Conference Weekend!

Amazing as usual. This year was especially exciting because we were able to attend the Saturday morning session in Salt Lake City. This was the 1st time Damon was old enough to go and he was so excited. Never mind the fact that we had to get up from our seats, in the middle of a very long row, twice in the 2 1\2 hours that we were there so he could go to the bathroom. It was still awesome.

I'm amazed by Temple Square. It's always so beautiful. Damon was sad to leave. He said he wants to live in Salt Lake.

But the time came to go home. On our way we stopped at a new favorite burger and frozen custard shop. I think it was exit 319 and we will definitely be stopping again.

Sunday we relaxed at home while we watched the rest of Conference on T.V.

Damon broke out the watercolors and Ryan and I joined him in making a little book.

This is my favorite page. Not only because I think it looks super cool, but because Damon was inspired by the amazing talk on the Book Of Mormon, by Tad R. Callister . If you missed it check it out. I'm not sure which talk is my favorite because I loved so many. But I do know, I can't wait for the November Ensign so I can re-read, and highlight, and mark all of them. We had such a great weekend and we all felt a special spirit being in the presence of such incredible men and women.

P.S. Please don't forget to let me know your favorite Christmas Party memory or idea. I know more of you have read this than have let me know. Remember, I need your help!

A "praying" Praying Mantis

It's obvious why it's called a Praying Mantis, but today I saw one with arms folded, forhead to the ground, deep in supplication. I have seen so many this year. Probably because Damon goes "hunting" for them in the field behind our house, which might be because Tyler is found hunting a lot right now, as well. But, I think it is more to do with the fact that his teacher lets the kids show them to the class. "Not Grasshopers, just Praying Mantises." His words, not mine. Which makes me wonder; Praying Mantises or Praying Manti?....

Anyway, because the kids show them in class Damon comes home with all kinds of facts. The cute workings of a 3rd graders mind. Much more realistic and much less imaginative. Which brings about lots of fun conversations. A little sad to say goodbye to the fun imagination, especially since I don't have anyone else to play Santa for. Which reminds me, I am incharge of our ward Christmas Party this year and it is always quite the event. I am pretty intimidated by the hundreds of people to entertain and feed. So, I am asking a favor.

Please, please leave a comment telling me your favorite thing about a Christmas Party you have been to or any ideas you have. Just tell me anything that has made an activity like this special for you. Please, please, please!

Puppy Baby!

After poor Terk died last October we have been contemplating a new puppy.

A girl this time.

Damon LOVES her.

She still doesn't have a name and we have had her since Friday! I know, too long!We have got to start some obedience training, and that is hard to do without a name. We just haven't come up with anything yet. Doesn't mean we don't love her though.

My Little Cub Scout

I can't believe my little buddy is a cub scout. One of his first activities was a Boat Regatta Gala. It was the day I got home from Ohio so thankfully he and Tyler worked on it while I was gone.


Since he is now a scout we got to participate in Scout Night at the baseball field. So I brought Ryan and Taylor along for the ride.

Taylor chased down this foul ball near the end of the game and then we all went out on the field. The boys ran around playing with the frisbees and balls they won during the game while the adults set up the camping gear. I can't believe I forgot to take a picture of the whole outfield covered in tents. It was pretty sweet!

Now we are getting ready for bed on this last day of summer vacation. I can't believe tomorrow is the first day of 3rd grade. Tonight Amanda asked me if I was going to cry and all I could say is, "I always do."

The Buckeye State (After searching the web I now know what that means)

Look who I got to spend a whole week with.
Elise did a much better job than I could at summarizing my favorite parts.


Mostly the amazing company!

I had a great time. And, I realized, yet again, that anywhere is better if you're with people you love. I mean no offense to the state of Ohio when I say this. It was so green and beautiful, and I really didn't love coming back to the super dry heat.

Leaving Ohio was bitter-sweet, but only because these two didn't come with me. I was so excited to see their faces and hear their voices again. Next time they are coming with me. (This pic is on Father's Day. Tyler modeling the bow tie Damon made out of M&M's.)

Thank you Elise, Brady, Mylee, and Mercer for having me. It was the best.

Fishy, fishy!

Something we have been doing quite a bit lately.

I did my best to catch this fish without actually touching it. I thought I should for the picture.

This would be even sweeter if Damon was reeling in a great big fish. Maybe I'll photoshop one on there. Ellie is so helpful.

Ramekins

I hosted Bunco a couple of months ago and one of the prizes I picked where little souffle ramekins. A few people had never used them before so I got a couple recipes together for them. Thought I would post them here, too.

The first is Molten Lava Cake. I don't have a picture, but that is probably because I am too excited to eat these that I don't take the time to get one. They are so yummy and I make them a lot. The recipe suggests making them in muffin tins which works well if you are serving a larger group of people, but I like to make them in ramekins. They are so much bigger. ;)

I also like Chocolate Souffle and I think this is a good recipe. I have heard that you should brush the butter up the sides to encourage the cake to rise better while baking.


And then here is one that Damon has been begging me to make. Really easy and fast Chicken Pot Pies. I also like it because it eliminates a lot of the crust. I like to save my fat and calories for dessert. If this was a berry pie I would say the more butter the better.

Here is what I do. Cube some potatoes and boil them with mixed veggies. At the same time in another pan I saute onion and seasoned chicken in a little olive oil. When the chicken is done I make a simple gravy and drain the veggies. Then mix everything together and fill the cups. Top with a round of pie crust and bake at 415 until the crust starts turning brown. This is also great for summer because you don't have to have the oven on for very long heating up your kitchen. Damon loves having his own little personal pie.

Also, if you like fabric napkins, like us, you might like this idea. I got an e-mail about them this morning and it came at a perfect time. Tyler had just filled a bag for the D.I. and there were a few shirts in there I'm excited to use.

Have you ever...

Damon certainly has a mind of his own. He is very inventive and is always wanting to make something. We are in the process of building a play house in the back yard, and every day he tells me what new thing he wants to make in his "work shop, that's what I'm going to call my play house." He is also VERY stubborn! The combination of these 2 traits means that he has either made me so mad I don't know what to do next, or I am so happy to just be with him that I want nothing more. Like when he taught me how to write with a stick on leaves. Never mind that we had a notebook and pen within arms reach. He thought it was so much fun to create his own idea. I loved playing along.

Everyday he amazes me. Sometimes by how stubborn he can be, but always by how much I just can't get enough of him.

Update: After reading this over today I thought I should probably say that Damon & I are happy with each other most of the time. He just argues about everything and it drives me crazy, but the other day I found out he doesn't mind it all that much. Here's what happened. I was explaining something to him, which he had to argue about. He would not let it go so I just left the room. He promptly followed me and said, "We were arguing?" Then after a pause he said, "like 'you were saying' only we were arguing, where were we?" I was a little shocked and said I didn't want to talk about it anymore and he said he did. What? He was enjoying the arguing which was making me mad. One thing I always try to remember when a child has a trait that is a little difficult to deal with. As an adult it will probably serve them well. As long as they can learn to appropriately use it. That's part of what growing up is all about. Right?

Brace yourself, it's a long one!

Together with Tyler's family we rented a cabin by the lake for a few days of fun!


Fun at the pool!

While we were there we had a picture scavenger hunt and I couldn't pass up a picture of Gavin in these floaty wings for my "something hot pink."


We had fun riding the lake trail on these multi-passenger bikes.


Here's Brock in my "picture of a flower."


The lake was great, as always!


Andy tried, unsuccesfully, to keep Alivia from eating sand and just ended up knocking her down. It didn't seem to bother her too much.


Here is Tyler's "picture of someone you don't know." Notice his hand tightly clutching a bag of chocolate covered raspberries.


They are amazing and my "picture of something I love (excluding people.)"


Also on our trip we ordered "Famous Raspberry Shakes."


We ate "Famous Raspberry Shakes."


Andy watched us eat "Famous Raspberry Shakes."


The kids bounced.


Ellie gave it her best shot at blowing up an air mattress, with absolutely no luck at all.



As the weekend wrapped up we had to be a little more inventive with our pictures. Like this one which fullfilled the requirement, "picture with a wild animal," and


this one, "something we're afraid of."

I don't think anyone was more creative than Kaleb. The end of our trip happend so suddenly that we never took an official count, but I am pretty sure he won!

It was a little bit hard to say goodbye to the amazing views,

and our cute cabin (especially since there was a missing wedding ring on the loose, which has since been returned to it's rightful owner, whew.)

But, we went straight to the blessing of baby Maddox, which made it a lot easier to do.

We had a great time. Hope everyone else did, too!