Keefe made these adorable bunny sugar cookies for Easter. The girl bunnies fashion a pearl necklace and pink floral broach. The boy bunnies are sporting a carefree artsy look. If you notice the card on side- it is my favorite- one chick is pulling the other in an egg on wheels, "Faster little chick. Faster!" Keefe also made the crepe paper hyacinth in the back. A man with so many skills- how did I get so lucky?

Happy Easter everyone!!!

Murder Mystery Dinner

Keefe and I were invited to a murder mystery dinner masquerade. I was to play the part of tramp wife of the deceased Melissa DuPree and Keefe was a Jazz musician from the french quarter named Bourbon. We made these masks ourselves and they were really fun to act with. The stunning dress is my mothers:) Let's just say our friends were impressed!

CALIFORNIA!!!

Keefe and I got to take a long spring break and so we decided to go visit Keefe's sister Gwynne and her husband Bennett in Redlands, California. We flew on a plane! The first thing we did was go rock Climbing in Joshua Tree National Park. I had come prepared with my rock climbing shoes that I purchased in 2007 when I took a rock climbing class. The shoes had never been used outdoors and they were awesome! I was a little tired because we had been awake since 2 am, but I climbed a few routes and it was scary fun! Here are some beach pictures from our last day there. We went to Newport Beach.

Keefe made this sand castle.

Here is our little pic-nic area. Bennett's sister and her husband also came to CA for a few days. The little girl is their niece who had never been to the beach before.

What an adorable couple! Crazzzzy hair.

Keefe and Gwynne in deep conversation. Yes, Keefe is wearing a T-shirt with the Muppet Animal on it.

Oh, I forgot to mention, Keefe had never been in an ocean before! This was his first time and ooohhhhhh, burrrrrr! Ya, he didn't go all the way in...this time.

Special treat! Keefe took me to see my friends, the Wilsons, in Saugus, CA. Little Colby isn't so little anymore:) We so enjoyed the visit and I was glad that they were able to meet Keefe!

Thanks Gwynne and Bennett for a wonderful week!

Wedding in Rexburg

Val and Lev Warton with Keefe at their daughter Mary's wedding reception in Rexburg Idaho in February. Keefe taught their family while on his mission in Rhode Island. Mary went on a mission to Pocatello, Idaho and then returned there for school. It was fun!

This is the rustic cake Keefe made (Ann:"And I helped!"). The top and bottom layers are a wonderful carrot cake with pina colada cream cheese icing. The middle layer is a divine german chocolate cake with a milk chocolate mousse (Ann: which I made). It was so delicious that the guests ate all but the top, which was saved for the bride and groom, and all over people were proclaiming it's deliciousness! It was fun to work with Keefe in his work mode and to be a part of something awesome. SO FUN!

Happy Valentine's Day!

Keefe and I have been substituting in Primary for the CTR 5 class this year and absolutely LOVE it! The primary presidency put on a couple's night for the teachers and Keefe and I were able to do the desserts. The funny story is that we thought the dinner was Friday night, when it was really Saturday night, so when Keefe got home from work late Friday and realized the dinner was that night- which it wasn't- he changed all his plans of making cocoa nib panna cottas to this wonderful milk chocolate mousse in a dark chocolate bowl with whipped cream, chocolate sauce, grated chocolate, and cherries and black berries on the side. We made all this in an hour, rushed to the church, found out that the dinner was on Saturday, went to Arby's, watched a movie and the next day made the cute cookies! Considering how much time we had, this was an amazing feat! Just tempering the chocolate for the bowls usually takes an hour, but we were able to speed it up by periodically putting the bowl in a bowl of cool water for a few seconds so as not to shock the chocolate. It was a big hit and everyone was pleasantly surprised by having such a fancy gourmet dessert. One of our class members was there and thinks "Brother Fillerup is fancy" because he can carry a tray with one hand. When she got home, she and her brother played 'Brother and Sister Fillerup.' Ya, we're that cool! It was really fun for me to be part of a fast paced culinary operation.

Keefe and I are excited for our first Valentine's Day as a married couple even though we will be at work and school all day and night. But it is wonderful to have a Valentine as sweet as Keefe, so I could not ask for more.

I just want to wish you all a very happy Valentine's Day full of love and joy!

It's the Holiday Season, So Whoopdy Do and Dickery Dock, Don't Forget to Hang Up Your Sock

I have an amazing and talented husband! He likes to rearrange and decorate the front room for the seasons. Below are some pictures exibiting his genious! He made about fourty carmel apples for halloween treats. We did not get any trick-or-treaters so we went and visited people and it was soooo fun! I like giving things on halloween! Th

is year I was Mrs. Tweedy, the evil chicken farmer; and Keefe was Red Beard, the pirate.

We had the most amazing designer pumpkins this year! We got them at the farmer's market. Yesterday I decided that it was time for the pumpkins to bite the dust, so I got to work making pumpkin-pecan butter. I couldn't just cut the pumpkins up into chunks without them having the chance to live out their potential so this is what we did (I carved the orange and Keefe the white)-->

I earned a blister churnning that food mill! See how fast I went- you can't even see my hand:) I have not tasted the pumkin butter yet, but it smelled very good. I canned it all, which always sounds easy, but six and a half hours later leaves you nearly insane. The thing is, I only processed the big orange pumpkin, and the canning part only took about 45 minutes. It was a very big pumpkin!

Keefe has been making the transition to Christmas by listening to The Nightmare Before Christmas music. I think he may be having withdrawals:) Here is a picture of our Christmas front room! Keefe did it.

What We're Do'in Now

Keefe and I have been married for a little over two months now and love every minute! We live in a small two room apartment in Laramie, Wyoming. If you every drive through, do call, or better yet, stay a few days! Keefe works full-time and goes to work full-time. He is a baker for the University of Wyoming and studies business with the plan to attend culinary school next fall. I work in a dental office as an assistant.

We have loved the harvest season so far and have taken full advantage of fresh produce and meat from the farmers' market. Our favorites are the peaches; which we canned ourselves!- and our beautiful pumpkins which we have displayed around our home. Instead of going out to eat we treated ourselves to baby back ribs and pork tenderloins from the Blue Ribbon BBQ guy at the farmers' market. Delicious!!!

Keefe is gearing up for his favorite holiday- Halloween.

I am loving the fall season. It has been absolutely breath taking with the yellows, golds, oranges, reds, and deep purples all over town. We have been fortunate to not have had a snow yet and rather warm sunny days, so it has been very nice indeed! Amber and I dressed in our best fall garb and took model shots of eachother. I am usually not one for this kind of thing, but I had a great time and Amber noted that when I got married, all of a sudden I got cute. I attribute it to my wonderfully fashion-minded husband.