Pumpkin Dump Cake

First I want to say I hope everyone had a wonderful Thanksgiving and enjoyed time with family and friends.  Our Thanksgiving was eventful this year because we gained another family member....but that's another story.... :)

Back to the cake...YUM

My mom made this cake for every Thanksgiving and it is part of our family holiday tradition.

My sister has made this in previous years but this Thanksgiving the task fell on me....

Just as a side note, when my mom died I inherited her recipe box and looking through the handwritten recipes in this box has been amazing.  What a treasure!

Mix the pumpkin, egg, evaporated milk, sugar, pumpkin spice and pour into a 13x9 baking dish (pre-sprayed with cooking spray)
Then sprinkle cake batter mix on top of the pumpkin mixture and follow it with crushed pecans.

Then melt some butter and drizzle over the pecan/cake mix crust

Bake on 350 for 50 minutes and enjoy when cooled....YUM

Here's the complete recipe :)

Pumpkin Dump Cake

1 Large can of pumpkin

2 1/2 tsp pumpkin spice

1 can evaporated milk

1 cup sugar

3 eggs

1 box yellow cake mix ( I used butter recipe cake mix)

1 1/2 cups chopped pecans

1 1/2 sticks of butter

Preheat your oven to 350 and spray 13x9 inch baking pan with cooking spray.  Mix pumpkin, pumpkin spice, evap. milk, and sugar with a mixer and pour into prepared baking pan.  Sprinkle dry cake mix on top of pumpkin and sprinkle chopped pecans on top.  Drizzle melted butter over top of it all and bake it for 50 minutes.  Let it cool and maybe even chill before eating.

Enjoy!!

Bronwyn

The Newseum

Last week I had the privilege to visit the Newseum in Washington DC with my sons 7th grade class.  I had never even heard of the place so I really did not know what to expect.

When we entered to building we were directed to a 4D movie experience.  They made this sound like it was optional but I am so thankful that we didn't skip it!!  WOW!!  I really don't know how else to describe it...just WOW!

After the movie (which is not very long), we went into the museum.  Put simply, the Newseum is a museum of news worthy events. 

The first thing we saw was a huge section of the Berlin Wall.

I remember when the wall came down so this was a very neat thing to see....I was completely mesmerized with the West Berlin side of the wall....
It never even dawned on me to look at the other side until my Drew said "Hey mom, look at the other side..."

Wow......I got chills. There really are no words.....Just a stunning thing to see.

This is one of the East Berlin guard towers.

As we walked through the Newseum we saw the remains of the antenna and the top of the North Twin Tower building from 9/11

We saw a short film that documented the media reactions and actions during the 9/11 tragedy and how important it was that the events were documented.

We also saw many other interesting items including The Unibombers cabin

And an original printing press....

We only had a short time to tour the Newseum but it was an amazing trip. 

Thanks for looking and as always...
Smiles :)

Bronwyn

Milton Willett

This post is dedicated to my father-in law Milton Willett who passed away on October 17th. 

My father-in-law was one of my favorite people! 

He loved to play with the kids, loved to tell jokes and just loved his family!!  He (and my mother-in-law) accepted me and Morgan & Andrew as their very own from the first time we met.  Words cannot express how much that means!

He died too young but he loved and lived life to the absolute fullest.

I don't know what else to say....I loved him and I will miss him dearly.

These pictures were taken last summer when we traveled to Louisiana to see our family there.

"God saw you getting tired and a cure was not to be.

So He put His arms around you and whispered “come to me.”

With tearful eyes we watched you, and saw you pass away.

Although we loved you dearly, we could not make you stay.

A golden heart stopped beating, hard working hands at rest.

God broke our hearts to prove to us, He only takes the best."

(Author unknown)

All my love.....until we meet again.....