Flantabulous

Flan + Tasty + Fabulous = Flantabulous

We went to a fundraiser on Saturday evening for the Young Women (youth group in our church: The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints or Mormons). They were raising money for Young Women's Camp this summer. (FYI - YW Camp is celebrating 100 years.) Camp is an amazing experience where the 12-18 year old girls have fun together while focusing on Christ and the qualities that will bring them closer to Him. 

Alyssa was so excited to participate in the fundraiser because she will be able to attend this year. There was a pizza dinner and each girl brought a dessert. Alyssa made delicious strawberry and blueberry shortcakes. Wish I had taken a photo! Then at the end of the night there was a dessert and service auction. We scored a dinner from some of the YW where they come to our house, cook us dinner and clean up afterward.

 We attend a Spanish-speaking branch for our church. My husband, Hotch, served a two year mission in Mendoza Argentina and is fluent in Spanish. The kids and I are slowly learning, but we realize the innumerable blessings that will come from learning Spanish. One of the many blessings of attending a Spanish branch is the FOOD! Growing up in San Diego, CA I got accustomed to good Mexican food. Now that we live in nowhere's land Asheboro, NC we have yet to find any real Mexican food. (The people here think they are eating Mexican food, but it really isn't.) The food at branch functions is incredible and makes for a very happy Hotchkiss Family. 

To make a long story longer, so the flan that Hermana Garcia made caught my eye right away. I love real flan! It is heavenly and makes my mouth water. I had my eye on that flan and told Hotch he better make sure we got it. The auction for this particular flan started (being in Spanish I had to rely on Hotch completely) and right away it was a greatly desired item. After the price rose immensely, knowing that we had come prepared, the Hotchkiss family was victorious! No flan ever cost as much or tasted so wonderfully. Had to snap some photos of my beloved flan! It's okay to be jealous.

The next day at church Hermana Garcia came up to Hotch and I after sacrament meeting. She gave us the most splendid surprise. There was another flan waiting in the fridge for us to take and devour. After church the ride home never took so long! Of course when we got home our glorious flan had to undergo numerous photos before we consumed it. (Note I couldn't decide on the perfect lighting.) It was divine and very sweet of her to make another!

Yes, indeed, I do love me some flan!

Just Horsing Around

Alyssa has always loved horses! Ever since she was a little girl she has wanted to learn to ride a horse. (When Alyssa was eight she went on a three month campaign to convince us to buy her a horse. Her plan was to keep it in the empty lot by our apartment where it could run around and she could feed it carrots.) Since we were going through the starving student phase of our life we never could fulfill that dream of hers. Now that we have moved into our professional phase in life we have finally been able to provide her horse-back riding lessons. Alyssa rides every Thursday at the Circle C Ranch. 

Alyssa always says that she feels at peace when she is with the horses. 

Off on a trail ride. That's one happy Alyssa!

 

The little ones decided they wanted to explore the woods and to track Alyssa. Braxton says now that the leaves are back it is the "Enchanted Forest" again. (Never a truly complete day without a Harry Potter reference.)

 

 

Tracking is very serious business. Since they were convinced that they could track Alyssa they took off ahead. Let's just say that even though I could see and hear them at all times they seemed to be too focused on tracking to hear or heed any of my promptings to turn onto the correct path. We walked quite a distance from the correct path and had to retrace our steps. At least the scenery was quite beautiful. (Yes, those are Delaney's pjs.)

Made it out of the woods in time to welcome Alyssa back from her trail ride. It was just in time because the skies were looking gray and ominous.

Within five minutes of leaving the ranch the heavens opened! There was blinding rain the rest of our drive home. (Poor kids were a little nervous because last summer we hydroplaned and crashed the last time we drove in rain like this. The old caravan was totaled and we were stranded in Ohio.)

We decided it was the perfect day for our veggie french bread pizza.

Who could resist watching Labyrinth on such a rainy, stormy day. 

Perfect end to a perfect afternoon just horsing around! 

Our Little Dancing Queen

Delaney loves to dance! She is our little dancing queen. This year she is taking a preschool tumbling/ballet class. Yesterday was her class pictures and she finally got to wear her costume. We had to curl her hair which I was dreading. Since her hair is just like mine (thick and straight) I assumed it would be very difficult to curl and almost impossible to keep the curl for very long. My assumptions were correct, but isn't she adorable!

Here she is after class pictures. At least she had a little bit of a wave to her hair. She looks like a little doll. I love her dance poses! 

Last night as Hotch looked at her photos he just shook his head. In a few years we'll have beat boys away with a stick. She sure is a total knock out. Glad that she has found a talent to develop and an avenue to express herself through. Next talent to develop is soccer!

It's Raining Pirates

The kids were having a blast playing pirates with their friend, Brandon, who lives next door. Even though it started raining they were too engrossed in their game to come under the porch or in the carport. Playing pirates is serious business around here!

 

We have been enjoying our bulbs so much this spring. Every week new flowers bloom and the colors pop. We have been enjoying the irises that decided to bloom at last. They are so delicate and lovely! The freesia have also delivered new colors and a sweet aroma. 

 

On a daily basis someone in our family points out how nice it is to look over and see all the new flowers blooming. This was one of the best family projects we have ever created and it just keeps yielding blessings each week.

Yard Work is Hard Work

On Saturday we decided to attack the side yard near the woods next to our home. It was completely overgrown with vines, old leaves and debris from years gone by. Since we moved in two years ago (boy has time flown) we have never cared much for the overgrowth. I always knew we would be moving again, hopefully out of North Carolina and back to the West Coast. I never wanted to really put the effort into taming the woods next to our home, but now things have changed. We know we will live here for at least the next four years before we are off on our next adventure. It was time to fully embrace the home we are currently living in. 

I love yard work and feel completely at peace when my hands are in the dirt. The kids enjoy planting, but despise pulling weeds. I was pleasantly surprised when Alyssa threw herself into the yard work along side of me. It took us over two hours to pull out all the vines. Then we had to rake the old leaves and debris into piles. She was such an amazing help!

Taking a much needed break!

Delaney and Braxton helped by pulling all the vines into piles. They needed many breaks and enjoyed popping bubble wrap while they relaxed.

Hotch spent the two hours we were working crazy hard, slowly putting together the new cart he bought for the kids. I think he wanted to avoid as much yard work as he could. That man is crafty!

Braxton cracks me up! We tease him relentlessly and he in turn threatens to get us back. He was sick of me taking his photo and calling out his name.

The little ones worked hard too! They had to gather all the vines we  had pulled and put in heaping piles. Then they had to load the cart and pull it down to the enormous pile we made that day.

Alyssa and Hotch are thick as thieves! She jumped right in to help her dad. They attacked the stumps we found buried with great determination. Felt bad when I was the one to get the final successful pull of the first stump. Left the next one alone so as not to steal their glory.

 Hotch ended up digging us six holes for our new gardenia plant, hydrangeas and rose bushes. He promised to dig the last four holes for our new azaleas tomorrow. It has been raining ever since we Saturday. I'm sure the plants are grateful for the moisture. Took this today of the now very wet and weighed down pile from Saturday.

I was so tired after five hours of yard work that I couldn't bring myself to take a photo that day. Here is a sneak peek of our progress, but more pictures will follow as we finish the job. This fall we will plant hundreds of bulbs in this spot across from the bulbs we planted last year.

Every time I see or smell gardenias they remind me of my mother. Just had to have a gardenia plant for my garden. Love you tons mom!

Might not look like we did a lot, but all of that dirt was covered with about six inches of vines and debris. Not so fun!

Here are our hydrangeas and dwarf roses. They were battered by the rain this weekend, but it looks like the hydrangeas faired much better than the roses. Love the rocks the kids placed in our garden. 

Future site of the azaleas.

Love the bulbs from last year and can't wait to see all the color next spring once we plant more next to the gardenia plant.

I can't wait to finish the job and see what it looks like. Hotch needs to mow the lawn too, but it is going to be beautiful when we are done. Our goal is to have one of the prettiest yards on the street.