8-27-2010 Friday - Rain Is A Good Thing!

Rain Is A Good Thing!

Have you heard this song before?

Okay, so it may not have the best message,

but it has a catchy tune and I've been singing it in my head all day!

We are in Utah and enjoyed a nice lightening storm this afternoon.

I love the musky smell of the rain mixing with the grass - it's one of my favorites.

I love to listen to the drops hit the pavement.

I love to see the big dark clouds rolling in and the lightening hitting the earth .

I like to hear the squeaky window wipers in the car and the headlights catch the raindrops falling.

I love to see it rain while the sun shines too - it doesn't happen often though...

I can't wait to see the sunny crystal clear morning.

I love to see the clean green earth after a big rain.

And I am thankful that I have had an opportunity to enjoy the rain in my life.

8-18-2010 through 8-21-2010 - Girl's Trip To Carmel!

We just got back from our annual Girl's Trip. This year we went to Carmel and Monterey.

We drove up Hwy 1 the Southern Half of the Scenic Route and drove down Hwy 1 the Northern Half of the Scenic Route.

Grams came with us which was so much fun! The girls love her so much and she is so funny - they were laughing all the time! We stopped for lunch in Santa Barbara - one of our favorite towns.

We stayed in Carmel Valley at a beautiful vineyard and winery called the Bernardus Lodge.
Grams and Holly having breakfast in our suite!

A delicious lunch al fresco.

Horseback riding on Pebble Beach.
Grams slept in that morning!

The deer were not afraid of us because they are protected in the state forest.

The Spanish Moss was incredible! I loved it!

Point Pinos Lighthouse - the oldest continuously operating one on the west coast.

Monterey Bay's Fisherman's Warf - Awesome Clam Chowder!

Monterey's Cannery Row.

The world famous aquarium was one of our favorites! The jellies were so cool with the lighting!

Shera spent at least an hour in the hands-on exhibits!

We had a seafood Italian dinner and then the girls did the mirror maze.

These are some of the last standing Portuguese Immigrant homes in Monterey. They came during WWII to replace the Japanese when they were forced into camps.

The 250 year old "Lone Cypress" on the world famous 17 mile drive.

Elephant Seals in San Simeon.

Holly was so funny in the aquarium!

8-17-2010 Tuesday - Noel's Pep Squad Pics!

We just got back Noel's Song Leader photos.

She loves being on the Pep Squad - it's a really nice group of girls and all are great dancers! Their group is the smallest having only eight girls. MVHS has JV and Varsity Song and JV and Varsity Cheer. Song Leaders dance and cheer. Cheer Leaders do stunts and cheer.

Can you find Noel out of the whole squad???

Cutie Noelie!!!

8-16-2010 Monday - FHE $2.00 Dinner!

When Jeff was young, his family had a fun family night where they did a $1.00 Dinner. Each person got a dollar to buy whatever they wanted to contribute! He bought french fries, his brother bought a can of olives, and so on...

So we decided to have a $2.00 Dinner
(times have changed a bit!)

There were 11 of us (with all the friends) at the 99 Cent Store searching for what we could get for such a small amount of cash. Carissa, Noel and Aubry collaborated (aka cheated) and pooled their money to buy 6 Top Ramens, a pack of flour tortillas, shredded cheese, a head of lettuce and Italian dressing!

Sophie got mac & cheese and 4 cans of orange soda, Shera got cookies and lemon-lime soda, Luke got cheese puffs and cookies.

They all got to make their own purchases. But when Shera checked out her bill was $2.20! She looked at me completely surprised - we forgot about tax on soda! I chuckled and made her go back and find something else - she was so bummed!!! But she replaced it with fettuccine alfredo and it came to $2.00 even!

Robyn bought chicken nuggets and Holly bought 2 mini cheese pizzas. Jeff bought 3 cans of corn and I got a can of re-fried beans and a pack of corn tortillas.

Once we got home, each person had to prepare their part of the meal. Here is Drew with his four bags of shell pasta! Ooops... he forgot about the sauce!!!

Here is our gourmet $2.00 meal!
And it was pretty good too!

The kids had such a fun family night and I'm sure it was one they will talk about for a long long time!

8-12-2010 Thursday - River Daze...

We love our "daze" on the river in the summertime. It's so cool and the air is so hot! Even Heidi and Sasha like to jump in!

Drew did some 180's and jumped the wake this trip!

Luke and Shera were crossing the wake no problem and Shera even got a little air sometimes!

Drew is the best at backing up the boat really!!!

Holly barbecued these delicious Bratwurst we had with hard rolls and mustard one night.

Our new Ranger to pull the wave runners and off road!

Noel & Drew Jump Off The 20 Foot Water Tower ***

8-9-2010 Monday - Lunch at Fashion Island

One of our favorite places to have lunch is at Neiman Marcus in Fashion Island.

We like to meet Grams there and do a little shopping and do a little eating.

The restaurant is called Mariposa which means "Butterfly" in Portuguese. They have amazing popovers with a strawberry butter! You have to try them sometime!

They have some beautiful fountains at Fashion Island - so we took a few photos there.

Holly picked up a few items at Macy's (for Luke and Shera REALLY!)

8-7-2010 Saturday - Kid's Cooking School (Day 4)

We have had to make a little detour in our Kid's Summer Cooking School because I have been fighting a sinus infection. It has been very frustrating attempting to do this in the past week as I continue to get worse and worse. You have to have patience when you are teaching children to cook and be on top of your toes. You can't be sluggish - and then the perfect thing happened...

We got the fun surprise of our cousins coming to stay over Friday night. It was a nice break, but there was no way I was going to continue with them as well. I simply made some bruschetta and Jeff ordered pizza. No pictures I'm afraid... I only have so much patience when I'm sick and I had already hit my breaking point.

They all swam, watched movies, and stayed the night! Then the next day we all went to one of our favorite breakfast places - The Original Pancake House! They all went to the beach after (I went to bed at home though).

I so wanted to do this the right way, and me be the one teaching Luke and Shera, but I just couldn't. So, after the cousins left, I enlisted the help of Holly and Noel to do Saturday evening's cooking school. We jumbled things around to simplify - anyway, that's the beauty of having your own "at home restaurant" as the kids say - you don't have to stick with the plan!

So Here is Saturday Night's Menu:
Taught by Holly & Noel:
Turkey Parmigiana
Bruschetta
Rocky Road Fudge
Luke pounded the turkey flat!

Then they learned to dredge the meat in egg and seasoned bread crumbs.

They layered it in the pan and put on the sauce and cheese.

It looked and tasted really good!

Cutting the tomatoes for the bruschetta...

Mixing the basil and seasonings...

Toasting the bread... Yummy!!!

Prepping the Spanish Peanuts for the dessert...

They melted and mixed all the ingredients together.

Then they spooned the mixture into paper cups to let harden and then they were ready!

Holly and Noel were great teachers and Shera and Luke were great students and they all made a great dinner!!!