Cheesecake Attempt

Okay, I did not take as good of a photo as Jill, but this is a family recipe from Jill, here is her blog which I LOVE. I am good friends with her sister who gave her blog and I am so appreciative (THANKS MELANIE) as most of my craft projects these days have come from her blog. This cheesecake was super easy and I really enjoyed it. Usually other recipes for cheesecake I have tried or even the restaurant cheesecakes seem a bit dry, but this was perfect filling!! Send me feedback if you try it!

Crust:
1 3/4 C graham cracker crumbs
1/2 C sugar
1 stick of butter, melted

Combine and press into a spring-form pan (bottom and about an inch up the side).Bake at 350 degrees for 8-10 minutes, or until it starts to brown.

Filling:
3 eight oz. packages of cream cheese - cream until soft in mixer add
5 large eggs and beat until smooth
Add: 1 C sugar, 1 tsp vanilla and a dash of salt
Mix until well combined.

Beat it for at least 10 minutes.
Pour into the cooled crust.
Bake at 350 degrees for 40-45 minutes or until the top browns and the center isn't jiggly.
Check often after the 45 minute mark, but try to resist checking earlier.
Cool for about 20 minutes.

Sour cream topping:
Mix 1 1/2 C sour cream, 1/3 C sugar and 1 tsp vanilla
Pour on top of the cheesecake and bake an additional 10 minutes.
Chill at least 4 hours, but overnight is best.

Top with your favorite fruit when ready to serve.

I used a ten inch spring form pan which worked great, although my cheesecake ended up really tall which is not typical for a cheesecake, but it was delicious.

**NOTE: My crust ended up really hard, not too hard for your teeth but too hard for the fork. It tasted amazing but was just hard, if anyone can tell me how to fix that I think this is the most perfect cheesecake recipe I have ever tasted. I will have to try it again to see if maybe I just did something incorrectly.

Kurtis LOVES watermelon!!

It is a shame that the end of the summer is here, at least we have been able to grab a few watermelons that are still pretty tasty at the grocery store! Kurtis loves watermelon, just like his Aunt Katie!! Who doesn't love watermelon when its hot outside?! Here he is devouring five pieces all by himself!

Labor Day Weekend

For Labor Day Weekend we went to a fun BBQ at our friends house. Some friends from the ward were there and all the kids really enjoyed the backyard to play in. There was homemade, amazing pulled pork BBQ which really reminded me of the southern BBQ from home. It was a lot of fun with some great company! Thanks all...here are some of the fun pictures we were able to take before Kurtis got too tired and we had to go home for him to take a nap.

Here are our fun pics from the day:

Tell me Kurtis does not look JUST LIKE DERICK SITTING HERE, he is a little DERICK!!

Too funny!

CONGRATULATIONS!!

Okay, so my little sister Jackie has been engaged for a while but I did not have photos so I was waiting to post a great post congratulating her!! Congratulations Jake and Jackie, they are engaged and will be sealed in the Washington D.C. Temple in November!! We are so excited for you guys!!

Happy Grandparents Day!!

Kurtis, Derick and I wanted to say Happy Grandparents Day to all of our Grandparents. We have many family members and church family that act as Grandparents to us as well that I do not have photo of, but we love you all!!! Grandma and Grandpa Pikula (Derick's Parents)

(We really need to take more photos, we did not have any of the two of you together.)

We don't have any photos of Derick's grandparents on either side at our house, but we have heard amazing stories and seen some photos of Paula's family.

Pops and GG (Amy's Parents)
Grandma and Grandpa Christensen (Amy's Grandparents- Mom's parents) Nanny and Poppa (Amy's Nanny and Poppa- Dad's Parents)
Aunt Jessie and Uncle Bill (Amy's adopted Grandparents)
Uncle Kenny and Aunt Karen....they spoil Kurtis like he is a grandchild, and he loves every minute of it.

There are so many more that we could mention Uncle Bob, Aunt Joyce, Aunt Pasty and James, and so many others in my home ward at church (Belmont) and our current home ward (MarVista), I do not want to forget anyone but you know who you are and we love you!!

Happy Grandparents Day!!!

We are lucky to have you all.

Waking Up Kurtis Style

So every morning Kurtis wakes us up by jumping in our bed. We now have photographic proof of his shennanigans!! No need for alarm clocks at the Pikula household, we have our human alarm that prods us out of bed through the use of kisses or kicks- the hard knock way.

So, we are happy to report that Kurtis is quickly getting over his G-H-O-S-T problem. The culprit seemed to be his nightlight. Ever since we took it out of the wall, he has had no reported sightings. Or maybe he has learned to cope and is now helping them pass over to the light. Our little Sylvia Brown is helping people!! We have always wondered why his hair was white! -Ok, I better stop before I go overboard.

CONGRATULATIONS!!

My little brother Ryan and my sister in law Jordan had their beautiful baby girl last night!!

Her name is Ella Jo, congratulations guys, we love you all and cant wait to see you for the blessing!

Friday and Saturday Farmers Market

Okay, so I need to practice taking photos so my eyes stay open. After ten takes (love you Derick) of Derick looking absolutely perfect and me looking rather horrible this is the best we could get. But I was able to go out with some girlfriends to PINKBERRY and BEARD PAPA'S to enjoy some yummy dessert and great company. Thanks Ladies!!

As a family, we enjoyed a fun, beautiful day outside at the Farmer's Market in Century City. It just started less than a month ago so it is still a little small, but we found some wonderful organic fruits and veggies!! Kurtis loved running around and dancing to the live band.

Bumblebee

So it was time for bigger tennis shoes, and what happened to be on sale...bumblebee tennis shoes. We purchased them and took them home for Kurtis.

When he put them on I said ok, now be Bumblebee, he asked for his transformer sun glasses, and then he made this pose.

Then when I thought that he was done he said "chicotocoo" like he was transforming. Then he said he was a car, and sang "Transformers More Than Meets The Eye"!!

The photos a little blurry, oh well thats what happens when one of us is taking the photo while in the photo!! It was a great date night for Derick and I thank you Ohran Family for watching Kurtis. We were able to go see Batman (which we loved) and go to dinner. The first real date we have had since we moved back to LA!! It was wonderful!!

Two Weeks Ago...

So here are photos of what we did a few weeks ago:

Kurtis' cousin came over and painted with Kurtis. He loves his cousin, they enjoyed each others company.

Serene, Anne and Zoie came over for FHE to decorate cupcakes!!


Kurtis' friend Erik came over to play, they had a ton of fun together!

Kurtis and I went over to Serene's for dessert, Kristal was nice enough to let Kurtis hold Delilah!

Kurtis and his cuteness

So here is Kurtis' new thing, to sing and be recorded for him to watch after, like he is on TV.
NOT SURE WHERE HE GOT THAT FROM???

Random Photos

Kurtis and Zoie with the dalmation dogs from Richard. Kurtis now has three...I don't remember their names but the each even have names.

Lately it has been pretty hot so after playing out side we have enjoyed popsicles,here are some cute shots of Kurtis and his friend Zoie.

Kurtis "So Happy" with one of his last potty treat Jazz the Transformer. Derick is mildly obsessed with getting all of them for him, but he has plenty now!

Here is the better picture of my hair as I promised!!

Kurtis and His Cousins!!!

This week Kurtis had a ton of fun with his cousins...Monday he was able to go to the Long Beach Aquarium with Derick, Derick's sisters family, and Grandma Pikula. They had a lot of fun looking at sharks, fish, crabs, and sting rays (Kurtis even touched one this time). What a great family adventure!Then on Saturday night Kurtis and I went to visit most of the Christensen Family in Manhattan Beach for dinner and dessert. The food and company was wonderful, thank you for allowing us to join in on the family time!!