Not my favorite morning...

Camping

On Friday, we packed up our camping gear and headed to the mountains. We usually spend our days hiking and exploring, gathering firewood, and generally having a good time outside. The mosquitos and deer flies were so bad that we had to go sit in the tent to get away from them. It was insane. Honostly, I can't even begin to explain the number of bites we came home with. I've never had to think about it before, but I guess packing a deck of cards might be a good idea, because being stuck in the tent staring at each other was not the highlight of the trip. After using an entire can of repellent, we did manage to escape the tent and have some fun. Izzy found a hill nearby that she used as a slippery slide, which officially made her the dirtiest camper. We made tinfoil dinners with hamburger and fresh potatoes, carrots, and sweet onions from my mom and dad's garden. Pretty much the best meal ever. Even Dylan, the world's pickiest eater, ate everything on his plate.
As we were falling asleep, we listened to thunder, which is one of my favorite things. I love how it echos in the mountains.
The morning brought more mosquitos and deer flies, so we ended up packing up our stuff and heading out to find a spot to kayak. It was perfect timing, because while we were out on the lake, a storm started to roll in. It was so beautiful--this photo doesn't really do it justice. I think it was the way the air changed around us more than the way the sky looked. Kind of eerie and cool. It looks like I changed this photo to black and white, but I didn't. The color of everything just changed right in front of us. Here's a short video of Izzy taking me for a ride. I was impressed at her ability to get the kayak straightened out and move forward at a good pace. She loves it as much as I do, which is written all over her face at the end of the video. All in all, a good weekend. Itchy, but good.

Time Flies...

My cousin Kaysie posted a few pictures showing how her cute little girl has grown over the past three years. It made me start to think back to when my big kids weren't so big. Really! When did my quiet baby boy go from this...

to this?

And my little girl go from chubby and silly...

to all grown up?

Donut Falls

I can't think of anything better than getting up into the cool mountains on a hot summer day. Luke and I love hiking so much, and Izzy and Dylan love it even more than we do. I didn't think that was possible! We headed up to Donut Falls, which is not a hard hike by any means. It's only 3/4 mile from the trailhead to the falls, but such great fun when you get there.

Awww. We had to take a picture once I got to the top to prove I made it! Izzy made it about half way, but got a little nervous about finding good foot holds, so I ended up taking her down. It was slow and scary, but she was so happy to be off the rocks that she didn't even mind wading through the river to get back to the trail. She's such a trooper!

Dylan made it to the top--on Luke's back! There were people standing across the river, shaking their heads while watching Luke scale the rocks with Dylan's little arms around his neck. I think one mom in particular said it best: "I'd be pissed if that were my kid". I knew Luke had everything under control, but I'm not going to lie. My knees were shaking. Dylan was unphased by the whole thing, and just so excited to say he made it to the top. And yes, I realize his teeth are blue. I thought a slurpee on the way up the canyon would be a good idea. I guess not.

If you haven't been to Donut Falls, you really should go. I know I've said it before, but we are so spoiled here in Utah. I look at Mt. Olympus every morning and just can't believe how lucky we are to live minutes from spectacular canyons, world renowned ski resorts--places people travel from all over the world to see. Spoiled. That's all there is to it.

Tagged

Eight things I did yesterday...
pitted cherries
slept in
went to a parade
ate great food at Fred and Kelly's
hung out with the Robbins
lit fireworks
watched Cooper and Camden impersonate Michael Jackson
went for a bikeride

Eight favorite shows...
Intervention
Without a Trace
Cold Case
Big Love
So You Think You Can Dance
The Next Food Network Star
The Amazing Race
Does public radio count?

Eight favorite eats...
Red Mango
Diet Coke
Steak
A little mexican place I don't know the name of
Bacon
Costa Vida
Fruit in general-watermelon the most
Any vegetable picked fresh from the garden

Eight things I am looking forward to...
Going to the kid's Home Depot class in the morning
Grilling steaks for dinner
Fireworks and sparklers
Izzy going to the Jonas Brother's concert--rock on!
Relaxing
Spending time with great friends
Cooking/baking
paychecks?

Eight things on my wish list...
Pay off my car,fix my car,or maybe just get a new car
Be a better friend
Teach my children to be good, confident people
Make a difference in someone's life
A vacation
Lots of money
Get a fence around our yard
My garden to do really well

Eight things I am thankful for...
God
Luke
Isabelle
Dylan
Ozzy,as well as any other pets buried in our backyard :)
My family
Luke's family
Good friends--we have the best around by far!

Eight people I tag...
Anyone who wants to be tagged!

Summer Hair

Izzy donated 10 inches of hair to Locks of Love today. What a great excuse for a darling summer haircut!

I Scream, You Scream...

We all scream for ice cream!
We just did a really fun project, and it worked so well I thought I'd share the recipe. Everyone gets to make their own ice cream--you could get pretty creative, I'm sure. We just stuck to regular old chocolate and vanilla, but it was really good! We'll make it again for sure.

1/2 C milk
1 T sugar
1/4 tsp vanilla (or other flavoring of choice)
Add whatever you'd like: strawberry jam, chocolate or caramel syrup, raspberries, mini chocolate chips, etc.

Place all ingedients into a pint size freezer bag and seal well.

Fill a gallon size freezer bag half way with ice and 6 T of rock salt.

Place the pint size bag into the gallon size bag and seal tight.

Place in a sweatshirt or towel and shake, shake, shake!

It will turn into ice cream in about 3-5 minutes.

Get a spoon and eat it right out of the bag. Too much fun!