Happy Retirement Week Grammy Fitz!

This is the last week of Grandma F's loooooong teaching career - and Annie can't WAIT for her to be around more!  Congratulations on a great career....and welcome to more days with us Grammy!  This dandelion is for you, dust off your hiking shoes! ;)  We love you!!

Thumbs up! aaaand thumb down to two recent product inquiries.

"Meatheads" (http://www.meatheadsburgers.com/) 
THUMBS UP!


I inquired about their products and their safety for Annie and received the following PROMPT response:

Robyn,


I will be happy to tell you what we use with our fries as well as any other item we have on our menu.. When it comes to our fries, the only items that come into contact with them would be water, which we use to soak them in after cutting. We only use 100% canola oil to blanch as well as cook our fries, and then we use either fry salt, or Cajun seasoning. If a customer wants, we can also do a no salt option. As far as our burgers are concerned, the milk is listed there for the cheese. Our burgers are 100 percent Angus beef, and we season them with kosher salt. The bun we use is a potato bun made specifically for us, and there is no dairy in the bun as well. However, if you prefer to take no chances at all, I have several customers with allergy or dietary needs, that do no bun. We would cook the burger and place it on lettuce. If you have any other questions please feel free to ask. Thanks for asking.


Eric

Needless to say, Annie had her first drive thru french fries after a traumatic doctor appointment recently...a true American delicacy.  And I gotta say, these fries rock...as does their honesty regarding dietary issues.

"Earth's Best"  (http://www.earthsbest.com/products/product/2392320603) THUMBS DOWN! 

Sadly, after finding a promising product, with Cookie Monster on it no less, we were given loosey goosey info.  I was very disappointed in the response to my question asking where the "natural flavors" were derived from in this product.  Here was their response:

Dear Ms. Meek,



Thank you for taking the time to contact us regarding our Homestyle Mini Waffles. We strive to maintain the highest quality products and appreciate your patronage.

Several of our products are enhanced with natural flavors. These are concentrated substances of some of the same ingredients used in our products. The Hain Celestial Group does not add mono-sodium glutamate (MSG) to any of our natural flavors. If you have allergies or sensitivities to certain ingredients, we recommend you avoid all products with added flavorings.


If we can be of further assistance, please feel free to contact us at 1-800-434-4246, Monday through Friday from 7AM - 5PM Mountain Time.


Sincerely,
Sarah
Consumer Relations Representative
Ref # 2249128

Mother's Day Weekend 2011

What a busy mother's day weekend!  We started it off at Starved Rock for the big Grant's Wish fundraiser, and then spent a busy day with Grandma Meek & Grandma Fitzpatrick on Sunday.  What a gorgeous day!  It was so nice to spend time with family.  We made a special trip over to Great Grandma's future memorial garden, where Jeremy started to lay out the bed lines and we checked out what sort of soil we'd be dealing with.  It was such a perfect time to be there, beautiful, sunny day, and the crabapples near the cemetery were in full bloom - such an ideal setting!  I was also able to get over to her yard and get a few of her perennials that she'd been after me to take for years.  It was SUCH a fabulous feeling to get home last night with the iris, phlox, and columbine, and tuck them into our garden knowing they were grandma's, and now they're mine...and they just keep on bloomin!  So symbolic!  I love you Grandmas, I love you Mom, and I love being Mommy :)  Happy Mother's Day!




My Mother's Day present :)



Annabelle and her Grammys

Mother's Day Cupcakes!

Annie & Grammy M across from Great Grandma's Memorial Garden site

Annie getting to work on her Great Grammy's Garden

In the future memorial garden

Annie passing time at the poker run honking Grammy's horn

Grant's Wish Poker Run site

21 months old...this is the first french fry to pass my baby's lips...she spit it out.

Mother's Day flowers from my fabulous family!  <3

The super cute chair we'll never buy :p

No need to teach flirting....

Annie goes out to celebrate Cinco de Mayo...there were two little boys in our section (younger of course)...one at her 9 o'clock and one at her 7 o'clock...she worked both....

Happy May and Hiking Weather!