EWWWW Snakes

*Remember- my camera is still lost so I did not take pictures.

I decided today that I would get off my couch and accomplish something.  I admit, the last couple of weeks have been a little rough, I haven't done much of anything.  So I went out into the from yard and weeded, a lot.  Some of the weeds were almost 4ft tall.  It started to sprinkle a bit, but I was set on my project.  That was until I hit a snake.  Yep I hit him with the shovel.  the 1st third of his body was wiggling like crazy, while the other 2 thirds were limp as can be.  Gross!  I left my weeding for another time.

When my wonderful hubby came home, he took care of my "problem".  While showing the kids the details on his skin, Hailee started freaking out, "a snake, a snake".  Damon explained that he couldn't hurt her and that he was injured so he couldn't go anywhere.  Then she pointed over by the porch, there was a 2nd snake.  EWWWW- 2 snakes in one day.
Of course Damon turned this into a science lesson.  He held him down with a stick and showed the kids the patterns on this one and explained that they were both the same breed.  Then he put it in a box and went to the internet to find out what it was.  (I took no part in this activity.)

They are Western Terrestrial Garter Snakes

No matter the breed, I don't want them in my yard.  Damon took care of them (I didn't ask how), then went to making the little "artist's rendition" you see above.  He's so silly.



Lost Camera- Weekend Recap

I have been procrastinating posting for a couple of days.  We had a great weekend with some friends and I took some pretty cool pics.  But since we got home, I can't seem to find the camera.  I know it is in my house somewhere, but alas, you get a quick post until I find it. 

Thursday: we hung out with Carson and Rachel, I went and played Bunco with a bunch of friends, then more visiting late into the evening.

Friday: we went camping with some of my bestest friends and their little families.  We drove out to the Vernon Reservoir, set up camp, ate a bunch, and relaxed.  I love relaxing camp trips, especially being in the mountains with good friends.

Saturday we let the kids play in the reservoir, only Rob wanted to get in with them, he was great.  Then we ate a bunch of food (that's what we do best while camping).  Jaimie made a salad, that really I don't think counts as a salad.  Apples, snickers, and whip cream. MMM

Sunday we had a great big breakfast, then rushed home in time for church.  I am proud to say that when we got home, everyone got bathed, dressed, hair done, and we were in our seats in the chapel all in 45 minutes.  Awesome timing!

Keeping Busy

I said the other day that I needed a new hobby.  Well instead of a new hobby, I decided to work on an old hobby, or an old project at least.  Last year a friend of mine gave me a bunch of fabric and a pattern for a quilt.  I have quilted some before, but nothing like this.  I decided to make it for another friend for Christmas.  I finished the top within a reasonable amount of time, then gave it to a neighbor to quilt together in time for Christmas.  Well I didn't get it back for a number of months, then when I did, I didn't want to work on it (I no longer had the Christmas deadline).  So it sat.  I finally got it out this week and finally finished it, and man does it look awesome.  Merry Christmas Lacey.

Miss Ryann sitting on the newly finished quilt.

Close up of the cool quilting.  Love it.

Then a friend (the same friend that gave me the fabric for the quilt), Nicole asked me to help with a couple other projects.  Her daughter had a skirt that was a little too short, and she needed some help making some pioneer clothes for their upcoming trek.  Here is what I did.

Here is the skirt with the fabric to be added.

The finished skirt.

Close up of the cute flowers and the pattern of the fabric.

Here is the pioneer skirt, apron, and bonnet.

Close up of all three together.

Then after sewing these few projects I hemmed a pair of slacks for another neighbor and fixed a dress for a friend.  I really need to make this a little side business and earn a few extra bucks.  Anyone have any mending or sewing projects they need done?

Not So Perfect Morning to Camp

It was a wonderful night to camp, nice and warm even.  Then about 6:30 in the morning is started to sprinkle, no big deal, right?  Wrong!  The sprinkle turned  into a full rain and even a little snow.  But the worst part was the mud.  We tried to pack everything up as quickly as possible, but no matter how hard we tried, it seemed like everything got muddy.  We gathered all the kids and headed out, or so we tried.
Because Carson and Rachel came from out of town, we had loaned them our car.  Let's just say the 4x4 on a Honda Accord is a little lacking.  Also, Damon decided not to bring the tow rope on this little adventure, so they were stuck.
We ended up leaving them in the car and we headed down to town to buy a tow rope.  Luckily enough there were a number of other campers up the canyon and we were able to borrow a tow rope off of one of them.  We did finally make it out of the canyon, but not without coating everything in mud first.  (We ended up buying the tow rope off the guy, because we felt bad for ruining his brand new, still in the package rope.)

May not look so bad.  Just try to drive in it, or even walk for that matter.

The tow rope we borrowed didn't have hooks, we jimmy rigged it, which didn't work, and Damon had to get down in the mud again.

These are the car eating mud holes we found.  It was dry yesterday, I promise.

Yeah for the Honda!

So after a wonderful morning we headed back to Grandma Anna's for some delicious pancakes, bacon, and eggs, without the mud and rain.  MMM

Perfect Night to Camp

After a wonderful day of swimming, we headed up Ephraim Canyon.

Of course the kids went straight for the last bit of snow.

Ryann, Madi, Blake, Cal and Hailee.

This was an awesome site for camping.  A beautiful clearing in a bunch of trees and no other people anywhere to be seen.

The dogs even had plenty to explore and a stream to play in.

Gotta love the great outdoors.  This is Damon's method of cutting firewood.  Probably not the smartest to cut wood after it is already burning.  But maybe it is a little better than Blake's method of "chopping wood".

  

Oh little man, better be more careful.

Damon, Blake, Carson and Cal coming back from exploring in the woods. 

Madi, Cal, and Hailee were so excited to see a deer in our camp.  Sorry I was too slow to get a very good picture.

Later we made delicious s'mores and then put the kids to bed.  Then sitting around a campfire telling stories (best part of camping). 

First Swim of the Summer

Down to Manti we go for a fun weekend with Carson, Rachel and family.  We spent the night at Grandma Anna's and got to catch up a bunch while the kids slept.  The last time we hung out with Carson and Rach, they were still living in AZ, and were still prego.  Now they live in OK and have 3 little ones; Madi, Cal, and Katie.

In the morning we had a quick breakfast, let the kids play for awhile, ate a [GIANT] pizza from Lotsa Motsa (I'll have to get a pic from Rachel), then we all went swimming.  What a perfect day to swim.

Hailee spent most of her time on the slide.

Nice expression Damon.

Madi, Cal, Carson, Rachel, and Katie

Phoenix was a little unsure of the water at first.

Carson, Cal, Ryann, Damon, Blake, Hailee

Rachel, Katie and Cal

Blake was a little scared to slide down the slide, so Damon carried him up the stairs.

Don't worry, he loved it once he tried it

Hooray for splashing.

Phoenix loved riding on Daddy's back.

We're a happy family.

A bit of a rough week...

Sorry I haven't posted anything for a bit.  I had a Dr. appointment last week to discuss the CT scan of my shoulder.  It has been 12 weeks since I had my hip bone grafted into my collarbone.  The x-rays were all looking good, but they only give a 2D image.  So I had a CT scan and it didn't look so promising.  The hip bone is bridging to my collarbone, but there is still a gap in the collarbone itself. 
I have to cut back my workouts (again), not that I was really doing that much.  I can bike (some), run (some), and swim (a little), but no weights.  Okay, he said I can do a little weights, but very light and (some) reps.
Seriously??? I just want to be healed and be able to do what I want.  The worst part is I don't know what the next step is.  I have to go see a rheumatologist to find out about my circulation, and see if that correlates, but really the next step is time.  Time?  Really?  That's all your telling me?  It has been 10 months.  Bones heal in 6-8 weeks, so lets give it 3 months, not 10+ months.
So, for a couple of days I was really struggling.  I think I need a new hobby to keep myself busy.  Anyway, I am over the frustration for now, I'm sure I will have another moment of weakness, but for now... I continue on and make things better anyway I can.

Science Experiment

Every night the kids ask us to tell them stories from when we were kids.  We are running out of stories, or shall we say Damon has plenty of stories, but many of them are not PG.  So, we started telling stories about our siblings when they were kids.  But there are only so many stories that we can remember.  Now Damon is telling the kids details about growing up on the dairy.  Like where wheat comes from, how to milk cows, or how to make cheese.  Hailee asked him what the difference is in different types of cheeses.  ... the cultures, heat, timing, whatever (I didn't pay very good attention).  Then he decided to show her the difference between mild and sharp cheddar.  Let a block of mild cheddar sit for 6 months and see how it tastes.

We wrote on 1 side: Do Not Open Until Christmas. (we'll see how that goes, it might be a first)

The other side says:  6/10/11, 2# Mild Cheddar, Science Experiment, Going Sharp

Hailee putting the cheese into the fridge, not to be touched for 6 months.

"I can eat a RAINBOW"

We checked this book out at the library the other day.

So of course we had to eat a rainbow for our Sunday dinner.

We made fajitas on the grill and thanks to the idea from Brandi, we made fruit pizza.

And...was...it...delicious!

I wish I had some kiwi and mandarin oranges, that would have looked awesome.

For this Fruit Pizza I used my 1/2 batch of my favorite sugar cookie recipe, a lite vanilla yogurt and plenty of fresh fruit.

Sugar Cookies

3/4 C Margarine or Butter
1 C Sugar
2 eggs
1 tsp vanilla (I used almond this time- nice change of flavor)
1 tsp baking powder
1 tsp salt
3 C flour

Cream margarine and sugar, add eggs and vanilla, add combined dry ingredients. Mix well.  Chill.  Roll out.
Bake 375 for 5-7 minutes.  For fruit pizza- Bake 350 for 10-12 minutes.

For the fajitas, we decided to use the grill.

First marinate whatever meat you want.  I used a steak I bought on the quick sale.

I don't know what it is marinated in, because Damon was my helper.  I know he used a recipe, but I'll have to ask what it was.  Either way, it was good, that's what counts right?

Slice plenty of red, yellow, orange, green peppers, and a purple onions.  Mushrooms would have been good too, I forgot to get them when I was at the store.  Oh well.

We like our steaks a little pink, but cook it the way you like.  For us, we set the grill to a medium heat and cooked the 1" thick steak on 4 minutes each side.  The trick to grilling meat is to only turn it once.  Add the veggies to the grill when you turn the meat.  Remove the meat from the grill and let it sit for a few minutes before slicing.

We served it up on warm tortilla's with sour cream, cilantro, cheese and salsa.

I forgot to add the cheese and salsa before we took the picture.  But they still looks great.

As for eating a rainbow, I think we did pretty good.  We didn't have any blue, but really the grapes are as blue as any food you will ever find.  I would even say it was all pretty healthy, okay maybe not the giant cookie, but everyone needs a dessert on a Sunday.

Blake Ready to Go.

My sweet little Blake is so proud that he got himself all ready for church.

If you look closely, you can tell that his shirt is inside out, the pocket is on the inside.

Much better after a little help from Daddy.

Family Bike Ride

Gotta love the warm spring evenings.

Blake is actually getting the hang of riding.

The little girls love riding in the trailer.

Hailee was our leader.

Hooray for the bike trailer.

Blake got behid quite a bit, so we headed back to drop off his bike.

Taking pictures while riding a bike is hard work.

I love the 3 helmets all squished together.

At the end of our lovely ride around the neighborhood.

The kids were glad to be back on their feet.