{Our Sunday: Peach Picking!}

{Brunch}

What should we make with all these peaches?? Any Ideas? 

{Taking a moment to stop & smell the roses}

(idiomatic) To relax; to take time out of one's busy schedule to enjoy or appreciate the beauty of life.

Slow down. Stop and smell the roses now and then.

I think it is so important to just take a moment and remember the little things that you are thankful for, especially in the midst of a crazy day {or week}. I would like to make it one of our goals for the rest of the year, to remember what we are thankful for throughout the day. Even the simplest of things. I've noticed that William & I stress a lot about things we cannot fix or change & that stops today.
Today we are thankful for the love of Irwin. Our puppy Irwin Brings us lots of joy & smiles in busy & crazy times. He is always there to love us & cuddle.. {Maybe its just because we feed him?} None the less, we are thankful for him, even though he is a goof ball :)

{Smelling the roses in our back yard..}

{...eating the roses in our backyard.. oh boy} 

We love him! & we are excited for him to meet the newest little johnston soon. :) A little less then 7 months left! What are you thankful for today? 

{Ziploc Bag Icecream}

So I know dear friends, I am really bad at blogging. I think I admitted that on my last post :) It's been a week since my last post! But it is for good reason.. we have been very busy with some family stuff. We have a dear family member in the hospital right now. He has been there for 6 days on life support. I have been there every day, almost all day..Its been a rough week for all of us, not knowing what to expect from day to day. {Please keep us in your prayers?} So as you can guess, we are needing a lot of comfort right now, & what is more comforting than ice cream? ;) 

When I was younger, my grandma Joy & I Used to make homemade ice cream all the time! We used 2 ziploc bags, Milk & some cherry flavoring :) It was always delicious!  William & I decided it would be fun & calming to do this our selves! So this is how you make ziploc bag ice cream :) 

{6T. salt, 1 sandwhich & 1 Storae size ziploc bag, 1T sugar, 1/2C Milk (or half n half), 1/4t Vanilla extract, some mix ins}

{Put your milk, sugar vanilla & Mix ins in the sandwhich size ziploc. Close the bag ensuring it is properly sealed} 

*Willy used M&Ms

* I used Kit kats :) 

{Fill the larger ziploc about half way with ice & sprinkle the 6T salt over the ice. Then, place the bag with milk, sugar, vanilla  & mixins inside the bag of ice. Make sure both bags are sealed very well} 

{Shake the bag vigorously for about 5-10 minutes}

                                                              

{Empty contents of smaller bag into a bowl & TADA! ICE CREAM!}

{Enjoy!}

{Mothers day & Apple dumplings}

Happy Mothers day to all the mamas out there :) Our mothers day was so fun this year! We made homemade gifts for our moms. We made felted soap & a calming facial cleanser & they loved them both!  {I will add tutorials for both soon} Also, William got me a gift too, {I was not expecting anything this year, because well, our little chickpea is not in our arms yet :) } He completely surprised me! He gave me the cutest diaper bag I have ever seen! It was really exciting for me to get this awesome gift, because it is my first mommy thing :) Its actually starting to feel real!

Later in the day, my mommy & sister came over. William and my sister made dinner. They made Tilapia with Quinoa & Zucchini picked fresh from the farm. It was so delicious! After dinner, we made dessert. We made our families absolute favorite dessert, Apple dumplings.  I got the recipe from my mom, who got it from my grandma, who got it from her dear friend Ruth Denny many many years ago. Our family has made this recipe for years! I thought we were the only ones who had this recipe, but I'm finding out a lot of people have this recipe {I think its because its so delicious, no one can resist sharing the recipe!} Which is what i'm going to do today:

To make Ruth Denny's easy Apple dumplings you need all of these ingredients:

{2 green apples, 1/2 C sugar, Cinnamon, 1 t. vanilla, 1 8 oz can crescent rolls, 1/2 stick butter (i used margarine because i was out of butter sticks)} 

{Peel & core both apples & cut them into fourths}

{Pop open the can of crescent rolls, and roll each apple slice into a crescent roll} 

{Place all crescent rolled apple slices into a buttered glass pie pan} 

{Melt your butter (or margarine) in a microwave safe bowl. Lightly mix the sugar into the butter. ( you want it to be textured so that the sugar will crystalize on the dumplings.) Then lightly stir in the vanilla & pour mixture over the dumplings} 

{Sprinkle with as much cinnamon as you would like, then pour a small amount of Mnt. Dew just  around the edges of the dumplings} 

{Bake at 350* for about 35 minutes. Pull them out of the oven & let cool for a few minutes} 

{Serve the hot dumplings with cold vanilla ice cream  :) Yummy!} 

Did you do anything fun for your mother on mothers day? Or did your family do something fun for you? Tell me about it here! Or if you have a yummy family recipe you would like to share, I would love to try it out :) Happy mothers day! 

{Lunch Date}

Ok, I will willingly admit it... I'm a bad blogger!! Its been almost a week since my last post.. wow, I am so behind! Sorry friends, this last week got a little crazy! I started back to work last Sunday. It was my first time being at work since the beginning of March. {Nice break huh?} I have been at work almost everyday this week, trying to get used to being back. For those of you that don't know, my husband & I work at a restaurant that our family &  family friends own. I run the espresso bar in the restaurant. I make all kinds of fun, classic italian espresso drinks & I really enjoy it! I love Coffee & everything to do with it. {Well, right now, the little chickpea in my belly doesn't really like the smell of coffee, but, we will just have to get used to it again :) }

{A Cappuccino I made the other day. Fun huh?} 

Anywho, in the middle of all the craziness this week, we had a day off & decided to spend the day together! We drove out to old town scottsdale {my favorite} & walked around the little shops. Then we went to Lunch at a place called Big Earls BBQ. It was so yummy! It was a perfect day :) 

{Looks yummy right?? It was :) }