Summer Succotash

Okay, every once in awhile I get in a "chef" mood and feel like posting pics of our dinners. I wanted to capture this one because it was just so dang good! I'm a big fan of succotash (zucchini, corn, lima beans) because it tastes like Fall. Tonight I made an "expanded" version of succotash and added lots of produce I had on hand (thanks, Ben and Jen!) So I guess technically it's not succotash anymore, maybe a goulash of some sort, but whatever you call it, it's good!! Potatoes, onions, tomatoes, zucchini, summer squash, lima beans, corn, green peppers, and a dash of Chicken Seasoning (don't worry, my fellow vegetarians - there's no chicken in it - just spices that taste a little like Cajun seasoning). Mmmmm. Late summer/early fall is the best time for cooking!

Time Out

We've been so busy the last couple of weeks with camping, a day at Lagoon, 2 birthday parties, and we're currently in the middle of a 5-day family reunion (I'll do a post on that later.) We've been staying up late, getting up early, and just going, going, going all day. The girls and I decided to take a break from all the activities today and catch up/relax so we can be ready for a full day of activity tomorrow! When I glanced at the clock at 2:00 this afternoon and realized the house was still messy with cupcake crumbs and greasy fingerprinted windows from yesterday, my first thought was to bark a reminder to the girls to please stop goofing around and clean up your messes, for crying out loud! But before I began barking, I stopped to listen. All 3 girls were playing with Makenna and Kasidee's birthday gifts. They had set up a My Little Pony town and were having a blast playing together. "Hi! My name is Rainbow Pony. Do you want to come out and play? We're having a tea party!" "Oh, that would be lovely! It's nice to meet you - my name is Sparkles Pony." "Isn't it a beautiful day out? What a wonderful day for friends!"

Hmmm.... I stood there at the kitchen sink, hands still dripping with sudsy water as tears filled my eyes. I cried and sniffed silently, so the girls wouldn't hear me, but my shoulders shook as I realized how precious this time is. Don't you wish you could just stop time for a moment and hold onto it forever? I had been so preoccupied with straightening up the house and putting away birthday party/gift messes that I almost missed and messed up a tender moment between sisters. I love, love, love having all of my girls home with me. I want to relish these last days before school starts and schedules begin and they are gone....

Camping

Last weekend we went camping! We haven't been for two years and have really missed it - last winter I started almost craving it!! We joined the Johnson family up at Sheep Creek Lake near Flaming Gorge. My uncle and aunt go up every year and invite the family to join them. It's so fun to get away, enjoy nature, and relax with family.

Amid all the relaxing (reading, naps, etc.) we stayed busy:

ENJOYING NATURE


PLAYING IN THE LAKE (My cousin Ben "dared" the kids to dunk their heads in the water - if they did, he bought them a candy bar)




GOING FISHING (the girls were horrified to discover that the fish get holes in their mouths from the fishing line, but they still had fun - they assumed that the fish would be thrown back into the lake, and we didn't tell them otherwise!)



SHOOTING BB GUNS (Kiera joined the boys for hours - she even nailed a bottle cap!)


GEOCACHING (We only found 1 of the 3 we attempted, and there wasn't really even a treasure, but it was still fun)


VISITING THE NEARBY RED CANYON LODGE, FEEDING THE DUCKS AND FISH, CHECKING OUT A FLAMING GORGE OVERLOOK, AND HAVING DINNER AT THE RESTAURANT



LAUNCHING WATER BOTTLE ROCKETS


QUICK, IT'S A GAME - CAN YOU SPOT THE POP BOTTLE IN THE TREE?


SITTING AROUND THE CAMPFIRE, TELLING STORIES, ROASTING MARSHMALLOWS, AND MAKING AWESOME LIGHT SHOWS IN THE DARK




HAVING FUN WITH COUSINS





FLAT TRAILER TIRE ON THE WAY HOME - WE WERE SO BLESSED THAT IT HAPPENED ON A STRAIGHT PART OF THE CANYON AND WE WERE SAFE!

HANGING OUT AT THE REST STOP AFTER FIXING THE FLAT TIRE

Pen Pals

Last summer we got together with a couple of Quentin's friends from high school and their families. Included in all the kids was a girl named Kayla, who was about a year or two older than Kiera. The two girls were pretty shy at first but by the end of the evening, they didn't want to say goodbye. A few weeks later, Kiera was thrilled to receive a letter from Kayla, who lives in North Carolina. She wrote back to her, then Kayla wrote back, etc. They kept up their little pen pal friendship for over a year! In fact, when Kiera got glasses last Fall, she said, "Oh, I can't wait to write to Kayla to let her know!" Well, Kayla came back to Utah this summer to visit her grandparents and we got together last night. It was fun to see their friendship, even though they had only seen each other once before. So cute!

Longtime Friends

My friend Kristin and I met in sixth grade. Well, I guess we had known of each other before that (we were in kindergarten and I think second grade together), but in sixth grade we became best friends - a friendship that lasted through junior high, high school, college and beyond. I still consider Kristin my best friend besides family. But since we've each had our own little families, we don't see each other nearly as often as we'd like. She lives in Orem now, and it had been about a year and a half since we last saw each other. We decided it had been too long - so we met at Thanksgiving Point yesterday for some fun! It was so good to see her and her cute kids and catch up on our lives. It just makes me realize that we need to get together more often!


LITTLE COWGIRLS . . .




PLAYING IN THE WATER FOUNTAIN CONTRAPTION . . .

ALL OF US, INCLUDING THE WET KIDS!

Lagoon Trail

I love Sundays. And I love having early church at 9:00 (even though Quentin's meetings begin at 6:00 every Sunday morning). Once church is over and Quentin's meetings are done, we have a free day as a family - I love it! Quentin and I love puttering - there always seems to be some sort of "Sunday-approved" project we can work on. We also like playing games with the girls, watching a family movie, going for a Sunday drive, reading, visiting family, or going for a walk.

Last Sunday evening, even though it was hot, we were all in the mood for a walk. Kasidee began asking to go for a walk the moment we pulled into the driveway from church! We waited till evening and drove to the Lagoon Trail. As we were looking for a parking place, we drove alongside Quentin's cousin Brian's family - they had just arrived! What a surprise! We joined them on the walk, and the weather was surprisingly pleasant. The walk was invigorating, and it was good to catch up with Brian and his family. All 3 of my girls simply adore their baby, Abby, and were happy trying to make her laugh on the trail! We only walked about half of the trail and back, which took just under an hour or so, and we can't wait to go on the other half of the trail sometime soon!

Free Day

Yesterday I woke up realizing that we had a free day ahead of us - no plans at all. I love days like that! I started feeling energized and motivated and began planning on cleaning out our guest room. The guest room (and garage) became the room where we shoved everything when Quentin was working on the theater/preschool room. And since we're planning on having out-of-town guests in a couple of weeks, it needs to be cleaned out and straightened up. I figured the girls and I could work together and get it done.

But that feeling didn't last long.

I told the girls that if they helped me, we could go to the library when we got done. Kiera asked if we could go to the "Big Library" (the Salt Lake Library, where my dad lets us borrow his library card.) I told her I was thinking of the Centerville library, but then I got excited about changing our plans. (In an instant, my focus changed from being productive to having fun - isn't that what summer is all about?)

So...we made plans for the afternoon, and meanwhile the girls' cousin called and invited them over to play. Even more fun! They played for a couple of hours there, and then in the afternoon, the girls and I went to Salt Lake and browsed at Zurchers (we have 2 birthdays coming up!), then met Quentin at the fountains at Gateway. The girls think it is so cool that Daddy's office is so close to the fountains - in fact, he walks right past them every day to get to and from his office. They played in the fountains for almost an hour while Quentin and I sweated (is that a word?) in the hot sun. Then we got cookies at Kodiak Cakes at Gateway. At Quentin's work party about a month ago, we had gotten certificates for 5 free cookies. They were yummy, but I'm glad they were free - those 5 free cookies would have cost almost 9 bucks - ouch! Then we all went to the Salt Lake library and checked out tons of books, then got dinner at Cafe Rio. Sometimes it's fun having a spontaneous day - especially if it gets you out of cleaning!!



MAKENNA AND KASIDEE WEREN'T QUITE AS BRAVE AS KIERA . . .

Swimmiiiiiiiing!

Last night we had plans but they were cancelled at the last minute so on the spur of the moment we decided to go to the Farmington Pool for their charity event. From 7:00 to 10:00 swimming was just $2 a person and the proceeds went to cancer research. We snagged Kiera's friend (they had talked about it earlier in the day and begged to go together) and had a fun time! It wasn't very crowded and the summer air was perfect. Ahhh....


DOESN'T ASHLEY LOOK LIKE SHE COULD BE A STEPHENS GIRL?

Friends

Kasidee loves to play with her big sisters and her big sister's friends. It's not very often that she has someone her age play with her (except for her cousin Isaac, who she says is her best friend). Last Friday we had a few of her friends come over just for about an hour - she had a lot of fun. (And Kiera and Makenna had a lot of fun playing with them too!)

Swimming Lessons

Last week the girls finished up their swimming lessons. Kiera and Makenna had "real" swimming lessons at the Farmington Pool and Kasidee was happy to be able to play in the Splash Pad while we waited. You know that post I did not too long ago about how I'm not a big fan of swimming? Well, I think I realized that I DO like to sit BY the water - it can be so relaxing and peaceful...if it's not too hot!

Webkinz Academy

My 3 girls love to play together, and I can't tell you how thrilled that makes me! They can play for hours on end and entertain each other. The other day, right when they got up, they began setting up "Webkinz Academy" for their Webkinz animals. The 3 girls have collected quite a few, since they tend to want to spend their allowance money on them - the little ones are just 5 bucks at Walmart. Anyway, they spent the morning "testing" the animals and putting them in different grades. They wrote up a graduation program, complete with parts for each animal and songs in between. They worked on it most of the day. As soon as Quentin got home from work, they showed us their graduation program. It was so cute! Each animal got a certificate and a collar (a ponytail holder) as they finished. I love that they are so imaginative and can have fun together!

Photographing Life / Why I Blog

I guess I'm in sort of a musing mood today.... I came across an article the other day that basically criticized the fact that, due to the technology of digital cameras, people feel like they can take as many pictures as they want. The article's point was that people are too busy photographing their life - not living it. That made me stop and think. Quentin is sometimes teased for the amount of pictures he takes of EVERYTHING, and I think some of that shutterbug reflex has rubbed off on me. We both love to photograph everything - the big, important events in our lives as well as the silly details. But I have to disagree with the author of that article. Yes, sometimes it can be easy to get caught up in staying behind the camera and missing out on the activity. But I have realized that being behind a camera helps me pause and be AWARE of what is going on. I might not normally stop to take notice of Kasidee's cute footprints after splashing through water - but what a neat picture! It's being aware of the moments and the details.

And that's why I also love to blog. I've always been a fan of journaling (I've written something for every day since 1994!) and scrapbooking. But blogging is a way to quickly do both, and it's sometimes a more convenient way. And, though I've heard blogging is like bragging (you only hear the good parts about someone's life), it's a way to get those thoughts on "paper" - because otherwise they might be forgotten. It's another way to pause and be aware of your life.

So there you have it. I'm sure more musings will come. This is, after all, a blog. And I love being able to say whatever I want on it!

Home

Last week Quentin, the girls and I went to the Parade of Homes. We only had a limited time to go, so we only got to see about half the homes, but I just love it! I remember going to these as a kid with my parents, and Quentin and I have gone several times since we've been married. I'm always fascinated by the designs and the decorations. The floorplans and the "flows." It's amazing to me what a big impact seemingly little things (color, decor, etc.) can have on a space. And I always like to imagine the lives of the people that will someday live in those houses.

But I think what thrills me the most about seeing other people's homes - whether they're Parade of Homes homes or homes of friends and family - is what I call (for lack of a better term) The Psychology of Home. Every home, whether brand-new or a hundred years old, furnished or empty, exudes a feeling. A personality. A home has a mood. And it can instantly be felt by the owner or a visitor. And I love pondering the fact that the "perfect" home is not the same for everyone. Everyone has an idea of what would be ideal for them and their family, and it's amazing how everyone's taste is so different - not just in a layout or floorplan, but in color and decor as well. And I just think that's fascinating!

At one of the homes, I noticed a couple of books on the coffee table (which I promptly requested from the library) - "An Affair with a House" and "Life Would be Perfect if I Lived in That House." Don't those sound intriguing? Maybe someone else thinks about The Psychology of Home like I do!

(P.S. And I have to admit that it's fun looking at all those fancy Parade of Homes houses and coming back home thrilled that we've got the perfect house for us!)