A Buttery Breakfast

With the new year, we switched from the slightly-too-early 9 am church schedule to the perfect 11 am block.

When church starts at 9, the boys are lucky if they have a minute to eat a bowl of cereal. Sometimes they polish off a Pop Tart as we drive the two blocks to the meeting house. There's not even time for toast.

But with church starting at 11, there is time for a nice breakfast. Something hot and delicious that makes the day feel a little bit special.

For the last few weeks, the boys have been requesting German Pancakes.

I was introduced to these as a teenager by my friend Valerie. Well, it was actually her Mother, Yvonne. She's the one that made them for us on Saturday mornings after a sleepover.

She called them Hootenannies - which was fun to say, and it made them even more yummy. I'd never seen anything like it. She baked them in a pie pan and when they came out of the oven, the edges had puffed up high and crispy and curled inward in an astounding way. Yvonne, never one to skimp on the use of butter, spread some on the inside and sprinkled powdered sugar over the entire thing.

It was the butter part that I found so unusual. At my house, the butter was for my Dad and my Dad only. The rest of us used margarine or Shedd's Spread. I don't remember wanting the butter or feeling like the margarine was second best. Mom just explained that my Dad grew up on butter and so it was what he liked as an adult. There was a slight implication that we would not like butter, and that pretty much kept us from ever trying it out.

Here at Valerie's house though, it was butter all the way. Butter for everyone! Butter on the table, butter on your toast, eggs cooked in butter, and most definitely, butter on the Hootenannies.

When Yvonne spread the butter (dare I say, slathered) on the hot Hootenanny, it melted into golden pools that absorbed the liberal dusting of powdered sugar. It made a sweet, buttery topping that was perfect for the mild pancake.

I loved those Hootenanny mornings. Thank you, Yvonne!

My boys love them too.

Wanna see?

Check out the edges, all puffy and curled up. Kids love this. Okay, so do I.

This is right out of the oven. My camera kept fogging up.

Let's add the powdered sugar.

Mmmmmmmmmm.....

Oooooooooooo........

Cameron requests half of one on his plate.

He likes the Cut...

-n- Shovel method of eating.

Aaron likes his cut up so he can eat it like pizza. I use scissors for this.

Chomp!

Let's get another shot of that melty, buttery, mouth-watering deliciousness.

Seriously, how could you not love this?

So what do my boys think about as they sit at the counter in their underwear (see note below), devouring this tasty Sunday morning breakfast?

Aaron? He's easy.

He's thinking, "I'm the luckiest kid in the world to have a Mom that makes this for breakfast."

Cameron's thinking: "I wonder what it would be like to have a Mom that didn't

take pictures of me while I'm eating?"

***Note*** I do suggest eating these in your underwear - or at least before you get dressed in your "good clothes". You know...powdered sugar and all.

I also suggest you make some this weekend.

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German Pancakes...aka Hootenannies

6 eggs

1 cup milk

1 cup flour

a few dashes of salt

4 Tb. butter or margarine (yes, margarine will work too)

Preheat oven to 450 degrees.

Put 2 Tb. butter in each of two pie pans; melt as the oven heats up. In a bowl, combine the eggs, milk, flour, and salt. Beat until fluffy (use electric beaters) and smooth. Pour half of the batter in each pan. Bake for 20 minutes. Pancakes will puff up in an amazing and delightful way. Serve with more butter and powdered sugar.

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Favorite Way to Clean? The Mouse.

Bit by bit, I'm learning how to use a few photo editing tools.

I use a little finger icon to smudge out identifying information:

I can lighten and brighten and crop Troy's big ol' foot out of this shot:

See...much better.

I removed an unsightly blemish from the tip of my lip and even calmed a little of the rosacea redness from my cheeks for my new blog photo.

Yeah, it's subtle, but I can tell. I really can. I just wish I'd used the clone tool and placed teeth over my chewing gum.

But the best editing I've done is on this one:

Look at that baseboard.

And now look at the baseboard.

It's not perfect, but it no longer looks dirty, chipped, scratched and like it has a 5 year old paint job. It no longer distracts from the puppy.

So I'm all excited about what I've taught myself on Photo Impression 6. I had Troy sit down at the computer and I showed him how I cleaned up the baseboard.

"See, I make the brush this big, then I find an area with the same color that I want to have over the dirty spot. Then I press shift and click the mouse and then I click the mouse over every spot that I don't like. See how it changes it? I did it on the walls too. See how clean it looks? How awesome it that?"

"You know," Troy said tentatively, choosing his words carefully, "you could just clean the wall and the baseboard. But this is really cool too. You're pretty smart."

I think he just threw in that last part to save himself.

What do you think?

Scrub down the walls and baseboards...or keep using the Photo Impression 6 Quick Edit Tools?

So What Should My New Year's Resolution Be?

A short quiz about me in 2007:

1. How many times did I go to the gym?

A. 150

B. 200

C. 319

2. How many hours did I spend online, namely blogging and reading other blogs?

A. I limited myself to one hour per day. I used a timer to keep it in check.

B. Maybe two hours per day - but only after the laundry was put away.

C. You do NOT want to know. I don't want to know.

3. What television shows did I watch a full season of?

A. Dancing with the Stars

B. The Biggest Loser

C. American Idol

D. The Office

E. Moonlight

F. ER

G. Grey's Anatomy

H. The Closer

I. Oprah

J. Ellen Degeneres

K. Lost

L. How I Met Your Mother

M. The View

N. Rescue Me

O. Private Practice

P. Desperate Housewives

Q. The Riches

R. House

S. The Singing Bee

T. ALL OF THE ABOVE

4. How many times did I watch High School Musical and High School Musical 2?

A. Never heard of it.

B. Just once...it was okay.

C. Again, you do NOT want to know.

5. How often did I read my scriptures?

A. Every morning before I even get out of bed.

B. I tried to read with the boys at bedtime, but sometimes we were just too tired.

C. Twice a month.

#1. The answer is C. Yes, I went to the gym 319 times. What I wouldn't give for that number to be 320 - the oddness of the 19 is driving me crazy. Can I just say 320? Thank you. In my defense and to squash the feeling that I need to get a life, that number includes every time I went there to play tennis or go swimming. Even I'm rolling my eyes.

#2. C. I got my laptop last Christmas, and that was around the time that I discovered all these blog thingys on the internet. They were begging to be read. Then I started Dishes and Laundry in July and 129 (curse those odd numbers) posts later...the hours spent online...I'm ashamed.

#3. T. I attribute this to the fact that my television watching was severely limited as a child. Just making up for lost time. T is also the first letter in Tivo - the very thing that makes all this television watching possible. Here's to Tivo.

#4. C! Okay, so I have this little thing for Zac Efron. And cheesy yet catchy music. Plus my kids like it and I'm trying to be a hip, cool Mom. Plus, there's my Zac.

#5. C. Yeah, twice a month. And that was when I was teaching in Young Women's. I taught twice a month, and therefore read my scriptures twice a month - the ones listed in the manual. You know, so I was prepared and all.

I'm sure you can guess where this is heading, resolution-wise at least.

To be continued...

Until then,

What did you spend entirely too much time doing in 2007???

And They Called It...Puppy Love

I'd like you to meet somebody...

Say hello to Oliver.

He's a little shy and very cuddly.

He's sleepy. I mean really, really sleepy.

He's pretty much perfect.

All 3 1/2 pounds of him.

And he is ours.

Audiophile #3 - You

I guess music has ended up being the theme here at Dishes and Laundry this week. Today though, the audiophiles are going to be you! Show me what kind of music means the most to you. I'm blatantly stealing this little game from Pinklady, my cyber-friend up in Seattle - she called it: Do the Shuffle.


Here's how we play:


Grab your ipod or mp3 player, set it to shuffle and in your comment list the first 10 songs that come up. No skipping - even if you're embarrassed and would really rather not admit that you have that song. No judgement, I promise.

I'll go first.

1. Addicted to Love...Robert Palmer
2. Papa Don't Preach...Madonna
3. Super Freak...Rick James
4. It's A Sin...Pet Shop Boys
5. Wild Wild West...Escape Club
6. Bad...Michael Jackson
7. Body Language...Queen
8. Hot Legs...Rod Stewart
9. Wannabe...Spice Girls
10. Love in an Elevator...Aerosmith

There you have it. I'm obviously stuck in a decade, and it sure isn't this one.


Okay, your turn...go ahead...

Do the shuffle!

Audiophile #2 - Aaron

A year ago, my kids didn't listen to any music. Hannah Montana? Never heard of her. High School Musical? Huh?

But then last spring it all changed. At ten years old, Cameron stopped watching cartoons and became interested in a show on TeenNick called Drake and Josh. Cutie Drake was in a band and the show featured him playing his music. The boys were hooked. They watched and sang along, discovering this whole new world beyond the few Kids Bop cds I used to buy.

Then it was on to the Disney Channel where Hannah Montana aka Miley Cyrus, Cheetah Girls and High School Musical stars roam freely. And if you like them there, wait till you hear them on Radio Disney. Oh my. We listen to it every time we're in the car and every morning during breakfast.

Aaron, in particular, has been struck by how much fun the music is. He knows the words, has a few favorite artists, and enjoys all the bits of trivia and factoids about the singers.

He can tell me all about the Jonas Brothers or Miley Cyrus - how old they are, where they got their start, etc. He knows all the real names of the High School Musical characters and what else they've done. He can name the song and artist after just a few notes.

I was exactly like that, rattling off information about Rick Springfield and Cyndi Lauper, and explaining why George Michael was so much better than Andrew Ridgeley. That Air Supply was from Australia and how Prince and Madonna were just misunderstood and I should be allowed to listen to them. How I wasn't paying attention to the words...I just liked the beat. And...

Whoops, this is about Aaron.

He loves all of the Hannah Montana/Miley Cyrus music. Loves. It.

The other day a song came on and I asked Aaron,

"Is this Miley Cyrus?"

"Mo-om!" His voice dripped with duuuhh. "You don't have to say her whole name. All you have to say is Miley. She's the only one. Just say Miley and I'll know who you're talking about."

Okay then. She really has arrived.

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The other morning at breakfast he was listening to the duet that Miley and her Dad (Billy Ray Cyrus from Achy Breaky Heart fame) sing. Miley had some background vocals going on and it was perplexing.

"How does she do that?"

"Do what?"

"Make her voice go double at the same time? I can't figure it out."

"Well, honey, that's why she's a star!"

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But here's the thing: I am loving this music too! It probably helps that Zac Efron and Drake Bell and Corbin Bleu and the Jonas Brothers are so darn cute, but the music isn't half bad either. The Miley/Billy Ray duet makes me tear up a little, and I can dance all over the house to the Cheetah Girls and the Jonas Brothers. Hannah Montana rocks!

I'm enjoying the same music as my kids. I mean, really enjoying it. Sometimes I find myself listening to Radio Disney and the kids aren't even in the car.

So does this make me a cool Mom or is it weird? My parents never ever listened to the same stuff I did.

Did yours?

Audiophile #1 - The Eighties

Down in my basement there's a big box marked "Wendy's Stuff". It holds my yearbooks and high school literary magazines (I was the editor. For as important as that felt back then, it means absolutely nothing now.), stacks (and stacks) of papers from creative writing classes and a thick, final-letter-that-was-never-mailed-to-the-boy-who-broke-my-heart. It's very dramatic and there are quite possibly, actual tear stains on this six-page dissection of a relationship gone wrong. Unfortunately, the offending boyfriend never got to read it. The tediousness of the "why?" and the "how could you?", and the total lie of the "I don't hate you" just might have killed him. Too bad...that was some creative writing that might have done some good...


My "stuff" also includes my Candy Striper smock, reports cards and various awards from school, handouts from church, journals, and every letter I received while I was at college. The box is my history - up until I got married, but I should probably get rid of half of it - it's just taking up space. Keep the yearbooks and the journals, toss the rest.

I was poking through the box 'o Wendy the other day, after Aaron and I had been talking about music. He's become quite enthusiastic about it in the last year (more on this later), and I knew that down in my box was evidence of my own love of music. From the eighties.

Tucked inside my sophomore yearbook was a thick stack of folded notebook paper. At the top was written, 1984 KIS'N FM - 97.1 Countdown. Oh, baby.


That's right, I've got the top 100 songs and artists of the year, carefully documented (in pencil), and saved with all the other Most Important Things in my life.


I also have a 1983 Top 40 Countdown List with a bonus Top 10 Videos of the Year. What a Feeling by Irene Cara was the #1 song and Michael Jackson's Beat It was the #1 video. Of course.

New Year's Eve Parties? Babysitting jobs? Stake dances?

Nah. I'll just sit cross-legged on the floor of my basement bedroom and listen to the radio for 8 hours, writing it all down, 'cause I, like, love music. And I'll want to know all this stuff later in life, like now, when the internet has made it just a couple clicks aways. Wasted youth.

Seriously. imagine the time it must have taken to listen to the DJs play every song and commercial. That's madness dedication. I looooooooved music!

Reading through the list is hilarious - I can sing a few bars (or more) from almost every song, and quite a few of them are on my ipod right now.

Here's just a partial list from 1984:

40. Running With the Night...Lionel Ritchie
39. If This Is It...Huey Lewis and the News
38. Like a Virgin...Madonna
37...Owner of a Lonely Heart...Yes
36. Somebody's Watching Me...Rockwell
35. Purple Rain...Prince
34. Almost Paradise...Mike Reno and Ann Wilson
33. I Feel For You...Chaka Kahn
32. Hold Me Now...Thompson Twins
31. Self Control...Laura Brannigan
30. Reflex...Duran Duran
29. Out of Touch...Hall and Oates
28. She-Bop...Cyndi Lauper
27. Jump (For My Love)...Pointer Sisters
26. That's All...Genesis
25. Say Say Say...Paul McCartney & Michael Jackson
24. Lucky Star...Madonna
23. Drive...Cars
22. Heart of Rock 'n Roll...Huey Lewis and the News
21. Let's Go Crazy...Prince
20. Thriller...Michael Jackson
19. Wake Me Up Before You Go-Go...Wham!
18. Sad Songs Say So Much...Elton John
17. Oh Sherry...Steve Perry
16. Dancing in the Dark...Bruce Springsteen
15. Caribbean Queen...Billy Ocean
14. Karma Chameleon...Culture Club
13. What's Love Got to Do With It?...Tina Turner
12. Let's Hear It For the Boy...Denise Williams
11. Stuck On You...Lionel Ritchie
10. Time After Time...Cyndi Lauper
9. Missing You...John Waite
8. Footloose...Kenny Loggins
7. I Just Called To Say I Love You...Stevie Wonder
6. Ghostbusters...Ray Parker Jr.
5. Hello...Lionel Ritchie
4. When Doves Cry...Prince
3. Against All Odds...Phil Collins
2. Jump...Van Halen
1. Hard Habit to Break...Chicago

Now that's some good music.

#22 is me at a Youth Conference Dance at BYU, wearing Jelly Shoes and a dress with ruffles.

#38 is knowing that my parents disapproved, but LOVING this song and pretty much everything about her.

#14 is my sometimes friend Shauna, who used to dress like (swear it!) Boy George!

#s 34, 12 and 8 is wanting to put on a dance in a small repressed town, and show those adults what it feels like to be young.

#24 is watching my friend Amy sing this into a microphone at the mall!

And #25 and 20 is watching Friday Night Videos to see the genius of him.

Where does this music take you?

(it's okay if you say that it takes you back to your mother's womb.)

Tastes Like Beauty...Rolled In Sugar

That's how Aaron described the flavor of the dough for the gingersnaps I was making. After a long Saturday morning playing in the snow, he and Cameron were helping me in the kitchen. I had mixed up the dough while they played, let it chill, and now Cameron was rolling it into small balls and Aaron was rolling those in sugar. Even the dough smelled so enticingly delicious, they couldn't wait for the first pan to come out of the oven. Aaron bit into the side of a ball.

"Mom...It tastes like...like beauty...rolled in sugar."

I think that's about the highest compliment you can give a cookie.

As a matter of fact, these cookies do taste amazing, both in dough and baked form. Something about that sweet cinnamon and the spicy, fragrant ginger, blended in a simple buttery dough - I think Aaron has described them perfectly.

They taste like beauty.



I only make these gingersnaps once or twice a year, always in the Fall or Winter, when the weather tells me to stay indoors and make comfort food for my family. These cookies just wouldn't do in the summer months, when frozen lemonade pies and all things strawberry should be eaten.


I doubt that very many people would name the gingersnap as their favorite cookie. Chocolate chip, peanut butter, or even a good oatmeal raisin would probably be their first choice. It is for me, at least until the weather turns cold. Then, there's just something about this delightful little cookie that warms my home and my mouth. I think they are delicious and utterly addictive. So proceed with caution.

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Gingersnaps...aka "Taste of Beauty In Your Mouth"

3/4 cup butter or margarine

2 eggs

2 cups sugar

1/2 cup light molasses

4 cups flour

4 tsp. baking soda

1 tsp. salt

1 Tbsp. ginger

2 tsp. cinnamon

Cream the butter, eggs, sugar and molasses. Combine the dry ingredients in a separate bowl and then mix into the butter/eggs/sugars. Form dough into a ball and wrap in plastic wrap. Refrigerate for 1 hour.

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Roll the dough into small balls - about the size of a small walnut - and roll in granulated sugar. Place on a greased cookie sheet and bake for 6-8 minutes.

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See those cracks? That's where the chewy meets the crispy, crackly. You know, if you like that sort of thing. Just so happens, I do.

But if chewy all the way through is the way to win your heart, let them spend the night in a Tupperware. Turns out, I like them this way too.

Don't forget the milk.

Assuming you've never tasted these on a cold, wintery day...what kind of cookie do you enjoy?

The Prettiest Fruit

The Pomegranate.

Are you a fan?

I am.

See all these glistening orbs,

plump with the tangy-sweet juice?

They're called arils.

And I think they are beautiful.

My sister Rachel brought a bowl of these beauties as an appetizer on Thanksgiving. I'm pretty sure I ate most of them. They're only in stores until January, so I've been treating myself every time I go grocery shopping. 'Cause grownups deserve treats too.

Don't be intimidated about opening up the pomegranate. It's easy and sort of fun. I like the tactile nature of certain foods, and the pomegranate satisfies. Just score the peel like you would an orange, and then it will break easily into sections. See how the arils pull away from the membrane?

Submerge the section in a bowl of water and gently push the so-full-of-juice-they-are-ready-to-burst arils away from the white membrane. The seeds will sink and the membranes will float.

Ooooh, I picked a good one.

Succulent and sweet.

Gleaming globes of juice.

(And crunch)

Okay, I'll admit that the seed will put off some people. But just crunch it up and think of all that healthy fiber. Plus, pomegranates are unusually high in polyphenols - a form of very potent antioxidants. The polyphenols are tannins, anthocyanins, and ellagic acid.

But whatever.

I like them because they are tasty, tactile and totally tempting.

Beautiful.

With their bright color and angular lines, they look like rubies.

Pomegranate...I

You.

Do you?

Let It Snow

This was my house last Saturday:

My kitchen floor has small puddles of melting snow, starting at the sliding glass door and trailing clear through the room. Don't run...you might slip!

The hallway holds all the outerwear. Everything is wet and cold and was flung off as fast as they could manage. It's as if they took them off as they were walking. The trail of boot, glove, hat, other boot, other glove, snow pants, hoodie, and coat (everything times 2) leads into the bathroom. First one there took a hot shower while the other got to warm his hands against the mug of hot cocoa. We're going through a dozen mugs in a day.

Bathroom floor has underwear, socks, shirts and towels. And more puddles.

The front closet and the surrounding floor is littered with all the gloves, scarves and hats that didn't get worn, but still needed to be dumped on the floor and rifled through.

The pristine, glittering snow is no longer pristine and glittering. It is used in both the front and back yards. Every inch of it. Nothing pretty about it.

Lucky me. (sigh.)

Please.

There were snow angels...

And knocking the snow out of tree branches...

A little football...

A little snowball...

Some eating...


And frolicking..

And general brotherly love.

So how lucky am I?

Very.

What do you like to do in the snow??

What Are You Bringing?

Happy Day Before Thanksgiving!

Wanna know a secret?
I am 39 years old, and I've never had to make an entire Thanksgiving dinner for a big group of people. Pretty cool, huh?

My wonderful Mom is alive and kicking, planning and inviting, cooking and baking. Truly something to be thankful for. Mom puts on a fantastic Thanksgiving feast - all the delicious food, the rolls, the pies, everything homemade.

Oh. Except the stuffing. The stuffing isn't homemade. I wonder why not. Maybe the family took a vote and decided that Stove Top (with a few added things, like pecans) was good enough. Maybe not enough people like the stuffing to go to the trouble of making it from scratch. Oh well. The stuffing isn't the real draw of the day, food wise.

The pies are. My Mom is pretty much the best pie maker in the world. I think my Dad decided to marry her after eating one of her pies. Flaky, homemade pastry crust, fluted edges (because appearance counts), and filled with all kinds of rich, satisfying delights. This year she's making :
pecan - my favorite
banana cream - my nephew's favorite
pumpkin - well, it is Thanksgiving after all,
cherry - my Dad's favorite, and
apple - another all around favorite.

We could call it Pie Day. I can't wait.

The whole family is going to be at dinner this year, and of course we all contribute and help out. We (the daughters and daughters-in-law) handle the side dishes and my Mom stays in charge of the turkey, the rolls and the pies. Dad likes my Mom to be the one making the pies.

For the past forever, the dish that I've been assigned, is the yams. It's a lowly dish, not even well liked by very many, but it's tradition and it adds some very pretty, bright color to the plate. So we continue to have it every year.

I happen to like the yams, and my Mom does too, but a lot of people simply find them "okay" , and don't want to waste valuable stomach space on them. Did I really just write "valuable stomach space"? Do other people think like this, or just my family?

I know I'm putting this up too late for anyone to try it out this year, but I'll do it anyway. This is what I'm bringing to the Thanksgiving Pie Day dinner:

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Apples and Yams
(a beloved family recipe that no one makes room for - even though it's delicious. And colorful)

Big pile of yams/or 1 can of yams
2/3 cup white sugar
1 Tbs. cornstarch
1 tsp. salt
1/2 tsp. orange peel
1 C. orange juice
2 Tbs. butter
apples - Golden Delicious are perfect for this

If you're starting out with the raw yams, cut them in half and partially cook them in boiling water - maybe 20 minutes -so you can peel the skin off easily and cut them into thick slices. At least 1/2 thick. Lay the slices in a 9x13 baking dish. Or...just drain the can and dump it in the dish.

In a sauce pan, combine the sugar, cornstarch, salt,and orange peel. Add the OJ and the butter and cook until it thickens and boils. Or boils and thickens. Just make sure that both of these happen.

Peel and slice the apples and lay those down among the yams. No real amount is specified - just do whatever might get eaten.

Pour the orange juice sauce over the apples and yams and bake at 350 degrees until everything is nice and tender, about an hour. Whole lot less if you use the canned yams.

It really is delicious - not too sweet, and the orange sauce goes perfectly with it. It's a wonderful side dish - colorful, healthy, and it's great to have the next day, since no one will eat it during the actual dinner. Sigh.

I may even like these more than the mashed potatoes and gravy. Can't say that to Troy though - such a statement would be considered blasphemous to his mighty mashed potato soul.

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Hope you all have a wonderful Thanksgiving and can be with the ones you love. And...

What is your favorite part of the meal?

Calling It A Slumber Party Just Isn't Very Accurate

It's more like a Wide Awake and Laughing So Hard You Might Pee Your Pants Party.

We had the best time. So much laughing, so much eating, so much talking...so little sleep. So worth it.

We had Marsha and Cori...

Janet and Susan...

And me...and Janet again.

Everyone wanted to be by Janet.

Waiter-Man took this picture. I asked him to get a close up, but whatever.

And just because we ate dinner at the restaurant doesn't mean that we aren't going to be eating again.

We changed into our jammies and
got this party started.

Oh stop...STOP!!!

Seriously...she's just too much!

Singing to (swear I'm not making this up) You Light Up My Life by Debbie Boone. Who needs a hairbrush to sing into - we've got water bottles. It's 2007, baby. That song is 30 years old - we knew every single word.

Janet practicing the dance moves to Vogue.

What is she doing???? I'll never tell.

Marsha knows. Bet she won't tell either.

Finally we started feeling a little sleepy. Happy...but sleepy. It was 6am.

We were having so much fun, we didn't want to split up into the bedrooms. We spread out our sleeping bags and pillows, laid down on the floor and remembered "Oh yeah...we're older. Older people need beds. Soft beds."

We finally went to bed around 7am, slept for a few hours, then sat around on the deck in the sunshine (yay for beautiful Fall weather!), drinking our morning Diet Coke and eating tortilla chips and Mexican dip. Still in our jammies. More talking and laughing.

A bee flew over to join the party and ruined my Diet Coke. Stupid bee.

Here's to us - to friendships, to laughter, to giving ourselves this weekend away.

Spice Girls? They've got nothing on us.

Thanks ladies - you rock!!!