Big day!

We have had a great couple of weeks. This Friday, Bruce graduates from the U with a degree in Elementary Education. We are so excited to celebrate this wonderful event. He has been such a great husband and provider and we know that he will continue to do great. There are certain people that are made to do a certain profession. For Bruce it is teaching. I am so pleased with him. We will take lots of pictures and be sure to share them with all of our family and friends.

We also had our first Easter with Gideon. While we tried to focus as a family on the Resurrection, it was a special day. What made it even more special was the opportunity to spend time with our family. We got to spend the day with Bruce's parents. Gideon got to go on his first Easter Egg hunt thanks to Mor Mor. We are so thankful for our little family. We are thankful for this wonderful time of year, for spring renewal and for Easter and the wonderful promise that it brings to us.

My cookie count for the year is 341. I have made several different types of cookies, but I wanted to share two of my recent recipes with you. I have to admit that my favorite one has been the carrot cookies. However, Bruce is more fond of the traditional. One of these days I'm going to find a super great recipe that is new and exciting and that he will love.

The carrot cookie is a citrus flavored cookie that is light and super moist. I made them fairly small so that they could be almost a one bite cookie. Yummy. It is a little time consuming due to having to cook the carrots and mash them as well as having to frost the cookies, but so worth the effort! The recipe is courtesy of food.com as well as my grandma. She used to make these cookies and they remind me of my wonderful Grandma Loveless. So, Dad, this cookie recipe is for you. I hope you enjoyed them as much as I did.

2 lbs carrots
3 cups flour
2 tsp. baking powder
1 tsp. salt
1 1/2 cups sugar
1 1/2 cups shortening
2 eggs
2 tsp. vanilla
2 tsp. lemon extract
1 1/2 cups powdered sugar
2 Tbsp. butter
2-4 Tbsp. orange juice

1. Prepare carrots: wash, peel, and coarsely chop about 2 lbs of carrots. Boil in water until tender, usually about 20 minutes. Drain water from carrots then mash. Allow to cool to room temperature or refrigerate if you are going to prepare the cookie batter later. Measure 2 cups of
carrots for recipe.
2. Preheat oven to 375 f degrees.
3. Sift together the flour, baking powder, and salt in a medium bowl and set aside.
4. Cream together sugar, shortening, eggs, vanilla, and lemon extracts with a mixer in a large mixing bowl
5. Add in combined flour, baking powder, and salt
6. Add cooled mashed carrots and mix in, being careful not to over mix
7. Drop cookie dough by tablespoons onto ungreased or parchment lined cookie sheet, at least one inch apart.
8. Bake for 8-10 minutes, or until the surface looks dry. While the cookies are cooling, prepare the frosting.
9. Mix the powdered sugar with the butter then add the orange juice a tablespoon at a time until desired consistency.
10. Frost cookies and store in the refrigerator with layers separated by waxed paper.

Enjoy these cookies. They are amazing. I will post my recipe from today for Zucchini Cookies in the next several days.