Our first was a large amount of free ice cream from Cold Stone after offering a winning name and ice cream concoction. Steven and I did that one together. It was Cheesecake ice cream with raspberries and white chocolate bits blended in. We named it "Berry White".
After that I won a radio contest from my office desk at work. The prize was a steak dinner for two and tickets to see the musical "Show Boat".
Steven won an online contest to see the premiere showing of, "God's Army".
Of course, there was also the trip to New York for our anchor for the day video submitted to the "Today Show".
Looking back, I think my ability to win things all began when I rubbed off my first lottery scratch ticket and instantly won $50. Now, I don't believe in gambling, so you might be asking yourselves why I would be buying lottery tickets? (See post below)
Anyway, last night Kadyn and I both entered a pie contest at our church's annual, "Chili and Pie Bake Off". We both were a bit risky and chose pies that we had never before made or tasted.
Kadyn picked one of Emeril's favorites called, "Mile High Chocolate and Butterscotch Parfait Pie". It took a great deal of preparation but she stuck with it and completed every step all by herself. It had a graham cracker crust with a chocolate ganache layer, butterscotch layer, chocolate mousse layer, topped off with a whipped cream layer. It was pretty incredible and tasted as good as it sounds.
I went with a Southern Living Chocolate Cheesecake Pecan Pie. It was fairly easy but incredibly tasty too.
They took a piece of each pie back to the judges and later lined them each up with a number. Mine was number 3 and Kadyn's number 4. We went and stood by our pies and the girl announcing the winners came over and said, "Lynette, your number 3 and Kadyn's 4"? I said, "yes, is everything alright"? She walked away giggling and I didn't understand until they announced that there was a third place winner, with the second being canceled out due to a tie for first. The tie for first was, you guessed it, pie number 3 and 4. Kadyn was SO happy. She jumped up and down in excitement and then quickly ran away. Everyone began to laugh.
Apparently on the opposite side of the gym a game of dodge ball was being played, with the bishop verses the kids, and Kadyn didn't want to miss out. Surprisingly enough, Kadyn won that as well! You know what I loved best? Initially it was the experience of preparing and baking the pies with Kadyn. Last night however Ryley changed that. You should have seen her. She could not have been more proud and excited for her sister. It was a great night for the whole family.
