Random

We have been busy around here lately and thanks to Alan's new phone, we haven't missed out on the picture moments!  First, we finally got back Jacob's school pictures.  He was horrified by them and didn't want to get them at all.  But, everyone needs to have at least one picture of themselves where you knew they forgot they had school pictures that day!  He doesn't look bad, just in the throws of the middle years and a little tired!

 

Next we move on and it is Mother's Day.  This year was lovely I must say!  We had a great day out at the Garden Fair in West Jordan.  It was a free Mother's Day event designed to promote organic gardening and sustainable landscapes.  It was really fun.  The weather was wonderful and the kids had so much fun playing on the climbing wall.  Sarah and I attended a mini class on herbs and how to grow them and we enjoyed the musician that was playing too.  Alan got some great video of the bass player and percussionist jamming and we can't get it to download to the computer.  If I ever figure it out I'll post it.  

We celebrated Alan's birthday too-he turned 40- and because I was in charge we have no pictures of that.  The kids and I had a great time decorating the house for him.  We hung balloons everywhere and streamers.  Alan likes ice cream more than cake so I made some killer homemade chocolate ice cream.  I am putting the recipe on my other blog- www.expandingfrosting.blogspot.com .  Check it out!  

 

Here are the kids on the climbing wall.  They must have done it 20 times.  When they got to the top they could hit a buzzer that sounded like a siren.  It was a fun day.  We love little festivals.  There was a honey vendor there that had the most amazing local honey.  I got a corn kernel remover instead.  It is corn season and we still have kids with loose teeth.  Removing the kernels from the corn is essential. 

Daniel and Alan were supposed to go on a camp out Friday.  However, the weather was slightly unstable and Alan couldn't get off work in time to go.  So, the camp out was canceled and the scouts went fishing the next day instead.  

 

Daniel caught one fish but had no intentions of bringing home and possibly having to eat it.  So he gave it to his friend that was catching many fish with his fishing expert dad.  Daniel had to get the rhythm of fishing and apparently after putting on sunscreen, his hands were a bit greasy.  So the first cast into the lake he ended up throwing the entire pole into the water!   Alan said they couldn't stop laughing.  

He found some craw daddies too but they couldn't get them out of the water.  The boys will have their next adventure this coming weekend when they go on the father's and son's camp out.  It may rain so they could be in for more adventure than they really want.  

Jacob played in his last orchestra performance for the year.  They sound like they have improved so much this year.  He is officially in the intermediate orchestra next year and excited to not have to haul his cello to school anymore this school year.  When Alan came home from work on his birthday, Jacob met him at the door playing happy birthday on his cello.  It was fun!  

Wednesday, if the weather cooperates, we are planting a salsa garden out front.  I have cleared away the grass on either side of our driveway so that I can attempt to grow some things there.  Gardening has become very challenging for me here and I hope my efforts pay off.  One side is an herb garden and the other will be the salsa garden.  I have blueberries and of course the apple and plum trees.  We have strawberries and chives in the front planter and if I have my way, one of our huge sycamore trees will come down sometime this year. 

High School

Does anyone else get the onslaught of alumni crap from their high school like I get from mine?  There are always teasers that say, "look who has joined us now, don't you want to register too so you can get back in touch?"  My high school was the size of a community college.  I think their were close to 1000 students in my graduating class.  I attended school for the first period in the morning and then left to work the rest of the day.  I think I knew 5 people, I barely keep in touch with one of them.  High school was a long time ago for me and not the "best" years of my life.  Don't get me wrong, it was pleasant enough, but I knew much better experiences were on the horizon for me and really didn't feel the need to make it my only crop of memories to desperately cling to the rest of my life. 
I moved so much as a kid, you would either think we were running from the law or my dad was in the military.  I am happy to report he was in the military.  The experience of moving a lot as a child has helped me to enjoy where ever I am and whomever I am around.  There just isn't time to cling to things when they will be gone soon.  So I was always looking forward to the next location and the next group of friends I would make.  I married someone like me too so we are pretty good about just having people over and getting to know them.  Who doesn't love a BBQ or a free meal?  I love making the meal too so it all works out! 
Switching gears a bit, I made a spinach artichoke dip last night that was out of this world!  I love cooking from scratch.  It is so much better.  I marinated the hearts myself in a broth that consisted of a head of garlic, a lime cut up, fresh parsley, salt and peppercorns and then used the broth left over to cook some navy beans in for dinner.  They were yummy!   Food is awesome.  I love making food that in years past we would have paid for at a restaurant.  I don't even like restaurant food now.  It just tastes yucky!  There is nothing like cooking something from scratch, free of all of the nasty things that end up in our foods now days. 

Robert and Jenna Baby Blessing

 Robert and Jenna Carpenter invited us down to their ward on Sunday to be part of blessing their new little boy, Damon Robert Carpenter.  It was such a wonderful day!  They had a lunch at their house afterwards and the kids couldn't get enough of their cousins!  We all decided we really need to get together more often than we do.  Life gets busy and it gets hard but I think we are all making a better effort.
Sarah was pretty excited to get to hold the little guy.  He is not much bigger than her baby doll at home.  She did a great job holding him and didn't get tired of it at all.
Damon looks like I remember Robert looking as a baby!  And he has a little crop of curls just on the top of his head.  Babies are fun!  Especially when they are someone else's.