Hiking the Menan Buttes

This was our big hike up the Menan Buttes a few weeks ago.  It was quite a hike, but we felt like we accomplished something...  that is until Lorelai had to go potty and we had to go back down.  We didn't make it all the way to the top, but you can see, we got up there pretty high!

Too cute!

 I needed a picture for Nursery fast, so she just stood in front of the computer and took this one.  I think it is adorable!  Look at that smile!

Mesa Falls

When my parents came up to visit this summer we visited Mesa falls.  It was a beautiful day and we all had a great time!

Canning... I'm a Mormon Mamma!

This is my first foray into the world of canning and I must admit that I LOVED it!  I did the pears first with my buddy, Erin L.  She is the canning expert...  or at least to me she is!  And the others are the peaches I did.  The peaches looked a lot better the first time I processed them, but I had to process them twice because they lost a lot of liquid the first time around.  I wish I had more stuff to can!  I need to get my own canner too.  I can't be borrowing Erin's all the time.

First day of Preschool

She loved it and did not want to come home!  She asks every day if she can go back!

Yes, I know I need to blog more

No, I have not blogged in forever.  I have been so busy this summer!  And I have a ton of pictures I want to put on here, so I have just kind of been avoiding the whole thing until I could get that done.  But I am now burning some CD's for my class, which requires me to sit at the computer for a long time, so I will make a short entry minus pictures and try to get back to a regular blogging schedule once I get into my own schedule.  How is that for a run-on sentence?

Last week was the first week of classes for me.  I think I am a little more confident  this semester since I have already taught once.  Also, I don't have any Freshmen this semester which really makes things a lot easier.  Everyone has taken the required prerequisite, so it seems like it might be a little bit more of a better group.

The kids started school.  Caroline is in 5th Grade, middle school this year!  She really likes being in Middle School and is meeting all of her old friends from when we lived here before.  She is still doing Piano and Gymnastics and along with Activity Days every other week, she is one busy girl.
 Hilton is in Second Grade this year and going to a different school since we moved.  He has adjusted very nicely and is really doing very well.  His writing needs quite a bit of improvement, as does his reading, but his math skills are pretty great.  He is really excited to have a great teacher.  She loves sports almost as much as he does and he thinks that is pretty great.
Lorelai starts preschool next week up at the college.  She will be going while I am in class which is a huge break for Justin and me!  This way Justin will be able to be on campus working while I am teaching.  It is really going to work out perfectly.  At least, this semester! 

Our vacation

I know, I know.  I just have been too busy this summer to blog at all.  We went down to UT this week and I did not take any pictures.  The battery was dead on the camera and I forgot to  buy one until the end of the week.  But we had such a great time!

We got there on Saturday and ate at Texas Roadhouse for dinner.  Sunday was a quiet, uneventful day, but we did walk the dogs and go down to the cemetery to see Justin's Dad's new grave marker.  It is a beautiful stone. 

Monday the day was spent in the yard putting down river rock.  That took the entire day, weeding, removing some dirt going to pay for the rocks and then laying them down.  Then we went to the mall for dinner.  The mall is a favorite place of ours to eat because everyone can choose whatever they want.

Tuesday we took the kids to the Dinosaur Park in Ogden.  That was so much fun!  They have a great museum and then a huge park that you can walk around that has life-size dinosaur replicas in what would have been their habitat.  And a big playground that the kids just loved.  They really enjoyed the slides!  After that we went to RCWilley and spent the rest of the day shopping for furniture for our living room.  At first we were not impressed.  But then a salesperson came up to us and I let her know what we were looking for and she showed us several options.  It took us a good 2 hours to decide on what we wanted.  Well, it took Justin that long.  I let him pick it out, with my input.  (I did choose the dog, after all...)  We got a sofa and love seat in a really nice mushroom color.  The pillows are really big and square and it will look really nice in our new living room.  I can't wait for them to get here!  After that, we went to Chick fil A for dinner.  We really miss Chick Fil A!!!  Then that evening we watched Percy Jackson and the Lightening Thief on DVD.  The kids say that is their most favorite movie ever!!!

Wednesday we just did some shopping.  Ran errands.  We went back to the mall because there was a sale at CJ Banks and I wanted to get some clothes there.  I got some great deals on some shirts and a skirt.  (Which I really need for teaching this fall... ugh)  I bought Caroline some earrings at Claires.  We went to DI and bought a ton of really great clothes for Hilton for school.  We went to Gymboree and got the kids some jammies that were on sale...  And of course we ate at the food court again!  We took Mom to Sam's because she doesn't have a membership anymore.  She bought some toilet paper that should hold her for the next year!  Then in the evening we met up with my brother Rich, and Ginny and their kids at Farr's ice cream parlor and went to the park.  We had a great visit with them.  I wish we lived closer and could see them more often.  We always have such a great time with them.  And Lorelai loves being with cousins her own age!!!  Elizabeth and Ethan are her "best friends."

Thursday was probably my favorite day of all!  We went to the North Shore  Aquatic Center in Ogden where we swam all day and went down the huge water slide!  Holy Cow!  That thing was crazy!!!  It was so fast!  I had to go to Wal Mart earlier that morning to get a bathing suit because I forgot mine at home...  And I REALLY wanted to go down the water slide.  So I swallowed my pride and put on a ridiculous turquoise bathing suit and swam and played with the kids and went down the slide and just had a blast!  Lorelai spent most of her time in the baby area going down the little frog slide.  She literally would slide down and then climb the stairs and do it again... over and over and over!  It was a little chilly that day.  It only got up to 80!  The whole week was like that, which was really nice most of the time, but warmer weather would have been nicer for swimming day.  I am sad we only did that one day.  We had such a blast, we would have liked to do it a couple of days!  Even Justin braved the bathing suit and went down the slide!  He was pleasantly surprised at how much fun it was!  But once we got out of the water, and all dried off, we did not want to get back in because it was just too chilly.  The water was nice and warm once you got in, but that initial shock was too much for us old fogies.  The kids were mad that we wouldn't get back in.  But that is definitely something we will want to do again next summer!  That night we watched The Blind Side on DVD, which was really good.

Friday was just a cleaning out day.  We cleaned out closets and got rid of a lot of Dad Bates' stuff that Mom has not been able to get to until now.  It has been 2 years now since his death and she was ready to clean out.  We got some huge boxes of stuff to take to DI and those closets are a lot cleaner now.  Justin is really great at de-cluttering!  We talked her out of keeping a lot of unnecessary stuff.    We went to the Union Grill for dinner, which is Mom's favorite place to eat.  We all had a great meal and got home early.   And we came back home on Saturday after doing a little more cleaning up in the garage and a few more chores that need to be done.  Justin is such a great son.  He topped off fluids in the van, caulked the shower and did things for his mom that just won't get done.  I am so grateful for a husband that values his mom so much.

It was a wonderful week, but we are grateful to be home in our own beds.  We have a lot to do this week to get ready for school to start in a week and a half!  I can't believe the summer is already over!!!  Where did the time go?  We still have to see Karate Kid, and to go bowling at least one more time!  And I have so much to do to get ready for my class this semester.  What was I thinking?  I like my little ticket office job...  I don't want to teach!  Oh well...  I will suck it up another semester.  It gives me an excuse to buy new clothes, right?







 

Betsy Lou

So our little Betsy has joined the family!  Justin hates the name, and I told him he can change it to whatever he wants, so I am waiting...  She is a gem.  She had accidents the first day she was here, but only on the kitchen floor.  But she has figured out that she is supposed to go outside, so she does!  She hardly ever barks, except when we leave her alone.  She is cuddly and loves to be held.  She always wants to be right my our side.  Right now she is sitting right beside me on the chair.  She has the sweetest personality!!! 

We are in our new home and things are great.  I will try to take pictures soon.  I just have a few more boxes to unpack and we will be all settled.  I love our new house!!!  I have been working a lot this week, so I don't have time to blog all I would like to.  I still need to post pics from Lorelai's birthday!  As soon as I am done unpacking and things have settled down a little more, I will get it done!

Very quickly...

I am so sorry!  I have neglected my duties on the blog.  But I am so busy packing and getting ready to move.  I took pictures of Lorelai's birthday, so I will update as soon as we are in the new house!  That will be later this week!  I am excited to move into the house...  sad to leave my awesome ward.  The new job is going great.  Kids are great.  Summer is great.  I wish I had time to tell you more about all of our stuff...

Strawberry Pudding

This is what I made for dessert tonight.  Broulims has strawberries on sale and they are soooo yummy.  This is just delicious!!!

Homemade Strawberry Pudding

June 27th, 2006 

Ingredients:

• 1 cup strawberry puree
• 3-1/2 Tbsp. cornstarch
• 2/3 cup sugar
• 1/8 tsp. salt
• 1-2/3 cups milk
• 1/3 cup cream
• 1 tsp. vanilla

Warm strawberry puree in microwave (about 1 to 1-1/2 minutes). Set aside. Mix dry ingredients together in saucepan. Gradually add milk and cream, stirring constantly over medium to high heat. Heat until pudding thickens and cook for 1 additional minute. Remove from heat and let cool 5-10 minutes before adding strawberry puree. Add vanilla and mix well. Serve warm or chilled.