My Nephew's 4th Bday Party

Maxwell's 4th Birthday Party

The next few posts are going to be about my trip to Phoenix last week visiting my sister Avein, her husband Paul and my nephew Maxwell. The trip to Arizona started off with Maxwell's 4th Bday party. My sister and brother-in-law went all out for Maxwell's party, including a popcorn machine, snow cone maker and a giant blow up slip-n-slide that was the hit of the party. I jumped in and took over the food portion of the party (of course). We did simple kid friendly food and it all turned out perfectly! Not only did the kids have a good time.....the parents did, too! I'm not sure how much those blow up slippy slide things cost but believe me....in hot Phoenix weather...that was the best money spent....and it seriously was so much fun!

The menu consisted of mac n cheese, little smokies in puff pastry, fruit, veggies and cheeses. For this entry I am going to post my fruit dip recipe that is always a hit and much better than that pink stuff you can buy in the store.

Avesta's Fruit Dip

1/2 Cup Vanilla or Plain Yogurt (if you can find Greek Yogurt, even better!)

8 oz cream cheese (softened)

1 tablespoon powdered sugar

2 tablespoons honey

2 tablespoons peach or apricot preserves

Squeeze of lemon juice

Put all ingredients in a bowl, mix and then microwave for 30-45 seconds. Mix well and spoon into a serving bowl. Chill until ready to use. Before serving, drizzle with a little honey on top. Serve with fresh fruit.

Maxwell's cake was a train. He loves train's and this cake turned out perfectly! The inside was chocolate with a chocolate mousse filling....yum!!!!

My sister rented this huge blow up slip and slide. It was like having an water park in the backyard...it was awesome!

Fruitful Discovery!

I am so excited because we have discovered fruit trees on our acreage! We moved to this house a little over a month ago and I have been so busy putting the inside of the house together that I am just now wandering around our land and discovering all its perks! We have found 3 apple trees, a peach tree and a pear tree. We picked bowls full of peaches and apples with the kids and they loved it! The peaches are so sweet and tender and the apples taste so fresh but the pears are not quite ready to be picked. We think they need just a few more days....but we can't wait to taste them! So this weekend...I am baking away. I am experimenting with the fruit and my mother and I are going to make some jams and preserves and can as much of the fruit as we can so we can bake away all winter.
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My mother always talks about growing up and how she loved her father's fruit trees. I now understand why she gets so excited about those trees. It's so amazing to walk out your door and pick fruit off your own tree. It's amazing to look up in the trees, with the sun beaming through the branches and seeing the ripe fruit hanging down. I couldn't help but take tons of pictures today...I could seriously take hundreds more.

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Laborless Labor Day

I didn't cook today...it's Labor Day for goodness sake....right? My husband and I took our dog out for a lovely afternoon ride. We explored a few lakes and parks in Omaha and had a great day. We had a picnic with fried chicken and went out for ice cream sundaes afterwards. These are the days that we wish we could have everyday. Nothing too important to do....but enjoying every minute of it. I hope you all enjoyed a lazy day full of love and relaxation as I did.

Hubby driving the Yukon.

Louis loves sticking his head out the car window.
Louis is a tea cup Chihuahua.And he loves snuggling in my massive hair.

And giving kisses....

nephew love....

so now I must give some love to my adorable nephews since I went on and on about my nieces yesterday. It isn't just that my nephews are cute...it's that they are so sophisticated....so much so beyond their years....they are just amazingly smart....and know just how to cock that head to the side and give you a smile that will melt your heart and make you say yes to whatever it is they want at that moment.

I truly love my family....I didn't grow up having much of a family so I get so excited for our kids because they have so many cousins and aunts and uncles and grandparents. I hope they realize just how lucky they are to have all this love around them.....