equipment she used.

 My Mom and Dad made a visit to our house in June and one of the missions Mom had was to make Grandma's Angel Food Cake.

The "BIG WHITE CUP" is one of the key pieces of equipment and I happen to have it. It is a regular coffee cup, which measured out is about 1 1/3 cups of liquid. This is how Grandma measured her egg whites. Her recipe card didn't say use 18 eggs it said 1 1/2 BIG WHITE CUP of egg whites. So Mom and I did just this. We cracked and cracked eggs and then cracked a few more until we filled the BIG WHITE CUP 1  1/2 times. Turns out it was about 18 eggs this time around. Then we used my beloved Kitchen Aide mixer and whipped those egg whites. I am sure Grandma would have been disappointed in this, as I am sure she used her hand mixer and her arm got sore holding it... but I am a women in the 21st century and I use my Kitchen Aide (sorry Grandma, hope you'll forgive me!).

My Kitchen Aide works very well for this type of thing and the kids get the pleasure of watching. 

They were having fun.

 You gotta whip those eggs until they are stiff. Mom said this looked about right.

 The next key is to use cake flour and to sift it. Mom thought we didn't need to, but it specifically says on Grandma's recipe card to sift, so we did, and it does make a difference.

This is Grandma's sifter too. 

 By this point we are having a lot of fun.

Ahh, and almost the finished product. 

This too is Grandma's prized Angel Food Cake Pan. 

I wonder how many cakes were baked in this pan? Probably close to 500 or more.

 So we have her BIG WHITE CUP and her sifter and her cake pan.

I bet she was smiling down on us as we worked in the kitchen, 3 generations of families later.

 There it is. Isn't it a beauty?

Dad did the first taste test and confirmed it was a Grandma Summer's recipe cake.

There is something about her cake. It is GOOD!

Hope we made you proud Grandma. We had a fun day remembering you and talking about you.