Life at Willis Creek Ranch

Tuesday, May 26, 2015

Lemon Sheet Cake

I got this recipe from dear Beverly while sitting in the waiting room at our local dentist's office. :) It sure seemed like a winner, and it was! Easy and tasty.

Lemon Sheet Cake
1 pkg. (18 ¼ oz) lemon cake mix
4 eggs
1 can (15 ¾ oz) lemon pie filling (I actually used a 22oz can - it was what I had)
1 pkg. (3 oz) cream cheese, softened
½ cup butter, softened
2 cups confectioner's sugar
1 ½ tsp vanilla extract

In a large mixing bowl, beat the cake mix and eggs until well blended. Fold in pie filling. (I would recommend blending with a mixer. It is a pretty thick batter and I had to switch from just using a wire whisk to my hand mixer.) Spread into a greased 15x10x1 inch baking pan. Bake at 350 degrees for 18-20 minutes or until a toothpick inserted near the center comes out clean. Cool on a wire rack. In a small mixing bowl, beat cream cheese, butter and confectioner's sugar until smooth. Stir in vanilla. Spread over cake. Store in the refrigerator.

Note - I felt there was almost not enough icing. It worked and I was able to cover the entire cake, but it sure felt like a stretch. Am thinking I might add just a smidge more to the icing ingredients to give me another ¼ cup or so of total icing. This sure was yummy!!

I didn't do a good job of getting a photo of this cake. It is on the platter on the end of the counter in this photo. That will have to do for now. :)

Saturday, May 23, 2015

Riding

It has been wonderful, the last few weeks, to see Jonathan take an interest in riding horses again. He has always been a good horseman; it just hasn't always been a priority for him. But, more often lately, he has been going out to the barn and saddling up Governor for a ride. Although I have missed the opportunity to photograph most of these times, I was able to get a few photos of him when he was in the barn.

Marvin riding Annie, Jonathan riding Governor

Jackson dropped by to visit

:) Jonathan ran to help Grandpa hook up the horse trailer and left Jackson holding Governor for him.

Jonathan is back! :D

Thursday, May 21, 2015

A fond farewell

Daddy bought a Subaru Brat back in 1986 that has been driven and loved by just about all family members. Back when it was new it was the perfect vehicle for grandchildren sitting on Grandpa's lap to 'drive' around the yard. Daddy called it his 'automatic wheelbarrow' because it was just big enough to do a few truck-type jobs, but definitely not a heavy duty hauler. I drove the Brat for a few years, including when I lived in Lake Charles, Louisiana. I will never forget my boss at the time teasing me that my parents had gone to a lot of trouble to find a vehicle with my name already printed on the side. (brat) :D ha!

Many in the family learned to drive a stick shift in the Brat, spending hours driving up and down the driveway and around the farm shifting gears. Marvin drove it around Willis Creek Ranch when we first moved up here; until he became too nervous about the boys being mobile and his inability to really see them while driving. However, for a time, it definitely helped Marvin 'commute' around the ranch.

Finally, Kerry took it over and moved it to OK to be his primary vehicle. He has been the loving guardian of the Brat for many years now, spending much quality time in it each day going to and from the campus of OU. However, at 19 years old, the Brat finally has given its all. It just isn't a reliable vehicle anymore. Kerry and Candace purchased a new Subaru a few weeks ago and the time has come to officially retire the Brat. Since the Brat has been like a member of the family to all, it was only fitting that Kerry and family commemorated the event with a photo shoot. I am SO glad they did and am sharing their photos here. A great tribute to a beloved vehicle that served many so well. :)

The Brat in its youth, around 1990. Rachel is waving while James helps Grandpa Jack drive.

James and Rachel getting their first driving lessons from Grandpa Jack.

Sad faces (almost) all around. Candace is happy we don't have to wonder if it will disintegrate on the next trip to town. But she will miss it too!

Lovin' on the Brat

Saying farewell to the 1986 Subaru Brat, a faithful family friend.

Uncle Charles's Honor Flight

My dear Uncle Charles had a very special experience May 9. He went on the Honor Flight from his hometown to Washington D.C. We are all so glad that he had this opportunity and so thankful for Mike (his grandson) who served as an Honor Flight Guardian for not only Uncle Charles, but also two other veterans who made the journey. What an experience they had! They truly made memories for a lifetime!

For this post I am using photos that were taken by Mike on the trip. So glad he took a lot of wonderful photos to commemorate the event!

They left very early in the morning on that Saturday.

Uncle Charles

Uncle Charles and Mike

Good job, Mike! A wonderful guardian!!

When they arrived in Washington D.C. they were able to meet up with John, another grandson who lives in that area. Marvelous!

Uncle Charles with 2 grandsons - Mike and John

Uncle Charles and Mike

John and Uncle Charles

Uncle Charles with Mike and John

Late night arrival back home to a beautiful crowd of people - what a welcome home!

Aunt Ilene and Noah were there to greet them. :)

Noah gave Uncle Charles a ride directly to the door of the house so
he wouldn't have to climb any steps after his long day.

Noah honoring his Papa. :)

This is just a sampling of the photos they took that memorable day. Thanks to Mike for allowing me to share them here. And I want to end with Mike's own words about the day. I think they are perfect.

I have a lot good memory's from the Honor flight this past Saturday but the one that's hard to beat is the one when we landed in Fort Dodge and I helped my grandpa to the terminal. When the announcer read grandpas name and branch the crowd cheered and out of the crowd my boy Noah came running out and said daddy daddy and gave me a big jumping hug, and then hugged his papa. I had two other vets I escorted to their family's as well. All the thank you's from their family's for taking care of their loved ones. It was pretty powerful stuff. In my mind it was a job. A job I feel very blessed to be a part of. I took pride and responsibility to take care of my Vets, and also any Vet. To make sure they made it there and back safely. I made a promise to my self to try my best to keep in touch with them. One more thing that was very touching is that one of my Vets at the end teared up just a bit when he said to me thank you for everything that you did. I told him it was my honor to be a part of this. Then I told him thank you for your service to this country I will always remember it for the rest of my life. Make sure you thank a Vet! Thank you to everyone that was a part of this honor flight here at home and the ground team in DC!
--Mike M.

Monday, May 18, 2015

Celebrating 59 years in education

Tuesday, May 12 was the date of the final exam for the Foundations of Chemistry class Daddy taught at MACC. Several of us decided it was important to celebrate Daddy's 3rd retirement with a small, surprise reception in honor of his 59 year career in education. Dear Artie allowed us to take over the commons area of MACC and set up a little table with cake (sugar free for Daddy!) to celebrate a man who is so dear to all of us.

Daddy knew that he was to take a photo with 3 generations of lovely women that he had taught... the granddaughter taking her final that very morning. However, he was completely unaware that others were there or that anything else was planned.

We invited him to walk down the hall with us and I had to laugh when I turned around, thinking he was right behind me, only to see he had stopped along the way to chat. :D We all waited as he turned to walk up the long hall, peering around the corner at the very end as he began to catch on that something was up. When he saw the whole crowd of people, he was speechless. He truly was surprised and happy to see everyone there. A beautiful moment.

Here are a few photos from this special morning.