A new visitor!

Emily brought up both girls on Friday! It was little Maggie's first visit to our house and we were so thrilled to finally have her here! She was pretty happy about it, too, as she just spent so much time looking all around at all the new surroundings. She was so alert and so happy. How fun!

The occasion was a little birthday celebration for Emily, who just turned 24 last Wednesday. I made the ice cream sandwich cake again, which is becoming a fast favorite. Here's the very simple recipe:

6 - 8 ice cream sandwiches
1 c. whipping cream
2 T. powdered sugar
candy bar of your choice, cooled and chopped roughly

Line your loaf pan with a sheet of waxed paper, with several inches hanging over each edge. Add the sugar to the whipping cream and whip until stiff peaks form. Set aside. Work quickly now! Line a loaf pan with waxed paper. Then place a layer of sandwiches on the bottom, cutting to fit as needed. Spread half the whipped cream on top. Add a second layer of sandwiches and the remaining whipped cream. Add the chopped candy bar to the top and press in slightly. Fold the waxed paper over the top and stick in the freezer for at least an hour and definitely for longer if you'd like. When it's time to serve, let sit at room temp for a few minutes. You can even (carefully!) run some tepid water along the sides of the loaf pan to loosen the ice cream from the edges. Run a knife carefully along the insides if necessary. The waxed paper should enable the ice cream to pull away from the edges. Invert the "cake" onto a plate and it will pop out of the pan. Remove the waxed paper and slice. You'll get 8 slices. YUM!

While Emily was here she handed me her camera, which is the very same kind I owned previously to my SLR, so I was able to download all her photos for her. And I found some of these gems (and many more!) among her pics:

She looks so dang cute while on her tummy holding up her (not so little) head. Just LOVE the "jowls". I could eat her up. Seriously. I can't believe she 4 months old already...

I love it when the kids used to fix Eva's hair like this. They did it when it was longer. She just looks so darling. And, well, she IS!

My two precious little granddaughters. Look how Maggie's head is almost as big as Eva's. That's the Barlow big-head for ya.

Well, today we are looking forward to a long-awaited music event happening at the Elk Creek Cafe and Aleworks out in Milheim, PA (near State College). One of our new very favorite ever bands, Chicken Tractor, will be playing, along with a boatload of other similar type bands. Here's the line-up and description. It's a benefit for Penns Valley Hope Fund, a local organization that assists families facing sudden and unexpected financial and health crises (see their website at: www.pennsvalleyhopefund.com), and the Aaronsburg Area Library. And the super-cool thing is that I actually won 2 tickets for the event. The cover charge is $10 per person, so we'll be saving twenty buckaroos! We'll have to leave church right after the song service, as this place is an hour away and you can't make reservations. And we expect it will be pretty crowded. There's about 10 of us going down. Can't wait. Should be a great time.

And, so, I better eat my breakfast and get ready for church, which is first on our agenda today! Have a blessed day...