loving...

Right now I'm loving....

 -watching the kids play outside until the sun sets. Last night it was Little House on the Prairie

-hearing them refer to me as "Ma" and Jake as "Pa" when playing the above

-watching the little big man play baseball, that little guy's got a good swing!

-eating fresh goods from our garden. Our cucumbers are going crazy and the zucchini and yellow squash are still going strong, and tons of tomatoes turning red. Last night everything we had for dinner was fresh from the garden. Yum

-this talk by Pres. Uchtdorf. I listened to it last night while I was doing the dishes. So so good. Such important things to remember.
-Dave Matthews band, I've previewed their new album many times and want to buy it. Good stuff
-naptime, 2 hours of bliss, with the other kids at school
-Gilmore girls, I've seen them all a couple of times, but now that we upgraded our dish package I can watch them again :)
-sleeping with our windows open
-cool, crisp mornings, fall is in the air
-that it's almost the weekend :)
 

11 years



At the U.S.S. Midway in San Diego, Oct. 2011

It's crazy to me that we've been married 11 years.
3 kids,
lots of years of school,
lots of moves,
lots of laughs and some tears,
lots of fabulous memories.
Happy Anniversary :)

31 mile Express Relay




A few weeks ago I ran with some friends in a relay race, 31 miles. We each had 2 legs of about 3 miles each. I really like the team aspect of the race, something I've never really done before. It was good times hanging out with these awesome ladies, waiting and cheering, and riding from checkpoint to checkpoint in poor Chelsie's car that we stunk up. :)   

  

A boy and his dad

A boy and his dad went to the Barber shop, both got haircuts,

both got a head massage,

 one got a lollipop,

and both look very handsome

Zucchini and cookies

Our zucchini plant has done a fabulous job this year, we have had oodles of zucchini. Today I grated and froze a bunch and I still had some left, so we made cookies. They were tasty and 2 out of the 3 kiddos thought so to, despite the "green sprinkles" (that's what I called them). This little cookies monster ate a few to many.

Zucchini Cookies

3 eggs

1/2 cup oil

1 cup sugar

1 cup brown sugar

1/2 cup applesauce

2 cups grated zucchini

3 tsp. vanilla

4 cups flour

1/2 tsp. baking powder

1 tsp. cinnamon

1 tsp. baking soda

1 tsp. salt

1-1 1/2 cup chocolate chips

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Beat eggs well and then add oil, sugars, applesauce, vanilla and zucchini. Mix well. Add dry ingredients and mix well again. Stir in chocolate chips. Bake for 10-12 minutes.

Today I used whole wheat flour and 2/3 cup agave instead of the white sugar to "healthify" them a bit.

A day at the lake

One last trip to the lake, Quail lake before the summer is over.

Mckay spashing Tembi

Little Tembi loving the water

Jake, Hallie and Mckay on the tube

Tembi loving the mud



The Book Thief

 The best book I've read in awhile. I cried during the last 50 pages. It's the amazing story of a girl growing up in Germany during WW2 told from the perspcective of death. It's so well written and such a good read.