Chocolate and Berries - Yum! Yum!

I got the following recipe off the internet and wanted to share it with everyone because it is delicious!!!

Chocolate Raspberry Cobbler Cake

3/4 cup butter or margarine (1 1/2 sticks)
2 cups flour
2 tsp. baking powder
1/2 tsp. salt
1 1/2 cups milk
1 tsp. vanilla
1 1/2 cups packed brown sugar
4 cups berries such as raspberries, marionberries or blackberries
1 cup semisweet chocolate chips

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Melt the butter in 9x13 pan by placing it in the oven. Mix flour, baking powder, salt, milk, vanilla and brown sugar and pour half of batter directly in the hot melted butter in the pan. Top with 3 cups of berries plus the chocolate chips. Pour remaining batter over the top followed by the last cup of berries. Bake at 350 degrees for 40-45 minutes until the center is set. Use the toothpick method to test. Cool at least 10 minutes before serving.

If you don't have access to fresh berries, try the frozen mixed berries from Costco as I'm sure they will work too. There's something about the chocolate and berry combo that is so good.

Wildflowers abound on the mountain

The following pictures show why I love coming to Mt. Rainier in the summer. Normally, the flowers are at their peak earlier than this, but because of the tremendous amount of snow this year, we hit it just right. One hiker we met explained that some of the trails on the mountain won't ever open up this year, because the snow will start falling in a couple of weeks, and everything will be buried.

The visitor's center had a book all about Mt. Rainier's flowers, so I bought it. The purple ones are Lupine. The bright pink are magenta paintbrush. The white ones to the far left, with the large heads, are called pasqueflowers. The tall, yellow blooms are called Lousewort. I enjoyed finding out the names as some of them are so unusual.

Mt. Rainier: one of the most beautiful places around

On Labor Day weekend, Herm and I drove up to Mt. Rainier because we were hopeful that we could see the mountain and all of the wild flowers. Unknown to me, Herm made reservations at the historic lodge at Paradise. When we got there, it was raining, and there was no mountain in sight. When we woke up on Monday morning, the rain had stopped, but the clouds were around the inn. As I was sitting on the bed reading in our room, I glanced out the window, and this is what I saw. It gave me hope that we would have a great day on the mountain, and I was not disappointed as you will see in the following pictures.

What a handsome guy! Love that hat ;-)

Yes, my nose is red because it was only in the low 30's. B-r-r-r!

We heard a whistling in this area, and we found this marmot, the source of the sound.

I will do another blog with all of the wildflowers we saw, so be sure and check it out.

Aren't we a handsome family?

Back row right to left - Dave & Marcia Rundhaug, their 4 boys (Jeff, Mike & Amy, Dan & Melany, Todd & Kim), Don Sunman, Kim & Doug Porter & their 3 boys, Linda Porter & Mark Carpenter.

Second row from right to left: John (Karen's boyfriend), Karen (Brad Sunman's widow), Kristen (used to be Sunman & Martin & 2 girls), Dot, Ken, Avery (Mark's granddaughter), Mary, & Bob Porter.

Third row from right to left: Russ & Bethann (used to be Sunman & their 3 boys), Nadine Sunman holding 1 of Kristen's & 1 of Todd & Kim's girls), Sharon Sunman, Danny & Diane (used to be Carpenter), Josh & Kate (our kids), Carol & Gary.

Fourth row right to left: Ruth, Glad, Christopher (all in chairs)

on the grass in front right to left: Todd & Kim's boy & girl, and Mike & Amy's boy & girl

Matriarchs of the Carpenter Family

The Carpenter family had their annual reunion this past weekend at the home of my cousin, Dave Rundhaug. My cousin, Diane, was kind enough to send us some photos, and I wanted to share the following with you.On the left is Ruth Carpenter. I'm not certain of her age, but I know it's in her early 80's. Her husband was my Uncle Mayne. His name was George Maynard, and while my dad called him George, all of the rest of us called him Mayne. She just started having oxygen 24 hrs. a day due to breathing difficulties. She lives with her daughter, Diane, in Byron Center. (Previous reunions have met at Diane's home.) In the middle you see Dorothy, my mom, who turns 83 on September 14. The lady on the right is Gladys Porter. She is my dad's sister. In birth order, she is #3 and also in her 80's. She lives in a retirement home in a Detroit suburb. Her husband, Dick, passed away several years ago.

Final pics and reflections of Jordan G's visit

Jordan returned home very early on Sunday morning to be reunited with her mom and two pets. Here are three final pictures:

When we thought about what restaurant Jordan would enjoy on her final days with us, we thought that a carnivore like Jordan would most likely enjoy a place with steak. We went to the Sizzler where the meal was rounded out by their ice cream topped with chocolate AND caramel sauce.

Grandpa's motorcycle was a big success - they not only used it
for local trips but a half-day trip to Mary's Peak was fun, too.

Jordan and I went to see the movie "Kit Kitteredge" at Northern Lights dinner theatre. The neat thing about this place is you can eat and watch your movie. Jordan specifically asked that when I took this picture I was careful not to show the title of another movie that was showing at this theatre. She didn't want the word "sex" shown.

What a wonderful opportunity we had to enjoy this visit with Jordan. One of the meaningful things she said to me was: "Most grandmas are sweet to their grandchildren, but you are sweet to all of the children." Whenever I gave her something she asked for, there was always a "thank you". She didn't mind going to church for three hours even though it meant repeating the same kids' service while we served in one service and attended the other. We had opportunities to have some serious conversations about burdens she has on her mind, plus we had lots of fun. I trust she has lots of good memories of times spent together this summer. I know I sure will!!!

Motorcycling across Oregon, 8/08

Herm and I took a 4-day motorcycling vacation this month beginning in Salem, driving to Bend and calling it a day since it was 102 degrees. Next morning we continued on to Burns, then south to the Steens Mountains. During that leg of the trip we experienced driving with lightning flashing around us, rain, hail and then sun. We stayed in a historical hotel and had a pot roast dinner served family style with the other residents (plus a few folks that were camping nearby). The reason we chose this part of the state is because it is the only area where we have never travelled. We decided we won't be returning - it's dry and desolate.

One of our favorite parts of the trip was the trip between John Day and Prineville. We saw some majestic, rocky peaks. The two mountain pictures that follow are of the Blue Mountains just outside of John Day.



Our favorite town was discovered when we stopped for lunch in Vale where we noted all of the businesses that had murals painted on the buildings. The artistry was beautiful, and Herm and I have always enjoyed the history of the times that included the Oregon Trail.

The above mural was painted on the side of a church.

The following four murals were side by side, but due
to their length, I've broken them down into four individual photos.