Julia's Shower

Here are glimpses of Julia's baby shower. It was lovely with THE BEST homemade éclairs and quiche ever (thanks Amanda). The countdown is on now..less than 4 weeks away from due date.

The welcome table, Kelly framed pictures of Julia as newborn, and her husband as a baby along with the ultrasound picture of Tatum. Tatum is the name Julia choose like 3 years ago, I am not sure of the spelling, but if all goes according to plan her name will be Tatum Marie.

Julia's husband is a HUGE Broncos fan so this was a gift for him.

Julia has decorated THE cutest nursery. Hopefully she will post pictures, if not next time I visit I will take pictures and post, its too cute not to share!

Grandpa's Lamb Fry

I hope everyone has had a chance to eat fried lamb because it is GOOD, add some scones, a horse, "bum ball" and you have yourself a great birthday party.

Hang in there Julia...only a month left to go (she is pregnant). Darling Bub in his farm outfit.

The birthday boy and my cute mom.

The horse was kept busy.

and...here we are playing "bum Ball" a game my Grandpa and his brothers invented. This game is not for the faint of heart because if you lose you bend over while all the other players get to throw the ball at your backside. By the way Dad, I am on to you (he always gets out first and hams it up so when the little ones get out they won't feel bad).

That is me throwing the ball...is it any wonder that I didn't play baseball or basketball in high school. Check out that form!

Thank You!

This is a picture of me with the gift Miriam gave me, a picture she had colored earlier that day, what a sweet little girl. We were staying with my parents last weekend for Julia's baby shower, and my Grandpa's 79th (I think) birthday so my family had a little celebration for me on Sunday evening. I made a recipe I got from Michelle, a flour less chocolate cake (I made it last year too, I love it). It was too rich for everyone besides mom and I. Sarah said "If you take a bite with ice cream, and then a bite of just ice cream, it's pretty good!". My dad was less tactful "So what did everyone think about the cake, does anyone like it?". I couldn't eat very much of it though....lil Bub has a hard time digesting chocolate, and this cake is ALL chocolate. Thank you Julia and Sarah for the lovely Lia Sophia jewelry, Kelly and Erik for the good smelling stuff (I need all the help I can get to over power the baby urp smell) thank you mom and dad for the $:)
Darin was very perceptive as always, keeping his title as best gift giver EVER. I told him I just wanted him to massage my feet for my birthday, which he did while we watched Hildego (sp?). He then gave me a gift certificate for a professional foot massage and a manicure. Miriam and I have been obsessed with Wicked for awhile now (Miriam's love for the Wizard of Oz is alive and well she wants to be Gilinda this year for Halloween) and we now own the CD, as well as the Celtic Women. Love it Love it Love it. Darin had said he was getting me a gift both Miriam and I would enjoy so I thought for sure we were getting the High School Musical DVD but he said he doesn't want to encourage that. He is probably right since Miriam loves evil and fashionable Sharpay way more than the sweet Gabriella.

Happy little surprises keep popping up in the mail. Stephanie sent the darling pink and green cards, Jill sent the cute black and red ones. How creative and computer savvy can you get? Lori sent me a great CD and cute little book. My in-laws were very generous as usual, can't wait for my shopping spree.

Artsy Amanda sent these cute cards. My friend Fiona also took me to lunch a Paradise Cafe (best cookies EVER, Mrs. Fields has been knocked out of first place) and made me a funky bracelet and earings (sorry no picture, I am too tired to upload tonight).

and my gift to myself arrived. I ordered the kids their Easter outfits from Strasburg Children's clearance sale. Their clothing is so much nicer than a picture can convey...great fabric, hand embellished, fully lined, I love it. Its such a relief that I like what I ordered since I stressed over it for 3 days (ask Sarah, she was annoyed). Even though it's for the children, it's a gift for me because I LOVE seeing my kids dressed up and matching to boot! I had to take the oppoortunity while Bub is young because no way will Darin let me dress him like this when he is older.

This is Miriam's new "best smile". I am thrilled...I just hope this phase doesn't last too long.
THANK YOU FOR MAKING MY BIRTHDAY SO WONDERFUL!!

Thank You!!

My birthday was wonderful! Thank you for all of the packages, phone calls, blogging wishes and cards! I will blog in detail later. I have so many irons in the fire, none of them pressing or urgent but I need to get them done. I need to finish Eclipse so I can function again and go to bed at a decent hour, address Bub's announcements and get them out of my room, compile all the addresses I have just found and this time keep them where I will ALWAYS have them, all this and meet a friend for lunch!

Binkie Hickies and Garden Fresh Veggies

Does every new mom suction these things to her face or is it just me?? Well, needless to say (due to the title) I forgot I had one suctioned on and by the time I remembered there was a huge hickie between my lip and my chin. I wish I had a picture but I am not in the habit of documenting my humiliations...I need to work on that. I had to fess up to everyone I saw because it was either that, or let them think my husband is a bad kisser, and that would be unkind (and so untrue!).

In other and better news we have enjoyed the fruits of others labors. Darin's parents, my mom, and a few neighbors have given us fresh fruits and veggies that have been delightful. We have enjoyed raspberry smoothies, roasted root veggies, and I made zucchini bread today. This last weekend we were with Darin's parents where there are lots of fresh ripe tomatoes. We bought some fresh mozzarella cheese at Costco (you can make it the hard way which Lisa inspired us to try last summer, just follow this recipe) Grandpa and Miriam picked tomatoes and basil from Grandpa's garden and we had ourselves a feast! Just drizzle balsamic vinegar and olive oil on top with salt and pepper....so good.
We took Utah's fruit highway on our way up to Cache Valley and stopped at Pettingils for peaches. Heavenly. Every place we have stopped along that stretch of the road has had great produce, we just go to Pettingils because they make peach and raspberry shakes. Nows the time to head up there, they were only $.79 per lb and the good eating ones are ripe (as opposed to the canning ones).

Thank You Thank You to everyone who has shared their harvest with us.

Can't wait to do it again!!

THANK YOU CRAIG AND LISA (and Cara for letting us have your room).

Young Living Farm

We had yet another family reunion this weekend. This one was for the Young side and was held at the Young Living Farm in Mona Utah. It was beautiful, and smelled like Lavender and herbs. They have an organic restaurant, huge playground climbing wall and paddle boats for kids, and this whole medieval set up for jousting matches (that part is a little random, but they said knights used essential oils too whatever). The Founder Gary Young, is apparently related to me, you can read his story here. It's located right off of Hwy I-15 on the way down to St. George. I decided that we are stopping there for lunch on any southward travels from here on out, rather than Subway or whatever is attached to a gas station. I love natural healing stuff, essential oils, organic foods all that jazz but the tour Gary gave did go a little too into the au natural stuff. It's okay with me though, I like enthusiasm, it's why his farm is doing so well, and it's a wonderful place to visit.

They had a playground, teepee, and then this wild west town set up the kids could run around in. I love Madison's face in the prison picture.

Here we are on the paddle boats. Paddle boats are a workout!
I wish I would have taken a picture of the rows and rows of lavender and other herbs. It was beautiful! The only thing that bugged about the farm were the bugs (ha ha). Seriously, tons of bees, wasps, flys all over the place because of the organic herbs and gardens (because they don't use pesticides). It does cost money to enter into the gardens, where all the activities are, and I am not sure how much it is. The store and restaurant are free.



Before getting to the reunion we geocached along I-15 and then stopped at The Red Barn at South Ridge Farms. They boasted great ice cream and I would have to agree. Fun place to stop by on your way wherever.

Explanation....

My list of reasons I haven't been blogging much lately.....

Got to get Julia's shower invites out ASAP and I am still working on them.

Still working on Bub's announcements. He now looks NOTHING like the picture going on them. How long do you have to get announcements out?? A year? If so I am way ahead of schedule:)

We invited some friends up to my parents cabin (thanks mom and dad!). We went geocashing around Electric Lake and then....

the men entertained themselves by chopping wood while dinner cooked (sis kabobs, grilled corn, and watermelon yum!) We had plans to play games after the kiddos were in bed but we were so worn out we just talked and munched on snacks.

On another note. These are "Bub's Bugs", it's actually Miriam's bug mobile but she didn't care for them near as much as Bub does. He smiles and coos at them contently for long stretches of time.

They make him so happy....and he makes me so happy.

Tagged oh so long ago......

4 Jobs I have had
1. Secretary for the Dean of Fine Arts U of U
2. Elizabeth Arden cosmetic girl
3. gas station attendant (aka beer stocker)
4. Dixie College cafeteria cashier

4 Movies I can watch over and over
1. Happy Texas
2. Jane Austin trilogy (Sense and Sensibility, Pride and Prejudice, Emma)
3. About A Boy

4. Better Off Dead

4 Places I have lived
1. Price, Ut
2. St George, Ut
3. Boston, Ma
4. Newport, RI

4 Guilty Pleasures
1. Taking Miriam to the Smiths Marketplace hour baby sitting while I go read magazines (Miriam won't go to the babysitting anymore since she discovered the mini shopping carts-shopping is completely nuts now)
2. Eating when I am anxious and/or tired

3. Waching MTV shows (My Super Sweet Sixteen, Lagoona Beach, The Hills) while at the gym

4. Eating when I am bored

4 T.V shows I watch
We only have 5 tv stations through our computer, and they don't come in very well so I will have to change this one to TV shows I have watched or would watch in the box set
1. Gilmore Girls
2. The Office
3. Lagoon Beach First Season4. Freaks and Geeks

4 Places I have been on Vacation
1. Boston
2. Washington DC
3. Florida
4. New York

4 Websites I visit
1. SLC and Davis county Libraries
2. hotmail
3. LDS.org
4. blogs

4 Places I would rather be right now

1. Craig and Lisa's cabin

2. My parent's cabin

3. A beach somewhere anywhere
4. A spa

4 Favorite Foods
1. Avocados
2. mangos
3. Chocolate
4. Chocolate Chip cookies

4 Books You Love
1. Little Women
2. Circle of Friends
3. Twilight series
4. Harry Potter

4 Things you would like to know how to do
1. Be organized for more than a week
2. Stay motivated
3. Sew4. Do this kind of embroidery with ribbons

4 things You worry about
1. Parenting skills - scaring my kids for life
2. My weight
3. My family's problems
4. The environment

4 Things you want to accomplish this year
1. Lose 20 lbs.
2. Create Halloween, Christmas and Fourth of July photo albums and catch up to date just on those holidays
3. Get our filing system organized (Freedom Filer)
4. Get our budget kinks worked out.
4. Get our emergency water supply stocked, get a few more canned goods for food storage.


Okay I tag my sisters and sister-in-laws and Pfunder