milkfat

this weekend was fun and busy, as usual.

my friend maggie came for dinner friday night. we chatted for hours. it was really nice. i'm really looking forward to seeing her more often!

saturday, we had my company picnic at the zoo. hannah and bryan, amazingly, tired out before i did. we only saw about half the zoo! i was pretty beat too, though. the weather couldn't have been more perfect. that evening, we went downtown to the history museum to see an imax film on black holes. hannah wasn't too keen on going, but once the imax movie started and stars and asteriod were zipping around us, she thought it was the coolest movie EVER. she was convinced that the entire auditorium was moving. :) i guess that the imax did it's job!

sunday morning we went to church. we would like to have oliver baptized, so we had to pick a church (and by default, a religion). bryan was raised lutheran, so we started there. our main concern was tolerance; all religions preach love and tolerance... but conditionally. it's simply not something we can begin to understand and thus couldn't associate ourselves with. we found a branch of lutheranism that actually practices acceptance of ALL believers. we attended the service, and i have never been to any religious event or place where people were more welcoming or friendly. from the moment we walked in we were greeted, welcomed, and introduced to everyone. during the processional song, the pastor ran over to me to greet us; we had emailed and she wanted to see if i was jen. :) after the sermon, the pastor asks all the kids to come up front so she can relate the gospel to them in terms they will understand. overall it was a very nice service and a great community. we definitely plan on going back.

after church, we ran some errands (shocker!), and i baked those pecan squares you see pictured above. i didn't make it to the chocolate dipping, but i'm pretty sure they contained enough milkfat nonetheless. the crust is butter, with just enough sugar to sweeten and flour to bind. the rest is butter, brown sugar, heavy cream, and pecans. oh and some lemon and orange zest. i'm pretty sure for all their density they would still float in water. we brought them to my mom's annual family picnic/reunion, where they were a big hit. i am also currently enjoying a leftover one for lunch. milkfat is probably my favorite thing ever. :) the picnic was a lot of fun. unfortunately, it wasn't really warm enough to swim, which didn't stop a lot of kids. hannah forgot her suit though so we stuck to the picnic area. it was nice seeing the family as usual.

tomorrow is bryan's birthday, which means the month of bryan is almost officially over. we're having my parents and sister over for a steak dinner and bryan's special cake.

thursday morning we leave for the dells!! we're pretty excited. hannah gets to be in charge for a day and plan everything, after she totally rolled bryan and i at monopoly last night and won that privilege as a grand prize. apparently, she plays a lot of monopoly at mom's house. we didn't know. all i know is that she kept making stupid offers and bryan and i kept trying to help her, and then suddenly bryan and i had no money and she had a lot of money and properties, and we had to mortgage a bunch of stuff to pay her rent. i'm still not clear on how she pulled that off, but suffice to say, she gets no help from us next time!! :) hopefully the weather holds out for us so we can at least get a good waterpark day in. i'd also like to hit up the ducks, the deer park, and of course some fudge and indian trading post shopping. shannon will be puppy sitting, and i'm sure they'll be fine and have fun, but i hate leaving them anyways.

i have a ton to get done at work before we go on vacation, which will be made all the more fun since i'm in all day classes the next two days. we shall see.

i'm going to go wallow in my milkfat food coma now.