Weekend Warriors

We were lucky enough to get to spend two weekends with our nieces and nephews.  First up were Grace, Maggie and Davis while Brent and Lilli were on a trip celebrating their 10th anniversary. 

There was lots of soccer, crafts, tennis, church, bath time . . . and a yummy dinner with Grandpa. 

And then we got to spend time with the six Birds up in Roy . . . 

. . . which included movie time, swimming, Emma's delicious crepes on Saturday morning, church. . . and a yummy dinner with Grandpa. 

I'm grateful that Melinda and Kristen and I were able to work together spending time with our favorite kiddos.  And, of course, Dad for always being there for us with anything we need.  Kristen and Dad even delivered a care package to me while in Roy . . . 

. . . hidden with a loaf of bread, was my contraband of Coke, complete with bags of ice to keep it cool on the drive, and my favorite dry roasted peanuts.  Now, that's love!!!

Grace Turned 8

In April, Grace turned 8.  In preparation for the big day, I was excited to take Grace shopping to look for a special CTR ring for her big day.

We lunched at the Cheesecake Factory . . . 

. . . we followed a lot of the brides having their pictures taken . . . and couldn't resist taking one for a future bride. . . 

. . . we took a break and read some books . . . 

. . . and what would a trip to City Creek be without a treat from the Rocky Mountain Chocolate Factory.  Grace introduced me to the caramel apples that they will even cut for you. 

Grace loved her blinged out CTR ring.  

And a celebration took place at Red Mango

 Grace was baptized in early May and we celebrated at Brent and Lilli's with a nice lunch after.  We love Grace and are excited for the choice she made to be baptized. 

Rowing Follow Up

Alright, here is my follow up rowing story that Kristen mentioned. So, one of the first things that they teach you in the class is that you never, ever leave your boat (or vessel as Kristen likes to call it). You are also never supposed to let go of your oars. I guess this has to do with the fact that the boats cost a real lot of money, and they are letting amateurs like us use them. Now, the boats are very tricky to get into because they are very wobbly, then you have to hang onto the oars, while remembering to never let go of them and trying to sit in this this narrow little boat without crashing through the fiberglass shell. See, they're tiny!

We had a rough time getting all of our classes in due to bad weather, but we had a make up class scheduled on a Saturday. Which turned out to be a very windy and cold day. Like gale force winds. So, I am getting in my boat and have one foot in when this big gust of wind starts pushing my boat and my one leg away from the dock. Sadly for me, I never took gymnastics, and the splits are not in my current repertoire of tricks. Remembering that I can't leave my boat or oars, and can't move too much or I will crash through the fiberglass shell, I lunged back toward the dock, where I promptly fell on my face with the oars on top of me. I got some nice bruises, but I saved my boat! I was pretty proud of myself.

We finished the class and were getting ready to leave when I reached into my hermetically sealed zippered pouch in my sweatshirt to get my car keys, and found that my keys were nowhere to be found. I searched everywhere and they were gone. Sure enough, I found a hole on the inside of my pocket where my keys must have escaped when I was splayed out on the dock. Is there a worse feeling than realizing that you are stuck litrully in the middle of nowhere without your car keys? Here is what I learned from this incident:

1. Kristen is a great person to have with you in case of an emergency. She kept me calm as I may have had a little freak out, and she had her phone with her, which was amazing since mine was tightly locked up in my car. She then used that phone to call AAA to rescue us.
2. AAA is the best investment I have ever made. They sent a guy to crack open my car within 17 minutes! On a Saturday in the middle of nowhere.
3. Always keep a spare set of keys in your car. I happened to have put my purse in my trunk with another set of keys, so we were able to drive on home after we were rescued.

Now for a fun game, who would like to guess how much it cost to replace these five items?

Where is Salt Lake is This?

Melinda and I are taking a class through the University of Utah that I've wanted to take for a long time.  It's called "Off the Couch" and it's a walking tour of Salt Lake that begins in a different location each week.

Before the class began, we tried to guess the average age of our fellow participants.  My guess was 50 because it involves moderate to brisk walking.  Melinda said 67.  Turns out the average age is much younger!  There is a person about our age taking the class with her parents, a teenage girl and her Russian mom, an elderly Australian woman, a young married couple, and an attractive gay couple about our age. A diverse group.

I thought it might be fun to do a little re-cap of each session.  Here's the description for this week's class:

Meet in the parking lot of the Post Office on corner of Arapeen and 2255 Sunnyside Ave to discover ghosts, a graveyard and a bone yard.

Here are my pics:

If you guessed This is the Place State Park, you're right!  (You can see the monument through the clearing there)

• The ghosts: the Brigham Young home that sits inside the park is original and supposedly (according to Google) one of the most haunted sites in Utah. 
• The boneyard: The site was used as a "boneyard" for granite pieces that were too small or oddly shaped to be used for the Salt Lake temple.  You can see the granite in many of the paths and walkways in the park.
• The graveyard: When they were building the Gateway, they found the graves of about 32 pioneer children, and had them re-buried up at This is the Place.  There's a small little cemetery there.  

One of the comments we heard from other class members was, "I don't know how many times I've driven past this, and I had no idea all this was back here."

Plus, we got to see this: they have a quilt museum onsite, and this is an actual quilt made in 1918, made from....?

Dead Squirrels. 

(If I had to see this, so do you). 

Rowing Part Deux

Remember that time when Melinda and I took rowing lessons on the Great Salt Lake?  Well, we thought it would be fun to do it again!  We brought along our friend Katie again and another friend of mine, Sharon, and signed up through the Great Salt Lake Rowing club.

We could tell immediately things were more organized this time around.  The instructor 1) responded to emails; and 2) showed us a safety video!  By the first class we already felt we had learned more technique than we had in the entire class last time.  Our instructor was very patient with us, because I had forgotten pretty much everything.  Getting in the boat is perhaps the hardest part (Melinda has a follow-up story about this).

But one thing hasn't changed: rowing is amazing.  Seriously, there's something about being in total control of this vessel and you get into a groove with the oar strokes where you can really tell you're doing it right.  And then there are other times when you get caught in a boat slip and have to get yourself out.

When I tell people I'm taking a rowing class on the Great Salt Lake, they usually ask if it smells.  Really, it doesn't once you get on the water.  And the lake is gorgeous.  At sunset, there are few things more beautiful.

Here's a couple pics that don't do any of it justice.

Melinda in her boat in the marina

Melinda next to her boat. 

Me about to get in my boat...the hardest part.

I mean, come on. 

Me and Sharon on the last day of class....finally a good day weather-wise!

Love this!

Julie's Go-To Breakfast Recipes

Kristen . . . I only wish that I had fancy, well-organized and put-together breakfasts like you do.  I am SO not a morning person - and really, I'm quite tired at night too.   As a result, as I'm running late on a regular basis, here is the breakfast and snacks of champions in my house:

I head to the fridge, where I grab whatever kind of Greek yogurt Sam's or Costco has in stock.  (Why does this vary?  Just as I fall in love with the Fage brand, they change it.)

Then, I grab an apple from the crisper . . . 

Next, it's off to the pantry . . . where I grab a portable peanut butter for my apple (oh yes, I have a very sharp knife in my desk drawer to cut these beauties up part-way through my day). . . 

. . . . and grab a Chex Mix . . . which goes perfectly with my morning Coke that I grab on the way into my office . . . 

. . . and finally a granola bar . . . again whatever kind sounds good that is in stock at my favorite big-box stores.  

Then, I rush out the door and pray there's not too much traffic for the 45 minute to an hour commute - since I'm already late - and I'm totally set for the day.  I feel like these preservatives . . . in addition to all the "nutrients" in my daily cold beverage . . . really help to keep me going throughout the day. 

My Go-To Breakfast Recipes

Mmmm....breakfast. My favorite meal of the day. Lately I've been making a big batch of breakfast that I will take to work and eat the entire week. I am always looking for healthy breakfast recipes that aren't, like, cereal (even though I love cereal).  Here are some of my go-to recipes.

 Tomato, squash, and red pepper gratin.
Why I like it: it's a sneaky way to get in tons of veggies.  I leave off the breadcrumbs because they get soggy on the leftovers.  Splurge on the Gruyere cheese - that's the bestest part.

Recipe on cookinglight.com







Crustless smoked turkey quiche.

Why I like it: MMmmm...it's the swiss cheese you layer on the bottom that cooks until it gets a little brown, combined with the smoky turkey (I use Boar's Head Smoked Honey Turkey).

Recipe on cookinglight.com







Baked oatmeal.

Now, I actually make some significant changes to this recipe.  I swap out cinnamon (yuck) for nutmeg (yum), eliminate all the dried fruit, and instead of the applesauce, which I never have on hand, I use a ripe mashed banana.  Make sure you mash it really well.  I serve with some plain greek yogurt and fruit.

Original recipe on twopeadsandtheirpod.com

Eggs in ham cups.

Why I like it: They had me at "ham cup."  This recipe is so versatile - I can use pretty much any veggies or cheese I have on hand and it always turns out great.  I also like that they turn out in individual servings.

Recipe on ourbestbites.com

Hudson Lights: Call Me Maybe

 

Hudson Lights: Call Me Maybe

 

So, this version of Call Me Maybe is pretty great.  Check it out!

Memories of Mom

For Mother's Day, a friend posted a quote on Instagram for Mother's that said . . . "A mother's hug lasts long after she lets go". It made me think of a blanket that many of us have from my Mom that he said if we wrap the blanket around us, it's like a hug from her.  It gets me teary-eyed just thinking about it and I'm so glad for the many things that we do have to remind us of Mom as she was a great example to us of so many things.  We all have many memories, but these are a few that I don't want to forget.  I've been thinking as summer gets near how she would coordinate with other Moms to offer little classes - or escapes during the day - learning new things.  Mom taught a cooking class that we loved.  We ended up with a cookbook that we all got to illustrate.  I loved when we got checked out of school on our birthdays to have lunch - and Dad would often meet us there.  Now that I'm working, I really appreciate the challenge of making that all happen.  Later in high school, I loved having some time where I could come home, and we would watch Regis and Kathie Lee together and often go to lunch or a boutique.  I loved the care packages that she would send to us - to my brothers on their missions and to Ricks College and to my sisters away at BYU.  I commuted to school in Orem on the bus and worked as well.  Mom would diligently take me to the bus stop by the Fashion Place Mall where we would listen to the Idaho Joke of the Day with Fisher and Todd.  And, since I didn't go away to school, Mom would send my care packages to work.  The mailroom loved to get one of her packages that was taped up so well you really had to work to get in, and it was colorfully decorated with stickers and lettering. It could have been a treat to help get through the day or a new clip art CD that I had been looking for.  She was always looking for and aware of things we would like. 

Here are some great pictures that we treasure of Mom and Dad . . . starting out together back in 1967 . . . our last family picture session with her in 2004 when we had just a few grandkids and she secretly knew that Grace Betty would be joining Brent and Lilli's family soon and then to contrast with some of the girl and boy shots from this year too.  We know Mom is pleased with our great family. 

And along with kudos to Mom is a big hug and kiss to our Dad who works hard to keep our family close and continues with the many family traditions in Mom's absence.  Dad  hosts as we gather regularly in Betty's Ballroom for Family Home Evenings, birthdays, holidays and many days in between.  Dad is always there for us and we appreciate him and all that he does for us so much!

We celebrated Mom's birthday in March with her favorite cake from Mrs. Backer's bakery downtown and a team game with trivia and picture's from Mom's life so that the we can all remember.  

Blog Challenge #3: A Picture that Makes You Smile

Ponchos. Billowing winds. Need I say more?

Blog Challenge #3: A Picture that can always make you smile

Lest you think I'm completely rude with these pictures, let me give you some background. Julie was telling Kristen and I about our latest blog challenge, and at the same time, she and I both said that Kristen and I should post pictures of each other. Funny, right? So a little while later, Julie was talking and then pulled one of her signature faces. It's her facial version of saying "whatever" when a conversation is over. It always makes me giggle because she doesn't realize she's doing it, and it's just funny. A few minutes later, Kristen pulled her signature face without realizing it. They are similar, but oh so different. So I thought I would combine posting pictures of my sisters with their signature faces. It took 3 tries, so I'm posting all of them:

Aren't these great? I don't know if you have a favorite, but I'm kind of partial to #2.

Blog Challenge #3: A Picture that can always make you smile

I'm sure there are lots of pictures that make me smile, and this one is no exception:

Don't forget to smile!