Bob's dad passed away last Thursday night. We're glad that almost everybody got in to see him and say goodbye. He was a great guy and he will be missed by all of us. Memorial service and celebration of life will be this coming Saturday morning in Effingham. Here's our branch of the family at Lindsey and Brent's wedding two years ago.







Landon is finished with week one of nineteen weeks of chemotherapy. The good news is that the tests are back from the oncologist and he is in the low risk category in regards to the disease recurring. Eighteen more weeks to go. Here's a picture from Megan's blog of Landon and Dr. Baron, the Springfield doctor who was so quick to get them in and who diagnosed the problem, and Dr Baron the bear, his namesake.














Happy 29th Anniversary to us! We celebrated tonight with a late supper at the Cork and Cleaver, which has the best salad bar in all of Fort Wayne. While we were eating, Bob asked me if I wanted him to send me flowers tomorrow, which he surely knows, by now, is very irritating, because you either just send the flowers, or you don't. You don't ASK SOMEONE IF THEY WANT YOU TO SEND THEM FLOWERS! I hope we can make it to 30 years. In honor of our anniversary here are pictures of us from the archives - our second grade school photos. Different years and different schools , of course. I did not know Bob in the second grade. If I had known him, I would probably have been scared of him.






















Recipe of the Week: I've been experimenting with chocolate cakes and this is a recipe I've had on file for twenty five years, and never made before this week. It was handwritten by Cindi who used to have Cindi's Cafe and Catering on 9th Street in Mt. Vernon, Illinois. Bob tried a piece and said "This is some heavy-duty chocolate." It's like a brownie, with very rich frosting.



Fudge Cake

Mix #1
1 cup butter
2 cups sugar - Beat, then add:
6 egg yolks
1 cup flour - Set aside

Mix #2
12 ounces chocolate chips
6 tablespoons strong coffee

Microwave until melted and stir into mix #1

Mix #3
6 egg whites
Beat until stiff (start slow and increase speed)
Fold all together and pour into a greased and floured ten-inch springform pan. Bake at 350 degrees for one hour. Remove, cool, and pat the top down.

Frosting
12 ounces chocolate chips
1 stick butter
1 pound powdered sugar
Enough milk to make the frosting spreadable.
Melt the chips and beat in the butter. Add the powdered sugar and milk. Mix.

"If they ever come up with a Swashbuckling School, I think one of the courses should be laughing, then jumping off something." Jack Handey