Happy 60th Birthday Dad!

Today is my dad's 60th birthday! We had plans to go to Ashley & Greg's house for dinner and dad put a quick stop to that. He wanted to go home after work and sit in his shop and have a few beers with his buddies. (His shop is his man cave and he is the happiest when he's here) I can't blame him after all it's his birthday and I suppose he can do what ever he wants. So I decided that the party should come to him. He loves his Miller Lite beer so I bought 60 bottles and arranged them on the floor. I was laughing the whole time just thinking about what he would say when he got home! I really got to laughing when I started spreading the confetti all over the place.... mental note... don't go to his shop tonight as you might have to clean it up!

  This is going to be a good year for our family.... A brand new grand baby, Brandon turned 35, Dad turns 60, Ashley turns 30, I turn 35 and mom and dad's 40th anniversary is this year. Happy Birthday Jim Crews... I love you!

6th Annual Rootin' Tootin' Chili cook off

Saturday February 19, 2011~ Midway Electric, Inc. was proud to be a part of the Boys & Girls Club 6th Annual Rootin' Tootin' Chili Cook off this year! This year marked our 3rd year of volunteering and it was a huge success!

  We decided that we would build all new electrical runs with enough outlets for everyone so that it would be better for all the vendors and easier on us since it was our job to make sure everyone had power throughout the day. This was a group effort and we were up a total of 39 hours from Friday morning until Saturday evening when we finally went to bed! It was a lot of work but it was worth it! We enjoy donating our time for good causes in our community!

Kim, Brandon and I were there to help out if there was any problems throughout the day.  The different vendors really go all out for this event and it's so much fun to see all the "themes" that they come up with! The chili cooking all day smelled so good.... we were ready to eat at noon!

 

Thank goodness for Rockstar.... this is what kept us awake! 

We headed home at 7:00 pm and it really feels good to be apart of this wonderful event but it felt even better to go to sleep! Congratulations to all the winners and thanks to everyone that helped make this event possible! See you next year!

Jaxon is coming home!

Friday February 18, 2011~ So when Aunt Shell got the word that Jaxon would be coming home I decided to do a little something special for him. I put up balloons on their street and on the front of their house so that the neighborhood would know that he is the new kid on the block! (Ashley had no clue I did this) Then I headed to the hospital to get a few pictures (imagine that!)

When I got to the hospital Jaxon had just got done eating and was resting so good on dad. I think they are going to be great buddies! 

Jaxon getting his alarm bracelet off! Look at those little (big) feet... aren't they cute! 

Momma putting her little man in his car seat so he can go home!

Yep I'm ready to blow this popsicle stand and go home!

Well guess we are waiting again! 

One proud momma and daddy ready to take their bundle of joy home! 

Waiting on dad to get the truck...

The Adams' Family is ready to start a new chapter in life.... parenthood!

BINGO!

February 17, 2011 ~ Yep I love playing BINGO. I know you are probably thinking I have feel off my rocker and what the heck is wrong with me but I love it! One of our employees wives came up and wanted to play on Thursday night so we decided to have a little fun. We headed to the VFW in Columbia, got our Bingo cards and was ready to win some money!

Yep I even have my own BINGO bag.....

Yep I have my little luck inside the bag. Don't worry I am not "one of those people" that have a shrine built around me. These things stay inside my bag along with some extra play money. My mom and I would go all the time several years ago and we would laugh at all the people that were more prepared than we were so I decided we needed to look like we knew what we were doing.... so we added bags and dabbers!

The real bad part was this was my board for a Texas Black out. I only needed one more number to win $450! It was the very next number in the monitor but someone had to call BINGO just before this I-25 was called! DANG! Oh well it was a lot of fun and I will probably be going again soon.... if you want to go and have a little fun (and people watch) just let me know!

Jaxon James Adams

Feb 16, 2011 - Ashley & Greg's life was getting ready to get even better. After 3 long years of trying to have a baby their dream was about to be true. On February 15, 2011 (Uncle B's birthday) Ashley would issue the eviction notice to baby Adams. They checked into Boone Hospital Center at 6:00 pm in room 3.

They would give her meds to soften her cervix thus starting the process. I went over and took pictures of them arriving at the hospital and getting ready. The next morning I went back over so I could spend the day waiting to see my nephew as I had a very important role.... I would be the photographer!

As soon as I walked in the room Ashley's water had broke just a few minutes earlier on it's own. 

 First time Grandma's were super excited to see their grandson!

Good news because he would be ready to enter the world! Things progressed and she would get an epidural around 10:00 am.

 Ashley, Greg & Dr. Kevin Jones

By noon I got the text to come back to the room as she was almost at a 10. We would soon find out that the baby needed to come further down before the "real" pushing would start. Ashley did great!

At 3:47 pm Jaxon James Adams arrived into this world with healthy lungs! 

He was 22 inches long and weighed a whopping 9 lbs! It was an amazing experience and I think everyone should see a child come into this world.... It makes your heart sing! This little boy has brought so much joy to our lives!Once the grandparents heard the news that their grandson was born they were beaming with joy!

 Grandma Nancy & Grandpa Scott Adams

Grandpa Jim & Grandma Marsue Crews

This is one of my favorite photos.... This was our dad meeting his grandson for the first time. (Jaxon's middle name, James, is our dad's first name) Our dad never gets excited about much but his smile says it all!

 This was another favorite... I think Jaxon was trying to talk to Grandpa Crews! I just know he was going to tell him that he just can't wait to come ride on Grandpa's tractor when it warms up outside!

 He has defiantly won Aunt Shell's heart over!

The Adams Family! (snap, snap)

Happy 35th Birthday Brandon!

February 15, 2011 - Happy 35th Birthday to my wonderful husband! It's hard to believe that we started dating at age 16 back in high school! It was pretty funny because my mom said "Oh bubba you are getting ready to have a big birthday.... you'll be the big 3-0!" We both laughed and said um no it's the big 3-5 this year! The look on her face was priceless! Then it wasn't even 15 minutes later and my dad comes upstairs and says "You've got a big birthday coming up... what will ya be 30?" We started laughing again and said um try 35! The look on his face was priceless! Guess time does fly when you're having fun!

So a restaurant here in Columbia called The Bleu is more of a fancy restaurant and wine bar. Two things that don't really go with us... fancy and wine. Well if you go on your actual birthday you get a filet dinner for free. I had won a $50 gift card and we waited until this day to go! We both ordered a filet (Brandon ordered an extra one 'cause he's a big boy!) and it was really good! We then ordered dessert which was funnel cake straws with whipped cream and berries and a Banana Creme Brulee and simply heaven! Our whole meal was really good and we would definitely go back again.

All in all I think he had a pretty good birthday..... we really don't do too much for holidays and birthdays but the rule is that you must get the other a card.... so I got him 2! We pretty much get what we want through out the year (within reason) so it seems silly to buy gifts for each other.... this way it's nice to get a card or two and celebrate with a nice dinner. Here's to the next 35 years! I love you Brandon Gene Spry! :)

Happy Valentine's Day!

Well most of you probably know I am not a morning person until after I have had my shower. If you didn't then you know now! When I got out of the shower and walked into the kitchen I noticed my cell phone had been moved... strange. Then I opened my eyes a little more and this was waiting for me on the counter! I say that my husband isn't romantic in his older age but this morning he proved me wrong.... he's still got the touch! He drove into town and got my favorite (since I don't drink coffee) a Starbucks venti hot chocolate with 5 pumps of vanilla and a piece of pumpkin loaf and then a dozen roses and a card! Whoa! I was very surprised and after 19 years together (14 years of marriage this year) I still fall in love with him more each day! He is amazing!

So my real "planned" Valentine's Day gift was my new Carhart jacket. These things came out about 3 weeks ago and Tractor Supply in Kirksville, MO was the only place you could get one (believe me I called everywhere!) It is a limited edition Breast Cancer Pink and I love it! They only had 2 in the store (a medium and a large for me to try) and they were sold out again! We had so much fun driving around on Saturday with no real plan.... I enjoy days like that but those are few and far between! We traveled to Marcaline, MO because I wanted to see the Walt Disney Museum up there. Of course it was closed but I will make plans in April to go back!

I can't help but laugh every time I see these.... Have a great day and Happy Valentine's Day!

My "Alphabet" project....

 An "O" that I found at our property on a fence......

Well as you might have seen in stores lately there are "Alphabet Expressions" that you can purchase. These are random things around that create a letter and you put several together to spell "Welcome" or your last name or whatever you want. After looking at these and the expense of $7.95 per letter I thought it would be fun to create my own "alphabet" using random things here in Midway and around places I travel to! I have gotten a few letters started and it's so hard to drive anywhere without trying to notice and item being a "letter" of some sort.

This is an "I" that I found on a building in downtown Columbia, MO

This is a "C" or a "G" I found at a Doctors Park in Columbia, MO

I have a lot more but you can get the idea.... something that is fun and created by me! If you happen to see some crazy girl pulled over on the side of the road taking pictures....it's probably me! We are going to go to a few different "little towns" this weekend to see what I can find...... :)

Snow Pancakes.... yep really!

Well with all this snow that we got you have to be creative and figure out how in the world we are gonna get rid of it so I have made plenty of snow ice-cream and a good friend of mine, Tanya Alberty, forwarded me a reciepe for snow pancakes.... really? I have never heard of such until she posted it. I decided that I would give it a try so I gathered my ingredients and my snow and got started.... They turned out pretty good. My favorites are Grandma Ruby's recipe but outside of that I was surprised. If you dare to give it a try here's the receipe:

2 cups of flour
1 Tablespoon of baking powder
1/2 teaspoon of salt
1 Tablespoon of sugar
2 eggs well beaten
1 1/2 cups of milk

In a large bowl sift the flour and add in the baking powder, salt and sugar.

In another bowl combine the eggs and milk then slowly add this mixture to the flour mixture above.

Stir well and set aside. The batter will be kind of thick. Next grease your griddle (or I used a cast iron skillet) until it gets good and hot. (When griddle or skillet is hot you can sprinkle a few cold water drops on it and the water will "dance' and disappear quickly). Now that your griddle / skillet is hot go outside and get  new fresh snow. Fold in 1 1/2 cups of snow into the batter mixture and mix well.

Pour snow pancake mixture on your griddle or in your skillet. The key is to turn your pancakes once so that they don't over cook or become leathery and tough. Watch for lots of little bubbles on the top of the pancake and flip over.

Enjoy your Snow Pancakes and a big glass of milk!



Baked Fudge....

This is one of my favorite little desserts! It is called baked fudge but it's more like a brownie and a chocolate cake wrapped into one yummy treat! The best part is the top is crusted over and the center is still dough-y however it's cooked because you bake it for almost 50 minutes! For those of you that would like to try this super easy treat.... here's the receipe!

2 eggs
1 cup of sugar
2 heaping Tablespoons of cocoa
2 Tablespoons of flour
1/2 cup of real butter (not margrine) melted
1 teaspoon of vanilla

Preheat your oven to 325 degrees

First, beat the eggs until creamy then add the sugar until combined. Add cocoa, flour, butter and vanilla and mix well.

Place 4-6 ramekin dishes in another pan and add enough water to cover half of the ramekins. Add batter into the dishes but don't fill to the top. Once done place pan in the oven and bake for 40-50 minutes. The tops of the baked fudge will be crusted over and the centers will be thick but not "done". If you are unsure you can leave them in the oven for 10 more minutes.

Cool just for 10-15 minutes in the pan from the oven. Serve with homemade whip cream or whatever whip cream you use and enjoy! Just a little slice of heaven.... :)

The Best Punch Ever

This is some really good punch! I have only tasted one other punch that would give this one a run for it's money but this one is much easier to make! My wonderful sister introuduced me to this and I have been hooked ever since! I have included the receipe below for those of you that want to give it a try! Enjoy!

2 1/2 cups of sugar
6 cups of water
2 small boxes of Strawberry Jello (3 ounce size)
46 ounces of pineapple juice
2/3 cup of lemon juice
4 cups of orange juice
2 - 2 liter bottles of Sprite

You will need a large pan to cook in. Boil sugar, water and jello. Stir in the pineapple, lemon juice, and orange juice. Divide mixture into 2 Gladware plastic containers (or whatever you have comparable) and put in the freezer. Once you are ready to have some punch take out of the freezer about 30 minutes ahead of time and pour 1 liter of Sprite over the 1 containers ingredients (if you want a full batch then use both 2 liters of Sprite). This is a slushy punch so don't let it thaw all the way and enjoy!

Don's Family Style Restaurant in Huntsville, MO

If you want a new place to eat that has country home cookin' then you need to take the short drive to Huntsville, MO and head to Don's Family Style Restaurant! Some good friends of ours, Josh & Roni Spicer, own this place and do an amazing job of serving up hospitality and good food! 

Their salad bar is always fresh and clean! You can order an all-you-can-eat buffet which is the salad bar, fried chicken and country fixin's, dessert bar and your drink for under $10! 

They always have the buffet but different days of the week they have other meats along with the Chicken (Friday nights is Chicken and Fish, Saturday nights is Chicken and Ribs, Sunday is Chicken, Ham and Turkey or Roast Beef) 

They also have a great selection of yummy desserts including soft serve ice-cream! 

We love coming up to eat at Don's almost every weekend to spend some time with our friends!

 We love the western/cowboy decor.... everyone is welcome here!

These are Roni's dad's cowboy boots that are in the front of the restaurant. Her dad, Dave, passed away almost 6 years ago from Multiple Myloma. He was such a fun guy so it's nice to see a part of him is always here!

Josh & Roni named this restaurant after Josh's grandpa, Donald Spicer who had his own restaurant several years ago. Don aka "Grandpa" works at the restaurant helping to welcome all that enter and find them some where to sit. 

Don & Josh Spicer

Don't want the buffet.... no problem! Here's a menu to order from

So make sure if you take the drive to Huntsville, MO and you stop by to have lunch or dinner make sure to tell them Michele Spry sent you! 

Owners Josh & Roni Spicer

Don's Family Style Buffet

315 Highway JJ

Huntsville, MO 65259

660-277-4466