Have You Seen?

Have you seen my babies?? I can only find these toddlers.

Award Winning

Spencer has many talents and this last weekend he shared a few. We started Saturday by planting a tree! Mature trees are one of the biggest things we miss about Cache Valley. Spencer was perfect for this job because he worked on the grounds crew as a student at USU. He made a perfect tree ring and mixed the soil just right. He was even patient enough to allow the boys to help.

I love that this picture captures Penn imitating Spencer patting the soil down and spreading the dirt around. A fly kept landing on or near Logan and he was trying to catch it with his index finger and thumb, very entertaining to watch.

That night Spencer made his White Bean Chicken Chili for the Ward Chili Cook off. He'd only made it a few times, so he was a little nervous. Turns out he had nothing to worry about, he won! That's right I'm married to an award winning chef. It's a great recipe and Spencer nailed it. The prize was a food storage kit complete with rice, wheat, oats and beans. He's already thinking about what recipe he'll use for next year!

The Very 1st Time

I'm just getting the pics off my camera from Labor Day. We had a great time and I simply must share. We packed everything but the kitchen sink and went to Monica and Sean's for the extended weekend. We did so many things, the best part must of it was firsts. We started out canning peaches. We've never really done canning so it was a first for most of us. Thank goodness for our fearless leader, Monica. We did 7 boxes of peaches in about 2 and half hours.

So many hands made the work light I can hardly wait for January to enjoy the fruits of our labor. With the extra time we decided to hit the Eastern Idaho Fair, another first. The boys loved it. We were able to get close to such a variety of animals the boys were in awe and couldn't get enough.

The horses were a favorite. I loved how they pointed at everything and kept looking at us as if to say "Are you seeing this? It's amazing"
Sunday morning Monica and Sean blessed Gavin. In all of the rush I didn't get a picture. He was adorable and received a wonderful blessing from his Dad. That kid doesn't even know how loved he is.

After things settled down Sunday, and after some long naps, we packed up and headed to the mountains for our very first over night camping trip.

Once again the boys loved the big trees. We even found some huge rocks to play on. Our new "family" tent was large enough to fit two pack in plays as well as an air mattress.

The boys slept in layered clothes as well as tons of blankets. I think they were comfortable most of the night but didn't mind climbing into bed with Dada the next morning to enjoy a morning bottle. It was chilly outside the tent so we cuddled while we waited to warm up next to the fire, which is what the boys are pointing at. We can't wait for next year to do more camping. It'll be an even bigger adventure when the boys are better walkers.

It was a great trip, I can't help but ask ... "What are we doing next weekend?" I'm sure Spencer will answer ... "Sleeping!!"

Sugar & Spice & Everything Nice

I've come to accept as a girl I am woefully outnumbered in my own home. That's right 3 to 1 is woefully outnumbered. Growing up with 3 younger sisters I was never outnumbered. I've had to make some adjustments and I'm sure many more are to come. Generally I don't mind but last week I had enough, I needed girl time. I invited the girls next door over to bake cookies, a very girly thing to do.

The girls happen to be twins as well, one dark and one light just like ours. They enjoyed measuring and stirring. After licking spoons we played with the boys while the cookies baked.

On the whole it was a very enjoyable afternoon. The cookies turned out and the girls ate to their hearts content. Maybe next time we'll do face masks, do you think they are too young?