Cousin's dinner resumes

Summer is over, the leaves are changing on the mountain, the Provo traffic is back, and Cousin's Dinner has started again!

Cait Earnest is now married, James is married; Alicia, Dustin, Carrie, are back in town. We hope to see Whitney Robinson at some of our cousin's dinners. Michelle helped her get a job at LDS Philanthropies and we hear that they love her!
We love to see everyone and hear about what has been going on in their lives. Time with loved ones just passes too quickly.

Today's menu and recipes:
Creamy meatballs and rice - recipe found here from an earlier post.
Broccoli salad
wheat rolls and strawberries
Pig Pickin Cake ( which we renamed - Hawaiian Delight cake )

Broccoli Salad
1 head broccoli chopped small
1/2 lb bacon cooked and crumbled OR 2/3 cup real bacon bits ( from Costco)
1/2 cu sunflower seeds
1/2 cup craisins
1/2 cup diced red onion

dressing:
1 cup mayo
2 T rice vinegar
1/4 cup sugar
mix well and pour over salad 10 minutes before serving. It will seem like there is not enough, but it gets runny after a short time on the veggies and will be plenty.

Hawaiian Delight Cake
1 box yellow cake mix
1 can mandarin oranges and juice
4 eggs
1/2 cup oil
beat all together in a mixer for 3 - 4 minutes
pour into a Pam sprayed pan
bake at 350; for 1 10 x 15 pan bake 25 - 27 minutes
for three 8" round layer pans, bake 20 minutes

frosting:
1 large can crushed pineapple and juice
1 small box instant vanilla pudding
1 carton Cool Whip (8 oz)

Mix pudding into pineapple, then stir in Cool whip. Spread over cake, or between layers if you did a 3 layer version.
Store in the fridge, preferably overnight.

what a summer

Twenty days total in Denver with Dad, wedding events, family time, and we are now in September.
I've seen a few spots of color on the mountain today - Fall is coming and I feel it in the morning air.

to remember:

free wireless while Dad was in the hospital!

Cousins at James and Taryn's wedding

The Newlyweds

Grandpa about 60 days after his stay in ICU - looks good!

Rainbow we saw on the way to the airport after my recent five days in Denver.

The wasps who think my gutter and shingles are a great place to make a home...

My garden basil is almost three feet tall - want some?
And I'd like to show you my wonderful pole beans, but they seem to have only grown great leaves, runners, and a few blossoms but NO BEANS! I planted them June 1, and folks it is Sept 4th. I think I'll just pull them out and let the raspberries take over.

Some summer.

UPDATE ON THE BEANS: Sept 16th and I now have lots of beans - almost ready to pick. Maybe the threat of being pulled out worked some magic. Magic beans, hmm.