Adventures

For the anniversary of Sept. 11, Sandy put up a "healing field". Basically they put out one flag for every person that died on Sept. 11. It was pretty amazing to see and walk through. Each flag had a piece of paper on it that had the name and story of a specific person. It was really amazing.
This is just one side of the field that holds the flags.

This is the new memorial that the city built for the anniversary.

The Utah State Fair came to town, and we all went. We have gone the last few years, but this year K, C, and J were able to go with us. It was really alot of fun to see all the booths, animals, food vendors, and rides. J was a little apprehensive about all the people at first, but after the crowds died down a bit he had a good time. Here he is with a bag of popcorn that was as big as him.

We usually try to get some kind of fun treat at the fair. K and C got "healthy fried fresh fruit" for us to share. Healthy and fried...right....It was strawberries and pineapple that they coated in batter and fried, then drizzled with chocolate sauce. It was tasty but probably not health. The other treat we tried was the funnel cake. Those are always a good choice! Here we are with the funnel cake with strawberries. Pretty tasty!

I got a large bag full of peaches and decided to make fruit leather with them. The first batch I added too much water to and it never dried out. For the second batch I used a different recipe, but over baked it and it turned to brittle. It wasn't so tasty.

I had enough peaches left to make one final batch, using the 2nd recipe just baking it a little less. Thankfully that one turned out! I was just bummed that out of a large bag of peaches I only got one pan worth of edible leather....guess I am going to the store to get more peaches this week!

Catching Up

Its been a while, but I was having technical difficulties downloading pictures. But I am back in the game so here we go! These pictures are all from the last couple weeks before school started again for me. I spent some time up with K, C, and J just playing, babysitting, and having fun. One night, J pulled out the Church Stories and wanted to read them with me.

Apparently, J has not been liking the bath lately. Well, that's just because I wasn't around! Look at how much fun we had!

That same night, I made stromboli for dinner. Turned out pretty good looking, huh? It was pretty delish!

Tuesdays in August, Thanksgiving Point does $2 Tuesdays where they offer admission to a few of their venues for $2. They have some gardens that I went to, which were AMAZING. HUGE gardens, they were amazing! These were just a tiny tiny sample of what they had to wander through and see. I loved them!

I was wanting a treat one night and found this recipe for ice cream using only frozen bananas. I was a little skeptical at first, thinking it wouldn't turn that same texture as ice cream. I will admit I was pleasantly surprised by the outcome! It was smooth and creamy like ice cream, and tasted so good!

My dear friend K had a baby the middle of August and I decided to make a quilt for her and the baby. It took me way longer than it should have. IT wasn't a hard project at all, I was just slow in doing it. Overall I think the quilt turned out really cute. Little jungle animals all over the front. It went over pretty well too I think.

That catches me up through...now basically. School started 3 weeks ago, and its been tricky getting back into the swing of things. The only problem I am having is trying to make myself to go bed at a decent "school day" hour. Its still a work in progress. Its amazing how much less stressed I am this year than I was last year at this time, its amazing! So much more enjoyable. Kids start coming next week to see me, let it begin. Hopefully things stay as calm as they are now!

Buttons, beans, and dough

Had a fun day spent in Salt Lake today. First off...cookie decorating!! P's mom enlisted us to help decorate 100+ cookies for some activity. We decided to make cookies that were decorated to look like a button. They didn't turn out quite like the picture we went off of, but they turned out pretty good nonetheless. Here was our assembly line...

These are the final product cookies. They took us about...3 hours to finish them all. Kinda cute, yeah?

After cookie decorating, we were quite hungry. There is a place in SLC called Mo' Bettah Steaks. They serve authentic hawaiian food. So we decided to try it out. The pulled pork was pretty good, as was the chicken. I wasn't a huge fan of the steak, but others liked it. The kicker was dessert - an authentic hawaiian snow-cone. This was the real deal, with the GOOD shaved ice (no big ice crystals). In Hawaii they have this tradition of putting Azuki beans in the bottom of the cup in shaved ice. We decided to try it out, since this was an authentic hawaiian resturant. Here C and I are, eating the beans.

In my opinion, the beans weren't gross. They were sweet just like the snow cone juice. BUT...they were just kinda weird. Out of place. Don't think I will be needing to get Azuki beans in my snowcone any more! They did have an option to have your snow cone "snow capped"....with sweetened condensed milk poured over the top. I know what I am doing next time!


I wanted a little treat tonight, but nothing big. Just something sweet. K found a recipe for a single serving cookie dough recipe that makes just a little bit of dough. You don't bake it, just eat it. Its eggless, don't worry. Turned out pretty good I think!! Makes a good amount to just eat, since I almost am more of a fan of dough than I am of the cooked product. It was a fun, quick treat!

Baseball and Birds

This weekend was Pioneer Day weekend, and I decided to go to the Orem Owlz baseball game. It was really a fun game. It was quite hot when we got there, but the sun went down quickly and it was really nice the entire night.

This was our view of the field. We sat in the 5th row up, and could see really well. The stadium filled up pretty good, and it was fun to go and see. I am not a huge baseball fan, but something about being at the actual game makes it so much more fun!! The Owlz ended up loosing 17-7...but nevertheless it was fun to be there!

After the game, because of the holiday weekend, they shot off fireworks. It was so much fun to see!! You are seriously about 500 yards from where they were shooting them off from. They are right in your face!! I love fireworks, and must admit thats part of the reason I wanted to go to this particular game, for the fireworks afterwords!

A's birthday was last week and so I had to hold a late birthday party. Chicken enchiladas, presents, and these fun things...homemade of course....

Angry bird cupcakes!! I love them! I think they turned out pretty darn good, don't you think? I had been searching and searching for a cool angry birds cake to make, and found these that seemed pretty simple. They were, too! I am so happy with how they turned out, and they were a bit hit. Yay for angry birds!

Added to the wardrobe

This is the latest piece added to my wardrobe. Cute shoes, don't ya think? I love them! I saw them at the store a while ago and just never got up the courage to get them. They come in different colors (yellow-which I loved, pink, teal, and white) but I just decided I would wear the black with more things than the yellow. I was debating all day yesterday whether or not I should just get them. Finally just decided to do it, and I love them!

They are definitely a fun little twist, very not "me", but they are great! So cute!

Pretty AND Delish!

Happy day after the 4th of July!! I always try to make some yummy food on the 4th of July. This year it was pulled pork sandwiches, corn on the cob, deviled eggs, and this baby....

...fruit pizza! So delish! I sometimes get nervous trying to decorate fruit pizzas, but I just started layering fruit and it just kinda worked! It is pretty and yummy. I might have had some for breakfast...

I love the 4th of July! I love fireworks, I love playing games with friends and family, I love eating fun food!

A taste of bread

Decided to make bread from scratch yesterday. I am always amazed each time I make bread how easy it is, and wonder why I don't do it more often. It did take 3 hours from start to finish...maybe that's why. Anyway, it was delish!

This batch was honey whole wheat. Turned out really great. Not heavy, very fluffy! The honey gives it a nice sweet taste without being overly sweet. I am excited to make it again!