Donations

Yesterday, in the early hours of the morning on Saturday, July 30th, tragedy struck my father & stepmother's mom in the form of a fire. First and foremost, it is an absolute blessing to report that everyone is fine and walked away from the fire without any injury (even the three dogs!). The sad thing is the amount of property and material damaged that is associated with the fire (whether it be from flames, smoke, or water). Currently, my father (Ron), my stepmother (Maggie), and my two step siblings (Andrew & Mary) are without almost all of their bare necessities for living. They are living with my grand mother temporarily (her address is 200 Cold Spring Rd Andreas, PA 18211
The point of my blog entry today is to make you aware of this situation for two reasons: First and foremost, my family is in desperate needs of your prayers - any and all! Secondly, I want to present you with a list of possible donations that you may feel inclined to provide to help them get back on their feet.
They are in need of clothing
Ron: pants - 36/34, shirts - (collared, button down) large TALL, shoes - 10 1/2
Maggie: pants - 14/16, shirts - large, shoes - 10
Andrew: pants - 38/32, shirts - Xlarge, shoes - 11
Mary: pants - 7/8, shirts - large, shoes - 8

personal toiletries
storage containers
coupons
dog food (puppy chow)
gift cards to Giant or WalMart

If you live in their area: homemade meals

Right now any household items or products should held onto because space is limited.
thank you all so much for your support, love, and kindness!

If you have any questions, dont hesitate to call me at (717) 414-9939
                                                                      Maggie at (570) 778-8075
                                                                      Ronny at (570) 778-7754

Cake pops

so cake pops are by no means a new concept to most people ( I was actually introduced to them over a year ago by a colleague) but every time I eat one I just fall in love all over again!
In the past 2 months thanks to my bestie Sarah I have actually eaten them twice and I am seriously considering making them myself sometime this week for a birthday party we need to go to this week.
For those of you who have never heard of this yummy treat, let me break it down for you in the simplest terms that it was explained to me:

1. bake a cake (ANY cake)
2. attack a cooled cake with a potato masher (or your hands if you don't mind getting dirty) and reduce your delicious cake to crumbs
3. combine your cake crumbs with a container of frosting (again, ANY you choose) and mix together to form a consistency that can be rolled and formed into balls
4. dip your cake balls in melted chocolate (you know what I am gonna say next, don't you? ANY chocolate you choose - it is super fun when you start using colored chocolate)
5. add any extras if you are interested (sprinkles, mini candies, etc...)
6. lay your cake balls out onto a waxed paper lined tray to allow for chocolate to become firm (it is now your choice whether you would like to poke a lollipop stick into the balls or leave them as so)

These are some of the most delicious treats every (and of course GREAT finger food!) I got a book from the library that gave me some inspiration to really put some time into these mini desserts and have some fun. These are my favorites:

Annual Miller Campout

As long as I can remember (and even before then) the 4th of July holiday weekend has been spent camping at our family grove with my mom's whole side of the family. This is an event that you better have a good excuse if you have to miss or you will still be hearing grief about it around Christmas time (just kidding....)

I dropped the doogals off at the "doggie hotel" Friday morning, Dan got off work at 5, we packed up the car, and were on the road by 5:30 (we're THAT good! haha)
Our weekend was filled with laughs, pranks, games, bike riding, swimming, food, and good ol' family bonding!

Allison & Maddy swinging away

Blaze with his ducky

Maddy on the entrance gate

Daddy & Maddy

Maddy found a tiny frog

Nate & Blaze

Mitch attempting the Oreo Challenge (place the Oreo on your forehead and try to get it into your mouth only using your face muscles)

Dan & Chad playing frisbee