"This is a good day!"

Thanksgiving Point is doing a month long thing where all the venues are two dollars every Tuesday. I was motivated by the prices to go to the Children's Garden on Tuesday, not thinking at all that the rest of the state heard about the promotion. It was packed. I'm not one for crowds or traffic, but the kids didn't seem to notice or mind at all.
After playing where's waldo with them by Noah's Arc we explored the gardens. Taj and Bennett could've played in the bear tunnel all day, but there was so much more to see like the huge caterpillar, the stage, the climbing area, and the waterfall. I would have taken more pictures but I thought my sweat level was too high for my camera-ha ha. Taj told me, "this is a good day." The crowd didn't seem so bad after that.

That evening we had our first backyard camp out. We roasted hot dogs and marshmallows in the oven and bathed in the lake and waterfall, then hiked to our campgrounds. It was a fun game of pretend. The boys stayed out there all night. We found out that Taj is a snorer, and also that he is a great little camper.

"Party On Wayne"

It's been one crazy week. I agreed to host two parties this week in addition to it being Micah's birthday and our 6 year anniversary tomorrow. Oh, and I have two kids. What was I thinking?

Amazingly, everything turned out splendidly. I knew the craziness I was in for and planned ahead (which is so not like me). I did yard work the week ahead, made lists of things to get at the store for the parties, planned cleaning times without kids around, made decorations a few at a time and food that could wait in the fridge for a couple days. It was pretty smooth sailing. Even with all the planning I was still all nervous inside and anxious. I think it stems from the boy/girl party I planned with my best friend Sara Chase in eight grade. It was an awkward mess filled with bad mixed tapes and chips. Ugh. I'm glad these events went well AND they are over for a long while. Now I can look forward to tomorrow- the 6 year anniversary of when Micah and I got hitched.

These are a few of the pictures from our wedding invitation photo shoot. I was looking through these old pictures and am shocked how young we look and are. Why didn't anyone tell us? My theory is that either people did and we didn't hear it or people knew what a good match we were.

After six years I'm amazed by a few things: how young we still look, how in love we still are, and how easy and wonderful marriage is. I didn't know what I was in for when I said "Yes". I am grateful everyday for Micah choosing me over and over and making me feel so special. I'm not saying that I have the best husband/marriage or whatever, I'm saying that I'm grateful to have the best husband for me. He gets me. And that feels really nice.

Best Play dough EVER!

I was raised on homemade play dough. When the dough got hard and crusty my Mom would whip out new stuff in minutes-no recipe. I remember her telling me to wait until it cooled down and loving how soft and warm it was at first. It's a great memory for me, but growing up with homemade play dough also made the store bought stuff seem like such a luxury.

When Taj got some store bought I played with it and loved how I didn't have the salty residue on my hands after. It was so vibrant and almost as luxurious as I imagined it to be. As the name brand stuff got old and crusty, just like my Mom's always did, I started to think how great the homemade stuff was and tried to make it. It was warm and fun and felt like I was making memories. The play dough, however, wasn't as nice as the store bought and left that salty residue. Then came the ultimate amazing Kool Aid Play dough recipe! My cousin Natalie is craftiness and cleverness and everything else a Mom should be. She opened my world to this delicious smelling and feeling home made play dough that is incomparable to anything play dough. It's amazing.

The Recipe:

2 1/2 Cups Flour

1/2 Cup Salt

1 TBSP Alum (find it near spices)

2 Cups Boiling Water

3 Small Packages UNSWEETENED Kool Aid

3 TBSP Cooking Oil

• Mix dry ingredients
• Add oil and water
• Stir quickly. When cool, mix with hands
• Store in Ziploc baggies
• Will keep for months

Don't seal the bags until it's totally cooled down or you'll end up with a gooey mess (I realized that the dummy way where you make some for a couple friends and bet they are laughing at you now :))

You really won't believe it. It's amazing and smells soooooo good. Enjoy!

Little Guppies

Taj and Eden just finished their swim classes for the summer. Taj graduated from level one and Eden did a great job in Parent/Tot. We've done the classes every summer since we moved here to Utah and Taj was almost a year old. It's kind of a summer tradition now. What's so great is that the classes are everyday for a two week session, and while it's a commitment to get there everyday I can really see an improvement in their water awareness, skills, and willingness to try new things at the end of it. They loved getting certificates and going down the big slide on the last day. I'm tempted to do another session, but I think since the swimming weather is fleeting here we'll just play and explore the water while we can.

There were tons of sessions to chose from and I just so happened to chose one with Charlene Goo- another Laie Girl (in the non-gang sense). We had a great time catching up. At the end of the session she gave me her "Mommy Card." I've never heard of these, but it's brilliant. It's like a business card, and gives all the info: email, phone, blog, and the name of her kids. Clever, huh. She explained that it's easier to hand that to a mom than wait for them to find paper or their phone with the kids all around. I love it!

Life Is But A Dream

A few days after the Fourth Uncle Adrian drove for 12 long hours by himself to visit Micah and all his glory (the family). Micah and Adrian have been best friends since 7th grade home ec. As the story goes they were wearing the same "NO FEAR" shirt that said "Second Place is Just the First Loser." It was meant to be.

We loved having him here. He had Eden at hello and Taj at original transformer cartoons on DVD. We did what anyone in Utah would do to show him a good time.

Hike to Battle Creek Falls:

Rafted the Provo River:

Roasted Hot Dogs and Marshmallows in the Canyon:

And had to say goodbye:

Thanks for the visit. We'll miss you.

Nature's Candy

I'm not a gardener by a long shot, but the little sprouts we planted and have been caring for are kicking some harvesting butt! We have huge zucchini, poky little pickling cucumbers, three large pumpkins (one of which is already turning orange, which seems odd to me) and the red cherry tomatoes of Edens dreams.

The goats have been kind enough to only eat half our apricot tree still leaving us more than we really need. All this fabulous garden fresh produce makes me think Mother Nature is trying to make up for such a long crappy winter. I think it might be working a little. With all this zucchini I had to find someplace to put it. It's gone into butter and garlic, pasta salad, smoothies, and our new favorite- zucchini bread. It's called zucchini cake around here and treated as a cake would be: devoured! Yum.

Time Flies...

...or else I'm just really lazy. Maybe a little of both. So here's a little catch up:

We did some minor celebrating on the fourth of July with a parade and some fire works- in our backyard that is. The other real fire works are at ten at night. That's late o clock around here.
After some begging and me saying "Maybe tomorrow" a lot I finally packed up the kids and went off to the Zoo! We had a great time, just don't mention the train around the kids. There's a train at the Zoo that we were going to ride at the end. The kids happily agreed to the plan and Taj took to the map and found our route to see all the animals and get back to the train. As we rounded the elephant cage near the end a little drizzle came down. It felt really nice, but meant that they wouldn't be running the train until the tracks dried. The kids took it well, but now we have to go back to the Zoo to ride the train. The thought exhausts me. Stupid drizzle.

My Sunshine Benches!

I found these benches at an antique store I had no interest in ever visiting. I pass the place every time I go to Costco. It's a huge old barn with tons of antique junk. Sorry my antique rummaging friends, but it's truly full of junk. The place gives me the creeps. I passed by and saw these out front and pined for them. I told Micah about them and I think he could see in my eyes that I really loved the Sunshine benches. He sweetly took me there and let me haggle for them, then kindly restored them for me. He had some help along the way. Being Sunshine benches we had to paint them yellow. The cushions are over achievers, but we love them and think they work well together. My talented husband is looking for more projects cuz apparently I'm not keeping him busy enough :). Check out his blog http://thecustomartproject.blogspot.com and if you have any project ideas contact him. He loves creating and is very good at it. I hate to see such talent go to waste so use him.

Taj and Eden - isms

We've created some rascals. Real characters lately.
"Mom, you say: Where did this blue rock come from?" While he's telling me this he's curled up under a blue towel. Once I say the line he stands up and sings, "Transformer. More than meets the eye." Imagine this awesome game ALL DAY LONG. Huh, boy. :)
While driving home from Nana's house Taj says to Eden, "You're so cute. I just want to hug you." We stopped the car and let him. Sweetnesses.














After telling Eden that it was time for dinner, not treats and her getting mad Taj softly tells her that we have to eat a good dinner before we get a treat. She says, "Oh. Yeah." as if that was obvious and she was never mad. Thanks to the best big brother ever.
Going up to Taj's room to tell him that quiet time was over and finding him in a green hooded towel, old ski goggles and a fireman hat in a power stance of course.

For some classic Eden I'll start with: Popsickles Time! She titles every activity by following it with "Time". Trampoline Tiime! Slippers Time! Pool Time! Books Time!It's all so special when she sings it so sweetly like that.



















Ammon. He's our six year old neighbor. She says his name ALL DAY LONG. It's been a good three weeks or so. I personally don't get it. He's a cute little hawaiian boy, and he is very protective of her, but this isn't supposed to happen so young is it? I got really scared when she said, "Ammon. Temple." WHAT? Then I remembered his mom's name is Temple. I hope that's her connection. Here we go.



















She loves to sing "Jesus wants me for a Sunbeam" but only the beam part. She never misses a single one. She also loves "the Money on the bus goes Clink, Clink, Clink." Just that part. The other parts can't be tolerated. Such a funny girl.
She helps with every prayer. She'll repeat all the important parts like, "Food." "Bodies." "Happy." "Jesus." and throws her arms up to say "Amen." Prayers are very exciting.