Baking, Baking, Baking for Zach!

Peanut butter cookies are my Zach's favorite . . .
. . . so, I made 13 dozen for his BIG send off!!
I also made 20 dozen chocolate chippers to hold
him over until we get to see him on August 21
for Parent's Weekend!!!!!

WE WILL MISS YOU ZACH!!!!!!!

Say Cheese Part 2 . . .

Big day today!!! My new camera arrived!!!!

Sam, our resident photographer, recently purchased a

camera just like MY NEW CAMERA!!!!!!!

Now I can take amazing pictures of my adorable

family without waiting forever for the focus, flash, etc.

I am soooooooo excited!!!!!!

Sam has already been giving me lessons!!

How did he get so SMART with all of the

photography jargon?!?

It isn't easy!!! We are going to have a really

fun weekend taking pix!!!!!

Winners and STILL Champions!!!!!

Sam, with an amazing 64 and 65 for the two day tournament!!!

FIRST PLACE in the GENE GOINS MEMORIAL TOURNAMENT!!!!

(Sam actually had a two stroke penalty on day 2. His cell phone rang

he had to take a 2 stroke penalty. I guess that is part of the price

you pay for being popular!!!)

AWESOME job Sam!!! WAY TO GO!!!!! We are so proud of you

and your devotion to the game of golf!!!!

Luke and his AMAZING Dad!!!!!!

The first day of the tournament it was 110 degrees,

the second day of the tournament it was 113 degrees . . .

I do not know HOW these boys can golf so well in those

conditions, but they do!!!!

Luke, who can drive like a mad man,

likes to rush those 2 and 3 foot putts!!!

Luke came in THIRD PLACE this year in the

big tournament!!!!

Luke, you are an amazing golfer!!!!!

CONGRATULATIONS BOYS!!!!!!!!

Biola or Bust!!!

This is kind of one of those cup half full or half empty scenarios!

Zach, my wonderful son, is leaving for Biola University on Saturday.

We are soooo proud of him. BUT, it breaks our hearts to see

him go. He is such a wonderful part of our family!!!!

Fedoras . . . the most important element of a guy's wardrobe.

Way to go Zach!!! We will MISS you!!!!!

One of My Favorite Things . . .

What says love more than a BIG bowl of

RICE KRISPY TREATS!!!

Yummy!!!!

He's Here!!!!

Hip hip hooray!!! The gang is all here!!!!
Tim and his TRUCK load and CAR load of STUFF
arrived about 8:15p.m.!!! We are sooooo
happy to have him home!!!!!!!
Every college grad needs a little surprise waiting . . .
Welcome, welcome home Tim!!!!!!!

A Farmer's Life for Me!!

Yeehaw!! I picked tons and tons of

yummy carrots this morning!

No wonder those rabbits have been

so happy in our garden!!!

I am going to clean them, slice them, and

cook them for our dinner tonight!!!

Crunch! Crunch!

Off They Go . . .

Yippeee!! Mike and Zach are on their way

to pick up the COLLEGE GRAD!!!!

Woohoo!! Tim will be home TOMORROW!!!

Tim and Zach will have one week together before

we take Zach TO COLLEGE!!!!!!

We will have one fun week!!!!

School Days!

Nobody in the whole wide world loves school supplies

as much as I do!!!!!

I am so excited about our home school next year!!

Luke loves science!

We are going to have a great year doing science!!!

I spent today leafing through and finalizing my

2009-2010 home school supplies and book order!!!!

Yippeeee!! I cannot wait until they arrive!

I love the smell of new school supplies!!!

Getting Excited!!

Our Tim will be HOME in THREE days!! We really, really, really cannot

wait to have him here for a while as he awaits his contract for

the CRUISE SHIP!!!

We will have tons of fun this summer with him and

soak him up while he is here!!!

Tim being home . . . a big positive for a mom!

A Surprise in My Garden

I looked in my garden and what did I see . . .

A big fat zucchini just waiting for me!!!

This big kahuna is 15 3/4 inches long!!

I did not even realize that he was there!!!

I see a zucchini cake in my family's future!!

Feeling BOOKish . . .

Miss St. Marie, one of my fifth grade teachers

read this book to our class. I can still

remember her reading it to us to this very day!!

This book is about a doctor's daughter whose mother

died when she was very small. A pastor and his family

of two boys move in next door.
They live in the cuuuuuuuutest small town . . .

Fun small town adventures ensue through the entire book!!
I have read it to each of my boys!!!
We love "All Over Town"!
I paid $36 for this book about 10
years ago when I FINALLY found it!!
Definitely, the best $36 I have spent!!
This book has a coveted place on my bookshelf!

Cape and Wand Night!!

I had never seen a HARRY POTTER movie until YESTERDAY!!!!

I loved the Harry Potter movie and told the kids

that I am making each of them a cape, as well as

go out into the backyard, pull a sappling off of a

tree and make wands for each of them!!!

We are going to have a HARRY POTTER marathon!!!!

Summer=Swimming=Chocolate Chip Cookies!!

Yummmy!! Boys and swimming . . . what could go better

together than piping hot chocolate chip cookies!
We had so much fun in the pool today!!!! After so much
fun in the sun, my boys always ask for chocolate chip cookies!!!

Lazy days of summer . . . gotta love it!!!!

It's Hot!!!!

Temperature 110 degrees . . .
Pool temperature 93 degrees . . .

Time for some POOOOOL FUN!!!!

Today is definitely a day for POOL, PIZZA, and PLAY!!!!!

Yipppppeeeeee!!!!!

Yummmmmmmmmmmmy!

Sam had a craving for a HOMEMADE CHOCOLATE CREAM PIE!

Your wish is my command!!!

What could be better on a HOT summer day in the desert

than a yummy chocolate cream pie!!!

Everyone dug in . . . needless to say, we need to

bake ANOTHER chocolate cream pie!!!

YUMMY!

What's for Dinner???

Ooooooooh one of my very favorite things . . .

COOKBOOKS!!!!!

Thank you Grandy for the new additions!!!

I am soooooo excited to make some

scrumptious delights for my family

from these recipes!!!!!

Jesus and the Q-tips

I just KNEW it was going to be a great day when . . .

I randomly pulled four q-tips from the drawer.

Without thinking I just tossed them onto the counter.

After I finished some other random chores, I went to

get the q-tips and . . .

I saw that Jesus spelled "Hi" with the q-tips!!!!!!

I was so excited!!! Needless to say, it was a GREAT day!!!!!!

Thank you Jesus for being involved in EVERY part of my life,

even the q-tips!!!!!

Junior College . . .

Can you believe it?? Sam. Yes, Sam, registered for

JUNIOR COLLEGE today!!!!

He took the math placement test and qualified for

Precalculus and Trigonometry. He definitely takes

after his mother!!!!!!!!!

Kudos to you Sam!!! I cannot believe it!

He will be taking the math and Spanish at the college

this fall. Did I blink or something???

New Lid

Cool Man!! Zach purchased this fedora in

Laguna Beach!! The chicks dig it!!!

Reading, Writing, and Revising . . . Yummy Tomatoes, too!!!

We are excited about our YUMMY tomatoes from our garden!!

We just have to make sure to get there before the RABBITS do!!!
Our topsy turvey tomatoes are yielding a good crop as well!
Topsy turvy tomatoes are provide great entertainment!!!
We love watching them grow!!! Crazy!!!
Yep, the day has come . . . the new books have arrived!
My two new Master's classes are here . . . holy smoke!!
My family has been warned! They are HARD!!!

Cinnamon Rolls!!!

It seems like sometimes in life . . .
there is nothing better than good old . . .

homemade cinnamon rolls!!!!!!!

We are definitely fans!!!! My guys couldn't even

wait two minutes for me to snap a quick pic!!!

They are the yummiest when they are hot from

the oven, dripping with homemade frosting!!!!

Woo-hoo . . . Facebook!!!

Holy Cow!!! My boys hooked me

up!!! I now have a FACEBOOK page!!! Check it out!!!

Jilly Tietjen

Create Your Badge

Two of My FAVORITE Things!

Sunflowers and my boys . . . definitely

two of my VERY favorite things!!!

It is so much fun to watch our sunflowers

all day long!! They follow the sun

all the way around!!!!

Two of our sunflowers are over ten feet tall!!!

What could be better than sunflowers, brothers, and summer . . .