Sun dried tomatoes

Or, more appropriately named, dehydrator dried tomatoes.

If you want your tomatoes to keep their color, use some fruit fresh. It works wonders.

Mmmmmm. Perfect on salads. I also found a great recipe for a creamy sun dried tomato sauce, tried and tested and we love it!

And another one bites the dust...

Literally. This is what happens when you go mountain biking with my husband. Judd's older brother Justin went biking with him the other day and this is how he looked after... Well, this is how he looked after he was cleaned up. It would have been a more comical picture if I took it before he had a chance to clean off all the mud and blood.

Further evidence.

I look OK, but I broke a rib with this one.

Word to the wise: Don't try to keep up with Judd.


Island Birthday & Cake

We did an "island themed" birthday party for Kennedy (She is THREE!!!) on Saturday. I didn't take a whole lot of pictures, but I managed to get a few.

I tried making a hula girl out of gum paste to sit on the island, but she looked more around 80 years old rather than 3, so I scrapped that idea and made a pineapple, beach towel, star fish, and a beach ball to sit on top. I love the sharks :)



I am THE best at taking pictures where very few people are actually looking at the camera.

Justin, Nathan, Ereita, Abbie, Chloe, Colette and Brent. Travis is hiding in the background.... And the only one looking? Ereita.  We had Cafe Rio style sweet pork burritos... Thanks Linda for the amazing recipes. Everyone loved it!



Opening presents. We got Kennedy a sleeping bag (which is what she asked for...  She really loves camping)



Most of the kids spent their time in the sandbox.

I wanted to get more pictures, and I'm sad that I didn't. We also did one of those fishing games where you throw the hook (clothes pin) over a sheet and get prizes.... I am pretty sure I had as much fun doing this as the kids did. :)

4 Years

Wow. I can't believe that it has been four years since we were married. Here's a little math for you just for fun (and fyi, click on the links... Judd read this and was so confused by the 2 adopted children comment):

2.8 children
+
2 adopted children
+
A few bike wrecks
+
Race + Race + Race + Race + Race + Many many more I didn't blog about :)
+
1 House??
+
Too many renovations to count.... Seriously.
+
Us
=

4 amazing years. I wouldn't change a thing.

First "official" camping trip

A few weeks ago our tire literally fell off of the land cruiser when we were on our way up Provo canyon to go camping. we hadn't traveled very far before Judd and I noticed a weird sound coming from the car and before we could react the back end of the cruiser dropped to the ground as we watched our left rear tire rolling down toward Deer Creek Reservoir. I'm pretty sure my heart dropped about as far as the back end of the car... We spent 5 hours looking for the tire (which was never to be found), putting a new tire on, jumping the cruiser (because on top of it all our alternator went out), and waiting for a tow truck (the guy got lost and took an hour to find us). It was a super hot day, and I was glad that we had a cooler full of ice/drinks/food to keep the kids happy. They were actually so patient and did really well. I wish I had taken pictures of the cruiser, but I didn't dare to since we barely made it to the side of the road to begin with and the end of the car was almost in the road.
The next night we spent the night "camping" in our back yard. We even did a dutch oven dinner and dessert.
After two weeks in the shop we got the car back and we decided to try our luck at another camping trip. I'm sure Judd was bugged with me because the whole way there I kept asking if the noises I was hearing were "normal"... Call me crazy, but I didn't feel like dealing with car problems again....

mmmmm dirt.



I took the kids on a hike so Judd could take a nap. He worked the night before and was really tired.



This is what Levi and Kennedy looked like for the majority of the trip. Covered in dirt. 



Roasting mallows

If you look closely, you'll see that they both have marshmallow on their faces. Priceless.

My boys "copping a squat"



I love this picture! They have so much fun with each other and get along so well.



In most of the pictures my kids are carrying around either a fork or spoon, or both. Don't ask me why, but they have a fetish with plastic utensils. I love this picture :)



 

So here are pictures from our first camping trip. The kids LOVED it! They spent most of their time digging in the dirt, we went on a hike, cooked some dutch oven, played some games, and Kennedy roasted her first marshmallow and had her very first smore. I would call it a success.

Graduation cake...?

OK, so this is not the best cake that I have ever made, and would be a perfect candidate for cake wrecks . I look at ideas online and always think to myself "that looks so easy"... Not the case. My brother Andrew graduated from BYU last weekend and we had a little celebration for him. He is a wild land firefighter, which explains the shovel, the fire hose (HA!!! Didn't look like one at all), and the outfit (They must have been going through budget cuts because his uniform looks extra stupid.) Anyway, he did an internship at a crisis call center so I thought I would throw a phone and some books on there as well. The fondant was really soft so he ended up with a hunch back and a slouchy face when it started to settle. It definitely tasted better than it looked. I did a milk chocolate cake with cream cheese icing and raspberry filling. ... Long story short I am signing up for some cake decorating lessons.

Seats at the Marriott Center. Thought it was a cool picture.

Kennedy checking out the funky hat.



Paige, Jameson, Andrew, the kids and I. I am 33 weeks pregnant in this picture... I don't realize how pointy my belly is until I see it in pictures.



Grandpa and Levi. Dad drove down from Montana on a few hours notice to be there, now that's love :)

What the heck is that on your head?!