Grandma's Visit

My mom came for a visit just before Memorial Day for about a week. Brady felt the need to initiate her right away, and this is what he came up with:

He put this ring over her head and decided it was a basketball hoop. He preferred shooting his basketball over the balloon. "You're at my house now, Grandma."

We drove about an hour west to Fairfield where we went on a tour of the Jelly Belly Factory. We were all required to wear these hats, and Brady surprised me by keeping his on the whole time. It was a great tour filled with good smells and interesting information. We got to see the entire process, and I'd recommend the tour to anyone. My mom bought 5 two-pound bags of Belly Flops because if you bought 3 you got 2 free. It was a great deal for Jelly Belly lovers, and she left some here with us. It's a good thing she did because her suitcase weighed exactly 50 pounds when she checked it at the airport.

Cory's last day of work at his former job was the Tuesday after Memorial Day. His dentist friend there and a few of the assistants brought in tons of food to celebrate. I was shocked to see Cory walk in the door with a box full of leftovers. He brought home ribs, tamales, a lemon cake, tiramisu, and an untouched chocolate sheet cake with raspberry filling from Sam's Club (yummy!) that said "You will be missed, Dr. H." I was impressed that so many people spent their own money to honor Cory. I couldn't miss this photo op of Brady eating his first, yes first, ribs. I have a picture like this but I think I wasn't even a year old. We'll save that for another post.

My sister Becca found this recipe for homemade cupcakes and had made them in March when my mom was there for a visit. My mom insisted we make them, and we looked through the cupcake book she brought me to find the cutest way to decorate them. Instead of using any of those complicated and time-consuming ideas, we went with the rich goodness of these Turtle Cupcakes.

We used 7-minute frosting, but I added a twist by stirring in melted chocolate chips. Just by looking at these you can tell the results were fantastic. Thanks for the recipe Becca! I don't know if I'll make cupcakes from a box again.
There are more stories and pictures from my mom's visit to come.