She thinks my tractor's sexy...

When I saw the John Deere tractor background from thecutestblogontheblock.com, I just had to add it as our blog background! For those of you who don't know, Dave is a huge JD fan. He served his mission in the south (Oklahoma, Arkansas, and Missouri) where the tractors are everywhere, and ever since then has loved them. Here's a pic of Dave in Oklahoma with his JD hat on and his "backwoods" hick teeth. On the back of the photo, "Billy Jo Ryerse" is written.

Dave has driven the tractors, done work with them, and enjoys all of the JD toys and memorabilia as well. Here's another picture he took on his mission (2001-2003). Now that's one crazy tractor!

Our first date was to the state fair, and we make it a point to go each year. Every year, we have to check out the tractors on display. Here we are three years ago posing next to a happy tractor.

Dave's Mom jokes that we need to name one of our boys John Deere Ryerse. When Emma was born she went hog wild (and still does) buying John Deere liscenced clothing. Here's a picture of some cute John Deere socks...we love fun socks!

One year for Christmas, Dave and I sewed matching pajama pants for us and Emma. I also made shirts, his said "Nothing Runs Like A Deere" (I always tell him that nothing runs like my dear, and his signature on his outgoing work e-mails say "Nothing Runs Like a Ryerse") and Emma's shirt said "John Deere Baby".

Like father, like daughter! Em now points out tractors or JD stuff when she sees it and gets very excited!

Dave's ladies!

Dave's parents began a demolition/remodeling project a few summers ago. Dave had a great time working the tractor!

Love to backhoe! He was like a little boy on Christmas morning working with that!

I also made a dress recently for Emma that had JD logos over it. She looks so cute in it! You can't see the logos very well, but they're on there. Here she is doing her Cabbage Patch doll's hair, which happens to be dressed in what else? John Deere overalls and shirt.

Callahan wearing the same JD pants Emma used to wear. (Emma decided to stick one of Dave's bike stickers he got on his head.)

Some day, we're planning on decorating a John Deere bedroom or kitchen in our house. I'm excited to do that. Bedroom/kitchen...hmmm....maybe we'll end up doing both.

Recently, we saw a JD Snowmobile at the Ogden carshow. We were excited about it!

So now you know why we like John Deere so!

Happy birthday, Ryerse Sprinkles Blog!

It's been a year since I began our family's blog, and to celebrate the one year mark, I thought I'd explain where the name "Ryerse Sprinkles" came from. No, it's not the itsy-bitsy delicious confectionary toppings I'm talking about, though we do love those kind of sprinkles, too.

A few have wondered what the name of our blog, Ryerse Sprinkles, means and if it has any significance. Dave and I randomly came up with a family handshake a few years ago (yeah, we're pretty cheesy, but it's fun!) and we call it "Ryerse Sprinkles". It consists of putting out one or both hands, and wiggling your fingers together with the other persons hand(s). Go ahead, you know you want to try it, it's catchy! It caught on and we do it at random times, to encourage each other, when we're playing games or times like that. It's like our family "hi-five", I guess you could say. Emma got into it several months ago loves doing it. She says "Sprinkles!" and has to do the handshake with everyone in the room. Does that answer your question?...

And now for a much-needed update the past month or so. It's Sprummer time, as we call it in our family. Not quite full-fledged summer, but late spring and nice, perfect weather! We've had so much happen in our family and have also been able to do some fun things and have been busy, hence the reason it's been a while since any posts. Here's the Campbell's condensed version.

We went camping in May with Amy & Kolby down to the sand dunes, or Little Sahara, UT. We had a blast with them! We just hung out around the campsite the first night, talking and enjoying one another. Kolb and Dave showed off their fire-making skills and we made s'mores, of course! We also did some night riding, which was sweet.

Emma loved jamming out to the music from Mamma Mia!

Emma loves playing in the tents! Here she is with Amy sneaking an oreo. Speaking of Oreos, on Saturday, Emma got some sand in her mouth from all of her hard-core playing. I told her to drink some water or a drink to get it out. She kept asking if she could have an oreo all day, and I told her after her lunch she could have some. Instead of the water idea, Emma got a bright look on her face, and said "Hey Mom, maybe an oreo will help get the sand out of my mouth!"

Here Emma is playing in the World's Largest Sandbox, as they call it. She had fun with her sand toys and sliding down the hills.

Cal with Kolby. Callahan peed all over Kolby's camp chair - oops!

It was so much fun going camping with you, Kolb and Am! Another funny story about camping. In the morning, we were changing in the tent, when Emma saw the shadow of Kolby walk by, and Kolby just happened to be eating some licorice. Emma got such a worried look on her face, looked at me seriously and said "Mom! Kolby is smoking!". I looked at what she saw, and it did look quite a bit like someone smoking. I had to explain to her that it was just a piece of licorice.

We went to the 2009 Air Show at Hill Air Force Base. We went 3 years ago, when I was pregnant with Emma. I loved it then, and this year, it was even better. If you ever get a chance to go, I'd highly recommend it. The planes were neat to see, they did some spiffy tricks. We got to walk on and tour some large carrier planes. It is pretty amazing what these machines (and their drivers) can do. There were so many people there! It was crowded, but well worth it.

"Look at the airplanes!"Re-enactment of some fight during some war...he he! I don't remember which one.

Having some high-flying fun (I know I love puns!)

Wow! Enjoying the air show with Daddy!

The wild blue yonder. These Oracle trick planes were my favorite!


For Memorial Day, we visited the graves of those who've gone before. It was a good teaching moment and a time to remember. We had a BBQ lunch with the Ryerse side. With the Stoddard's, it was tradition to go boating in the past. But now the boat is not quite working so well, so we decided to make Memorial Day a luau instead. It's a fun tradition.

Aloha!

Riding the pink flamingo.

Here's the table, set and ready to be filled with fine Hawaiian food such as coconut shrimp, ham and pineapple shiskabobs, Hawaiian rice, south seas slush, and more. Yum!

Callahan and Great-Grammie. Cute.

Lagoon fun! We went to our stake Lagoon day, and it was rainy...again! I do love the rain, but we were pretty cold and soggy by the end. We had a great time together, though.

We're at "Lagoonies"! Emma started calling it that. We watched Goonies a few nights before, and thought it was funny she thought it was named after that.

Riding the Merry-go-Round! Mommy and Daddy took turns riding the rides with Emma. Most of the pictures turned out blurry, but this one was okay.

Cal on the Animal train

Getting wet in the fountains! Splash!

In addition to being ward organist, I got called a few months ago to be a playgroup leader, which is one of our Enrichment interest groups. We've done some really fun activities, but I keep forgetting to take pictures. Here are some pictures of a flop activity we did last week. We went to go see the Mickey Train at the Union Station, but the wait was 3 hours long!

Emma and her ward buddy, Uakea, playing.

I thought this picture of Emma and Maverick was cute. They held hands really well, just like we asked them to.

Emma and Cal at one of the interactive displays. The movie should be great because it's Disney and Christmas! I'm excited to see it.

Needless to say, we didn't think the kids would last out that long. So we saw what we could, then we went swimming over at the Stratford's condo. Emma loves swimming! She has such a fun time. And it was great to have a sunny day. It has been raining so much lately, and so cold, so we haven't been able to go out much. Emma kept begging to go swimming, and was feeling a little cabin fever, so finally I decided to blow up our little kiddie pool, and fill it up in our very own living room, on conditions that Emma wouldn't splash much. (Parents, don't try this at home - jk!) Anyways, we had a fun pool day indoors!

We're silly! Our indoor swim day!Surf's up, dude!
Emma's broken goggles. The picture turned out really blurry, but I love the expression on her face. She is a very dramatic, expressive little girl.

And now to finish off, a sad, yet happy event. Grandma Lilly, Dave's grandma, passed away. Last weekend, we went up to Twin Falls, ID for her viewing and funeral. We stayed with Uncle Mac (my Mother-in-law's brother) and Aunt Marsha. They are great people and it's fun to be around them. The viewing was nice. They had a slide show of pictures, and that was really fun to see some old pictures of Grandma Lilly I'd never seen before. Lilly has been living with Dave's parents for the last three years, as her health has been declining, so we've gotten to know her pretty well. She is one of the sweetest, gentlest ladies I've ever met. For the funeral on Friday, Dave said the family prayer, after the morning viewing. I played the flute for the service. Grandma Lilly told me years ago that she wanted me to play my flute at her funeral, which I always laughed about and told her it would be a long time before she would go. I played a version of "Each Life That Touches Ours for Good" that I arranged for flute and piano, specifically for this event. The opening song was my favorite, Hymn #136 "I Know That My Redeemer Lives", and that hymn always makes me cry, but I held it together pretty well. Mac did the life sketch, then Marsha and Melodie sang, Peter (oldest grandson) spoke of the memories all of the grandkids had, then I played, and then Dad Ryerse spoke. A lot of the emphasis in Dad's talk was the atonement and resurection of Christ, which I though it was perfect, because it is true that Christ is the reason for everything. Many spoke of how Grandma hasn't been herself since her husband, Bert died. She always spoke of him to me and how much she missed him. She is with him again, and I'm sure they're so happy. We also got to spend lots of time with the Idaho cousins, which was fun. Mac & Marsha have 5 boys, and 4 of them are married and have kids. Emma loved playing with her "Idaho cousins". We love and will miss you Grandma Lilly, but are so happy you're on to the next phase in the plan! Here are some pictures from the event.

The palm bearers. All of the Grandkids participated.

Families are forever

"Love you" is the last thing she said to me before she died. I went into her room and visited with her and brought the kids in, having an idea she would be gone soon.
Emma will miss Grandma Lilly. She shares with her the love of singing and butter. Grandma Lilly slathered butter on everything, just as Emma does.

'Till we meet again...

Pillsbury Bake-off

In 2006, my Mom & I decided it would be fun to enter the Pillsbury Bake-off contest. So we brainstormed what we could do with qualifying ingredients, got to work in the kitchen, and tasted and helped critique each other’s creations. That year, I entered a Caramel Apple Cheesecake Pie (for those of you who really know me I’m sure aren’t surprised that I did something dealing with cheesecake) and PB&J Morning muffins. We had so much fun coming up with our own recipes and thought it would be fun to enter the contest every year. Some of Dave’s co-workers have told him in the past that I should enter baking contests and shows, to which he told them I already have. I’m not the best cook, but it is something I enjoy. So this is what I came up with for the 2009 Pillsbury Bake-Off:

Strawberries & Cream Pinwheels
(A festive breakfast pastry. Emma loved them and asks for them a lot now. Dave enjoyed them, too, but his version of the recipe is to leave the sliced almonds out. He has a thing about food textures and doesn’t think it goes well.)

Pinwheels:
2 cans Pillsbury Flaky Dough Sheet
4 oz. (half an 8 oz.) cream cheese, softened at room temperature
¼ c. Eagle brand sweetened condensed milk
¼ tsp. each vanilla and almond extract
1/3 c. Fisher sliced almonds
1/3 c. Smucker’s strawberry preserves

Icing:
1 Tbsp. butter, softened at room temperature
2 oz. cream cheese, softened at room temperature
¾ c. powdered sugar
1 Tbsp. milk
½ tsp. vanilla extract
¼ tsp. almond extract

Preheat oven to 375. Spray two cookie sheets with non-stick baking spray. Open dough sheet cans, and using a pastry cutter or butter knife, cut each rectangle into 8 equal-sized squares. Place squares evenly apart on baking sheets. Cut from the corner of each square to the center, leaving about ¾” x ¾“ square in the middle. In a small bowl, mix together cream cheese, sweetened condensed milk, and extracts with an electric mixer until smooth and creamy. Drop one heaping teaspoonful onto the center of each dough square. Top with one teaspoon sliced almonds, pressing down slightly if necessary, so almonds stick. At each cut of dough, fold corner of left side of cut toward center; press gently to hold in place. Spoon 1 teaspoonful of strawberry preserves in the center of each pinwheel. Bake at 375 for 8 to 12 minutes, or until pinwheel edges are slightly browned. Allow pinwheels to cool for 5 to 10 minutes. Meanwhile, make icing by mixing together with an electric mixer butter, cream cheese, powdered sugar, milk, and extracts. Drizzle icing over pinwheels. Makes 16 pinwheels.

Creamy Chicken Crave Pizza
(The combination of these rich flavors and different textures is kind of fun. )

1 can Pillsbury pizza dough
1 package (8 oz.) cream cheese, softened at room temperature
1 box (10 oz.) Green Giant frozen spinach, thawed and squeezed to drain
1 envelope (1 oz.) Ranch dressing mix
1 can (14.5 oz.) petite diced tomatoes
1 cup cooked, cubed chicken
½ c. real, cooked bacon pieces
1 c. pizza blend grated cheese
1 Tbsp. Crisco Olive Oil
½ tsp. onion salt
1 tsp. garlic powder

Preheat oven to 425. Spray a 12” pizza pan with non-stick cooking spray. Unroll pizza dough and press or roll onto the pizza pan. In a medium bowl, mix cream cheese and ranch dressing mix. Add spinach and tomatoes and mix well. Spread onto the pizza dough, leaving a ¾” space around the edges of dough. Sprinkle chicken and bacon over the entire pizza. Top with cheese. In a small cup, mix together the olive oil, onion salt, and garlic powder. Brush over the crust edges. Bake at 425 for 16 to 21 minutes, until cheese is melted and crust is golden brown.

Southern Style Sausages in Blankets with Dipping Gravy
(I love biscuits & gravy. This is a twist on that southern classic. Didn’t get a picture of this one, but there was nothing fancy about it.)

1 can Pillsbury Southern Style Biscuits
1 package Little Sizzlers sausages, reserving 2 Tbsp. drippings
2 Tbsp. Land O’ Lakes salted butter
2 tsp. minced garlic
¼ c. chopped onion
½ c. Flour
3 c. Milk
1 Tbsp. Sugar
½ tsp. Salt
½ tsp. pepper
½ tsp. ground Sage

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Cook sausages according to package directions, reserving 2 Tbsp. drippings. Place biscuits on a cookie sheet. Place a sausage on one end of each biscuit. Roll up in biscuit, folding open side under. Bake at 400 degrees for 8 to 10 minutes. Chop up extra sausages and set aside. In a large saucepan, sauté garlic and onion in sausage drippings and butter, until tender. Add ½ c. flour, sugar, salt, pepper, sage and stir to make a thick paste. Gradually add milk; stirring constantly over medium heat. Add chopped sausages, and heat through. Remove from heat and spoon into individual serving cups. Dip the sausages in blankets into the gravy.

My mom is truly the greatest cook in the world, and since I was very young, I remember helping her cook. I give her all the credit for my love for and skill when it comes to cooking and baking. I hope to one day be able to be as great as she is in the kitchen. She woke up almost every morning to make us all hot, homemade breakfasts. She makes nearly everything from scratch. She just throws ingredients together, without measuring or looking at cook books and makes magic. She once told me that the reason she puts so much effort into her meals is because that is a way she can show her love to the ones she loves. A few years ago, I put together a cookbook of her recipes, Baked with Love. To preface the cook book, I compiled several favorite quotes on cooking. Here are a few quotes from it I enjoy, maybe you can relate:

“Cooking is at once child’s play and adult joy. And cooking done with care is an act of love.”

- Craig Claiborne

“This kitchen is closed because of illness -- sick of cooking.” -Unkown

“Our mom’s embodied the love of the kitchen and food that lingers in our memories and on our taste buds.” – Jack Canfield

“The fact is that it takes more than ingredients and technique to cook a good meal. A good cook puts something of himself into the preparation; she cooks with enjoyment, anticipation, spontaneity, and he is willing to experiment.” – Pearl Bailey

“There is one thing more exasperating than a wife who can cook and won’t and that’s the wife who can’t and will.” - Robert Frost

“The most indispensible ingredient of all good home cooking: love, for those you are cooking for.” – Sophia Loren

“My mother is a champion nurturer. Mothers, who are primarily responsible for the nurture of their children, can be a powerful force for strengthening families when they use mealtimes to gather loved ones. They follow the examples of the Savior to calm, teach, and help their families remember important things as they feed, cultivate, educate, and rear at the consecrated tables in their homes.” – Julie B. Beck.